{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70300/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70300","id":"gutenberg_70300","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70300","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","India -- History -- Fiction"],"text":"[Illustration:\n\n                    _Frontispiece._      Page 363.\n\n               JEHANGIRE GOING TO VISIT MHER-UL-NISSA.]\n\n\n\n\n                        _THE \u201cPRIZE LIBRARY.\u201d_\n\n                         LEGENDARY & ROMANTIC\n\n                               TALES OF\n\n                            INDIAN HISTORY.\n\n                                  BY\n\n                     THE REV. HOBART CAUNTER, B.D.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                                LONDON:\n\n                        FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.\n\n                             AND NEW YORK.\n\n\n\n\n                               PREFACE.\n\n\nThis Volume of Legendary and Romantic Tales of Indian History was one\nof a series of historical tales founded on the histories of England,\nFrance, Spain, Italy, and India, which obtained great popularity when\nfirst published.\n\nThe copyright of them having passed to the present Publishers, they\nhave been induced to reproduce them in a compact form--complete in a\nsingle volume--in the belief that by so doing they will be adding to\nthe literary pleasure of another generation.\n\n\n\n\n                   PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.\n\n\nThe success of the several series of \u201cRomantic Tales of History\u201d\nalready published has induced the publishers of these works to extend\nthem in order to embrace a portion of history generally considered\nextremely exuberant in romantic features. The present series will be\nconfined to the Mahomedan conquests in India, in the records of which\nare to be found numerous events of signal and stirring interest,\nwhich, while they develope the character of a distant people in a\nremote age, serve also to confirm many fine axioms of moral truth by\nexhibiting how, under all the variations of clime and fluctuations of\ncircumstance, the great result of human actions is everywhere the same.\n\nThis being a portion of history with which the general reader is less\nfamiliar than with that embraced in the preceding series of this work,\nthe choice has been made under the impression that it may lead to a\nmore extended reading of those annals which contain some of the most\ninteresting facts to be found in the records of ages.\n\nBut while I feel that the subject is an important one, I have not been\ninsensible to the difficulties with which it is encompassed, and in\nproportion to the success of those volumes already before the public\nhas my consciousness of these difficulties been raised, for, feeling\nthat I have had greater impediments to success to overcome, I cannot\nbut be less sanguine in the expectation that I have realized what has\nbeen so well done by my predecessors in a similar field.\n\nRomantic as are many of the events which the Mahomedan annals supply,\nthey are nevertheless all of one tone and colouring. They want the\ndelightful blendings and tintings of social circumstances. Their\nprinces were despots, their nobles warriors, their governments\ntyrannies, and their people slaves. The lives of their most eminent\nmen, who were distinguished chiefly for their deeds in arms, present\nlittle else than a series of battles. Their principal amusement was the\nchase, in which similar perils to those presented in war were courted\nfor the stern glory which followed desperate achievements.\n\nIf, therefore, in the following tales the variety should appear\nless than in those found in the volumes of the same work which have\npreceded these, the cause, and consequently the excuse, must lie in the\nmaterials. Besides this, those beautiful features of domestic life so\nfrequently witnessed in our western world have little or no existence\nin the land to which the present volumes are devoted. Women confined\nin harems, and not admitted to the tender and endearing enjoyments of\nfamily intercourse, degraded below the dignity of their nature and\nof their reason, treated as secondary beings, as mere instruments of\npleasure, and as created for no better purpose than to perpetuate the\nhuman race, are no longer objects either for the rich colouring of\nromance or the graver delineations of moral narrative.\n\nGreat variety of character is not to be found among those isolated\nbeings who are so well calculated to cast a glory upon the human\npilgrimage,--not that variety of character does not exist, but it\nis not developed. All the pictures of life, therefore, among such a\ncommunity will necessarily possess a certain sameness inseparable from\ntheir very nature. I have, however, endeavoured to vary the materials\nas much as was consistent with the r\u00e9gime of the history, though I\nsometimes found them very intractable. I can scarcely hope that I have\nsucceeded in a labour of no common difficulty, but trust, nevertheless,\nthat this last series of \u201cRomantic Tales of History\u201d may not be found\nundeserving of public patronage.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  THE TRAVELLER\u2019S DREAM                                                3\n\n  THE IDOL OF SOMNAT                                                  23\n\n  THE ROYAL MERCHANT                                                  71\n\n  THE ABYSSINIAN SLAVE                                               100\n\n  THE RAJPOOT MARRIAGE                                               125\n\n  THE MAHOMEDAN NIMROD                                               167\n\n  THE RIVAL BROTHERS                                                 203\n\n  THE SIEGE OF GUALIOR                                               240\n\n  THE PARIAH                                                         266\n\n  THE DEFENCE OF CHITTORE                                            304\n\n  THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD                                             335\n\n  THE PRINCE AND THE FAKEER                                          393\n\n  THE OMRAH\u2019S DAUGHTER                                               424\n\n  THE REVOLT OF THE FAKEERS                                          456\n\n  THE MAHRATTA CHIEF                                                 474\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 351. (A.D. 962.)--Aluptugeen, governor of Khorassan, broke out\ninto open rebellion and marched to Ghizny, which he subdued, and there\nestablished an independent power. Munsoor, King of Bokhara, hearing of\nthis defection, conferred the government of Khorassan upon Abool-Hussun\nMahomed, son of Ibrahim Sunjur Toorkoman, and thrice sent armies to\nattack Aluptugeen, which were on both occasions defeated. Aluptugeen\nretained his independence fifteen years, during which his general\nSubooktugeen frequently defeated the Indians.\n\nHeg. 365. (975.)--Aluptugeen died, and was succeeded by his son Aboo\nIsaac, who survived his accession but two years.\n\nHeg. 367. (977.)--Subooktugeen was unanimously proclaimed king\nof Ghizny by the nobles and chiefs. He had married the daughter\nof Aluptugeen, and became as celebrated for his justice in the\nadministration of his government as for the extraordinary popularity he\nacquired among his subjects of all conditions. During the first year\nof his accession, Subooktugeen conquered the province of Candahar.\nResolving on a war with India, he marched in that direction, and having\ntaken certain forts, caused mosques to be built, and then returned with\nconsiderable spoil to Ghizny.\n\nJeipal, a powerful prince of India, of the Brahmin caste, raised a\nnumerous body of troops to oppose the Mahomedans, and brought together\na great number of elephants, with a design to attack them in their own\ncountry; but the King of Ghizny, sending an army to oppose the Indian\nchief, the hostile forces came in sight of each other on the confines\nof Lumghan. Here some smart skirmishing ensued, and Mahmood, the son\nof Subooktugeen, afterwards celebrated as the conqueror of India,\nthough then but a boy, gave proofs of that valour and conduct which so\neminently distinguished his future life.\n\nJeipal\u2019s troops having suffered from a dreadful storm of hail which\nkilled the cattle of the army and several thousand soldiers, their\ngeneral made proposals for peace, which, contrary to the advice of\nMahmood, were accepted by the King of Ghizny.\n\nJeipal, on reaching his capital, refused to fulfil the conditions,\nand Subooktugeen again marched his forces towards Lahore. The Indian\ngeneral advanced to meet and give him battle. The Hindoos were\neverywhere defeated, and pursued with prodigious slaughter to the\nbanks of the Neelab. By this victory the conqueror acquired immense\nwealth, and a considerable accession of territory, causing himself to\nbe acknowledged king over the conquered country, and appointing one of\nhis officers with ten thousand horse to the government of Pishawur.\n\nAbout this time died Munsoor, King of Bokhara; he was succeeded by his\nson Nooh, against whom a formidable rebellion was raised by a chief\nnamed Faik. Nooh having formed an alliance with the King of Ghizny,\nthe rebel was attacked and defeated by the latter, for which signal\nservice the sovereign of Bokhara conferred upon Subooktugeen the title\nof Nasir-ood-Deen, Hero of the Faith; and upon his son Mahmood that of\nSyf-ood-Dowla, Sword of the State.\n\nThe rebel Faik having again collected his forces, attacked Mahmood\nunexpectedly and defeated him, taking his baggage. The father hearing\nof his son\u2019s disaster, marched to his relief, routed the insurgents a\nsecond time, and thus completely quashed the rebellion.\n\nHeg. 387. (997.)--Subooktugeen fell into a lingering disorder. Being at\nthis time at Bulkh, he determined to try change of air, and accordingly\ncommenced a journey to Ghizny. He had travelled only a few miles when\nhe was obliged to stop at Toormooz, a town not far from Bulkh, where he\nexpired, his remains being carried to Ghizny for interment.\n\n\n\n\n                        The Traveller\u2019s Dream.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nIn the forests of Candahar, a solitary traveller was pursuing his way.\nOvercome by the heat of noon he sat down on the margin of a small\nstream that gurgled through the thick underwood, allowing his horse to\ncrop the fresh herbage upon its banks. The scene around him was gloomy\nbut imposing. So thick was the growth of the jungle that the sun\u2019s rays\ncould not penetrate, except here and there, where patches had been\ncleared by the charcoal-burners or for purposes of fuel; and these were\ncomparatively few. Some of the trees were of a growth so stupendous as\nto impart a character of sublimity to the whole aspect of the forest.\nMany of them reached the prodigious height of a hundred and thirty\nfeet, presenting a straight branchless stem, which rose like a colossal\npillar from the ground to the altitude of twenty yards without a single\nbranch or even a sprout upon its surface. Under the vast leafy canopy\nwhich spread out above it, the wild elephant frequently reposed, and\nseemed, by comparison with the stately growth beside which it rested,\nbut as some ordinary animal.\n\nIt is far from the haunts of men, amid the deep recesses of the\nforest, or on the summit of the distant mountain, that nature is seen\nto develop the noblest features of her beauty. The stillness that\nreigns around, the solemn repose of the scene, not broken in upon by\nhuman associations, nor interrupted by the voice of human intercourse,\nenhance the impression of grandeur produced by the sight of objects\nwhich cannot fail to elevate the soul to pious adoration of the great\nand illimitable God of the universe.\n\nThe stranger was impressed by the somewhat painful novelty of his\nsituation, and solemn thoughts were awakened in his heart. He sat\ncalmly gazing upon the brook as it bubbled before him, when his\nattention was suddenly roused by a crashing of the bushes, immediately\naccompanied by a loud roar, and in another moment his horse was\nprostrated by the paw of a huge lion. The traveller started from his\nseat, drew his sword, and coming behind the ferocious visitor, cut the\nsinews of its hind leg, and before the animal could turn, repeated\nthe stroke on the other, and thus completely disabled it. The savage\ninstantly relinquished its prey, but so tremendous had been the\nstroke of its paw and the succeeding laceration so extensive, that\nthe poor horse rolled upon the streamlet\u2019s bank in the agonies of\ndeath. The lion roared with appalling fury--its eyes glared--its mane\nbristled--but it was unable to resent the injury it had received. It\ndragged itself forward upon its fore-legs with a vain endeavour to\nretaliate. Its vanquisher approached fearlessly, struck it across the\nskull with his sword, and, repeating the stroke, laid it dead at his\nfeet.\n\nThe loss of his steed was an untoward event, and as he would now have\nto make his way through the forest on foot,--as, moreover, the sun had\nlong passed its meridian, he determined to pursue his journey without\nfurther delay.\n\nStrapping to his shoulders a kind of wallet which had been fastened to\nhis saddle, he commenced threading the thicket. His journey was long\nand arduous, but on emerging into an open space, he saw a doe grazing\nwith her fawn. The latter had just been born, and the traveller coming\nsuddenly upon them, secured the little one, while the affrighted dam\nfled in terror. Pleased with his capture, he bound the fawn\u2019s legs, and\nplacing it under his arm, proceeded on his way.\n\nHe now quitted the cleared space, and plunged again into the jungle,\nsatisfied at having procured something to relieve his hunger, should\nhe be obliged to pass the night in the forest. When he had at length\nreached a convenient spot where he might prepare a meal, he placed\nthe fawn beside the trunk of a blasted tree, and having kindled a\nfire by the friction of two dry pieces of wood, he was about to\nsacrifice the little animal, but perceiving the mother at a short\ndistance gazing upon him with an expression of the deepest distress,\nhe paused. The tears rolled down her cheeks--her head was raised, and\nher eyes intently fixed upon the stranger\u2019s countenance. They next\nturned upon her innocent offspring that lay bound at the root of the\ntree, unconscious of its danger, but still yearning for its parent.\nShe gradually advanced within a few yards of the spot on which the\ntraveller stood. He retired several paces; the anxious dam immediately\nsprang towards its young, lay down by it, and caressed it with an\nintelligible joy. On the traveller\u2019s approach she quitted her fawn with\na bound of terror, but still retreated only a few yards, manifesting\nthe strongest symptoms of maternal suffering.\n\nIt was an affecting sight--an irresistible appeal to human sympathy.\nThe heart of the stranger was moved to pity, his bosom heaved with\ngenerous emotion, and under the impulse of a fervid and holy exultation\nhe released the fawn from his captivity. The tender creature instantly\nran to its mother, which, with a cry of joy, passed forward towards\nthe thicket; but before she was secluded from the sight of him who had\ndelivered her young from death, she turned round as if with a look of\ngrateful acknowledgment, and plunged with her delicate offspring into\nthe close cover of the forest.\n\nThis was an act to gladden the heart of a good man. Life is the blessed\nboon of Heaven, and the greatest of its gifts: to the mere animal,\nthe loss of it is the loss of all; and yet how wantonly does man\ntrifle with the life of animals, to which it is an object of such high\nenjoyment; for dumb creatures, having no apprehension of pain, possess\nthe highest sense of mere corporeal fruition, so long as they are not\nactually suffering.\n\nThe release of the fawn had softened the stranger\u2019s sympathies and\nimpressed his feelings. Taking from his wallet a small quantity of\nrice, which had been already boiled, he made a homely but grateful\nmeal, and determined to pass that night on the spot, endeared to him\nby the consciousness, which it kept alive, of having performed a\nbenevolent action.\n\nIt was a heavenly night. The light of a clear moon peeped through the\ntrees, and seemed to dance in ten thousand phosphoric coruscations, as\nthe slender branches, agitated by a gentle evening breeze, diverted\nits course for the moment, or trembled in its gentle beams. The\nforest gloom contrasted solemnly with the silvery light of the deep\nazure expanse above, and the general repose of nature, at that still\nhour when man retires to rest from the stir and bustle of day, added\nan additional tone of solemnity to the scene. The beast of prey was\nabroad, and, as it prowled, its occasional roar was a sort of diapason\nto nature\u2019s imposing harmony.\n\nThe traveller having collected some dried leaves strewed them under\nthe broad foliage of a tree, the branches of which formed a thick\ncanopy within six feet of the ground, and casting himself upon this\neasy woodland couch, courted that slumber which his fatigue had\nrendered welcome. His reflections were peaceful. He reverted to the\noccurrences of the day, and though the loss of his steed was a subject\nof uneasy recollection, yet it was more than countervailed by the\nhappy remembrance of that little episode in the brief chronicle of his\nlife, which he never afterwards reverted to without satisfaction--the\nrestoration of the fawn to its bereaved dam.\n\nHe lay for some time pursuing the quiet tenour of his contemplations,\noccasionally lapsing into a state of half-consciousness and\nthen reverting, by a sudden impulse of the mind, to perfect,\nself-possession. At length, overcome by the active process of his\nthoughts and fatigue of body, he fell into a profound sleep, in which\nsome of the most striking events of the past day were presented to his\nimagination, combined with new associations, and invested with new hues\nand a more varied colouring. He dreamed that he was visited by the\nProphet, who approached him in shining garments, from which a glory\nwas emitted so dazzling that he could not gaze upon it, and said--\u201cThe\ngenerosity which you have this day shown to a distressed animal has\nbeen appreciated by that God who is the God of dumb as well as of\nrational creatures, and the kingdom of Ghizny is assigned to you in\nthis world as your reward. Let not your power, however, undermine your\nvirtue, but continue through life to exercise that benevolence towards\nman which you have done this day towards the brute.\u201d Having uttered\nthese words, the celestial messenger disappeared, and the stranger\nawoke.\n\nThe moon was still bright in the heavens, but he could not again close\nhis eyes in sleep. The vision was too strongly impressed upon his\nwaking senses to allow them to yield to the gentle solicitations of\nslumber. He arose, and watched the clear \u201cpale planet,\u201d through the\ntrees, as it slowly marched towards the horizon to make way for the\nbrighter dawn.\n\nThe dews fell heavily, and a thin silvery mist began to rise and invest\nevery object with an ashy tint, as the moon gradually faded in its\nfar descent behind the distant hills. The grey dawn at length broke\nslowly over the plain, but was not perceptible to the traveller\u2019s eye\nuntil the valleys were flooded with the young dewy light. The mist had\nthickened. The leaves of the trees dripped with their liquid burthen,\nand every spot that was not protected by a mantle of thick foliage,\npresented a bloom of moisture from the atmosphere, that seemed tinted\nwith hues from fairy-land. Each blade of grass curved under its watery\nload, bending its delicate neck as if proud to bear the pure deposit of\nthe skies. Everything was clothed in the same soft drapery, which was\nshaken off by the morning breeze, when each object resumed its natural\nvariety of hue, and harmonious conformity of light and shadow.\n\nThe traveller gathered together the leaves on which he had slept,\nkindled them, and taking a small cocoanut hookah from his wallet,\nsmoked his chillam; then, making a scanty meal from the cold rice,\nrefreshed himself with a draught of the dews which he had allowed to\ndrip during the night into a plantain leaf doubled up in the form of a\ncup.\n\nAlthough his repast was a spare one, it was taken with a pure relish,\nand having once more strapped his few articles of baggage upon his\nshoulders, he prepared to resume his journey; but first turning\nhis face towards the holy city, he offered up his devotions with\npious fervour, and supplicated the protection of Heaven through his\nwanderings.\n\nAs he pursued his solitary way through paths to which he was a perfect\nstranger, he could not help recalling the vision which had haunted\nhis sleep. It had come so vividly before him that he more than half\npersuaded himself it must have been intended to be a direct revelation\nfrom Heaven, and yet, that a man without a name, without a home, a\nstranger in the land, should become the monarch of a powerful empire,\nseemed one of those impossibilities only to be dreamed of, but never\nrealised.\n\nTo his calmer reflections, the night-vision appeared nothing more\nthan the lively operation of a fancy excited by sleep, and which\nhad been rendered the more keenly alive to impressions from certain\npeculiar coincidences of events that had deeply interested him, and\nfrom those reflex images presented in slumber in consequence of the\nstrong feelings which those coincidences had awakened within him.\nNevertheless, in spite of the apparent unreasonableness of the thing\npromised, the utter improbability of such an event taking place, and\nthe force of his arguments upon the folly of harbouring such a thought,\nhe could not expel from his mind the singular revelation of that night.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe traveller now pursued his way through the intricacies of the\njungle, with much difficulty and equal patience. He had not long\nquitted the spot of his last night\u2019s repose, when, entering a small\nglade where the wood had been cleared, he perceived a group of eight\nmen, seated round the glowing embers of a fire, some smoking, and\nothers apparently devouring the last of their morning\u2019s meal. Knowing\nthat retreat would be of no avail to secure him from their hostile\nintentions, if they were enemies, he boldly approached, and inquired\nhis way to the nearest hamlet. One of the men rose, and meeting him,\nsaid with a significant laugh,\n\n\u201cPerhaps you wouldn\u2019t mind ending your journey here?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed but I should. If you can direct me on my way, well; if not, I\nhave no time for parleying.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood! but travellers that pass through these woods are in the habit of\npaying for safe-conduct.\u201d\n\n\u201cI require no guide, and therefore must decline the tribute.\u201d\n\n\u201cHark\u2019ye! Do you think your single arm a match for eight pair? Be\nadvised, and lower your tone. We live here by our good wits, levying\ncontributions when the opportunity invites, and living on what the\nforest provides, when such opportunities fail us. We must have what you\ncarry upon your shoulders, your money, and your provender, if you have\nany. When we make our demands, remember we take no denial.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I am in the presence of robbers?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy! and what then?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, that I shall not submit to your exactions, though you had a\nhundred, instead of seven, to back you!\u201d\n\nThe robber laughed; and, turning to his comrades, said, \u201cHere\u2019s a\nfellow that wont be plucked without fluttering; we must try blows to\nbring down the game, if he chooses to be deaf to persuasion. Come,\u201d\nsaid he, turning to the traveller, \u201cget rid of that unsightly hump upon\nyour shoulders, and show how straight a man you are when you stand\nupright, without an incumbrance.\u201d\n\n\u201cLife,\u201d replied the traveller, \u201cis only to be valued at its worth;\nand I am ready to relinquish mine, if it be Allah\u2019s will, in defence\nof my property. \u2019Tis no great matter for a man to die, who has known\nlittle else than crosses in this world, and has nothing better to look\nforward to. Take heed then, though you be robbers, and such are seldom\nmerciful, how you impede the progress of a desperate man.\u201d\n\nSaying this, he retreated towards a tree, against which he placed\nhimself, and drawing his sword, declared his determination to resist to\nthe death.\n\nThe robbers paused, surprised at the determination to oppose himself\nagainst such palpable odds; but, in order to prove how the hero had\nmiscalculated his chances, one of the men discharged an arrow, and\ntransfixed his sword-arm, pinning it to the tree. The traveller\nimmediately snapped off the shaft, and raised his arm to strike,\nbut it fell powerless beside him. He was instantly overpowered and\ndisarmed; but upon examining the contents of his load, great was the\ndisappointment of the bandits. They scattered its contents upon the\nground, deriding the stranger\u2019s risk of his life for property so\nvalueless.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the robber who had already spoken, \u201cas he keeps no purse,\nwe must make one out of him. His limbs are of the right mould, and your\npurchasers of slaves will give something for a sturdy labourer. We\u2019ll\nbid you good-bye when we can provide you a master who knows how to\npay for being furnished with a brawny pair of shoulders, that he may\nlay his own load upon, without carrying them under his own head. Come\nalong; you shall rest quietly till that awkward puncture in your arm is\nhealed, and then you shall be shown the way to the next hamlet.\u201d\n\nThe stranger\u2019s arms were bound with his turban, and he was forced to\nproceed between two of the bandits. They entered the thicket, and\nafter a walk of about five minutes, stood before several rude huts,\nformed in one of the closest recesses of the forest. These hovels were\nconstructed from various growths of the jungle, a small square spot\nhaving been cleared in front, where the outlaws smoked, cooked their\ncurries, and held their councils. Each hut accommodated a family, for\nall the men were married.\n\nAs there was no spare dwelling for the stranger, one was immediately\nconstructed by a couple of the robbers, and completed in about two\nhours. It consisted of a few slight bamboos, driven into the ground\nat intervals of a foot, under the foilage of a low tree, which formed\nthe roof. These bamboos were crossed with smaller canes, and the\ninterstices filled with broad leaves and dried grass: the turf being\ncleared from within, the habitation was complete.\n\nOn the third day after his capture, the traveller was commanded to\nprepare for a change of condition. His wound was doing well, but the\narm continued useless. His hands had not been released from the bandage\nby which they were confined when he was made captive. He was brought\nout into the area before the huts.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the principal bandit, addressing him, \u201cwhat say you to a\nchange of life, in the mode at least? We are robbers; our business\nrequires quick heads and stout hearts. You are a brave son of a good\nmother: what say you to a union of interests with those who, as you\nsee, know how to live, and when provisions get scarce, are not over\nnice in appropriating them without purchase?\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear,\u201d replied the prisoner, \u201cthat I have too quick a conscience for\na robber. You had better not trust me: I should betray you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll run the risk; a brave man never can discredit his courage, and\nto skulk in the track of treachery is the choice only of cowards. We\u2019ll\ntrust you.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou would act then with a fool\u2019s discretion; for brave men should be\nhonourable, and \u2019tis an honourable act to proclaim rogues, who are the\nbane of society:--not to proclaim them would be an act of treachery\nagainst honest men.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn truth, I did not take thee for an honest man, though I did for a\nbrave one; but I suspect thee to be neither, and only fit to rub a\nhorse\u2019s crupper, and perform the slave\u2019s drudgery. So be it, thou shalt\nsoon know thy vocation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese bonds are thy security,\u201d said the traveller, raising his hands,\nwhich were still tied with the turban. \u201cCowards are always brave, when\nthey are beyond the reach of danger. Does it become thy manhood to\ninsult a maimed and unarmed man?\u201d\n\nThis appeal, though it galled the pride, roused the better spirit of\nthe robber, and he said:--\u201cWell! our notions of valour may be like\nour notions of honesty; therefore, let both be a divided question;\nbut, since you decline joining your fortune with ours, you must settle\nour demand for home and nourishment, and as you seem to have no gold\nof your own, we must turn you into a disposable commodity, and get\nsomething for our trouble and care of you.\u201d\n\nThe stranger now proceeded with his captors, and, after a march of some\nhours, they reached a village bordering upon the forest. It consisted\nof a few miserable huts, and its inhabitants were of the lowest\nclass. Shortly after their arrival, a merchant made his appearance,\nwho purchased the prisoner from the robbers; and he was left with a\nstranger in the new and unenviable character of a slave. This was\nanything but a realization of his dream; it however satisfied him, if\nhe harboured a different conviction before, that dreams are the mere\nfantastic creations of an excited brain, and he felt ashamed of having\nallowed so flimsy an illusion to obtain one moment\u2019s influence over his\nmind.\n\nThere was nothing to be gained by despondency, and he resolved to\nsubmit to his destiny, with a secret trust in God, and a determination\nto direct the tenour of his life according to the pure suggestions\nof a rigid and inflexible conscience. So soon as he had become the\nmerchant\u2019s property, the latter examined his wound, and, having\ncarefully dressed it, as carefully felt his chest and limbs, in order\nto form some idea of the texture of his muscles. This preliminary\nsettled, he expressed himself well satisfied with his purchase. The\nmerchant was a little shrivelled man, with a light brown complexion,\nexhibiting a dull ochreous tinge, as if in him the whole biliary\nstructure were placed in his head. He had a thin straggling beard,\nso scattered over the corrugated surface of his sharp-pointed chin,\nas to give him the appearance of a senile hag, rather than that of\na venerable slave-dealer. He was accompanied by several athletic\nattendants, who amply made up in bone and sinew for the deficiency of\ntheir master in both particulars.\n\nHaving asked his new slave a few questions respecting his former habits\nof life, and thus ascertained that he had been accustomed to those\nhardy exploits likely to have inured his body to endurance, calculating\nthat he should make a handsome profit by his bargain, the thrifty\nchafferer ordered him to be carefully attended to. After a day\u2019s rest\nat the village, the merchant directed his route towards Khorassan,\nwhither they arrived, after a laborious journey. The slave was lodged\nat the house of his purchaser, who fed him well, and used him with\nsufficient kindness, in order to bring him into the best possible\ncondition for sale. He took care to have it rumoured that he had a\nstout handsome fellow to dispose of, such as could not be matched in\nall Persia; in consequence, many persons, willing to purchase, came to\nsee the marvel; but, finding that the description was not exactly borne\nout by the reality, and the sum demanded being more than they could\nafford, or were willing to pay, they declined entering upon a bargain.\n\nThe merchant began to grow impatient; and, as he was daily incurring\nan expense without profit, he thought it would be better to abate\nsomething of his demand and conclude an immediate sale, than to throw\naway more money upon the doubtful chance of obtaining a better price.\nAn expedient, however, struck him. Conceiving that bondage could be\ndesirable to no man, it occurred to him that the object of his anxiety\nand late disappointment might have the means of purchasing his own\nfreedom. When this bright conclusion came across his mind, delighted\nwith the excessive novelty of the thought, he argued that a man ought\nto pay more for his own liberty than another for the privilege of\nwithholding it from him, because it was a far greater benefit to the\none than to the other; and he consequently determined to raise his\ndemand in proportion. With a portentous smile quivering upon his\nfeatures, he approached the object of his anticipated gain, and said--\n\n\u201cWould you not be glad to enjoy your freedom?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may as well ask a starving man if he loves rice.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you willing to pay for it?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn money.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo. I am not disposed to buy what is the blessed boon of Heaven, and\nof this you have no more right to deprive me than I have to cut your\nthroat, which you well deserve, for being the encourager of knaves and\nthe supporter of brigands.\u201d\n\nThe old man\u2019s countenance collapsed like a death\u2019s head, and, without\nuttering a word, he tottered from the presence of his incensed captive,\nas if stung by a scorpion.\n\nFrom this time he treated his prisoner with much more rigour than he\nhad hitherto done, and at length came to the resolution of putting a\ncollar round his neck, and forcing him to perform offices of drudgery\nfor a daily compensation. It however fortunately happened that\nAluptugeen, Governor of Khorassan, hearing a favourable account of the\nslave, desired to see him. He accordingly made his appearance, and was\nimmediately purchased by the governor, to the no small gratification of\nthe slave-merchant.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe purchase being completed, the slave was removed to the Governor\u2019s\npalace. Here he was placed among the household servants; but\nAluptugeen, soon perceiving in him the promise of better things, had\nhim about his person, and he shortly became an obvious favourite with\nhis master. This flattering impression continued to increase, and he\nwas at last advanced to a post of some distinction in the state. Seeing\nin his slave such superior endowments, Aluptugeen one day inquired of\nhim concerning his birth. The slave replied:--\n\n\u201cMy history is brief. Though in bondage, I have done nothing to\ndisgrace my parentage. I was born free, though in poverty; I am\nlineally descended from Yezdijerd, the last of the Persian monarchs,\nwho, as you no doubt well know, when flying from his enemies, during\nthe Caliphate of Othman, was murdered at a water-mill near the town of\nMurv. His family, being left in Toorkistan, formed connexions among the\npeople, and his descendants have become Toorks. I am now a Toork.\n\n\u201cI was brought into the world amid poverty and destitution; but the\nvery wants to which my youth was subjected forced me to exert the\nenergies with which the Omnipotent had endowed me, and I became at an\nearly age skilled in the sports of the field, of a hardy frame and\ndaring temperament, with the determination of seeking and securing my\nown fortune. My father, a man of information and letters, in spite of\nthe pressure of penury, did not neglect to instil into my mind the\nobligations of virtue, and store it with the seeds of wisdom; I may\ntherefore be said to have been better educated than many who figure in\nthe courts of princes.\n\n\u201cFrom my earliest days, I had entertained a presentiment that the poor\nToorkoman\u2019s son was born for something better than to pass his life\nin indigence and obscurity. Under this impression, false as it has\nhitherto proved, I quitted my father\u2019s house in my nineteenth year, and\nwas on my way to join the armies of Ghizny, when I fell into the hands\nof robbers, and have in consequence become the slave of a most generous\nmaster.\u201d\n\nAluptugeen was pleased with the history of his dependent, whom he soon\nraised to still higher honours under his government. The favourite did\nnot disgrace his freedom, but rose rapidly into favour, until at length\nwas conferred upon him the distinguished title of Ameer-ool-Omrah,\nchief of the nobles. He became now the first man in Khorassan, and was\nfinally placed at the head of Aluptugeen\u2019s armies. He brought them to\na state of the highest order and discipline, led them on to conquest,\nand was the idol of the troops. The enemies of his master were awed\ninto submission by the superior genius of his general, and peace and\nprosperity prevailed throughout the empire. His rise to distinction was\nas signal as it was rapid, and he could not help frequently reverting\nto his dream in the forest, which appeared gradually advancing towards\nits accomplishment. His father lived not to see the exaltation of his\nson, but that son had his mother conveyed to Khorassan, where she\nenjoyed the happiness of seeing him hailed by the public voice as a\ngreat and good man.\n\nWhat a singular change had come over the destiny of the stranger within\nthe lapse of a few years! The bondsman, who had bent the knee to his\nsuperiors, was now bowed to as a great and glorious being. He was\nthe favourite of the Governor of Khorassan; he directed his master\u2019s\ncouncils, commanded his armies, and was the oracle of his cabinet. He\nwas constantly with the Governor, and nothing of moment was undertaken\nwithout his advice. He was now the happiest of the happy. Beloved by\nhis ruler, the idol of all subjected to his control, the terror of\nthose neighbouring potentates who were hostile to the government of his\nkind patron--he had scarcely a wish to gratify, and he felt that the\nclouds which had hung upon the dawn of his career had rendered the\nsucceeding brightness only more vivid and joyous.\n\nAluptugeen had a beautiful daughter, whose affections were courted\nby the most powerful nobles of Khorassan; but she continued deaf to\ntheir advances. She was a woman of rare endowments, and therefore an\nobject naturally coveted by such a thought themselves in a condition\nto woo her. She was not to be won. Many, with whom her father would\nhave gladly sought an alliance, were rejected, and the beautiful Zahira\nremained unwedded. Her coldness was the universal topic of expressed\nsurprise; still she listened not to the voice of the wooer. She was\nher father\u2019s only child; and he felt naturally anxious, through her,\nto perpetuate his race: the disappointment therefore saddened him. But\nthere appeared no remedy, as he did not choose to interfere with the\nantipathies or predilections of a beloved daughter.\n\nAs the Ameer-ool-Omrah resided in her father\u2019s palace, Zahira had\ncontinual opportunities of seeing him. They frequently met--they\nfrequently conversed--and such meetings and such conversations begat\nmutual good-will. The quondam slave soon perceived that he was not\ndespised; his admiration for the daughter of his patron grew at length\ninto a warmer feeling, and he became conscious that he loved her. He\nwas aware of the splendid offers that had been made to her, which she\nhad refused. He knew the extreme fastidiousness of her approbation, yet\nwas he disposed to think, or at least to hope, that she might be won to\nreturn the ardour which glowed in his bosom towards her.\n\nIt was impossible they should frequently meet, without that optical\nrevelation which is invariably made where two hearts throb in unison;\nand when he was satisfied, by the eloquent exchange of a certain\ntenderness not to be mistaken, which the eye so legibly communicates\nwhen it is really and evidently felt, that his passion for the lovely\ndaughter of Aluptugeen was returned in full force, he no longer\nhesitated to declare his passion, which declaration was received with\nan approbation that excited him to a perfect delirium of joy.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d said the Ameer-ool-Omrah, in avowing his passion, \u201cthough once\na slave, I am lineally descended from a long race of kings; your purity\nof blood will not therefore be tainted by an alliance with one who,\nfrom the lowest degradation of bondage has attained to the highest\ncondition of freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cNoble,\u201d replied the lovely Zahira, \u201cin the choice we make of\nthose who are to guide our destinies, we should look rather to the\nmoral qualities of the man we select, than to those adventitious\ncircumstances which may either make him a sovereign or a beggar. To\nchoose a wealthy man is easy; to choose a man of birth and distinction\nin the courts of princes is not more difficult. I have had the choice\nof both; but to select a virtuous man, is one of the few auspicious\noccurrences of our lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cLady, I pretend to no virtue, beyond those of the nobles who compose\nthe brilliant assemblage of your father\u2019s court. There is, that I know\nof, but one main difference between us; they have inherited rank and\nopulence--it came to them without effort; mine, though descended from a\nline of kings, has been obtained with the point of my sword.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am content to share with you,\u201d said Zahira earnestly, \u201cthe happiness\nor misery of a united lot, provided my father withhold not his consent;\nfor I have no will, whatever wish I may entertain, apart from his. Duty\nto a parent is only exceeded in intensity of obligation by duty to a\nhusband, and she who would fail to perform the one, would not be very\nlikely to perform the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will immediately seek the Governor, and make known to him our mutual\ndesires. He esteems me highly, as I have reason to believe; but how far\nhis pride may struggle against his friendship, is a circumstance to be\nascertained.\u201d\n\nOn that very day, the Ameer-ool-Omrah sought an audience with\nAluptugeen, and declared his passion for the daughter of that prince.\nThe Governor expressed no surprise, but said, \u201cYou know Zahira is my\nonly child--a sweet blossom, that now for sixteen summers has blown\nround my heart with a purity and a fragrance that has rendered life to\nme a scene of enviable enjoyment. It is my duty, therefore, no less\nthan my wish, to render that girl happy. She has already been solicited\nin marriage by four different princes, who possess each an extensive\ndominion and wide political influence; but she has rejected them.\nSeveral nobles of my court have made advances to her with like success.\nIn such a solemn matter I shall neither bias nor direct her. You must,\ntherefore, win her consent before you can obtain mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have avowed my passion, and your daughter has condescended to accept\nmy vows. She waits but your decision. If you are averse to our union,\nmy doom is sealed; if you approve of it, my happiness is secured.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you have her consent I shall not withhold mine, and may the\nblessing of that great and good Being under whose sanction marriages\nare ratified, attend your union! She has at least fixed her heart upon\na worthy man, and I am satisfied.\u201d\n\nThe marriage was almost immediately solemnized with great pomp and\nsplendour; and though some of the rejected nobles looked with envy upon\nthe happy bridegroom, it was nevertheless an event that diffused joy\nthroughout the whole district of Khorassan. Shortly after this union,\non the death of Abdool Mullik Samany, who reigned over Transoxania, the\nnobles sent a deputation to consult Aluptugeen regarding a successor.\nThe dynasty of Samany was very powerful. Its power extended over\nKhwaruzm Marvur-ool-Nehr, Jourjan, Khorassan, Seewustan, and Ghizny.\nThe Kings held their court at Bokhara. When the deputation arrived\nfrom Bokhara, Aluptugeen hesitated not to express his opposition to\nthe accession of Prince Munsoor on the plea of his being too young,\nrecommending that his uncle should for the present assume the reins of\ngovernment.\n\nBefore this answer reached the capital, a party had placed Munsoor\nupon the throne; consequently, when the young King sent a summons for\nAluptugeen to show himself at court, the latter, apprehensive that\nmischief was intended, made excuses, and did not appear. In the year of\nthe Hegira, 351, and 962 of our era, Aluptugeen raised the standard of\nrebellion and marched to Ghizny, which was subdued by the bravery and\nconduct of his son-in-law, and there established an independent power.\n\nMunsoor, hearing of this defection, conferred the government of\nKhorassan on a noble of his own court, and sent armies to attack\nAluptugeen, which were successively defeated by the husband of\nhis daughter. This raised the latter still higher in the love and\nconfidence of the troops. His arms were everywhere victorious. The\npower of Munsoor was abridged, and he began to tremble for the security\nof his kingdom.\n\nDuring fifteen years, Aluptugeen retained his independence. He was\nfrequently engaged in war with the Indians, in which his troops were\ninvariably successful. He lived to a good old age, and died A.H. 365,\nA.D. 975, regretted by his subjects. He was succeeded by his son\nAboo-Isaac, who immediately upon his accession proceeded to Bokhara,\naccompanied by his brother-in-law the Ameer-ool-Omrah. Aboo-Isaac\nwas well received by Munsoor, who granted him a formal commission as\ngovernor of Ghizny. His general was likewise appointed by the King as\nhis brother-in-law\u2019s deputy and provisional successor.\n\nAboo-Isaac survived this event but a short period, when the husband\nof Zahira was unanimously acknowledged King of Ghizny by the chiefs\nand nobles. Thus was the dream fulfilled--the quondam slave became\na powerful sovereign, and was no less a man than the celebrated\nSubooktugeen, father of the still more celebrated Mahmood Ghiznevy, who\nmay be termed the first Mahomedan conqueror of India.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 387 (A.D. 997).--On the death of Subooktugeen, his second son\nIsmaeel, who had prevailed on his father in the latter\u2019s last moments\nto appoint him his successor, ascended the throne of Ghizny. Mahmood,\nthough an illegitimate son, disputed his brother\u2019s right of succession;\nand a battle ensuing between their respective armies, Mahmood\nprevailed. Ismaeel was immediately confined in a fort in Joorjan; where\nhe remained until his death, and his victorious brother ascended the\nthrone.\n\nHeg. 390 (1000).--Mahmood defeated Khuluf, governor of Seestan. He also\nmarched into India and made himself master of several provinces.\n\nHeg. 391 (1001).--The king of Ghizny obtained a victory over the army\nof Jeipal, who, together with fifteen sons and near relations, was\ntaken prisoner, five thousand of his troops being slain on the field\nof battle. Among the spoils were sixteen necklaces inlaid with jewels,\none of which, belonging to Jeipal, was valued at a hundred and eighty\nthousand dinars, the dinar being about the value of nine shillings\nsterling. Jeipal, having resigned his crown to his son, in compliance\nwith the customs of his race, ordered a funeral pile to be prepared,\nand setting fire to it with his own hands, perished in the flames.\n\nHeg. 392 (1003).--Mahmood again marched into Seestan and brought\nKhuluf, the governor, prisoner to Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 395 (1004).--Rajah Beejy Ray, governor of Bhateea, having\nrefused to pay tribute to Anundpal, the son of Jeipal, on whom he was\ndependent, Mahmood took Bhateea by assault; two hundred and eighty\nelephants, numerous slaves and other valuable spoils were obtained in\nthe town, which the conqueror annexed, with all its dependencies, to\nhis own dominions.\n\nHeg. 396 (1005).--Elik Khan, king of Kashgar, and father-in-law of\nMahmood, invaded the latter\u2019s territory. Mahmood was returning from the\nsiege of Moultan when the news reached him. He immediately hastened\nto meet the invader, and a desperate battle was fought near Bulkh, in\nwhich the king of Kashgar was entirely defeated. This year the king of\nGhizny likewise defeated Sewukpal, who had thrown off his allegiance,\nand made him prisoner. The rebel was compelled to pay four hundred\nthousand dirhems, about eight thousand three hundred pounds sterling.\n\nHeg. 399 (1008).--Mahmood made himself master the fort of Bheem.\nThere, on account of its vast strength, the Hindoos had deposited the\ntreasure consecrated to their idols, so that the booty obtained by\nthe conqueror was prodigious; the specie alone, independent of plate,\nbullion, and jewels, is said to have amounted to upwards of three\nhundred and thirteen thousand pounds sterling.\n\nHeg. 401 (1010).--Mahmood defeated the prince of Ghoor, and annexed his\ncountry to the dominions of Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 402 (1011).--Mahmood reduced Tahnesur, a holy city of the Hindoos,\nabout thirty miles west of Delhi, which he plundered, broke the idols,\nand sent the principal idol Jugsoma, to Ghizny, to be trodden under\nfoot. A ruby is said to have been found in one of the temples weighing\nfour hundred and fifty miskals; a size altogether incredible.\n\nHeg. 404 (1013).--The fort of Nindoona, situated in the mountains of\nBulnat, was reduced by the king of Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 406 (1014).--Abool Abass Mamoor, king of Khwaruzm, obtained\nMahmood\u2019s sister in marriage.\n\nHeg. 407 (1015).--Abool Abass Mansoor fell by the hands of\nconspirators, but his death was revenged by his brother-in-law, who put\nthe murderer to death.\n\nHeg. 409 (1017).--The king of Ghizny took the fort of Mutra, in\nwhich he found immense treasures. He next invested the fort of Rajah\nChundpal, which surrendered almost immediately. Having likewise\ndefeated Chundur Ray, he returned to Ghizny loaded with spoil, with\nwhich he built a magnificent mosque, known by the name of the Celestial\nBride. In its neighbourhood the king founded a university, which was\nsupplied with a vast collection of curious books in various languages.\nIt contained also a museum of natural curiosities. For the support of\nthis establishment he appropriated a large sum of money, besides a\nsufficient fund for the maintenance of students and proper persons to\ninstruct them in the arts and sciences.\n\nHeg. 410 (1019).--The king of Ghizny caused an account of his exploits\nto be written and sent to the Caliph, who ordered it to be read to the\npeople of Bagdad, making a great festival upon the occasion, expressive\nof his joy at the propagation of the faith of Islam.\n\nHeg. 412(1021).--Mahmood defeated Nunda Ray, who had slain his ally the\nRajah of Canowj, securing considerable treasure, besides four hundred\nand eighty elephants. His general also reduced Nardein, in which was\na famous temple containing a stone with curious inscriptions, and,\naccording to the Hindoo traditions, forty thousand years old.\n\nHeg. 415 (1024).--Mahmood marched to Somnat, which he finally took, and\ndestroyed the celebrated Idol, in the belly of which was discovered a\nquantity of diamonds, rubies, and pearls of immense value. Among the\nspoils of the temple was a chain of gold weighing two hundred mauns, or\nabout four hundred pounds weight. It hung from the top of the building\nby a ring and supported a great bell, which called the people to\nworship.\n\nHeg. 417 (1026).--Mahmood returned to Ghizny after an absence of two\nyears and six months. This year he marched against the Juts, destroyed\nfour thousand, and according to some eight thousand, boats. Few of the\nJuts escaped destruction: those who did, fell into the hands of the\nconqueror.\n\nHeg. 418 (1027).--Mahmood died at Ghizny in the sixty-third year of his\nage. He reigned thirty-five years, and was buried by torch-light with\ngreat pomp and solemnity in the Kesr Firozy at Ghizny. This celebrated\nmonarch was in person about the middle size, but well made, and\nstrongly marked with the small-pox. His son Mahomed succeeded to the\nthrone.\n\n\n\n\n                          The Idol of Somnat.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nShortly after the sun had risen, a beautiful Hindoo was washing her\ngraceful limbs in the crisp waters of the sea, which gently curled\nover a smooth pebbly beach, a short distance from the fortifications\nof Somnat. This town was situated on the neck of a peninsula washed on\nthree sides by the ocean, and fortified with great strength. There was\nonly one approach to it. It was reported that the Ghiznivites, under\nMahmood their sovereign, were on their march towards the town in large\nforce, at which the infatuated Hindoos affected to rejoice, proclaiming\nin the frantic wildness of their enthusiasm, that their great idol,\nto whom all things upon earth were obedient, had drawn thither the\nMahomedans to blast them in a moment and to avenge the destruction of\nthe various gods of India. Upon this vain-glorious boast they appeared\nto rely.\n\nThe town was crowded with inhabitants who seemed determined to\nresist to the last gasp of life the threatened assault of their\nfoes. Nevertheless, they trusted more to the imagined supremacy of\ntheir idol, than to their own efforts of resistance. Though the\nfortifications were strong for the period, when cannon were not\nemployed in sieges, and even the battering-ram was but seldom resorted\nto, yet, being only of mud, they were not impregnable to the assaults\nof a brave and resolute foe. They were defended, moreover, by a host of\nfanatics, thousands of pilgrims, and crazy visionaries who crowded to\nworship the celebrated idols contained within their walls, forming the\nuncertain instruments of defence, against which the hardy and resolute\ntroops of Ghizny, inured to warfare and accustomed to conquest, had to\ncontend.\n\nThe inhabitants of Somnat were confident in their numbers, and this\nbeing increased by their expectation of divine interposition through\nthe influence of their stone divinity, they hailed with derision\nthe approach of their foes, observed their festivals with increased\nacclamations, as if the menaced hostility promised rather to be scenes\nof pastime than of devastation.\n\nThe threatened siege did not in the slightest degree interrupt the\ndaily observances of the Hindoos. The women went to the sea-shore to\nbathe as usual, perfectly unapprehensive of danger from the advancing\narmy of Mahmood.\n\nThe beach on one side of the town was very retired, and, beyond the\nbattlements landward, flanked by a thick wood. Hither the women\nrepaired to perform their matutinal ablutions, and being considered\na spot sacred to this purpose, it was seldom or never intruded upon,\nexcept on chance occasions by the stranger.\n\nHere, as I have already said, according to her invariable practice,\nabout the period of sunrise, a beautiful young Hindoo mother was\nperforming those lustrations imposed by her religion, and which, apart\nfrom any spiritual consideration, are indispensable in a tropical\nregion. The beach sloped gradually into the sea, in which she stood up\nto the shoulders, her long black hair streaming like a silken fringe\nupon the rippling waters. Her eyes were frequently bent downward, as\nif in reverential abstraction, after which she would raise them to the\nclear blue sky, rich with the pure tints of heaven, and brightened by\nthe fresh genial radiance of the morning sun. She was only dawning into\nwomanhood though a mother, her age not being yet sixteen. Her child\nwas lying on the beach wrapped in a small coverlet, and basking in the\nyoung sunlight. The babe was but a few weeks old, and the youthful\nmother felt for it all the yearning of a parent for her first child.\nShe looked at it occasionally from the place where she stood, draining\nthe water from her streaming tresses, and cleaning them with a care\nthat showed a consciousness of their beauty, and her eye glistened with\na parent\u2019s pride as she gazed upon the earliest fruit of her wedded\nlove.\n\nThe infant was laid upon the dry soft sand, a few yards above where the\nwater reached at high tide. Several other women were at this moment\nbathing at some short distance from the young mother, who now quitted\nthe water, having first carefully arrayed her hair, and in a short\ntime was wrapped in that loose becoming drapery which sets off to such\nadvantage the slender, but round and graceful forms of the Hindoo\nwomen. Her bust was enclosed in a vest of bright crimson silk, fitted\nclosely to the shape, and covering the arm midway from the shoulder\nto the elbow. A long piece of fine muslin encircled her head, falling\nover her neck and shoulders behind, and passing the lower parts of the\nbody in a variety of elegant undulating folds peculiar to the taste of\noriental beauties. Standing a few yards from her babe, she arranged\nher dress with a neatness and precision which sufficiently indicated a\nconsciousness of the becoming. She had just completed this necessary\narrangement of her toilet, and was about to turn towards her tender\noffspring to proceed homeward, when a wolf darted from the neighbouring\nthicket, seized the unconscious infant, and was retiring with all\nspeed towards the wood. The distracted mother gazed for an instant in\nspeechless agony, but quickly recovering herself, she sprang after the\nbeast with the swiftness of an antelope, screaming the while with an\nenergy that made the forest re-echo her cries.\n\nThe wolf was encumbered by the weight of its burden, and the cloth\nin which it was wrapped trailing upon the ground, as the animal ran,\ngreatly impeded its progress. Her companions gazed after the anxious\nmother, as she followed wildly in pursuit of her infant; without making\nthe slightest effort to assist her. They stood with open mouths, but\nneither a sigh of sympathy escaped their bosoms, nor did even an\naspiration for the bereavement of the young mother rise to their lips.\n\nThe wolf had nearly reached the thicket with its prey, and the wretched\nparent was about to yield herself up to the wild impulse of despair,\nwhen a horseman emerged from a path in the wood, and seeing the\ndistress of a young and beautiful woman, the cause of which became\ninstantly evident, he urged his steed forward, and reaching the wolf\nbefore it had time to enter the jungle, struck it on the back with his\nsword. The blow was given from so sinewy an arm as almost to sever the\nbrute in twain. It immediately dropped its prey, writhed for a few\nmoments, and died. The eager mother threw herself frantically on the\nbody of her first-born, and began to bewail its untimely fate with\npiercing shrieks of loud and bitter agony. Supposing that it was dead,\nshe clasped it to her bosom and called upon her idol to restore the joy\nof her life; but the stone divinity, dumb and insensible as the earth\non which she had prostrated herself, heard not her lamentable cry. The\nhuge image of Somnat, adored by millions of enthusiasts, and enriched\nby the perpetual offerings of wealthy devotees, standing within the\nwalls of a gorgeous temple, which might have vied with the proudest\npalaces of Egypt\u2019s kings in the brightest days of their renown, heard\nnot the tender supplications of one of its devoted adorers, but stood\nin its grim majesty inaccessible to the appeal which might have melted\nany stone that had not been employed to fashion a divinity.\n\nThe child, feeling the pantings of its mother\u2019s bosom, uttered a\ncry that in a moment subdued the mental anguish of its parent. Her\nlamentations ceased--she gazed upon it--unfastened the cloth in which\nit had been tied--examined it with an expression of excited anxiety,\nand finding that it was uninjured, gave a scream of joy, and clasped it\nwith fervency to her breast.\n\nThe wolf had seized only the wrapper in which the infant had been\nsecured, so that when released from the monster\u2019s jaws, the babe was\nwithout a scratch. The youthful mother was wild with transport. She\nfixed her beaming eyes upon her preserver with a look between amazement\nand exultation, but without uttering a word.\n\nBy this time the stranger, beneath whose sword the wolf had died,\nstood near, apparently enjoying the rapture of the young Hindoo.\nFor a few moments, he left her to the feelings in which her ardent\nheart was evidently revelling, forbearing to interrupt an enjoyment\nsecond only to the fruition of paradise. He beheld her beauty with\nfervent admiration, a beauty seldom paralleled, and heightened by\nthe tender excitement under which she was at that moment labouring.\nHaving recovered from the shock of agony produced by the apprehension\nof her child\u2019s peril, her thoughts were now sufficiently collected to\nacknowledge her obligations to its deliverer. She again turned upon\nhim her large dark liquid eyes with an expression of melting gratitude\nwhich could not be mistaken.\n\nThe stranger approached. She shrank from him, in spite of the\nobligation which he had placed her under, because he was of another\ncreed. The tie of his jumma or tunic proclaimed him a Mahomedan, and\nshe almost shuddered as he came near and bent over her. She could not\nsmother her deeply-rooted prejudices against the enemies of her race,\nand the blasphemers of her gods.\n\n\u201cI am happy,\u201d said the stranger, \u201cin having been the instrument of\npreserving your infant from the ravening wolf. Though our creeds\ndiffer they ought at least to concur in the natural law of reciprocal\nbenefaction. I rejoice to have saved the child of one who has been\ntaught to look upon me, and those who profess a similar faith, as\nfit to hold intercourse only with the scum and off-scouring of human\nsociety, and trust that while such an act offers an appeal to your\ngratitude, it will convey a lesson of wisdom. I would that you should\nnot only look upon me as the saviour of your babe, but put me on the\nfooting in social dignity with those of your own belief in matters\nconcerning the life which is to succeed the present, and think not that\nall virtue expires when not fostered by the warm atmosphere of Hindoo\nsuperstition.\u201d\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d replied the mother, looking tenderly upon her child, now\ndrawing from her the maternal nutriment, \u201cI cannot gaze upon this\ndear object without being sensible that, apart from all prejudices\nraised by those conventional laws which different creeds impose, I am\nyour debtor for the greatest enjoyment which this world can realise.\nYou have restored the infant to its longing mother, and whatever the\nrestraint by which I may be repelled from welcoming the saviour of my\nchild with those outward expressions of acknowledgment which I might\nbe permitted to show to a member of my own faith, believe me I shall\nnever forget that the greatest debt of my life is due to one who is\nconsidered the enemy of my country\u2019s gods, but whom I have found to be\nthe most signal and magnanimous of friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps the enthusiasm of your gratitude will subside when you know to\nwhom you have been indebted for the salvation of your offspring.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!--such knowledge cannot alter the fact of my obligation. I may\nindeed regret the spiritual and social bar which lies between us, but I\nnever can forget the act which has restored to me a life that I value\nfar more dearly than my own. But may I ask to whom I am indebted for\nsuch a signal act of magnanimity?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Mahmood of Ghizny, the most inveterate foe of your race, who\ndespises your gods, and is at this moment preparing to hurl your\ngigantic divinity, installed in yonder gorgeous temple, from its proud\npedestal, and make its worshippers ashamed of having so long prostrated\nthemselves before a block of stone.\u201d\n\nThe lovely Hindoo shrank from her interlocutor when he declared himself\nto be the greatest enemy of her nation\u2019s gods. She trembled for the\nmoment, but her high sense of moral obligation bore down the weak\nfences of prejudice, and she assured him that the preserver of her\nchild could never merge in the enemy of her race.\n\n\u201cPrepare,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201cto behold me shortly enter those walls in\ntriumph; but be assured of your own safety, and you may yet live to\nknow that the sovereign of Ghizny never professed a kindness which he\ndid not rigidly perform.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe Hindoo mother, having made her acknowledgments to the deliverer\nof her child, entered the walls of Somnat, and sought her home. She\nrelated the adventure of the morning to her husband, at this time lying\nill of fever. He was a man of high caste, and entertained all the\nprejudices of his national superstitions in an eminent degree. This\ntendency was aggravated to a morbid excess by his present illness. The\nrelation greatly distressed him. The idea that his infant had been\nsnatched from death by a worshipper of gods which his nation did not\nrecognise, agitated him to a paroxysm of excitement. He raved, and\ncursed the chances that had exposed his offspring to such pollution. He\nwould rather the wolf had devoured it, than that it should have owed\nits preservation to the arm of a Mussulman, and he the greatest enemy\nof the Hindoos and their religion.\n\nThe Hindoo father was a young man of about thirty, handsome and\namiable, but a rigid observer of the national superstitions. He was\naffectionate to his wife, in a degree seldom equalled by Hindoo\nhusbands, and she returned his tenderness with a pure and ardent\nattachment. In spite, however, of his fondness, like all husbands\nof his tribe he was not only a master but a tyrant. The wife was\nsubservient to an extent that rendered her domestic life a slavery; but\nbeing impressed with a conviction that such subserviency was the proper\nsphere, because it was the destined lot of woman, she submitted without\na murmur. Still she was relatively happy; for, by comparison with the\ngenerality of Hindoo wives, her social comforts were considerable. She\nfelt conscious of possessing her husband\u2019s attachment; and, though his\ngeneral conduct towards her was authoritative, it was seldom harsh. Had\nit been otherwise than authoritative, she would have despised him as\ndescending from the dignity of his manhood, and foregoing the especial\nimmunities of his privileged sex.\n\nUpon the present occasion, harassed by suffering of body and anxiety of\nmind, the sick man treated his young and lovely consort with a severity\nwhich he had never before exercised.\n\n\u201cThe vengeance of Siva will be directed against this house for the\nfolly of a woman. The god of Somnat has seen the pollution offered to\nthe offspring of one of his worshippers. Take heed that the fiery gleam\nof his eye does not blast thee, when thou next offerest thy oblations\nat his holy shrine.\u201d The youthful mother raised her head; the long\nlashes that fringed her soft but intensely bright eyes were moistened\nwith the dew of sadness. It gathered gradually, until the weight of\nthe liquid gem was too great a burden for the trembling lashes to\nsupport, and then trickled slowly down her clear brown cheek. She\nuttered not a word, but clasped her babe with greater fervour to her\nbosom. The husband saw her emotion, and was moved; nevertheless, he\nbade her quit the apartment and leave him to his repose, which, alas!\ncame not, for the excitement had only aggravated his malady. He was\nscorched with fever; and, in the course of that night, his peril was\nimminent. The tender partner of his home and of his love did not quit\nhis side for a moment. She saw his danger; and the gloomy thought of\nher own death came with the chill of a night-blast upon her soul. The\nawful customs of her tribe forbade that she should outlive him; and\nthe horrible manner in which her death would be consummated seemed to\nfreeze the very fountain of life as she thought upon it. To be cut off\nby the appalling process of cremation, ere the sweet fragrant blossom\nof existence had fairly opened into womanhood, was a sad and bitter\nthought. Still, the sufferings of the man she loved recalled her from\nthese sad reflections, and she gazed upon him with an interest in\nwhich, for the moment, all her prospective sufferings were absorbed.\nHe spoke not, but the thought of that contamination, which he supposed\nto have passed upon his child by the contact of one of another creed,\nevidently remained the paramount impression on his mind; for when the\nmother presented him her infant for a paternal caress, he turned from\nit with a shudder, and refused to allow it to be brought into his\npresence.\n\nHour after hour the tender consort watched by his side, submitting\nwithout a murmur, or even a look of dissatisfaction, to the petulance\ninduced by his disease. She watched him as he lay upon his\nrug--anticipated his wishes--soothed his sufferings--prepared whatever\nhe took with her own hand--but all her attentions seemed likely to be\nbestowed in vain. The full, rapidly throbbing pulse; the burning brow,\nthe dry palm, and the brown furred tongue, upon which the cool liquid\nwas evaporated the moment it came in contact with it, all proclaimed\nthe jeopardy in which the invalid lay.\n\nThe native physician by whom he was attended ordered him decoctions,\nprepared from some lenitive herbs; these had not the slightest effect\nupon his disorder. When this arrived at a certain height, and the\nmedical visitor saw that all material remedies were useless, he\nimpressed upon the wife the necessity of immediately repairing to\nthe temple of Somnat, and supplicating the divine intercession of\nits idol, promising her that her husband\u2019s health would certainly be\nre-established, if she could only prevail upon the stone divinity to\nlisten to her supplications.\n\n\u201cAll that art can do,\u201d said he, \u201cI have done to restore this unhappy\nman, who must soon yield up his spirit to be the inhabitant of another\nbody, unless the deity of our temple raise him up at the intercession\nof a pious heart. Go, and may your prayer be heard!\u201d\n\nThis was no very encouraging expectation. The unhappy young creature\nnow felt assured that her husband could not live, unless restored by\nsuperhuman means. The creed in which she had been reared taught her to\ntrust in the efficacy of such means, and to believe that they would be\naccorded to a pious solicitation; she was therefore determined to offer\nher supplications in the temple, in the hope of averting her husband\u2019s\ndeath, which, in fact, would involve her own. At this moment a Brahmin,\nand one of the officiating priests of the sanctuary, entered the sick\nman\u2019s apartment. He was a sanctified man, with a gross, misshapen\nbody, gross from indolence and indulgence, and bearing about him the\nunequivocal marks of the coarse bloated Sybarite. His shorn scalp\nbore not indeed the frost of age, but the deep corrugations by which\nthe forehead was crossed showed, in characters too legible to need\ninterpretation, that time had already prepared the furrows for the\nseeds of death. The old man\u2019s countenance was haggard, though placid;\nbut it was placid rather from insensibility, than from the access of\nelevated feeling. The eye was sunk beneath a projecting brow, that\nhid much of its expression, and its faded lustre spoke not that mute\nlanguage of passion which his heart frequently prompted, but which the\neye was too lustreless to betray. His legs were shrunk to the bones,\nand seemed scarcely able to bear the burthen of obesity which laziness\nand indulgence had imposed upon them. He hobbled to the couch of the\ndying man, looked at him for a moment, doubled his legs under him as\nhe seated himself upon the floor, desired the cocoa-nut hookah to be\nbrought, and, having inhaled the sedative luxury for a few moments,\nsaid, with an air of the utmost unconcern, \u201cThy soul is about to assume\na new body; what are thy hopes?\u201d\n\nThe invalid said faintly--\u201cI have not lived an unholy life, and\ntherefore hope that I shall be advanced one step towards absorption[1]\ninto Bhrim, when my spirit throws off the vile crust by which it has\nbeen encumbered here.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you are prepared for the change--you are tired of this world?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the dying man with energy, \u201cI would fain live, because there\nis a dark uncertainty in the future that clogs my spirit and weighs it\ndown. It is an awful thing to die, and I would if possible escape death\nuntil age should no longer encourage a desire of life.\u201d\n\n\u201cDost thou think old men wish to die?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf their lives have been virtuous, why should they desire to live,\nwhen their capabilities of earthly enjoyments are past?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause to them there is the same uncertainty in the future as to\nthee. In life there is positive enjoyment to the last; with the end of\nlife what guarantee have we for the joys of a future existence?--they\nmay be visionary.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the blessed Vedas teach us otherwise?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, the blessed Vedas! they cannot be gainsaid; they are the voice\nof the divinity: Krishna speaketh through them, but then they are the\nsealed oracles, which only we of the sanctuary can expound; and they\npromise that reliance upon the ministers of our temple will be rewarded\nin the metempsychosis. There is still hope of thy release from this\nperilous malady. Let thy wife visit the temple, and bow before the\nimage--the deity of our race, and thou shalt have thy health return to\nthee.\u201d\n\nHe continued smoking for a few moments, during which not a voice\ninterrupted the silence. Having swallowed a large pill of opium, he\nrose, and taking the invalid\u2019s wife on one side, said to her, in a low,\nhusky whisper--\u201cThe hand of death is upon thy husband; nothing short of\ndivine interposition can save him. If he dies, you know that his widow\nmust accompany him to the swerga.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am prepared for the sacrifice. Fear not that I shall degrade my\nlineage by shrinking from performing that solemn obligation which the\nmost perfect of all religions imposes upon the bereaved widow. It is\nher blessed privilege; I shall not forego it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut would you not willingly evade the consummation of so dreadful a\nsacrifice?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; I would, under no consideration, evade the performance of an\nobligation as sacred as it is awful, and obligatory in proportion as it\nis sacred.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, these are not your real sentiments; you need use no disguise\nwith me. I can save you from the necessity of dying upon the pile,\nif you\u2019ll make it worth a priest\u2019s while to risk the peace of his\nown soul in that strange land of darkness or of light--who shall say\nwhich?--whither thy husband is rapidly hastening!\u201d\n\n\u201cSave me! Why would you save me from a sacrifice which I deem an\nimmunity from mortal cares? In this life, a woman\u2019s condition is one\nof endurance, of slavery, of pain; I would be glad to enter upon an\nexistence where each and all are unknown.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou speak indeed like a feeble woman. Do you not know that, if your\nbody is consumed with your husband\u2019s on the funeral pile, your soul\nwill follow his to whatever destiny it may be appointed? This is a sad\nhazard, for he dies in the prime of manhood, when the blood is warm and\nthe senses are all full of the glowing warmth of young and vigorous\nlife. He has had no time to expiate, by penance the miscarriages of\nyouthful years. The mellowing hand of age has not yet taught him\nexperience, nor the penalties of indulgence wisdom. Thou art too lovely\nto follow him to a future doom that befits thee not.\u201d\n\nBy this time the opium was beginning to act upon the aged debauchee,\nand his eyes emitted the fire, and his limbs the elasticity of\nyouth--so potential is that debasing drug. The lovely Hindoo was\nshocked; but it was dangerous to offend a Brahmin. Advancing, he laid\nhis shrivelled hand upon her shoulder, and said--\u201cDaughter, come to\nthe temple this night, and bring thy offerings to the idol; be assured\nthou shalt not want an intercessor. Think no more of burning. When thy\nhusband dies, thou mayst yet be happy. The multitude must think that\nthe sacrifice is performed, but trust to me, and feeble as this arm may\nseem, it will prove an arm of might in thy protection--it shall snatch\nthee from the flames.\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave me,\u201d said the unhappy wife; \u201cone who knows her duty, and how\nto perform it, needs no adviser but her conscience. I shall endeavour\nto propitiate the divinity, by presenting my oblations before the\npresiding deity of our holy temple, and there lay my hopes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis evening we shall meet,\u201d said the Brahmin, as he retired with an\nalacrity peculiar alike to robust youth and opium.\n\nThe faithful, though unhappy wife, crept softly to her husband\u2019s side,\nand gazed upon him with a glance of anxious inquiry, but spoke not,\nfearing to disturb him. Overcome by his exertion of talking with the\nBrahmin, he had fallen into a deep but disturbed sleep.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The belief of the Hindoos generally is that, after a course of\nprogressive changes, through each of which the soul advances to a\nhigher state of purification, it is finally absorbed into the Deity,\nwhich is, as they conceive, the perfect consummation of bliss.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe sun went down in glory, and smiled upon its own land when it\nwithdrew behind the ocean, as if unwilling longer to look upon the\ngriefs with which the world that had so lately glowed with its pure\nvivid light was encumbered. Evening suddenly flung her shadows over\nthe city of Somnat, but the stars sparkled in the purple concave of\nheaven like children of joy, imparting a beautiful relief to the grave\nsolemnity of night.\n\nAt rather a late hour the melancholy wife quitted the side of her\nhusband, whose malady had not abated, and repaired to the magnificent\ntemple of Somnat, at that time the most celebrated in Hindostan. It\nstood upon an elevated part of the town, and covered a vast space\nof ground. It was a ponderous edifice, exhibiting that elaborate\ndetail of ornament combined with massive grandeur peculiar to the\nearly Hindoo temples. Within, it consisted of one vast aisle several\nhundred feet long, the roof supported on either side by magnificent\ncolumns, ornamented even to superfluity with sculpture, each column\ndetailing an episode from the Mahabarat. Every pillar was cut from a\nsingle block of granite, elaborated with an accuracy of touch, and a\njustness of proportion, not exceeded by any monuments of ancient art,\nsave those of Greece. The light was admitted through a vast dome in\nthe centre, beneath which the huge idol stood like a Colossus, casting\none unvarying expression of grim insensibility upon its prostrate\nbut humble adorers. The figure was of stone, clumsily wrought into a\nmonstrous form. The head was ornamented with gems of prodigious value,\nsimilar gems being likewise fixed in every pillar of the temple. Its\neyes were formed of two rubies of such transcendent lustre as to\ninspire the worshippers with a holy awe when they prostrated themselves\nbefore this hideous image.\n\nThere were no lights used in the temple at night except one pendent\nlamp, the light of which being reflected from the jewels in the idol\u2019s\nhead, and from those fixed in the various columns that adorned the\nsacred edifice, spotted the whole area with a dazzling gleam which\nappeared the effect of superhuman agency.[2]\n\nThe most costly offerings were daily made to this factitious divinity,\nbut the depository of its immense wealth was a secret, as the Brahmins\npretended, known only to the deity to whom it had been dedicated.\nOn two sides of the temple were various apartments occupied by the\nfunctionaries of the sanctuary, which no persons were permitted\nto enter, save those to whose habitation they had been especially\nappropriated. Strange and mysterious events were said frequently to\ntake place within those secret and forbidden retreats, supposed to be\nhallowed by the holy lives of their spiritual occupants.\n\nThe Brahmin who had recently visited the invalid had an apartment near\nthe shrine, and was one of the officiating priests in this fane of\nsuperstition, where, under the mask of religion, the most revolting\nabominations were nightly practised. Like the Eleusinian mysteries,\nthey were hidden from the public eye, as only fit to be witnessed by\nthose whom it would seem to have been thought that vice had sanctified.\n\nWith a resolved but throbbing heart the beautiful Hindoo wife entered\nwithin the black narrow portal of this gorgeous but gloomy structure.\nThe lower part of the edifice was involved in a shadowy light which\nimparted a cavernous solemnity to this house of a most unholy worship.\nThe huge idol rose amid the distance surrounded by a blaze of light\nthat filled the dome in which the colossal image stood, but did not\nextend far enough to pierce the distant gloom.\n\nAs she stalked forward with a measured pace, the monstrous figures\nsurrounding the columns seemed to glare upon her from their granite\npedestals like so many petrified ogres. Her heart throbbed with\nemotion. The object of her visit at this dark hour of night rose to\nher memory with an impetuous impulse, whilst the associations of the\ngloom of the grave, and that of the consecrated edifice which she had\nnow entered for the purpose of propitiating a deaf and dumb idol for\nthe benefit of a departing soul, and to arrest the summons of death,\nsent a chill through the whole mass of her blood which seemed to reach\nand congeal the very fountain of life. When she reached the dome there\nwas not a person but herself that she could perceive in the sanctuary.\nThe light of the solitary lamp hanging from the centre of the dome was\nreflected from thousands of brilliant gems which cast a radiance around\nthe figure of intense and dazzling brilliancy. She prostrated herself\nbefore the image, and poured the full tide of her heart\u2019s emotions in a\nprayer for the restoration of her husband.\n\nA general belief prevailed among the Hindoos of that part of the\ncountry that souls after death were summoned before the Idol of Somnat,\nwhich transported them into other bodies according to their merits in\nthis life, where he became a sort of Hindoo Rhadamanthus, resembling\nthat infernal justiciary, however, in nothing less than in the rigid\nimpartiality of his justice. It was also declared by the Brahmins\nbelonging to this celebrated temple, that the ebb and flow of the tides\nrepresented the reverence paid by the ocean to this shrine.\n\nHaving paid her devotions, the supplicant approached the base of the\nidol, and laid a handful of gold upon it; for her husband was wealthy,\nand the god of Somnat never heard a vow that was not accompanied by an\noffering. She prayed that her husband might be spared to her; or, if\nthe slender thread of his destiny was already spun, that his soul might\nbe transferred into a nobler body, and be thus advanced one step nearer\nto that final and beatific state of absorption so anxiously desired by\nall faithful Hindoos. As she concluded, there was a strange unearthly\nsound heard from within the image; the eyes seemed to glow with more\nintense brightness, and when she rose from her posture of prostration,\nto her surprise the aged Brahmin who had lately visited her husband\nstood before her. She looked upon him, however, without apprehension,\nfeeling herself in the presence of an omnipotent agent, and not\nentertaining a thought, in the innocence of her pure heart, that the\naltar of deity could be polluted by the most licentious impurities.\n\n\u201cThe divinity is propitiated,\u201d said the sanctified impostor. \u201cYour\nprayers have been heard, and you are favoured with the especial notice\nof one, in whose term of life the Maha Yug[3] is no more than a single\ninstant, by comparison with this earth\u2019s duration. Prepare to meet the\ngod at midnight.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou mock me. Does the deity condescend to become incarnate, and reveal\nhimself in a mortal body to his worshippers?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes: where it is his will to favour those whose homage he approves,\nhe reveals himself to them in the likeness of his creatures, generally\nassuming the form of some devout priest, whose ministrations he\nespecially approves, and thus signifies his approval. You will see\nhim this night, under the similitude of a favourite Brahmin. He has\ndetermined to grant your supplications.\u201d\n\nShe was astonished at this communication. The reverence in which she\nhad been accustomed to hold the character of the priesthood--the wild\nsolemnity of the scene around her--the dazzling light that seemed\nsupernaturally to float over the ponderous image--the excitement\nunder which she laboured, from her anxiety for her husband\u2019s welfare\nand the issue of her appeal--the promise that her supplications had\nbeen favourably heard--all tended to throw her into such a tumult\nof agitation, that she became bewildered; and, under the impulse of\nsuperstitious enthusiasm, consented to meet the god at midnight.\n\nGuileless as the mother dove, she did not dream that danger could\naccrue from her meeting a spiritual being who merely condescended\nto assume the garb of mortal flesh, in order to render himself\nintelligible to mortal faculties; and as, according to the impure creed\nin which she had been reared, gods had occasionally united themselves\nto mortals in an alliance of love, her heart\u2019s purity was not shocked\nat the idea which the Brahmin broadly hinted, of the divinity of Somnat\nfavouring her by such especial predilection. She was aware also that\nher husband, as well as herself, would look upon it as a signal mark of\ndistinction, and feel himself honoured at his wife\u2019s exaltation by so\neminent a token of divine preference.\n\nThe wily Brahmin, however, knew his victim too well to suppose that,\nnotwithstanding her visionary impressions, she would fall an easy prey;\nand it was only whilst he could keep up the delusion under which she\nthen laboured, that he would find her a submissive votary at the shrine\nof the most odious superstition which has ever degraded the sacred\nname of religion. In order to maintain the excitement by which she was\nat that moment actuated, and strengthen the impressions to which she\nwas expected to become a prey, some of those abominable mummeries were\nperformed, so commonly practised at the altars of Hindoo gods. A number\nof dancing girls were introduced, who went through various obscene\nantics before the idol, in which several Brahmins joined, with all the\napparent enthusiasm of an absorbing devotion.\n\nThe beautiful Hindoo looked on without a blush, under the persuasion\nthat these were sacred ministrations peculiar to the divinity of\nSomnat, and she came to the conclusion that such were the pleasures in\nwhich that divinity delighted to revel. After these orgies had been\ngone through, and the temple of religion made a scene of revolting\nindecency, the lamp was suddenly extinguished, and the immense edifice\ninvolved in profound darkness. The young wife was confounded. She\nheard the laughter of those who, like the Greek bacchantes, had been\nperforming the grossest scenes in the very presence of their deity,\nand shouts of joy seemed to issue from a thousand throats. She stood\nmute, between astonishment and apprehension. Her awe had given way\nto momentary terror. She was preparing to retreat toward the portal\nthrough which she had entered, when a soft but repulsive voice caught\nher ear:\n\n\u201cCome to the embrace of the god; he awaits thee; \u2019tis midnight, and he\nis impatient to meet thee.\u201d\n\nHer heart palpitated; she was struck with a sudden suspicion. The voice\nwas evidently disguised, but, to her quick ear, could not be mistaken:\nit was that of the Brahmin. Her brain flashed with instant conviction,\nas if the deity had lighted up her soul with a positive revelation.\nThe impulse was irresistible. The illusions of superstition vanished,\nand she felt herself in the meshes of the betrayer. She gasped for\nbreath; she spoke not; she groped for a resting-place, and her arm fell\nupon the pedestal of the idol.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said the voice, in a gentle whisper; \u201cwhy this delay? The god\nis impatient, and he is not used to be slighted: where he honours, he\nexpects obedience. Come!\u201d\n\n\u201cAvaunt! deceiver,\u201d she cried. \u201cYou have marked me for your victim. I\nam betrayed. Why should the divinity of Somnat assume the form of an\naged and deformed Brahmin, when he might clothe himself in the fairest\ngarb of mortal flesh? My dream is past. I am your dupe. Away, and\nleave me. Never will I submit to pollution by one who makes religion a\npander to his odious passions. A light has broken upon me. The deity\nhas indeed heard my supplication, and saved me from the machinations\nof one who will swell the ranks of the Asuras, amid the darkness of\nL\u00f3h\u00e1ng\u00e1r\u00e1k\u00e1.\u201d[4]\n\nThe Brahmin, finding himself foiled, quitted his expected victim in a\nfury of disappointment.\n\nShe stood alone, leaning on the image, rapt in a trance of painful\nabstraction. Suddenly she felt the idol totter; a noise was heard from\nwithin, like the hissing of ten thousand serpents, immediately after\nwhich fire issued from the nose and mouth of the image, and fell in\nthick showers around. The whole temple was illuminated, and the door\ninstantly became visible to the worshipper. She darted forward in spite\nof every impediment, and at length succeeded in gaining the entrance.\nShe felt the pure breath of heaven upon her burning brow, and rejoiced\nin her escape. Reaching her home at length, in a tumult of hope and\nanxiety, she found that her husband had gone to that land where \u201cthere\nis time no longer.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[2] This is stated in the Zein-ool-Maasir.\n\n[3] The Maha Yug, or great Divine Age, is the longest of the Hindoo\nastronomical periods, containing a cycle of four million three hundred\nand twenty thousand years.\n\n[4] The last of the thrice seven hells of the Hindoos. L\u00f3h\u00e1ng\u00e1r\u00e1k\u00e1\nsignifies hot iron coals.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nImmediate communication was made to the relations of the defunct,\nthat the deity of Somnat had heard the prayers of his relict, and he\nthat was transported to a higher region, to be subjected to a change\nin the course of his transmigration that would bring him nearer to\nthe final bliss of absorption into the universal Bhrim. The various\nconnexions of the deceased were all summoned, and the neighbourhood\nimmediately resounded with cries of lamentation, and those frantic\nululations invariably heard at Hindoo funerals. The women stood\nscreaming over the body with dishevelled hair, beating their breasts\nand rolling themselves upon the floor like so many wild beasts, whilst\nthe disconsolate widow sat apart, abstracted by the thoughts of her\nown approaching sacrifice. She moved not; her eye was fixed on the\nground, but the fountains of her grief were dry. Not a tear came to her\nrelief--not a sigh escaped her bosom. The one awful image of death, in\nits most appalling form, absorbed her whole mind.\n\nThe Brahmin, before spoken of, appeared to officiate upon this\nmelancholy occasion. He whispered in the widow\u2019s ear words of\nconsolation and hope, but she heard him not. He talked of her rescue\nfrom the fiery death about to be prepared for her; she disregarded him,\nand turned from the aged sensualist with an expression of disgust. His\neyes gleamed in their hollow sockets with a deep leaden glare, and\nthe blood rushed a moment to his flaccid cheek. He turned from his\nanticipated victim to proceed with the obsequies. When everything had\nbeen provided, the spiritual functionary, having previously bathed,\ntook a narrow slip of a certain herb, and binding it round one of the\nfingers of the deceased, sprinkled upon the floor a quantity of lustral\nwater, obtained from the sacred river,[5] a libation to the gods, whom\nhe invoked with numerous prostrations, and a variety of wild gestures.\nThe people assembled joined in a prayer for the future repose of their\nrelative\u2019s soul.\n\nWhen this part of the ceremony had been performed, in the strictest\nmanner prescribed by their formularies, fire was brought from the\ntemple, where it had been purposely kindled, and certain herbs,\nconsecrated to this solemn purpose, were disposed near the body in\nfour different places. Some relatives of the deceased cast into the\nfire a quantity of dried cow-dung pulverized. During this portion of\nthe preparatory rites, the officiating Brahmin was occupied in prayer,\nbut paused in the midst of his orison, to perform an essential part of\nthe funeral solemnities. A cow, adorned with flowers, was introduced\nat this auspicious juncture, and presented to the minister to prevent\nthe defunct from being unhappy in his mutation, which the venerable\nhierophant promised, without any reservation, that he should not be, in\nconsequence of the Brahmin\u2019s prayers. Several offerings of a different\nkind, but no less valuable, were made to this disinterested priest\nbefore the obsequies were completed.\n\nThe ceremony of the Prayatchitam, or expiation of sins, was next\nperformed. It consisted of prayers, after which the soul of the\ndeceased was evoked, and certain astrological calculations made\nrespecting the constellation under which he expired.\n\nThe body was now washed. On the forehead was marked the sigh of the\ncaste, with a compost of ochre, fine clay, and oil; it was then arrayed\nin the funeral robe, and a piece of areka-nut forced into its mouth.\nA small fillet of linen was next torn into strips over the face; with\nthose strips the two thumbs were tied, and the corpse being rubbed with\na piece of sandal-wood, which emits a very strong and fragrant odour,\nwas laid upon a palankeen covered with red cloth, the Hindoo pall, and\nornamented with flowers.\n\nA large aperture was now made in the wall of the house, which had no\nsecond story, and through this the body was conveyed in a sitting\nposture to the pile, the aperture being closed up the moment the corpse\nhad been carried through.\n\nWhen the procession had reached the gate of the court fronting the\nhouse, it was preceded by two men nearly naked, bearing each a long\ntrumpet, the mournful sound of which, as dissonant as it was loud,\nblended with the noise of tomtoms, finger-drums, cymbals, and various\nother noisy instruments, produced a din sufficient to scare the living\ninto the condition of the dead. To this portentous clamour the numerous\nrelatives of the deceased united their wild wailings, more like the\nbaying of dogs than the lamentations of rational beings. Some cried,\nothers screamed and tore their hair, whilst several sang the praises of\nthe defunct in a hoarse monotonous chant. The dress of these energetic\nmourners consisted simply of a single piece of cloth wrapped round\ntheir bodies, hanging from the head to the knees.\n\nWhen the procession reached its destination, the palankeen was placed\nupon the ground, four furrows were traced towards the four cardinal\npoints and oblations of gengeli and rice were offered to those aerial\nspirits supposed to inhabit the mansions of the dead, in order to\npropitiate their goodwill.\n\nThe nose of the defunct was now pinched, to ascertain if there remained\nany signs of life; for the Hindoos suppose that the dead may be\nresuscitated, though no such fact is recorded by their fabricators of\nmarvels. Water was next poured upon the head of the corpse, and the\nnoise of tomtoms and trumpets was redoubled, to awaken the dead man\nshould he happen to be in a trance. It being at length ascertained\nthat the spirit had quitted, and not returned to the insensate clay,\nthe body was again placed on the palankeen and carried close to the\nspot intended for the funeral pile, the immediate vicinity having been\nfirst purified with Gangetic water, and cleared of every particle of\ndirt supposed to convey defilement. This portion of the ceremony was\naccompanied with numerous prayers and prostrations.\n\nAll these forms having been scrupulously observed, the corpse was\nplaced upon a stone always erected near the Chodelet, which is the\nplace appointed for cremation of the deceased. This stone represents\nAritchandren, a virtuous king, who, becoming slave to the chief of the\nPariahs, was employed by his master to take care of the Chodelet,\nand receive the taxes to be paid on burning the dead. After various\nfantastic mummeries and vociferous supplications, some pieces of copper\nmoney were buried before Aritchandren, together with a small bit of\nnew cloth and a handful of rice, by way of a burial fee. One of the\nPariahs, whose office it was to look after the fire, then approached\nthe stone, and informed Aritchandren,[6] that, having received the\nregular tribute, he must permit the body to pass. The palankeen was now\nsent back, the hair and nails of the defunct were carefully cut, and\nthe funeral pile was prepared. Branches of the sandal tree were made\nuse of for this purpose, it being imagined by all pious Hindoos that\nthis tree has more virtue than any other, save the mango, in promoting\nthe happiness of the deceased, both being trees consecrated to their\ngods. Branches of the ficus religiosa and of the banian tree are\noccasionally used, but only by those who cannot afford to purchase the\nmore costly wood of the rarer trees.\n\nThe pile being at length prepared, the corpse was placed upon it. The\nnearest relation performed this melancholy office, and prepared the\nlast repast for the dead. In order that the departed might go into the\nother world with sufficient food for his journey, butter, rice, and\ncurds were put into the hands, mouth, and ears of the corpse.\n\nThus ended this part of the ceremony.[7] It was a long and tiresome\nprocess, but nothing could divert those engaged in it from performing\nthe minutest thing prescribed in their formulary. On the morning of\nthe Hindoo\u2019s death, alarm had been spread through the town of the\napproach of Mahmood\u2019s army, which report was shortly after confirmed by\nhis investing the fort with thirty thousand men. This did not in the\nslightest degree interrupt the obsequies. Not a creature present seemed\nto bestow a thought upon the danger of being threatened by a large\nbesieging army, headed by a great prince and a successful warrior.\nThey relied upon the protection of their idol, which they imagined\ncould blast the enemy with the lightning of its wrath, and rescue them\nfrom the threatened peril. They heard the din of battle while engaged\nin performing the funeral rites, but it diverted them not from their\nsolemn purpose. The name of Mahmood the victorious was shouted without\nthe walls, and re-echoed within them with a general acclamation of\ndefiance. Thousands of unarmed fanatics crowded the ramparts, confident\nof divine interposition, and loaded the air with curses upon the\nfollowers of a new faith.\n\nDuring the performance of the funeral rites, the beautiful widow had\nremained apart, absorbed in the solemn intensity of her own thoughts.\nThe death of a husband whom she tenderly loved shook her heart with\na severe pang, and the thought of the awful sacrifice which his\ndeath imposed upon her dilated her bosom with a deep and palpable\nterror; still she resolved to die. With her the high sense of duty\nwas paramount over every selfish consideration, and she braced her\nresolution to undergo one of the most fearful sacrifices which the\nmadness of bigotry has imposed upon the credulity of devout but\nimbecile minds.\n\nThe body of her husband was already upon the fatal pyre, and all things\nwere ready for her to consummate that act of devotion, which, as she\nhad been taught to believe, should secure her an eternal communion with\nher consort in paradise. The Brahmin approached her to announce that\nshe was waited for. He advanced towards her alone, and bade her be of\ngood cheer.\n\n\u201cThou shalt not perish,\u201d he cried; \u201ctrust to me and I will save thee,\nto reap the harvest of joy in an earthly paradise, before you ascend to\none of brighter promise indeed, but of more remote certainty.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat mean you? My doom is fixed. I must join my husband upon the\nfuneral pile, that our souls may ascend together to that sphere which\nhis spirit is destined to enter.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut would you not rather evade this fiery death?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I? Is it not imposed upon us by a wise and immutable\nwill?--how then can I evade it?\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you rather live?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot if it be my duty to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are not bound to perish unless you desire it. The deity will\nabsolve you from the obligation upon certain conditions.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are they?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat you will reward with your love his vicegerent here, whose\nministration he has approved, and to whom he has imparted superhuman\npower, as the reward of a life of faithful homage. I will bear you to a\nretreat where no sorrow shall visit you, and where every moment of your\nlife shall be gilded with a blessing.\u201d\n\n\u201cMocker!--this is no time for delusion: bear me to the pyre, and you\nshall see how a Hindoo widow can die.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why would you court death, when happiness is within your grasp!\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause death with a beloved husband were a blessed boon compared with\nlife with an aged and sensual Brahmin. Priest, I despise thee:--lead me\nto the pyre.\u201d\n\nThe Brahmin was silent. He folded his arms, and fixed upon her a look\nof deep and implacable malice.\n\n\u201cI fear thee not,\u201d she cried, rising; \u201cconduct me to my doom; the gods\nwill applaud what their priest may scorn; but I reverence the one and\ndespise the other.\u201d She beckoned to her women, who approached, and\ndeclared to them that she was ready to ascend the pyre, upon which\nher husband\u2019s body had been already some time laid. The ministering\npriest did not utter a word, and made ready to commence the initiatory\nceremonies.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[5] The Ganges.\n\n[6] The Greek Charon and this Hindoo toll-taker would appear to be\nidentical; but the Greeks have been indebted to Hindoo superstition\nfor many other notions, the parallels of which are too strong to be\nmistaken.\n\n[7] See Sonnerat, vol. ii., on Hindoo funerals.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe unhappy widow now prepared herself to perform the dreadful\nsacrifice which was to free her from the cares of this world and\nexalt her to the Swerga bowers, or Hindoo paradise. She was stationed\nbefore the door of the house of mourning in a kind of rostrum, which\nwas profusely and extravagantly ornamented; tomtoms, trumpets, and\ncymbals continuing their deafening clangour as before. She placed a\nsmall piece of areka-nut between her almost motionless lips and softly\naspirated the name of Somnat\u2019s idol. She next adorned her head, neck,\nand arms with all her jewels, arraying herself in sumptuous apparel,\nas if about to appear at the marriage ceremony, instead of a funeral\nsolemnity.\n\nThe array of her person being concluded, she proceeded toward the place\nof sacrifice, accompanied by numerous friends, to the sound of those\ninstruments which had already preceded the procession of her husband\u2019s\nbody. Several Brahmins, including the hierophant, walked by her side\nencouraging her with assurances that she was going to enjoy eternal\nfelicity in regions where there is no misery known, and where she\nwould become the sita[8] of some god who would espouse her as a reward\nfor her constancy and virtue. They further promised her that her name\nshould be celebrated throughout the earth, and sung in all their future\nsacrifices. This proves a strong stimulus to some women, who go to the\npile voluntarily, and with an enthusiasm truly astonishing; for there\nis no legal obligation to perform the suttee.\n\nA cup was now handed to the unhappy victim of the most barbarous\nsuperstition that has ever stained the black annals of fanaticism. She\ndrank of it without the slightest emotion. In a few minutes the effects\nof this draught were visible. Her eyes glistened; she erected her frame\nto the full height of her stature, and looked around her with a flushed\ncheek and stern severity of purpose which sufficiently showed that the\nfever of enthusiasm was beginning to circulate rapidly through her\nveins. As the aged Brahmin approached her, she looked at him with a\nglance of defiant scorn, and pointing to the pile on which the corpse\nof her husband had been laid, said, with a raised brow and flashing\neye--\n\n\u201cDost thou think I would escape that fiery passage to everlasting\nrepose? Thou wouldst withhold me from my glory. My soul shall ascend\non wings of flame to the abodes of those who never die. I see the\nbeckoning spirit in yonder cloud waiting to bear mine to its eternal\nhome. Thou wouldst tear me from my bliss. Away, away!\u201d\n\nShe immediately grew calm and began to prepare for the sacrifice with\na truly sublime solemnity. Her relations came to her, with an alacrity\nthat showed how gratified they felt at the oblation she was about to\noffer. The place was surrounded by an immense concourse, upon whom the\nvictim occasionally cast a glance of pity mixed with triumph at the\napproaching consummation of her destiny. The music, if such it might be\ntermed, had ceased while the preliminaries of the sacrifice were taking\nplace, and an intense and awful silence reigned among the assembled\nmultitude.\n\nThe beautiful widow now advanced to the foot of the pyre, prepared to\nconsume that exquisite frame in the early freshness of its blossoming\nyouth. The Brahmins crowded round her, endeavouring to sustain her\nfortitude to endure the coming trial by songs in which they artfully\nintroduced the most fulsome eulogies of her heroism. This appeared to\nelevate her courage amid the awful array of death. It was now announced\nto her that the fatal moment had arrived when the flames were to\nembrace one of the most perfect bodies that Nature had ever moulded.\nShe did not quail at the summons. Her eye dilated, her nostrils\nexpanded, her lips parted, and her whole countenance was lighted up\nwith a sublime energy of expression that recorded, with the mute but\nsoul-stirring voice of an oracle, the deep and solemn purpose which\nengrossed her soul. She stood a few moments as if in prayer. Her babe\nwas brought and placed within the arms of a once yearning mother. The\nfeelings of nature revived. She spoke not, but pressed it tenderly\nto her bosom. Tears streamed down her cheeks in a flood, still not a\nfeature quivered. The palpitations of her heart were perceptible under\nthe slight muslin drapery that covered her bosom. It heaved beneath the\nsuppressed throes of her emotion, but the countenance betrayed not the\ninternal struggle. Her tears gradually ceased to flow. Her eye cleared\nand resumed its former expression of solemn determination, and she\nwaved her hand as a signal that she was ready.\n\nTwo Brahmins now advanced with lighted torches. Having fervently\nkissed her infant, she placed it in the arms of an attendant, and\nit was instantly removed from her sight. At this moment her nearest\nrelations approached; to these she bade a tender adieu. Having\ndistributed her jewels among them, she embraced them severally, when\nthey retired and left her alone with the ministers of death.\n\nNot a breath stirred among the multitude as she prepared to ascend the\npile. Hundreds stood agape with awe at witnessing the solemn spectacle.\nHaving performed certain preliminary rites, a signal was given by the\nchief Brahmin, when she raised her dark but bloodless brow towards\nheaven, sprang upon the pile, embraced her husband\u2019s corpse, and in a\nfew moments was enveloped in flames and smoke, which hid her from the\nsight of those who had assembled to behold this dreadful sacrifice.\n\nNo sooner was the fire kindled than the notes of innumerable\ninstruments were heard, shouts and acclamations rent the air, in\norder to prevent the sufferer\u2019s screams of agony being heard. Ghee\nwas poured upon the burning pyre to accelerate the horrible process\nof destruction, and the flames raged with such fury that in a short\ntime not a vestige remained but the ashes of the dead. The crowd then\nquietly dispersed, rejoicing at having witnessed so acceptable a\nholocaust.\n\nWhile this dreadful act of superstition was performing, the town of\nSomnat was in a state of siege; still the turbid stream of fanaticism\nwas not diverted from its course. When the Mahomedans invested Somnat,\nthe citizens had flocked from all parts and crowded the ramparts to\nrepel the enemy; but so soon as they saw their formidable array, the\ndiscipline of their troops, and the fearless manner in which they\nrushed to the assault, the astonished Hindoos, alarmed for their own\nsafety, thronged to the temple by hundreds, prostrating themselves\nbefore their favourite idol, and supplicating deliverance from their\nfoes. Many, drowned in tears, vowed to perform sundry dreadful penances\nin case the Mahomedans were repelled from their walls; but the idol\nreturned no answer to their petitions.\n\nMahmood, perceiving the ramparts almost deserted, ordered his troops\nto advance to the walls and apply the scaling-ladders, which was\ninstantly done; and they commenced to mount the ramparts, shouting\naloud \u201cAllah Akbar!\u201d God is great! Those Hindoos who remained upon the\nbattlements, offered a spirited resistance. With the wild energy of\ndespair they rushed upon the Mahomedan soldiers as they ascended, and\nthrew them headlong from the ladders. Hearing the noise of the assault,\nand the enemy\u2019s war-cry, those citizens who had quitted the walls in\norder to propitiate their divinity by prayer, returned to the ramparts\nin vast numbers, and opposed themselves to the besiegers. These latter,\nno longer able to retain their footing, wearied with their exertions,\nand dispirited by such unexpected opposition, fell back on all sides,\nand were at length obliged to retire.\n\nNext morning the action was renewed with no better success, for as fast\nas the besiegers scaled the walls they were cast down backward by the\nbesieged, who now gaining confidence from the advantage obtained on the\npreceding day, resolved to defend their city to the last. They imagined\nthat the divinity who presided over Somnat had heard their prayers,\nand would not permit their foes to triumph over them; and under this\nimpression they fought with a resolution that bore down all opposition.\nThey poured into the temple after the repulse of their enemies with\nofferings to their idol, which were of course accepted, to their great\njoy and that of the divinity\u2019s ministers, who undertook to dispose of\nthose offerings in a manner worthy of the liberality of the devotees\nwho presented them.\n\nMahmood was perplexed beyond measure at the disastrous issue of the\nsiege. He saw his army daily diminishing in an undertaking upon which\nhe had set his heart. He determined however to accomplish his object,\nor perish before the walls of Somnat.\n\nFor some days he made no attempt against the town, but remained quiet,\nin order to restore the confidence of his troops, which had been\ngreatly shaken by the unsuccessful issue of the late assault.\n\nTheir success against the beseigers had greatly elated the citizens,\nand they began to despise the foe which they had so much dreaded. In\norder to show his contempt for the Mahomedans, a devotee let himself\ndown by a rope from the rampart, and advancing towards the enemy\u2019s\ncamp, stood before the king\u2019s tent, braving Mahmood with his late\nfailure, and prophesying that every Mahomedan would be blasted by the\nbreath of Somnat\u2019s idol before the rising of another sun. He was at\nfirst looked upon as a madman, but some of Mahmood\u2019s soldiers being at\nlength incensed at his audacity, seized him, and brought him before\ntheir sovereign. Upon being asked why he had quitted the town, he\nreplied he came to warn them that they would be all swept from the face\nof the earth by the vengeance of a god who would not spare them for\ntheir attempt to profane his holy shrine.\n\n\u201cI come to defy you,--to show how impotent you are to impose injury\nupon anyone claiming especial protection of the divinity worshipped\nby all pious Hindoos. You are all under the ban of our idol. You are\ndoomed to destruction. I go to prepare the scourge that shall sweep you\nfrom the face of this globe.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will never return,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201cto accomplish your contemplated\nplan of retribution; but I will show yonder fanatics how little\nreliance is to be placed upon the god of an idolator. What say you to\nhanging in the sight of your city\u2019s battlements?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou dare not provoke the vengeance of an enemy which has already\nconvinced you of its might. I despise your threats--I fear not\nhanging--death has no terrors for me--violence towards one whose\npenances have purified his spirit for a higher gradation of existence\nin another life, will only bring the curse of retribution upon\nyou, while to me it secures blessings which you will never have an\nopportunity of enjoying.\u201d\n\n\u201cSoldiers,\u201d said Mahmood to some of his military attendants, \u201chang that\nmadman upon the nearest tree.\u201d\n\nThe Hindoo smiled as he heard the order given.\n\n\u201cMy death will be avenged,\u201d said he, \u201cthough you send me to Paradise.\nYou may deprive me of life, but you cannot withhold from me the power\nof defying and scorning the race of Islam.\u201d\n\nAt a signal from their sovereign, several soldiers seized the fanatic,\nand hung him upon a tree within sight of the ramparts. The man died\nuttering expressions of triumph at his martyrdom. He was seen from the\nwalls by his countrymen, who imprecated curses upon the heads of his\nmurderers. The body was cut down as soon as life was extinguished, the\nhead severed from the trunk, and flung over the battlements of Somnat.\nThe citizens bore it to their temple in triumph.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[8] Bride.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n\nWhen the Hindoo widow ascended the pile, the straw by which it was\nsurrounded was immediately ignited, and having been previously wetted\nin a slight degree, a smoke was raised which enveloped the whole\nfabric, and completely concealed the victim from view. She was wrapped\nin a holy trance, and it was some moments therefore before she became\nsensible that the fire had not reached her. To her surprise she felt\nherself gradually sinking amid a gloom so cavernous that the first\nidea which flashed upon her mind was that death had done its work\nupon her body, and that she was descending into those regions of\neverlasting darkness where the wicked expiate their crimes in this\nworld by unmitigated and eternal penalties. She, however, perceived\nthat the dead body of her husband was still beside her, and this\nrestored her to consciousness. In a few moments the descent of the\nplatform was arrested; she was suddenly seized and lifted from it; the\nframe instantly rising with the corpse, which was consumed without the\nhorrible sacrifice of a living body.\n\nThe widow was confounded at her situation. The effects of that\nstimulating potion which she had taken to sustain her through the awful\nrite about to be consummated, had subsided, and she trembled at the\napprehended terrors in store for her. She was encompassed by a gloom\nso profound that she could not distinguish a single object. She heard\nnot a sound, save a breathing almost close to her ear, which satisfied\nher of the juxtaposition of some living being. She did not stir, but\nendeavoured to collect her scattered thoughts. Her natural energy of\ncharacter overcame the more violent impulse of alarm, and in a calm,\ncollected tone, she said, \u201cWhy am I thus torn from the embrace of\nmy dead husband, with whom I was about to proceed to the bowers of\nParadise?\u201d\n\nNo answer was returned to her inquiry. She heard only the shouts of the\nmultitude above, who were exulting at her imagined immolation, with\nthe frantic transports of demons loosed from their eternal prisons, to\nwander awhile in the freedom of crime beyond the confines of their own\ndreary habitations.\n\nAfter some time, hearing no sound near her, not even of a respiration,\nsave her own, she began to grope around. The intensity of the darkness\nhad somewhat subsided, and her eye had become sufficiently familiar\nwith it to be enabled to obtain a dim perception of objects. She\nproceeded cautiously forward until her progress was arrested by a\nwall. Following the course of the masonry she perceived that she was\nin a small circular chamber, from which there was a passage through\na low, narrow portal. The floor of the apartment consisted of earth,\ncovered with dried cow-dung, which was perceptible to her as she trod\nthe chamber with naked feet, having cast off her sandals before she\nascended the funeral pile. She had already strung her mind to the\nnecessary climax of determination which had enabled her to brave death\nin its most horrid form, and was consequently not terrified at the idea\nof dying under circumstances less appalling.\n\nShe was on the floor, her mind filled with images of death, when\nsuddenly a light was seen approaching through the dark passage opposite\nto which she happened to be lying, and a bright figure, enveloped in\nlight, appeared to enter the portal. Every part of the figure was\nillumined; and yet the light did not appear to radiate from it, for\nall around was darkness. It was about the size of a man, and exactly\nresembled the huge idol of Somnat. The widow started to her feet as the\nsingular object approached. It advanced to the centre of the apartment,\nand remained stationary.\n\nThe phosphorescent figure, instead of illuminating the apartment,\nseemed to attract to itself every particle of light, rendering the\ngloom around it so intense that nothing else was visible. It glared\nupon the astonished widow from eyes fixed in their sockets, like\ndiamonds riveted into the living rock, with a lustre so unearthly\nthat she was obliged to seek relief in the darkness from a sight of\nthe hideous phantom. She drooped her head and remained in a state of\nagonizing suspense as to the issue of this terrifying visitation. She\nbegan to question her vitality. And yet the strong perception of her\nsenses--the tangible evidence of life in her own movements--the hearing\nof her own breath--the feeling of her heart\u2019s pulsation--all convinced\nher that she was alive. Could this be a visit from the idol as promised\nby the Brahmin? She would judge by the issue. And yet could the deity\nhave rescued her from the performance of an oblation universally held\nby all devout Hindoos to be so welcome to him? Can he abrogate his own\nlaws. The thing appeared impossible. By whom then had she been rescued\nfrom death?\n\nIn spite of the natural tendency of her mind to superstition, a secret\nmisgiving occasionally invaded it that she was about to become the dupe\nof some spiritual juggle. The overtures of the Brahmin recurred to her\nmind, and the anxiety he had expressed to save her from performing\nthe suttee. She began to dread that she was in his power; and yet the\nstrange supernatural shape at this moment before her seemed strong\nevidence that she was in the presence of something unearthly.\n\nSeveral female figures, all of the same lustrous description, as\nif radiant with their own inherent glories, next appeared to enter\nthe vault, and surround the representative of Somnat\u2019s Idol. They\nprostrated themselves before it, and then such an exhibition of\nindecency was represented as caused the widow to turn with a feeling of\nsickening disgust towards the wall in order to exclude from her sight\nthe revolting objects. The blood mantled to her very temples: it was\nnow manifest to her reason that she could not be in the presence of her\ngod, but that she had been made a dupe of the basest artifices. She had\nno difficulty in suspecting the author of her present imprisonment.\n\nWhilst these thoughts were passing rapidly through her mind, her ear\ncaught a voice which, though feigned to imitate something superhuman,\nshe instantly recognised as that of the Brahmin, towards whom she\nentertained sentiments of unqualified disgust.\n\n\u201cThe deity of Somnat visits thee with his especial predilection. Thou\nmost favoured of thy sex, hail the coming of the god with joy, and\nreceive him to thy embrace.\u201d A hand was laid upon her arm; she shrank\nfrom the touch as if it had been the contact of a torpedo.\n\n\u201cMan of infamy,\u201d she said calmly, \u201cI am not to be deceived either by\nyour wiles or by your sorceries. Scenes to which you would invite me\nbut ill become the purity of heaven, where they alone abide who are\nfree from carnal defilements. When the ministers of religion convert\nher sacred temple into a place of revelry and unchaste joys, the words\nof spiritual blessing can no longer proceed from such polluted lips. A\nlight seems to have broken upon my soul, and to have imparted to it a\nnew sense of perception. I know not how, or why the revelation has come\nupon me, but I feel that I have been a dupe--that your religion is a\nscandal--that by you the deity is vilified, his altars defiled, and his\ntemple desecrated--that I am betrayed, and that you are a villain.\u201d\n\nNo answer was returned. She heard footsteps slowly retreating, and\nfancied she could distinguish the dim outline of a figure through the\ngloom. The silence and mysterious conduct of her persecutor surprised\nher. She feared to quit the cell, knowing not whither the passage might\nlead, and determined to perish in her present solitary prison rather\nthan consent to anything which her heart did not sanction.\n\nBeginning to feel drowsy from the effects of the draught which she\nhad taken before ascending the pile, and fearful lest, if she allowed\nherself to be overcome by sleep, some base advantage might be taken\nof her, she paced the vault rapidly in order to dissipate the effects\nof the narcotic, the influence of which had not entirely subsided. In\na short time some one again entered the apartment, and the same voice\ninformed her that a curry had been prepared, and a jar of Gangetic\nwater provided for her neither of which she felt any inclination to\ntouch. It occurred to her that the food might contain some treacherous\ndrug; she therefore determined not to taste it.\n\nHer heart now reverted to her infant with all a mother\u2019s longing. When\nshe thought of its being in the hands of comparative strangers, who\ncould not feel towards it a parent\u2019s tenderness, her anxiety became\nvehement. It was her only tie upon earth, and the big tear filled her\neye as she reflected that she had probably beheld it for the last time.\nHaving at length walked off the effects of the potion, the excitement\nof her mind dispelled all desire to sleep, and she seated herself upon\nthe floor of her gloomy apartment, determined to wait with patience the\nissue of her odious captivity.\n\nShe was not long allowed to enjoy the solitary quiet of her own\nthoughts. This was soon interrupted by a strange sound like the roaring\nof flames within a narrow flue, and shortly after the vault was filled\nwith a pale dusky light which gave a horrible aspect to everything\naround. It illumined the chamber, which she now perceived was a small\ncircular cavern, with a domed roof, in the centre of which was a square\naperture that passed upward beyond the reach of the eye, emitting\nno light, and through this it was clear that she had been lowered\nimmediately after she ascended the pyre.\n\nThe sudden glare which had succeeded to the intense darkness, produced\nsuch an oppression upon the sight that she was obliged to close her\neyes for several moments. When she opened them, a scene was presented\nto her view, which, though it excited her terrors, could not subdue\nher constancy. The chamber appeared filled with shapes of the most\nhorrible description; these approached her, and standing by her side,\nseemed to deride her with demoniacal ferocity. She heard no sound, but\nthe objects presented to her view were appalling. She saw women in\nevery conceivable state of mutilation, writhing under the infliction of\ndemons, who grinned with ferocious delight at the agonized contortions\nof their victims. Creatures of monstrous form and lineament with\nhideous countenances rushed towards her, threatening torments too\nhorrible to describe.\n\nOne figure, representing a sort of hippogriff, armed with a weapon of\ntorture, from which branched a great number of barbs, was seen standing\nover a prostrate female, into whose bare bosom he continually thrust\nthe instrument, while she appeared to be convulsed with agony beneath\nthe frightful infliction. Upon the head of this monster was a square\ntablet of Palmyra leaf, on which was traced in fiery characters, \u201cSuch\nis the doom of those who despise the favours of Somnat\u2019s god.\u201d\n\nThe sight of this object recalled the widow\u2019s terrors. The conviction\ninstantly came that she beheld a mere juggle, and her alarm at once\nsubsided. What she saw might be the effect of sorcery, but it was\nclear to her that the farce was got up in order to terrify her into a\nparticipation of guilt, at which her pure soul revolted. The voice of\nthe odious Brahmin recurred to her recollection, and the illusion at\nonce vanished.\n\nShe determined to perish rather than become the willing dupe of a\nbeing, the thought of whom inspired her with ineffable abhorrence.\nGazing calmly at the mummery, which after a while subsided, she\nwas again left in darkness and to the welcome solitude of her own\nreflections. It was indeed a relief, for the continual excitement to\nwhich she had been exposed rendered quiet a luxury, even amid the\nimpenetrable gloom of a dungeon.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VII.\n\n\nAlthough Mahmood had been so severely foiled in his attempts upon\nthe city of Somnat, still he resolved not to abandon the enterprise.\nTheir success in repelling the besiegers had elevated the courage\nof the Hindoos to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. They persuaded\nthemselves that the power of their idol had been exerted in favour of\nhis worshippers, and that their enemies would perish to a man. Several\nfanatics singly quitted the fort, to cast defiance in the enemy\u2019s\nteeth, and brave death, which the Mahomedan sovereign inflicted upon\nthem, with undaunted resolution worthy of a better cause. They appeared\nto glory in their martyrdom, as scarcely an hour had passed, since the\nfirst repulse of the besiegers, in which these executions had not taken\nplace in sight of the ramparts.\n\nThe Hindoos, confiding in their numbers, and in the protection of their\nidol, determined upon a sally, which, with the blind fury of zealots,\nthey made about noon, under the glare of an intensely ardent sun,\nreflected with augmented ardour from the high battlements of their\ncity upon the adjacent plain, on which the Moslems were encamped. On a\nsudden the gates were opened, and out poured a multitude of ill-armed\nand undisciplined troops bent upon slaughter. They rushed forward,\nshouting like maniacs, but were embarrassed by their numbers. They did\nnot appear to have calculated upon the regular and steady discipline\nof their enemies, who had been inured to warfare, and accustomed to\nconquer, under the conduct of their warlike monarch, but expected to\noverwhelm them by the mere force of numbers, backed by the potent aid\nof their stone god.\n\nMahmood drew up his troops behind the tents, which broke the furious\nonset of his foes, and enabled him to attack them in separate bodies.\nThe first rush of the Hindoos was checked by the steady valour of the\nbesiegers, who scattered destruction among their ranks, and in a short\ntime the plain was strewed with the dying and the dead. The Hindoos did\nnot continue the struggle; they were quickly repulsed. A rout followed,\nwhich ended in a tumultuous flight. They were pursued to their very\nwalls by the Moslems, but the gates were closed, both against the\npursued and their pursuers.\n\nThe idolaters from the ramparts beheld the rout of their troops with\ndismay. They pressed again into the temple, prostrated themselves\nbefore their idol, made piaculary offerings, and supplicated his aid\nto chastise the murderers of his true worshippers. The deity was deaf\nto their entreaties. Shouts of the victors and cries of the vanquished\nwere wafted by the gentle breeze to the sanctuary, but its stony idol\nwas unmoved. They repaired again to the ramparts, expecting that the\nGhiznivites, flushed with success, would storm the city. The frantic\nHindoos, however, were determined to defend their walls to the death.\nThey saw the enemy rushing forward; they heard their shouts of triumph;\nthe scaling ladders were already applied, when unexpected succour\nwas seen advancing along the distant plain. It was an army of their\ncountrymen, marching to the relief of Somnat. Arriving before the\nGhiznian camp, they presented themselves in order of battle. Mahmood,\ndetermined to frustrate this attempt to reinforce the garrison,\nrecalled his troops from the pursuit, and, having left a portion of\nhis army to keep the garrison in check, advanced with the remainder\ntowards the Hindoo forces. These were fresh, having performed but a\nshort and leisurely march, while the Mahomedans were fatigued with\ntheir late exertions, and flushed with the excitement of victory, which\nrendered them too confiding and careless. They, moreover, entertained a\ncontemptible idea of their enemies, and thus gave them an advantage, of\nwhich the latter did not fail to avail themselves.\n\nThe Hindoo army was composed of troops very different from those\nfanatics who had hitherto defended the walls of Somnat, being chiefly\nformed of regularly-trained soldiers, who had frequently been opposed\nto the Moslem arms. Mahmood, heading his victorious Ghiznivites,\npressed forward to the attack with an impetuosity that caused the\nenemy to recoil, but quickly rallying, they maintained their ground\nwith a resolution that astonished the Mahomedans, and rendered the\nvictory doubtful. The battle raged with great fury, yet neither party\ngave way. For a long time the balance of advantage did not appear to\nvibrate in favour of either. The idolaters, looking upon the struggle\nfrom the battlements of their city, cheered their countrymen with loud\nacclamations, at the same time invoking their idol to cast the foes of\ntheir country and of their religion into the sea. Women were seen upon\nthe walls, holding up their infants to infuse new energy into those\ntroops which had marched to raise the siege of their beloved city.\n\nAmong the Hindoo forces were some Rajpoots, who fought with a\ndesperation which nothing could resist; and if the whole army had\nbeen composed of these, it would more than probably have turned the\nscale of victory against the Moslems. They were, however, cut off to\na man. The Hindoos at length began to waver, but fresh troops coming\nto their assistance, the struggle was still maintained on both sides\nwith desperate determination. The shouts from the battlements seemed to\ninspire the Indian army with unwonted resolution, while it depressed\nthe energies of their enemies. At length, however, by a vigorous\nonset, the Mahomedans caused the foe to vibrate. Mahmood, seeing his\nadvantage, ordered his troops to advance and complete the rout, when\nhis ardour was checked by the arrival of new enemies. Two Indian\nprinces joined their countrymen, with considerable reinforcements, and\nthe battle raged with renewed fury.\n\nThe Mahomedans began now to waver in their turn. The Hindoos being\ninspired with fresh courage advanced to the charge with an impetuosity\nwhich caused the Ghiznivites to recoil; Mahmood, at this moment\nperceiving his troops about to retreat, leaped from his horse, and\nprostrating himself raised his eyes to heaven, and in an attitude of\nthe humblest supplication implored the divine aid. Then mounting his\nhorse, he took his principal general by the hand, by way of encouraging\nhim and the troops under his command, and advanced on the enemy. The\nsolemnity of his manner and of the act which he had just performed\nfilled the soldiers with holy fervour. They expected that the prayer\nof their sovereign, so piously offered, would be heard, and gazed upon\nhim with the enthusiasm of men determined to conquer or perish. As he\nadvanced he cheered them with such energy that, ashamed to abandon\ntheir king, with whom they had so often fought and bled, and who had\nalways led them on to conquest, they with one accord gave a loud shout\nand rushed forward. In this charge, made with an impetuosity which\nnothing could resist, the Moslems broke through the enemy\u2019s line, and\nfighting with that confidence which this advantage inspired, soon\nleft five thousand of their foes dead upon the field. The rout became\ngeneral, and the vanquished Hindoos fled on all sides.\n\nThe garrison of Somnat beholding the defeat of their companions gave\nthemselves up to despair, abandoned the defence of the city, and\nissuing from the gate to the number of several thousand embarked in\nboats, intending to proceed to the island of Serindip, the modern\nCeylon. This attempt, however, was frustrated by the vigilance of the\nking, who having secured several boats left in a neighbouring creek,\nmanned them with rowers, together with a detachment of his best troops,\nand pursued the fugitives, on which occasion he took some and sank\nothers of their flotilla, so that very few escaped.\n\nHaving now placed guards round the walls, and at the gates, Mahmood\nentered Somnat, accompanied by his sons, a few of his nobles and\nprincipal attendants. He found the city entirely deserted by the\ntroops, but there remained within the walls an almost infinite number\nof pilgrims and devotees, who were in the daily habit of offering their\ndevotions before the celebrated idol. Many of the inhabitants were\npersons of great wealth, upon whom the Mahomedan king did not hesitate\nto levy such contributions as the conquerors of earlier times never\nfailed to impose upon the rich who happened to be among the vanquished.\n\nMahmood had not forgotten the beautiful Hindoo widow whose infant he\nhad rescued from the wolf; and one of his first objects upon entering\nthe city was to ascertain the place of her abode. He soon learned that\nshe had followed her husband to that unknown land which can only be\nreached through the dark valley of the shadow of death. He was deeply\naffected. Her beauty had excited his admiration. The scene in which he\nhad become with her so principal an actor had left a deep impression on\nhis mind, and a tear rose to his eye as he heard the sad tidings of her\ndeath. He demanded to see the child. It was brought before him. He took\nit in his arms, in spite of the horror with which its rigid guardians\nlooked upon the profane act. The infant smiled in his face, as if it\nrecognised the obligation which it was under to him. It put its little\nhand upon his cheek. He was moved. The stern but generous warrior felt\nhis heart swell. Giving it to an attendant--\n\n\u201cThis shall be the child of my adoption,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is indebted to\nme for its life, and I shall take upon me the direction of its future\ndestiny.\u201d\n\nThe relatives were amazed. They expostulated; they imprecated the\nvengeance of their god upon the unsanctified mortal who should dare\nturn from his faith the son of a Hindoo. Mahmood smiled at their\nobjurgations, and dismissed them, but retained the infant.\n\nHe commanded to be brought before him the Brahmins who had urged\nthe widow to commit herself to the flames, and had been present at\nthe odious sacrifice. All answered the summons except the chief who\nofficiated upon that melancholy occasion. He was nowhere to be found.\nThe conqueror sternly inquired why they had induced the widow to\nconsummate such an act of infernal superstition.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d said the elder among them, \u201cit was our duty to secure\nher soul a place in Paradise, rather than suffer it to be doomed to\neverlasting penalties, by failing to perform that solemn oblation which\nthe god of the Hindoos requires of all pious widows.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt follow her to Paradise, then,\u201d said Mahmood, with a bitter\nsmile, and he ordered the speaker to be instantly cast over the\nbattlements. The rest were allowed to retire, with a caution never\nagain to exercise any rite of their religion that should involve a\nhuman life.\n\nThe Hindoo child was sent into the king\u2019s harem and placed under the\ncharge of a nurse. Meanwhile the sovereign issued orders that the chief\nBrahmin who had officiated at the late suttee should be sought after,\nbeing determined to make a severe example of him, and then proceeded to\nthe temple.\n\nHaving entered the gorgeous edifice, he approached the huge image and\nstruck it with his mace by way of contempt; then ordered two pieces\nto be broken off and sent to Ghizny, that one might be thrown at the\nthreshold of the public mosque, and the other at the principal entrance\nof his own palace. This was accordingly done.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nThe circumstances related in the last chapter took place during the\noccurrence of those which happened to the Hindoo widow, from the\nperiod of her husband\u2019s death. She still remained in the vault. After\nthe exhibition of infernal agents had taken place, she was left a\nshort time to the more agreeable solitude of her own reflections,\nbut this was finally interrupted by her old tormentor. She heard his\nslow and stealthy tread; she could just perceive the dim outline of\nhis figure, as he entered the vault, and it was now rendered the more\ndistinguishable by being covered with a plain wrapper of ashy-white\nlinen. He advanced under the cover of darkness, still flattering\nhimself that he should not be recognised. The widow was at this moment\nseated on the ground. Groping his way, the aged debauchee put his hand\nagainst her face, and having thus ascertained his propinquity, he said\nin the same counterfeit tone of voice which he had hitherto assumed--\n\n\u201cIs the condescension of the god of Somnat still slighted by the\nrefractory widow? Know that he has power to annihilate thee,\nor--what is far worse--to doom thee, through all the changes of thy\nmetempsychosis, to ineffable sufferings, which nothing can remit or\nmodify: but he has likewise the power to exalt thee to a participation\nwith himself to endless beatitude, in which thy obedience to his\ndesires will inevitably terminate!\u201d\n\n\u201cBlasphemer!\u201d she exclaimed, in a tone of calm but intense bitterness,\n\u201cI know thee; thou art no god, but one of the vilest ministers of evil.\nThou profanest the sanctuary of him thou servest with impure and unholy\nrites, such as no deity can approve. The spiritual nature of the great\nBeing whom we adore, and whose image stands within the walls of that\nhallowed pile, which thou hast so basely polluted, cannot defile itself\nby any corporeal taint. The vices which gods condemn cannot be approved\nby them, and what they disapprove their pure and essential natures\ncannot practise.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are uttering blasphemies,\u201d replied the Brahmin, now assuming his\nnatural voice, perceiving he was discovered. \u201cThe gods delight to\nreward their pious ministers, and the divinity which you have all your\nlife served, and to whom I have ministered during the longest period of\nmine, has yielded thee to the embraces of one who adores thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this be true, why hast thou assumed the character of that divinity,\nand in the pretended identity of his august person, presumed to address\nme with thy unholy love? Why have I been tormented with thy odious\njuggles or sorceries? Why am I confined in this cavernous prison?\nIs it under the sanction of that Being who is the perfection and\nconcentration of all good--the hater and antagonist of all evil?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what you call evil is good, and encouraged by the divinity. The\nenjoyment of holy men is desired by the Deity, because it is not evil.\nIt is essentially good; it is the reward of faithful services and\narduous labours; it leads to happiness. How then can it be evil? What\nyou call my sorceries were representations, caused by the idol which\nyou have despised, of what those may expect who presume to provoke his\nwrath. Know, too, that the god of Somnat has visited you, and in me\nyou now behold him. He has assumed the form of his minister whom he\nhonours, to bestow eternal dignities upon a woman he adores.\u201d\n\nHe threw his arms round her. She rose and flung him from her with a\nforce that cast him upon his back.\n\n\u201cWretch!\u201d she cried, with the dignity of subdued emotion, \u201cthink not\nto lead me blindfold into guilt, by assuming the character of a Being\nwho is unable to endure the stains of thy pollution. Quit me, I command\nthee, and leave me here to die; for know that I would rather perish by\nthe slow process of starvation than submit to the moral defilements\nwith which you would encrust my soul.\u201d\n\nThe old man rose with difficulty, muttering curses, and hobbled from\nthe vault. Unappalled by the prospect of the vilest persecution, or,\nwith perhaps more probability, of a horrible death, the lovely Hindoo\ncalmly resigned herself to her destiny, resolved to perish, under\nwhatever aspect death might approach her, rather than become the\nvictim of her odious persecutor. Her mind was agitated by a tumult\nof conflicting thoughts. She had been made sensible of having lived\nhitherto under the delusions of a false faith. Her conclusions upon the\nnature and quality of Deity became vague and undefined, and she knew\nnot on what to repose her trust. Still her soul was impressed with the\none vast idea of omnipotent agency, and she felt that she was under\nboth its dominion and its power. The purity of her own conscience gave\nher confidence that she should not be deserted.\n\nShe had not been long balancing the issues of life and death, when\ntwo female devotees, in the habit of attending upon the idol, and\nfamiliarized with scenes of the grossest vice, entered the vault, one\nof them bearing a lamp. They were dressed in the meretricious attire\npeculiar to their vocation, and employed all their arts of persuasion\nto induce the youthful widow to dismiss her absurd prejudices, as\nthey termed her virtuous resistance, and submit to the will of their\ngod, who, they assured her, was a tender and indulgent divinity. She\nrepelled their arguments with lofty scorn. Finding that persuasion was\nlost upon her, one of them said--\n\n\u201cWell, use your own pleasure; but since you refuse the offers of your\nspiritual guardian, you must no longer pollute with your presence the\nsecret sanctuary, where he condescends to visit those whom he honours\nwith his preference. Follow us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhither would you lead me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will shortly know.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall not stir from this spot in such company.\u201d\n\nThe women set up a loud laugh, and one of them, approaching the widow,\nsaid with a gesticulation of vulgar ferocity, \u201cFollow us quietly, or,\nby the chackra[9] of Vishnoo, you will be dragged like a refractory\nbeast. Think a moment before you determine to resist.\u201d\n\nThe widow replied not, but by a movement of her hand signified her\nconsent to follow. One of the women went before with the light, and\nthe other behind. They passed through a long narrow passage, vaulted\noverhead, and evidently underground. There was no outlet on either\nside. It was terminated by a straight staircase, so narrow that only\none person could ascend at a time. Upon reaching the top, there was a\nsmall square landing-place, with two doors at opposite sides.\n\n\u201cHere you will enter,\u201d said the foremost woman, pointing to one of the\ndoors.\n\n\u201cWhither does it lead?\u201d\n\n\u201cInto the bosom of the idol. There you will meet the god, there you\nwill be advanced to endless honours, there one who adores you awaits\nyour coming.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not to be deluded by these profane pretensions. Here let our\nconference end. Open, if I am to enter, and let me know at once the\nworst that is to befall me.\u201d\n\nA small silver bell was now rung by one of the women, when the door\nslid sideways through a groove and presented a narrow portal. The widow\nentered fearlessly and the door instantly closed behind her. She was\nat the bottom of a short flight of stone steps, at the top of which\nappeared a brilliant light. She ascended with desperate resolution,\ndetermined to ascertain at once the full extent of the mischief to\nwhich she was to become a victim. On gaining the top of the stairs,\nshe entered a circular chamber, about six feet in diameter. The\nfloor was covered with a beautiful Persian rug, and the light was so\nintense as for the moment to be extremely painful. It was reflected\nfrom an invisible source by means of reflectors composed of gems. The\nwalls of the apartment were decorated with jewels of immense size and\nbrilliancy, and gems were likewise strewed in heaps upon the floor.\nThe treasure displayed was prodigious. It appeared like a scene of\nenchantment. The wealth of a universe seemed to be concentred in that\none spot.\n\nThe widow had not long gazed upon the vast wealth before her, when a\nsmall door which she had not hitherto perceived, slowly opened and the\nold Brahmin entered. There was an expression of triumphant malignity\nin his deep dull eye. He closed the door carefully behind him. \u201cNow,\u201d\nsaid he, approaching his victim, \u201cfor the consummation at once of\nmy pleasure and of my vengeance. Here resistance will be vain. My\nministers are at hand. Those women who conducted you from the vault are\nwithin call, therefore be advised. Consent to be the bride of Somnat\u2019s\nidol, in the bosom of which you now stand, and the wealth which you\nbehold is at your disposal; refuse, and the idol\u2019s curse will follow\nyou through the world to the place of everlasting retribution.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know not a woman\u2019s resolution,\u201d replied the young widow firmly; \u201cI\nwill never consent to the degradation you propose. Do your worst.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so, then,\u201d cried the Brahmin, and seizing a staff, he was about\nto strike a gong that hung from an iron bar which crossed the chamber\nabout six feet from the floor, when a strange noise was heard without,\nand the image vibrated to its very foundation. The Brahmin trembled,\nand sank upon his knees. The beautiful Hindoo gazed on him in silence\nand without emotion. The noise increased, the walls of the chamber\noscillated. With the calm confidence of speedy deliverance she looked\nforward to the result. Her companion was still upon his knees overcome\nby the stupefaction of terror.\n\nVoices were now distinctly heard, and one smote on the widow\u2019s ear\nlike familiar music. It was Mahmood\u2019s. He had entered the temple of\nSomnat just as the lovely widow had ascended into the hollow bosom of\nthe image. Having seen his orders executed upon the colossal frame, a\ncrowd of Brahmins, perceiving their god in jeopardy, rushed forward\nand besought the king\u2019s attendants to intercede with their sovereign\nto spare it, offering Mahmood a large sum of money, to be instantly\npaid down, if he would desist from further mutilation. His officers\nendeavoured to persuade the king to accept the money, urging that as\nthe destruction of one idol would not put an end to idolatry, it could\nnot serve the cause of true religion entirely to destroy the image; but\nthat the sum offered might be distributed among the faithful, which\nwould be a meritorious act.\n\nThe monarch acknowledged there might be much truth in what they said,\nbut, nevertheless, declared that he would not consent to a measure\nwhich would place him before posterity as Mahmood the \u201cIdol-seller;\u201d\nwhereas it was the height of his ambition to be known as Mahmood \u201cThe\nDestroyer of Idols.\u201d\n\nHaving finally delivered his determination, he ordered his troops to\nproceed with the work of destruction. The gigantic image tottered\nbeneath their strokes. It was at length split; the next blow laid open\nits hollow body, and to the surprise of the king and his officers\nits immense wealth was exposed to view; but their astonishment was\ninfinitely increased when upon enlarging the opening, the Hindoo widow\nappeared standing in the centre of the cavity with the aged Brahmin\nkneeling beside her. The king instantly recognized her. She rushed\ntowards him and exclaiming, \u201cMy deliverer!\u201d fell into his arms.\n\n\u201cYou have saved me,\u201d she cried hysterically, \u201cfrom pollution and from\ndeath. Yonder is my persecutor. In another hour I should have been what\nI shudder to contemplate.\u201d\n\nThe Brahmin was dragged from his den of infamy. He shrank from the\ngaze of the scornful Mahomedan. His own companions slank out of the\ntemple and left him to his fate. He was instantly hanged from one of\nthe pillars of the sanctuary which he had so frequently profaned.\nThe beautiful widow became Mahmood\u2019s favourite queen, which event\nimmediately followed upon her unexpected deliverance from the \u201cIdol of\nSomnat.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[9] A sort of missile discus, with which the divinity Vishnoo is always\nrepresented armed.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 421 (A.D. 1030).--A conspiracy was formed in favour of Prince\nMusaood, the king\u2019s brother. Mahomed was surrounded in his tent by the\nconspirators and his person seized. The refractory nobles immediately\njoined Musaood and swore allegiance to him. Mahomed was deprived of\nsight and cast into prison.\n\nHeg. 422 (1031).--The king raised Altoon Tash, one of his own domestic\nsweepers, to the viceroyship of Rye in Persia.\n\nHeg. 423 (1032).--Khwaja Ahmud, the vizier, died.\n\nHeg. 424 (1033).--This year was remarkable for a great drought and\nfamine in many parts of the world. The famine was succeeded by a\npestilence, which, in less than a month, swept away forty thousand\npersons from Ispahan alone. In Hindostan whole countries were\ndepopulated.\n\nHeg. 425 (1034).--The Ghiznivite general Boghtudy was defeated by the\nSuljooks.\n\nHeg. 427 (1036).--A new palace was finished at Ghizny. In it was a\ngolden throne, studded with jewels, erected in a magnificent hall:\nover the throne was suspended by a golden chain a crown of gold,\nweighing seventy mauns or a hundred and thirty-five pounds, and\nemitting lustre from numerous precious stones. This formed a canopy\nfor the king when he sat in state to give public audience.\n\nHeg. 431 (1040).--Musaood, being defeated by the Suljooks, and\ndeserted by his generals, his subjects restored his brother Mohamed,\nwhom he had blinded, to the throne.\n\nHeg. 433 (1042).--Musaood was assassinated in the fort of Kurry.\nModood, his son, marched against his uncle, and defeating him, put him\nand all his sons to death. About this time the Toorkomans of Toghrul\nBeg made an incursion into the Ghiznivite territories by the way of\nBoost, against whom Modood sent an army which gave them a signal\ndefeat.\n\nHeg. 438 (1046).--Toghrul Beg began to entertain treasonable designs\nagainst his sovereign, but upon his treachery being discovered, his\nadherents deserted him, and he was obliged to fly from the king\u2019s\ndominions.\n\nHeg. 440 (1048).--Modood conferred the royal dress, drums and robes\nupon his two eldest sons, Mahmood and Munsoor.\n\nHeg. 441 (1049).--Modood died, having reigned upwards of nine years.\nHe was succeeded by his brother Abool Hussun Ally, who married the\nlate king\u2019s widow; but was deposed two years after by Sultan Abool\nRusheed, according to the most authentic accounts, a son of the\nEmperor Mahmood. He was assassinated a year after his accession by\nToghrul Hajib, and Furokhzad, a son of Musaood, raised to the throne.\n\nHeg. 450 (1058).--The king became afflicted with dysentery and died,\nafter a reign of six years.\n\nHeg. 450 (1058).--Furokhzad was succeeded by his brother Ibrahim, who\nsent an army into India and conquered many provinces in that country\nwhich had not yet been visited by the Mussulman arms. It was during\nthis reign that Eiz-ood-Deen returned from India, where his father\nhad been an exile, married a princess of the house of Ghizny, and was\nrestored to the principality of Ghoor.\n\nHeg. 472 (1079).--Ibrahim took the town of Dera by assault.\n\nHeg. 492 (1098).--Sultan Ibrahim died and was succeeded by his son\nMusaood, who after a reign of sixteen years, without domestic troubles\nor foreign wars, died in the latter end of the year of the Hegira 508.\n\nHeg. 508 (1118).--Arslan, son of the late king, ascended the throne\nof Ghizny, and imprisoned all his brothers except one, who avoided by\nflight a similar fate. This latter prince having collected an army,\ndefeated his brother, and ascended the throne. Arslan, after a short\nreign of three years, suffered a violent death.\n\nHeg. 511 (1121).--Sultan Beiram became king of Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 512 (1122).--Beiram having defeated and taken prisoner Mahomed\nBhyleem, governor of Lahore, who had rebelled against his government,\npardoned him, on his swearing allegiance, and returned to Ghizny.\nMahomed Bhyleem again rebelled, was defeated and slain. Beiram having\nexecuted Kootb-ood-Deen Mahomed Ghoory Afghan, to whom he had given\nhis daughter in marriage, was attacked and defeated by Alla-ood-Deen,\nbrother of the murdered prince, and obliged to fly from his dominions.\n\nHeg. 547 (1152).--Sultan Beiram died after a reign of thirty-five\nyears. He was succeeded by his son Khoosrow, who reigned seven years\nand died at Lahore, and was succeeded by his son Khoosrow Mullik.\n\nHeg. 576 (1180).--The kingdom of Ghizny was invaded by Shahab-ood-Deen\nMahomed Ghoory, son of Eiz-ood-Deen. He finally evacuated the kingdom,\ncarrying with him Mullik Shah, the king\u2019s son, a child only four years\nold, as a hostage.\n\nHeg. 580 (1184).--Mahomed Ghoory made an attempt upon Lahore, whither\nthe Emperor had removed his court, but being foiled, subjected the\ncountry to devastation by fire and sword.\n\nHeg. 582 (1186).--The prince of Ghoor again returned to Lahore with a\nlarge army and took the city. The Emperor, seeing no means of escape,\nthrew himself upon the mercy of his enemy. Mahomed Ghoory demanded\ninstant possession of Lahore. The gates of the city were accordingly\nthrown open to receive him, and the empire passed from the house of\nGhizny to that of Ghoor. Sultan Khoosrow Mullik reigned twenty-eight\nyears.\n\n\n\n\n                          The Royal Merchant.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\n\u201cBoy,\u201d said Sam to his son Eiz-ood-Deen, \u201cI\u2019m sadly tired of this\nbanishment. One\u2019s own country, after all, is the only paradise upon\nearth, and to be exiled from it is a sad penalty to a patriotic heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d replied the son, \u201cyou entered this land of strangers under\npoverty and bereavement; you have here raised yourself to distinction\nand wealth; your adopted country has been more favourable to you\nthan your fatherland; why, therefore, should you seek to quit these\nhospitable shores for those from which you were once spurned a beggar\nand an outcast?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause the yearnings of nature are too strong to be resisted.\nBesides, there I am known to belong to the blood of her kings; here I\nam looked upon as a mere trafficker in merchandise, upon which, indeed,\nI have grown rich, but in a manner that ill becomes the offspring of\nroyalty.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been too long accustomed to consider this as my native land to\ndesire to seek another home; but the desires of the son ought to yield\nto those of the father: I am, therefore, content to quit it whenever\nyou may deem it fitting.\u201d\n\nThe merchant Sam was, in truth, son of the king of Ghoor, a mountainous\nregion, which finally became tributary to Ghizny, and had been obliged\nto fly from his country on the death of his father, who, while\nattacking a fort, was killed by an arrow, which entered his eye.\nThe son fled into India, and finally settled at Surat, a city or\nconsiderable commercial importance, about twelve coss from the sea.\nBeing of an enterprising turn of mind, he assumed the business of a\nmerchant, and, in the course of a few years of successful traffic,\nbecame a man of great wealth.\n\nAlthough he found few Mahomedans at Surat, there were a number of old\nParsee families, who had fixed their abode in a certain quarter of the\ncity. With these he freely associated, as they were not so backward in\nholding social intercourse with strangers as the native inhabitants,\namong whom the exclusive prejudices of caste were maintained generally\nwith extreme rigour. The Parsees being a mercantile people, the\nroyal merchant found that they very much advanced the success of his\nventures, and with them, therefore, he dwelt upon terms of mutual\ngood-fellowship. Having, however, reaped the full harvest of his\nindustry, he was anxious to return to that exaltation in his native\nland which he had forfeited by his flight, especially now that he\npossessed the means of maintaining a dignity which his ambition\nrendered him eager to enjoy. His son, though he yielded to the wishes\nof his father, had other views. When he had left his native mountains,\nhe was too young to retain any endearing impressions of home or of\ncountry; he, therefore, felt no desire to quit a spot which was\nendeared to him by other ties than those of a long residence.\n\nEiz-ood-Deen was in the habit of visiting the family of a Parsee who\nhad an only daughter, a beautiful girl in her thirteenth year. She\nwas the pride of her father, and he watched over her with a vigilance\nonly equalled by his fondness, being anxious to keep her from the view\nof suitors, as he had betrothed her to the son of a wealthy Parsee\nmerchant in Bombay, to whom she was shortly to be married. It happened\nthat she felt an invincible repugnance to the young man to whom she\nwas betrothed, but had never dared to express this repugnance to her\nfather, knowing the extreme severity of his resentments when his\npurposes were crossed, and being well assured that even his parental\naffection would give way before the fierceness of his anger, if she\nshould dare to rebel against his authority.\n\nShe had frequently observed Eiz ood-Deen, when he called upon her\nparent, through the venetians of her window that overlooked the\nstreet, but which she had never ventured to raise. She was much struck\nwith the easy elegance of his person, and the lively intelligence of\nhis countenance, which had a sprightliness and characteristic amenity\nof expression far more attractive than mere exclusive beauty. He was\nin his nineteenth year, vigorous and well formed, and altogether\nan interesting rather than a handsome person. She could not help\ncontrasting him with the object of her father\u2019s choice, who was a short\nfat youth, with an ungainly countenance, and pitted with the small-pox.\n\nThe sight of the Mahomedan rendered her more than ever averse to the\nParsee, and she soon became silent and desponding. Her father perceived\nthe change, but could not draw from her the cause of her depression. He\nnever, for a moment, imagined that it could arise from any antipathy to\nthe object of his choice for her, because he was firmly persuaded that\nshe had no choice in the matter, his fiat being the rule of her will.\nHe was uneasy, however, at the change, as his affection for her was\nsurpassed only by his desire to see her the wife of a wealthy husband,\nwhich she would have in the son of his friend, the Bombay merchant.\n\nEiz-ood-Deen had heard much of the beauty of the Parsee\u2019s daughter, but\nhad been in the habit of visiting at his house for the best part of a\nyear without having once seen her. She, however, had indulged herself,\nby seeing him enter and quit the house almost daily for several months,\nand the first favourable impression which his person made upon her in\nno degree subsided; so far from it, that she felt for the first time\nthe two extreme passions of love and hate glowing in her bosom at the\nsame moment--love towards the Mahomedan, and hatred towards the Parsee.\nShe frequently pondered upon the misery of her lot, in being doomed to\nwed a man whom she loathed, and debarred, by the difference of creeds,\nfrom marrying one with whom she fancied she could realize her fairest\ndreams of happiness. She became at length so excited by anxiety, that\nshe determined to brave all hazards, and, in defiance of her father\u2019s\nanger, reveal her passion to the object of her love. It was some time\nbefore a safe opportunity occurred.\n\nOne morning her parent was suddenly called from home, and, to her\njoy, Eiz-ood-Deen appeared in the court. She raised the venetians as\nhe approached the door, and exposing her young glowing countenance,\nupon which the blush mantled like the opening tint of the vernal\nrose, told him her father was not within. He stopped a moment to gaze\nupon her, but overcome with the novelty of the act she had committed,\nshe withdrew her head, and dropped the venetian frame. The Mahomedan\nwas riveted to the spot. He was so overcome by astonishment at the\nunexpected sight of so much beauty, that he had not the presence\nof mind to utter a word. At length the sudden impulse of surprise\nsubsided, and he recovered his self-possession. As her apartment faced\nthe court which was seen from the street, he knew it would expose the\nlovely girl to the worst suspicions if he remained under the window; he\ntherefore entered the house, as if ignorant that the Parsee was from\nhome. He here encountered an old woman who, as he soon ascertained,\nwas an attendant upon the young mistress of the mansion. She was a\nlow-caste Hindoo, and, knowing the sordidness of the class to which she\nbelonged, he had no difficulty in bribing her to bring him into the\npresence of her young mistress. They met on that very morning. Vows of\nperpetual love were interchanged, and the beautiful girl agreed to fly\nwith him to his native country, in order to avoid a union against which\nher heart revolted.\n\nInterviews were from this time almost daily contrived between the\nlovers by the old woman who watched for them, who would have hazarded\nher soul for gold; it was this only that kept her faithful, but her\nfidelity was known by those who purchased it to be held by so slippery\na tenure that they were both anxious to be beyond the influence of\ntreachery.\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d said Eiz-ood-Deen one evening, \u201cwhen are we to quit this\nland of the stranger?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, my son, I thought thou didst not seem inclined to quit it;\ntherefore, on thy account, I dismissed it from my thoughts.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, my sire, a parent\u2019s wish is law to a dutiful son, and I trust you\nhave never found me so wanting in filial obligation as to oppose, even\nby a thought, the desire of one to whom I owe not only my being, but\nthe blessings of a happy life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, my son, I have long been prepared to visit the land of my\nfathers, and, if you concur, we\u2019ll take ship at the full of the present\nmoon, when we shall enjoy the blessing of heaven\u2019s light by night as\nwell as by day.\u201d\n\nEverything was immediately prepared for their departure, and\nEiz-ood-Deen congratulated himself that the lovely Parsee would be the\nhappy companion of his voyage. That night his thoughts were so full\nof joy that he could not sleep. He lay pondering upon the bliss which\nappeared to be in store for him. He was the only child of a parent, no\nless indulgent than wealthy, and beloved by a beautiful girl, with whom\nhe anticipated that he should pass a life of unmixed enjoyment: but\nalas! how seldom are the soberest expectations realized! Disappointment\nalmost invariably follows the glowing dreams of enthusiasm.\n\nThe next day he repaired to the Parsee\u2019s house; the door was closed\nupon him. He saw no one but a menial, who told him that his master was\ndesirous he should never more project his shadow over his threshold.\n\n\u201cWhat is the meaning of all this?\u201d inquired Eiz-ood-Deen, with a\nbeating heart and quivering lip.\n\n\u201cThink a moment,\u201d replied the man, \u201cand you will be at no loss to\nguess.\u201d\n\nThis was an unexpected shock. He sickened as he thought upon the\nmelancholy consequences that might arise to the object of his fondest\naffections, and quitted the house with a sad presentiment of mischief.\nIt was clear they had been betrayed. The old woman no doubt, in the\nhope of reaping a richer harvest, had revealed their visits to the\ninexorable parent, and the consequences of his anger would no doubt be\nextreme.\n\nDuring the whole of that day he could obtain no tidings of the Parsee\u2019s\ndaughter. Many dark hints were thrown out by some of his tribe, whom\nEiz-ood-Deen knew, which led him to apprehend some fearful consequence,\nbut he could ascertain nothing positive. He returned to his father\u2019s\nhouse. The worthy merchant was surprised to see the gloom with which\nhis son\u2019s countenance was overcast, and inquired the cause; but an\nevasive reply silenced his questions, though it did not hush his\nsuspicions.\n\nThe following morning Eiz-ood-Deen was walking beyond the suburbs\nof Surat, and bent his steps towards the cemetery of the Parsees. It\nwas a circular inclosure, protected by a wall about four feet high.\nWithin was a deep vault, covered by an iron grating, upon the top of\nwhich the bodies of the dead were placed, and there left to corrupt,\nthe bones finally falling into the receptacle below, whence they were\nremoved at certain periods, and cast into the sea. Reaching the wall,\nhe sat on it, in order to rest himself or to give free scope to the\nsadness of his thoughts in the immediate vicinity of so solemn a spot.\nLooking towards the grating, he saw a body which had been that morning\nplaced upon it. Urged by an irresistible impulse, he leaped into the\ninclosure, and approaching the vault, was horror-struck at beholding\nthe disfigured corpse of the Parsee\u2019s daughter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nEiz-ood-Deen returned to his father\u2019s house stunned with the shock\nhe had received at the Parsee cemetery. It struck his mind with the\nfiery quickness and impetuosity of the thunderbolt that the fond girl\nhad been murdered--murdered because she loved him--murdered for his\nsake. This was a dreadful reflexion. There was no interfering with the\ndomestic habits of the Guebres. They were governed by their own laws,\nwith which the native authorities at Surat presumed not to interfere;\nhe had, therefore, no means of instituting an inquiry into the death of\nhis beloved. He was the most wretched of men. The blast of desolation\nhad swept over his heart, and he looked upon himself as a seared\nand blighted thing, which the sun of joy could no longer warm into\nblossoming life. He was now as anxious to depart from Surat, as he had\nonce been to remain.\n\nThe only thing that pained him at quitting the scene of his misery was\nthe thought of leaving unrevenged the death of that tender girl whom\nhe had so fondly loved. But how was he to prove that she had been sent\nout of the world by violence? Besides, had he not been guilty of an act\nof deep moral obliquity in carrying on a clandestine intercourse with\nthe daughter of a different tribe, corrupting her father\u2019s servants,\nand meditating her final abduction? He felt upon what tottering ground\nhe trod, and therefore soon abandoned all thoughts of revenge. His\nfather could not account for his agitation; attributing it, however,\nto those capricious sallies of youth which are frequently the mere\nsudden eruptions of passion arising from trifling disappointment, he\ndid not take the trouble to inquire very minutely into the cause, but\noccupied himself about preparing for his voyage. As the transfer of\nproperty to any great distance was impracticable, he turned a large\nportion of his wealth into jewels, which were less difficult to be\ndisposed of, could be easily secreted, and occupied little room. These\npreparations engaged him for some days, during the whole of which\nperiod Eiz-ood-Deen was a prey to the severest grief. He scarcely\nuttered a word. His father now imagined that his sorrow arose simply\nfrom the circumstance of his being about to quit a spot endeared to him\nby the strong and linking associations of youth, but felt no doubt that\nwhen the first ebullitions after departure should subside, new scenes\nand new objects would soon absorb his attention, and win him from his\npartialities to the scenes of his boyhood.\n\nHaving made the necessary preparations, the old man purchased a vessel,\nwhich he manned with Hindoo sailors, for the best of all possible\nreasons, because no other were to be had. The vessel was a large clumsy\nboat, carrying about sixty tons, with no deck, save a kind of poop,\nunder which there was one small cabin. She was manned by fifteen native\nseaman. Everything being put on board, the merchant Sam, with his son\nEiz-ood-Deen, set sail from Surat with a favourable breeze. The old\nman\u2019s heart bounded as he quitted those shores which had been the place\nof his exile for years, and although he had filled his coffers with\nmoney in this strange land, his predilection for that of his birth\nhad never been once stifled; it was still glowing. He was anxious to\nlay his bones among those of his forefathers, and he tried to rouse\nthe spirits of his son to the same level of gratification with his\nown; but the image of death was too vividly impressed upon the mind\nof Eiz-ood-Deen to be so readily effaced. He could not banish it. It\nseemed as if a fiery hand had seared it upon his brain with an impress\nso deep and glowing that the finger of death only could obliterate the\ntracing. His heart sickened when he reverted to the repelling reality.\n\n\u201cNay, my son,\u201d said the glad father, \u201cyou seem as if you grieved at\na parent\u2019s joy. Why this gloom? Is there no other country upon the\nglobe\u2019s wide surface which can yield us as glad a home as that which we\nhave quitted. Why do you repine? What have you relinquished? Were we\nnot living among communities which despised our religion, and held us\nunfit to be admitted to the privileges of social intercourse? Were we\nnot rather tolerated than welcomed by those idolators whom our religion\nhas taught us to despise?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why, my father, have you made their country your home for so many\nyears? They admitted the exile among them, and surely those people\nare not to be despised who received him whom his own countrymen had\nabandoned. But you mistake the cause of my sorrow. I grieve not at\nquitting the land of my father\u2019s exile; on the contrary, I rejoice at\nit: but there are griefs which weigh heavy on my heart, and never shall\nI remember the city which we have quitted but with a pang that must\nlacerate my bosom.\u201d\n\nThe merchant was astonished. Absorbed in the pursuits of trade, he\nhad allowed his son to have so much his own way, that he knew little\nor nothing of his pursuits, and had been altogether ignorant of his\nacquaintance with the beautiful Parsee; he was, therefore, not a little\nsurprised when Eiz-ood-Deen related to him his attachment towards the\nGuebre\u2019s daughter and the lamentable issue of it.\n\n\u201cAlas! my boy,\u201d said the old man, \u201cthere is little doubt but your\nsuspicions respecting the end of that poor girl are correct. The\nstrictness of the Guebres in maintaining the purity of their women is\nso severe that even the slightest suspicion subjects them to certain\ndeath. The power of inflicting summary punishment upon offenders of\nthis kind is in the hands of the parent, and pardon seldom passes from\nthe domestic tribunal for those sins to which death is awarded. The\npoisoned bowl has sent that innocent victim to the land of shadows,\nwhere our spirits shall everlastingly wail or rejoice.\u201d\n\nThe son concurred in the probability of this having been the fact,\nas he recollected the swollen and blackened state of the corpse. The\nconversation becoming painful, he relapsed into his former mood of\nsilent abstraction.\n\nIt happened that among the property which the merchant had put on\nboard the vessel was a large royal tiger, so fierce that it was placed\nin an iron cage, secured at the stern. The merchant had purchased it\nsome short time before he quitted Surat, intending to present it to\nthe King of Ghizny, who, as he had ascertained, possessed an extensive\nmenagerie, and was particularly fond of collecting wild beasts. The\ntiger had been caught in a trap, and never, therefore, having been\ntamed, was excessively ferocious.\n\nThey had been but a few days on their voyage, when the weather began to\nassume a threatening aspect. The sun was overcast, and the heat became\nalmost suffocating. Not a breath of air stirred. The water had a gentle\nswell, and was as smooth as a mirror; but there was a dull greenish\ntint on the surface, which looked like a skin in the human body\ntinged with the morbid hue of disease. Not a ripple agitated the lazy\nmass, which undulated with a slow sluggish movement as if its natural\nprinciple of motion were impeded. The vessel laboured through the\nglassy but ponderous waters with a lumbering uneasy roll, that rendered\nit difficult to maintain an easy position either within or without the\ncabin.\n\nThe haze thickened and lay upon the sea, which it shrouded with a thin\nvapoury veil, through which, when the clouds rolled from before his\norb, the sun occasionally glared with a fiery and portentous glow. The\nHindoo sailors were silent and looked grave, seating themselves by the\nribs of the vessel and looking into the sky with a foreboding gloom\nthat did not much tend to cheer the heart of the venerable merchant.\nThey appeared, however, to take no precautions against the approach of\na hurricane.\n\nThe boat had been under easy sail the whole day, and she was now left\nalmost to take her own course. The navigators began to chew opium and\nto lie listlessly upon their rugs, as if anxious to put themselves in\na state of enviable oblivion as fast as possible. The man at the helm\nfastened it in a certain position, and followed the example of his\ncompanions. Soon after noon the wind freshened; the sun more frequently\nlooked from behind his curtain of dusky vapours, scattering through the\nmist a red ochreous glow upon the sluggish waters. Clouds, deepening\nin intensity as they gathered, rose rapidly from the horizon, and\noverspread the heavens with their rolling masses, which seemed to hang\nover the sea like a pall.\n\nThe sun at length went down in darkness. Some of the clouds upon the\nhorizon, as he sank behind them, were tinged with a dull fiery tint,\nresembling the hue of hot iron immediately after the first red heat\nhas subsided. The wind was now blowing a gale, and the wrack flew over\nthe heavens as if the winged messengers of the skies were hurrying to\ncollect the elements for the work of devastation. The vessel was old\nand leaky; her seams opened to the assaulting billows, which had now\ncast off their sluggishness, and hissed and foamed around her with a\nfierce activity of motion that darkened the countenances of the native\nseamen, and appalled the two passengers. The merchant looked upon the\ntroubled heavens, and his heart sickened. The fearful presentiment\nof death passed over his excited mind with the fierce rush of the\nwhirlwind. He dropped upon his knees: his prayer was incoherent; it\nwas broken by the frightful images presented to his mind. The son\nwas less agitated. His late sorrows had softened the terrors of the\nscene, and the memory of that hapless girl who had died--and perhaps a\ndeath of agony--for his sake, who now appeared about to follow her to\nthe last home of the blessed, subdued his alarms. He soon grew calm.\nIn proportion as the peril increased, he braced his mind to meet the\ncoming shock, but the poor old merchant was fearfully excited. He had\nlooked forward still to years of enjoyment in his native land, to which\nhe was attached by a link as strong as human sympathy could forge. He\ncontinued to pray, but his aspirations seemed not to rise beyond his\nlips: they were stifled in the terrors which gave them their first\nimpulse, but crushed them in the soul as they struggled to get free.\n\nWith the darkness the hurricane rose to a climax. The booming waves,\ngleaming with that pale phosphorescent light which seems to make the\ngloom of a tempestuous night only more hideous, broke over the vessel\u2019s\nbow, heaving into her undecked hull a body of sparkling water that\nthreatened every moment to swamp her. Still she rushed onward through\nthe foaming ocean, leaping over the billows with a sort of convulsive\nenergy that shook every timber in her frame, and opened her seams to\nthe assailing element. The tiger roared, dashing from one side to\nthe other of his cage, which he threatened every instant to shake in\npieces. His howlings were continued with scarcely any intermission, and\nadded another feature of terror to the storm.\n\nThe Hindoo sailors were perfectly passive. The vast quantities of opium\nthey had swallowed stupefied them so completely that they appeared\nutterly unconscious of the surrounding peril. The vessel was allowed to\ntake her own course, and she was urged towards the shore. The rudder\nwas torn from her stern, and she lay like a huge log upon the convulsed\nbosom of the ocean. Not a hope of escape remained. She was nearly\nfilled and on her beam ends. She rocked and heaved under the lashings\nof the storm, like a creature in the throes of death. Her sails were\nrent, and fluttered in the gale in thin strips, clattering amid the\nroar of the tempest to the answering groans of the masts, that bent and\nquivered like the tall thin stalk of the young bamboo.\n\nMidnight passed, but the storm did not abate. The air was loaded with\npitchy masses of rolling vapour, which hung so low that the vessel\u2019s\nmasts almost seemed to pierce them as she rose upon the circling crests\nof the billows; they spread like a pall over the Heavens. There was no\nlight but what arose from the sea, and the intense darkness rendered\nthe aspect of the tempest still more terrific. During the whole night\nit continued without intermission. The dawn revealed a wide expanse\nof waters agitated into frightful commotion; the wind howling through\nthe air with a vehemence that seemed at once to shake the earth and\nconvulse the sea; the Heavens overspread with an interminable tract\nof deep blue vapour which the eye could not penetrate. The vessel now\nbegan to reel and stagger under the weight of water which she had\nfrequently shipped from the heavy seas that had dashed over her. She\nlaboured with difficulty through the rolling surges.\n\nIt was evident that she could not wear out the storm. Every moment\nshe rose less buoyantly. Her rudder gone, she was tossed at the mercy\nof the billows. The merchant wrung his hands in agony; tears streamed\ndown his cheeks, and his eyes were fixed upon the convulsed ocean with\nan expression of horror. Eiz-ood-Deen, on the contrary, gazed with a\nsullen calmness on the terrifying scene. He spoke not; he put up no\nprayer to Heaven; no silent aspiration rose from his heart to his lips,\nbut he looked with a stern apathy at the death which he every moment\nexpected.\n\nA sudden reel of the vessel now brought her up against a wave which\ndashed with a terrific shock over her bow, that made her whole frame\nvibrate. The shock was so great that it forced up the lid of the\ntiger\u2019s cage, and left the terrified animal to its freedom. Alarmed at\nthe tremendous concussion, it leaped from its prison, and, bounding\nforward, seated itself upon the roof of the cabin; but the vessel\ntaking a sudden lurch, and at the same moment another huge billow\ndashing over its bows, with a loud roar of terror the affrighted beast\nsprang into the deep. The crisis had now come. Another wave struck the\nvessel on her quarter, a lengthened crash followed, her seams divided,\nand, after one heavy roll, she went down with a hiss and a gurgle, as\nthe yawning vortex opened before her, that mingled fearfully with the\nshrieks of her despairing crew while they were drawn into the abyss\nwhich closed over them, the clamorous elements singing their requiem as\nthey sank into one common grave.\n\nA spar had separated from the vessel as she went down, and floated free\nupon the waters. The merchant and his son had both leaped into the\nsea, and after a few desperate struggles each grasped the spar, but\nthe old man\u2019s exhaustion prevented him from holding it securely. The\nwater bore him from his hold, and the agonized son saw him struggle in\nvain to reach it. Quitting the spar, he swam towards his father. The\nmerchant threw out his arms with desperate energy to keep himself above\nthe surface, but every wave covered him. He shrieked, the water filled\nhis mouth; again he shrieked, again the fierce waters stopped his cry,\nanother and another struggle--there was a stifled moan. At length his\narms fell, his senses faded, he became still.\n\nAt this moment the son reached him, but too late. He had begun to\nsink. There was no object on the surface. The spar rolled again near\nEiz-ood-Deen, and he grasped it with the clutch of desperation. He was\nnearly exhausted, but with an instinctive desire of life, which they\nonly can apprehend who have beheld death before them in an array of\nhorror, he lashed himself to the spar with his turban, hoping that,\nshould the storm abate, he might be rescued from his peril by some\nvessel, or cast on shore; for though the density of the mist prevented\nthe eye seeing objects beyond a few yards, yet he felt satisfied that\nhe could not be far from the coast. Perilous as his situation was, hope\ndid not desert him; and he who had looked at the approach of death with\nindifference while there appeared a reasonable chance of escape, now\nshunned it with a fierce instinct of preservation, when its triumph\nseemed almost reduced to a certainty. He had not been long lashed to\nthe spar when, through the uproar of the tempest, he heard a strange\nnoise behind him, and turning his head, to his consternation beheld the\ntiger making its way towards him through the raging waters. It snorted\nand panted with its exertions; still it raised its noble head amid the\nwaves, rising above them with a buoyancy beautiful to behold, in spite\nof the painful apprehensions with which it was accompanied. In a few\nmoments the tiger reached the spar, and placed its fore paws upon it,\nclose by the side of the merchant\u2019s son. It offered him no violence,\nbut, looking wildly in his face, seemed to eye him with an expression\nof sympathy, as if acknowledging a fellowship of suffering. Emboldened\nby the forbearance of the noble animal, Eiz-ood-Deen laid his hand\ngently upon its head. The tiger depressed its ears, gave a loud kind of\npurr, and crept closer to the side of its companion.\n\nThough frequently covered by the billows, Eiz-ood-Deen had lashed\nhimself to the spar too securely to be shaken off, and the strong claws\nof the tiger kept it from a similar contingency. After being tossed\nabout for upwards of three hours, at the imminent peril of his life,\nthe merchant\u2019s son and his feline associate were dashed on shore near\nthe mouth of the Indus.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nEiz-ood-Deen was so exhausted on being cast upon the strand, that when\nhe had disengaged himself from the spar and crawled up the beach beyond\nthe reach of the surf, he fell into a profound sleep. When he awoke,\nthe tempest had almost entirely subsided; and to his astonishment he\nfound the tiger at his side with one of its paws upon his breast and\nlooking steadfastly in his face. The recollection that they had been\ncompanions in peril, and the favourable manner in which the ferocious\ncreature had received his caress upon the spar amidst the turbulence of\nthe excited ocean, abated his apprehensions of the animal\u2019s hostility,\nwhich seemed to have forsaken its natural instincts, and he laid his\nhand fearlessly upon its head. The tiger instantly purred, rolled upon\nits back, and exhibited marked symptoms of delight, rubbing its broad\nforehead against Eiz-ood-Deen\u2019s face, and spreading out its capacious\ntongue as if to show him the tenderness of a tiger\u2019s caress. This was\nan exceedingly welcome indication of good fellowship to the merchant\u2019s\nson; nevertheless he could not help fearing that when hunger should\nremind the voracious beast of the necessity of appeasing its natural\nlonging, it might take a fancy to him for its first meal.\n\nHe was so bruised by the spar to which he had been attached when cast\nupon the beach, and moreover his strength was so reduced by his long\nand arduous struggles, that he could not proceed in search of some\nfriendly habitation; he therefore bent his way towards the nearest\njungle, to which the tiger leisurely followed, being determined there\nto pass the night and seek out an asylum the following day. As evening\nadvanced, he crept into a thicket, and heaping some dry jungle-grass\nunder a tree, threw himself upon it. The tiger quitted him; and he\nconcluded that having found a congenial retreat, it had gone in search\nof a supper, which he hoped would prevent him from being distinguished\nby so flattering a preference as he had apprehended.\n\nHe had now time to reflect upon his bereaved condition. All his fathers\nproperty had been put on board the vessel, and all had therefore gone\nto the bottom, save a few jewels which the wary merchant had caused\nhim to secrete about his person for the sake of security, in case the\ncrew should turn pilferers and practically illustrate the doctrine of\nappropriation. The old man had stowed his most valuable gems within\nthe folds of his own turban, which went to the bottom with him; so\nthat of all his immense wealth a trifling wreck only was preserved by\nthe son, who was now a comparative beggar in a strange country, with\nthe habits of which he was not familiar, and towards the inhabitants\nof which he felt no sympathy. His future prospects were none of the\nbrightest. Although he had escaped death under its most fearful aspect,\nhe possessed nothing in his own estimation to render life desirable.\nHe had been cut off from all that was dear to him in the world, and\nthere remained nothing to enhance the world to him. He thought upon his\nparent\u2019s lamentable end, and wept. The dreadful fate of the Parsee girl\nrushed like the simoon blast across his heart and wrung it with intense\nagony. He wondered why he had not courted death amid the howling\nstorm, and could scarcely account for his having used such endeavours\nto preserve a worthless and miserable existence: but he felt that he\nwas called upon to struggle through the difficulties by which he was\nbeset; and the pride of resistance at length rousing his spirit, he\nresolved to rise superior to his destiny, and exert all his energies to\nlift himself from the depression into which a course of concurrent but\nhostile circumstances had plunged him.\n\nHe arose as soon as the broad light had made its way through the thick\ngrowth of the forest, when to his surprise he found the tiger again at\nhis side. Its jowls were streaked with blood; and, from the roundness\nwhich its flanks exhibited, it was evident to him that it had not gone\nwithout its evening meal. It fawned before him with a fondness that\nwon his interest for the noble beast, which wagged its tail, advanced\ninto the thicket, then stopped and looked back, as if inviting him\nto follow. There was an earnestness in the animal\u2019s motions which\ndetermined the merchant\u2019s son to see whither it would lead him.\nPerceiving him prepared to follow, the tiger bounded forward with a\nsuppressed roar. After passing through a portion of the forest where\nthe growth was unusually thick, his dumb guide suddenly stopped, and\nEiz-ood-Deen advancing perceived the tiger standing over the mangled\nbody of a buffalo recently slain. A portion of it had been eaten--the\nwhole of the intestines: but the most fleshy parts remained entire.\nEiz-ood-Deen drew a sharp double-bladed dagger, which he always carried\nin his cummerbund; and cutting off a slice from one of the haunches,\nreturned to the spot where he had passed the night. Having kindled a\nfire, he broiled the meat; and climbing a cocoa-nut tree that grew near\nthe beach at the edge of the jungle, he gathered several nuts, which\nafforded him a refreshing beverage, and was thus considerably refreshed\nby his morning\u2019s repast. The tiger lay at his feet and slept. Instead\nof feeling any terror in the presence of this powerful and ferocious\ncreature, he was animated by a confidence that tended much to quiet the\nmorbid anxieties of his mind. He felt a security against aggression,\nwhich gave a stimulus to his determination to grapple manfully with\ncircumstances; and he began to think that he was still born to be a\ndistinguished man.\n\nAs soon as he felt his body sufficiently recruited to proceed,\nEiz-ood-Deen commenced his journey towards Ghizny. He had a long and\ndreary way before him, but was supported by the consciousness that,\nhaving been preserved from the tempest and from the natural ferocity of\nthe tiger, he was destined to sustain a character in the world. There\nwas an excitement imparted to his thoughts by the singular peculiarity\nof his condition, and the shadows of despondency began to dissipate\nbefore the active energies of his mind. A new field of speculation\nappeared to be suddenly open before him; and when the loss of those who\nwere dear to him, and of his father\u2019s treasure, passed like shadows\nover his brain, they were repelled as by a sunbeam by some elevating\nimpulse of thought, and he pursued his way through the forest with a\ncomparatively unburthened heart. The tiger continued to follow him,\nas if loth to relinquish the companionship of one who had been its\nassociate in peril, and towards whom its natural instincts of ferocity\nseemed to subside into those milder ones which belong to the gentlest\nof the dumb creation. It frolicked before his path, and fawned at his\nfeet when he rested, exhibiting the strongest symptoms of delight\nwhen he patted its sleek broad back, purring under the pressure of\nhis hand, relaxing its large bright eyes into an expression of gentle\nsatisfaction, protruding its huge tongue, and passing it over its\nformidable jaws, at once showing its power and its docility.\n\nIt was a strange thing to see a creature of such prodigious physical\nenergies, and with a disposition to exercise them whenever opportunity\nmight present itself, throwing off the habits of its nature, and, as\nif by some supernatural transformation, exhibiting the very opposite\nqualities to those which are innate with all its race. The circumstance\nappeared to the merchant\u2019s son a happy omen of his own future success,\nand in the strength of this expectation he proceeded on his way. As he\nwas walking leisurely through a beaten path in the forest, he heard\nsomething strike a tree just before him, and raising his eyes perceived\nthat an arrow was sticking into the bark. He turned his head, but there\nwas no person visible, and he paused in some uneasiness. Whence the\narrow had proceeded, or from whom, were alike a mystery. That he had\nbeen the object of the archer\u2019s aim he could not for a moment imagine,\nas the shaft had struck in the trunk of the tree at least three feet\nabove his head, and he knew too well the dexterity of Indian bowmen,\nwhether warriors or robbers, to suppose that so false an aim could\nhave been taken by anyone accustomed to the use of this weapon. He was\nperplexed; he knew not what to think. At length he saw the eyes of the\ntiger fixed as if upon some object in the thicket. Drooping its ears\nand gently undulating its tail, it dropped a moment on its belly, then\nbounded forward, and was in an instant lost in the thick undergrowth\nwhich nearly covered the whole face of the jungle.\n\nAfter a few moments a cry of agony was heard, which was answered by a\nstifled roar not to be mistaken. Eiz-ood-Deen rushed forward in the\ndirection of the sound. He heard a low mumbling as he neared the spot,\nand making his way into a patch of small wood and jungle-grass, he\nthere saw the tiger standing over a man\u2019s body, which was dreadfully\nlacerated. Its paw was on the breast, into which the claws were fixed,\nthe bone being in several places perfectly bare. The skull was crushed\nnearly flat, and the ferocious animal stood growling over its victim\nas Eiz-ood-Deen approached. A strung bow was lying by the side of the\ncorpse, from which it was natural to conclude that this was the body of\nthe man who had discharged the arrow into the tree.\n\nThe tiger began voraciously to devour its prey; and when Eiz-ood-Deen\napproached, and placed his hand upon it, the creature gave a quick\nshort growl, raised its paw suddenly, and struck him down. He was\nstunned a moment with the force of the shock, but, rising instantly, he\nretreated a few yards, and found to his extreme gratification, that the\ntiger\u2019s claws had not been protruded when it struck, as there was no\nwound.\n\nThe merchant\u2019s son made no further attempt to interrupt the creature\u2019s\nmeal, which it was proceeding to despatch with characteristic voracity,\nwhen, on a sudden, several arrows were fixed in its body. Raising its\nhead, it tore the shafts from its flanks; then with glaring eyes and\nerected fur, darted forward in the direction whence the arrows had been\ndischarged. Its career was almost immediately arrested. It staggered\nand fell dead. As it advanced, there had been a second discharge of\narrows, three of which entered its brain.\n\nEiz-ood-Deen saw with regret the noble creature lying prostrate in\ndeath, remembering the peril they had shared in the late tempest, and\nthe tiger\u2019s consequent gentleness towards himself. While he was gazing\nat the body of the prostrate beast, several men advanced from the\nthicket and surrounded him. \u201cWho are you,\u201d said one of them, \u201cthat the\nbrindled savages of the forest seem thus to respect?\u201d\n\n\u201cA poor traveller on his way to Ghizny, which he hopes, through your\nkind succour and direction, to reach.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how comes it that yonder grim brute, which so unceremoniously\nbanqueted upon our companion, who lies yonder with his eyes to the\nbroad heavens, whither his spirit will never enter, did not make a meal\nof thee? He seems to prefer flesh that has been forest-fed to the tough\nand dry product of the town.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy history with reference to that beast is a strange one. We were\nhurled into the sea from the same ship, and clung to the same spar for\npreservation. The creature was near me in peril, and when we were cast\non shore together, fawned before me instead of exercising upon me the\nsavage propensities of its nature. Animal instincts are as inexplicable\nas they are wonderful.\u201d\n\n\u201cA likely story, in truth! but whether true or false, our companion has\nbeen killed and you must supply his place. A tall sinewy fellow of your\ngrowth and bulk is sure to make an apt as well as a comely robber.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid you will find me but an awkward practitioner in a\nprofession which I so little understand.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, I suppose you are what those fools who affect to be good and\nwise among us, call an honest man--whose whole life is only one broad\nvarnished lie. Honesty is a mere term for a purpose. Where are there\ngreater rogues than they who would be teachers of their fellows, and\nunder the veil of religion commit the vilest abominations, and dub them\nwith the name of honesty? We\u2019ll soon teach you a different lesson. We\npretend not to be honest, for thieving is our craft, and we glory in\nmaking the pampered pay for our civility when they happen to cross\nour path. You\u2019ll quickly learn to get rid of your qualms, for with us\nhunger is a frequent visitor, and you\u2019ve no notion how eloquently it\npersuades men to become rogues. But you must go with us, whatever may\nbe your antipathies.\u201d\n\nThere was clearly no use in contending with a set of desperadoes, who\nhad evidently made up their minds to have their own way; the merchant\u2019s\nson, therefore, followed them, without attempting the slightest\nexpostulation.\n\nThe robbers conducted him into a deep recess of the jungle, where there\nwas the ruin of what appeared to be an ancient temple. It was low, not\nmore than a few feet above the common level of the forest, and was\nentered by a narrow portal which led into, several small dark chambers,\ninhabited by the bandits, of whom there were upwards of thirty.\n\nEiz-ood-Deen was refractory, and did not choose to enrol himself among\nthis marauding company. They treated him with considerable harshness;\nhe nevertheless continued firm in his resolution to remain their\ncaptive, rather than unite with them in their practices of plunder.\n\nIt happened that the robbers had received intelligence of a party of\ntroops being on their way, with supplies, towards the camp of Sultan\nIbrahim, sovereign of Ghizny, who had invaded India with a numerous\narmy. As their route lay through a part of the jungle, the robbers\ndetermined to attack the detachment in a narrow pass, where they\nwould be unable to act effectively, and plunder the waggons. This was\naccordingly attempted, and with some success. They partially robbed one\nof the waggons, and bore off an officer who defended it. In the evening\nthey brought their prisoner to their forest dwelling. Dissatisfied\nwith the issue of their expedition, they determined to attack the\nwaggons again on the following day; and in order to effect this with\ngreater security, they put to their captive certain questions, which he\nrefused to answer. Every temptation was offered to induce him to make\ndisclosures, but he declined giving the slightest communication; this\nso incensed the robbers that they shot him to death with arrows. They\nwere not, however, suffered long to triumph in their cruelty. On that\nnight their haunt was assailed by the troops which they had so recently\nattacked, and the greatest part of the band were made prisoners.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nEiz-ood-Deen was made prisoner with the rest or the robbers, who were\nseverally put in irons, and finally marched to Ghizny, where they were\ncast into separate dungeons. The merchant\u2019s son now looked upon his\ndoom as sealed. Taken up as a robber and murderer, he saw little chance\nof escape, and began to look forward with dreadful apprehensions to\nundergoing an ignominous death. How was he to prove his innocence when\nhe had been taken in the very den of those criminals who had committed\nthe murder, and was declared by them to be one of their party? He could\nbring forward no proof of his innocence to countervail such strong\npresumptive evidence of his guilt. His mere declaration would scarcely\nbe listened to, it being well known that the guilty almost invariably\ndeclare themselves innocent. He paced his prison with a restless and\nimpatient step. It seemed as if the doom of destiny were upon him.\nSince the death of that guiltless girl, whom he had hoped to make his\nwife, he had known nothing but misfortune. The conviction smote upon\nhis heart that he had been saved from destruction, when the hurricane\nstirred the elements into frightful combination, and threatened every\nmoment to engulf him amid the raging billows, only to meet a more\ndreadful doom upon land. He now regretted that he had not perished amid\nthe turbulent waters which bore his father to the abode of spirits, or\nthat the tiger had not struck him dead when it raised its paw against\nhim in the jungle. What was to be done? There was no evading the doom\nwhich awaited him. He must die a degraded criminal, his body would be\nthrown to the vultures and to the jackals. It was a fearful thought! To\nhave his bones whiten in the sun, and his flesh furnish a banquet for\nbeasts of prey!\n\nThe robbers were severally tried, all found guilty, and executed.\nTheir heads were placed upon the walls of Ghizny. His trial came last.\nThe day preceding he endeavoured to prepare himself for the fate from\nwhich he concluded there could be no escape; but he could not brace\nhis spirit to that pitch of resolution which defies the terrors of\ndeath, and renders the condemned man capable of going through the\nawful details of a public execution, not only without dread, but with\nperfect tranquillity of spirit. Every one of the robbers--for he had\nbeen taken from his dungeon to witness their execution--had met death\nwith that sullen resolution peculiar to fatalists, for such were they;\nbut Eiz-ood-Deen, entertaining a different faith, felt that he was not\nlikely to meet it with equal resolution. The night which preceded his\ntrial was one of dreadful mental excitation. He had no rest; the fever\nof anxiety was on his brow, and the phantoms of terror flitted round\nhim as he courted a transient oblivion of his woes.\n\nThe morning dawned upon his disturbed slumbers, and the dim light which\nreached his dungeon through a narrow aperture in the wall roused him\nfrom the damp earth upon which he had cast himself for the last time.\nHe arose feverish and unrefreshed. His hands were cold as the stones\nby which he was surrounded, but his temples were painfully hot, and\nthrobbed almost audibly. He tried to summon resolution to appear before\nthe court with composure, but nature mastered all his energies, and he\ngave way at length to a violent burst of emotion. The remarkable manner\nof his escape from destruction during the storm and its accompanying\ncircumstances had endeared life to him, and he felt unconquerably loth\nto relinquish it, although at one time he had really persuaded himself\nthat death would be a boon.\n\nThe summons at length came, and he prepared to follow the messenger\ninto the presence of a fallible judge, who, he was persuaded, would\npronounce upon him, though innocent, the dreaded penalty of the law.\nHe entered the court with a tottering step, a drooping eye, and a\nbloodless cheek. The trial was summary, and the sentence speedily\npassed. He was adjudged to have his head struck from his body and\nplaced upon the city walls, the trunk to be cast to the vultures. The\nexecution was ordered instantly to take place, and, as little sympathy\nis shown for criminals in countries where despotism renders public\nexecutions occurrences of mere daily routine, Eiz-ood-Deen was bound\nwithout the slightest compassion being shown by those who had heard\nhis trial and condemnation. His turban was rudely stripped from his\nhead, and while the heartless official was binding it round his brow\nto cover his eyes, in order that he might not witness the descending\nstroke of death, he raised a piteous lamentation, calling upon the\nDeity to attest that he was innocent, and accompanying his cries\nwith such strong appeals to the humanity of his judge, that even the\nexecutioner was at length moved, and paused for a moment in his work of\npreparation.\n\nThe prisoner was desired to state what he had to urge in his defence,\nand say how it happened that he had been found associated with robbers\nwho had committed a murder upon one of the subjects of Sultan Ibrahim.\nEiz-ood-Deen commenced his defence by stating the principal events of\nhis life, which he did in a manner so simple and circumstantial, that\nthe magistrate, who had condemned him unheard, at length believing\nhim innocent, suspended his execution, and immediately petitioned the\nsovereign in his favour.\n\nOn being brought before the Sultan, the merchant\u2019s son acquitted\nhimself with such modesty and eloquence that he was pardoned, and taken\ninto the sovereign\u2019s service. This was, in truth, an unexpected issue\nto the dilemma in which he had so unwittingly fallen, and his prospects\nthus suddenly brightening, he felt more than ever impressed with the\nidea that he had been spared for a better destiny. He rose rapidly\nin the royal favour, and was finally advanced to one of the highest\noffices in the state.\n\nOne day as he was following the chase with several of the nobles, a\nboar charged the horse of a prince of the royal house of Ghizny, and\nhaving inflicted a frightful wound in its flank, the wounded beast\nfell, and the foot of its rider being under its body, he could not\nextricate himself. The enraged boar dashed towards him, and in a\nfew seconds more would have placed him in the same condition as his\nhorse, when Eiz-ood-Deen spurred forward, met the hog in its impetuous\ncareer, received it upon his spear, which entered the heart of the\nfurious animal, and it fell dead beside its intended victim. The victor\nimmediately dismounted, and going to the prince\u2019s rescue, released him\nfrom his jeopardy. This little incident naturally produced an intimacy,\nand Eiz-ood-Deen soon became a welcome visitor at the prince\u2019s palace.\n\nThe latter had three daughters, one of whom was reputed to be a girl\nof great beauty and accomplishments; nor did she belie the character\nwhich report had given her. Her father was justly proud of her. She\nwas already betrothed to one of the wealthiest nobles in the Sultan\nIbrahim\u2019s dominions. It had been an arrangement of interest, not of\naffection, and one in which the princess had acquiesced rather in\nobedience to the wishes of her father, whom she tenderly loved, than\nto the suggestions of her own choice. When she met the preserver\nof her parent\u2019s life immediately after the event just related, the\nnatural impulses of her heart drew from her expressions of gratitude\nso ardent and earnest, that Eiz-ood-Deen was deeply moved at the\neloquent declaration of her feelings. He listened to her with\nbreathless delight. There was no resisting the earnestness which was\nso much enhanced by the corresponding influence of her beauty. But\nshe was betrothed, and therefore to admire her was dangerous--to love\nher criminal; and yet to see her, under such a provocative both to\nadmiration and love, and not give way to those strong tendencies of our\nnature roused into vigorous action, when that pure passion is awakened\nby which alone the fruits of our earthly paradise are matured, was all\nbut morally impossible. The merchant\u2019s son, now raised to the dignity\nof a noble, and whose ambition therefore led him to think that he might\naspire to the highest alliance, could not behold the beauty of this\nhigh-born maiden with insensibility. He soon felt that his heart had\nreceived an impression which had completely effaced the scar left upon\nit by the sad disappointment of a former love; yet he dared not avow it.\n\nThe two elder sisters were neither handsome nor agreeable, and had\npassed that period of rich and vivid freshness which imparts to the\nbeauty of woman its best charm. They were rapidly advancing to the\nstaid season of existence when the buoyancy of youth begins to decline,\nand you are continually reminded that its beautiful bright star has\nculminated. It happened that they had been both struck with the fine\nperson of Eiz-ood-Deen, and manifested their partiality in a manner too\nobvious to be longer equivocal. The object of their mutual affection\ntreated their advances with provoking disregard; but they, imagining\nthat he was withheld by their rank from declaring his passion, each\nresolved in secret to take the earliest opportunity of letting him\nknow that he was beloved by a princess of the house of Ghizny.\nBefore, however, they could put their determination into practice,\nEiz-ood-Deen had declared his admiration for the younger sister, who\nhad answered his declaration by avowing a reciprocal attachment. This\nalmost immediately came to the ears of the two elder sisters, who were\noutrageous at the discovery of his entertaining what they deemed so\ndegrading a preference.\n\nThis discovery, however, did not abate the passion of these two tender\nmaidens, and each resolved personally to declare her sentiments to the\nobject of her affections. One evening, Eiz-ood-Deen received a message,\nthrough one of the attendants of the palace, from the youngest of the\nthree princesses, as was represented, to meet her in the palace gardens\nan hour after sunset, as she had some special communication to make.\nDelighted at the idea of encountering the object towards whom his heart\nbounded with unceasing emotion, he repaired to the place appointed,\nexpecting to see one whose presence was rapture. He entered the gardens\nand sprang towards a female already there awaiting his arrival, when\nto his surprise and mortification he stood before the eldest daughter\nof the prince whom he had rescued from death. The interview, however,\nwas short. She began by declaring her passion; but he soon silenced\nher unwelcome avowal by telling her that his heart was fixed upon\nher youngest sister. Having made this declaration, he quitted the\ngarden, and the princess sought her apartment, burning with rage and\ndisappointment.\n\nBoth the elder princesses meditated revenge; and in order to effect\nthis, they took an opportunity of rousing the jealousy of the Omrah\nto whom their younger sister had been betrothed, by telling him that\nhis affianced bride had bestowed her affections upon Eiz-ood-Deen, at\nthe same time rousing his hostility by the vilest insinuations. The\nfiercest passions of the noble were roused, and he determined to take\nspeedy and signal revenge. Shortly after this disclosure, while they\nwere enjoying the pleasures of the chase, the jealous lover resolved to\navail himself of the opportunity to destroy his rival, at a moment when\nhe was separated from the hunters. Eiz-ood-Deen had paused, to give his\nsteed breath after a severe run. On one side of him was a precipice,\nand on the other the jungle from which the quarry had been roused. The\nenraged noble, armed with a strong spear, urged his steed forward; but\nthe animal springing at the goad of its rider\u2019s spur, suddenly turned\nto the right, and bounded towards the precipice. There was no arresting\nits career. It reached the brink--snorted, reared, and plunged into the\nabyss. Both rider and horse were killed upon the spot.\n\nThe two elder daughters of the prince were grievously vexed at this\nmischance; and their jealousy of the younger sister was carried at\nlength to such a height that Eiz-ood-Deen determined to declare himself\nwithout further delay. The object of his attachment had received and\napproved of his addresses; nothing therefore remained but to obtain\nthe father\u2019s consent. The suit of the merchant\u2019s son, who had been\nraised by the Sultan to an appointment of high dignity in his court,\nwas backed by his royal master. Knowing that he was of the blood royal,\nIbrahim urged that the princess should be united to him. Eiz-ood-Deen\nwas consequently married to this beautiful scion of the house of\nGhizny, and shortly after put in possession of the principality of\nGhoor, over which his ancestors had reigned until the flight of his\nfather into India. By the princess of Ghizny Eiz-ood-Deen had seven\nsons. These, when the father died, separated into two divisions. They\nwere, by way of distinction, called the seven stars. One of these\ndivisions gave its origin to the dynasty of kings at Bamyan, called\nalso Tokharistan and Mohatila; and the other to the Ghoory dynasty at\nGhizny. Of the latter race was Kootb-ood-Deen Mahomed, called King\nof the Mountains. He married the daughter of Sultan Beiram, king\nof Ghizny, and having founded the city of Feroozkooh, made it his\ncapital. In the vicinity of this place, having enclosed with a wall a\nspot of ground about two parasangs[10] in circumference as a hunting\npark, he assumed all the dignities of a sovereign. At length he was\ninduced to attack Ghizny. Sultan Beiram, obtaining intimation of\nhis intentions, contrived to get him into his power, and eventually\npoisoned him. This was the origin of the feuds between the houses of\nGhoor and Ghizny.[11]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[10] The parasang varies from three to four miles.\n\n[11] See Brigg\u2019s Translation of Ferishta, vol. i. p. 167.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 582 (A.D. 1186).--The empire of Ghizny having passed from its\nnative sovereign to the house of Ghoor, Gheias-ood-Deen became\nsovereign of all the Mahomedan conquests in India. His brother,\nMahomed Ghoory, whom he had appointed general-in-chief of his armies,\nhaving settled the provinces of Lahore, retired to Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 587 (1191).--Mahomed Ghoory marched into Hindostan and took the\ntown of Bitunda, but was obliged to retreat to Ghizny, having been\ndefeated by the combined armies under the command of Pithow-Ray,\nRajah of Ajmeer and Chawund Ray, Rajah of Delhi. In a second battle,\nhowever, Mahomed completely routed the combined armies. Proceeding\nin person to Ajmeer, he took possession of it, put a thousand of the\ninhabitants, who opposed him, to the sword, and reserved the rest for\nslaves. Having returned to Ghizny, Mullik Kootb-ood-Deen Eibuk, took\nthe fort of Merut and the city of Delhi from the family of Chawund\nRay; and it is from this circumstance that the empire of Delhi has\nbeen said to be founded by a slave.\n\nHeg. 589 (1193).--The general-in-chief marched to Benares, broke\ndown the idols of above a thousand temples, which lie purified and\nconsecrated to the worship of the true God. He then returned to his\nbrothers dominions.\n\nHeg. 592 (1195).--Mahomed Ghoory returned to Hindostan, took Byana;\nand the strong fort of Gwalior fell into the hands of Buha-ood-Deen\nToghrul, after a long siege. The king of Ghizny dying, Mahomed Ghoory\nsucceeded to the throne without opposition. Having attempted the\nconquest of Khwaruzm, he was surrounded by the enemy, who advanced\nto the relief of its sovereign. Almost the whole of his army being\ndestroyed, Mahomed cut his way through the enemy and arrived in safety\nat the fort of Andkhoo, a short distance from the field of battle.\nHere he was besieged; but upon engaging to pay a large ransom and to\nabandon the place, he was suffered to return to his own dominions. His\nentrance into Ghizny was opposed by Yeldooz, a slave; this opposition\nobliged him to continue his route to Mooltan, where he was opposed\nby Zeeruk, a powerful chief, who had rebelled against him. Being\njoined by many of his friends and some Indian allies, he quelled the\ninsurrection and returned to his capital. This year the Ghoorkas were\nconverted to the faith of Islam.\n\nHeg. 602 (1206).--A band of twenty Ghoorkas conspired against the\nking\u2019s life. Mahomed Ghoory being encamped at a small village on the\nbanks of the Indus, the assassins entered his tent and he fell under\ntheir hands pierced with twenty-two wounds. The treasure which this\nprince left behind him was incredible; he is said to have possessed\nin diamonds alone four hundred pounds\u2019 weight. He was succeeded by his\ngeneral Kootb-ood-Deen Eibuk, who was crowned king of Ghizny.\n\nHeg. 603 (1206).--After his accession, the new king abandoned\nhimself to all kinds of sensual pleasures; in consequence of which\nthe citizens of Ghizny rebelled against him, and he was obliged\nto retire to Lahore. Becoming sensible of his folly he repented,\nand thenceforward governed his kingdom with remarkable justice,\ntemperance, and morality.\n\nHeg. 607 (1210).--Kootb-ood-Deen was killed by a fall from his horse,\nin a match at Chowgan,[12] and was succeeded by his son Aram, who the\nsame year was deposed by Shums-ood-Deen Altmish, his brother-in-law.\n\nHeg. 612 (1215).--Altmish defeated Taj-ood-Deen on the plains of\nNarain.\n\nHeg. 622 (1225).--Shums-ood-Deen united under his dominions the\nprovinces on the Indus, having routed the forces of Nasir-ood-Deen, by\nwhom they were possessed, and who was drowned in attempting to cross\nthe river.\n\nHeg. 624 (1227).--Altmish reduced the fort of Runtunbhore.\n\nHeg. 626 (1229).--The king\u2019s eldest son, whom he had made prince of\nBengal, dying, the father conferred the title upon his younger son,\nwhom he invested with the government of that province.\n\nHeg. 629 (1231).--Altmish reduced the strong fort of Gwalior, which\nsurrendered after a year\u2019s siege. He also took the city of Oojein, in\nwhich he destroyed a magnificent temple, dedicated to Mahakaly, formed\nupon the same plan with that of Somnat. This temple is said to have\noccupied three hundred years in building.\n\nHeg. 633 (1236).--Shums-ood-Deen Altmish falling sick on the road to\nMooltan, was obliged to return to Delhi, where he died the same year\nand was succeeded by his son Rookn-ood-Deen Feroze, who dissipated the\npublic money, and excited by his excesses the general disgust of his\nsubjects.\n\nHeg. 634 (1236).--Ruzeea Begum, the king\u2019s sister, advanced with an\narmy against Delhi, which she entered in triumph, deposed her brother,\nwho died in confinement, and ascended the throne.\n\nHeg. 637 (1239).--The queen excited the indignation her nobles by\nraising to the post of Ameer-ool-Omrah a favourite slave named Yakoot.\nShe married Mullik Altoonia of the Toorkey tribe of Chelgany, governor\nof Bituhnda, in consequence of which her subjects revolted. Altoonia\nraised an army and marched against them,--a battle ensued, in which\nthe queen and Altoonia were slain.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[12] The game of Chowgan, like our football, consists in two opposite\nparties endeavouring to propel a ball beyond certain bounds. The\nparties in this game, however, are on horseback, and the players use\nbats, like our rackets, to strike the ball.--_See Briggs translation of\nFerishta_, vol. i. p. 199.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Abyssinian Slave.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nIn consequence of the licentiousness and cruelty of Rookn-ood-Deen\nFeroze, King of Delhi, he was deposed, and his sister Ruzeea Begum\nraised to the throne. On her elevation great rejoicings prevailed\nthroughout her dominions; and she gave splendid entertainments\nand public shows for several days, in order to impress the people\nwith an idea of her munificence. She was a woman of masculine\nunderstanding, great energy of character, and much was expected from\nthe administration of a sovereign, of whom her royal father had said,\nnot long before his death, when asked by his officers why he appointed\nhis daughter regent of the kingdom during his temporary absence, in\npreference to his sons,--\u201cMy sons give themselves up to wine and every\nother excess; I think, therefore, the government too weighty for their\nshoulders; but my daughter Ruzeea Begum, though a woman, has a man\u2019s\nhead and heart, and is better than twenty such sons.\u201d\n\nThe last day of the public rejoicings on the Sultana\u2019s accession to the\nthrone of Delhi was distinguished by wild-beast fights and gymnastic\nsports, in which the most celebrated competitors in her dominions\nexhibited their skill.\n\nDuring the games, a wild buffalo, which had been kept without food\nfor two days, in order to render it more savage, was driven into the\narena, and a large leopard, suffering under similar abstinence, opposed\nto it. The conflict was short but decisive. The leopard sprang upon\nits adversary, which received it upon its horns, flung it into the\nair with fatal force, and then finished the work of destruction by\ngoring it until it was dead, without receiving a wound beyond a few\nsuperficial scratches. The animal, proud of its victory, pawed the\nground in triumph, and roared as if challenging another competitor.\nIt galloped round the enclosure, raising the sand with its hoofs,\nscattering it in the air, and plunging with all the fury of frantic\nexcitement.\n\nThe Queen sat in the balcony of a building erected for the purpose of\nenabling her to witness the sports without risk. She was surrounded by\nher women, who appeared to take no common pleasure in the sanguinary\npastime. Among them was the daughter of an Omrah, an extremely pretty\ngirl, to whom her mistress was much attached, and who, by way of\ndistinction, sat at her feet on the present occasion. She waved her\nhandkerchief with all the energy of girlish delight as the victorious\nbuffalo was careering round the area, when a champion appeared before\nthe spectators, causing a hush of breathless suspense as he advanced\ntowards the enraged animal, and declared aloud his determination to\nencounter it. He was a man singularly handsome, with the frame of a\nHercules cast in the perfect mould of graceful proportion. He was tall,\nbut robust; broad, but compactly formed; every muscle, for he was\nnaked from his waist upward and from the knees downward, swelling from\nthe surface of his body with an undulation of symmetry that appeared\nthe very perfection of manly beauty. The calm but intense gleam of\nhis eye, which did not for a moment relax, was a legible record, not\nto be misinterpreted, of his steady drift of purpose and indomitable\nresolution. His lips were gently compressed, his head was slightly\ninclined upon the right shoulder, his step was deliberate but firm, and\nhis whole bearing such as could not be mistaken for anything but that\nof a man of the highest physical endowments. He was armed with a short\nbroad sabre, which he grasped in his right hand, and a heavy-bladed\ndagger was stuck in his belt.\n\nThe buffalo roared as its adversary advanced, pawed the ground, bent\nits head, and rushed furiously towards the stranger, who leaping on one\nside with great agility, the infuriated beast continued its career\nfor several yards. It however soon returned to the charge, and with\na celerity which required all the wary caution and cool activity, so\neminently possessed by the champion, to avoid. It was again foiled, but\nit became only the more enraged, and pursued its enemy with such vigour\nthat he had great difficulty to evade the intended mischief. At length,\nseeing that the danger was heightening as the animal was in full career\ntowards him, he sprang out of its path, and striking forward with his\nsword, broke off one of its horns close to the head. The wounded beast\nbellowed with agony, and turned suddenly round upon its adversary,\nwho, evading a contact with the same dexterity as before, struck his\ndumb antagonist so powerful a blow upon the neck as nearly severed the\nhead, and the buffalo rolled at his feet in the pangs of death. He then\ncoolly bowed to the Sultana, and retired.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d she inquired of an officer who had the direction of the\nsports.\n\n\u201cAn Abyssinian slave, most potent Queen, celebrated alike for the\nbeauty of his person and his prodigious strength of body.\u201d\n\n\u201cHis name?\u201d\n\n\u201cYakoot.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo whom does he belong?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the mighty Sultana, whose empire is as extensive as the spiritual\ndominion of the Prophet.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet him be summoned before me at the conclusion of the sports.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a charming man!\u201d said Bameea, the Queen\u2019s favourite, one of the\nladies of her mistress\u2019s court; \u201cand a slave too! Those limbs of his\nwere never formed for manacles, nor that back for a scourge: what think\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat fine limbs and a handsome frame are only outward tokens of\nbeauty, and may conceal more deformity than the greatest monster\nexhibits to a mere superficial scrutiny. Fruits of the richest colour\ncontain the deadliest poison; and they tell us of some, exquisite to\nthe eye, that yield only ashes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! you are one of those cautious beauties, Zophra, that will take\nnothing upon trust. You would look into a diamond to see what it is\nmade of; but I am content with its brilliancy, and seek not to know\nwhether it is a mineral or vegetable, or a houri\u2019s tear. Look at that\nman again, and say if he is not beautiful in his bondage--if he is a\nfit object for slavery.\u201d\n\nThe Abyssinian had again come forward to exhibit his strength and skill\nin another encounter of quite a different character from the first.\nHe was now about to wrestle with a gigantic man, dull in aspect and\nungainly in his motions, though of colossal dimensions and prodigious\nmuscularity of limb. They stood before each other, and immediately\ncommenced the struggle. The larger competitor seized his adversary\nby the shoulder with such a vigorous grasp as left the impression of\nevery finger. The Abyssinian soon, however, disengaged himself, and\nlaying hold of his opponent by the waistband of his trousers, threw\nhim forward with astounding force upon his face. The fallen champion\nrose actively to his feet, and with a flushed countenance again placed\nhis hand upon the shoulder of his opponent, and, striking him at the\nsame moment just below the knee, cast him to the earth; but as he fell\nupon his side the victory was not obtained, it being necessary that the\nvanquished man should be thrown upon his back.\n\nThe slave rose deliberately, with a faint smile upon his lip, but a\ndefiant expression in his eye, that told, more intelligibly than words\ncould utter, a resolution to show what he could do under the apparent\ndisadvantages of superior strength and stature. He advanced slowly\ntowards his huge competitor, stood before him in an erect position, his\nleft arm extended and his right close to his breast, watching with the\neye of a lynx an opportunity for making his favourite movement. The\ncolossal champion walked round him, every now and then striking his\nhands upon his own body, producing a sharp, loud smack, and adopting\nvarious evolutions to distract the attention of him to whom he was\nopposed. At length, with the swiftness of thought, the Abyssinian\ndarted upon his adversary and hit him with his open hand upon the\nthroat, at the same instant striking his feet from under him with a\nforce which nothing could resist. The man fell upon his back with so\nterrific a shock, that he was borne senseless from the enclosure. The\nvictor, with modest gravity, again made his obeisance to the Sultana\nand retired.\n\nThe lovely Bameea was perfectly delighted with the slave Yakoot, and\nbegan to feel more than a woman\u2019s curiosity to know something of his\nhistory. She was anxious to persuade herself that he could not be an\nordinary person; and although Abyssinians were at the best little\nbetter than barbarians, yet was it certain that there were always\nexceptions to every general rule, and Bameea felt quite satisfied\nthat Yakoot was one of those exceptions. Besides, she had remarked\nthe countenance of her royal mistress as the latter regarded the\ntwo last encounters, and she observed an expression of satisfaction\nwhich confirmed her in the conclusion she had come to in the slave\u2019s\nfavour; for she could not a moment entertain the thought that Sultana\nRuzeea Begum would condescend, even by the faintest expression of her\nillustrious features, to indicate a favourable impression of any man\nwho was not worthy to be admired by all the ladies of her court.\n\nThe concluding feat of the day was a conflict with wooden swords\nbetween the Abyssinian slave and an Indian, a Catti Rajpoot, who had\nbeen taken prisoner in a late invasion of some of the provinces of\nHindostan. The Catti, as all his race are, was considered pre-eminently\nskilled in the use of the sword. The wooden weapons with which the\ncombatants stood armed were made of a heavy wood and were long and\nbroad.\n\nThe onset was commenced by the Catti, who displayed a skill and\nactivity which at first somewhat confounded the slave, the latter\ndoing as much as he could in parrying the strokes of his adversary\nwithout attempting to make a return. The vigour, however, of the Catti,\ngradually abated; and finding that his blows were so successfully\nparried, and that he was wasting his energies to no purpose, he began\nto be more wary. The Abyssinian now occasionally became the assaulter,\nbut his efforts to hit the Rajpoot were foiled with equal skill.\n\nEach of the champions had received slight blows, and appeared to be\nso equally matched, that it was difficult to decide which had the\nadvantage. The Catti at length grew impatient and lost his caution.\nHis attack was more impetuous and reckless. In proportion as he became\nheated the slave was cool; and taking advantage of his opponent\u2019s\nprecipitation, just as the latter had raised his arm to strike, Yakoot\nhit him suddenly above the elbow with such force that the bone of his\narm instantly snapped, the fractured member dropped powerless by his\nside, and the wooden sword fell from his relaxed grasp.\n\nThis concluded the sports. The Rajpoot walked from the arena in\nsullen disappointment, whilst the victor was borne in triumph upon\nthe shoulders of four men in a car, decorated with flowers. The Queen\nquitted the balcony, and the gentle Bameea thought more ardently than\never that the slave was in every respect a marvellous man.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nEarly the next morning Yakoot was at work in the palace garden, which\nwas watered by a thousand fountains, and seemed to be the abode of all\nthe beautiful genii which preside over the operations of vegetation.\nFlowers of all hues and fragrance decked the slopes and parterres;\nshrubs of every description to which horticulturists have attached\nvalue for their beauties or rare qualities, were here displayed in\nlavish profusion; trees of every kind, celebrated for their fruits or\nfor some singular intrinsical production, were bountifully scattered\nover this earthly paradise. Fish sported in the marble fountains which\nterminated the walks; birds of various feather and accomplishment\nwarbled their gentle notes of love from the embowering foliage; doves\ncooed from the arbours, and rabbits grazed upon small enclosed plats\nespecially dedicated to their enjoyments, but beyond which they could\nnot trespass, in consequence of a wire wall which debarred them from\npassing the circles appropriated to them.\n\nAmidst this scene of earthly beauty Yakoot was sad. He remembered with\nemotions of stern regret the savannas and forests of his native home,\nwhere the wild beast prowled and the hand of man was frequently lifted\nagainst his fellow with the deadliest purpose. He eyed with solemn\ncomposure the gorgeous blending of nature and art, by which he was at\nthis moment surrounded; but it conveyed no gratification to his heart.\nHis predilections were of a different temperament. He sought delight in\nthe rugged and the severe, and therefore laboured with a smile of cold\ncontempt amid the luxuries brought from almost every quarter of the\nworld by the munificence of eastern regality. He had heard the applause\nof men, won by his prowess in the sports of the preceding day, but they\nmoved him not. The approbation of the Sultana, which had been conveyed\nto him with a mandate that he was to appear before her on the following\nmorrow, administered no joy; but amid the gloom of his condition, a\nlight broke in upon his soul when he remembered the smile dancing upon\nthe full pulpy lip of the beautiful Bameea as she applauded his feats\nof prowess in the arena. He had gazed upon her with an earnestness\nwhich called the blood into her cheek; and for the first moment during\nhis captivity, which had only been one of a few short weeks, he felt\nhis bosom glow towards an object with that mysterious sympathy which\nbinds the heart, although in a silken fetter, yet with a security more\nlasting than links of iron. There was no accounting for the sudden\nimpulse that almost instantly seemed to overmaster the rugged severity\nof his nature, and draw his kindly affections forth in bland and\nassauging emotions. But who was he that entertained thoughts of so pure\nand holy an intercourse as that which Heaven sanctions, when hearts are\nunited and wishes harmonize? Was he not a slave? Could the high-born\nand refined look upon a bondman but with feelings of repugnance? And\nyet, while his lips muttered these querulous doubts, there was an\nantagonist presentiment within which repudiated them.\n\nHe was at one end of the garden, his eye wandering over the fairy scene\naround him, when it caught the shadow of a female figure advancing\nalong one of the walks. His breast throbbed: the shadow so truly\nrepresented the outline of a form which of all others he desired to\nbehold, that he could not be mistaken. He kept his eyes fixed upon the\nspot that was in a moment to reveal an object upon which it would be\nrapture to gaze; and, ere he could finish the expiration which mingled\nsurprise and delight had suspended, the interesting Bameea stood before\nhim. He bent his head as she approached, and touching the ground with\nhis fingers, placed them upon his brows.\n\n\u201cHa! Yakoot,\u201d said the timid girl, returning his salutation, \u201cI bring\nyou joyful intelligence. You will not long have to toil in these\ngardens under the scorching sun to rear flowers and trim shrubs. The\nprowess which you exhibited yesterday has won the admiration of your\nroyal mistress, and she has declared her intention of having you\nnumbered among her household.\u201d\n\n\u201cI desire not, lady, so near a contact with sovereigns. Slaves are\nfoils to those poor worms of might, and I seek not to illustrate one of\nthe extremes of high and low.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you will find her an indulgent mistress, if you do your duty.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is, if I do not thwart her royal will. The tawny lion will purr\nunder your touch if you cram his ravenous maw, and leave him the fierce\nliberty of his instincts. Sovereigns are never kind, lady, either from\nhumanity or compassion, but merely to gratify their own selfishness; I\ntherefore despise royal favours, and would rather labour in this garden\nunder the fierce glow of a meridian sun, with such an object near me,\nto inspirit the dull hours of toil, as my eyes are now permitted to\ngaze upon, than be the fantastic puppet of a queen\u2019s bounty.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, but you will be summoned shortly before the presence,\u201d said\nBameea, reddening; \u201cand--and--I trust you will throw no impediments in\nthe way of being near the Sultana, because----\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy that pause?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! because----\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, my decision will depend upon your answer, lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause, I think you would be pleasant company sometimes, when our\nroyal mistress lacks amusement, and our wits are dull, and cannot\nfurnish it. Believe me, you\u2019ll find agreeable companions.\u201d Saying\nthis, she tripped lightly off, as if she feared something from his\nreply that she would rather avoid hearing. The Abyssinian watched her\nreceding figure as she glided down the path, until she was lost amidst\nits sinuosities, the walk being bounded on either side by tall shrubs.\n\nYakoot mused upon the past event. Bameea had not been sent to summon\nhim. Why then did she come to apprise him of the Sultana\u2019s intention.\nNo such intimation was necessary. It was evidently given at the\nsuggestion of her own wishes. The slave was a man of ready penetration,\nand with instinctive sagacity peculiar to eastern nations in all\nmatters concerning a reciprocation of the senses, he began to think\nthat he was not an object of indifference to the interesting girl who\nhad just quitted him. This was a sunlight to the darkness that had\nlately clouded his soul, and the fountain of life seemed again to gush\nfresh and sparkling within him, as if animated with new energy. Slavery\nmight be a boon instead of a bane, and his soul was comforted.\n\nNot long after Bameea\u2019s departure, Yakoot was summoned to attend the\nSultana. He instantly followed the messengers, and passed into the\nroyal presence. Ruzeea Begum was seated upon a fine cashmere shawl\nspread over a thick rug woven from the same wool, and worked in the\nrichest devices. Behind her stood Bameea, waving over her mistress\u2019s\nhead a beautiful bird of Paradise. Beside the latter was a gold\newer containing perfumes which produced around her an atmosphere of\ndelicious fragrance. Her hookha, sparkling with gems, stood on her\nleft hand, the highly decorated tube resting on a brocaded cushion.\nHer slippers, formed of the finest Bagdat tissue, worked in gold and\nembroidered with pearls, were placed beyond the rug upon a costly\njapan tray. A small circular mirror of burnished steel in a silver\nframe, and having a handle of the same metal, lay upon her lap. This\nshe occasionally raised in order that she might ascertain if the henna\nhad been properly applied to her eyelids, or if the various cosmetics\nemployed in her toilet had produced their proper effects.\n\nThe Sultana\u2019s dress consisted of fine white muslin worked in gold,\ndisposed round her body in loose flowing drapery, and covering\ntrousers of the palest sky-blue silk, fastened at the ankles by bands\nof woven gold. On her head she wore a plain turban, loosely twisted\nround her high broad forehead, and composed of white cashmere. When the\nAbyssinian entered, she beckoned him to approach, without raising her\neyes from the mirror upon which she had at that moment fixed them. He\nadvanced with manly reverence, but not in the smallest degree awed by\nthe presence of the sovereign, whose voice was a fiat, and her will an\nordinance.\n\nRuzeea Begum was a woman of commanding person, handsome but repelling,\nand exhibiting in her countenance the somewhat stern and decisive tone\nof her mind.\n\n\u201cSlave,\u201d said the sovereign, still keeping her eye upon the mirror,\n\u201cyou have won the approbation of your royal mistress, who intends to\nadvance you to the dignity of an appointment in her household.\u201d\n\nThe slave was silent.\n\n\u201cDo you prefer the drudgery of bondage to the lighter labours of\nattendance upon your Queen?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a bondsman, at the will of a mistress which must be to me a law;\nI have therefore no choice; wherever I may be placed I shall know how\nto do my duty.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes the approbation of your sovereign give you no satisfaction?\u201d\n\n\u201cMuch, because it assures me that I deserve it, for the approbation of\nsovereigns is seldom bestowed unless it be fairly won.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo show you that mine has been won, from this moment you are free; and\nmay your future conduct show that I have not disgraced my confidence!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy conduct will never be influenced by obligations, however nobly\nconferred. I have a conscience upon which is recorded, in characters\nstamped by the hand of Heaven, my rule of life--that I shall obey.\u201d\n\nBameea hung down her head. She feared that this bold bearing might\nrouse the excitable temper of the haughty Queen; but Ruzeea Begum did\nnot appear in the slightest degree disturbed, and answered with unusual\nmildness:\n\n\u201cI shall calculate upon an honest servant; for surely he upon whom a\nqueen has conferred her favour cannot fail to be faithful. Your feats\nof yesterday satisfied me that you are one among the few upon whom\nprinces may lean for security in the hour of peril. Such men are rare,\nand should be cherished when they come before us. I have no more to\nsay. You are free, and will shortly receive your appointment from the\nminister. See that you do not belie my judgment.\u201d\n\nYakoot retired; apartments were prepared for him in the palace; and for\nsome days he continued about the sovereign\u2019s person, receiving from her\nvery distinguished marks of favour.\n\nRumours soon began to spread of the Sultana\u2019s criminal partiality for\nthe Abyssinian slave. Some of the nobles expressed their disgust, and\nothers retired from court. Within a month after he had obtained his\nfreedom, Yakoot was advanced to the dignity of master of the horse.\nIn consequence of this exaltation several of the nobles rebelled; the\nfavourite was sent against them with a well-appointed army, and soon\nreduced them to obedience. The Queen\u2019s partialities were now becoming\noffensive to the Abyssinian. There was no mistaking her wishes;\nnevertheless, he treated his royal mistress with a frigid respect,\nwhich, though it mortified her deeply, only increased her determination\nto render him the slave of her passion; but his heart had a different\nbias. He had already declared his love to Bameea, who returned his\naffection, and they exchanged vows of mutual fidelity. Of this the\nSultana knew nothing; but, resolved to win the heart of the Abyssinian,\nshe raised him to the dignity of Ameer-ool-Omrah, the highest station\nin the state next to princes of the blood royal.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe Sultana was not long in discovering the mutual attachment which\nsubsisted between the Ameer-ool-Omrah and Bameea.\n\nHer anger knew no bounds. She summoned the Abyssinian. He appeared\nbefore the presence of his sovereign, not without some suspicion of\nwhat was about to take place. Bameea stood behind the Queen. She saw\nby the scowl upon the royal brow that no good was intended towards\nthe object of her love. The eye of Ruzeea Begum was restless, and\nher fingers trembled as she dipped them into the ewer of perfume\nthat stood beside her. Her full expressive mouth was closed with a\ncompression that indicated suppressed emotion, and the full undulating\nlip occasionally quivered. Her head was raised haughtily as the\nAmeer-ool-Omrah entered, and she fixed upon him her large penetrating\neye with so searching a scrutiny that it seemed as if it would\nhave reached the very core of his heart. He met her gaze with calm\nreverence; and having made his obeisance, stood before her with the\nunbending dignity of a man who has secured the approbation of his own\nconscience. For several moments the Sultana did not speak, and in\nher presence no one of course ventured to break the silence. Bameea\ntrembled as she perceived the rising agitation of her sovereign, which\nwas evidently increased by the unperturbed demeanour of the person whom\nshe had summoned. Ruzeea Begum at length finding the ebullition rising\nto her throat, by a sudden effort suppressed it, and passing her hand\ngently across her brow, as if to dispel the cloud which for a moment\novershadowed it, she said, in a tolerably calm tone,\n\n\u201cYakoot\u201d--but her voice slightly trembled, and she eagerly swallowed a\ncopious draught of sherbet.\n\n\u201cYakoot,\u201d--she had now regained her self-possession--\u201csay, what does\nthat man deserve who, having been raised by his sovereign from the\nlowest to the highest station, slights that sovereign\u2019s favour?\u201d\n\n\u201cDeath, if he slight a favour which it becomes his sovereign to grant\nand him to receive; the praise of all good men, if he slight a favour\nthat would degrade his sovereign, and dishonour him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have treated your Queen with the basest ingratitude.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have done my duty, and if that is not consistent with the station to\nwhich a criminal partiality has advanced me, I am ready again to become\nthe slave of the Sultana, instead of her Ameer-ool-Omrah. I courted not\nthe distinction, and will never maintain it at the price of my virtue.\u201d\n\nThe eye of Ruzeea Begum flashed fire.\n\n\u201cSlave!\u201d she cried, \u201cthy virtue is but the mask of hypocrisy. There\nis the cause of all thy disloyalty;\u201d and she pointed with a quivering\nlip towards Bameea,--\u201cthere is the rebel who has seduced thee from\nthy allegiance; but there shall come a day of retribution--a day of\nvengeance--and remember that the revenge of monarchs is not the sudden\nirruption of the whirlwind, but the wide-spreading devastation of the\nhurricane.\u201d\n\nBameea shrieked as she heard this fearful denouncement, and buried her\nbrows in her small delicate hands.\n\n\u201cBear her from my sight,\u201d said the angry Queen: \u201chenceforward I\ndispense with her services. But you,\u201d turning to the Abyssinian,\nwho stood before her in the same attitude of unruffled\nself-possession--\u201cyou may look for punishment when you least expect\nit. You have many enemies, and yet fancy yourself secure in the\nsupremacy of your own valour; nevertheless, though you possessed the\nbravery of our holy prophet, and were endowed with a supernatural power\nof locomotion, there is no spot upon earth or in heaven where the\nvengeance of an insulted queen would not reach you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHear me, before I quit your presence for the last time,\u201d said Yakoot,\nsolemnly. \u201cI am threatened with your vengeance; it is right I should\ntell you that I shall do my best to anticipate and to repel it,\nwhenever and wherever it may appear. From this moment I revoke my vows\nof fealty to the daughter of Shums-ood-Deen. When monarchs become\ntyrants, from that instant they cease to be accredited sovereigns,\nand lose all right to the allegiance of good men. Had I forfeited my\nclaim to your respect by an act dishonourable to my name or title, I\nwere content to suffer the heaviest penalty which human laws award to\nhuman offences; but, as my integrity has remained untarnished in your\nservice, I feel that you have now heaped upon me a wrong of which I am\nnot deserving, and from this moment I quit your presence as a foe.\u201d\n\nThe Sultana was silent; she dared not speak lest the current of her\nrage should burst forth into a torrent, and the Abyssinian retired from\nher presence with an unruffled brow.\n\nThat night he was passing towards his home, without a guard and\nunarmed. The street was dark and narrow. Towards the end there was a\nruin used for the purposes of stalling cattle, where all the homeless\nand vagrant of the city congregated. He passed the ruin, but saw not a\nhuman soul, nor heard a sound. Musing upon the unpleasant occurrences\nof the morning, he walked leisurely onward. His heart was stirred to a\nquicker pulsation as he reflected upon what his beloved Bameea might\nundergo from the criminal jealousy of her royal mistress. On passing\na house supported by a projecting buttress, the drapery of his loose\ndress caught in a fractured stone, and his progress was thus for the\ninstant impeded. As he stopped, he fancied he heard the stealthy sound\nof footsteps, and, turning round, soon perceived three figures at\na short distance cautiously approaching. They paused when they saw\nthat he no longer advanced. The recollection of the Sultana\u2019s threat\nimmediately struck upon his memory like a flash of light. There was\nsomething so sinister in the movements of the three men that determined\nhim to be upon his guard. He placed his back against the wall, having\nhis left side protected by the projecting buttress. The men advanced,\nand upon reaching the place where the Ameer-ool-Omrah was stationed,\nsprang upon him simultaneously, and attempted to pierce him with their\ndaggers. With a sweep of his muscular arm he levelled two of them to\nthe earth, and raising his foot, impelled it with such quickness and\nforce against the body of the third that he fell senseless. One of the\nassailants who had been struck down was almost instantly on his legs,\nand rushed forward with his dagger raised to strike; but, stumbling\nover his prostrate companion, the Abyssinian caught him in his arms,\nlifted him like a cushion in the air, and dashing him on the ground,\nleft him there stunned. Releasing the weapon from the grasp of his\nfallen foe, he approached the other man who had been first prostrated\nby the sweep of his arm; buried in his heart the instrument with which\nhe had just armed himself; and taking their turbans from the heads\nof the other two assassins, bound their hands and feet together, and\nin this painful situation left them to the charities of the casual\npassenger.\n\nNext morning, the report of a man having been murdered spread through\nthe city, and the two individuals, who were found tied by the wrists\nand ankles, having been examined, feared to fix the charge upon their\nintended victim, lest it should lead to a discovery of their criminal\nassault; but, whilst they were under examination, to their astonishment\nthe Abyssinian appeared before their judge, and detailed all the\ncircumstances of the attack made upon him by the prisoners, and how he\nbaffled them in their murderous design. They were immediately led forth\nto execution, lest they should betray who had employed them. Suspicion\nfixed upon the Sultana; but, as she did not interpose her authority\nto rescue the assassins from death, the suspicions of the many were\nsilenced, though they were still harboured by the few, as it is too\ncommon a practice for tyrants to abandon their instruments when failure\nhas laid them open to the chance of discovery.\n\nThe Queen affected great concern at what had occurred, and sent a\nmessenger to Yakoot to congratulate him upon his escape from the\nmurderous assault of his foes. He received her deputy with cold\nformality, but did not even return a message. She was outrageous at\nher condescension, being so openly slighted by a slave, as she still\ncalled the man whom her own voice had declared free, and whom she had\nraised to the dignity of Ameer-ool-Omrah. The smothered flame did not\nimmediately burst forth, but, while it smouldered, gathered strength\nfor a fiercer conflagration.\n\nYakoot, however, took no measures of precaution, although it was\nevident that the elements of mischief were at work and rising into\nactive combination. He resolved to counteract the perfidious designs\nof the Queen. The spirit of disaffection against her government had\nalready begun to show itself. Her brother Beiram had won the affections\nof the troops, indignant at being under the dominion of a woman, and\ndisgusted at the impure life which the sovereign was reputed to lead.\nMany of the nobles, too, were strongly disaffected against her; at the\nhead of these was Mullik Altoonia, of the Toorky tribe of Chelgany,\ngovernor of Bituhnda, and tributary to the Queen. Yakoot, disgusted at\nRuzeea Begum\u2019s rancour towards him, fomented the disaffection of that\npowerful noble by pointing out the flagrant enormities of the Sultana\u2019s\ngovernment; and, as a measure of precaution, secretly joined the\ncouncils of the rebels. The hostility of Ruzeea Begum knew no bounds,\nand she determined that he should expiate with his life the crime of\nhaving slighted her favour.\n\nA few days after the late attack upon the Ameer-ool-Omrah, he was\nhunting the wild boar in a forest not far from the city. Many nobles\nof the Queen\u2019s court were likewise enjoying this animating sport. A\nvast concourse of people had assembled, as in Eastern countries they\nalways do upon similar occasions. Carried by the ardour of the chase\nbeyond his companions, Yakoot passed a cover, from which a huge boar\ndarted, directing its course across the plain. The Abyssinian instantly\ndashed his heels into the flanks of his steed, and it bounded off after\nthe game; but scarcely had it cleared the thicket, when an arrow,\ndischarged by an unseen hand, struck its rider in the fleshy part of\nthe upper arm, and remained crossed in the wound. Snapping the shaft,\nand drawing out the reed, he continued his career, and, in spite of his\nwound, succeeded in slaying the boar.\n\nIt was too evident now that his life was aimed at by secret enemies;\nand, without expressing his suspicions, but affecting to look upon\nthe murderous attempt of the morning as a mere accident, he resolved\nimmediately to quit the city and retire to Bituhnda. The Sultana\u2019s\ngovernment was becoming more and more odious every day, and it was\nclear to him that she had employed assassins in two several instances\nto take away secretly the life which she dared not openly attack. On\nthat night he quitted the capital, and joined Mullik Altoonia, with\nseveral of the disaffected nobles. The moment Ruzeea Begum heard of\ntheir flight, she placed herself at the head of a considerable army,\nand, meeting the rebels half-way between Delhi and Bituhnda, a battle\nensued, in which the royal forces were defeated by the conduct of\nYakoot, who commanded the disaffected, and the Queen was made prisoner.\nShe was sent to the fort of Bituhnda to Mullik Altoonia, who, being\nseduced by her beauty and affected distress, shortly after married her.\nUpon this, the Abyssinian retired in disgust to Delhi, and engaged in\nthe service of Prince Beiram, who had been elevated to the throne.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nIn consequence of the marriage of Ruzeea Begum with Mullik Altoonia,\nher brother Beiram, who had been elevated to the empire of Delhi, was\nsecurely seated upon the musnud. The disgust excited by the conduct of\ntheir queen had weaned from her the hearts of those among her subjects\nwho had hitherto maintained her cause, and she had become an object of\nuniversal odium. Bold and enterprising, however, she determined not to\nsubmit patiently to the loss of a throne, and assembling an army under\nthe command of her husband, prepared to vindicate her rights. Beiram,\nmeanwhile, collected forces to oppose the threatened invasion, and\nplaced them under the command of the quondam Abyssinian slave, whose\ninjuries were likely to urge him to employ his best energies to foil\nthe efforts of a resolute and accomplished foe.\n\nThe recollection of the fierce determination with which Ruzeea Begum\nhad sought his life, was incentive sufficiently strong to urge the\ngeneral to devote his talents and energies to a cause which impelled\nhim by a double motive-retribution, and a desire to rid the people\namong whom he had been naturalized from the dominion of a tyrant. A\nstill stronger motive remained behind. Upon his return to the capital,\nYakoot discovered that the late favourite had been removed from\nthe palace, and knowing the Sultana\u2019s implacable passions, he had\neverything to fear for Bameea\u2019s safety. He had been able to ascertain\nnothing satisfactory respecting her, and his apprehensions were roused\nin proportion to the suspense which he was forced to endure. It was a\nsad thing to be divided from the object of his affections through the\ncriminal passions of a woman whose power enabled her to be cruel, and\nwhose malice urged her to exercise that power.\n\nAlthough the Sultana was at a distance from Delhi, it soon became\nevident that neither had her vengeance slumbered, nor was she without\ntools to execute her will. The secret assassin once more attempted the\nlife of the detested Abyssinian, who again frustrated the sanguinary\nintention. Finding that she was still so active in putting measures\ninto operation for his destruction, he determined to march without a\nmoment\u2019s delay, and by a decisive battle settle the question of her\nenmity for ever.\n\nThe evening before he marched, Yakoot retired to rest at an early\nhour. He had not been long upon his couch, when placing his hand\nbeside his head, it came in contact with something cold and slippery.\nStarting from the bed, he saw a large venomous snake which had raised\nitself and spread out its hood, and was in act to strike when he\nretreated beyond the reach of mischief. Upon examining the apartment,\nhe discovered two of these monsters concealed under the palampore.\nTaking them by the tails, he summoned his attendants, who were all\nignorant how the reptiles could have invaded the sanctuary of their\nmaster\u2019s apartment. It was however recollected that a snake-charmer had\nbeen employed to get rid of those noxious reptiles on the preceding\nday. He was immediately summoned, but denied all knowledge of the\nintruders; however, upon the torture being applied, the confession\nwas extorted from him, and he was immediately punished by being flung\nover the battlements of the city; after which the forces under the\nAmeer-ool-Omrah marched from the capital.\n\nWhen Ruzeea Begum quitted Delhi on her journey towards Bituhnda, she\ntook with her the unhappy Bameea, whom she treated with extreme\nrigour upon discovering the attachment which existed between her and\nthe Abyssinian. She had confined her a prisoner in an apartment of\nthe palace, and allowed her only the most homely food, debarring her\neven from the indulgence of an attendant, and exposing her to every\nmortification which her inveterate malice could suggest.\n\nOn the day after Yakoot\u2019s last audience with the Sultana, Bameea was\nsummoned to the royal presence; and all the attendants being commanded\nto withdraw, the former said, \u201cWoman, when menials interpose between\nsovereigns and their pleasures, it is the habit of princes to prevent\nthem from countervailing their wishes either by imprisonment or death.\nThou art too poor a thing to die; but nevertheless, when we forbear to\ntread upon the worm, we take care to remove it from our path. How didst\nthou become acquainted with the Abyssinian slave?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe met in the garden of the palace. The same brilliant achievement in\nthe arena which won the Queen\u2019s admiration, won also mine. We met, our\nvows were interchanged, and he has remained faithful to his love.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd despised his sovereign for a toy which she could crush with the\nblast of her nostrils. Now, hear me--I love that foreigner. Never would\nhe have been raised from the debasing condition of a slave to the\ndignity of Ameer-ool-Omrah, if he had not made a deep impression upon\nhis mistress\u2019s heart. Monarchs do not advance menials to the highest\noffice in the state, unless they entertain towards them more than a\ncommon feeling of approbation. His queen was entitled to his gratitude\nwhen she stripped from him the badge of slavery and raised him to a\nlevel with the nobles of her court. His ingratitude has been as signal\nas her favours: but he shall live to experience that a sovereign\u2019s\nhatred can debase him as greatly as her love has raised him. You,\nwho have been the cause of the mortification of your royal mistress,\ncan expect no further favour at her hands, and you may congratulate\nyourself with the loss of liberty, when your offence might have been\nvisited with the loss of life. We shall meet again. Go!\u201d\n\nThe Sultana struck her hands together, and several attendants entered,\nwho were ordered to conduct the trembling Bameea to prison. She entered\nit with a painful apprehension of what the jealousy of the Begum might\nprompt her to put in operation against the Abyssinian, towards whom it\nwas evident that the gall of her malice was overflowing.\n\nWhen Ruzeea Begum quitted Delhi, she took with her the unhappy Bameea,\nwho, on their arrival at Bituhnda, was subjected to a still more rigid\ncaptivity than before. The poor girl\u2019s situation was deplorable. She\nwas now apprehensive of never again beholding the object of her heart\u2019s\naffection, and began to yield to the saddest apprehensions. The hatred\nof her royal mistress was of too fierce a nature ever to give way to\ncompunction, and she saw nothing but misery before her. Her days were\nlong intervals of bitterness, and her nights seasons of disturbed and\nunrefreshing sleep. She grew thin, and wasted to a shadow;--hope was\nbanished from her bosom;--she looked forward to death as a release\nfrom miseries which now seemed to crush her with the weight of a\nmountain;--she felt that death would be a relief, but this was a mercy\nwhich suited not the purpose of her tyrant, who took delight in seeing\nher victim suffer.\n\nBameea thought of escape, but this appeared impracticable. As an almost\nforlorn hope, she tried the integrity of an occasional attendant,\nwho was admitted to clean her apartment. The woman seemed to listen\nwillingly to the tempting promises of reward made by the captive, if\nshe would facilitate her flight. A bribe was placed upon her \u201citching\npalm.\u201d She clutched the gold with a miser\u2019s eagerness; the doors of\nBameea\u2019s prison were opened, but she was discovered before she had\nquitted the palace, and borne back again to her captivity. She had been\nbetrayed. The bribe had been received, and the prisoner denounced. Her\nconfinement was now more than ever rigid. She was removed to a small\napartment in which there was no outlet save the door, and this was so\nmassive as to stifle all expectations of escape.\n\nThe poor girl now abandoned herself to the strong impulse of despair.\nTo her surprise she was visited by the Begum, who upbraided her with\nhaving attempted to corrupt the woman admitted to her apartment. \u201cThere\nis no guilt,\u201d said Bameea, with earnestness, \u201cin using any means to\nescape the inflictions of tyranny. All things are lawful to evade\nthe oppression of those who make their passions the medium of their\nactions. Your cruelty has rendered my life a bane, and I am prepared to\nrelinquish it whenever your malice shall suggest the sacrifice.\u201d\n\nThe Sultana smiled bitterly. \u201cI would not take your life; that would\nnot satisfy my vengeance. If you were dead, you could no longer suffer\nthe punishment which my ill-requited affections--and of these you are\nthe cause--demand as a just expiation. I intend to punish the wretch\nwho has injured me through you, and he shall yet live to curse the day\nthat he treated with indifference the affections of Ruzeea Begum.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why should you longer feel his disregard when you have now one to\nwhom those affections are sacred, and to whom you have relinquished the\nsole right to possess them?\u201d\n\n\u201cPolitical alliances have little to do with the warm emotions of the\nheart. It is enough that I loved the slave who has despised me, and\nhe shall feel my vengeance. But you may obtain your liberty upon one\ncondition. Relinquish the affections of the Abyssinian by entering into\na conjugal alliance with a noble whom I have selected for you, and who\nentertains towards you a warm attachment. Consent to become his wife,\nand the doors of your prison shall be instantly unbarred.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever!\u201d cried the agitated girl with energy. \u201cYou may keep me\nlingering through a life of wretchedness within a dungeon, but you\ncannot rob me of my soul\u2019s freedom. My love will only expire with\nmy death, and I will never purchase my liberty at the sacrifice you\ndemand.\u201d\n\nThe Sultana\u2019s eyes flashed fire, and she quitted her victim without\nuttering a word; but there was a volume in her glance. That very\nevening Bameea\u2019s food was changed. A curry was placed before her which\nhad been prepared, as it appeared, with more than usual care. She eyed\nit apprehensively. Suspicions of the darkest description instantly\ntook possession of her mind. She could not forget the Begum\u2019s glance\nof fury as she quitted her prison: the curry, therefore, remained\nuntouched; for though death would have been a welcome visitant, yet\nshe resolved to avoid any but that which nature brings, so long as the\nchoice was left her. A small quantity of the homely food upon which she\nhad been accustomed to feed since her captivity remained, and upon this\nshe relieved the demands of nature.\n\nThat night was passed in sleepless agony. She looked forward to the\ndawn with a presentiment of terror. Phantoms passed before her mind\nwhich almost convulsed her frame to madness. She arose and looked at\nthe refection which she suspected to be poisoned: she laid her hands\nupon the dish, and had all but resolved to brave the penalty of tasting\nit, when her better feelings prevailed, her excitement subsided, and\nshe sank into a state of transient insensibility. It was short. She\nwas roused by a stranger. He brought her tidings of great joy. On the\nafternoon of the preceding day, a battle had been fought betwixt the\nforces of Mullik Altoonia, headed by himself and his consort, and those\nof the Sultan Beiram, commanded by Yakoot. The former had been routed,\nand the Sultana and her husband slain. The shouts of victory soon\nreached the ears of Bameea, and these were shortly followed by a sight\nof her lover.\n\nThe happy pair were immediately after united; the Abyssinian was\nconfirmed by Beiram in his office of Ameer-ool-Omrah--the nation\nprospered under his sage councils, and the loves of Yakoot and Bameea\nbecame the subject of many an Eastern legend.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 637 (A.D. 1240).--Moiz-ood-Deen Beiram ascended the throne of\nDelhi, but was deposed by his vizier and cast into prison, where he\nalmost immediately suffered death, after a reign of two years, one\nmonth, and fifteen days.\n\nHeg. 639 (1241).--Alla-ood-Deen Musaood, son of Rookn-ood-Deen Feroze,\nwas raised to the musnud, which, after a reign of four years, one\nmonth, and a day, he was obliged to relinquish. His excesses and\ncruelties having disgusted his ministers and friends, he was cast into\nprison, where he passed the rest of his life.\n\nHeg. 644 (1247).--Nasir-ood-Deen Mahmood, the youngest son of\nShums-ood-Deen Altmish, succeeded the late king, who had been deposed\nby his nobles. This was a prosperous reign of twenty years and\nupwards, the king dying a natural death. He was succeeded by his\nbrother-in-law and vizier, Gheias-ood-Deen Bulbun.\n\nHeg. 685 (1286).--The king\u2019s son Mahomed, a prince of great promise,\nwas sent against the Moguls who had invaded Moultan. Having defeated\nthem in a pitched battle, and being too eager in the pursuit of them,\nas they fled before his victorious arms, he was beset by a party which\nlay in ambush, and slain. The old king, now in his eightieth year,\nnever recovered this shock, which threw him into a melancholy, and\nhe died shortly after in the twenty-second year of his reign. His\ngrandson Keikobad, immediately ascended the throne without opposition.\n\nHeg. 687 (1288).--The king, having excited the disgust of his\nsubjects, was cut off by assassins as he lay sick at Kelookery. The\nruffians found him lying on his bed in a dying state, deserted by his\nattendants. Having beat out his brains with bludgeons, they rolled him\nup in the bedclothes, and flung him out of the window into the river.\nJulal-ood-Deen Feroze Khiljy, one of his ministers, who had been the\ncause of the late king\u2019s assassination, ascended the musnud, and was\ncut off by the treachery of his own nephew, Alla-ood-Deen, after a\nreign of seven years and some months.\n\nHeg. 696 (1297).--Alla-ood-Deen Khiljy was raised to the musnud after\nsome opposition. His first care was to secure the favour of the\ntroops; and after having defeated the queen-dowager, and the Prince\nKudder Chan, he ascended the throne in the ruby palace.\n\nHeg. 697 (1297).--Kowla Devy, wife of the Prince of Guzerat, fell\ninto the hands of the king\u2019s brother. She was a woman of remarkable\nwit, beauty, and accomplishments, by which Alla-ood-Deen was so much\ncaptivated, that he took her into his harem. This year was rendered\nmemorable by the death of Zuffur Chan, the greatest general of his\ntime. His bravery became so proverbial among the Moguls, who had so\nfrequently felt the force of his arm, that when their horses started\nit was usual among them to ask if they saw the ghost of Zuffur Chan.\nHis death was a severe loss to Alla-ood-Deen, who, however, feared\nhim, and therefore expressed no regret at his death.\n\nHeg. 699 (1299).--Rookn Khan, Alla-ood-Deen\u2019s nephew and\nbrother-in-law, having aspired to the throne, attempted to assassinate\nthe king while he was enjoying the pleasures of the chase.\nAlla-ood-Deen was pierced by two arrows, and he lay on the ground\ninsensible. The Prince Rookn Chan drew his sword, and ran to cut off\nthe king\u2019s head; but being told that he was quite dead, he deemed it\nunnecessary to sever the head from the body. Proceeding immediately to\nthe camp, he was proclaimed king; but Alla-ood-Deen, recovering his\nsenses, appeared in his capital, was welcomed by the citizens, and the\nusurper immediately deposed and executed.\n\nHeg. 703 (1303).--After a siege of six months, Chittore was reduced,\nand the rajah made prisoner. The government was conferred upon the\nking\u2019s eldest son, the Prince Khizr Chan, after whom it was called\nKhizrabad. At the same time Alla-ood-Deen bestowed regal dignities\nupon the prince, who was publicly proclaimed successor to the throne.\n\nHeg. 704 (1304).--Ray Ruttun Sein, Rajah of Chittore, escaped from\nDelhi. Alla-ood-Deen, having received an extravagant account of one of\nthe rajah\u2019s daughters, agreed to grant the father his release, upon\ncondition of his giving up this daughter for the king\u2019s harem. The\nrajah, tired of a very rigorous captivity, reluctantly consented to\nthis odious proposal; but when his family heard of it they concerted\nmeasures for poisoning the princess, in order to save the reputation\nof their house. But the rajah\u2019s daughter adopted a stratagen, by which\nshe obtained her father\u2019s release, and preserved her own honour.\nHaving selected a number of faithful adherents, she concealed them\nin litters, used by women only when they travel in the East, and\nproceeded to Delhi with her ordinary retinue. Arriving at night, by\nthe king\u2019s especial permission the litters were allowed to be carried\ninto the prison, supposing they contained the female attendants of\nthe princess. No sooner, however, were they within the walls, than\nthe armed men, leaping from the litters, put the king\u2019s guard to the\nsword, and carried off the rajah.\n\nHeg. 706 (1306).--Dewul Devy, daughter of the beautiful Kowla Devy,\nfell into the hands of one of the king\u2019s generals, and was brought\nto Delhi. In a few days after her arrival, the beauty of Dewul\nDevy inflamed the heart of the Prince Khizr Chan, to whom she was\neventually given in marriage.\n\nHeg. 709 (1309).--Mullik Kafoor defeated the allied rajahs, who had\ncombined to make him raise the siege of Wurungole, which he carried\nby assault after a vigorous siege of several months, and returned with\nhis army and immense treasure to Delhi. On his approach to the city,\nthe king himself came out to receive him near the Budaoon gate, where\nthe conqueror laid all the spoils at his royal master\u2019s feet.\n\nHeg. 710 (1310).--Mullik Kafoor defeated and took prisoner Bilal Dew,\nRajah of the Carnatic.\n\nHeg. 711 (1311).--This year was rendered memorable by the massacre of\nthe newly-converted Mahomedan Moguls. Fifteen thousand lay dead in the\nstreets of Delhi in one day, and all their wives and children were\nenslaved.\n\nHeg. 712 (1312).--The Rajah of Dewgur was inhumanly put to death by\nMullik Kafoor, with the consent of Alla-ood-Deen.\n\nHeg. 716 (1316).--Alla-ood-Deen died, after a reign of twenty years\nand some months, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by\nMullik Kafoor, who aimed at getting the reins of government into his\nown hands.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Rajpoot Marriage.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nThe beautiful Jaya was on her way to join the relatives of her father,\nwho had lately been made prisoner by the sovereign of Delhi. She was\nin a close hackery, accompanied by a numerous guard and several female\nattendants, being the daughter of Ray Ruttun Sein, Rajah of Chittore.\nThe captivity of her father rendered her silent and thoughtful. The\ntear stood in her eye, and filled the cavity in which it had gathered,\nbut fell not over the fringed boundary that confined it. She was a\nRajpoot, and would not for the world have allowed the gush of sorrow\nto stream over her cheek in the sight of her women. It was repelled\ntherefore at the source, but her heart was big with grief, and struck\nwith a dull heavy throb against the walls of its beautiful prison.\n\nJaya was a young Rajpootni now only in her fifteenth year; but, though\nso young, she had attained the perfect maturity of womanhood. Her form\nwas slight, her every muscle had its due and exquisite proportion,\nand the whole compact was harmonized to the perfect roundness and\nundulations of beauty. Her limbs were small, but exquisitely moulded;\nand whenever she spoke, every member appeared to exhibit a sympathetic\nenergy, which made the gazer admire with how many modes of expression,\nboth silent and vocal, nature had gifted this rare Hindoo. Her eyes\nwere of the deepest black, but so soft amid their radiance, that it\nseemed as if they had looked upon the things of paradise, and borrowed\nthe celestial blandness which everywhere reigns in that region of\nsupernal repose. Her skin had the rich blooming brown of the ripe\nhazel-nut, and under it the sanguine streams circulated with a healthy\nfreedom, that carried life in its free young impulses through ten\nthousand channels, over every part of her exquisite frame. The mouth\nappeared as if it had been kissed by the lips of a cherub, and had\nstolen its gentle delicate bloom, over which her breath came like\nan exhalation. She was beautiful and tender as the mother dove, yet\ninheriting all the firmness of her race, which could both endure and\nact when the energies requisite for endurance and action were demanded.\n\nAll with whom she came in contact loved her for her gentleness as\nmuch as they admired her for her beauty, and she was the idol of her\nfather\u2019s heart. Her mother died in giving her birth, and he reared\nher with a care proportioned to the fondness which she inspired. She\nhad been for some time affianced to a youth of her own tribe, son of\nthe Rajah of Moultan; between him and Jaya there existed a strong and\nabiding affection. Her prospects had been all blighted, for the moment\nat least, by the captivity of her father, who had been removed by\nthe conqueror to Delhi. Under the impressions which her reflections\nupon these unhappy events caused, she was silent and absorbed. Two\nof her women rode in the hackery with her, but they did not presume\nto interrupt the sacred silence of her sorrow, which she could not\nconceal, though she forebore to express it. It was deep and bitter.\n\nAs the cavalcade proceeded, a violent storm came on, and there was\nno village or hamlet near. The covering of the hackery was very\nslight, and therefore afforded but an imperfect protection against\nsuch a mischance. The rain began to fall heavily, and the distant\nlightning to gleam, followed by the low muttering thunder which rapidly\napproached. A ponderous mass of vapour, of a dull slate colour, rolled\nheavily onward, and very soon excluded the sun, producing a gloom\nas deep as twilight, and investing every object with the same dusky\ntint. The rain at length fell in torrents, and the cloud above poured\nfrom its dark womb a stream of fire, which burst through the shower,\nand was reflected by the large falling drops in ten thousand vivid\nscintillations. At every flash the whole region round was flooded with\na blaze of ghastly light.\n\nBy this time the tremendous crashings of the thunder were awful in the\nextreme; and these blending with the loud hissing of the rain, produced\na din which, though it was the music of the spheres, proved anything\nbut \u201ca concord of sweet sounds\u201d to the ears of our travellers.\n\nThe beautiful Jaya heeded not the storm; but her women crowded more\nclosely towards their mistress, hid their heads in their hands, and\ngave expression to fearful lamentations. The tempest heeded not their\nterrors, but raged with redoubled fury. The frail covering of the\nvehicle in which they rode was soon soaked through, and the rain was\nbeginning to drip upon the heads of those within. Palampores were\nspread over it, which seemed for a time to keep out the intruding\nwater; but they soon became saturated, and the rain at length forced\nits way so copiously into the hackery, that it was found expedient to\nstop and seek shelter somewhere from its pitiless fury.\n\nIt fortunately happened that not far from the spot, at the foot of\na small hill, there was a cavern known to one of the escort, who\nconducted the party thither with some reluctance, as the place was\nreported to be infested by noxious reptiles of all kinds, and the\nresort of wild beasts and desperate bands of robbers. The party however\ntaking courage from their numbers, proceeded to the cavern, thinking\nthat any change of situation must be for the better, as the conflict of\nelements was still maintained with unabated fury.\n\nThe entrance to the cave was lofty and rugged, the sides having been\nbroken away, and the angles splintered, as if great manual violence had\nbeen employed to disfigure what the severe labour of man had originally\nexecuted with no little attention to nicety of proportion and\nsimplicity of effect. Dilapidated as it was, the portal was not devoid\nof beauty; but without staying to enjoy the pleasure of admiration, the\nwhole party passed anxiously into the cavern. Fires were immediately\nkindled, and many noxious reptiles and large bats ejected, before the\nplace was considered safe, even as a temporary refuge from the storm,\nwhich continued to rage with undiminished violence.\n\nTowards evening the rain ceased, but it was then considered by the\ntravellers too late to renew their journey, and Jaya was content to\npass the night within the gloomy cave where she and her attendants had\nfound sanctuary. The hackery was wheeled in, the bullocks unyoked, and\nthe lovely Rajpootni entered the vehicle, round which the drapery was\nclosely drawn, where she resigned herself to repose, her attendants\nlying upon rugs round a large fire which had been kindled in the centre\nof the cavern. The apartment was of considerable magnitude, hollowed\nout of the mountain, exhibiting a square area of about sixty feet on\nall sides, and five yards high. No light was admitted but through\nthe door. The original purpose of the excavation was mere matter of\nconjecture, but it had evidently not been lately the resort of human\nbeings. The ceiling was crowded with large bats, measuring nearly four\nfeet from the extremities of the wings, having heads like small foxes,\nand bodies larger than rats. They clung to the roof of the chamber;\nbut, scared by the flames which had been kindled underneath, frequently\ndropped into them, scattering the fire in every direction in their\nfierce struggles to escape, to the great peril of the travellers. When\nseized, they bit the venturous hand to the bone, and thus greatly\ndisturbed the repose of the Rajpootni\u2019s followers. These creatures,\nhowever, were not the most formidable disturbers of their rest.\n\nBefore they had composed themselves to sleep, a stranger entered the\ncave, and looking round him for a moment, suddenly made his retreat.\nHe was a Mahomedan. His appearance gave considerable uneasiness to the\nHindoos. They began to fear the proximity of a foe, and were neither in\nsufficient force nor properly armed to repel aggression from a superior\nor even from an equal number. Jaya was not aware of what had passed,\nbut it was remarked that the stranger\u2019s attention had been particularly\ndirected towards the hackery. The King of Delhi\u2019s troops were known to\nbe in the neighbouring province, which he had lately subdued, and a\nsurprise was seriously apprehended.\n\nA man was sent forth as a scout, to bring word if strangers were\napproaching the cavern, in order that the Hindoo travellers might have\ntimely notice, and thus secure their retreat. The man had not been\nabsent above a few minutes when he ran breathlessly back with the\nalarming intelligence that a detachment of Mahomedan troops was within\na hundred yards of the cave. The information was instantly given to\nthe unhappy Rajpootni, who calmly ordered the oxen to be yoked to the\nvehicle into which she had retired for the night, and declared her\nintention of immediately resuming her journey. \u201cMahomedans are men,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cand will not molest a woman. Let us proceed; they no doubt\nseek a place of refuge after the storm. We will resign this chamber to\ntheir convenience, since the Hindoos and the despisers of their gods\ncannot lie down together on the same floor.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut they are troops of the enemy, lady,\u201d said the leader of the\nescort, \u201cand will probably force us to make our beds beneath the same\nshelter with the profaners of our altars.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are under the protection of One,\u201d said Jaya solemnly, \u201cto whom\nmortal might is as the spider\u2019s web against the fierce rush of the\ntempest. If they use violence, let us trust to Pollear, the Hindoo\ntraveller\u2019s god, who will interpose on our behalf, and baffle their\nwicked designs towards those who seek his protection and pay him\nhomage.\u201d\n\nThe lovely Hindoo had yet to learn that there was just as much divinity\nin her venerated Pollear, as there was truth in the factitious oracles\nof the prophet of Mecca, venerated by her enemies: but with a calm\naffiance in the protection of a very unsightly stone image, daubed with\nred ochre, and often stuck up by the road-side to court the homage of\nhalf-crazy devotees, she awaited the entrance of the expected enemy.\nShe was not kept long in suspense; for scarcely had she closed her lips\nafter expressing her confidence in the protection of one of the ugliest\ngods of her tribe, than a numerous detachment of Alla-ood-Deen\u2019s troops\nentered the cavern.\n\nThe officer who commanded ordered them to halt just within the\nentrance, seeing that the place was occupied. The fire had been\nnearly extinguished the moment the approach of an enemy was announced,\nso that there was only a very imperfect light emitted by the rapidly\nexpiring embers of the fire which had been kindled in the centre of\nthe cave. The officer stepped forward, and raking the still glowing\nashes together, excited them into a gentle flame with his breath, lit a\ntorch, and looking inquisitively round the gloomy chamber, said to the\nchief of Jaya\u2019s escort, \u201cWhom have we here?\u201d pointing to the hackery in\nwhich the lovely Hindoo still sat, secluded from the profane gaze of\nher Mahomedan foe.\n\nThe Hindoo was silent.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the Mussulman, \u201cwhom you have here, or I shall tear\ndown these trappings and take the liberty of looking. Are you willing\nto say what is your companion?\u201d\n\n\u201cA woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cI guessed as much, for men don\u2019t go cooped up behind cotton or silk\nwalls. You are so communicative that I shall trouble you with no more\nquestions, but judge for myself.\u201d\n\nSaying this, he laid his hands rudely upon the curtains of the hackery,\nand attempted to draw them aside, when the Hindoo, angry at this\nviolation of a woman\u2019s sanctuary, seized him by the arm, and attempted\nto drag him from the spot. The enraged Mussulman instantly drew a short\nsword and cut him down. Jaya, hearing the stroke and the groan which\nsucceeded it, sprang from her place of refuge, and stood before her\nenemy in the peerless eminence of her beauty.\n\n\u201cI am Jaya,\u201d she cried, \u201cthe daughter of Ray Ruttun Sein, Rajah of\nChittore, whom your sovereign holds in bondage.\u201d The astonished\nMahomedan dropped his sword.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe Mahomedan officer had been quite struck with amazement at the\nsight of the beautiful Rajpootni, and he bent the knee with gallant\nhomage. He was, however, delighted to find that the very object whom\nhis sovereign was desirous of obtaining had fallen into his hands. The\ncharms of Jaya had been heard of at Delhi, and the king was anxious to\nbehold the celebrated daughter of his prisoner, but she had hitherto\neluded his emissaries. Her having now so opportunely crossed the\npath of one of his officers, was a subject of congratulation to the\nlatter, as he had reason to expect that he should not only receive\nhis sovereign\u2019s approbation, but be advanced to some more lucrative\npost than that which he now enjoyed. These reflections passed rapidly\nthrough his mind, as he gazed upon the transcendent beauty of his\ncaptive.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d he said, \u201cthis is a fortunate meeting. We have been looking for\nyou daily. Your presence at Delhi will be welcome to the king, and no\ndoubt to your father, who will be restored to liberty so soon as you\nare placed in the harem of our munificent sovereign.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am affianced,\u201d said Jaya, with mild dignity, \u201cto one of my own\ntribe, and if your monarch have the befitting attributes of a king,\nhe will never violate the generous feelings of the man. I have been\ntaught to look with horror on the creed which you profess, and confess\nto you that I never could ally myself, by a sacred union of the heart,\nwith one who is an enemy, not only to my country, but to that country\u2019s\ngods. Why then should Alla-ood-Deen seek an alliance with one who\ncannot respect him? Be you generous, and permit me to proceed on my\nway.\u201d\n\n\u201cA man\u2019s duty is paramount over his inclinations. I have no discretion,\nlady. If I were to permit you to depart, I should be a traitor to my\nking, an enemy to you, and unjust to myself. These are weighty motives\nwhy I should not listen to your request.\u201d\n\n\u201cA man\u2019s first duty, is justice. You can have no right to deprive a\nfree woman of her liberty. The laws of tyrants are not binding upon\nhonest natures, and where it is a sin to obey, it must be a virtue to\nrefuse obedience.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will discuss this question further on the morrow,\u201d said the\nMussulman, with sinister courtesy. \u201cMeanwhile you must make up your\nmind to pass the night in good, if disagreeable company.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I am to consider myself your prisoner?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you will, lady.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpootni entered her hackery without farther urging her departure;\nand the Mahomedan having ordered his men to kindle a fire, and take up\ntheir station for the night apart from the Hindoos, prepared for his\nrepose, taking the previous precaution of placing four sentinels at the\ndoor-way of the cavern. The Hindoo whom he had cut down, was tended by\nhis countrymen, who bound up his wound, which, though severe, was not\nmortal; and the two parties, contrary to their respective prejudices,\nlay down upon the same floor in undisturbed slumber together.\n\nThe unhappy Jaya was the only one among them whose eyelids sleep did\nnot visit. She had now a melancholy prospect before her. She should\nprobably see her father indeed, but under what circumstances?--he in\ncaptivity, and she in the harem of a Mahomedan prince! The thought was\nagony. Not only the prejudices in which she had been reared taught her\ngentle soul to revolt from an alliance with a man by whom the idols\nwhich she had been instructed to adore were considered mere senseless\nwood and stone; but she had a tenderer motive for shrinking from a\nunion which would render her life a burden, and her thoughts a torture.\nShe could not bear to think that fine link of association should be\nsnapped which had combined two hearts in the willing fetters of a most\nholy love, and the dews of terror moistened her clear brow as she\nthought upon the probable issue of this melancholy day. She could not\nrest. The night stole on sullenly and slow, and when the first grey\ntint of morning pierced through the darkness in which the cavern was\nwrapped, Jaya was still awake. She looked under the curtains of her\nprison-house, and saw all around her sunk into profound repose, save\nthe stern sentinels at the portal who kept reluctant watch and stalked\nto and fro like the ghosts of departed warriors.\n\nThe light now advanced rapidly, and before the apartment was filled\nwith the bright dewy hues of day, the soldiers of the enemy were awake,\nand seated upon the floor, passing the luxurious tube to each other,\nand inhaling the narcotic fumes of that weed which has now become\nan enjoyment in every country in the world. Having kindled a fire,\nthey began to prepare their morning repast, which consisted chiefly\nof curries; while that of the Hindoos, who were by this time busy\nwith their early meal, was composed simply of boiled rice, mixed with\na few split peas, the whole saturated with ghee, which is a butter,\ncalled clarified, but commonly so rancid as to smell almost as bad as\ntrain-oil. The Hindoos ate their rice in silence, looking on with the\nutmost apathy at what was passing around them, and seeming not to feel\nthe slightest interest in the fate of their companion who had been cut\ndown the preceding evening, and lay among them, suffering grievously\nfrom the torment of his wound. This apathy was the subject of jest\namong the Mahomedans, who devoured their messes with a greediness\nworthy of the old Roman gluttons, and chatted upon the subject of their\nlast night\u2019s adventure with merry and facetious vivacity.\n\nThe Hindoos heard their jokes without the movement of a single muscle;\nbut no doubt the thought passed in their minds, that, should the\nharvest of revenge come, they would not fail to reap it with a delight\nas characteristic as their apathy.\n\nWhile these necessary preliminaries to their journey were in progress,\nJaya was not disturbed. She refused to taste of the rice and kabobs\nwhich had been prepared for her, but merely took a few inspirations\nthrough the richly-studded mouth-piece of her hookha, and awaited in\nsilent resignation the will of her captor. She had made up her mind,\nwith that high spirit of resolve peculiar to her tribe, to perish\nrather than become the wife of a man of an opposite creed to her own.\nDeath, however, was a final resource, and she determined to see the\nissue of events, hoping that some auspicious diversion of their current\nmight restore her to her friends and to happiness.\n\nThe order was given to march. The bullocks were immediately harnessed\nto the hackery, and the party quitted the cavern. The Hindoos marched\nin couples, having been previously disarmed, a Mahomedan being\nplaced on either side of every couple as a guard. The Rajpootni\u2019s\nvehicle was so strongly guarded as to remove all chance of escape.\nBefore it marched a detachment of six men armed, and behind it a\nsimilar number. The bullocks, uneasy at the clattering of arms and\nthe unusual restraint imposed upon them,--for the Hindoo driver had\nbeen replaced by a Mussulman, who applied the lash with considerable\nseverity,--became restive, and at length refused altogether to proceed.\nThe more they were urged by the application of the whip, the more they\nkicked and plunged, and they were at length obliged to be unyoked and\nled forward. In this dilemma the leader of the Mahomedans approached\nthe hackery, and without removing the curtains addressed himself to his\nbeautiful captive and said--\n\n\u201cLady, there remains no alternative but walking until the oxen have\nrecovered their good humour, and will consent to bear the loveliest\nburthen in Hindoostan. They will be of better courtesy, no doubt,\nby-and-by, when you can resume the conveniency of the carriage. Rough\nroads, I know, are not very congenial to delicate feet; but war,\nlady, is a sad leveller of distinctions, and there is such a thing as\nnecessity for the Brahmin as well as for the Pariah. You must dismount\nfor awhile.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Jaya composedly, \u201cyou are not aware that we Rajpoots\nnever hesitate at dying when urged to do that against which our hearts\nrecoil and our principles revolt. I am willing to bear the shocks of\ndestiny so long as they do not urge me beyond the boundary line of my\nown conscience; but no earthly power shall force me to an act which\nthat conscience forbids. I am a woman, it is true, and a weak one;\nbut know that the weakest Rajpoot that ever breathed would not shrink\nfrom death to escape degradation. I tell you now solemnly, in the\nears of Him who knows all secrets, that should you force me from the\nvehicle, you shall not bear me alive from this spot. I have the means\nof destruction which you know not of,[13] and will employ them the\ninstant you attempt to force me to an act that, to me, would be an act\nof pollution.\u201d\n\nThe Mussulman was too well aware of the fierce determination of her\nrace, when urged to desperation, not to fear that she would do as\nshe had threatened if compulsion were used to enforce obedience; he\ntherefore replied with mild civility,\n\n\u201cBut, lady, we have no alternative, save of tarrying here, or of\nwalking forward for a short distance, until the bullocks shall have\nbeen rendered tractable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I embrace the first alternative; here shall I remain until you\nare in a condition to proceed. Do as you will, my resolution is taken,\nand you may as well attempt to give rotation to those stars which\nare fixed in the everlasting firmament, as strive to divert me from\nmy unalterable purpose. You have heard my resolve, and I now claim\nfrom your courtesy no further parley. I would be left to the best\nconsolations I can derive from my own thoughts.\u201d\n\nThe Mahomedan, seeing that it would not be a wise stroke of policy to\npush matters to extremity, gave orders that the bullocks should be\nagain yoked to the hackery, hoping, as they had been released from\nthe harness for some time, that they would proceed quietly. He was,\nhowever, disappointed. The moment the refractory animals were urged\nforward, they showed their determination not to proceed, and commenced\nsnorting and kicking with great fury. No coaxing could induce them to\nadvance, and the application of the whip only seemed to exasperate\ntheir obstinacy. They were sleek and well fed, having been accustomed\nto gentle treatment; the rough driving, therefore, of the stranger by\nno means suited their wayward tempers. The man, becoming angry at this\ndetermined opposition of the rebellious cattle, began to whip them\nwith great severity, under the notion of illustrating practically the\ndominancy of man over the brute; but in this instance his illustration\nwas the reverse of beneficial, for it recoiled upon himself, to his\nextreme annoyance and mortification. The more ardently he applied the\nwhip, the more vehemently the oxen plunged; and their violence at\nlength became so great that they overturned the hackery, from which the\nmortified Jaya and her two women were precipitated with considerable\nforce. The calm but indignant Rajpootni instantly rose, dropped a\nveil over her mantling face, and, reproaching the officer with having\npurposely ejected her from the vehicle, expressed her determination not\nto advance another step with the Mahomedans.\n\n\u201cIf I proceed it shall be with my own followers only; and if you use\ncompulsion, I will defy your power by instantly releasing myself from\nyour tyranny.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, this is making a mock at contingencies with a vengeance. If I\ncould control yonder refractory cattle, I should have the greatest\nsatisfaction in doing so; but since they choose to have their own way,\nyou must blame them that you will be obliged to walk--not me. We must\nproceed, lady; we have already delayed too long.\u201d\n\nAnticipating the Rajpootni\u2019s purpose, who was in the act of raising her\nhand to her mouth, the Mahomedan officer suddenly grasped her by the\nwrists, and, having secured her arms, said somewhat sternly--\n\n\u201cYou force me to this. I have one immediate purpose to fulfil, which\nis to bear you safely to Delhi, and that I must do in spite of your\nopposition. You have despised my courtesy; you must now, therefore,\nconsent to march in bonds. When the oxen cease to be refractory, you\nshall again be restored to the comforts of your hackery; in the mean\ntime you must walk.\u201d\n\nThe indignant girl did not utter a word. Her dark eye gleamed with\na brightness that expressed unusual excitement, but she did not\ncondescend to expostulate. She marched hurriedly forward, guarded on\neither side by a soldier, her women following guarded in a similar\nmanner.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[13] Poison, of so subtle a nature as to produce almost instant death,\nhas been frequently concealed in rings, or other trinkets, in order\nthat it might be resorted to upon any sudden emergency.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nJust as the party with their lovely captive had turned from a narrow\npath into an extensive plain, they perceived a large body of horsemen\nin full career towards them. The Mahomedan instantly halted his men,\nand forming a hollow square, in the centre of which he placed his\nprisoners, calmly waited the onset. It soon became evident that\nthe strangers were a squadron of Rajpoot cavalry. They swept across\nthe plain like a tempest, headed by a youthful warrior, who rode a\nbeautiful white Arab, every vein of which might be traced through its\nskin as it pawed the ground, when its rider halted to array his troop\nfor the onset of death. When his order of battle was made, he sent a\ntrooper to summon the Mahomedans to surrender themselves prisoners\nor abide the issue of an encounter in which they must look for\nextermination at the point of the sword. This summons was received by\nthe adverse party with shouts of defiance, and the onslaught commenced\nwith terrible energy on the part of the assailants, who were received\nwith great firmness by their foes.\n\nThe Rajpoots were more numerous than the Mahomedans, and by their\nheadlong valour and the desperate impetuosity of their charge, they\nbroke through the enemy\u2019s line, reached the centre of the square, and\nscattered instant confusion through their ranks. The conflict was short\nbut decisive. The Mahomedan commander was slain by the Rajpoot leader\nin a struggle hand to hand, the latter being mounted. This produced\ninstant consternation among the enemy. The moment they saw that their\nchief had fallen they wavered, and the rout became general.\n\nBrief as the conflict was, it had been extremely sanguinary; for the\nRajpoots being mounted, soon overtook those who fled and instantly slew\nthem. The Mussulman detachment was cut to pieces, and thus a signal\nvengeance was taken by the Hindoos upon the scoffers of their gods.\n\nJaya had stood in the midst of the carnage gazing with an anxious eye\nupon the scene of death; and although in the leader of her rescuers\nshe traced the well-known features of one who was as dear to her as\nthe first-born to its yearning mother, she uttered not a cry, but\ncalculated the probable issue of the contest with a throbbing heart,\nwhilst her outward demeanour appeared perfectly undisturbed by any\ninward emotion. Jeipal leaped from his horse, which he left to its own\nfreedom, and sprang towards his beloved.\n\n\u201cMy sita,\u201d he cried, \u201cyou are recovered. What anxious moments have I\nendured since I heard of your sudden departure! I instantly followed\nwith these soldiers to protect your flight. This morning I heard that a\nparty of the enemy were close upon your track: but you are restored, my\nsita; and I shall now, with these brave companions, bear you company to\nJesselmere.\u201d\n\n\u201cJeipal,\u201d cried the delighted Jaya, \u201cyour presence has been my\nsalvation. I may now bless the insolence of yonder chief, who has\ngone to undergo the everlasting doom of the wicked;--it has saved me\nfrom an awful separation. I attempted my own life to save myself from\ndishonour, but his violence frustrated the one, and your presence has\nprevented the other.\u201d\n\nThe Hindoo prisoners being now set at liberty repaired to a grove of\ntrees, under which they squatted themselves, chewed their betel-nut\nand chunam, smoked, and flung little balls of rice down their throats\nuntil filled almost to the uvula; then rising with the greatest\napathy, as if nothing had happened to interrupt their composure,\nsnapped their joints, adjusted their turbans, and declared themselves\nready to proceed. The bullocks were once more yoked to the hackery,\nand, being driven by one with whose voice they were familiar and\naccustomed to obey, they went leisurely forward without the slightest\nreluctance. Jeipal rode beside the vehicle, the curtains of which, in\naccordance with Eastern usage, were still kept down; but the lovers\nfound no difficulty in carrying on their conversation through them. The\nRajpootni had now less time to think of the sorrows arising from her\nfather\u2019s captivity, her mind being occupied by one to whom she ever\nlent a willing ear; her countenance therefore recovered its brightness\nand her voice its vivacity.\n\nThere were no more interruptions to their journey, and they reached\nJesselmere without any further adventures. Jeipal having delivered\nhis affianced bride to the charge of her relations, to her surprise,\ndeclared his determination to proceed to Delhi.\n\n\u201cTo Delhi!\u201d said Jaya, her countenance rather expressing alarm than\npleasure: \u201cwhy should you repair to the enemy\u2019s capital?\u201d\n\n\u201cIs not your father a prisoner there, and do you not desire his\nrelease?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly; but how can your single arm avail to break through the\nbars of his prison, surrounded as he is by guards, who are as vigilant\nas they are cruel?\u201d\n\n\u201cCircumstances may arise which we cannot foresee, to render my single\npower available in effecting an object interesting to me, in proportion\nas its accomplishment is desired by you. Think that I am upon a mission\nof love, and be happy. You will at least hear of something before the\nhorns of the young moon unite into a circle.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou go on an enterprise of danger.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd are not such enterprises dear to the soul of a Rajpoot? I should\nbe unworthy of your love, if I hesitated to venture my life to secure\nyour parent\u2019s liberty.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are perils which the brave may shun, because it is prudent to\navoid them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut when a man listens to the suggestions of prudence before the\nappeals of duty, his bravery is as questionable as his virtue.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo, Jeipal, I would not withhold thee from such deeds as constitute\nman\u2019s nobility. Bear my love with thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be a talisman which shall protect me in the hour of peril.\nLove is the root of all virtue; the love of good alone makes man happy.\nWhen this principle is dead within his bosom, he at once becomes a\nmonster.\u201d After the lapse of a few days Jeipal quitted Jesselmere for\nDelhi.\n\nWhen Alla-ood-Deen was informed of the Rajpootni\u2019s rescue from the\ndetachment of his troops which had made her captive, his rage knew\nno bounds, and he resolved to carry a war of extermination into the\nfertile provinces of Rajpootana. His anger, however, at length cooled,\nwhen he considered that, having the father a prisoner in Delhi, he\nmight still get the daughter into his power. He had heard so much of\nher beauty, that he determined to possess her, at whatever cost; and\nthis determination had induced him greatly to abate the rigours of her\nparent\u2019s imprisonment. He was treated with considerable lenity, and\npermitted such indulgences as were seldom known to be granted to the\nprisoners of despotic princes.\n\nShortly after the rescue of the Chittore Rajah\u2019s daughter, as already\ndetailed, the king ordered Ray Ruttun Sein, who had now been some\nweeks in confinement, to be brought before him. The Rajpoot entered\nthe imperial presence with a lofty deportment, and stood before the\nMahomedan sovereign, awaiting the royal communication.\n\n\u201cRajah,\u201d said Alla-ood-Deen, mildly, \u201cyou would no doubt desire to\nobtain your liberty?\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery man,\u201d replied the Rajah, \u201cbeing born free, looks upon captivity\nas the withholding of nature\u2019s highest immunity. The fortune of war has\nmade me your prisoner, but generosity is the brightest jewel in the\nking\u2019s sceptre.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe generosity of princes is only bestowed when merited. It is no\nlonger a virtue when unworthily dispensed: generosity therefore without\ndiscretion is an evil.\u201d\n\n\u201cSophistry, prince, is at all times a lame argument. Virtues never can\nbecome vices, employ them how we may. The mask is not the face, neither\nis the pretence to virtue anything more than just what the mask is to\nthe countenance. I am too hackneyed in the world\u2019s juggles to become\nthe ready dupe of fair words which only cover evil thoughts.\u201d\n\n\u201cRajah, this is all beside the purpose for which you were summoned\nbefore the sovereign of Delhi. Are you willing to obtain your freedom?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt what price?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt any that will not commit the honour of a Rajpoot.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have a daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d\n\n\u201cI would make her the partner of my throne.\u201d\n\n\u201cProceed.\u201d\n\n\u201cSummon her to this city, and you shall be no longer a prisoner.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this is the generosity of princes, such can be no longer a virtue;\nit must therefore be a virtue to despise it. To be the pander of kings\nis no honour; but for a father to bring pollution upon his child is the\nmost flagrant enormity.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you refuse the offer of liberty?\u201d\n\n\u201cUpon any other terms than those which a clean conscience may accept.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough! Guards, bear him back to his prison. A less luxurious regimen\nthan has been allowed him may give different colourings to vice and\nvirtue, when surveyed through the medium of his future reflections.\nAway with him!\u201d\n\nThe Rajah was conducted back to the strong apartment in which he had\nbeen confined since his captivity, but on the following day he was\nremoved to one of the dungeons of the state prison.\n\nHis confinement now became extremely distressing. Every indulgence\nhitherto accorded to him was withdrawn, and he was subjected to the\nextremest rigours of privation. The soul of a Rajpoot generally scorns\nto shrink from endurance, however severe. With him a contempt of death,\nof danger, and of suffering, is the noblest exercise of human virtue;\nbut Rajah Ray Ruttun Sein possessed not these characteristics of his\nrace in an eminent degree. He was fond to excess of those luxuries\nwhich his condition in life gave him the privilege and imparted to\nhim the means of enjoying. He was an Eastern epicurean, and therefore\nthe privations which he was now doomed to endure were to him a source\nof extreme distress. Everything that was not subsidiary to his love\nof indulgence had no firm resting-place in his heart. He had a high\nveneration for honour in the abstract, but he had a still higher for\nthose animal enjoyments in which he especially delighted to indulge.\nHe loved his own daughter well, but he loved his own pleasures better.\nHe possessed the haughty independent spirit of his caste, but lacked\ntheir qualities of determined endurance and rigid self-restriction. He\nwas brave when the impulse of the moment roused his energies; but as\nsoon as the impulse subsided, the strength of his passions overcame\nhim, and he sank into the imbecility of the mere sensualist. His\nbearing had been bold and determined before the king, whose prisoner\nhe had become; but no sooner was he cast amid the dungeon\u2019s gloom,\nthan the strong bias of his nature prevailed, and he became irresolute,\nquerulous, and despairing.\n\nEvery day he felt the rigours of confinement more and more irksome, and\nat length thought that he had been imprudent in so resolutely opposing\nthe king\u2019s will. He began to persuade himself that a dutiful daughter\nshould make any sacrifice for the advantage of her parent, and under\nthis impression proceeded to argue that she ought, if called upon,\nto sacrifice her honour to his comfort. Besides, to be the object of\na sovereign\u2019s affection was not a thing to be regarded lightly. The\npolitical influence of Alla-ood-Deen might, by such an alliance with\nhim as that monarch proposed, place the petty Rajah of Chittore at\nthe head of the princes of his country. Such an alliance might be the\nstepping-stone to distinctions that should raise his family to the\nhighest elevation of temporal distinction. After indulging in similar\nreasonings at different times, he finally made up his mind that he\nhad been too rash in so peremptorily rejecting the proposal of the\nMahomedan sovereign, and determined to let him know, at the earliest\nopportunity, the change which had passed over his thoughts like a\npestilential exhalation, and that he was disposed to concur in the\nking\u2019s wishes. Having come to this determination, he lay down upon his\nrug and slept.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nJeipal reached Delhi not long after Alla-ood-Deen\u2019s proposal to the\nfather of the beautiful Jaya, and his first object was to see the\ncaptive Rajah; but this was a matter of no little difficulty, as\nJeipal was obliged to assume the disguise of a Jew, in order to disarm\nsuspicion. He soon ascertained that Ray Ruttun Sein had been removed to\na less commodious prison, in consequence of having given offence to the\nsovereign; but what that offence was did not appear to be known.\n\nHaving formed his plans, he obtained an interview with the keeper of\nthe Rajah\u2019s prison, and represented to him that he was anxious to be\nintroduced to Ray Ruttun Sein, who had some jewels which he was anxious\nto dispose of, and which the fictitious Jew declared himself ready to\npurchase. In order to induce the keeper of the prison to accede to his\nproposal, the counterfeit Israelite offered to give him ten per cent,\nupon the value of the purchase, which he said would probably exceed a\nlac of rupees. The rapacious functionary agreed to admit the pretended\ndealer to the Rajah\u2019s prison, provided the door were not closed during\nthe transaction. This was finally acceded to; it was therefore arranged\nbetween the prison official and Jeipal, that the former should remain\nin sight, though not within hearing, while the latter agreed upon the\nterms of sale with the captive prince.\n\nEarly the following morning after this arrangement had been made,\nJeipal was admitted into Ray Ruttun Sein\u2019s cell. It was a small square\napartment, extremely low and ill-ventilated, having no aperture but\nthe doorway, which was secured by strong bars crossing the entrance\non either side of the wall, about four inches apart. These bars were\ninserted into iron sockets, so constructed that the bolts could only be\nremoved from the outside when entrance or egress was to be obtained.\n\nAs Jeipal reached the Rajah, the latter cried suddenly, \u201cAre you from\nthe King?\u201d\n\n\u201cGently! Jeipal stands before you.\u201d\n\n\u201cJeipal! how came you hither?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have but a short time for parley. I have obtained admission in\nthe disguise of a Jew, and under pretence of purchasing your jewels.\nMy object in coming hither is to apprise you of my being near, and to\nascertain the cause of the king\u2019s severity.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe made me an offer of liberty if I would give him my daughter to\ngrace his harem, but I rejected his proposal, perhaps too haughtily,\nand you behold the issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must be revenged\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d\n\n\u201cI came not here to be an idle spectator of the Mahomedan\u2019s tyranny.\nYou may yet be free. His death would put an end to your captivity.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can your single arm accomplish this, when he is surrounded by\nguards, and you are alone and unbefriended in this great city?\u201d\n\n\u201cAn arrow may reach a man\u2019s heart, although surrounded by ten thousand\nguards.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell I care not what you do, so long as you obtain my freedom. To me\nthe means are indifferent. If all other means fail, the tyrant must\nhave my daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever!\u201d\n\nAt this moment the keeper of the prison perceiving Jeipal\u2019s energy,\nand suspecting that something more than mere bargaining was passing\nbetween the captive and his visitor, came forward and reminded the\nlatter that it was time to close their conference. Jeipal retired, but\nhis soul was stung at what he had heard. The thought of his beloved\nJaya being delivered up to a Mahomedan prince in order to become an\ninmate of his harem, almost maddened him. He rushed from the prison to\nthe astonishment of the bewildered keeper, who now began, too late, to\nthink that he had been imposed upon. Finding however that his prisoner\nwas secure, he resolved to be more vigilant in future, and thus the\nchances of the Rajah\u2019s escape were considerably diminished. The Jew\nnever again appeared before his dupe.\n\nJeipal saw that it was high time to adopt some measures to frustrate\nthe king\u2019s determination of obtaining possession of Ray Ruttun Sein\u2019s\ndaughter. It was evident that her father, already disgusted with\nhis confinement, was prepared to yield to the sovereign\u2019s commands,\nand this the lover was resolved if possible to frustrate. He would\nwillingly have sacrificed his own life to save her from pollution; for\nhe considered that even by becoming the wife of a Mahomedan sovereign,\nhe would receive a moral stain which nothing but the death of the\npolluted and the polluter could wash out.\n\nThe young Rajpoot lived apart from the bustle of the town, looking\nsilently but vigilantly at passing events, and watching any\nopportunity that seemed to promise success to the purpose which now\nengrossed his thoughts. The loss of Jaya would be worse than death;\nand he resolved, at all hazards, to make an effort to prevent the\naccruing of so melancholy an event. He had left her with the relatives\nof her father at Jesselmere, and promised, when he quitted her, that\nhe would shortly return and make her the beloved partner of his future\nlife. The idea that the fulfilment of his promise might be frustrated\nby the pusillanimous impatience of her father under the privations of\ncaptivity, was wormwood to the young Rajpoot\u2019s haughty spirit; and the\nthought of securing the lovely girl from the passions of Alla-ood-Deen,\nwas never a moment from his mind. Even in his slumber, images to which\nthis painful thought gave an impalpable but veritable form crowded upon\nhis excited brain, and he had not a moment\u2019s repose. The opportunity\nwhich he had been so long seeking, at length came.\n\nIt was announced that the King, accompanied by all the nobles of his\ncourt, would on the following week, proceed on a hunting excursion to\na forest within about eleven coss, or twenty-two English miles, of the\ncapital. This was an announcement which made Jeipal\u2019s heart leap within\nhim. His plan was instantly formed. Hope danced before him like a young\nfair cherub from the skies, and he hailed the phantom as the harbinger\nof his future bliss.\n\nUpon the day mentioned in the royal proclamation, Delhi poured forth\nher multitudes to join their sovereign in the chase. A long line of\nelephants followed the King, and thousands of horsemen brought up the\nrear. The sight was one to excite enthusiasm in the breast of the most\nindifferent. The living sea flowed forward, undulating like the ocean\nwhen the breeze slumbers upon its bosom and it only gently swells with\nits own buoyancy, as if proud of its burden, rising to meet it with a\ngush of quiet transport. However joyous the scene, there was one sad\nheart at least among the delighted concourse; but he mingled with the\nmerry throng, and the plant of bitterness which grew at that moment\nwithin his bosom was imperceptible beyond the secret sanctuary in which\nit was enshrined.\n\nThe chase began, and continued for three days, during which period\nhundreds of animals of all kinds were destroyed, from the fierce\nroyal tiger to the timid hare. The King enjoyed the sport during the\nwhole three days on horseback. Towards the close of the third, in\nhis eagerness of pursuit after a leopard, he was separated from his\nnobles, and spurred his panting steed after the beautiful beast for\nsome time alone. The animal at length escaped; and Alla-ood-Deen, being\nfatigued with his exertions, quitted his horse, and, fastening it to a\ntree, ascended a spot of rising ground which gave him a command of the\nsurrounding plain. Here he seated himself alone, gazing at the distant\nsportsmen who were enjoying the pleasures of the chase below. The scene\nwas animating, and his entire attention was absorbed by the various\nobjects presented to his view.\n\nWhilst the King was thus engaged, an arrow entered his body from\nbehind; and this was followed by another, so rapidly discharged, that\nhe fell forward upon his face before he could discover from what\nquarter the treachery proceeded. He lay for some time insensible,\nand, when he recovered, found that his wounds had been stanched by\nsome Pariahs, who had their miserable abode in the jungle, and who\ndiscovered him insensible and weltering in his blood. With their\nassistance he crawled to one of the huts of these wretched outcasts,\nwhere he remained several days, until his wounds were sufficiently\nhealed to enable him to move. He was afraid to make the Pariahs\nacquainted with his rank, lest the assassins who had aimed at his life\nshould be still near the spot, and his wretched benefactors be induced\nto betray him. His horse having been removed, he could not stir until\nhis wounds were in a state to enable him to walk.\n\nWhen it was found that the King did not return to the capital, the\ncitizens made lamentation for him as for one dead, and had already\nraised to the throne his nephew Rookn Chan. The customary prayers were\nread from the Koran; the Khootba was formally pronounced in the name\nof the Rookn Chan, and the public criers were ordered to proclaim\nhis accession. The Prince, now descending from the throne, proceeded\ntowards the harem; but the chief eunuch with his guard stopped\nhim at the door, protesting that until he showed him the head of\nAlla-ood-Deen, the Prince should not enter while he had life to oppose\nhim.\n\nMeanwhile Alla-ood-Deen, having quitted the abode of the hospitable\nPariahs, walked to a neighbouring hamlet, where he procured a horse,\nand mounting it with great difficulty, raised a white canopy over his\nhead, which he had caused to be made at the village. Declaring that he\nwas the King, whose life had been attempted during the late sports, he\nwas joined by straggling parties as he advanced, until his followers\namounted to five hundred men. The army being encamped without the walls\nof Delhi, the King ascended an eminence where he could be seen by the\nwhole force. Attracted by the white canopy, the soldiers immediately\ncrowded by thousands to his person. Rookn Chan, now supposed to have\nbeen privy to the attack made upon his uncle\u2019s life, was almost\nimmediately deserted. In this dilemma he mounted his horse, and fled\ntowards Afghanpoor. Alla-ood-Deen proceeded to the royal pavilion, and,\nascending the throne, gave public audience, sending at the same time a\nbody of horse in pursuit of his nephew. This party shortly came up with\nhim, severed his head from his body, and laid it at the King\u2019s feet.\n\nWhen Alla-ood-Deen was perfectly recovered, he sent for the Rajah\nof Chittore, and again proposed to restore him to liberty upon the\nconditions which he had before offered.\n\n\u201cYour daughter,\u201d said he, \u201ccannot be dishonoured by the affections of\nthe most powerful monarch of the East.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur faith forbids such a union.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if I am not actuated by the difference of creeds, why should you?\nCan you think I revere religion less because I refuse to be bound by\nthe manacles forged by superstition? One only alternative remains to\nyou; within sixty days, if your daughter be not delivered up to me,\nyou shall suffer by a public execution. Comply with my wishes, and you\nshall not merely be restored to your government, but be advanced to the\nhighest dignities in my kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat will those dignities avail me if I am despised by my nation?\u201d\n\n\u201cCast off the trammels, then, which priestcraft has woven to enthral\nyou, and become a convert to the faith of Islam, and you will find that\nthose dignities will avail you much. What say you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will never relinquish my faith; but as my daughter is secondary\nin my estimation to that faith, I consent that she shall be yours upon\ncondition that I receive my liberty. I shall immediately summon her to\nyour capital. She will not refuse to obey the mandate of her father.\nWithin forty days she shall be delivered to your protection. It is a\nparent\u2019s severest sacrifice.\u201d\n\nHe was conducted to his prison to prepare the parental summons.\nMeanwhile Jeipal had quitted Delhi and arrived at Jesselmere.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nWhen Jeipal reached Jesselmere, he confided to Jaya the secret of\nhaving attacked the king\u2019s life. He immediately quitted Delhi, after\nhaving shot Alla-ood-Deen, whom he concluded was dead. He had entirely\nescaped suspicion, and was congratulating Jaya and himself upon the\nfortunate issue of his enterprise, when a summons came from Ray Ruttun\nSein, desiring his daughter immediately to proceed to Delhi, to become\nthe wife of its sovereign. This was a severe shock to the hopes of the\nlovers; but Jeipal determined that his plighted bride should never\nenter the walls of Delhi for such a purpose, and they both agreed to\nembrace the sad alternative of dying by their own hands rather than\nobey the parental command. Jaya\u2019s relatives were greatly alarmed lest\npollution should fall upon their house, and they proposed that the\nyoung Rajpootni should offer herself up as a victim in one of their\ntemples, in order to escape the miseries with which she was threatened.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the beautiful girl, \u201cit is time enough to die when no other\nmeans of escape remain; but why should I leave those who are so dear\nto me, so long as I am enabled to continue with them,--and why should\nI seek death as a release from misery yet at a distance, while the\nmeans of enjoyment are so near? I promise you I will perish rather than\nsubmit to pollution; nevertheless, I will live so long as my beloved\nJeipal can be by to protect me with a husband\u2019s arm, and to cheer me\nwith a husband\u2019s blessing.\u201d\n\nIt was agreed that their marriage should instantly take place. This\nwas assented to by the relatives, among whom was Jaya\u2019s mother; but\nthey determined to poison both bride and bridegroom at the wedding\nfeast, in order to prevent the possibility of the pollution which\nthey apprehended, as they felt confident the marriage of the parties\nwould not prevent the King of Delhi from still demanding the lovely\nRajpootni. Preparations were accordingly made for the wedding.\n\nOn the day appointed, Brahmins poured in from all parts of the country,\nto the number of six thousand. These were maintained during the whole\nperiod of the marriage ceremonies, which lasted a week, at the expense\nof the young votaries of Pollear.[14] Each Brahmin received a pagne,\nwhich is a kind of dress bestowed upon these occasions.\n\nUpon the day when the marriage was solemnized, the bride and bridegroom\nsat beside each other in an apartment of Jaya\u2019s mother\u2019s house. Before\nthem were placed several earthen pots full of water, ranged in a\ncircle. Among these were two large jars, disposed on either side of the\nyoung couple. In the middle of the circle formed by the water-pots,\nthere was a raised platform of wood. The two large jars were covered\nwith capitals of earth in the form of a column, to be removed\nimmediately after the marriage ceremony. The apartment was lighted by a\nnumber of lamps, representing Agni, the god of fire, which cast a dull\nlurid light upon the various objects around.\n\nThe preliminary arrangements being made, the officiating Brahmin prayed\nthat Vishnu and Lakshmi would descend into the two large vessels upon\nwhich the earth had been piled, and that they would force the Devatas,\nor inferior deities, to occupy the smaller pots, which had been ranged\nin a circle. The Homan or sacrifice was then made. A fire was lit\nupon the earth with those peculiar woods used at sacrifices, of which\nthere are twelve kinds. While the flame was kindling, the hierophant,\ncommenced reciting certain prayers in a dialect understood by none but\nthe priesthood, and frequently not even by them. Whilst reciting these\nunintelligible supplications, he continued to keep up the sacrificial\nfire of the Homan, by pouring butter upon it, and supplying it with\nfuel. So soon as the prayers were ended, he approached one of Jaya\u2019s\nuncles, who, being nearest of kin, represented her father, upon this\nsolemn occasion, placed him by the bride, and instructed him in several\nlittle particulars required to complete the ceremony.\n\nAfter having received the necessary instructions, the paternal\nrepresentative put upon his niece\u2019s palm a number of plantains,\ntogether with a small coin of gold. He next placed the right hand of\nthe bride within that of the bridegroom. The mother now advanced, and\nhaving poured water upon their hands, the young couple were finally\nunited. The Brahmin then took the tali, or marriage symbol--equivalent\nto the ring in Christian marriages--presented it first to the gods,\nthen to the bride and bridegroom, and finally to the guests, all of\nwhom put their hands upon it. This being concluded, the tali was given\nto the husband, who tied it round the bride\u2019s neck; which completed the\nceremony.\n\nAfter the marriage rite had been solemnized, the matrimonial\nbenediction was bestowed as follows: The husband swore before the\nfire, the officiating Brahmin being present, that he would take care\nof his wife so long as he lived. He then took her by the little finger\nof the right hand, and in this way they walked three times round the\nplatform raised within the circle of jars. Near this was placed a flat\nstone, used for pounding ingredients with which the curries were to be\nprepared for the marriage feast. When they came near this stone, the\nbridegroom passed one of his wife\u2019s feet over it, as a token of the new\nobligation into which she had entered, of subserviency to her husband.\nThe platform having been encompassed three times, large basins of rice\nwere brought and laid before the newly-married pair. The officiating\nBrahmin then took a small quantity of turmeric, and mixing it with the\nrice, repeated several prayers during the process. Now filling both\nhis hands with rice from a large platter, he flung it first over the\nhusband\u2019s shoulders, and next over those of the wife. All the company\npresent immediately rose, and then the same ceremony was repeated.\nThis, among Hindoos, is the universal matrimonial benediction.\n\nAbout three hours after noon, the marriage feast was provided for an\nimmense number of guests, who had assembled from all quarters upon\nthis joyous occasion. Every luxury which the most fruitful of climates\nafforded was produced. The relatives of Jaya, however, amid this scene\nof general festivity seemed grave and dissatisfied. Not a countenance\nbut theirs was saddened. Jeipal was at length blest. His wishes were\nconsummated, and he felt no longer any apprehension of being torn\nfrom the partner of his earthly joys, now that she had become legally\nand morally his. The thought of her father\u2019s captivity was the only\ninterruption of his and the bride\u2019s happiness, but he still resolved\nto leave nothing unattempted to restore Ray Ruttun Sein to his family.\n\u201cSomething must be devised,\u201d said he to the anxious Jaya, \u201cto rescue\nyour parent from that odious thraldom to which he is likely to fall a\nvictim if not speedily released, and, whatever the hazard, it has now\nbecome my duty to risk my life in securing his freedom.\u201d\n\nA short time before the parties assembled to partake of the\nmarriage-feast, Jaya had gone into a small apartment to deck her\nbeautiful brows with some gems, in order that she might appear with the\ngreatest possible lustre before her guests. This room led into a larger\nchamber, being separated only by a thin plaster partition. She had not\nbeen long occupied in arranging her jewels, when her uncle and his wife\nentered the outer apartment, and cautiously closing the door, Jaya\noverheard the following conversation:\n\n\u201cWhere is the newly-wedded?\u201d inquired the uncle.\n\n\u201cIn the veranda with her happy Jeipal.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you certain?\u201d\n\n\u201cA very short time has elapsed since I saw them together, and they were\ntoo happy to separate.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat think you of this marriage?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is an ominous union. She must not live. The Mahomedan will never\nrelinquish his desire to obtain her while she is alive, and our house\nshall not be degraded whilst we have the means of obviating it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen both must perish, for Jeipal would visit the destroyer of his\nbride with terrible retribution.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, he\u2019s a true Rajpoot; death with him is as commonplace a matter as\neating his curry--\u2019tis no great sacrifice for such a man to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how is their death to be accomplished?\u201d\n\n\u201cThus. I will prepare two dishes for them especially, which shall be\nplaced before each at the feast. I know what is most grateful to both,\nand will take care that they shall be provided with a mess which will\nsecure us from future apprehension. In order to escape all chance of\nsuspicion, I propose that the same dish precisely shall be placed\nbefore you, only yours will contain no poison. Elated as they now are\nthey will not apprehend danger, and thus we are secure.\u201d\n\nJaya was so agitated at what she heard, that she could scarcely support\nherself, and fearing lest the base plotters against her life should\nenter her apartment, she got under a small charpoy[15] which stood in\na corner, having first thrown upon it a palampore, that hung down over\nthe side, and thus effectually concealed her. It was a fortunate thing\nthat she took this precaution; for her uncle, in order to be sure that\nhis conversation with his wife had not been overheard, looked into\nthe room, but seeing nobody, and not suspecting that any one could be\nhidden under the charpoy, he quitted the apartment with his partner in\niniquity, both being perfectly satisfied that their murderous plan was\na secret which could transpire only in its consummation.\n\nWhen all was clear, Jaya crept from her place of concealment, and\nstealing warily out of the chamber, joined her anxious husband, to whom\nshe related what she had just overheard. His indignation was raised\nto such a pitch at discovering the horrible purpose of his wife\u2019s\nrelatives, that he was about to denounce them, and inflict upon them\nsummary chastisement. He was, however, withheld by his more cautious\nbride, who besought him to take no notice of what had passed, but make\nthe guilt of her uncle and his equally cruel partner recoil upon their\nown heads. She had some difficulty in appeasing him; at length the\nappeal of a beautiful woman, and that beautiful woman his virgin bride,\nsubdued his ire, and he listened to her proposal of obviating the\nmenaced destruction, which was as follows:--\n\nShe suggested that he should take the opportunity, when the guests were\nengaged before the feast commenced, of exchanging the dish prepared\nfor him, placing it before her uncle, and taking his. \u201cI,\u201d continued\nJaya, \u201cwill not taste mine, and thus the poisoned mess will be eaten\nby the husband of her who prepared it. In case of his death she will\nbe obliged to follow him to the funeral pile; thus shall we be fully\nrevenged.\u201d\n\nJeipal embraced his sita, and consented with ready satisfaction to her\nmode of punishing the atrocious designs of her relatives: they fancying\ntheir secret secure, and confident of the success of their scheme,\nmingled smilingly among the guests, and affected extreme kindness\ntowards the young wedded pair, who received their caresses with\nrepugnant formality at the hazard of raising their suspicion. Those\nentertainments which were precursors of the feast being introduced,\ntomtoms, viols, serindas, vinas, and various other instruments, struck\nup their singular melody, and \u201cravished the ears\u201d of those who loved\nsuch music as would be little grateful to the fastidious refinement\nof European taste. Nautch girls were first ushered in; they performed\ntheir graceful evolutions, tinkled their tiny silver ankle-bells, and\ndid their best for the amusement of the company. Jugglers with their\nsnakes likewise appeared, showing their mastery over those venomous\ncreatures, which they grasped by the neck, tied round their throats,\neven while their jaws were armed with those instruments of death with\nwhich nature had provided them. Their feats of legerdemain were next\nexhibited, to the general satisfaction of all present; but that which\nmost excited the amazement of the company was the following:--The\njugglers \u201cproduced a man, whom they divided limb from limb, actually\nsevering his head from his body. They scattered these mutilated members\nalong the ground, and in this state they lay for some time. They then\nextended a sheet of curtain over the spot, and one of the men putting\nhimself under the sheet, in a few minutes came from below, followed by\nthe individual supposed to have been cut into joints, in perfect health\nand condition, and one might safely swear that he had never received\nany wound or injury whatever.\n\n\u201cThey next caused two tents to be set up at the distance of a bow-shot\nthe one from the other, the doors or entrances being placed exactly\nopposite. They raised the tent walls all round, and desired that\nit might be particularly observed they were empty. Then fixing the\ntent walls in the ground, two men entered, one into each tent. Thus\nprepared, they said they would undertake to bring out of the tents any\nanimal the company chose to mention, whether bird or beast, and set\nthem in conflict with each other, Jeipal, with a smile of incredulity,\nrequired them to exhibit a battle between two ostriches. In a few\nminutes two ostriches of the largest size issued, one from either\ntent, and attacked each other with such fury that the blood was seen\nstreaming from their heads. They were at the same time so equally\nmatched, that neither could get the better of the other, and they were\ntherefore separated by the men, and conveyed within the tents. Jaya\u2019s\nuncle then called for the Neilahg\u00e2o, and immediately were seen to issue\nfrom their tents two of these untameable animals, equally large, fat,\nand fierce, which likewise commenced a furious combat, seizing each\nother by the neck, and alternately forcing one another backwards and\nforwards for the space of nearly two guhrries of time, after which\nthey were also separated and withdrawn into the tents. In short, they\ncontinued to produce from either tent whatever animal the company chose\nto name, and before their eyes set them to fight in the manner above\ndescribed.\u201d[16]\n\nWhen the jugglers had withdrawn, the guests commenced the more\nsubstantial enjoyments of the table. Jeipal and Jaya marked where\ntheir respective dishes were placed, towards which they were finally\nconducted by a sort of master of the ceremonies. During the first\nbustle, Jeipal contrived to remove his own dish, and substitute that of\nJaya\u2019s uncle before the latter had taken his station. The confusion was\nso great, caused by the various movements of such a number of persons,\nthat the change of dishes was a matter of no great difficulty.\n\nJeipal began to eat of the mess before him in order to give\nencouragement to his wife\u2019s relation, who was placed by his side.\nThe latter unsuspiciously ate of the poisoned food, and in a very\nshort time had consumed the whole contents of the fatal dish. Jeipal,\nmeanwhile, was not backward, but followed the example of Jaya\u2019s uncle,\nand soon saw the bottom of his platter. Jaya had not tasted hers, which\nbeing remarked by her aunt, the latter pressed her with extreme urgency\nto eat, but her solicitations being firmly resisted, she expressed\ngreat anger. \u201cIs it thus you serve your guests, to refuse partaking of\nyour own wedding banquet, as if you were not willing that they should\nenjoy it, or begrudged what has been provided?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like the appearance of this dish,\u201d said Jaya calmly; \u201cit has\nan unnatural smell, too. In short, I shall not taste it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was prepared on purpose for you, and of those very ingredients of\nwhich you have always expressed yourself so fond.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it has been prepared for me, and therefore decline it;\nbut to show you how little selfish I am in partaking of anything\nespecially prepared for me, I resign it to you with the greatest\ncheerfulness--pray eat it, and I shall be much better satisfied than\ntaking the indulgence myself.\u201d\n\nThe woman shrank back with a consciousness that she had been detected.\nIn a short time the poison began to operate upon her husband. His\ncheeks became blanched, his lips closed with a convulsive compression,\nhis whole body stiffened, and he fell upon the floor. The poison was\nof so potent a nature, that within a few minutes he was a corpse.\nConsiderable confusion prevailed; the body was removed; but such is the\ncharacteristic apathy of the Hindoo, that the banquet was concluded\nwithout further interruption. No inquiry was made as to the cause of\nthe man\u2019s death. It was looked upon as a sudden visitation for some\nsecret crime. No pity was expressed for the sufferer, but for one it\nwas an event to be deeply deplored. The wife had the awful prospect of\nexpiring amid the flames upon the body of her deceased husband.\n\nThe guests separated, and this wretched woman was left to the dreadful\ncompanionship of her own fierce repinings. On the morrow her husband\nwas to be consumed upon the pile amid the flames of which she would be\ndoomed to expire. It was a fearful thought. She was not prepared to\ndie, and the very idea of death was at once a dread and an agony.\n\nThe day of sacrifice dawned. The noisy tomtoms and harsh brazen\ntrumpets warned her of the solemn obligation which she was called upon\nto fulfil. The shouts of thousands of mad enthusiasts rent the air; but\nshe was reluctant to answer their acclamations by exhibiting herself as\na willing oblation. The Brahmins, perceiving her fears, administered\nopium in such quantities that she soon became stupefied; still, nothing\ncould remove her extreme horror of death.\n\nThe opium at length took such an effect upon her, that she scarcely\nknew what she did, and was finally induced to accompany the Brahmins\nto the pile. The sight of it renewed her terrors. After a while the\neffects of the opiate had somewhat subsided, and when within the area\nin which the fatal pyre had been reared, she positively refused to\nascend it; but it was now too late--she had gone too far to retract.\nThe Brahmins surrounded her--the tomtoms began their din, the trumpets\ntheir clamour, and she was forced upon the fatal platform. Fire was\ninstantly applied. She raised herself amid the flames, but was forced\nback by the officiating Brahmins with long bamboos. Her hair streamed\nupon the breeze--her arms were a moment raised with the violent action\nof agony--her eyes almost started from their sockets--but the flames\nrose higher and fiercer. Being struck in the temple with a bamboo, she\nfell backward into the devouring element, and was no more seen.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[14] The Hindoo Hymen.\n\n[15] A bed-frame.\n\n[16] See the Autobiographical Memoirs of the Emperor Jehangire,\ntranslated by Major David Price. From this singular memoir I have\nextracted the two passages marked with inverted commas, merely altering\nthe names and a word or two, in order to make them harmonize with the\nnarrative.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n\nThe only thing that now remained to complete the happiness of Jaya\nwas her father\u2019s liberty. It happened about this time that Ray Ruttun\nSein was taken alarmingly ill. Fearing that his former summons might\nnot be attended to, and more than ever anxious to obtain his freedom,\nhe sent to his daughter to entreat her to visit him that he might see\nher before he died. Alla-ood-Deen had promised the Rajah, that the\nmoment the beautiful Jaya appeared within the walls of his capital her\nfather should be restored to liberty. The latter evidently preferred\nhis own personal ease to his daughter\u2019s honour; nevertheless she\ndetermined to accede to his wishes, but at the same time resolved that\nher presence in Delhi should be the means of her parent\u2019s escape. In\nreply to his communication she wrote, that she should shortly appear at\nthe Mahomedan capital, in obedience to his and the King\u2019s wishes, and\nwhen she had made the necessary preparations for her journey she would\nlet him know the day on which he might look for her arrival. She had\ndevised a plan for her father\u2019s escape, which, with the concurrence of\nher husband, she prepared to put into practice without further delay.\nAlla-ood-Deen was beyond measure elated when he heard that the lovely\nJaya had at length consented to become the pride and glory of his\nharem. He immediately ordered the rigours of her father\u2019s captivity to\nbe abated. He was removed to a commodious apartment where everything\nhe required was provided, and his disorder began gradually to subside.\nThe King went to visit him in person, but Ray Ruttun Sein could not\nmeet cordially the man who had treated him with such wanton indignity,\nand forced him to an act against which his conscience rebelled.\n\n\u201cRajah,\u201d said the King, \u201cyou have at length consented to make me happy.\nWhen the possession of your daughter is secured to me, you have only to\nname the price of her dowry, and it shall be paid into your hands. You\nmay look to be raised to the highest office under my government.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had rather be supreme in my own little principality than second even\nunder so great a sovereign as he who sits on the throne of Delhi. All I\ndesire is my freedom, and I only regret the nature of the ransom which\nyour tyranny forces me to pay.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlliances with Kings are cheaply purchased upon any terms; and why\nshould you grieve at your daughter becoming the wife of a powerful\nmonarch?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause she has already a protector, and consequently can never\noccupy a place in your harem but as a degraded wife. However, I have\ncommanded her presence here, and daily expect her; but you may prepare\nto encounter the vengeance of an injured husband; and I need not tell\nyou that a Rajpoot foregoes his revenge but with his death.\u201d\n\n\u201cI laugh at the vain efforts of a puny youth, who will have brought\nwhat you call his wrongs upon himself. He married your daughter when he\nknew that I had made overtures to possess her.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe had been pledged to him from infancy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the will of kings sets aside such idle pledges; they, therefore,\nshould not have been fulfilled.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur destinies are not dependent upon the will of kings. It has been\nhers to marry Jeipal, and all the powers of your extensive regality\ncannot sunder the mystical link which unites them. You may separate\nthem from each other, but that conjunction of soul in which they are\nmutually joined is beyond your control--you cannot annul it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I will tear them asunder in spite of it; and let me tell you that\nwhile I live no power I possess shall be spared to secure the one great\nobject of my wishes, which is the possession of your daughter Jaya.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I have promised you, and the word of a Rajpoot is a sacred bond,\nforfeited only with life.\u201d\n\nAlla-ood-Deen quitted his presence with some lurking apprehensions\nthat it was the Rajpoot\u2019s intention still to evade his demands; he was\ntherefore daily urgent to know the day which his daughter had fixed for\nher appearance at his capital. A week elapsed, but no communication\nhad been made by the wife of Jeipal, and her father began to suspect\nthat she had no intention of fulfilling her promise. On the following\nmorning, however, he received a written communication from her, in\nwhich she stated that on the tenth day following she should be at\nDelhi; at the same time detailing to him a plan which she had devised,\nin concurrence with her husband, in order to effect his escape. He was\ndelighted with the scheme, and prepared to advance its accomplishment\nto the best of his power. The idea of escape from the odious thraldom\nto which he had been subjected, gave such an impulse to his spirit\nthat he soon shook off the lethargy of disease, and within a week was\nperfectly restored to his usual state of health.\n\nThe king, delighted at the near prospect of possessing the lovely Jaya,\ncommanded that her entrance into Delhi should be distinguished by the\nstrongest tokens of his affection. A guard was ordered to receive her\nat the gate, and pay her military honours as she passed through. She\nhad requested her father to obtain the king\u2019s passport for herself\nand retinue to proceed by slow marches towards the capital without\ninterruption. Alla-ood-Deen had immediately granted her request, and\ngiven orders at all the towns and villages that she and her attendants\nshould be exonerated from the ordinary scrutiny to which all travellers\nwere subjected.\n\nRay Ruttun Sein waited with impatience for the day when he should\nwelcome his daughter\u2019s arrival at the Mahomedan capital. Alla-ood-Deen\nwas no less impatient to behold the woman to whom report had ascribed\nsuch singular personal endowments. His harem was fitted up for her\nreception with extraordinary splendour; and he lavished his treasure\nwith a profuse liberality in preparing to welcome this Hindoo beauty in\na manner worthy of his princely munificence.\n\nOn the morning named by Jaya for her entrance into Delhi, a numerous\ncavalcade was seen approaching the city gate. It consisted of a\nnumber of litters, in which women are accustomed to travel in Eastern\ncountries, covered with cloth draperies that entirely concealed from\nview those within. The litters were accompanied by about a hundred\nunarmed followers on foot. Each litter was borne on the shoulders of\nfour men, and they severally passed through the gate, that which headed\nthe cavalcade being honoured with a military salute from the guard.\nAs had been previously agreed, they were borne towards the prison in\nwhich Ray Ruttun Sein was confined. This was a large house surrounded\nby a court and enclosed by a high wall. Into this court the litters\nwere carried, and, when all were set down, the gates were closed and\nfastened on the outside.\n\nThere was a strong guard within the court. No sooner were the litters\ndeposited, that the curtains of the principal one were drawn aside,\nand Jaya stepped out. Giving a signal, an armed warrior started from\nevery litter; then, putting arms into the hands of their bearers, they\nattacked the guard, whom in a few minutes they slew to a man. Jeipal,\nwho headed the party, now rushed into the building, cutting down all\nwho opposed his progress until he reached the apartment of Ray Ruttun\nSein, the locality of which had been previously indicated to him by the\nRajah, in reply to his daughter\u2019s last communication. Ray Ruttun Sein\nwas already prepared for the rescue. Hearing the noise caused by his\nson-in-law\u2019s approach, he opened the door of his chamber, and met him\nat the threshold. Jaya followed close behind, and springing into her\nfather\u2019s arms embraced him passionately.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said Jeipal, \u201cwe have not a moment to lose. The alarm will be\ngiven, and a detachment sent to reinforce the guard outside the gate.\nHorses await us at a village a coss from the city. We must fly for our\nlives, for the pursuit will no doubt be hot.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have done our best, my father,\u201d said Jaya: \u201cif we should be pursued\nand overtaken, we have the Rajpoot\u2019s courage and can die. I wear a\ndagger which will remove us both beyond the reach of pursuit, should we\nbe likely to fall into the enemy\u2019s hands. Let us begone.\u201d\n\nThey moved hastily from the house into the court-yard. The sentinels\nwho stood outside the prison wall, hearing the bustle within, had\nunbarred the portal to ascertain the cause. Jeipal and his followers\nimmediately despatched them, and made good their exit. Getting again\ninto their litters, they proceeded to the city gate, which they passed\nthrough without the slightest suspicion. The work of slaughter had been\nso speedily executed that no alarm was raised, the house in which it\nhad taken place being a solitary building in the outskirts of the city.\n\nAs soon as they reached the village where their horses were waiting\nfor them, they instantly mounted, and were off with the speed of the\nwind. Their flight was soon discovered, but not before they were some\nmiles on their way. When Alla-ood-Deen was informed how he had been\noutwitted, his rage knew no bounds. He raved like a madman, bit his\nown flesh with fury, and swore an oath of deep and implacable revenge.\nHis violence brought on a disorder which threw him on a sick bed. He\nraved perpetually, and such was the intensity of his excitement that\nhe became perfectly frantic. He ordered several citizens to be put to\ndeath whom he chose to suspect, without the slightest ground, had been\nprivy to the escape of the fugitives. There were no bounds to his rage,\nand his violence increased to such a degree that he was obliged to be\ntied down to his bed.\n\nMeanwhile the Rajah and his followers pursued their flight, and halted\nonly for a few minutes until they fancied themselves beyond the reach\nof pursuit. They had ridden forty coss by noon the following day. Their\nhorses being somewhat lamed by the severity of their journey, they were\nobliged to rest for the day; but fancying there was no longer anything\nto apprehend from pursuit, they fairly congratulated themselves upon\ntheir escape.\n\nThe village at which they halted was situated on the slope of a hill;\nand in order to guard against an enemy, Jeipal commanded his little\nband of twenty armed followers to keep alternate watch, half of them\nonly sleeping at a time, in case of surprise.\n\nThere was a bright moonlight. About two hours before midnight one of\nJeipal\u2019s scouts apprised him of the approach of pursuers;--he had\ncalculated their number at about eighty men. These would no doubt be\nfollowed by speedy reinforcements. There was no time for hesitation.\nJeipal placed six of his followers in ambush at the base of the hill,\nwith orders to keep the enemy in check, while Jaya and her father\npursued their flight with all speed. They again mounted their horses,\nsomewhat recruited by their day\u2019s rest and good feeding, and were off\ntowards Chittore with the swiftness of thought. Jeipal, having seen\nthem safe on their journey, descended the hill with the rest of his\nlittle band, commanding them to follow within reach of a signal. As he\narrived at the ambuscade where his six men, armed with bows and arrows,\nwere concealed, he perceived the enemy in full career across the plain.\nThe moon was in mid heaven, pouring her soft and tender light upon the\nadvancing squadron. As it neared the bottom of the mountain, Jeipal\ndischarged an arrow and shot the leader dead. Another and another\nfollowed; and before the party could imagine that they were assailed by\na secret foe, ten of them were either killed or disabled. This checked\ntheir career; they halted, and retreated a couple of hundred yards\nbeyond the ambush.\n\nAfter a short pause they advanced at full gallop, and reached the base\nof the hill in a few minutes, with the loss of another ten men, killed\nor desperately wounded. Jeipal now gave the signal, and was joined by\nthe rest of his followers, who, rushing down the steep, sent their\narrows among the Mahomedans at the moment they were dismounting from\ntheir horses. They were thrown into confusion at this fatal discharge,\nand, before they had recovered from their consternation, were attacked\nsword in hand by the furious Rajpoots. The slaughter was terrible.\nEncumbered by their horses they could not act in unison, and their\nleader being killed, they were dispirited. In a few minutes half of\nthem were slain; and the rest, remounting their steeds, galloped back\nacross the plain, where they were soon joined by a second party from\nDelhi, which came to a halt beyond bowshot from the mountain.\n\nJeipal in this short but fierce conflict, had lost only four followers.\nHe had received a severe sabre-cut upon the forehead, round which he\nbound his turban tightly to stanch the blood, and mounting his horse,\nhe and his faithful Rajpoots followed the fugitives. He overtook them\nearly on the following day. They had now ten hours\u2019 start of their\npursuers, who had halted during the night on the plain.\n\nThe Rajah, with his daughter, her husband, and their companions,\neventually reached the hilly country, where they for the present\ndetermined to remain concealed until the heat of pursuit should\nsubside. Shortly after, they heard of the death of Alla-ood-Deen, who\nnever recovered from the attack consequent upon Ray Ruttun Sein\u2019s\nflight. His death restored Jeipal and his lovely bride to their\nsecurity: the Rajah returned to Chittore, where he was welcomed with\nrejoicings, and the rest of his life was passed among his children and\ngrand-children in freedom and in joy.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 716 (A.D. 1316).--On the death of Alla-ood-Deen, his youngest son,\nOomar Chan, was raised to the throne by Mullik Kafoor. This prince was\ndeposed and imprisoned after a reign of three months and some days.\n\nHeg. 717 (1317).--Moobarik Khiljy ascended the throne on the seventh\nMohurrum.\n\nHeg. 721 (1321).--The king was cut off by a conspiracy, and Mullik\nKhoosrow, the chief conspirator, raised to the throne; but he was put\nto death after a reign of only five months by Gheias-ood-Deen Toghluk;\nand with his death terminated the second Tartar dynasty of the kings of\nDelhi.\n\nHeg. 721 (1321).--Gheias-ood-Deen Toghluk was the first of the third\nTartar dynasty of the kings of Delhi. When he ascended the throne he\nregulated the affairs of the government in a manner so satisfactory as\nto obtain general esteem. He declared his eldest son heir-apparent,\nwith the title of Aluf Chan, and conferred upon him the ensign of\nroyalty.\n\nHeg. 722 (1322).--This year the new citadel at Delhi was completed, to\nwhich the king gave the name of Toghlukabad.\n\nHeg. 724 (1323).--The king, after having appointed his son, Aluf\nChan, governor of Delhi, marched in person towards Bengal to stop the\noppressions committed by the Rajahs of Luknowty and Soonargam. On his\nreturn towards his capital the king was met at Afghanpoor by his son\nand the nobles of his court, who advanced to congratulate him upon his\nsafe return. Here Aluf Chan had erected, in the short space of three\ndays, a temporary wooden building for his fathers reception. When the\nentertainment was over, the king ordered his equipage to proceed.\nEverybody hastened out and stood ready to accompany him, when the roof\nof the building suddenly fell, and the king and five of his attendants\nwere crushed to death beneath the ruins.\n\nHeg. 725 (1325).--Aluf Chan ascended the throne by the title of Mahomed\nToghluk. He was the most eloquent and accomplished prince of his time;\nand his letters, both in Arabic and Persian, display so much elegance,\ngood taste, and good sense, that the most able secretaries of later\ntimes study them with admiration.\n\nHeg. 727 (1327).--The king caused a copper coin to be struck, issued\nit at an imaginary value, and, by a royal decree, caused it to pass\ncurrent throughout Hindostan. This was the cause of great distress,\nthe bankers and merchants alone benefiting at the expense of the\nsovereign and his people.\n\nHeg. 738 (1337).--Mahomed Toghluk conceived the idea of conquering\nChina, and sent an army of one hundred thousand horse into Nepaul and\nthe countries on either side of the Himalaya mountains. The expedition\nutterly failed, nearly the whole army having perished in those\nmountainous regions.\n\nHeg. 741 (1340).--The king obtained possession of the strong fort\nof Kondhana, the modern Singur, near Poma, which he starved into a\nsurrender. He removed his family to Dowlutabad, which he resolved to\nmake his capital, leaving the noble metropolis of Delhi a resort for\nbats and a dwelling-place for the beasts of the desert.\n\nHeg. 742 (1341).--Mahomed Toghluk laid heavy contributions upon\nDowlutabad and the neighbouring provinces, which caused an\ninsurrection; but his numerous and well-appointed army soon reduced the\ninsurgents to their former state of slavery. This year the king nearly\nfell a victim to a pestilence which broke out in his camp with such\nviolence that it swept off a great part of his army. Having lost one of\nhis teeth, he ordered it to be buried with much ceremony at Beer, and\ncaused a magnificent tomb to be raised over it, which still remains a\nmonument of his vanity and folly.\n\nHeg. 743 (1342).--Mullik Heidur, chief of the Ghoorkas, slew Tartar\nChan, the viceroy of Lahore.\n\nHeg. 744 (1344).--The confederate Hindoos seized the country occupied\nby the Mahomedans in the Deccan and expelled them, so that within a few\nmonths Mahomed had no possessions in that quarter except Dowlutabad.\n\nHeg. 747 (1346).--The king promoted several persons in the meanest\nstations to the rank of nobles, which occasioned the hereditary Omrahs\nto revolt; but their leader Azeez, upon the king\u2019s troops advancing\nto attack him, becoming panic-stricken, fell from his horse, was made\nprisoner, and suffered a cruel death. His forces were totally routed.\n\nHeg. 748 (1347).--Dowlutabad fell into the hands of the insurgents, who\nput the king\u2019s officers to death and divided the public treasure.\n\nHeg. 752 (1351).--Mahomed Toghluk, having eaten to excess of fish,\nwas seized with fever of which he died, after a tyrannical reign of\ntwenty-seven years, and was succeeded by his cousin Feroze Toghluk.\n\nHeg. 755 (1354).--The king built the city of Ferozabad, adjoining that\nof Delhi, and on the following year dug a canal forty-eight coss in\nlength. He likewise constructed another canal between the hills of\nMundvy and Surmore, from the Jumna, into which he conducted seven minor\nstreams, which all uniting ran in one channel through Hansy, and from\nthence to Raiseen, where he built a strong fort, which he called Hissar\nFeroza.\n\nHeg. 762 (1360).--The king sent the celebrated image of Nowshaba to\nMecca, to be thrown upon the road, that it might be trodden under foot\nby the pilgrims.\n\nHeg. 776 (1375).--The celebrated Mujahid Shah ascended the throne of\nthe Deccan. In his fourteenth year, in a struggle with his father\u2019s\nspice-bearer, Moobarik, a man of great strength, he threw him and broke\nhis neck.\n\nHeg. 779 (1378).--He was assassinated after a reign of not quite three\nyears. Hajy Mahomed Kandahary states that he received his death-wound\nfrom the son of Moobarik the spice-bearer.\n\nHeg. 781 (1379).--Kurgoo, the Zemindar of Kutehr, invited to his house\nSyud Mahomed, governor of Budaoon, together with his two brothers,\nand basely murdered them. Enraged at this treachery, Feroze Toghluk\ninstantly marched and took severe vengeance on the associates and\nkindred of the Zemindar, putting them to the sword, and levelling\ntheir houses with the ground. The murderer made his escape to the\nmountains of Camaoon, and was protected by the Rajahs of those parts.\nFeroze ordered a detachment of his army against them, and nearly twenty\nthousand of those mountaineers were made prisoners and condemned to\nslavery; but Kurgoo contrived to elude the vigilance of the king\u2019s\ngeneral.\n\nHeg. 790 (1388).--Feroze Toghluk died, after having reached the almost\npatriarchal age of ninety years.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Mahomedan Nimrod.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nMujahid, the son of Mahomed Shah, sovereign of the Deccan, was\nremarkable for his courage and amazing strength of body. He was tall\nof stature, prodigiously muscular, yet, in dignity of demeanour and\ngeneral majesty of aspect, surpassed all the princes of his race. In\nvalour and fortitude he stood without a rival. Such was his strength\nof constitution, that he was affected by change neither of climate\nnor of atmosphere: whether the season were wet or dry, hot or cold,\nhealthy or sickly, it was alike to him. He spoke the Toorky language\nfluently, which he acquired from his favourite companions, who were\nfor the most part either Toorks or Persians. He was fond of archery\nfrom his infancy, and all his conversation tended to military subjects.\nHis whole soul was absorbed by deeds of arms, or of hazard in some\nshape. When a boy, he was the terror of his youthful associates.\nWhoever offended him was sure to feel the weight of his resentment,\nand such was his known determination, that they were afraid to unite\nagainst him, lest his single arm should prove sufficient to break\ntheir confederacy and punish them all; for he was repelled by no sense\nof danger from resenting injury. Still he was a beneficent youth,\nand beloved by them generally. There was nothing he would not do for\nthem, so long as they did not wantonly thwart his projects, which were\nsometimes of a nature to be discouraged; but even when he engaged in\nany mischievous adventure, it was more from exuberance of animal\nspirits, and that love of enterprise which he could not suppress, than\nfrom depravity of heart.\n\nOne day calling his companions together, he proposed that they should\ngo and hunt the tiger in some distant forest, where that animal was\nreported to abound. But a difficulty arose: many of them had no\nhorses, and it was necessary that they should be supplied in order to\naccomplish the wishes of their young prince. What was to be done?\n\n\u201cWe must go,\u201d said he, \u201cat any rate, and you shall be supplied with\nnecessaries.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how,\u201d asked one, \u201care we to get them without money?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile there is a rupee in my father\u2019s treasury, as I live you shall\nnot go without horses. We will hunt the tiger at all hazards.\u201d\n\nNone of his comrades could imagine how Mujahid intended to introduce\nhimself into his father\u2019s treasury, which was protected by a strong\ndoor, secured by three huge bolts. These appeared much more than\nsufficient to baffle the efforts of a youth of fourteen, for that was\nprecisely the age of Mujahid at this period. But he laughed at the\nidea of impediments to any enterprise dear to his heart; and, calling\ntogether the youths by whom he was generally attended, he desired they\nwould accompany him to the treasury. It was guarded by a sentinel; but\nthe prince, pretending to send him upon a message of some importance,\npromised to take his place until he should return.\n\nNo sooner had the soldier quitted his post, than Mujahid, rushing\nagainst the door which contained his father\u2019s treasure, shook it from\nthe hinges, and opened a way to the means of procuring horses for his\ncontemplated excursion. Taking several bags of gold, he divided the\nmoney among his youthful followers. They immediately repaired to a\nmart, and supplied themselves with steeds, and other necessaries for\nthe chase.\n\nWhen the sentinel returned he found his post abandoned, and that he had\nbeen duped by the young prince. Knowing the penalty of having quitted\nhis charge, he immediately left the spot and fled beyond the reach\nof danger. The treasurer, discovering the door broken down, and no\nsentinel on the spot was amazed; but he had no difficulty in tracing\nthe act to the king\u2019s son. The habits of Mujahid were too well known\nfor suspicion to be diverted from him; and, when taxed by the treasurer\nwith the theft, he did not deny it.\n\nThe sovereign, enraged at the vicious propensity of his son, sent his\nspice-bearer, Moobarik, to summon the prince before him. Upon entering\nhis father\u2019s presence, perceiving by the king\u2019s manner that he had\nbeen made acquainted with the robbery of his treasury, Mujahid, when\nasked if he knew why he had been summoned, remained silent. \u201cWhat could\ninduce you,\u201d said the sovereign, \u201cto commit such a trespass against the\nlaws, and such an act of violence against the authority of your father?\nWhat do you deserve?\u201d\n\nMujahid still continued silent, feeling justification impossible.\n\n\u201cBoy,\u201d said the father, sternly, \u201cit is necessary that such a violation\nof the common laws of honesty as you have so wantonly committed should\nbe punished with due severity, in order that my people may see I do not\npalliate or overlook the delinquencies of my son. What expectations\ncan you hope to excite of your honour and justice when raised to this\nthrone, of which you are the rightful heir, if you indulge thus in\nthe vulgarest of all vulgar crimes? Such tendencies are unbecoming a\nprince, and must be subdued.\u201d\n\nThe king now ordered Mujahid to be stripped, and taking a whip,\nscourged him severely with his own hand until the shoulders of the\nyouthful offender were covered with blood. The prince was then ordered\nto be imprisoned in the palace.\n\nThis galled him much more severely than the stripes he had received;\nthey were only the infliction of a moment; but the restraints of\nimprisonment were vexatious to his haughty spirit. He was mortified,\ntoo, that his projected expedition had been frustrated, attributing his\npunishment to the officiousness of Moobarik, against whom from this\ntime he harboured a deep and implacable enmity.\n\nHis mother visited him in his confinement, and he complained to her\nwith great bitterness of Moobarik.\n\n\u201cNay, my son,\u201d said the queen, \u201cthe servant was not in fault; he only\ndid his duty. He did not acquaint your father with your act of youthful\nindiscretion, it was the treasurer.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if the spice-bearer had informed me that the affair at the\ntreasury had been discovered, I could have evaded my father\u2019s wrath,\nmade you my intercessor, and thus have escaped the visitation of his\nanger.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will subside, my son. I can still be your intercessor.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the punishment has been inflicted,--my back still bears the marks\nof stripes; and, though these may be effaced from my skin, they will\nnever be obliterated from my memory. Those are wrongs, mother, which\ncan neither be forgotten nor forgiven.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you harbour a spirit of revenge against your father?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; but against the man who has caused that father to visit me with\nbodily chastisement my hatred will be inextinguishable.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, this is the working of unsubdued passion,--the feeling will\nabate. Your cool judgment may convince you that Moobarik has not been\nin fault, and you will be pacified.\u201d\n\nMujahid made no reply; but the lowering of his brow sufficiently\nindicated the deep-settled hostility that had already stirred the\nslumbering passions of his soul,--the fiercest and least tractable.\n\nAt the mother\u2019s intercession, after a week\u2019s confinement, the prince\nwas set at liberty; and, at her especial request, he forebore to\nexhibit any marks of enmity against the spice-bearer; but he wore a\nmask upon his countenance that disguised the rage working at his heart.\nHe summoned his youthful playfellows around him, and seemed occupied by\nthe amusements common to his age; but, with the eye of a lynx, he only\nwatched for an opportunity to signalize his revenge upon the man who\nhad aroused his hatred. This he sought to accomplish without involving\nhimself in an act of legal criminality. The son of Moobarik was one of\nhis comrades, and to him he showed marks of unusual attention, in order\nto blind him to the one dark purpose with which his own young heart was\nteeming.\n\nIt happened that a discussion took place one day among the boys with\nwhom the prince associated, upon the respective merits of different\nwrestlers who had distinguished themselves in the arena upon occasions\nwhen public sports had been exhibited before the king. In the course\nof the conversation the son of Moobarik mentioned his father to be so\nstrong and skilful in the manly exercise of wrestling, that he had\nseveral times thrown some celebrated players.\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Mujahid; \u201cI should like to have a trial of skill with that\nsturdy father of yours. Do you think he would fear to encounter the\nstrength of a boy of fourteen?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Musaood Chan, with a good-natured laugh, \u201cthe king\u2019s\nspice-bearer could have no objection, I should fancy, in proving his\nstrength to the king\u2019s son.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be an unequal game--youth against manhood; yet I think I could\nmake the spice-bearer turn his eyes to the sun without measuring my own\nlength beside him.\u201d\n\nThis freak of the prince excited the merriment of his juvenile friends;\nthey expected to see their daring companion somewhat roughly handled\nin the grasp of Moobarik, who was generally reported a person of great\nstrength; having been raised by the sovereign to his present dignity on\naccount of his feats in arms.\n\nMujahid threw himself in the spice-bearer\u2019s way, and after offering a\ncourteous greeting, said, with a jocular air,\n\n\u201cYour son tells me you have so sinewy an arm that few champions in the\nwrestling-ground would be able to stand against you, if you were to\ncondescend to encounter them in a trial of strength and skill.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son says indeed true. I have on more than one occasion thrown the\nstrongest men in the king\u2019s army, and my arm has yet lost none of its\nvigour.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you willing to put it to the test?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can find no worthy rival among my equals, and I should scarcely\ndegrade my nobility by entering the arena against the hirelings of the\nking\u2019s pleasures.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou need not fear to find a competitor of your own rank; for I am\nwilling to try my powers and skill against yours, if you do not doubt\nyour chances of victory.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can have no objection to a friendly contest with my master\u2019s son;\nbut he must not be vexed if he should happen to be some what roughly\nhandled, for wrestling is no lady\u2019s game.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am prepared for what may ensue. Though but a boy, you must remember\nthat I broke open the door of my father\u2019s treasury; you will not,\ntherefore, have a mere boy\u2019s strength to try.\u201d\n\nOn the following day it was agreed that the prince and the spice-bearer\nshould wrestle before the king. The preliminaries were settled, the\nspectators assembled, and the competitors entered the hall of the\npalace, which was strewed with sand in order to break the force of\ntheir falls. Both the champions appeared naked to the waist. The tall,\nmuscular frame of Moobarik contrasted singularly with the round smooth\nlimbs of his youthful adversary, who was exceedingly robust, and the\nsize of his sinews hidden under a round surface of healthy flesh. At\nthe first onset, Moobarik grasped his antagonist by the shoulders,\nraised him in the air, and was about to cast him on the floor, when\nthe prince adroitly passed his leg behind the spice-bearer\u2019s knee, and\nthrew him on his back in an instant, falling upon him with considerable\nforce. The spectators were astonished; but there being a dispute as to\nthe fairness of the fall, both parties consented to another struggle.\nThis was not much longer than the last. After a little shifting to make\ngood his intended grasp, Mujahid seized his opponent suddenly by the\nwaistband of his short trousers, and, raising him in his arms, flung\nhim on the ground with such force that he lay senseless. He had pitched\nupon his head; and, upon examination it was found that his neck was\nbroken.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe death of Moobarik afforded a subject of conversation for several\nweeks at the court of Mujahid\u2019s father. It was a matter of extreme\nsurprise that a mere boy should have so easily foiled a man of\nsuch great strength, and have so rapidly and fatally concluded the\ncontest. He was from this time looked upon as a prodigy. Musaood Chan,\nhowever, from that moment entertained an implacable hatred against the\ndestroyer of his father. He dared not openly manifest his hostility;\nnevertheless, it burned within him with a smothered, indeed, but\nstill with an unextinguishable, flame. He heard the general applause\nbestowed upon the courage and prowess of the prince with silent yet\nfierce repugnance, which he was obliged to mask under the exterior of a\nsuavity that seemed like self-mockery.\n\nMujahid treated him with kindness and with confidence; and being of\nan open unsuspicious temper he did not for a moment harbour a thought\nof Musaood\u2019s sinister feelings towards him; as the former neither\nexpressed anger, nor evinced the slightest symptom of resentment at his\nfather\u2019s death.\n\nAs Mujahid advanced towards manhood, he became the terror of the\nneighbouring potentates. He commanded his father\u2019s armies, and\ninvariably led them to conquest. The son of Moobarik witnessed his\nsuccess with envy, and the fires of vengeance still smouldered in his\nbosom. He had a beautiful sister, whose detestation of the prince\nwas no less ardent than his own; she could not wipe from her memory\nthe cause of her father\u2019s death; but she, as well as her brother,\ndissembled her resentment, and received Mujahid courteously when they\nhappened to meet.\n\nThe prince had conceived a passion for her, which he shortly avowed,\nand she encouraged. Hoping that it would forward the opportunity of\nrevenge so ardently desired by her brother and herself, she pretended a\nreciprocal attachment, and listened to his unholy declarations of love,\nat first without any expressions of shame, and finally, with apparent\npleasure. His passions were roused; but under various pretences,\nthe artful siren delayed gratifying those passions which her seeming\nacquiescence had provoked.\n\nMusaood was pleased at seeing his intended victim gradually drawing\ntowards the toil which he was preparing for him. The prince never for a\nmoment imagined that the children of Moobarik attached to him the guilt\nof having purposely destroyed their father. Taking it for granted that\nthey looked upon his death as a mere accident, he did not conceive that\nthere could be cause for the slightest hostility towards him, and the\ndaughter\u2019s apparent affection confirmed this impression. His love for\nthe sister caused him to repose the greatest confidence in the brother.\nThe latter became privy to all the prince\u2019s designs, encouraging\nMujahid\u2019s favourable feelings towards him by affecting a fervent zeal\nfor his welfare.\n\nMujahid\u2019s love for the wily daughter of his father\u2019s late\nspice-bearer at length knew no bounds, and she was obliged to adopt\nall the resources of her woman\u2019s art to keep him from proceeding\nto extremities. She tantalized him with promises, which she evaded\nfulfilling by the most ingenious artifices. It was found at length\nnecessary to withdraw him for a while from the object of his passion,\nin order to rescue her from a dilemma which was daily becoming more\ndifficult to elude.\n\nMusaood, therefore, proposed a few days\u2019 excursion into the woods to\nenjoy the pleasures of the chase, of which he knew the prince to be so\nfond that even his love of woman yielded to his love of killing lions\nand tigers. It might, too, chance that in the forest an opportunity\nwould arise so long and so ardently sought. The prince accordingly\nrepaired to the jungles, accompanied by his young friends, and for\nseveral days with his single arm destroyed many of its fiercest\ninhabitants.\n\nOne morning he was informed that an enormous elephant was in the\nneighbourhood. The huge beast was said to have committed dreadful\nravages, and to have killed so great a number of people who had\nventured near its place of usual resort, that travellers had\ndiscontinued passing by that road for fear of encountering the savage\nanimal. Nothing could be more gratifying to Mujahid than the idea of\nencountering an enemy which every one else shunned; and without loss of\ntime he proceeded to the spot where the elephant was reported to have\ntaken up its abode. It turned out to be a solitary male which had been\nexpelled from the herd; and when this happens, it always renders these\nanimals extremely savage.\n\nMujahid found the colossal beast in a part of the wood where the growth\nwas more than usually scanty, tearing down with eager voracity the\ntender branches of the young trees which were growing around him. At\nthe sight of intruders it stopped, raised its trunk, gave a shrill cry,\nand approached them at a rapid pace. The prince deliberately placed\nan arrow on the string of his bow, pulled it to the head, and sent it\non its way with the force of a shot from an arquebuse. The steel head\nstruck the elephant on the breast, and the whole shaft was buried in\nthe animal\u2019s body; the very feather being dyed with its blood. The\ngigantic creature dropped instantly dead.\n\nAll were amazed at the force with which the arrow had been sped.\nMujahid ordered the elephant to be opened, that he might see the\ndirection which his arrow had taken. This was accordingly done, and\nit was found that the shaft had passed directly through the animal\u2019s\nheart. The murmurs of astonishment rose into a great burst of\nacclamation; but in proportion to the triumph of the King\u2019s son the\nenvy of Musaood increased.\n\nAmong the persons present upon the occasion was a Tartar. This man was\ndeeply in love with the late spice-bearer\u2019s daughter, who returned his\naffection; he therefore felt that hatred towards the King\u2019s son which\nardent lovers generally entertain towards their rivals. The hot blood\nof this Tartar was roused at the thought of the object of his pure and\nfervent attachment being pursued with sentiments of unholy love; and\nhe was prepared to execute any desperate act by which he might rid the\nworld of a wicked prince, and himself of a dangerous rival. Musaood was\nwell aware of his feelings, and likewise of reckless fierceness of his\ncharacter; and, thinking that now was a favourable time to attack the\nprince\u2019s life when he was reposing in full security upon the fidelity\nof his friends, he persuaded Tuglook Beg to attempt the assassination\nof Mujahid during the chase on the day after the latter had destroyed\nthe elephant.\n\nDuring the morning the sport had been great; and Mujahid, stopping upon\nthe bank of a small rivulet, quitted his horse in order to bathe his\ntemples in the cool refreshing waters. He gave the reins into the hands\nof an Afghan, named Mahmood, who held them while his master alighted.\nAt this moment the Tartar approached unperceived through the hollows\nand broken ground along the banks of the stream, and was in the act of\ncharging the prince at full speed. The cry of some of his attendants\nexciting Mujahid\u2019s attention, he raised his head, and observed Tuglook\nBeg advancing towards him at a gallop, evidently with the design of\ncutting him down, his sword being bared and raised as in the act to\nstrike. The prince immediately seized the reins of his horse, and\nmaking a sign to Mahmood Afghan to interpose himself betwixt his master\nand the assassin, sprang into his saddle. The faithful armour-bearer\nadvanced to meet Tuglook Beg; but his steed rearing, owing to the\ninequality of the ground, it fell, and gave the adversary a momentary\nadvantage. It was a critical moment; the Tartar came on with the speed\nof a whirlwind; but Mujahid, being now prepared to encounter him upon\nequal terms, spurred his horse forward. Tuglook Beg, however, made a\nstroke at the prince, before the latter had time to put himself fully\nupon his guard; the blow fell upon his turban, which, being folded very\nthick and hard, in order to protect his head from the ardent rays of\nthe sun, the sword did not penetrate, though it struck the turban from\nhis brow, and left it exposed to the chance of a more successful blow.\nMujahid, however, having recovered his position, rose in his saddle,\nand bringing his heavy cimeter upon the Tartar\u2019s shoulder, clove him to\nthe chine, and he instantly fell dead from his horse. Having replaced\nthe faithful Mahmood Afghan upon his charger, the prince joined his\nfriends amid shouts and acclamations, in which Musaood Chan was the\nforemost to join.\n\nThe fate of Tuglook Beg only embittered the hatred of his friend\ntowards his destroyer, and strengthened his determination of vengeance.\nHis sister received the news of her lover\u2019s fate with that tearless\ngrief which bespeaks intense suffering, or the counteraction of a\npurpose stronger than the sorrow to which it becomes subservient.\n\nFortunately at this time the prince was called to oppose Krishin\nRay, Rajah of Bejanuggur, who laid claim to some forts belonging to\nMujahid\u2019s father, which saved the object of his passion from coming\nto an open rupture with him, ere she and her brother found means to\nrevenge their parent\u2019s death by accomplishing the destruction of him\nwho had been the cause of it.\n\nAs the prince advanced, Krishin Ray retreated before him. Afraid to\nmeet so formidable a foe in the field, but hoping to cut him off by\nstratagem, the Rajah fled from place to place, and was pursued by\nMujahid for weeks without coming to an engagement. At length the good\nfortune of the latter prevailed. The health of Krishin Ray and his\nfamily became affected by the pestilential air of the woods, and they\nwere warned by their physicians to quit them. But the Rajah, hoping\nthat his enemy, unaccustomed to the deleterious atmosphere, would fall\nan easy prey, resolved to continue where he was, until he saw his\nexpectations realized upon the foe. Mujahid\u2019s constitution, however,\nwas proof against the pestilential air by which his enemy thought he\nwould be destroyed; and Krishin Ray was himself the first to suffer;\nseveral of his family died, and he became himself so ill that he\nwas obliged to retreat by secret paths towards Bejanuggur. Mujahid\ndespatched an army in pursuit of him, while he laid waste the country.\nHaving broken down many temples of the idolaters, and destroyed\nnumerous idols, he returned flushed with victory to his father\u2019s\ncapital.\n\nIt now appeared to Musaood and his sister that their hated enemy was\ndestined to triumph in all his undertakings, and that they were doomed\nto suffer the utmost severity of disappointment.\n\nIt was nevertheless their policy still to dissemble; and the artful\nsiren received her detested lover with gracious smiles of welcome that\nwere like oil poured upon the flame of his passions, which hitherto had\nbeen only tantalized, and now raged with redoubled fury.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nIn order to avoid the importunities of Mujahid, the sister of Musaood\nwas obliged to feign illness, that she might not give him umbrage by\nopposition. The chase was again her brother\u2019s resource to withdraw his\nroyal friend\u2019s thoughts from the indulgence of more criminal passions.\n\nIn a mountain some few miles from the capital was a cave, reported\nto be the haunt of wild beasts. This information had been privately\nconveyed to Musaood, and he determined to take advantage of the\nprince\u2019s ignorance of this fact to accomplish the long-cherished\npurpose of his soul. Mujahid made no objection to another expedition\ninto the forests in search of the lion and tiger, since that was a\npastime perfectly congenial with his adventurous spirit. With him\nexcitement was a vital principle. The announcement of peril was music\nto his ear. He was accompanied by his favourite, Mahmood Afghan, who\nalways attended him in his excursions, whether of war or of pleasure.\nHe went as usual armed with his bow, a well-filled quiver, and his\ncimeter, which had been tried in many a rough encounter with foes, in\nwhose blood it had been frequently steeped.\n\nMusaood had lost nothing of the prince\u2019s confidence: so admirably did\nhe mask his feelings, that not a creature save his sister knew, and\nno one suspected his deadly hostility to the son of Mahomed Shah.\nNothing could exceed his apparent zeal in seeking to administer to the\nenjoyments of the prince, who was a perfect slave to his pleasures; and\nMujahid acknowledged the professed fidelity of the late spice-bearer\u2019s\nson with especial marks of favour.\n\nUpon approaching the forest where the pleasures of the chase were to\nbe enjoyed, the skies began to lower, and to threaten one of those\nviolent elemental conflicts occasionally witnessed within the tropics,\nand of which even the Alpine storms in Europe can afford but a faint\nconception. It soon became too evident that a hurricane was to be\nexpected, and the only thing which now occupied the thoughts of the\nparty was where they should find shelter.\n\nThe prince was at this time separated from his followers, being\naccompanied only by Mahmood, Musaood, and a menial attendant. This\nhad been purposely contrived by his foe, to whom, however, not the\nslightest suspicion of any sinister design attached.\n\nThe sun soon became veiled by a succession of coppery clouds which\nrapidly overspread the sky, opening at intervals in different places,\nand emitting momentary flashes of lightning. The rain quickly began to\nfall upon the broad smooth leaves of the trees; the birds flew to the\nfoliage, and chirped dolefully. Snakes and lizards crawled from beneath\nthe bushes, where they had been basking in the genial sunshine, and\ncrept into the tufts of high grass with which the jungle abounded. A\ngloom passed over the earth, like the sudden setting in of night, and\nthe distant howlings of the forest community gave a strong feature of\ndreariness to the scene.\n\nThe storm was every moment increasing, and the party were by this time\nanxious to obtain a shelter. They had advanced considerably up the\nhill. Musaood had taken care to be informed of the exact locality of\nthe cavern, to which he led the way, the prince and his companions\nfollowing. The ascent was rather steep, and, from there being no\nregular pathway, not easy to climb. Their anxiety to escape from the\npelting of the storm enabled them to overcome all impediments.\n\nThey had fastened their horses under trees in a small glen at the\nhill\u2019s base, as the ascent was too steep to render the attempt on\nhorseback practicable. After about a quarter of an hour\u2019s toil they\nreached a natural recess in the mountain, within which was the entrance\nto a cave, no doubt the same that had been described to Musaood. The\nopening was low, and so narrow that not more than one person could\nsqueeze in at a time. It was about four feet high, and scarcely more\nthan two wide. Within the darkness was so intense, that the eye\ncould not penetrate to the extremity. Scarcely was the party safely\nsheltered, when the hurricane poured down with prodigious fury. The\nrain fell in a confluent stream, forming little cataracts, which\ngushed over the slope of the hill between the rocks, adding to the\nrush and roar of the tempest. The entire horizon appeared every moment\nillumined, and the lightning streamed like a fiery deluge upon the\nearth. There was the least imaginable pause between the flashes. A\nlarge tree in front of the cavern was struck, the trunk severed from\nthe root, as if cleft with an axe by an omnipotent arm, and it fell\nwith an awful crash down the side of the mountain. The thunder rolled\nwith scarcely an interval between the peals, and occasionally burst\nwith such deafening crashes, that the ear could not endure the sound\nwithout a positive sensation of pain. Snakes and other reptiles were\nwashed from their coverts, and crawled for shelter into the cavern, as\nif awed by the fierce convulsion of the elements. They exhibited no\nsigns of reluctance at the propinquity of human beings, of whom they\nhave an instinctive fear, but appeared as if they had laid aside their\nnatural instincts under the terrors by which they were assailed. The\nsavage cobra closed its hood and slunk into a corner of the cavern, as\nif glad to hide itself from the terrors of the storm. After a while,\nthe lightning flashed less continuously; there were longer intervals\nbetween the peals of thunder; it became gradually more remote, and at\nlength the sun glimmered through the clouds, which, rapidly dissipating\nbefore its beams, left a beautiful expanse of clear blue sky above the\nhill.\n\nThe gloom of the cavern had now considerably abated, though nothing was\ndistinctly perceptible at the extremity.\n\nAs soon as the deafening noise of the tempest had subsided, a singular\nsound was heard at the end of the cave, like the loud purring of a\ncat. Mahmood and the attendant groping their way towards it, shortly\nreturned with something in their arms, which when exposed to the\nlight, proved to be the cubs of a lioness. The ferocious parents were\nevidently abroad, but this discovery was not at all calculated to beget\nan assurance of safety.\n\n\u201cWe had better,\u201d said the attendant, \u201cimmediately quit our retreat,\nor we shall be visited by the parents of these young savages before\nwe have time to escape. They will, no doubt, return now the storm has\nabated, and we may look for their presence every moment.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the prince, \u201cyou don\u2019t fear to encounter a lion? This will\nbe somewhat reversing the sport; instead of seeking the game, it will\nseek us; but, upon second thoughts, it will not do to let them come\nupon us before we are prepared; we shall be cramped in this cave; we\nmust have room to ply our arms. If the lions make good their entrance\nbefore we have secured our retreat, we shall stand but a sorry chance\nfor our lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose,\u201d said Musaood, \u201cI go and climb yonder tree, which commands\na view of the entire side of the hill. Should anything approach I can\ngive you a signal; you will have plenty of time to mount the rock just\nbeyond where we now stand, and from that elevation, with the prince\u2019s\nunerring aim, the lions will prove but contemptible foes.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Mahmood Afghan, \u201cI like not this mode of getting hedged by\ndangers; let us quit the cavern at once, and encounter our enemies in\nan open field, if they come upon us. I need not tell you that these\nanimals are always the more furious when disturbed near the lair in\nwhich they have deposited their cubs.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s just what I should desire,\u201d said Mujahid; \u201cthe more furious the\nquarry the greater the sport. You say, however, well, Mahmood; let us\ngo and meet these tawny strangers.\u201d\n\nDuring the raging of the tempest the prince and Mahmood had flung down\ntheir bows and quivers upon the floor of the cave; when the attendant\ntook them up in obedience to the command of his master it was found\nthat the cubs had been amusing themselves with the arrows, and had\nsnapped every reed except two. This was a mortifying discovery. It was\nnow held advisable that the party should not seek an encounter with the\nlions, as they were no longer in a condition to face them, but make the\nbest of their way down the hill, obtain a fresh supply of arrows, and\nreturn on the following day.\n\nBy this time Musaood had quitted the cavern, and climbed a lofty tree\nnot far off, as he had proposed. The prince, with his armour-bearer\nMahmood, and the menial attendant, were about to quit their place of\nrefuge, when a huge lion appeared advancing stealthily towards its den,\nwhich they had occupied in its absence.\n\n\u201cHah!\u201d said Mujahid, \u201cwe have no chance now, I see, but to struggle at\na disadvantage. The foe has taken us by surprise, and we must use the\nbest means of defence which such an emergency has left us. He shall\nhave a warning, however, that we are not to be intruded upon with\nimpunity.\u201d\n\nThe prince placed an arrow on the string of his bow, and discharged it\nas the lion advanced. It struck him in the shoulder, the steel head\nfixing in the bone. The wounded beast gave a savage howl, tore the\nshaft from its body, and bounded forward with a roar that made the\nmountains ring.\n\nMeanwhile the party had rolled a huge fragment of rock, which lay\nwithin the cave, before the entrance, and thus excluded the ferocious\nvisitor. Reaching the opening, the lion paused a moment, repeated its\nroar, and sprang against the stone. This vibrated with the animal\u2019s\nweight. It repeated its spring, but the prince placing his back against\nthe piece of rock, managed by his immense strength to prevent the\nlion from forcing an entrance. The savage creature put its paws upon\nthe stone, and thrust its nose into the aperture left between the top\nof the fragment and that of the entrance. Sensible that enemies had\ninvaded the sanctuary of its home, its howls were terrific, its eyes\nglared with portentous rage, and it repeatedly rushed against the\nopposing barrier, in order to force a passage to its offspring. All its\nattempts, however, were foiled.\n\n\u201cMahmood,\u201d said the prince, as the enraged beast was standing with its\npaws upon the stone, licking its rapacious jaws, now covered with foam,\n\u201ctake thy bow, and discharge the arrow which remains into the lion\u2019s\neye. You are so close that you may make sure of your aim, and if well\ntaken the steel will enter its brain, and give us a safe delivery.\u201d\n\nMahmood took the bow; his hand trembled with anxiety, not with fear. He\nwas visible to the lion, which glared upon him with an expression of\nterrific fury. Its eye was open to the utmost extension. Mahmood placed\nthe barb of his arrow within a few inches from the rolling orb, and\nhurriedly drew the string. At the instant it escaped from his finger\nthe lion raised its head, and received the shaft through its tongue.\nMaddened by the pain, it bounded a moment from the opposing rock, and\nrolled upon its back, snapping the reed with its teeth, and returning\nwith renewed fury to its former position. The foam now dropping from\nits mouth was dyed with blood. It protruded the lacerated tongue, from\nwhich the gore copiously dripped, part of the reed still sticking in\nthe wound.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nThe situation of the prince, his friend, and attendant, was becoming\nevery moment more critical. The lion seemed determined to remain\nstationary at the entrance of the cave, and to admit it was certain\ndeath. Mujahid, however, resolved to remove the stone from the cavern\u2019s\nmouth and take the chance of a conflict with the ferocious beast. He\nand Mahmood had their swords; one of them therefore might escape,\nthough, from the darkness and lowness of their place of refuge, the\nchances were doubtful.\n\nMusaood had at first secured his safety in the tree, from which\nhe descended while the foe was eagerly engaged with those who had\nso unwittingly intruded into its den, and succeeded in making his\nescape. Having reached the bottom of the hill, he mounted his horse\nand galloped off in search of the prince\u2019s followers, hoping that the\nslayer of his father would now meet with deserved retribution.\n\nAs Mujahid was about to remove the fragment of rock from the cave\u2019s\nmouth, Mahmood proposed that they should try to strangle the lion with\na strong silken cord with which he had come provided; a sort of lasso,\nwhich he was very skilful in throwing, and with which he was in the\nhabit of securing smaller game.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the prince, \u201cthat were an ignoble and cowardly mode of\ndestroying the regal beast; I have a kindred feeling which repels me\nfrom such a dog-like method of killing a lion. Besides, the thing is\nimpracticable, you will never be able to get it over the creature\u2019s\nhead.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will try, however,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201csince I have no kindred feeling\nabout the matter, and would as soon strangle a lion as a cat.\u201d\n\nMujahid, in spite of his prejudices against casting a stigma upon\nregality by attempting to inflict a degrading death upon the \u201cmonarch\nof the woods,\u201d yielded at length to the expostulations of his\narmour-bearer, who attempted to cast the noose of the lasso over the\nlion\u2019s head. The aperture above the stone was so small that he had not\nroom to fix it; and while he was making the attempt, with a fearful\ngrowl the enraged animal seized the rope between its teeth, sprang\nfrom the opening, drew it from Mahmood\u2019s grasp, and left him without a\nresource in his peril.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the prince, \u201cthere is now no alternative between trying\nwhich will be the longest starving, ourselves or our brindled guard, or\nallowing it to enter and boldly trying our strength against it. We are\nthree to one, and that is fearful odds.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the darkness and disadvantage of this low cave reduces our chances\nand increases those of the enemy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must then bring him to battle on the outside of his den.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! before we can squeeze ourselves through this narrow entrance,\nthe savage will have made good its spring, and the first stroke of its\npaw is certain death.\u201d\n\nThe attendant now proposed as a last resource that they should\nstrangle the cubs and throw them out to the lion. This was indeed a\ndesperate experiment, but Mujahid consented that it should be tried.\nThe attendant accordingly unwound the turban from his forehead and\ntwisted it tightly in the form of a rope. The cubs were found asleep\nin a corner of the cave; but though so young, their strength was such\nas to render the process of strangulation a thing of some difficulty.\nA noose was made in the centre of the twisted turban, and being passed\nover the cub\u2019s head, was pulled at either end by Mahmood Afghan and the\nattendant, the prince meanwhile applying his vast strength to keep the\nlion from displacing the stone from the entrance.\n\nBoth the cubs being at length strangled, were forced through the\naperture, and flung before the enraged parent. The moment it saw its\noffspring, the lion quitted the stone, stood over the cubs, and begun\nto purr, licking their heads for a few moments with the greatest\ntenderness. After a while, seeing they did not move, it turned them\nover gently with its paw, erected its ears, and looked at them intently\nfor an instant; and then, as of a sudden becoming conscious that they\nwere dead, erected its head, raised its nose in the air, and howled\nwith a piteous expression of agony. The wounded tongue hung over its\njaws, still suffused with gore, and tears filled the eyes of the\nnoble beast as it again bent down its head to gaze upon the work of\ndestruction.\n\nIts emotion soon subsided, and was succeeded by the most frightful\nrage. It dashed against the barrier with increasing fury, and its\nroarings were continued without intermission. It now required the\nwhole strength of the prince and his two companions to keep the stone\nfrom giving way under the furious assaults of the lion. After a while,\nas if exhausted with its energies, it retreated a few feet from the\naperture, lay down upon its belly beside the dead cubs, raised its head\ntowards the skies, as if invoking a silent curse upon the destroyers of\nits offspring, and sent its voice among the surrounding echoes, which\nmultiplied it into one fearful and prolonged evocation of blended fury\nand distress. In a short time it started to its feet, waved its tail,\nand looking forward, ceased its horrible roar. Upon turning his eyes\ntoward the spot, the prince perceived another lion advancing at a rapid\ntrot in the direction of the cavern.\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d cried Mahmood, \u201cis no doubt the mother of the cubs, and we\nhave, if possible, more to dread from her fury than from that of the\nmale savage. We have now no chance of our lives but by continuing where\nwe are until the lions shall retire. They will probably drag the cubs\naway after the first burst of grief for the loss of their young shall\nhave subsided.\u201d\n\n\u201cI like not this imprisonment,\u201d said the prince, \u201cand shall only\nforbear forcing a retreat a short time longer. I am determined to try\nmy chance of escape while my strength remains unabated.\u201d\n\nMahmood, however, prevailed upon his impatient and daring master to\nawait the issue of the second beast\u2019s approach, before he rashly\ndetermined upon an encounter, which it was now apprehended must\ninfallibly terminate in the death of each of them.\n\nThe lioness advanced eagerly, with her ears erected; and having\nreached her cubs, she turned them over for a moment with her paw, and,\ninstantly perceiving they were dead, rushed towards a tree that grew\nnear, sprang upon the trunk, and, stripping off the bark, began to tear\nit in pieces with the greatest violence. She now united her roars with\nthose of her consort; then fixing her eyes upon the den in which she\nhad deposited her young, bounded with foaming jaws towards the opening.\nInfuriated by opposition, she darted to and fro before the cave,\nspringing at the trees, fixing her claws in the bark, and stripping\ntheir trunks bare to the root. Again she assaulted the stone which\nprevented entrance into her lair.\n\nWhile she was exhibiting these paroxysms of exasperation, the male,\nprobably exhausted by its previous exertions, lay down beside the\ncubs, placed its two fore-paws upon their bodies, and resting its head\nupon the ground between them, kept up a low and continuous moan. The\nlioness, at length fatigued with her unavailing efforts to retaliate\nupon the destroyers of her young, walked deliberately up to the lion,\nand after again turning over the bodies of her cubs, she seized one\nof them in her mouth, and plunged with it into the thicket. The lion\ntook up the body of the other in the same way, and immediately followed\nher. After a while the party in the cavern heard their roarings in the\ndistance, and began now to think seriously of making good their retreat.\n\n\u201cOur danger,\u201d said the attendant, \u201cis by no means at an end. Those\nanimals are never-failing in their instincts; they know that the\ndestroyers of their offspring are in this cave, and they will not quit\nthe neighbourhood until they have had their revenge. Their vigilance is\nnot to be evaded.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201cdid you not hear their roarings in the distance?\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless they will return immediately upon their steps. I have\nseen much of the habits of these ferocious creatures. They have\ndisposed of the bodies of their dead cubs under some shrub or tuft of\ngrass, and covered them with dried leaves; they are now on the watch\nfor us; it is utterly impossible we should escape.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey shall feel the sharpness of this sword\u2019s point, however, if they\ndo come upon us,\u201d said the prince, rising, and stretching his cramped\nlimbs. \u201cOur chance will be greater beneath the fair light of the sky,\nwith plenty of fighting room, than cooped up in this dismal den, where\nwe can\u2019t distinguish a lion from a shadow.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is clear,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201cthere is no safety for us here; we have,\nconsequently, only a choice of evils, and it will therefore be the\ngreater prudence to choose the least. The lions are now out of sight,\nand in spite of their cunning, we may be fortunate enough to baffle it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we had better descend the mountain,\u201d said the attendant, \u201cin the\nopposite direction to that taken by our watchful enemies, else we must\ngive up every chance of evading them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there is no practicable path,\u201d said the prince; \u201cand ever if there\nwere, our chances are much the same, whatever road we take, provided\nwhat thou sayest of the vigilance of these creatures be true.\u201d\n\nThe stone was now rolled from the cave\u2019s mouth, and the prince pushed\nhis body through the narrow opening, followed by his armour-bearer and\nthe attendant. No enemies were visible, and their roarings had by this\ntime ceased to echo among the hills. Approaching the tree into which\nMusaood had climbed upon the first apprehension of danger, Mujahid\nlooked up, and called upon his friend to descend; but perceiving that\nhe was not among the branches, the prince said with a smile.\n\n\u201cMusaood has tried the speed of his heels. If the lions should have\ncrossed his path and wreaked their vengeance upon him, they will\nprobably be satisfied; but if he has escaped, there is at least an\nequal chance for us. Grasp your swords and follow me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no doubt,\u201d said Mahmood, \u201che has made good his retreat; I saw\nhim descend the tree while the first lion was engaged in assaulting the\nrocky fragment which we had laid across the entrance of the cavern.\nHe\u2019s a wary youth that Musaood: I know of no one who likes so little to\nget into danger, or who knows so well how to extricate himself out of\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not the lion\u2019s instinct,\u201d said the prince, smiling.\n\n\u201cNay, but it is part of the wise man\u2019s discretion.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, Mahmood, thy master is a fool; for he never was yet remarkable\nfor his prudence in getting out of a scrape.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut valour,\u201d replied Mahmood, with a respectful salaam, \u201cis not an\nattribute of wisdom; that, therefore, would be prudent in the brave\nman, which would be folly in the wise.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we bold fools, Mahmood, may be justified in cutting the\nthroats of lions for the preservation of our own lives; while your\nsages, in conformity with their characters of wise men, would, as a\nmatter of course, bow their heads under the lion\u2019s paw, and die like\nphilosophers.\u201d\n\nMahmood smiled, made another salaam, and remained silent, as if\nassenting to the truth of his master\u2019s observation.\n\nThe party proceeded slowly onward, on account of the narrowness and\nruggedness of the path, which would not admit of two going abreast. In\na short time, however, they had overcome the most difficult part of the\ndescent without interruption from their dreaded foes. They were already\ncongratulating themselves with having escaped, when a cry from the\nattendant, who was a few yards behind his master and Mahmood, caused\nthe two latter to stop and turn. The cause of that cry of alarm was\nsoon explained. The two lions were seen making their way down the side\nof the mountain at a very rapid rate, their ears depressed, the hair\non their tails erected, and exhibiting other signs of fury not to be\nmistaken. It was impossible to avoid them as the path was still narrow\nand rugged.\n\nThe prince, drawing his cimeter, placed himself in front of his two\ncompanions, and undauntedly awaited the threatened onset. The male lion\nwas several paces in advance of the lioness, and, bounding forward,\nstopped suddenly within about thirty feet of its intended victim, and\ncrouching a moment crawled a few yards upon its belly, then rising with\na quick motion sprang with the rapidity of lightning towards Mujahid.\nHe had been prepared for this; and when he saw the body of the angry\nbeast propelled towards him, as if urged by that Almighty force which\nwings the thunderbolt, he leaped actively on one side, raised his\nweapon, and urging it with all his force as the foe descended, struck\nit in the mouth with the full impulse of an arm that, by a similar\nstroke, had frequently severed the head of a buffalo. The sword crashed\nthrough the jaws, forced its way into the throat, opening so hideous a\nwound that the lion fell forward, writhed a few moments, and died.\n\nThe lioness, which had crouched several paces behind while her consort\nwas making its spring, seeing the issue of the contest, leaped forward\nwith a roar, and coming up to the prince before he had recovered his\nguard, placed its paws upon his breast, and attempted to gripe him by\nthe throat. Mujahid grasped the savage by the windpipe, and keeping it\nat arm\u2019s length, prevented it from effecting its purpose; but it still\nkept its claws fixed in his breast, which it lacerated in a frightful\nmanner, and at length seizing one of his hands crushed it dreadfully.\nStill he managed to keep its head from his body.\n\nMahmood, seeing the peril of his master, struck the ferocious beast\nwith all his might upon the back with his sword, which was very keen\nand heavy. This assault induced the lioness to relinquish her hold\nand turn upon Mahmood; but her spine had been so injured from the\nstroke of the cimeter, that she was unable to spring. A second blow\nfrom Mahmood\u2019s ponderous weapon upon the skull, instantly seconded by\nanother from that of the attendant, soon brought her to the ground,\nwhen she was easily dispatched, though not before she had left\nterrible marks of her fury upon the prince\u2019s body, who, reeking with\nhis blood, stood gazing at his vanquished foes. The effusion was great,\nand the lacerations so extensive as to exhibit a fearful aspect of\nfatality.\n\nMahmood, being well skilled in the virtues of herbs, gathered some from\nthe hill-side, and bruising them formed a styptic which he applied to\nthe wound, and arrested the h\u00e6morrhage. The prince declared himself\nable to proceed, the application of the herbs having somewhat subdued\nthe irritation of his wounds. He was obliged to bare his body to the\nwaist; and in order to prevent the sun from incommoding him, Mahmood\nand the attendant skinned one of the lions, and fixing the hide upon\nfour bamboos, formed a sort of canopy under which Mujahid managed to\ncreep down the remainder of the descent.\n\nWhen they reached the bottom of the hill, they found their horses\nsecurely tied to the trees, as they had left them. Mujahid felt himself\nunable to proceed: the attendant, therefore, rode off in pursuit of\nsome of the followers, whom he happily found at no great distance\npursuing the pleasures of the chase. Among these was Musaood, who had\nrefrained from mentioning the state of peril in which he had left his\ncompanions on the hill. Upon hearing that the prince had been wounded\nin the breast by his tawny foe, he concluded that the consummation of\nhis revenge was nigh. A calm smile passed over his features; but he\nwarily suppressed the feelings which rose with the warmth of a kindly\nemotion in his bosom, and elated his heart. Affecting to commiserate\nthe condition of Mujahid, he proceeded, accompanied by several of\nhis followers, to the spot where the prince lay in a state of great\nsuffering stretched upon the lion\u2019s skin; but, smiling as Musaood\napproached, he said--\n\n\u201cYou had a better instinct than I, Musaood. Had I taken to the tree I\nmight have escaped these scratches, which will keep me from the chase\nfor some weeks, and, what is worse, from thy sister; but the cause of\nso long an absence will furnish my excuse.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no pleasure, prince, without its pain, and in your sufferings\nall your friends participate.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen they are great fools. It is enough that one should suffer in\na matter of this kind, and you ought all to rejoice that you have\nhad the good luck to escape. These are the little contingencies of\nlion-hunting, but I shall not be the worse for it when my scratches are\nhealed.\u201d\n\nA litter was now made, in which the prince was laid, and carried slowly\ntowards his fathers capital. The faithful Mahmood walked by his side,\nanticipating all his wants, and attending upon him with affectionate\nearnestness. In spite of the styptic, his wounds bled so copiously that\nwhen he reached the end of his journey he was in a state of extreme\nexhaustion. For some weeks he was in considerable danger, which spread\na general gloom through the city, but, after a severe struggle, his\nconstitution triumphed, and he at length completely recovered.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nWhen Mujahid had recovered from his wounds he renewed his addresses\nto the sister of Musaood, who, finding that she could no longer delay\nthe gratification of the prince\u2019s desires without a direct breach of\npromise, determined to bring the thing to an immediate issue. She had\nfor some time encouraged his proposals of dishonourable love; she had\ndone this for a sinister purpose, and was still loth to give up the\nhope of seeing the slayer of her father meet with that retribution in\nthis world which she thought he deserved. She cared not how her own\nreputation was endangered so long as she could see the man punished by\nwhom she had been deprived of a parent she tenderly loved. She did not\nforget, too, that his hand was stained with the blood of her lover, and\nalthough this was done in self-defence, it nevertheless did not abate\nin her judgment the odiousness of the deed.\n\nToghluk Beg had been long attached to her, and it was this attachment\nwhich urged him to risk his life against the valour and personal\nstrength of a man notorious through his father\u2019s kingdom for the\ninvincible force of his arm. The daughter of Moobarik could not\nforgive the double injury which she had received at the hands of the\nking\u2019s son, and in order the more securely to effect the purpose so\nlong entertained by herself and her brother she finally came to the\nresolution of admitting Mujahid to the enjoyment which he sought,\nindifferent to consequences, save the accomplishment of her revenge.\n\nWhen next she saw her brother, \u201cMusaood,\u201d she said, \u201cthe enemy seems\nto have a charmed life; no sword can reach him, and he is even proof\nagainst the claws of the lion.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy sister, his time will come yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo you have said for years, and yet he is abroad in his might, and the\nworld appears to fall prostrate before him. How is this colossus to be\nupheaved?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy constant dripping water will wear down the mountain to a level with\nthe valley.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we cannot wait so slow a process, brother. Can you suggest no\nmeans of a speedier vengeance?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe loves you, my sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that won\u2019t kill him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; but you return his love with hatred, and that may.\u201d\n\n\u201cHatred is of itself passive.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill it may instigate the hand to urge the dagger home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I must yield to his passions, an act against which my soul\nrecoils.\u201d\n\n\u201cHis death were worth any sacrifice. Had I a thousand reputations I\nwould relinquish them all to see him dead before me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou sanction, then, my infamy?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be neutralised by the event. If it bring retribution upon the\nhead of our father\u2019s destroyer it will be a filial oblation, and do you\neverlasting honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe sacrifice shall be made, and may the desired issue be speedy! It\nis, however, a hard thing to dissemble in the presence of an object\nwhom the heart loathes; how shall I endure the caresses of such a man?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs sick men take bitters, for the cure they bring. It will heal thy\nhatred, sister, by removing the cause of it, and will not that be your\nsufficient reward?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is like making one pass to paradise through a path of fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cRemember that when the paradise is gained you have all joy and no more\nsuffering.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat part do you intend to play in this sanguinary drama?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you but make the opportunity, and I am ready to drive the dagger\nhome to his heart. I must, however, do it where even the winds cannot\nmurmur an alarm.\u201d\n\n\u201cAgreed; I will sacrifice my fair fame to the retribution we owe to a\nfathers spirit.\u201d\n\nThus was the foul conspiracy against the prince\u2019s life hatched by the\nbrother and sister. They brought over to their purposes two disaffected\nnobles, who entertained an inveterate animosity against Mujahid because\nhe had punished their cowardice with disgrace during his expedition\nagainst Krishin Ray.\n\nThe prince, unsuspicious of treachery, visited the siren who had won\nhis affections with a full conviction that his passion was returned\nwith equal warmth. He provided for her a splendid mansion and a\nnumerous retinue, devoting most of his time to the society of his\nenchantress. She feigned affection so artfully that he imagined himself\nthe idol of her heart; but Mahmood, who suspected her sincerity, though\nhe had no suspicion of her treachery, frequently told him that he\nwas deceived. This rather begot a coldness in the prince towards his\nfaithful armour-bearer; the latter, however, did not abate an atom of\nhis attachment towards his master, whom he looked upon as the dupe of\nan artful woman, and whose interests he watched with a vigilance which\nfully showed that they were no less dear to him than his own.\n\n\u201cFair one!\u201d said Mujahid one day, \u201cam I deceived in thinking that you\nlove me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy this question?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, that is no answer.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut surely I am justified in seeking to know why my affection is\nsuspected. Tell me candidly, have I ever given you just cause to\nsuspect it?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you wrong me by your suspicions. Some enemy has attempted to\npoison your mind, and it is but fitting I should know who that enemy\nis.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can have no enemy, my sweet flower, except the blights; and they\nwill not pass over thee yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cSooner than you may dream of, if I am to be doubted by one for whom\nI have sacrificed so much. Remember that the flower is prostrated by\nthe sun when his scorching rays fall on it, as well as by the tempest;\nso love may be as completely subverted by suspicion as by the fiercest\nhatred: it cannot exist but in an atmosphere of mutual confidence.\u201d\n\nConvinced by her specious manner that he was beloved, whatever\nsuspicions might have previously existed soon passed from his mind.\n\nAbout this time his father dying, he succeeded to the sovereignty of\nthe Deccan. His accession was solemnized with great rejoicings; but\nthe secret conspiracy against his life was not quelled, only retarded,\nby this event. He lavished immense sums of money upon the favourite\nwho was secretly plotting his destruction, nor would he listen to a\nsuspicion breathed against the fervency of her attachment, of which\nthe faithful armour-bearer still ventured occasionally to express his\ndoubts.\n\nMusaood\u2019s duplicity was now redoubled. His apparent zeal for the\ninterests of the king blinded all but Mahmood, whose distrust became\nexcited in proportion as the apparent earnestness of the other for his\nmaster\u2019s welfare was displayed. It happened that he one day overheard\npart of a conversation which passed between the brother and sister,\nthat confirmed his suspicions of intended mischief; and he resolved\nto acquaint the king, in defiance of the royal interdiction not to\nintroduce the subject again in his presence.\n\nAppearing one morning before the sovereign, he said, \u201cA good subject\nmust not fear to incur the displeasure of a kind master, where danger\nis likely to accrue to the one, which the other, by a timely warning,\nmay avert.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat means this, Mahmood? Annoy me not with any of your silly\nsuspicions; you know I have forbidden you to speak of them in my\npresence.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it; but my love for a good king and generous master will not\nallow me to be silent when I have reason to apprehend that danger is\nnear him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat grounds have you for so supposing?\u201d\n\n\u201cMusaood and his sister are frequently closeted, and I overheard the\nformer say to the latter, but a few days ago, \u2018Our revenge has been\nlong baffled, but the consummation draws near.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should you apply this to me, when I have secured the affection of\nthe one and the fidelity of the other?\u201d\n\n\u201cProfessedly you have, but kings are not always the best skilled in\nreading human hearts; they too frequently mistake the mask for the\ncountenance.\u201d\n\nThe king smiled. \u201cMahmood,\u201d said he, \u201chow long have you been a\ndecipherer of the unwritten records of human character? Do you not\nthink that you may chance to be mistaken as well as other men?\u201d\n\n\u201cBeyond question: but no one can deny the policy of being upon\none\u2019s guard, even in a state of the greatest apparent security. The\nprofoundest calms are frequently the precursors of violent tempests;\nand what is seen in the natural may likewise occur in the moral world.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut would you have me live in a state of perpetual suspicion, with\nthat void in my heart arising from the absence of confidence, which is\none of the most grievous penalties of our existence?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; but I would not have you too rashly trust, and, indeed, never\nuntil you have well weighed the characters whom you admit to your\nfriendship.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd have I not done so? Have you not won my confidence? and have I\never found reason to regret having bestowed it upon you?\u201d\n\nMahmood was rather staggered; he felt the truth of the observation;\nbut still determined not to allow the king to remain blind to his\ninsecurity, without striving to put him upon his guard, he said, \u201cMen\nmust be judged by their actions.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrecisely so; and Musaood has never given me cause to suspect his\nfidelity.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat has he ever done to render him an object of trust?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing, at all events, that should render him an object of suspicion.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy sovereign, I do not suspect upon slight grounds; I have seen\nfrequent and secret meetings; I have heard ambiguous words uttered,\nand am willing to risk my head upon the truth of what I assert, that\nyour royal safety is not secure from secret machinations. Having put my\nroyal master upon his guard, my duty is performed.\u201d\n\nMujahid Shah, though he had the strongest reliance on the integrity\nof his armour-bearer, and a sincere esteem for him, yet looked upon\nhis suspicions as chimerical, and took no measures to counteract any\nplots that might at that moment be ripening against his life. His\npassion for the sister of Musaood was unabated, and he treated her with\ndistinguished regard.\n\nHe one day declared to her his intention of passing the night in the\nhouse she occupied, at which she expressed herself extremely flattered,\nand immediately communicated the information to Musaood.\n\n\u201cMy brother,\u201d said she, \u201cthe king sleeps here to-night, and the\nopportunity so long sought after may be now embraced.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you propose?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat Mujahid should die this night by your dagger.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will show me that his death can be safely accomplished, I am\nready to become the instrument.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo and seek your two confederates, and introduce them into the house;\nI will let you into the king\u2019s chamber at midnight;--the work is then\neasy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut does not his armour-bearer always sleep in an adjoining apartment?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes: he, however, will be easily disposed of. I will prepare his\nevening meal: he shall be deaf to the cries of his master when they\ncome.\u201d\n\n\u201cCould you not contrive to remove his arms?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat will signify arms to a man who has not the power of using them?\nDo you quail, Musaood? Don\u2019t be shamed by a woman! Such an opportunity\ndoes not occur every day. Embrace it, or let it pass, as you please:\nupon your choice depends whether we ever again meet as brother and\nsister. You need not be told that kindred foes are the most deadly.\u201d\n\nThis peremptory insinuation immediately decided Musaood. It was\narranged that he should repair to the house, with his two confederates,\nso soon as night closed in.\n\nIn the evening Mahmood\u2019s curry had been prepared for him; but labouring\nunder an excited state of mind, and having a presentiment of evil which\nhe could not repress, he did not taste it. Flinging himself upon his\ncouch, he lay feverish and restless.\n\nAbout two hours after he had retired to rest, hearing a noise in the\nadjoining room, he rose and listened. He could distinguish voices in a\nwhisper, but not a word reached his ear. There was sufficient light to\ndiscern the dim outlines of three persons at the entrance to the royal\nchamber. He was not kept long in suspense, for after the lapse of a few\nmoments a female figure opened the door, and the three men entered.\nMahmood, drawing his sword, instantly followed. Upon reaching the door\nof his master\u2019s room, he saw Musaood and his two companions armed with\ndaggers. The king was lying asleep upon his couch, and the treacherous\nconfederate of the assassins standing, with a lamp in her hand, near\nhis head.\n\nWithout an instant\u2019s pause Mahmood cried, in a loud voice, \u201cRise,\nMujahid Shah! you are beset by murderers!\u201d at the same time cutting\ndown one of the assassins. The sovereign, awakened by the noise,\nstarted from his bed, just as Musaood was about to plunge a dagger\ninto his body. The blow had already descended, but Mujahid caught it\nupon his arm, receiving a severe wound. He instantly laid hold of the\nassassin by the wrist, wrenched the dagger from his feeble grasp, and\nburied it in his heart.\n\nThe third confederate, seeing the fate of his two companions, rushed\nfrom the chamber. Mahmood, seized his lasso, which was at hand,\npursued the criminal, and casting the cord round his legs as he quitted\nthe house, tripped him up, and brought him to the ground. He was\nimmediately secured, and conducted before the king.\n\n\u201cAt whose instigation did you attempt the life of your sovereign?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy own!\u201d answered the noble firmly.\n\n\u201cWhat was your object?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo get rid of a tyrant!\u201d\n\n\u201cWas that woman your accomplice?\u201d asked Mujahid Shah, pointing to the\nsiren who had placed his life in jeopardy.\n\n\u201cNo; she is innocent.\u201d\n\nThe wretched woman, who had stood pale and abashed before the royal\npresence, immediately recovered her composure, and affected to repel\nthe suspicion with indignation.\n\nThe accomplice of her brother did not betray her. He would reveal\nnothing, but made up his mind to die with that sullen resolution\nso frequently witnessed at public executions. The king, summoning\ntwo attendants, ordered them to take the traitor into an adjoining\napartment and strangle him. This was accordingly done, and his body\nthrown from the window. By the time Mujahid Shah quitted the house in\nthe morning, nothing but a skeleton was seen upon the spot where the\nstrangled corpse had been cast the preceding night.\n\nThe sovereign having so narrowly escaped, was reminded by the faithful\nMahmood of the policy of withdrawing himself from the woman who\nhad obtained so entire an ascendancy over his heart; but such was\nhis infatuation that he could not believe her guilty. She had been\npronounced innocent by the confederate of her brother; and so complete\nwas her empire over him, that he would not allow himself to suppose her\nimplicated in the conspiracy against him. She affected to curse her\nbrother\u2019s memory, not only for the murderous act of lifting his arm\nagainst his sovereign\u2019s life, but likewise for involving her in the\nsuspicion of having been an accomplice in so wicked a design.\n\n\u201cMake your mind easy,\u201d said the king, in reply to her asseverations\nof innocence; \u201cmy confidence in your affection is not to be shaken.\nA woman does not hate out of mere wantonness the man to whom she has\nrelinquished all that is most prized by her sex. Great sacrifices are\nonly made for those we love, and for me you have made the greatest.\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear I have an enemy in your armour-bearer,\u201d said the artful siren;\n\u201cand cannot but feel apprehensive that he will eventually tear me from\nyour heart; this fear is a perpetual sting in my bosom. I have never\ngiven him any cause of offence; and yet he continually pours the poison\nof prejudice into the king\u2019s ear.\u201d\n\nMujahid Shah was silent. He could not but feel the force of this\nobservation, and it struck him that Mahmood\u2019s prejudice was altogether\nunjustifiable. In spite of his late gallantry in defending his master\u2019s\nlife, the king was angered at the hostility which his armour-bearer\nevidently entertained against the object of the royal affections, and\nhe treated him with unusual coldness, sometimes even with asperity.\n\nWithin a few months after the late attack upon the life of Mujahid\nShah, Musaood\u2019s sister had completely steeped his heart in the\ninfatuation of dotage. He felt perfectly secure of her affection; and\nfinding that all suspicion had subsided, she determined to perpetrate\nwith her own hand the deed of blood which her late brother had failed\nto accomplish.\n\nOne night, when she retired to rest with the sovereign, concealing a\ndagger under the bedclothes, she awaited with tremulous impatience\nto see her victim lulled in slumber. His senses gradually faded into\nunconsciousness, and he slept heavily. She drew the weapon slowly from\nits concealment. Her hand trembled. She cautiously bared the king\u2019s\nchest, and, compressing her lips, plunged into his heart the instrument\nof death. Mujahid started from his sleep; he saw the night-dress of\nhis murderess stained with blood, and her hand still upon the dagger.\nFeeling his senses fast failing, he grasped her by the throat, held\nher a few moments in his death-grip, flung her with his last effort of\nexpiring strength upon the floor, strangled, and fell dead beside her.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\nHeg. 790 (A.D. 1388).--Feroze Toghluk was succeeded on the throne of\nDelhi by his grandson, Gheias-ood-Deen Toghluk, who was murdered,\nafter a reign of only five months and a few days.\n\nHeg. 791 (1389).--The late king\u2019s murderers raised to the throne Aboo\nBukr, another grandson of Feroze Toghluk; he was deposed after a reign\nof eighteen months, and succeeded by his uncle, Nasir-ood-Deen Mahomed\nToghluk.\n\nHeg. 793 (1390).--Mahomed, after having silenced all opposition,\nentered Delhi in the month Rumzan, and ascending the throne, assumed\nthe title of Nasir-ood-Deen Mahomed.\n\nHeg. 794 (1391).--The Vizier Islam Chan was condemned to death for a\nprojected revolt, on the evidence of his own nephew Hajoo, a Hindoo,\nwho swore falsely against him, in consequence, as it is supposed, of\nhis uncle having embraced the faith of Islam.\n\nHeg. 795. (1392).--The king was taken ill of a fever, at Mahomedabad,\nand became delirious for some days.\n\nHeg. 797 (1394).--Mahomed, having suffered a relapse of the fever,\ndied, after a short reign of six years, and was succeeded by his son\nHumayoon, who took the name of Secunder, but was suddenly cut off,\nforty-five days after his accession to the throne, when Mahmood, a\nyounger son of Nasir-ood-Deen Mahomed, succeeded him.\n\nHeg. 799 (1396).--Gheias-ood-Deen ascended his fathers throne in the\nDeccan, and, having given offence to one of the household slaves, was\ndethroned by him, and confined in the fort of Sagur.\n\nHeg. 800 (1397).--Shums-ood-Deen, brother to the deposed king, was\nraised to the throne, but was dethroned after a reign of five months\nand several days; the slave being put to death by Gheias-ood-Deen,\nwhom he had deposed and blinded.\n\nHeg. 801 (1398).--Ameer Timoor, commonly called Tamerlane, arrived on\nthe banks of the Indus, took the town of Bhutnere, ravaged the whole\ncountry, and having, in different encounters with the idolaters, made\nnearly a hundred thousand prisoners, ordered them all to be massacred.\nThe conqueror made himself master of Delhi, where he caused himself\nto be proclaimed Emperor, and the usual titles to be read in his\nname in all the mosques. The fine mosque, built by Feroze Toghluk,\non the stones of which he had inscribed the history of his reign,\nwas so much admired by Timoor, that he carried the same architects\nand masons from Delhi to Sarmakand to build one there upon a similar\nplan. Having given up the city to a general pillage, and committed\na dreadful massacre of the inhabitants, the conqueror commenced his\nretreat to his own country. After a while, those who had quitted the\ncity returned to their homes, and Delhi in a short time assumed its\nformer appearance of populousness and splendour.\n\nHeg. 811 (1408).--Mahmood Toghluk returned to Delhi.\n\nHeg. 814 (1412).--The king, indulging too eagerly in the diversion\nof hunting, caught a fever, of which he died. With him fell the\nkingdom of Delhi from the race of Toorks, the adopted slaves of the\nEmperor Shahab-ood-Deen Ghoory, who were of the second dynasty of the\nMahomedan princes of India. The disastrous and inglorious reign of\nMahmood Toghluk continued, from first to last, twenty years and two\nmonths.\n\nHeg. 815 (1412).--Dowlut Chan Lody, an Afghan by birth, was raised\nto the throne by general consent of the nobles, after the death of\nMahomed Toghluk; but was deposed and put to death by Khizr Chan, after\na nominal reign of one year and three months.\n\nHeg. 817 (1414).--Khizr Chan ascended the throne of Delhi, and was\nthe first of the fourth dynasty of her kings. In the first year of\nhis government, he sent Mullik Tohfa with an army towards Kuttehr,\nwhich place he reduced. Nursing Ray was driven to the mountains, but\nupon paying a ransom, his territories were restored to him. This year\na band of Toorks, the adherents of Beiram Chan, assassinated Mullik\nLadho, governor of Surhind, and took possession of his country.\n\nHeg. 821 (1418).--A conspiracy was formed against the king\u2019s life; but\nhaving detected the conspiracy, Khizr Chan commanded the household\ntroops to fall upon them and put them to death.\n\nHeg. 824 (1421).--The king died in the city of Delhi, and, as a token\nof respect for his memory, the citizens wore black for three days.[17]\nThe nobles having assembled, elevated Moobarik, the son of Khizr Chan,\nto the vacant throne.\n\nHeg. 825 (1422).--The king, having marched to Lahore, ordered the\nruined palaces and fortifications to be repaired, and returned to\nDelhi.\n\nHeg. 826 (1422).--The king deposed Mullik Secundur from the vizierat,\nand raised Suvuur-ool-Moolk to that office.\n\nHeg. 830 (1426). Moobarik laid siege to Byana for sixteen days, but,\non the desertion of part of the garrison, Mahomed Chan, the governor,\nsurrendered at discretion, and with a rope about his neck was led into\nthe royal presence.\n\nHeg. 832 (1428).--The king marched to Mewat, and entirely subdued that\ncountry, compelling the inhabitants to pay him tribute.\n\nHeg. 833 (1430).--Ameer Sheikh Ally having made himself master of\nToolumba in Moultan, plundered the place, and put to death all the men\nable to bear arms. He likewise burned the town, and carried the wives\nand children of the inhabitants into captivity.\n\nHeg. 835 (1432).--The king deprived his vizier of the government of\nLahore.\n\nHeg. 839 (1435).--Moobarik ordered a city to be founded upon the banks\nof the Jusuna, which he called Moobarikabad, and made an excursion\ntowards Surhind, in order to take the diversion of the chase. On the\nway he received advices that Surhind was taken, and the head of the\nrebel Folad was presented to him, after which he returned to the new\ncity.\n\nAccording to custom, on the ninth of the month, Rujub Moobarik went\nto worship in a mosque lately built in the new city, with only a few\nattendants, and was put to death by a band of Hindoos clothed in\narmour, who entered the sacred edifice while the king was performing\nhis devotions. The vizier immediately raised to the throne Mahomed,\none of the grandsons of Khizr Chan. One Ranoo, a slave of the vizier,\nbeing nominated collector of the revenues of Bayana, endeavouring to\nobtain possession of the fort, was opposed and slain by Yusoof Chan\nLodi.\n\nHeg. 840 (1436).--The vizier, aided by several conspirators, broke\ninto the royal apartments with drawn swords, in order to put the king\nto death. The latter, however, having intimation of their design,\nplaced a guard in readiness to counteract it, which, on a certain\nsignal, rushed out upon the conspirators, who fled. The vizier was\nkilled as he was passing the door, and the other conspirators, being\nafterwards taken, were publicly executed.\n\nHeg. 849 (1445).--The king\u2019s power decaying rapidly, the Zemindars\nof Bayana placed themselves under the government of Sultan Mahmood\nKhiljy, of Malwa, and Syud Mahomed falling sick, he died a natural\ndeath, leaving behind him the character of a weak and dissolute\nprince. He reigned twelve years, and was succeeded by his son\nAlla-ood-Deen.\n\nHeg. 854 (1450).--Alla-ood-Deen, having adopted Bheilole Lody as\nhis son, formally abdicated the throne in his favour, on condition\nof being permitted to reside without molestation at Budaoon.\nAlla-ood-Deen dwelt at Budaoon until his death, which happened\nA.H. 883, A.D. 1478, his reign at Delhi being seven years, and his\nretirement at Budaoon nearly twenty-eight.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[17] The Mahomedans as well as Christians wear black for mourning.\n\n\n\n\n                          The Rival Brothers.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nGheias-ood-Deen, a young and handsome youth in his eighteenth year,\nwas attended by a slave who was scattering perfume round the spot upon\nwhich his master sat. This youth had just ascended the throne of his\nfather, late king of the Deccan, and gave promise of being a popular\nsovereign. In conformity with the practice of his predecessor, he\nbehaved very graciously to all the members of his court, remembering\nthe zealous supporters of his family, and distinguishing them with\nespecial marks of favour. He raised several of his most deserving\nnobles to places of distinction, and rewarded his late father\u2019s\nfaithful domestics with offices of trust. This greatly excited the\njealousy of Lallcheen, principal Toorky slave of the household, who not\nonly aspired to obtain his freedom, but to be advanced to some post\nof honour. He was now in the presence of his young sovereign, towards\nwhom he had frequently evinced his dissatisfaction by certain marks\nwhich, though they apparently expressed nothing, were nevertheless\nsufficiently intelligible.\n\n\u201cLallcheen,\u201d said the young king, \u201cwhy do you appear thus dissatisfied?\nMy conduct, since my accession to the throne of my father, seems to\nhave diffused general content, and why should you be an exception?\u201d\n\n\u201cSlaves have no great cause for satisfaction under any condition of\nbondage; but when faithful servants are not rewarded, they have just\ngrounds for complaint.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey can have none whatever, so long as the master is not unjust.\nSlaves cannot expect to be treated like princes.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut they can expect to be treated like men who have minds to\nappreciate, and hearts to feel the difference between justice and\ntyranny.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I think it an act of injustice to place a slave upon a level with\na free man. By the condition of his destiny, the fetters of slavery\nhave been cast upon him, and he must wear them. I do not approve of\nelevating bondmen to posts of honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cHas the sovereign forgotten that the queen-mother was originally one\nof that degraded class which the king thinks it unjust to dignify?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo woman is degraded by her condition, because she is the mere\ninstrument in the Deity\u2019s hands for perpetuating the human race. The\nson derives neither rank nor degradation from the mother;--it therefore\nmatters not whether she be a slave or a princess.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe king reasons like a profound casuist,\u201d said Lallcheen, with an\nill-disguised sneer; \u201cand I feel how utterly impossible it is for a\nslave to beat down the lofty fences of royal logic.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do not, however, seem very heartily convinced by it; but of this I\nwould have you in future assured--that it will be one of the principles\nof my government not to place my bondmen upon a level with free men.\u201d\n\nLallcheen had been a favourite with the late king, whose memory his\nson held in great reverence; he therefore bore with the liberty of the\nservitor who during the last reign had received a sort of licence to\nexpress his thoughts without reserve, being a person of considerable\nintelligence and of an active inquisitive mind.\n\nLallcheen was exceedingly mortified at the sentiments expressed by the\nyoung king. They were scored upon his mind with literal fidelity, and\nhe secretly meditated revenge, though he did not show it openly. He\nhad sprung from a race of bold haughty barbarians, who held freedom\nto be the pole-star in the firmament of human glory; and the friction\nfrom the fetters of bondage seemed to rub against the very core of his\nheart. He panted for liberty as a drowning man does for the air which\nthe waters exclude from his lips; and the disappointment with which\nthe sovereign\u2019s definitive resolution was charged came over his spirit\nwith a crushing burden that for a moment seemed to weigh it down to the\nlowest level of degradation. His fierce passions, however, which had\nlong slumbered under the assuasive kindness of his late master, rose\nto his relief, casting off the burden from his soul as with an arm of\nmight and lifting it where it could soar unincumbered from the trammels\nof its griefs, devise new motives of action, and nerve itself to high\nand important resolves.\n\nThe slave had a daughter, the fame of whose beauty had reached the\nears of Gheias-ood-Deen. She was as celebrated for her wit as for her\npersonal attractions, and her skill in music was so perfect that she\neclipsed all the regular professors of the capital. There was not an\naccomplishment of which she was not mistress. Her celebrity had already\ngained her many admirers, and the king expressed a desire to see her.\n\nLallcheen was not sorry at the opportunity which this circumstance\nmight afford him of mortifying the sovereign, or of punishing him more\neffectually, and therefore determined to throw the lovely Agha in his\nmaster\u2019s way in the palace gardens, to which the slave had free access.\n\nThe king was one morning walking in the gardens with his brother\nShums-ood-Deen, a remarkably beautiful boy in his sixteenth year.\n\n\u201cWho is that yonder, brother,\u201d asked the latter, \u201cby the marble tank?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not; but, by the gait and figure, something to admire.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe retires: I fear we shall lose the opportunity of ascertaining who\nshe may be, for handsome strangers are not wont to visit the private\ngardens of the palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo quickly and bid her stop;--say the king desires a word with her.\u201d\n\nShums-ood-Deen bounded forward, and overtook the stranger as she was\nretiring behind an arbour through a path which led to a back entrance\ninto the gardens.\n\n\u201cStay, damsel,\u201d said the prince; \u201cthe king desires a word with you.\u201d\n\nThe stranger turned, and exhibited to the wondering eyes of the royal\nyouth features and a form of such extraordinary beauty that he gazed\nin speechless admiration. Agha, for it was she, stood before him with\na demeanour of undisturbed modesty without uttering a word, awaiting\nthe sovereign\u2019s approach. Gheias-ood-Deen was no less amazed than his\nbrother with the houri form upon which his eyes, as he approached,\ninstantly became riveted.\n\n\u201cDo I,\u201d said he, \u201cbehold the marvel of my capital, to whom report has\nascribed such unrivalled perfections?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe king beholds the daughter of his slave,\u201d said Agha, with her eye\nfixed somewhat proudly on the youthful monarch.\n\n\u201cHe is henceforward free for the daughter\u2019s sake,\u201d said the sovereign,\napproaching and offering to take her hand.\n\nShe retired, and said gravely, \u201cI am an intruder here; may I be\npermitted to withdraw? It shall be my care not to intrude again upon\nthe king\u2019s privacy.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch intrusions are blessings for which the proudest monarchs of the\nearth would barter their sceptres. Talk not of intruding, Queen of the\nGraces!--not only these gardens are henceforth free to thee, but every\npart of the palace. The sunshine of thy smile will produce a harvest of\ndelight wherever it glows.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe daughter of a slave is but an abject thing at best; but the king\u2019s\nmockery tends to remind her how complete is her abjection.\u201d\n\nSaying this, she withdrew, leaving the two brothers in a state of\nblended admiration and amazement. Shums-ood-Deen, in the ardour\nof youthful enthusiasm, had he a throne to offer, felt that he\nwould willingly make her the partner of it on the instant; but\nGheias-ood-Deen was influenced by a less sanctified passion. He thought\nthat the offspring of a slave could not for a moment object to be the\nconcubine of a king; nor did he imagine that the slightest impediment\nwould be raised to the proposal, which he contemplated the instant he\nsaw the exquisite beauty of Lallcheen\u2019s daughter.\n\n\u201cWhat think you, brother, of this girl?\u201d asked Gheias-ood-Deen.\n\n\u201cThat until now I had no idea of the beautiful inhabitants of Paradise.\nI feel my soul elated! Oh! with such a creature I could enjoy more than\nhappiness in this lower world! Had I a throne, she should be my queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cSilly boy!\u201d said the brother, pettishly; \u201cthe daughters of slaves do\nnot become thrones.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, brother, the daughter of a slave is at this moment the mother of\na king.\u201d\n\n\u201cA bad precedent is not to be followed; therefore no more of this.\nYou must discourage your raptures for the child of Lallcheen; she\nmust become part of my household. I love her, but as monarchs love\nmenials--for their pleasures, and my purpose must not be crossed,\nShums-ood-Deen.\u201d\n\nThis was said with a deliberate emphasis of tone that implied a threat,\nif obedience did not follow the injunction. It greatly mortified the\nprince. He was silent, but nevertheless resolved to contravene the\ndesigns of his brother, whose impure intentions towards Agha were to\nhim like a profanation of the sanctuary. His youthful enthusiasm was on\nfire, and he determined, if possible, to counteract the king\u2019s purposes\nby immediately making honourable love to the slave\u2019s daughter; for he\ncould not associate the idea of degradation with anything so perfect.\nIt seemed to him as if the finger of Allah were especially to be traced\nin that fair work of his creation, and that therefore she ought to be\nelevated to the highest earthly dignities, instead of being allowed\nto wither in an atmosphere of social degradation. He lost no time in\nseeking Lallcheen, whom he found a ready listener to his sallies of\nenthusiastic admiration for the beautiful girl who had that morning\ncaptivated his youthful heart. The slave\u2019s hostility towards his master\nmade him attend with greater readiness to the proposals of the prince,\nwho at once declared his readiness to marry the lovely Agha.\n\n\u201cBut, prince,\u201d said Lallcheen, \u201cwhat will the king say to such a\nconnexion as you propose? He thinks that bondmen ought to live in\ntheir fetters; he will never, therefore, sanction your alliance with\nslaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am free,\u201d said Shums-ood-Deen, \u201cto marry whom I will; he has no\nright to control me in that which essentially regards my domestic\nhappiness. I have resolved to choose for myself, and only await your\nconsent to make me happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrince, it will not appear flattery to say that I honour your liberal\nsentiments--that is a matter of course. If you can secure my child\u2019s\nconsent, you have mine upon one condition, that I obtain my freedom;\nfor it would ill become the dignity of Shums-ood-Deen to be the\nson-in-law of a slave.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis I promise. Your freedom is a boon which the king will scarcely\nfail to grant to a brother\u2019s supplication. Your daughter would be\ncheaply purchased at the price of an empire.\u201d\n\nThe wily father saw that the greatest advantage was to be drawn from\nthe boyish enthusiasm of Shums-ood-Deen; and his hopes of casting back\nupon the king the odium which he had made to fall so heavily upon\nhis bond-servant, rose rapidly to their meridian as he listened to\nthe declarations of attachment towards his daughter from the lips of\nhis master\u2019s brother. He sought his child, and prepared her for the\nvisit of Shums-ood-Deen, at the same time relating to her his earnest\nprofessions of honourable attachment. She received the communication\nwith undisguised pleasure, for she had beheld the prince with more than\ncommon satisfaction. His youthful beauty, untainted by the habitual\nexercise of gross passion, had made a favourable impression upon her;\nand she felt gratified by the undisguised expression of delight which\npassed over his glowing countenance the moment he beheld her.\n\n\u201cNow, my child,\u201d said the father, \u201cyou have made a flattering conquest.\nIt is no common thing to find a prince entertaining honourable\nintentions towards those looked upon by the world as excluded from all\nsociety but the lowest: appreciate this as it deserves.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall, my father; but withal, flattering as such approbation is, it\nmay prove the mere effervescence of passion in a youthful bosom, that\nwill pass away with the occasion. At all events, be assured I shall\nnever give my consent to a union with any man upon whom I have not\nfirst bestowed my heart.\u201d\n\nWith this understanding Lallcheen prepared to introduce the prince, who\nhad declared his intention of visiting her father\u2019s house that evening.\n\nThe lovers met in Agha\u2019s apartments, and were mutually charmed with\neach other.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nAlthough a slave, Lallcheen was possessed of considerable wealth, and\nhis house would not have disgraced the dignity of a nobleman. On the\nday Gheias-ood-Deen had seen his slave\u2019s daughter, he summoned the\nfather to his presence.\n\n\u201cI have been considering thy services, Lallcheen, and shall reward\nthem; from this moment thou art a free man.\u201d\n\n\u201cI accept the royal boon with a bondman\u2019s gratitude. But I marvel at\nthis sudden change in the king\u2019s sentiments.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast a daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor her sake, I recall my resolution of the morning, and give thee\nfreedom; but thou must pay the price.\u201d\n\n\u201cName it; I am wealthy.\u201d\n\n\u201cI only demand a single jewel.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I possess it, the sovereign has only to signify his wish. What\njewel does the king demand?\u201d\n\n\u201cThy daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! thy slave must feel the honour deeply; but will not the monarch of\nthe Deccan be dishonoured by wedding a slave\u2019s daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, in truth, he would, Lallcheen, if he were weak enough to wed a\nslave\u2019s daughter; but of that he dreams not. If I give thee liberty,\nthe lovely Agha must be mine upon my own terms.\u201d\n\n\u201cKing, I am your bondman, but not your pander. I despise liberty upon\nthe terms you offer it. My child would scorn an impure alliance even\nwith a mightier monarch than Gheias-ood-Deen. She has suitors of proud\nlineage, who woo her with honourable love.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen my offer is refused? \u2019Tis well! the power that governs an\nempire is not to be slighted with impunity. You will repent this rash\ndecision,--retire.\u201d\n\nLallcheen did retire more than ever incensed against his royal\nmaster. He was stung deeply at the insult offered to his child, in\nthe supposition that she would barter her purity for her father\u2019s\nfreedom. He felt himself, moreover, grievously wronged by his royal\nmaster harbouring the thought that he could be base enough to sell his\ndaughter\u2019s honour at any price. It was an injury neither to be forgiven\nnor forgotten. He quitted the royal presence with a throbbing heart\nand burning brow;--the blood had receded from his cheek and lips when\nhe entered the apartment of his child. He found her singing an air in\na voice that would have enchanted the nightingales of Cashmere, or\ndrawn a tear of sympathy from the eye of a Peri. It was a strain of\nexquisite tenderness: the parent\u2019s emotions were calmed at the sound of\nher celestial voice; but the blood returned not to those channels from\nwhich the silent struggles of passion had banished it.\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d said Agha, as he entered; \u201cwhy so pale?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been disturbed, my child, by the king.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe would give me freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, would not that be a blessed deliverance?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt the price of my child\u2019s honour?\u201d\n\nAgha\u2019s cheeks flushed,--they were overspread with an intense crimson.\nThe blood seemed to ebb rapidly from her heart, which fluttered for\na moment; but the reflux almost instantly came and poured in upon it\na tide of womanly indignation. She continued silent, but the base\nproposals of one brother imparted by contrast in her thoughts a\nbeautiful colouring to the honourable intentions of the other; and she\nwas already half prepared to love Shums-ood-Deen, and detest his royal\nrelative.\n\n\u201cWell, Agha, what answer shall I return to the master who honours his\nservant by loving that servant\u2019s daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes my father require that I should frame an answer? Could not his\nown heart suggest it? My answer would be precisely such as I should\nreturn to a snake, were it to ask if I would permit it to sting me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have anticipated your feelings, my child, and given the sovereign\nno hopes. He threatens violence; his evil purposes, therefore, must be\ncounteracted by artifice. You must feign acquiescence with his wishes.\nHaving once hushed him into security, I will invite him to a banquet,\nunder the promise of resigning you to his possession, and he shall then\nsee that impunity is not the indefeasible right of kings.\u201d\n\nIn obedience to this determination, Lallcheen affected to concur with\nhis master\u2019s views; but prevailed upon him on some plausible pretence\nto delay enforcing his claim to Agha for a few weeks, promising\nimplicit obedience to his wishes at the end of a specified period.\n\nMeanwhile Shums-ood-Deen had been daily admitted to the presence of\nAgha, upon whose young heart his generous affection had made a deep\nimpression. She could not help contrasting his disinterested and\nhonourable attachment with the selfish and debasing passion of his\nbrother; and in proportion as her respect for the one declined, her\nlove of the other increased. The father was gratified at witnessing\nthis growing fondness; it roused his parental ambition: he was proud\nof his daughter, and longed to see her elevated to that distinction\nwhich he considered her born to adorn. Shums-ood-Deen was heir apparent\nto the throne of the Deccan. He might reign, and the beautiful Agha\nbecome a queen. These thoughts roused her father\u2019s soul and stirred\nhis passions to fiercer hostility against his royal master, who, as\nhe considered, had so deeply injured him. Though the king was popular\namong his nobles, yet by some he was much disliked, and those who were\nhostile to the claims of the elder brother would willingly encourage\nthe elevation of the younger.\n\nLallcheen took every opportunity which offered of making himself\nacquainted with the feelings of the nobles. Those who had not been\nraised to posts of honour and emolument in the state, were dissatisfied\nand ripe for a change of government; but were kept in awe by the large\nmajority of the well-affected. The sovereign fancying himself secure in\nthe affection of his subjects, took no care to subdue the murmurings\nof such as he considered unworthy of the royal patronage; he had,\ntherefore, a greater number of enemies than he was aware of.\n\nLallcheen\u2019s plot rapidly advanced towards maturity, and he at length\ninvited the king to an entertainment, promising that he would resign\nhis daughter to him. Gheias-ood-Deen received the invitation with a\nthrill of passionate satisfaction. Agha not being privy to her father\u2019s\ntreachery, he had taken care on that day to remove her from the house\non some plausible pretence, in order that she might not interfere with\nthe execution of his scheme. It had been already arranged that she and\nthe king\u2019s brother should be married at the beginning of the ensuing\nyear.\n\nWith Gheias-ood-Deen were also invited his chief Omrahs, who were all\nmuch attached to his person. At an early hour the royal party arrived,\nand were welcomed by the slave with extravagant marks of loyalty.\nThe nobles, astonished at the splendour of the entertainment, freely\nexpressed their surprise that a bondman should possess so much wealth.\n\n\u201cWealth,\u201d said Lallcheen, \u201cwill not purchase freedom, if it does not\nplease the monarch to grant it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can compensate for the sacrifice of honest services?\u201d said\nGheias-ood-Deen, with a condescending smile; \u201cI value them more,\nLallcheen, than your gold.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut not more than my daughter, king,\u201d said the slave, significantly.\n\n\u201cNo, no; all things have their price. I set your ransom high; you will,\ntherefore, value your freedom according to the price paid for it.\u201d\n\nThe guests placed themselves at the banquet. Every luxury which the\ncountry produced was there in generous profusion. The rarest wines\nsparkled in golden chalices, and freemen waited upon the guests of the\nslave. The wine went round, and the king anticipating the joy of being\npresented to the beautiful Agha, drank liberally of the enlivening\nbeverage. He began to be exhilarated.\n\nNautch girls were introduced to heighten the pleasures of the\nentertainment: they swam through the mazes of the dance with a light,\nfloating motion, tinkling the silver bells which hung from their\ndelicately small wrists and ankles, waving their arms with a graceful\nundulation that gave exquisite elegance to the curving motions of their\nbodies; every now and then throwing their long veils over their faces,\nand peeping through them with eyes that might have kindled a ray of\nadmiration even under the tub of Diogenes.\n\nThe guests began to express their delight by loud acclamations, and\nit had already become evident that the sovereign was considerably\nelated by the wine he had taken. Lallcheen had been cautious in keeping\nhimself perfectly calm. He drank but sparingly, and was therefore in a\ncondition to take the best advantage of the state of his guests. When\nhe considered the favourable moment had arrived for the consummation of\nhis vengeance, he commanded the nautch girls to retire, and then in a\nwhisper requested the king would order his nobles to withdraw, that his\nobedient host might introduce his daughter.\n\nGheias-ood-Deen, elated at the thought of beholding the beautiful\ncreature who had so inflamed his passions, commanded his Omrahs to\nquit the room, as he desired to have some private conversation with\nthe host. Excited by wine, and unsuspicious of evil consequences, they\nobeyed with ready alacrity, singing as they reeled from the apartment,\nand laughing stupidly at the fatuity of their own thoughts. When the\nguests had retired, the traitor led his sovereign respectfully to an\nottoman, seated him, and began to arrest his attention by extravagant\nencomiums upon the beauty of his daughter. Gheias-ood-Deen listened\nwith evident delight, and at length expressed himself impatient to be\nintroduced to the idol of his love. Lallcheen perceiving that he was\nraised to the proper pitch, told him he would instantly go and bring\nthe peerless Agha to his royal master and guest. Quitting the room, he\nshortly returned, armed with a naked dagger.\n\n\u201cWhere is your daughter?\u201d asked the king.\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d replied the slave, raising the dagger, and advancing towards\nhis sovereign with the gleaming instrument of death in his hand.\n\nGheias-ood-Deen, though much intoxicated, staggered towards the\ntraitor, and attempted to wrest the weapon from his grasp; but being\nunable to walk steadily, he fell, and rolled down a flight of steps. A\neunuch was in the room, who, seizing the king by his hair, threw him\nupon his back, and pierced out his eyes with the point of a crease.\n\nLallcheen, perceiving that he had now gone too far to retreat, removed\nthe wounded monarch to another apartment, and immediately despatched a\nmessenger to the nobles who had that night been his guests, desiring\nin the king\u2019s name that they would immediately return. The message was\ndelivered to each noble separately, so that one by one they reached\nthe slave\u2019s residence. As the first who arrived entered the chamber\nwhere he had so lately partaken of Lallcheen\u2019s hospitality, he was\nput to death by two eunuchs, who flung a noose over his head and\nstrangled him. Thus the whole of them were destroyed to the number of\ntwenty-four, and their bodies cast forth a prey to jackals.\n\nOn the morrow, when Agha returned to her home, she was shocked beyond\nexpression at the sanguinary revenge which her father had taken. Her\nheart was chilled: she felt that she never could again look upon her\nparent with respect, and the fond yearnings of her bosom grew cold.\nShe reproached him with his cruelty, but he silenced her with a stern\nrebuke. The disaffected Omrahs thronged to his house, prepared to\nassist him in his future views with respect to the government. The\ndaring act of blinding the king and slaying his nobles, had produced\na general panic. The people looked on in silent amazement; when\nLallcheen, thinking it was high time to act definitively, placed\nShums-ood-Deen, the deposed king\u2019s brother, upon the throne, and sent\nthe latter in confinement to the fortress of Sagur.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe conduct of Lallcheen excited great indignation: but the king had\nso lately given way to intemperance and the indulgence of his grosser\npassions, that those hopes entertained of him at his accession to\nthe throne had subsided. He had raised many enemies by his excesses.\nThe traitor, moreover, was supported by the queen-mother, of whom\nher younger son, Shums-ood-Deen, had ever been the favourite. He was\nextremely popular, too, among many of the Omrahs; for he was a generous\nyouth, possessing many virtues, and no flagrant vices.\n\nThe moment his brother was deposed, Lallcheen, assisted by the\ninfluence of the queen-mother, placed Shums-ood-Deen upon the musnud.\nThe young monarch was now eager to make Agha his queen; but she,\nshocked at what had passed, could not be prevailed upon, for the\nmoment, to consent. She would not see her father, and to the king\u2019s\nurgent entreaties to make him happy, she replied:--\n\n\u201cAlas! the auspices under which you reign are evil. I fear that\nprosperity can never track the steps of a prince whose path to the\nthrone has been stained with blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy noble Agha, we must bow to the crisis that has suddenly come upon\nus. I mourn the event which has elevated me to the highest of human\ndignities as much as you can do, and detest the agents who have placed\nme upon the musnud, with hands dyed in my brother\u2019s blood. But as he\nhas been disabled, it was necessary that a sovereign should be found;\nand I am the next of kin. You know it to be against the canons of our\nconstitution that a blind prince should reign. Were I to refuse to hold\nthe sceptre, I should be looked upon with suspicion, and my life would\nbe in perpetual peril.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrince, I shrink from becoming the wife of a man who has obtained his\ndignities by violence. I acquit you of all participation in the crime\nwhich has so suddenly made you a monarch, but will never consent to\nshare your sullied honours. I foresee only misery from my parent\u2019s\nambition. Though the deposed king would have heaped upon me the\nheaviest wrongs which can weigh down the spirit of a virtuous woman,\nstill I would have left him to the punishment which invariably awaits\nthe wicked, administered by a higher arbiter of human dereliction than\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAgha!\u201d cried the Prince, passionately, \u201chave I deserved to forfeit\nyour love?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot my love, Prince; but my consent to be your bride. You must now\nform higher views; there is an insuperable bar between us.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, had we been united while I was only heir-apparent to the throne\nto which I have been just elevated, I might have soon come to that\ninheritance to which your father\u2019s violence has prematurely raised me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut then you would have ascended the musnud with honour; now, you have\nascended it with disgrace.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am ready to relinquish all honours for you, Agha.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may not be; you have pushed the stone from the precipice, and, in\nspite of all mortal endeavours, it will roll to the bottom. Farewell,\nand may your reign be happy.\u201d\n\nOne day, a singular-looking devotee was seen to cast himself upon the\nground without the walls of the capital, and to pronounce, in a tone\nof solemn vaticination, woe to the kingdom of the Deccan. In proof of\nhis inspiration, the fanatic declared himself ready to fast forty days\non the very spot where he then lay. He was old and withered to a mere\nskeleton; his age was said to exceed a hundred years; for the oldest\ninhabitants remembered him but as a very aged man. His hair still\nhung over his shoulders so copiously as to cover them like a mantle;\nbut it was so impregnated with filth that its colour was not to be\nascertained. He had no beard, save a few straggling hairs scattered\nover his chin like stunted bushes upon the desert rock. His ears were\nso long that they nearly reached his shoulders, which rose towards them\nwith physical sympathy, as if to relieve the head from their weight.\nHis gums were toothless, and so blackened by opium and the smoke of\ntobacco, that as his lips parted--and when they did, they seemed to\nshrink from a renewed contact, and to seek severally protection from\nthe nose and chin--the whole mouth presented a feature of sickening\ndeformity. Every rib in the old man\u2019s body was as traceable as the\nlines which mark the latitude and longitude upon a chart. The very\nsinews had wasted into thin, rigid cords, without either flexibility or\ntension.\n\nThe approach of this sainted object to the city was a circumstance\nof much uneasiness to those who had acted so conspicuous a part in\nthe recent change of government. The veneration in which he was held\nmade them fear the effect of his crazy predictions upon the excited\nmultitude.\n\nLallcheen hoped the old man would confirm his declarations by a fast\nof forty days; flattering himself that, by exposing to the people the\ndelusions by which the object of their veneration evidently juggled\nthem, he should be able to show that the fanatic was a worthless\nimpostor. A tent was consequently ordered to be pitched over the\nprostrate devotee, and a number of men appointed to watch him day and\nnight, in order to see that no human nourishment passed his lips. Two\npersons were constantly by his side.\n\nLallcheen visited him. As the traitor appeared before him, the seer\nraised his head; his eye instantly kindled as if with a divine\nafflatus, and he said, waving his arm solemnly:\n\n\u201cThe blood of the murdered shall give life to the avenger! When slaves\nrebel, and grasp the thunderbolt of power, they eventually hurl it\nagainst their own heads. The web of fate is spun by different threads,\nbut the woof of thine is black. Prepare, Lallcheen, for the explosion\nwhich thy own ambitious hand has kindled. The match is already at the\ntrain; thou wilt soon hear and feel the desolating concussion! Woe to\nthe destroyer!\u201d\n\nThe slave trembled, in spite of his conviction that the saint was\ncrazed. He dreaded the influence of his wild sallies of prophecy. Day\nafter day passed, and neither food nor water was seen to pass the\ndiviner\u2019s lips. The guards were astonished, and beheld him with sacred\nawe. They vowed they never slept: they were constantly changed, but\nprecisely the same result followed--the inspired man was seen to taste\nnothing. He sat upon the cold ground, without a rag to cover him,\nin an apparent state of devout abstraction, never uttering a word;\nexcept now and then, when he poured out terrible denunciations of wrath\nagainst those who had blinded the late king and murdered his nobles.\n\nFifteen days of the term of fasting had already expired, and no change\nappeared in the prophet. His eyes occasionally sparkled with fierce\nbrightness, though he said nothing, and the watchers began to grow\nuneasy in his company. They feared a proximity to something unearthly;\nand in proportion as they were impressed with this superstitious\nfeeling, in their eyes their sacred charge grew more deformed and\nhideous. They placed themselves at the very extremity of the tent, and\nwere so awed by his ghoul-like appearance, that they were obliged,\nfor relief, to turn their faces to the broad sky, and remit their\nvigils until they had recovered their self-possession. They took it\nfor granted, however, that he could not, like some less disgusting\nreptiles, feed upon the dust, and therefore hesitated not to report, at\nthe end of their term of watching, that the saint had taken nothing but\na chameleon diet, and yet was as lively as that celebrated lizard after\na six months\u2019 fattening upon good wholesome air.\n\nThe people\u2019s astonishment was daily increased by the report of those\npersons appointed to watch the devotee. They already began to talk of\ndedicating a temple to him, and paying him divine honours.\n\nOn the twentieth morning of his voluntary abstinence, the venerable\nprobationer desired that some of the authorities might be summoned\nto attest his having undergone half of his prescribed mortification,\nand to witness his performance of a holy rite. Lallcheen accordingly\nvisited the seer.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d said the man, \u201cI have subsisted twenty days without earthly\nfood, sustained by a heavenly nutriment, which the eye does not see,\nbut the body is sensible of. This night the Prophet has visited me,\nand here is the sign of his coming;\u201d saying this he held between his\nbony fingers a white pebble about the size of a plum. \u201cWithin this,\u201d he\ncontinued, \u201cis the revelation which I shall make known to you at the\ntermination of my penance.\u201d\n\nHaving once more exhibited the pebble, he jerked it from his fingers\ninto his mouth, and swallowed it in an instant.\n\n\u201cFor twenty days I need no further nourishment. A stone is neither meat\nnor drink, yet will it invigorate this withered body to tell you things\nto come. Leave me.\u201d\n\nHe could not be prevailed upon to make any further communication; but\nrelapsed into silence. The slave was abashed before the presence of\na man whom he despised, and who, he felt satisfied was an impostor;\nnevertheless, he dared not commit an act of violence against one\ngenerally held to be in direct communication with Heaven. In spite of\nhis incredulity, he could not conceive how the pretended diviner had\nevaded the scrutiny of his guards. He had used every precaution to\ndetect the imposture, without success. Day after day passed on, but the\nsame report was every morning received that the saint had not tasted\nfood. Multitudes flocked round the tent to behold this extraordinary\nman. Persons who were diseased approached to touch him, imagining\nthat their distempers would be removed by the sacred contact. He\npronounced blessings upon the poor, which won him the homage of the\nneedy crowd who thronged to receive his benedictions. The marvel of his\nsupernatural fast rapidly spread over the country, and people came from\nevery part of the vicinity to behold him.\n\nThe term of his abstinence at length expired: no one had seen him taste\na morsel of food or a drop of water for forty days. On the morning\nof the forty-first day he rose, and, quitting his tent, was greeted\nwith profound reverence by thousands who had assembled to behold\nhim. Money was thrown at his feet, which he picked up and scattered\namong the religious mendicants who had come far and near to offer him\ntheir homage. He now partook of a small quantity of milk, and then\nturning his face towards the holy city, repeated a certain prayer.\nHaving poured dust upon his head, he crossed his arms upon his breast,\nand invoked audibly the name of the Prophet; then came the solemn\nobjurgation:\n\n\u201cWoe to the man of blood! he shall fall by the hand of him from whose\neyes he has shut out the sunbeam! The sceptre shall drop from the grasp\nof his minion, who shall find that happiness is not the inheritance of\nkings. But the innocent shall not be confounded with the guilty: the\nslave shall be requited as becomes a regicide! The voice of our holy\nProphet has spoken, and it shall come to pass!\u201d\n\nHe dropped his arms and hobbled slowly through the crowd, who made way\nbefore him, following him with acclamations. Lallcheen was disappointed\nat not having been able to detect the juggle of this patriarchal\ndeceiver. How he had managed to elude the scrutiny of the watchers was\na fact which baffled his comprehension; and he was fearful that the\ncredulity of the multitude as to the fakeer\u2019s direct communication with\nHeaven might lead to dangerous consequences. No doubt was entertained\nof the man\u2019s prophetic endowments and supernatural sustentation.\nThat he had fasted forty days and forty nights was a fact which few\nquestioned; and the general expectation was that some fearful calamity\nwas about to befall the king and his ministers. Groups of idle\ngossippers were seen at the corners of the streets, communicating their\nsuspicions and whispering their fears.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nWhen Shums-ood-Deen was placed upon the musnud, intimidated by the\nfate of his unhappy brother, he was afraid to oppose the man who had\nraised him to the throne; he had therefore little more than the name of\nking. All the substantive power was in the hands of his late father\u2019s\nslave, who assumed the title of Mullik Naib, an office equivalent to\nregent; and the nobility who had escaped the sword, seeing no safety\nbut in submission, bowed to his authority. The queen-mother, having\nbeen originally a slave, paid the utmost deference to the traitor who\nhad blinded her elder son, in order that she might obviate any mischief\nagainst the younger, whom she advised to submit to the wiser counsels\nof his minister, observing that he was indebted to him for his crown,\nand that the man who had so easily deposed one brother might with equal\nfacility depose the other. \u201cBesides,\u201d she said, \u201cyou owe him a debt\nof gratitude, and, depend upon it, he will expect it to be paid. You\nwill find, my son, many malicious insinuations breathed into your ear\nagainst your benefactor--but let me conjure you to give them no heed,\nfor the king who requites benefits with injury can have no security for\nhis throne.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! mother,\u201d said the young monarch, \u201cI have been exalted only\nto misery; I find the throne a seat of thorns instead of roses. My\nelevation has been the means of separating me for ever from the object\nof my soul\u2019s idolatry, and I am become a wretch whom the veriest\noutcast might pity.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, this is mere delusion: higher objects will engross your attention\nnow. Alliances will be sought with you by princes; seek not, then, the\nattachment of slaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you not recommend gratitude towards my benefactor?\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, I did; but this may be shown without marrying his daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo marry her is the one dear wish of my heart; not in order to signify\nmy gratitude to the man who has placed me upon the pinnacle of human\ngreatness, but to signalise my love for one who is at once an honour to\nher sex and to her country.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese are youthful raptures, my son, which the cares of royalty will\nsoon stifle.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever! the impress upon my heart is too deep to wear out: it will\nnever be effaced but by the worm.\u201d\n\nThe queen-mother could not succeed in persuading her son to relinquish\nall thoughts of the lovely Agha, which she was anxious to do, in order\nthat he might form an alliance that would secure him upon the throne,\nand render him independent of a man who might turn all his influence\nagainst him, should he be impelled by caprice or interest to serve some\nother object of his ambition.\n\nShums-ood-Deen\u2019s mother treated Lallcheen with great cordiality, and\nhe, in return, behaved to her with much respect, sending her valuable\npresents, and using every method to secure her confidence; but this\nconduct on both sides was mere temporising, as no real cordiality\nsubsisted between them.\n\nIt was now Lallcheen\u2019s grand aim to see his daughter united to the\nyoung king, and it mortified him extremely to find that the only\nimpediment was her own scruples. His soul was stung at the chance\nof losing that reward which he had waded through blood to obtain.\nDisappointed ambition exasperated him against what he called the\nrebellion of his child, and he determined to compel her to embrace\nthe dignity which he had steeped his soul in guilt to secure for her.\nKnowing the Readiness of Shums-ood-Deen to make her his queen, he was\nthe more enraged that any impediments should arise from her who was the\nparty that would be especially benefited by such a union; and he sought\nher with a determination to enforce obedience to an authority which he\nhad never hitherto exercised in vain.\n\n\u201cAgha\u201d, said he, sternly, \u201ccan it be possible that you refuse to become\nthe wife of a man whom you have confessed you love, and who is ready to\nmake you the partner of his throne?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, my father; I never could sit upon a throne the ascent\nto which is stained with the blood of its legitimate inheritor. The\npresent king shares in the crime of his brother\u2019s deposers so long as\nhe partakes of the fruit of their guilt.\u201d\n\n\u201cGirl, this is not the language of a child towards her parent; you know\nthe first wish of my heart is that you should share his dignities with\nthe son of my late master. If the man whom I propose you should wed\nwere odious to you there might be some reason in your opposition, but\nas this is not the case, I expect you immediately to become the wife of\nShums-ood-Deen.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will not be while he sits upon a blood-stained throne. You are my\nfather, and I know your power. My life is at your disposal, but not my\nwill; you may take the one, but you shall never coerce the other!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Agha, I will not take your life, however you may rebel; but\nyour liberty is likewise at my disposal, and depend upon it, that if\nyou persist in a stubborn opposition to my wishes, you shall suffer\npenalties under captivity which you little dream of.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have well weighed the consequences of resistance, and am prepared to\npay the penalty. I feel that the man who would not hesitate to dethrone\nhis king would have little scruple about imprisoning his daughter. But,\nto put you at once out of suspense as to my determination, I tell you,\nfirmly and solemnly, that I never will comply with your wishes. Take me\nto the prison you have prepared for me!\u201d\n\nLallcheen did not reply, but quitted her with a blanched cheek. He was\ndeeply vexed at this unexpected bar to his ambition from his own child.\nThe fruits of crime were already ripening, but he perceived that they\nhad only a flavour of bitterness. He remembered the predictions of the\ndevotee, and the sun of his glory grew dim--a shadow passed over it,\nbut the disc again grew light, and he hoped that it would be no more\nobscured.\n\nDifficulties now began to thicken around him. Feroze Chan and Ahmud\nChan, uncles to the deposed king, had promised their brother-in-law,\nMahmood Shah, father of Gheias-ood-Deen, when he was on his death-bed,\nthat they would be faithful and loyal to his son; they accordingly\nserved him with submission and fidelity. Being from the capital at\nthe time their royal relative was deposed by Lallcheen, they escaped\nthe unhappy fate of the nobles who were assassinated. Finding,\nhowever, that the king had been dispossessed and blinded, their wives\ninstigated their husbands to avenge the indignity to which their nephew\nhad been subjected. Feroze and Ahmud Chan readily listened to these\nnatural appeals in favour of their injured relative, but the traitor,\ndiscovering their intentions through his emissaries, complained to\nShums-ood-Deen, and, accusing those nobles of treason, demanded their\ninstant execution. Hoping to excite the young sovereign\u2019s fears, he\nrepresented to him that their object evidently was the restoration of\nGheias-ood-Deen, which would involve the death of the reigning monarch,\nas, the moment the deposed king was restored, he would naturally wreak\nhis vengeance upon all who had been instrumental in hurling him from\nhis throne, among whom the man raised to that throne would be one of\nthe first to suffer.\n\nShums-ood-Deen being emboldened by the known influence and bravery of\nhis uncles, resisted these importunities of the slave, whose imperious\nexercise of authority already began to be exceedingly vexatious. Seeing\nthat the opposition was likely to become serious, Lallcheen sought the\nqueen-mother, and artfully representing to her the perils by which\nher son was beset, obtained her promise to co-operate with him in\ncounteracting the confederacy forming against the government of her\nyounger son.\n\n\u201cIf,\u201d said he, \u201cwe do not get rid of these Omrahs, the worst\nconsequences are to be apprehended. Their connexion with the\nblood-royal gives them an influence which must endanger the safety of\nyour son; and you being suspected of having participated in the late\nrevolution, will be certainly singled out as one of the first victims.\nIf they are not to be overcome by open force, the concealed dagger is a\nsure and speedy remedy against threatened hostility.\u201d\n\nThese arguments rousing the queen\u2019s fears, she hastened to her son,\nthrew herself at his feet, and implored him to provide for his own\nand his mother\u2019s safety by ordering the instant seizure of the two\nrefractory nobles before they should be aware that their hostile\ndesigns had been made known.\n\nShums-ood-Deen, overcome by the earnest entreaties of his mother, was\nreluctantly induced to consent to the apprehension of the husbands of\nhis aunts. They, however, having obtained intelligence of his design,\nquitted Koolburga, and shut themselves up in the fortress of Sagur,\nwhere they were for the present secure from the machinations of their\nenemy.\n\nAn officer of the name of Suddoo, formerly a servant of the royal\nfamily, commanded in Sagur. He was rich and powerful, and received the\nprinces with the greatest hospitality, doing everything in his power to\nevince his attachment to them. He was entirely in the interests of the\ndeposed monarch, and felt the strongest antipathy towards the traitor\nwho had mutilated him and assassinated his nobles. He had been elevated\nby Gheias-ood-Deen to his present dignity as a reward for long and\nfaithful services, and his gratitude did not sleep. Towards Lallcheen\nhe always entertained a secret enmity, suspecting the integrity of\nhis purposes, and believing him to be nothing better than a hollow\nhypocrite.\n\nThe fortress under Suddoo\u2019s command was one of great strength, and in\nit for the present the princes felt themselves perfectly secure. Here\nthey were determined to remain until they could assemble a sufficient\nbody of forces to oppose the treacherous slave.\n\nIn pursuance of this determination, they addressed letters to\nShums-ood-Deen and the principal nobility, declaring that they were\nmaking preparations to chastise the man who had committed such an act\nof outrage upon his sovereign, at the same time declaring that they\nhad no intention of disturbing the existing government. They stated\nthat, as near relatives of the deposed monarch, they conceived it\ntheir duty to use every effort to inflict justice upon him by whom he\nhad been so irreparably injured, and called upon the nobility and the\nreigning sovereign to assist them in punishing so grievous an offender.\nIf this were done they promised entire submission to Shums-ood-Deen\u2019s\ngovernment, and concluded by a solemn asseveration that nothing should\ndeter them from bringing retribution upon the head of Lallcheen.\n\nThe king was not disposed to look unfavourably at this communication.\nThe trammels which his benefactor, as the sanguinary slave always\ncalled himself, had cast upon him, cramped his youthful and ardent\nspirit. Nothing but his affection for the daughter made him hesitate\nupon sacrificing the father. This caused him at first to waver; he\nthought upon her beauty, her accomplishments, and his passion began\nto blaze. How would she endure to see her father given up to certain\ndeath by the man who professed to love her as his own soul? Would she\nnot spurn him, would she not shrink with loathing from the destroyer\nof her parent? He reflected upon that parent\u2019s baseness, his ambition,\nhis tyranny; but his love for Agha bore down all opposition arising\nfrom the contemplation of her father\u2019s worthlessness, and he finally\ndetermined to protect the man whom by every principle of equity he was\nbound to sacrifice.\n\nLallcheen meanwhile was not insensible to what was going on. He was\nnow more than ever anxious that his daughter should be united to\nthe reigning monarch, as he imagined it would tend to confirm his\nown influence in the state, and put an end at once to those hostile\nmeasures which the family of Gheias-ood-Deen were taking to vindicate\nthe wrongs of their royal relative: it would moreover enable him\nto command the whole energies of Shums-ood-Deen\u2019s kingdom, civil,\npolitical and military, which he would have the power of employing\nto counteract the hostile intentions of his foes. He felt himself,\nnevertheless, in a state of great embarrassment, and began to entertain\nsuch designs as are generally the resort of desperate men. Although\nconscious of his unpopularity, he had nevertheless secured the favour\nof the troops by paying up their arrears, and allowing them some\nprivileges which they had never hitherto enjoyed. All the disaffected\nOmrahs too, of whom there were not a few, tendered him their services,\nand declared that they would maintain his cause to the last drop of\ntheir blood. He, however, was fully aware how little confidence is\nto be placed either upon the professions or promises of unprincipled\nmen. His own heart was a faithful interpreter of what such promises\nand professions amounted to, and he therefore felt anything but in a\nstate of security. This rendered him desperate. The opposition of his\ndaughter had so exasperated him against her that he had treated her\nwith a severity which, instead of subduing her resolution, had only the\nmore firmly determined her to thwart his wishes with an indomitable\nresolution, which he did not imagine she possessed. To all his promises\nof tenderness towards her, if she would only relax from her stubborn\nopposition, she replied by a calm look of defiance, that moved him more\nthan once to acts of violence. She shrank not from the arm that struck\nher to the earth, but rose without a murmur of complaint, and smiled\nupon the impotent malice that would stifle her conscience under the\nclaims of parental authority.\n\nThe situation of the slave was now becoming critical. He sought\nthe queen-mother, and represented to her the danger to which she\nmust necessarily be exposed, should the avengers of her elder son\u2019s\ndeposition succeed in gaining possession of the capital. She had never\nbeen popular with the Omrahs, and therefore began to fear that her fate\nwould be involved in that of Lallcheen, as it was generally believed\nthat she had been more than privy to the late massacre of the nobles\nat the slave\u2019s house. Imagining her safety inseparable from his, she\nhastened to her son, and demanded his protection for Lallcheen. \u201cIt\nis evident,\u201d she said, \u201cthat the pretended avengers of your brother\u2019s\nwrongs seek but the gratification of their own ambition, either in\nyour death or degradation. Our common interests require that we should\noppose them.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre our means sufficient?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have the confidence of the army and of the chief Omrahs, and the\nenemy can only hope to seduce under their banners the disaffected,\nwho are as likely to become traitors to their present masters as they\nwere to their former. We have no alternative but a resolute and fierce\nresistance; let me entreat you, therefore, to return an unqualified\ndefiance to those haughty rebels, who seek to subvert your government.\u201d\n\nShums-ood-Deen being thus prevailed upon by his mother to act with\ninstant decision, returned an answer to Feroze and Ahmud Chan which\nserved only to inflame those princes without bettering his own cause.\nThey, with the assistance of Suddoo, having collected three thousand\nhorse and foot, proceeded towards the capital, calculating with\nmuch confidence that other troops would join them on their march.\nDisappointed, however, in this expectation, they halted for some time\non the banks of the river Beema, without receiving any reinforcements.\nAll the chiefs withheld their aid, as if they considered the good\ncause desperate. This, nevertheless, did not deter the princes from\nproceeding with their present means to put into immediate execution\ntheir design of vindicating the wrongs of a much-injured sovereign. It\nwas accordingly agreed that they should advance without further delay,\nwith the regal canopy carried over the head of Feroze Chan. Upon this\noccasion his brother Ahmud was raised to the rank of Ameer-ool-Omrah,\nSuddoo to that of Meer Nobut, and Meer Feiz Oolla Anjoo to that of\nVakeel or minister.\n\nOn the arrival of the princes within four coss of the city, Lallcheen\nmarched out to meet them, accompanied by the young king. He had\ndistributed great sums of money among the officers and troops, which\nhad secured their present fidelity. Knowing that the means of his\nenemies were insufficient to purchase the treachery of his army,\nhe advanced against them with great confidence. His own numerical\nsuperiority caused him to look upon victory as certain; and when he\nconsidered the raw, undisciplined state of the hostile forces, his\nconfidence grew into arrogance, which eventually did fatal mischief to\nhis cause.\n\nNotwithstanding the disadvantages under which the princes laboured,\nthey did not decline an engagement. They trusted to their good\nintentions, and the general enthusiasm of their troops. A severe battle\nwas consequently fought in the vicinity of the town of Merkole; and the\nbrothers being defeated, after an obstinate resistance, fled with their\nadherents to the fort of Sagur.\n\nThe victors were beyond measure elated at the successful issue of this\nfirst battle. The power of Lallcheen increased his presumption and that\nof the queen-mother, which at length rose to such a height that many\nofficers of the court privately offered their services to the defeated\nprinces, whom they advised to lose no time in procuring pardon from\nShums-ood-Deen, by offers of immediately returning to their allegiance,\nand repairing to the capital without loss of time, in order to concert\nfuture plans for punishing the traitor and re-establishing the lawful\nsupremacy.\n\nLallcheen was too much engrossed by the views of his ambition, which\nrose with his success, to observe that a silent but secret disaffection\nwas working among the nobles and some of the most influential officers\nof the army. Confidence rendered him haughty, and where he was in the\nhabit of conciliating he began to command.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe disgust which the pampered minion daily excited by his arrogance\nrendered him shortly so unpopular, that the brothers Feroze and\nAhmud Chan resolved to embrace the advice of those Omrahs who had\npromised to favour their cause. Relying upon their assurances, in the\nsincerity of which they were confirmed by the growing unpopularity\nof Lallcheen, they sent Meir Feiz Oolla Anjoo, Syud Kumal-ood-Deen,\nand other persons of distinction, to the slave and the queen-mother,\nrepresenting that fear only had occasioned their rebellion, of which\nthey now sincerely repented, and promising that, if the sovereign would\nsend them written assurances of pardon, they would repair to court.\nThe traitor, imagining that if they were once in the capital he should\nhave the means of disposing of them at pleasure, was elated by these\novertures; and repairing forthwith to the king, persuaded him to listen\nfavourably to their supplications. Accordingly letters, containing\nflattering assurances of forgiveness, were immediately despatched to\nthe refractory princes.\n\nSince her last positive refusal to espouse the king, Agha had never\nbeen once permitted to leave her apartment; but having found means\nto corrupt the two women to whose custody she was consigned, she\nquitted her father\u2019s house unobserved, and left the city in a covered\nlitter. Knowing that Feroze and Ahmud Chan were at the Fort of Sagur,\nshe determined to proceed thither, and cast herself upon their\nprotection. They received her with the greatest respect. Her story\ndeeply interested them. Her generous forbearance in refusing to marry\nthe reigning sovereign because his ascent to the musnud had been\nstained with blood exalted her highly in their estimation, and in their\novertures to the king they stipulated in her favour for oblivion of\nthe past and assurances of future kind treatment. The father, though\nexasperated at her escape, thought that the wisest policy would be to\ndissemble his anger, hoping yet to overcome her repugnance, and to\nsee her queen of the Deccan. She, however, refused to return to the\ncapital unless she were guaranteed the protection of some influential\nperson who could shield her from her father\u2019s violence. It was\nultimately agreed that she should dwell with the queen, who offered her\nan asylum in her palace.\n\nShe had some difficulty in concurring with any arrangement that should\nput her again in the power of him who, though her natural protector,\nhad treated her with savage severity. She feared that under the queen\u2019s\nroof she should not be secure from the oppression of that father\ntowards whom she felt the natural instincts of affection giving way to\nthose harsher feelings which tyranny, even though exercised under the\nquestionable plea of paternal authority, can never fail to excite.\n\nThe brothers received Shums-ood-Deen\u2019s assurances of pardon with some\nmisgivings, although these were couched in the strongest terms of\naffectionate welcome. They knew the treacherous heart of the man by\nwhose sinister counsels the sovereign was swayed, and their minds were\nin a state of vibration between pacification and resistance. The day\nafter the royal communication arrived, the two brothers were sitting\nupon a terrace consulting whether they should venture to the capital.\n\n\u201cI have no confidence in the king\u2019s promises,\u201d said Ahmud Chan,\n\u201cbecause he is under the control of those to whom treachery is too\nfamiliar not to be resorted to, should their interests suggest such\na course. The moment we are within the walls of the capital we shall\nbe in the slave\u2019s power, and we have reason to know how little mercy\nhe has for those who wear his fetters. Slaves are proverbially and\npractically the worst of tyrants.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said Feroze, \u201cwe have our security in the dissatisfaction of the\nnobles, who already look upon him with an eye of jealousy. They can ill\nbear to see a menial, not only raised above their heads, but affecting\nto rule them. The troops have been won by his gold, but as his coffers\nget low their zeal will cool, and the moment the reaction comes he will\nbe in jeopardy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut meanwhile we shall be in danger. It is a nice question to decide\nwhether we should throw ourselves upon the sovereign\u2019s forgiveness or\ncontinue in arms, for there is danger in both.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe least danger will be the best choice; and I think we shall incur\nless risk in repairing to the capital than in keeping up our hostility\nwith such insufficient means.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we have promised protection to the slave\u2019s daughter against her\nfather\u2019s violence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is guaranteed by the king.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe promises of monarchs are hollow. They are too often made for\nconvenience, and broken at pleasure.\u201d\n\nWhile the brothers were debating whether they should disband their\ntroops and accept Shums-ood-Deen\u2019s offers of pardon, or remain his\ndeclared enemies, a Cashmerian madman passed by. His dress was covered\nwith red paint. A chowry was stuck in his turban, and round his legs\nwere bound wisps of grass. In his hand he flourished a long thin\nbamboo, at the head of which was fixed an orange. Approaching the\nprinces, he said, \u201cI am come from the Prophet with happy tidings,\nFeroze Chan. He has deputed me to conduct you to Koolburga, and place\nyou upon the musnud, and I shall do his bidding. You may smile, Feroze\nChan, but this will not be the first time a fool has set up a king.\u201d\n\nRegarding this as a happy omen, and remembering the prediction of the\nsaint who had fasted forty days, the brothers, accompanied by Agha,\nproceeded immediately to Koolburga, where they were warmly welcomed by\nthe young monarch. Lallcheen received them with a studied civility;\nfrom the first moment they met he and the princes were visibly guarded\nin their conduct, and the slave, with all his subtlety, was unable to\nwin the confidence of either brother.\n\nNo sooner had Feroze and Ahmud Chan entered the capital, than they\nendeavoured to render themselves popular with the citizens, who,\nit was sufficiently evident, were by no means contented under the\nexisting government. In order to satisfy the capacity of the troops,\nLallcheen had been reduced to the necessity of drawing largely upon the\npeople\u2019s pockets, and as his exactions were grievous, their dislike\nof him was bitter in proportion. The troops, too, finding that his\nbounty had subsided, relaxed in their fidelity, and murmurs began to\nbe everywhere heard. The slave was roused to a sense of his danger;\nbut seeing he possessed the confidence of the monarch and his mother,\nhe fancied that by sheltering himself behind their influence he should\nescape any mischief which might be threatened by the dissatisfied\ncitizens. His daughter, according to the king\u2019s stipulation with\nthe princes, had remained in the queen\u2019s house, so that she had not\nbeen molested by her father, who, in compliance with the royal wish,\nhad forborne to see her. Thinking such forbearance would satisfy\nthe brothers, he was disposed rigidly to adhere to the terms of his\ncontract with them, when they consented to throw themselves upon the\nsovereign\u2019s mercy, and restore the beautiful Agha to the protection of\nher friends.\n\nAbout a fortnight after the arrival of Feroze and Ahmud Chan the king\nhad a public audience. Feroze entered the durbar, accompanied by twelve\nsilehdars devoted to his interest. These silehdars answered to our\nknights, and followed the courts of their monarchs mounted on their\nown horses, and in their train rode one or more attendants. Feroze\nhad previously stationed three hundred faithful followers without the\naudience-chamber. Not the slightest suspicion was awakened either\nin the breast of the king or his minister. Shortly after Feroze had\narrived, his brother Ahmud entered the court, as had been previously\nconcerted. Upon his arrival the princes told Lallcheen that some of\ntheir relatives were come from their estates in order to pay their\nrespect to the sovereign, and requested that orders might therefore be\ngiven to the porters to admit whomsoever he should send for.\n\nThe minister, entertaining no idea of mischief, gave the order without\nhesitation, affecting great urbanity, as if willing to conciliate those\nwhom he feared, and who, if not propitiated by at least an appearance\nof courtesy, might eventually prove dangerous enemies.\n\nShums-ood-Deen, meanwhile, being occupied with the ceremony of\nreceiving his nobles, paid no attention to the number of strangers who\naccompanied his relatives. The court on this day was very numerously\nattended, and the shades of disaffection were seen on many a brow\nwhich bent before the throne with the usual expression of homage.\n\nAt a signal from Feroze Chan, who took care to occupy Lallcheen\u2019s\nattention by exciting an animated discussion, his brother retired from\nthe audience-chamber under pretence of introducing his relations. In a\nshort time he returned, but, upon attempting to pass the guards with\ntwelve followers, he was stopped, the soldiers refusing to allow him to\nproceed unless he could give a satisfactory account of himself, and of\nthose by whom he was attended.\n\nThe moment was critical, and the danger imminent, but Ahmud resolved\nto put all to the hazard. Imagining that the plot was discovered, he\ncommanded the guards to stand back, but they instantly interposed\nthemselves between him and the door. Ordering his followers to draw\ntheir swords, and unsheathing his own at the same moment, he buried\nit in the body of the foremost man who had opposed his entrance. His\ncompanions, following so resolute an example, attacked the guards with\nsuch spirit that they were soon overpowered, and many slain. Ahmud\nrushed into the durbar with his sword drawn and his dress spotted with\nblood.\n\nThe utmost confusion prevailed. A few of the minister\u2019s creatures\nassembled round him, and endeavoured to protect their patron; but\nall the rest of the assembly fled: they were suffered to escape, as\ntheir flight only rendered the capture of the traitor more sure.\nPale and trembling, the latter stood in the midst of his attendants\nimploring mercy; but when he found that it would be denied, he summoned\nhis energies for a last struggle. His followers behaved with great\ngallantry, and while they were fighting in his defence, a body of\nsoldiers stationed in the courts of the palace rushing in, saved the\nking and his minister from immediate destruction.\n\nThe three hundred adherents of Feroze Chan, hearing the din of battle,\nquitted their station, and repairing to the spot, attacked and put to\nflight the royal guards, together with the dependents of Lallcheen, and\nin a short time the palace was in possession of the two princes. They\nwere soon joined by many disaffected nobles; and when the issue was\nknown to the citizens, acclamations were everywhere heard, and threats\nof extermination against the tyrant. It was now clear that Feroze and\nAhmud Chan were masters of the capital. When the tumult had subsided,\nthe king and Lallcheen were nowhere to be found; but after a diligent\nsearch, being discovered in a subterraneous chamber, they were dragged\nbefore the conquerors.\n\n\u201cTraitor!\u201d said Feroze Chan to the now humbled slave, \u201cwhat punishment\ndo you deserve for your enormities?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch a punishment as a generous conqueror would inflict.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have pronounced your own doom.\u201d\n\n\u201cGenerous souls requite evil with good.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there are degrees of guilt which to pardon would be unjust; and\nwhere mercy is unjustly bestowed it is a crime. Your punishment shall\nrest with him who has received the greatest injury at your hands.\u201d\n\nFeroze Chan having put chains upon the king and Lallcheen, confined\nthem in the apartment where they had sought shelter, while he,\naccompanied by the nobility, repaired to the hall of audience and\nascended the throne amid the acclamations of his followers; thus\nfulfilling the prediction of the Cashmerian madman. He assumed the\ntitle of Feroze Shah Roze Afzoon, and, by way of confirming his title,\nplaced upon his thigh the sword of Alla-ood-Deen Hussun Gungoo. Having\nestablished his authority without the slightest opposition, he sent for\nGheias-ood-Deen from the fort of Sagur. When the unhappy ex-king was\nbrought into the presence of Feroze Chan, the latter said--\n\n\u201cGheias-ood-Deen, I regret that the laws do not permit a blinded\nsovereign to reign, or I should have had more joy in placing the\nsceptre in your hands than in my own. What is there that you would\ndesire to render your life happy?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy requests are two--first, that I may be allowed to inflict\npunishment with my own hands upon the man who blinded me, and next to\nperform a pilgrimage to Mecca that expiation may be offered for my\nsins. There I should wish to pass the remainder of my life, which I\npurpose devoting to God.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour wishes are granted,\u201d said Feroze, \u201cand I shall order the\ntreasurer to remit you annually the sum of five thousand golden\nashruffies[18] for your maintenance, as becomes a prince.\u201d\n\nLallcheen was now brought in chains before his late victim. When he saw\nGheias-ood-Deen standing with a drawn sword in the midst of the hall of\naudience, a clammy moisture oozed from every pore of his body, and he\nfelt as if the dews of death had gathered upon his brow. Being brought\nclose to Gheias-ood-Deen, the latter said, \u201cWho stands before me?\u201d\n\nLallcheen was silent.\n\n\u201cLet me hear thy voice, slave. What punishment does the man deserve who\ndeposes a monarch and murders his nobles?\u201d\n\nThe slave was still silent.\n\n\u201cTraitor, I am blind! it was through thee that these eyes were closed\nin everlasting darkness. The penalty of crime is now demanded. Art thou\nprepared to perish?\u201d\n\nThere was no answer. The ex-king placed his hand upon Lallcheen\u2019s\nshoulder, and raising his sword, brought it with the full force of an\narm of vengeance upon the head of the criminal, who fell dead at the\navenger\u2019s feet.\n\nOn the following day Agha solicited an audience of the new monarch.\n\n\u201cKing,\u201d she said, \u201cI need not tell you that mercy is the brightest\njewel in the regal sceptre. It is the axiom of every country where\nsovereigns reign and people are obedient.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn whose account, lovely girl, do you seek to propitiate the royal\nclemency?\u201d\n\n\u201cOn that of the deposed monarch, Shums-ood-Deen. I know him to have\nbeen innocent of any participation in the late transactions which have\ncast such ignominy upon the memory of one whom I would willingly have\nremembered as a good man. Shums-ood-Deen sought not to reign. Had he\nrejected the throne, his only alternative was to die. We were plighted\nto each other. I refused to wed him as a king, when I did not consider\nhis elevation just; but I am prepared to link my destiny with his now\nthe bar is removed which disunited us.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour wish, lady, shall be fulfilled. He will be released for your\nsake, with the government of Dowlatabad as a reward for his temperance\nupon the throne. You shall be the messenger of these tidings.\u201d\n\nAgha fell at the king\u2019s feet; he raised and dismissed her, with\nkind assurances of future favour. She sought the apartment in which\nShums-ood-Deen was confined. He was seated on the ground at the\nextremity fronting the door, and remarked not her entrance. His hand\nwas upon his brow. He seemed to press it, as if it ached from the\nsevere infliction of his own thoughts. The sigh came heavily from his\nbosom, and he occasionally muttered indistinct sounds, which were\nevidently the groanings of a lacerated spirit. He did not raise his\nhead as Agha advanced, but appeared unconscious of her presence.\n\n\u201cShums-ood-Deen!\u201d she said, in a tone of the gentlest tenderness. He\nstarted from the ground in a moment.\n\n\u201cAlla Akbur!\u201d he cried, bowing his head; \u201cIt is Agha! Is this a visit\nof reconciliation before I die?\u201d\n\n\u201cI come to release you from your chains. You have imagined that I did\nnot love you. It was a mistake: I loved the man, but as I could not\nrespect the king, I determined not to be the partner of an elevation\nwhich my conscience could not justify. Your pardon has been pronounced\nby the reigning monarch: I have his authority for announcing to you\nthat you will be henceforward governor of Dowlatabad; and, if you still\nthink the slave\u2019s daughter worthy of your choice, she is now prepared\nto fulfil her pledge.\u201d\n\nHe threw his arms round her. They repaired to the royal presence, where\nShums-ood-Deen\u2019s pardon was confirmed, and a proclamation to that\neffect immediately issued. He swore allegiance to Feroze Shah Bahmuny\nwith much more joy than he had received the sceptre. The details of\nlove and marriage are too ordinary events of life for the pages of\nhistory; it therefore only remains for the narrator of these adventures\nto say, that the beautiful Agha and the youthful Shums-ood-Deen were\nmarried forthwith, and repaired to Dowlatabad to a peaceful and happy\nhome.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[18] The ashruffy varied from thirty to forty shillings.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 854 (A.D. 1450).--Bheilole Lody Afghan was the first prince of the\nfifth dynasty of the kings of Delhi. He succeeded Alla-ood-Deen, who\nresigned the kingdom to him, and retired to Budaoon, where he died.\n\nHeg. 856 (1452).--The king having defeated several insurgent sheiks,\nthe power of Bheilole Lody was firmly established.\n\nHeg. 883 (1478).--Syud Alla-ood-Deen, who had abdicated the throne of\nDelhi, dying at Budaoon, Hoossein Shah Shurky proceeded thither, and\nafter performing the funeral ceremonies, seized that district from\nthe children of Alla-ood-Deen. From thence marching to Sumbhul, he\nimprisoned Moobarik Chan, governor of that province, and proceeding\ntowards Delhi, crossed the river Jumna, near the Cutcha ghaut. Bheilole\nLody was at Surhind when he received intelligence of this invasion,\nand returning with expedition to his capital, several slight actions\nensued; but Hoossein Shah Shurky was finally defeated in a general\nengagement at Canouge, when his regalia, equipage, and the chief lady\nof his harem, Beeby Khonza, fell into the victors hands. After this\ndecisive victory, Bheilole retreated to his capital.\n\nHeg. 894 (1488).--The king being now old, and infirmities increasing\ndaily upon him, he divided his dominions among his sons, and died at\nBadowly, in the district of Sukeet, after a prosperous reign of thirty\nyears, eight months, and seven days. He was succeeded by Secunder Chan,\nson of Zeina, the daughter of a goldsmith, introduced into the royal\nharem on account of her beauty.\n\nHeg. 897 (1491).--The fort of Agra fell to the king\u2019s arms after a\nshort but stubborn siege.\n\nHeg. 900 (1494).--The king met Hoossein Shah Shurky in the field, and\ndefeated him at a place about eighteen coss or thirty-six miles from\nBenares. The vanquished chief fled to Patna, and his army was nearly\nexterminated.\n\nHeg. 904 (1498).--A conspiracy was formed against the life of Secunder\nLody, which being detected, the conspirators, who were powerful Omrahs,\nwere despatched upon different services, and cut off in detail.\n\nHeg. 905 (1499).--Syud Chan Lody, Tartar Chan Firmully, and Mahomed\nShah Lody, being suspected of disaffection, were banished to Guzerat.\n\nHeg. 915 (1509).--The king being encamped at Dholpore, he ordered\nSuliman Chan to march to the aid of Hoossein Chan, of Hunwuntga\nSuliman Chan having excused himself by saying that he preferred being\nabout the king\u2019s person, the latter became incensed, and forthwith\ndismissed him from his service, directing him to quit his camp by\ndaybreak the following morning, at the same time conferring on him the\nrevenue of Birun for his future maintenance.\n\nHeg. 923 (1517).--Secunder being taken ill, died of quinsy, and was\nsucceeded by his son Ibrahim. A conspiracy was formed by the Lody\nchiefs to raise his younger brother to the throne.\n\nHeg. 923 (1518).--The king prepared to defeat the aims of the\nconspirators, whom he finally quelled, and giving full latitude to his\nvengeance, put many of the Omrahs to death.\n\nHeg. 925 (1519).--Babur made his first campaign in India. On this\noccasion he marched his army as far as the Indus, to where it is called\nthe Neelab: he overran with his troops all the countries in his route,\nand crossing the river, advanced to Berah in Punjab. In this province\nhe levied contributions upon the inhabitants, instead of allowing his\ntroops to plunder. From Berah he sent to Ibrahim, acquainting him that\nas the Punjab had been frequently in possession of the house of Timour,\nit was fit he should relinquish his pretension to it, and thus prevent\nthe war from being carried further into India.\n\nHeg. 926 (1520).--Babur made his third irruption into India, attacking\nthe Afghans on his route.\n\nHeg. 928 (1522).--Chandahar and the country of Gurmseer fell into\nBabur\u2019s hands.\n\nHeg. 930 (1524).--Babur entered Lahore in triumph, having defeated the\ntroops of Ibrahim Lody, and set fire to the Bazaar, a superstitious\npractice common among the Moguls. Babur remained only four days in\nLahore, when he proceeded against Depalpore. The garrison having forced\nhim to risk an assault, he put the whole to the sword.\n\nHeg. 932 (1525).--Babur marched for the first time towards Hindostan,\nbeing joined by his son Hamayoon from Budukhshan, and Khwaja Kullan\nfrom Ghizny. This year, Babur, with an army of only twelve thousand men\ndefeated Ibrahim Lody, who brought into the field a hundred thousand\nhorse and a hundred elephants. This victory secured the empire of India\nto the House of Timour. Ibrahim Lody was found among the slain. This\nyear the fort of Gualior was besieged by a numerous army of Hindoos.\nTartar Chan, the governor, being reduced to great distress, applied to\nBabur, who marched to his relief, and obliged the enemy to raise the\nsiege.\n\nHeg. 933 (1525).--The mother of the late king of Delhi, Ibrahim Lody,\nformed a design to poison Babur, and seduced the taster of the royal\nkitchen to put some poison into a dish of hare soup. Babur, after\ntasting a few spoonsful, nauseated the soup, and immediately vomited,\nwhich saved his life. The plot was discovered, the taster put to death,\nIbrahim Lody\u2019s mother cast into prison, and her wealth confiscated.\n\nHeg 933 (1526).--The king defeated an army collected by several\nconfederated chieftains, in order to place a son of the late Ibrahim\nLody upon the throne of Delhi.\n\nHeg. 935 (1528).--Babur commenced a tour through his new kingdom. He\nfirst took the route to Gualior, and viewed there the fortifications,\nthe stone elephant, and the celebrated palace of Rajah Man Singh.\nHe then visited the gardens of Raheem Dad, and having admired some\nextremely fine scarlet oleander flowers, ordered a few of the plants to\nbe conveyed to Agra. During his stay at Gualior he went in state to the\ngreat Mosque, built by the Emperor Altmish, for whose soul he ordered\nprayers to be read, and returned by another route to Agra.\n\nHeg. 936 (1530).--In the month Rujab of this year, the king fell sick,\nand his disorder gaining ground, he sent for his son Prince Humayoon,\nand appointed him his successor.\n\nHeg. 937 (1530).--On Monday the fifth of Jumad-ool-Awul, Babur Padshah\ndied. According to his will his body was transported to Cabul, and\ninterred in a sepulchre at that city. He died at the age of fifty,\nhaving reigned thirty-eight years.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Siege of Gualior.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nThe fort of Gualior was in a state of siege. Tartar Chan was at this\ntime governor of it; but being beleagured by the Rajah of that country,\nto whose family it had formerly belonged, and not in a condition to\nresist the numerous forces of the Hindoo, Tartar Chan solicited Babur\u2019s\naid. The detachment of troops sent by the Mogul monarch defeated the\nRajah, and obliged him to raise the siege. The governor being now\nreleased from his enemies, and repenting of his promise of submission,\ndelayed, under plausible but frivolous pretences, to put the Moguls\nin possession of the fortress. Their general, therefore, retreated in\ndisgust, with a threat of soon coming in larger force to compel this\nfulfilment of the conditions upon which his services had been expressly\nrendered.\n\nThe Moguls had no sooner retired than the Rajah returned with his\nforces and invested Gualior. Tartar Chan was again in a dilemma, but\nfeared making another application to the Mogul Emperor, whom he had\nlately requited with such signal ingratitude.\n\nWithin the fort was one Sheik Mahomed Ghows, a very learned man, who\nhad a great number of students under him, and was looked upon as an\noracle throughout the province. He was consulted in all cases of\nemergency, being thought to possess the gift of inspiration. In his\ndifficulty, Tartar Chan repaired to the sage, and asked him what was to\nbe done under the present unpromising aspect of his affairs.\n\n\u201cWe have not provisions,\u201d said he, \u201cfor more than a few weeks; and the\ngarrison is already so much reduced that a sally cannot be prudently\nattempted. What is to be done?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have but a choice of evils; you must propitiate the Mogul.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how?\u201d\n\n\u201cDeliver the fortress into his hands.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I may as well capitulate to the enemy.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; from the Hindoos you may look for extermination, from the\nworshippers of the Prophet you may hope to retain your government in\nfealty to the Emperor.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo vassal is secure under the domination of despotism.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat security have you within these walls, surrounded by an implacable\nenemy whom you acknowledge you are in no condition longer to resist,\nand who are prepared to exercise against you the severities which\nconquerors seldom fail to inflict upon the vanquished, whom they happen\nto hate? You have asked my advice under your present difficulties;--I\ngive it. Make your peace with the Mogul Emperor, perform the conditions\nupon which he lately granted you assistance against the foe, by giving\nhim possession of this fortress, only stipulating to retain the command\nof it as his vassal.\u201d\n\nThough Tartar Chan did not much relish the advice of the sage,\nhe nevertheless saw that he had no choice between complying and\ncapitulating to the Hindoos. He therefore despatched a messenger, who\nsucceeded in passing through the enemy\u2019s lines as a fakeer--for those\nvisionaries pass everywhere unmolested--entreating the Emperor Babur to\nadvance once more to his assistance, and offering him full security for\nthe performance of the conditions upon which he solicited his aid.\n\nAbout five weeks after the consultation just described, the garrison\nwas reduced to extreme distress. Their provisions were diminished to\nsuch an incompetent supply that every person was put upon a stated\nallowance of four ounces of rice per day. Disease was already beginning\nthe work of destruction, and there appeared no chance of escaping\nthe horrors of famine except by a speedy capitulation. The cries of\nlamentation were everywhere heard, but no relief came. The prospect\nof the besieged was anything but cheering; with starvation on the one\nhand, and an odious captivity on the other, they had only a choice\nof miseries, unless aid should be obtained before the expiration of\nanother week.\n\nTartar Chan did his best to soften the privations of the garrison; but\nas he could not fabricate grain, he could do little towards hushing the\ndoleful cries of suffering which everywhere met his ears. The besiegers\nwere so vigilant that they cut off all supplies, and were determined to\nstarve their enemies into a surrender.\n\nOne evening four horsemen were seen by the Rajah\u2019s scouts, advancing\ntowards Gualior. They were Moguls, and appeared to be sturdy warriors,\nbeing well-armed and well mounted. They entered a thicket.\n\n\u201cBaba Shirzad,\u201d said the chief, \u201cdo you ride towards the fort at\nyour best speed, and endeavour to ascertain the strength of the\nbesieging force. We will await your return here, and act according to\ncircumstances. I like an achievement: the greater danger, the more\nglory.\u201d\n\n\u201cI go,\u201d said the Mogul; \u201cbut to my thinking you are poking your nose\ninto a wasp\u2019s nest, and you know how severely those insects sting.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we must pluck out their sting, Baba, and then they\u2019ll only be able\nto buzz.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut in plucking out the sting we may chance to get a puncture.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! so much the better; \u2019twill be a spur to renown; so strike your\nheels into the flanks of your good Arab, and away.\u201d\n\nBaba Shirzad did as he was commanded, and was lost in a few seconds\namid the gloom of the forest.\n\n\u201cMir Shah,\u201d said the chief to another of his companions, \u201cwe must\nprepare for blows. These idolators are grown savage at their late\ndefeats and fight desperately. We must relieve the garrison in spite\nof Tartan Chan\u2019s late subterfuges. He\u2019ll be a cunning governor if he\noutwits his betters a second time.\u201d\n\n\u201cHad we not better get into the plain?\u201d asked Mir Shah. \u201cI don\u2019t like\nthese strange thickets; they are too favourable for surprises, and my\ntopographical knowledge of this quarter is not considerable. Let us go\nwhere we can see our horses\u2019s ears, for here we can exercise only one\nsense, and that the least important of the five.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, do you mean to make four pass for a unit? You can exercise all\nyour senses in the dark, save the faculty of seeing, and, my word for\nit, blindness is not always an evil. But let us get into the plain if\nyou will, and there await the return of Baba Shirzad.\u201d\n\nThe Moguls had not long emerged from the wood, when, overcome by the\nfatigue of their journey, they began to nod on their saddles. They\nwere, however, suddenly roused by a clattering of hoofs, as of a horse\nat full speed, and presently Baba Shirzad appeared coming towards them\nat a hard gallop.\n\n\u201cFly!\u201d said he; \u201cwe are pursued by a large detachment of the enemy;\nthey are close at my heels, and we have not a moment for deliberation.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the chief, \u201cthe Mogul is not accustomed to fly we must\nstand our ground at all risks.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the enemy are at least a hundred and fifty men.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe more the better; throw them into confusion and they\u2019ll cut one\nanother\u2019s throats. \u2019Tis no easy matter to distinguish friends from\nfoes in the dark, and after a death or two they\u2019ll magnify two brace\nof warriors into a host. Stand by me like brave men, and I\u2019ll show you\nsome sport worth witnessing.\u201d\n\nBy this time a considerable detachment of the enemy had advanced to\nwithin a hundred yards of the spot where the four horsemen stood. The\nMoguls had separated, each taking up his position with his back towards\nthe wood, and shouting simultaneously, in order to lead the enemy to\nsuppose they formed a small squadron. The Hindoos reined up their\nhorses, and immediately winged a flight of arrows, calling upon their\nfoes to surrender; this was answered by a discharge of four shafts,\nwhich, being directed with better aim, and against a large mass, did\nsome execution.\n\nThe Hindoo chief was mounted upon a white charger, which was a guide to\nthe Moguls in what direction to shoot their arrows. The four horsemen\nnow uniting galloped towards the enemy, and when within ten yards of\nthem, discharged their barbed reeds, turned and retreated. This they\nrepeated several times, until the enemy, galled by these attacks,\nspurred forward in pursuit. The Moguls again separated, and plunged\ninto the neighbouring thicket. The Hindoos being thus disunited rode\nonward in disorder, and frequently mistook one another for foes. Arrows\nwere occasionally shot from the wood, and not knowing whence the\nmischief came, their confusion increased. In several instances they\nrode each other down, the enemy meanwhile occasionally shouting to\ndelude them, and then instantly galloping to another position.\n\nThis strange fight was continued for some time, until a number of the\nidolators being slain, their leader ordered those who were near him to\nhalt, and after a while, with some difficulty he mustered the rest of\nhis detachment, nineteen of whom were killed or missing. The night was\ntoo dark to allow of pursuing the Moguls with any reasonable chance of\nsecuring them; the Hindoos therefore retraced their way slowly back to\ntheir camp to prepare their comrades against surprise.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Mogul leader, as the enemy slowly retired, \u201cI told you\nwe should multiply. Night is the best season in the world to enable the\nfew to outdo the many. They\u2019ll have a rare tale to tell when they get\nto their tents. They have left a few of their companions behind them,\nwhom they\u2019ll find cold enough and not over fragrant in the morning.\nBut it will not do for four to stand against a hundred by daylight, we\nmust therefore retire towards the advancing forces. Within a week these\nworshippers of dumb divinities shall quit yonder fortress or fight for\nit; and though the dogs are brave enough, yet they have no great skill\nat warfaring.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what say you,\u201d asked Dost Nasir, \u201cto their Rajpoots--fellows that\nfight under a saffron robe till their throats are cut, not indeed so\nmuch to their own satisfaction as to that of their slayers?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I say of their Rajpoots, that they are brave just as a woman is\nwhen spirit has turned her brain. She\u2019ll then rave and sputter in spite\nof stripes; but when her fit of valour subsides, her spirit becomes as\npuny as a lizard\u2019s. I never knew a really brave man wantonly throw away\nhis life. Excite a coward beyond the boundary-line of his fears, and he\nfoams and snaps like a mad dog; but fury is not valour.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be,\u201d replied Dost Nasir; \u201cbut a Rajpoot\u2019s fury is a nasty thing\nto come in contact with. And the rascals are so ready in the use of\ntheir cimetars that they chop off heads as dexterously as your cooks\ndecollate ortolans for a dainty feeder. I never knew a fight tame where\nthose yellow-robed warriors appeared among the enemy\u2019s ranks.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if there be any among those adorers of chiselled stones now\nbefore yonder town, you shall have an opportunity of seeing that such\ndrunken valour will not prevent our forces from obliging them to slink\nback to their homes, or making a dunghill beneath the walls of Gualior\nwith the flesh of idol-worshippers.\u201d\n\nWhile this conversation was going on, the four Moguls were getting into\nthe heart of the jungle, in order to obviate the pursuit which they\napprehended the enemy would commence on the morrow. Having deviated\nconsiderably from the regular travelling route, and being unacquainted\nwith the locality, they got into a pathless forest. This was a dilemma\nfrom which they must use their wits to be delivered, and with this\nprudent resolution they cast themselves upon the protection of Him to\nwhom the path of the wilderness is as familiar as that of the populous\ncountry.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nWhen the Moguls had got into the heart of the forest, beyond the\nprobable reach of pursuit, they halted, picketed their horses in a\nsmall grassy glen, and casting themselves beneath the shelter of a\nleafy tree, threw their saddle-cloths over their shoulders, and soon\nsank into profound repose. In the morning they rose and pursued their\nway. The chief was a broad-shouldered man, above the middle height,\nexceedingly muscular, with a handsome good-humoured countenance,\nsomewhat roughened by constant exposure to various changes of\natmosphere. His limbs were so sinewy, that it appeared as if ropes were\ntwisted round his bones, and covered with a skin as firm and flexible\nas was requisite to compact such bones and muscles. He had a large\nlaughing eye, but so brilliant that, when the round animated features\nsubsided from their wonted joyousness into sudden gravity, it seemed\nas if its quick intense scrutiny could reach the very depths of the\nsoul. His mouth was small, and the lips generally a little protruded,\ngiving an arch expression to his features, that made the beholder\nthink they were ever the home of good-humour. His head was somewhat\ndiminutive, or rather it appeared so in consequence of the prodigious\nsize of his neck, which was perfectly Atlantean. It was bare to his\nshoulders, and showed a capacity of strength almost superhuman. He\nmounted his horse with a bound as light as that of the grasshopper; and\nhis steed, a noble Persian charger, was evidently proud of its burthen.\nHis companions were fine men, but utterly insignificant by the side of\ntheir chief.\n\nAs they proceeded, the ground became swampy and anything but agreeable\nfor travelling. They at length reached the banks of a considerable\nstream, upon which a number of fowlers were exercising the various\nartifices of their craft. It was an unusual, and therefore an\ninteresting sight to the strangers. The country abounded with\nwater-fowl which were very fat, and there was a good vent for them in\nthe neighbouring villages and at a town some distance down the stream.\nA large kind of heron congregated here in immense flocks; but the\nchoice bird was the khawasil, a fowl in great request, because it was\nextremely rare. The Moguls were interested by the manner of catching\nthese birds, which was as follows:--\u201cThe fowler spun a thin sliding\nspringe, about an arrow\u2019s flight long, and to the one end of this cord\nfixed a double-pointed arrow, while on the other end of it he fastened\na cross handle of horn. He then took a stick of the thickness of the\nwrist, and a span in length, and commencing at the arrow, wound up\nthe cord until it was all wound on; after which he made fast the horn\nhandle, and pulled out the stick of the thickness of the wrist, on\nwhich the cord had been wound, the cord remaining wound up and hollow.\nTaking a firm hold of the horn handle, he threw the dart, having the\ncord attached to it, at any fowl that came near. If it fell on the neck\nor wings of the bird, it immediately twisted round it and brought it\ndown.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll the people on the Baran catch birds in this manner, but it is\nextremely difficult and unpleasant, as it must be practised on dark and\nrainy nights; for on such nights, for fear of the ravenous animals and\nbeasts of prey, they fly about constantly all night long, never resting\ntill the morning; and at such times they fly low. In dark nights they\nkeep flying over the running water, as it appears bright and white;\nand it is at such times, when from fear they fly up and down above the\nstreams all night long, that the fowlers cast their cords.\u201d[19] The\nchief of the Moguls, struck with the ingenious mode of taking these\nbirds, attempted to cast the snare; but with all his skill in the use\nof weapons of war, at which he was singularly expert, he could not\nmanage to secure a single bird.\n\nA little further down the river, a singular mode of taking fish excited\nthe travellers\u2019 attention. \u201cIn a place where the water fell from a\nheight, the fishermen had dug out pits about the size of a house, and\nlaying them with stones in the form of the lower part of a cooking\nfurnace, they had heaped on stones above the pits, leaving only one\npassage for the water to descend; they had piled up the stones in\nsuch a manner that, except by this single passage, there was no other\nfor the fish either to come or go. The water of the stream finding\nits way through these stones, this contrivance answered the purpose\nof a fishpool. In winter, whenever fish were required, they opened\none of these pits and took out forty or fifty fish at a time. In some\nconvenient place of the pit, an opening was formed, and excepting\nat that outlet, all the sides of it were secured with rice straw,\nover which stones were piled up. At the opening was fastened a kind\nof wicker-work like a net; the two extremities being contracted were\nbrought near each other. In the middle of this first wicker-net was\nfixed another piece of wicker net-work, in such a way that the mouth\nof this last might correspond with that of the other, but its whole\nlength be only about half of that of the one first mentioned. The mouth\nof this inner net-work was made very narrow. Whatever entered, passed\nof necessity into the larger wicker-net, the lower part of which was\nso constructed that no fish could escape back. The lower part of the\nmouth of the inner wicker-net was so formed, that when fish had once\nentered the upper part, they were forced to proceed one by one down to\nthe lower part of its mouth. The sharpened sticks forming the lower\npart of the mouth were brought close together: whatever passed this\nmouth came into the larger wicker-net, the lower passage of which was\nstrongly secured, so that the fish could not escape; for if it happened\nto turn and attempt to swim back, it could not get up in consequence\nof the sharpened prongs that formed the lower mouth of the small inner\nwicker-net. Every time the fishermen bring their nets, they fasten them\non the water-course of the fishpool, and then take off the covering of\nthe fishpool, leaving all its sides secured by the rice straw. Whatever\nthey can lay hold of in the hollow pit they seize, while every fish\nthat attempts to escape by the only issue left, necessarily comes into\nthe wicker-net that has been mentioned, and is taken there.\u201d[20]\n\nThe Mogul chief entered familiarly into conversation with the\nfishermen, who, being from among the lowest caste of Hindoos, had no\ngreat scruple at entering into conversation with Mahomedans.\n\n\u201cHave you plenty of game in these jungles?\u201d asked the Mogul.\n\n\u201cEnough of that, but it is no easy matter to come at it; for there are\nnumbers of animals to share it, which don\u2019t hesitate at laying their\narmed paws upon intruders.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut a man ought at any time to be a match for a brute.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour brutes, master, are rough subjects to deal with. \u2019Tis well enough\nwhen you can snare and knock their brains out without hazard, but, to\nmy mind, \u2019tis a madman\u2019s venture to stand against a wild beast, when,\nif you are killed, \u2019tis an ignoble death, and if you come off best,\nyou get but a sorry reputation for your valour; for valour without\ndiscretion is a ragged sort of virtue, and we fishermen pride ourselves\nupon showing more of the latter than of the former; if one hadn\u2019t more\ndiscretion than valour, fishing would be but a beggarly craft, and as\nit is we can\u2019t manage to get rich.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat animals most prevail in these woods?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy there\u2019s a tolerable sprinkling of tigers, and hogs in abundance;\nbut the greatest nuisance in these parts is a rhinoceros that often\ncomes upon the banks of the river, and does us terrible damage. I wish\nsome bold champion would make a feast of him for the vultures, and he\nwould render us a very laudable service.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut do you never make any effort to destroy such a clumsy enemy? Man\nought not to allow a beast to get the better of him. Reason should be a\nmore successful weapon than simple animal strength, and he who fails to\nuse his own with advantage against mere instinctive ferocity, is hardly\na gradation above the brute.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is all very well when you are out of sight of tigers and those\nclawed or horned foes, which make no more of dieting upon a horse or\nknocking down a buffalo, than I should do of setting my heel upon the\nhead of a little fish; but it is quite a different thing when these\ninhabitants of the woods walk out of some thicket, and bid you an\nunexpected good morrow. It is a maxim with us fishermen to keep as much\nas possible out of the way of all surly quadrupeds; we leave the glory\nof vanquishing them to wiser heads and abler bodies. We seek no victory\nover the tenants of the forest, but are satisfied with a conquest over\nthe more gentle occupants of the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you say where the rhinoceros you spoke of was last seen?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is said to be generally found near a dell not far from the entrance\nof the jungle.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are two gold mohurs, if you will come and point out the spot.\u201d\nSaying this, the Mogul flung down two golden pieces at the fisherman\u2019s\nfeet.\n\n\u201cI am ready,\u201d said the man, \u201ceven to risk my life for such a boon\nas this; it is more than a month\u2019s fishing would produce; I am your\nservant for as long a time as you may need my services to-day;\nto-morrow I must be again my own master, unless the forest savage\nshould impale me alive, or trample me to death for my good-will in\nshowing you his haunt.\u201d\n\nThe horsemen proceeded towards the cover, accompanied by the Hindoo,\nwho trotted along by the side of their chief\u2019s charger. He was a small\nbut amazingly active man, something past the middle age, and a shrewd,\nwary person. As they passed through a piece of ground in which the\ngrass was up to their horses\u2019 haunches, a hog started from a thick\ntuft, and scampered over the field with the speed of a stag. Baba\nShirzad, who happened to be nearest, strung his bow in a moment, and\nwinging an arrow at the poor beast, buried the shaft in its body. The\nhog rolled over upon its back, and died after a few violent struggles.\n\n\u201cA good hit, Baba,\u201d cried the chief; \u201cthat arrow was pulled home, and\nalthough lodged under a pig\u2019s hide, does no discredit to a soldier\u2019s\naim. I long to try my reed at a mark, or my arm against a foe. Let your\nshafts fly as truly against yonder besiegers when we next meet them,\nand they will have good cause to repent that they ever pitched their\ntents before Gualior.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall try my best,\u201d said Baba Shirzad, with a smile, that showed he\nwas not a little flattered at the observation of his comrade, who was\nknown never to praise upon slight grounds: \u201cI would fain draw blood\nfrom something better worth an arrow\u2019s point than a filthy swine.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, a chine is no bad thing in the jungle, where even berries are\nsometimes scarce, and when the appetite is at a climax; for though\nthe Koran inhibits pork, yet hunger is a most religious apology for\nviolating the interdiction. The Prophet never intended that a starving\nman should lick his thumbs for a meal, when hog\u2019s flesh was to be had\nat the expense of a barbed reed. The hog is fat; come, Baba, take a\nslice or two from its haunches that we may break a too long fast.\u201d\n\nBaba Shirzad dismounted; a few fine steaks were cut from the boar\u2019s\nbody with the broad blade of his creese, a fire was kindled, and a dish\nof keibobs speedily prepared. Having despatched this summary meal, in\nwhich their guide declined participating, they remounted their steeds,\nand proceeding towards the thicket, prepared to attack the rhinoceros\nshould he cross their path.\n\nUpon gaining the skirts of a very close cover, a buffalo was seen\nbounding over the plain with amazing speed, its head almost between its\nknees, and its tail in the air, exhibiting tokens of furious animosity.\n\nAs the creature approached, the earth flew from its heels like\nfragments after an explosion. It snorted--its eyes glared, it plunged,\nand on reaching the horsemen, made a rush towards the foremost with its\nhead nearly bent to the ground, and its back curved like a crescent.\nThe Mogul chief moved his steed actively on one side, and the maddened\nbuffalo passed him in the impetuosity of its career with the speed of\na dart. He immediately wheeled round, so did the buffalo, and repeated\nits charge. The Mogul, raising himself in his stirrups, lifted his\nheavy Damascus cimetar, turned his horse again as the animal charged,\nand stooping suddenly, brought upon the horns of the furious beast his\nponderous weapon, which cut sheer through them, and was deeply buried\nin its neck. The buffalo rolled dead upon the plain. The head was\nnearly severed from its body. The fisherman looked on with amazement.\n\n\u201cIn truth, master,\u201d said he, \u201cI think the hide of a rhinoceros would\nhardly stand against such a stroke. Yours must be a rare arm for hewing\ndown foes. I\u2019d rather be your friend than your enemy. If you could\ncontrive to give the mailed forester such a thump upon a spot where\nyour sword might enter, I wouldn\u2019t give a fish\u2019s eye for its life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall see what is to be done if you can only show me the game.\nThere\u2019s more in the will than in the stroke. A coward, had he the\nstrength of your war god, and were armed with Vishnoo\u2019s chackra, would\nnot be able to slay a cat that raised its paw against him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what could the valour of Hanuman[21] avail with a puny arm? The\nmere will can never accomplish the deed. Courage should be cased in a\nstrong frame, with firm bones and tough sinews, else \u2019tis like putting\ngems in tinsel--a precious commodity in a worthless outside.\u201d\n\nThe carcase of the buffalo was now left to welter on the plain, a\nfeast for crows and vultures, and finally for pismires, which picked\nits bones as bare as a scraped radish long before sunset. The horsemen\nproceeded with all despatch into the thicket, where they hoped to\nmeet with the sullen tyrant of the wood, to whose fierce strength\nthe elephant has often yielded up its life in a clumsy but desperate\nconflict.\n\nThe growth of the forest, a short distance beyond the skirts, was very\nthin, having been cleared in some spots, and in others enclosing small\nsavannas formed by the marshy nature of the soil, which was low and\nin places excessively swampy. They at length gradually ascended into\ndrier ground, where the growth of the underwood was thicker, and the\nfisherman almost immediately pointed out the spot where the rhinoceros\nwas said to be frequently seen.\n\n\u201cUpon turning yonder angle,\u201d said he, \u201cyou will enter a small defile,\nflanked on one side by a rocky barrier, and on the other by a grove of\nlofty trees. I shall take leave to wish you a happy deliverance should\nyou come upon the brute, which is, to my thinking, likely to afford you\ngrave pastime.\u201d\n\nThe horsemen rode forward, and on turning the angle pointed out\nby the fisherman, the rhinoceros appeared, feeding at the further\nextremity of the glen. Upon seeing the intruders he raised his head,\nbent back his ears, and stamped his foot violently against the ground,\nas if peremptorily prohibiting their advance. Their bows were already\nstrung, and fixing each an arrow in the string, they discharged them\nsimultaneously at the huge beast. Three of the shafts fell blunted from\nhis side as if they had struck against a wall of granite, rebounding to\na distance of several yards; but the arrow of the chief, directed with\na more vigorous arm and a surer aim, struck the sturdy animal near the\nright ear and remained fixed.\n\nInfuriated by the pain, the rhinoceros bounded forward with surprising\nagility, receiving another discharge from the horsemen, only one of\nwhich told, striking nearly in the same spot, and augmenting the\ncreature\u2019s fury. Mir Shah happened to be nearest, and before he could\nturn his horse, the exasperated enemy struck it with its horn in the\nside, raised it in the air and flung it over its head. In his rapid\ntransit, Mir Shah luckily caught the branch of a tree which hung over\nthe spot, and disengaging his legs from the stirrups, escaped the fate\nof his favourite charger, which lay dead upon the ground with a hideous\ngash opened into its body.\n\nThe rhinoceros did not pause, but rushed towards the next horse; the\nterrified creature turned and made off with all speed, in spite of the\nefforts of its rider to restrain it. The steed of Baba Shirzad followed\nits example, and both dashed through the jungle, quickly unseating\ntheir riders, who were swept from their saddles by branches of trees\nwhich spread across the narrow and imperfect pathway. The Mogul leader,\nmeanwhile, had dismounted from his charger, and casting the reins upon\nits neck, the animal dashed in terror through the jungle.\n\nThe bold warrior, now left alone in the defile, shot two arrows in\nquick succession at the fierce beast, which was in full pursuit of\nhis comrades. This unlooked for assault caused it to turn and advance\nto the attack of its dismounted antagonist. The Mogul placed himself\nbehind the trunk of a large tree, and the rhinoceros approaching in\nfull career, in the wantonness of its rage struck its horn into the\ntrunk with such force that it remained fixed there for several seconds.\nThe moment was critical. Its eye was gleaming with rage. The Mogul\ndrew the feather of an arrow to his shoulder, and sent the shaft with\nprodigious strength into the socket of that glaring orb. It passed with\nirresistible force into the brain of the ponderous brute, which fell\ndead with a stifled grunt upon the earth. Having joined his companions,\nwho were a good deal bruised, but not seriously injured by their falls,\nthey soon recovered their horses, skinned the dead enemy, and continued\nmerrily on their way.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[19] See Memoirs of Zehir-ed-Din, Mahommed Babur, Emperor of Hindostan,\nwritten by himself in the Jaghatai Turki, and translated partly by the\nlate John Leyden, M.D., partly by William Erskine, Esq., pp. 153-4.\n\n[20] Babur\u2019s Memoirs, p. 155.\n\n[21] Hanuman was a huge ape, but a distinguished general in the wars of\nthe Ramayana.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nTartar Chan was anxiously expecting a reply to his messenger from\nthe Mogul Emperor. Famine was already raging within the walls of\nGualior, and there was yet no prospect of relief. The lamentations\nof the sufferers were every moment becoming louder and more fearful.\nThe Governor was taxed as the cause of all their misery in not having\ngiven up the fort to the Mogul general as originally stipulated. From\nreprehensions they proceeded to threats, and at length Tartar Chan\nbegan to fear for his personal safety. In his perplexity he sought\nSheikh Mahomed, to ask his advice under circumstances of unusual\ndifficulty.\n\n\u201cWe had better die starving,\u201d said the sage, \u201cthan capitulate to\nenemies who will visit us with an equally painful death. If we tamely\nsubmit to their yoke, we shall perish in ignominy; but if we die free\nwithin these walls, we shall at least expire with honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut disease and famine are raging in different quarters, and the\nenraged populace threaten my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go and appease them. There has been scarcely yet time\nfor an answer to your embassy. I will persuade them to wait with\npatience another day or two, within which interval I have no doubt\nan answer will be returned. If favourable, we can have no cause\nfor apprehension; if adverse, it will be then time enough to adopt\ndesperate measures.\u201d\n\nSheikh Mahomed went into the bazaar and harangued the inhabitants.\nHe was revered by them as a prophet, and they listened to his voice\nas to a revelation from Heaven. They yielded to his entreaties, they\nhushed their cries, and consented to abide the issue of their governors\nmessage to the Mogul potentate.\n\nThat very night the watchword was heard at the gate; the messenger\nwas admitted, and with him a party bearing a supply of provisions.\nThey had evaded the enemy\u2019s picket by a secret path unknown to the\nHindoos. Twelve camels loaded with rice entered the fort amid the\nshouts of the starving garrison, and the welcome information came that\nan army was on its way to relieve them, and might be expected within\ntwenty-four hours. This intelligence so gladdened the hearts of the\ndespairing inhabitants, that instead of the wailings of despair, shouts\nof rejoicing were heard from every part of the fortress. The enemy\nknew not how to account for this sudden change. They had been made\nacquainted with the sufferings of the besieged, and were every moment\nexpecting that the latter would capitulate without proposing terms,\nwhich the Hindoo general had determined to refuse. The conclusion\nthey came to was, that it was a feint to throw them off their guard;\nbut they treated with contempt the idea of a few starving soldiers\nattempting anything against a numerous army, provided with everything\nnecessary, and commanded by a leader of reputation. They derided\ntherefore the rejoicings of the besieged, and slumbered that night in\nperfect security.\n\nOn that very night, however, at the suggestion of Sheikh Mahomed,\nTartar Chan determined upon making a sortie at the head of a chosen\nbody of his bravest soldiers, now elated to the highest pitch of\nenthusiasm at so near a prospect of relief. Their enemies never for\nan instant imagined that such a measure would be resorted to, knowing\nhow greatly the garrison was reduced by famine, and supposing,\ntherefore, that the soldiers could not be in a condition to hazard a\npersonal encounter with a vigorous and numerous body of troops. The\nnight was dark, the wind gusty, which was rather favourable for such\nan enterprise as Tartar Chan contemplated, since the approach of his\ndetachment to the hostile camp would be less likely to be detected\nbefore they should reach their destination. An hour past midnight was\nthe period fixed, when it was imagined the Hindoo army would be the\nleast apprehensive of an attack from a weakened and starving garrison.\n\nThe soldiers selected for the enterprise were assembled shortly after\nmidnight, quitted the gates in silence, and marched stealthily towards\nthe camp. As they approached they were hailed by the sentinel, who\nwas instantly shot dead with an arrow. Proceeding noiselessly onward,\nthe hail of a second sentinel was answered in a similar manner. No\nalarm was yet given. They were within a hundred yards of the enemy\u2019s\nlines, when their approach was observed, and a shout raised. The\nHindoo soldiers, starting from their sleep, issued from their tents,\nmany of them unarmed, and others with only a dagger or a short sabre.\nThe besieged rushed forward to the tents of the besiegers, creating a\ndreadful panic. They had divided into small bodies, and were known to\neach other by a long white floating streamer which each wore attached\nto the left side of his turban, and which there was sufficient light to\ndistinguish.\n\nThe Hindoos soon assembled in such numbers that they incommoded each\nother, and thus the greatest confusion prevailed. They could not\nperceive their foes, who made a dreadful slaughter among them during\nthe panic by which they were overcome. Seeing not whence the stroke\nof death came, they frequently mistook one another for enemies, and\ninflicted mutual destruction. The groans of the dying mingled with\nthe shouts of the assailants in every part of the camp. The carnage\nwas appalling. Several elephants, picketed within the lines, were let\nloose by the garrison, who pricked them with their spears until they\nbecame infuriated, and plunged among the tents, adding to the general\nconsternation. Hundreds of persons were trodden to death by these\naffrighted creatures, which rushed onward with an impetuosity that\nnothing could resist. Morning dawned before the work of carnage had\nceased, when Tartar Chan and his bold followers, satisfied at their\nsuccess, returned to the fortress with the loss of only fifteen men.\n\nOn the following day shouts of triumph were heard from the walls of\nGualior. A great number of oxen and sheep had been driven into the\nfort during the struggle of the preceding night, and a large quantity\nof rice secured. The inhabitants were now as much elated as they had\nbefore been depressed. The prospect of speedy relief from the Mogul\narmy, and the present unlooked-for supply of provisions, stilled their\nmurmurs; and the governor\u2019s success in his late enterprise reconciled\nthem to his former breach of faith with a generous ally. Those houses\nin which famine had already begun to deposit her prey, were cleared\nof their dead, fumigated, and the enlivening hopes produced by such\na sudden reverse of fortune, so neutralised the effects of disease,\nthat many who were sick arose from their beds and were restored to\ncomparative health within a few hours.\n\nTartar Chan already began to repent that he had sought the assistance\nof the Moguls. Seeing how easily he had made an impression upon the\nhostile forces, he was disposed to think that by judicious night\nattacks he might with his own forces oblige them to raise the siege;\nbut he did not calculate the difference between an enemy prepared\nand an enemy off their guard. Another such an enterprise must have\nfailed. Tartar Chan, though a brave, was a vain and stubborn man,\nfull of ambition and without integrity. He could not bear to think\nof giving up the fortress to his allies, and holding it in fealty\nunder a prince who was not in the habit of allowing his vassals or\nfeudatories the privilege of independence. He had been relieved from\npresent embarrassment, and his pretensions rose in proportion. It was\na hard thing to relinquish authority which he had struggled so hard to\nmaintain, or at least to have it abridged by the influence of greater.\n\nThere was one difficulty: he knew it to be the prevailing feeling of\nthe garrison, that in case the enemy were obliged to raise the siege\nby the Mogul army, the fortress should be put into the immediate\npossession of their general. Babur\u2019s government was popular, and he was\ndreaded by all the neighbouring potentates. His renown as a warrior\nfilled the nations with awe. His alliance was a blessing--his hostility\na bane. The governor of Gwalior sought Sheikh Mahomed, as usual, in his\ndifficulties.\n\n\u201cWell, Sheikh,\u201d said he, \u201cI think we have been rash in so hastily\nsoliciting aid when we might have accomplished with our own arms what\nwe seek for from those of our allies.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why have you not done it? You grow presumptuous from temporary\ngood fortune; but, rely upon it, if you do not take heed, the success\nof a moment will act as a spark upon gunpowder, and produce an\nexplosion that shall spread ruin around you. An act of bad faith can\nfind no excuse; it seldom remains unpunished sooner or later. Take my\nword for it, that without speedy aid from the Moguls you must fall\nunder the domination of Hindoos, who towards Mahomedans, are the worst\nof tyrants.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what is life worth if we are obliged to give up all that renders\nit desirable! I must relinquish my government, and I would rather die\nthan do that.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou should have come to this conclusion before you despatched a\nmessenger for assistance in your extremity. You are bound by solemn\nengagements, and it is too late to retract. Besides, your personal\nadvantages should weigh but as a feather against the general interest.\nThe lives of those you govern are dear to them, so are their liberties;\nand you can have no moral right to put these in jeopardy; for as sure\nas to-morrow\u2019s sun shall rise, if you attempt to break your faith a\nsecond time with those who are coming to your relief, your ruin will\nbe the consequence, and you will perhaps involve many innocent persons\nin your own destruction. I have spoken boldly. You know that I am not\none to fix my opinions rashly; when once fixed, therefore, they are not\nreadily diverted. Act the part of a just man, as you did last night\nthat of a brave one, and you may look confidently for your reward; but,\nI repeat it, a second breach of faith will terminate in your doom.\u201d\n\nThe governor was exceedingly mortified at the result of this interview.\nSheikh Mahomed was too much respected by the garrison to render it\nsafe to treat him with indignity; Tartar Chan therefore quitted his\npresence with angry feelings which he did not think it prudent to\nexpress. He resolved, however, not to be guided by the counsel of the\nsage, notwithstanding the celebrity he had obtained for his gift of\nforeknowledge. No man, he argued, is infallible, and the Sheikh may\nhappen to be wrong for once; at least the governor was determined\nto think so, and to act upon this rash assumption, in spite of\nconsequences.\n\nHaving sounded several of his officers, he found two or three among\nthem who readily concurred in his views, though the majority were\ndecidedly opposed to them. Making therefore his determination known\nbut to those on whose fidelity he thought he could rely, he awaited\npatiently the advance of the Mogul forces, whom he determined to render\nsubservient to his purposes and then dismiss without reward. He had\nan idea that he could obviate any future molestation from the Hindoo\narms by calling in the aid of some of his Afghan neighbours, who render\ntheir assistance with much humbler expectations than the Moguls.\nUnder these impressions, and actuated by these sinister resolutions,\nhe assembled his soldiers, and gave his orders how they were to act\nin concert with the Moguls, so soon as the latter should come to the\nrelief of Gualior. He commanded a body of his bravest men to issue\nfrom the gate of the town, and, while the enemy were engaged with his\nallies, secure all the provisions they could find in the hostile camp.\nHe gave the command of this detachment to a spirited officer, upon whom\nhe could rely, and looked forward with confidence to success.\n\nSheikh Mahomed was not blind to what was passing in the governor\u2019s\nmind; he knew his craft and resolved to counteract it. Affecting\nperfect confidence in Tartar Chan\u2019s integrity, the latter was thrown\noff his guard, and his intentions made sufficiently evident to the sage\nto justify the plan he intended to pursue. Two days after the late\nnocturnal encounter with the enemy, the Mogul forces arrived to the\nrelief of Gualior.\n\nThere was an evident bustle in the Hindoo camp. The advancing army was\nled by the chief who had so lately distinguished himself in the jungle\nby killing a rhinoceros. This feat of prowess had reached the ears of\nthe idolators, and they were prepared for a desperate conflict. Their\nforces outnumbered those of their enemies by several thousands, but\nthey were greatly inferior in discipline; they had, however, among them\na body of Rajpoots, which gave them confidence, as those troops have\nalways been distinguished by their headlong and indomitable valour. The\nshouts of exultation from the town and fort were heard with feelings of\ndeep vexation within the hostile lines; but there was no time for the\nencouragement of petty feelings with so formidable an enemy at their\nbacks.\n\nThe Moguls pitched their camp almost in sight of the Hindoo army, and\nimmediately advanced to the attack. Baba Shirzad, Mir Shah, and Dost\nNasir, had severally commands under their brave chief, who took post in\nthe centre.\n\nShortly after daybreak, the Mahomedans advanced in order of battle.\nThe Hindoos were drawn out to receive them, their line extending to\na great length, curving in the form of a crescent, as if to enclose\ntheir foes, whom they greatly outnumbered. The Rajpoots were placed in\nthe centre, which was strengthened by the leader of the idolators with\nhis best troops. The battle commenced with terrible impetuosity on the\npart of the Moguls, their charge being received by the foe with great\nsteadiness. The Rajpoots bore the brunt of the shock, and the line did\nnot waver. The Mogul leader fought with an energy that astonished his\nfoes. He killed no less than six Rajpoots, to whom he had been opposed\nhand to hand. Still no sensible impression was made upon the Hindoo\nline.\n\nThe troops under command of Dost Nasir had been thrown into confusion\nby the severe charge of the enemy\u2019s horse, a large and well appointed\nbody. At this moment the horns of the crescent were seen gradually\nclosing to encompass the Mahomedan army. Their leader, perceiving\nthat the crisis had arrived, dashed his turban from his brow, and\nshaking his thick black locks over his shoulders, called aloud upon\nthe Prophet, and with the cry of Allah Akbur, charged the centre of\nthe enemy\u2019s line with irresistible impetuosity. The shock immediately\narrested the advance of the wings. The line wavered, the Rajpoots\ncould not stand against the impetuosity of the charge--they gave\nway--instant confusion followed. At this moment a body of Tartar Chan\u2019s\ntroops issued from the town, and attacking the foe in their rear,\ncompleted the rout; they fled on all sides, and abandoned their camp to\nthe victors. The battle had been short but decisive. Immense quantities\nof provisions were found in the Hindoo camp, which were removed to\nthe town and fort amid the acclamations of the inhabitants and of the\ngarrison.\n\nTartar Chan immediately sent a messenger to acknowledge the timely\nassistance of the Moguls, but said not a word of putting Gualior into\ntheir possession.\n\nThe morning after the Hindoo general had raised the siege, the Mogul\nchief sent to Tartar Chan to demand a fulfilment of the conditions upon\nwhich he had repaired to the relief of Gualior. For a day or two, he\nwas amused with frivolous excuses, and then a peremptory refusal was\ngiven to resign the town and fort into his possession.\n\nMeanwhile Sheikh Mahomed, disgusted at the governor\u2019s baseness, sent\na private messenger to the Mogul general to say, that if he would\ntrust himself singly within the fort, he would engage to find means of\nintroducing his troops, and of shortly putting the town and fortress\nof Gualior into his hands. The Mogul accordingly affected to receive\nthe refusal of Tartar Chan in a friendly manner, leading him to suppose\nthat he was prepared to relinquish his claim; but represented to him\nthat, as the enemy might muster in stronger force and return, it was\ndesirable he should be allowed to bring his troops under the protection\nof the fortress. He further requested as an especial favour, that\nhe might be permitted to visit the learned Sheikh Mahomed, of whose\nreputation he had heard so much, in order that he might tender him the\nhomage of his admiration. Both these requests were acceded to without\nscruple; the governor having no suspicion that mischief could accrue\nfrom admitting a single warrior within the fort, so well guarded by the\nvigilance of a brave and active garrison.\n\nDuring the Mogul\u2019s visit to the sage, who had provided a liberal\nentertainment, to which several officers of the garrison were invited,\nhe sent word to the governor from time to time, requesting permission\nfor such and such officers to be admitted also, until at length Tartar\nChan desired the commander of the guard to use his own discretion in\nadmitting whom he chose, conceiving himself secure in his fidelity.\nThat officer, being a disciple of the philosopher and privy to the\nplot, availed himself of this order to permit anybody the Mogul wished\nto pass in, till at length a considerable body of resolute warriors\nwere within the wall before the entertainment was ended.[22] The fort\nthus fell easily into possession of the Moguls without bloodshed. The\ngovernor was summoned before their general.\n\n\u201cTraitor,\u201d said the latter, \u201cknow that you stand in the presence of\nBabur Padshah, Emperor of the Moguls. Follow me to the ramparts!\u201d\n\nHaving reached the battlements, accompanied by several of his own\nofficers, the Emperor said, \u201cWhat does your faithlessness deserve?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe pity of a conqueror,\u201d replied Tartar Chan.\n\n\u201cPrinces have a solemn duty to perform in ridding the world of\nthose who deserve not to live. Your doom is sealed.\u201d Saying which,\nBabur seized the trembling governor by the cummerbund, raised him\nfrom the ground as if he had been an infant, and flung him over the\nbattlements.[23]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[22] See Brigg\u2019s Ferishta, vol. ii. p. 52.\n\n[23] Babur\u2019s strength is said to have been prodigious; as a proof of\nwhich it is related, that \u201che used to leap from one pinnacle to another\nof the pinnated ramparts used in the East, in his double-soled boots,\nand that he even frequently took a man under each arm and went leaping\nalong the rampart from one of the pointed pinnacles to another.\u201d--_See\nMemoirs of Babur_, p. 430.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 937 (1531).--Humayoon succeeded, on the death of his father, to\nthe throne of Delhi.\n\nHeg. 938 (1532).--He defeated the Afghans at Juanpore.\n\nHeg. 940 (1533).--Humayoon caused a citadel to be built at Delhi, on\nthe banks of the Jumna, to which he gave the name of Deen Puna, the\nasylum of the faithful, after which he marched towards Sarungpoor, in\nMalwa.\n\nHeg. 941 (1534)--Banadur Shah threw himself into Mando, which was\ninvested by the Moguls, who, after a few days, escaladed the walls,\nand, though the garrison consisted of several thousand men, it fell\ninto their hands. The King also made himself master of the citadel\nof Champanerc. Having caused a number of steel spikes to be made,\nwhile the garrison was withdrawn from a part of the fortress deemed\ninaccessible, he caused the steel spikes to be fixed in the scarp of\nthe rock, by which means himself and thirty-nine officers ascended.\nThe whole garrison was put to the sword, but the governor, who had\nbravely defended the place, obtained honourable terms. The wealth found\nhere was so great, that Humayoon gave to his officers and soldiers as\nmuch gold, silver, and jewels as could be heaped upon their respective\nshields, proportioning the value to their rank and merit.\n\nHeg. 943 (1536).--The King laid siege to the fort of Chunar, which held\nout for six months, but was eventually taken by a device of Roomy Chan.\nHe erected stages of a certain height, placed upon rafts, which, being\nbuilt at some distance above the fort, were launched and floated down\nwithout resistance. The walls being low, they were easily surmounted,\nand the place was thus secured.\n\nHeg. 946 (1539).--Humayoon being surprised by Sheer Chan on the banks\nof the Ganges, was obliged to make his escape across the river. On this\noccasion, it is said that eight thousand Moguls, exclusive of Hindoos,\nwere drowned, among whom was the Prince Mahomed Zuman Mirza. The King\nowed his life to one Nizam, a water-carrier, who with great difficulty\nswam beside him across the river, and was among the few who survived\nthe slaughter of that eventful day.\n\nHeg. 947 (1540).--Humayoon was attacked by Sheer Chan, and sustained\nanother signal defeat. The King was obliged to fly, and, after enduring\nunheard-of miseries, reached Amurkote with a few attendants only.\n\nHeg. 949 (1542).--The Queen Banoo Begum gave birth to Prince Akbar.\nHumayoon, finally took refuge in the capital of Seestan, where he was\nhospitably received by the governor on the part of Shah Tamasp, King of\nPersia. Upon Humayoon\u2019s flight, Sheer Shah Soor ascended the throne.\n\nHeg. 950 (1543).--Sheer Shah laid siege to the fort of Raisein.\nThe siege was protracted for many months, but, upon the governor\ncapitulating, the garrison were permitted to march out with their arms\nand property.\n\nHeg. 951 (1544).--The King marched against the fort of Chittore, which\nsurrendered by capitulation. He then marched towards Kalunjur, one of\nthe strongest forts in Hindostan. During the siege, a shell, thrown\nagainst the fort, burst in a battery, close by the King, and igniting\na powder magazine which had not been properly secured, Sheer Shah, and\na number of gunners, were blown up, together with several chiefs, who\nwere carried to their tents as dead. The King, though he breathed with\ngreat pain, gave orders for the attack to be continued, and, in the\nevening, news being brought to him that the place had been reduced by\nhis troops, he cried out, \u201cThanks to the Almighty God!\u201d and expired. He\nwas succeeded by his younger son, Julal Chan, who assumed the title of\nIslam Shah, corrupted to Sulim Shah.\n\nHeg. 953 (1546).--Sulim Shah narrowly escaped death from a daring\nattempt of Syced Chan.\n\nHeg. 955 (1548).--The King slew an assassin who attempted his life in\nthe mountain of Mankote.\n\nHeg. 957 (1550)--Khowas Chan, a chief justly renowned for his great\nabilities in war, having revolted, was assassinated by Taj Chan, in\norder to recommend himself to the King.\n\nHeg. 960 (1553).--Sulim Shah died after a reign of nine years. He was\nsucceeded by his brother-in-law, who put the Prince Feroze to death,\nand usurped the throne.\n\nHeg. 961 (1553).--Mahomed Shah was attacked by a young noble in the\naudience chamber, and narrowly escaped with his life. The daring youth\nwho had assaulted him was cut to pieces by the guards.\n\nHeg. 962 (1554).--The fortunes of Mahomed Shah began to decline. Khizr\nChan, son of Mahomed Shah Poorby, of Bengal, in order to revenge the\ndeath of his father, slain in the battle of Kalpy, raised an army,\nand assuming the title of Bahadur Shah, wrested by force a great part\nof the eastern provinces out of the hands of Mahomed Shah, whom he\neventually defeated and slew. Secunder Shah Soor was elected king.\nHe was this year defeated with great slaughter by Humayoon, who had\nreturned to his dominions with a numerous and well-appointed army. This\nvictory decided the fate of the empire, and the kingdom of Delhi fell\nfor ever from the hands of the Afghans. Humayoon re-entered Delhi in\ntriumph, and became a second time King of Hindostan.\n\nHeg. 963 (1556).--Shah Abool Maaly, on account of disputes with the\ngenerals of his army in the Panjab, had given time to Secunder Soor to\nrally his forces. The King accordingly permitted his son Akbar, under\nthe direction of Beiram Chan, to go against him. One evening as the\nKing was walking on the library terrace at Delhi, in consequence of his\nstaff slipping along the marble pavement, he fell headlong, and was\ntaken up insensible. He was laid upon a bed, and although he recovered\nhis speech, he died four days after, about sunset. He was buried in\nthe new city on the banks of the river, and a splendid monument was\nerected some years after by his son Akbar. Humayoon died at the age of\nfifty-one, after a reign of twenty-five years, both in Cabul and India.\nHe was a prince of great intrepidity, possessing the virtues of charity\nand munificence in an eminent degree.\n\n\n\n\n                              The Pariah.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nOne morning a poor Pariah was seated at the door of his miserable\nhovel in a solitary spot not far from the bank of a river. He was in\na state of the saddest destitution. Famine had ravaged the district.\nThousands of his countrymen had died around him, and he expected every\nmoment a similar doom. His wife was lying with a baby at her breast in\na corner of the hut, unable to rise from exhaustion. Food indeed was\nto be purchased at the neighbouring town, but he had no money, and no\none in the bazaar would sell food to a Pariah. He made up his mind to\ndie. For days he tasted nothing but the roots of a few shrubs which\ngrew sparingly upon the river\u2019s bank. The whole of that morning he had\nfollowed a drove of oxen, and collected their dung in order to obtain\nthe few grains of gram[24] which it might chance to contain. Having\nwashed the ordure, after a hard morning\u2019s labour he obtained about a\nhandful of grain, which he boiled and gave to his wife. He had himself\nfasted since the previous day. His wife was a young creature, not yet\nfifteen, though the mother of three children. He loved her with a\nfondness as ardent as it was merited, and this fondness was now greatly\nenhanced by the sad circumstances to which they and their children were\nlikely to become victims.\n\nThe unhappy husband gazed upon the waters of the river as they flowed\nsolemnly onward, his mind absorbed in his own intense distress. \u201cWhat\nis there,\u201d he thought, \u201cin this world to render life desirable? Is\nit not one continued scene of privation to the despised Pariah? Is he\nnot an outcast from every human community but that degraded race of\nwhich he is a member? May he not be struck dead if he but cross the\npath of a Brahmin? If the hand of tyranny is raised to strike, dare he\nlift up his to ward off the stroke? If his shadow pass over the ground\nupon which the feet of holy men are treading, is it not pronounced\naccursed, and he doomed to expiate the fearful penalty of having cast\npollution upon the very earth which now denies him sustenance? And yet\ndeath is a terrible event. What becomes of the Pariah when the vultures\nhave secured his body, and his bones are reduced to dust? He has no\nprospect beyond the grave, which shuts him out from all future hope. He\nhas therefore no motive for preserving life, and yet he has a natural\ndread of losing it. The certainty, however sad, is preferable to the\nterrible uncertainty that may issue in something worse. The elements of\nhappiness may be found in this world with all its miseries. If I could\nprovide for those around me I should still be comparatively a happy\nman; I have a wife whom I love, children dear to my heart; could I but\ngive them food, with all this bereavement, I would no longer deplore\nthe condition of a poor Pariah.\u201d\n\nThese and similar thoughts passed through the mind of the starving\nHindoo as he sat before the door of his hovel, gazing with a\nvacant expression upon the river. It was here of great breadth and\nconsiderable depth. He was at length aroused from his mental absorption\nby seeing on the other side a horseman riding at full speed towards the\nbank. He observed the man\u2019s impetuous career, every moment expecting\nto see him halt; but no--the stranger urged his steed madly onward\nand plunged into the river. The current, though not turbulent, was\nrapid, and he was borne down the stream. His horse encumbered with its\nload--for besides the rider, it had a large pack upon its back--soon\nbegan to sink under its burthen. The rider perceiving his peril quitted\nthe saddle and began to swim towards the shore; but he was heavily\nclad, and the current proved too strong for him.\n\nThe horse, released from its encumbrance, rose gallantly above the\nwaters, and succeeded in reaching the bank. The man was soon in\nextreme danger; he could scarcely keep his head above the surface;\nhis struggles were desperate, but it was evident they could not last\nmuch longer. His stomach was already filled with water--his eyes were\nbecoming dim--his senses fading fast; he gasped, turned upon his back,\nand drifted with the stream.\n\nThe Pariah, seeing the stranger\u2019s peril, started from the ground, and,\nweak as he was, ran to the bank opposite to the spot where the swimmer\nwas struggling, and, plunging into the river, with much difficulty\nsucceeded in bringing him to land. The stranger lay for some time\ninsensible; but by rubbing and rolling him upon the ground, the Pariah\nfinally restored him to consciousness. He looked at his benefactor and\npronounced a blessing upon him.\n\n\u201cHow is it,\u201d he cried, \u201cthat a Mahomedan beholds in his preserver one\nof a race who consider personal contact with any one not of their own\ncaste a carnal defilement?\u201d\n\n\u201cPariahs do not think thus. You have been preserved by one whose touch\nwould be pollution to a Hindoo, but which I rejoice to find has been\nthe salvation of a Mahomedan. It is at least some consolation to know\nthat there do exist human creatures who can look upon the outcast\nwithout shuddering.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see in you the saviour of my life, and that is to me paramount over\nall the poor considerations of rank. Civil distinctions, when they\ndestroy social obligations, are a bane; I am willing, if he will permit\nme, to share the hut of the Pariah.\u201d\n\n\u201cStranger, you can only have a starving man\u2019s welcome. I am fast going\nto a better or a worse destiny--a worse I am taught to believe, for\ndeath secures no favourable change to the contemned outcast. In yonder\nhut is my wife with three children dying. Would I could offer you a\nbetter asylum.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps my salvation may involve yours. I hope to bring you relief.\nMy horse has reached the shore in safety, and it bears a supply of\nprovisions. Come, let us to your home.\u201d\n\nThe eyes of his preserver glistened, he touched the ground with his\nfingers, placed them against his emaciated forehead, and, murmuring a\nblessing upon the stranger, led the way to his miserable hovel.\n\nUpon entering, the first thing that struck the stranger was the wife\nof his deliverer stretched upon the ground apparently in the agonies\nof death; by her side lay two children of the several ages of two and\nthree years, and at her breast was a third attempting to draw that\nnutriment which the bosom no longer supplied. A tear started into the\neye of the husband and father as he saw his guest\u2019s cheek wet with the\nready tribute of sympathy.\n\nThe horse having reached the bank, had with the common instinct of its\nnature gone to the Pariah\u2019s hut, where it was standing when its master\nentered. Having taken off the pack, the provisions were produced,\nwhich consisted of cold meats, rice, and a few condiments, with some\nbottles of Persian wine. The rice was spread out in the sun and\ncarefully dried; meanwhile a small quantity of wine was poured down\nthe throats of the youthful mother and her children, after which they\nwere sparingly fed by the anxious husband, who likewise assuaged the\npangs of his own hunger. He and his family rapidly revived after this\nseasonable administration of relief.\n\nSome hours after the stranger\u2019s rescue from the river, several horsemen\nappeared on the other side; but seeing that the stream was not fordable\nand too wide to cross with safety they retired. That very night the\nPariah\u2019s guest complained of restlessness. His sleep was disturbed, his\nthroat parched, his pulse unequal and his skin dry. He lay upon some\nwithered grass in the corner of his preserver\u2019s hovel, covered with\na shawl which he usually wore round his waist. By the morning he was\nin a high fever; it augmented rapidly. For several days it increased\nuntil he was in a state of delirium; in proportion as he grew worse the\nstarving family got better.\n\nAmong the things in the pack, belonging to the stranger, was a small\nbag containing six thousand rupees in gold. When the provisions were\nexhausted the Pariah took from this store what was necessary to obtain\nthe requisite nourishment for his family and his guest; this he\nprocured from the neighbouring town, but did not appropriate a rupee\nbeyond what their domestic exigencies demanded. He attended his guest\nwith a tenderness and attention inspired by his natural kindness of\nheart and the obligations which he felt under to him for the salvation\nof his family from starvation. His wife united her attention to his:\nthey feared for their benefactor\u2019s life. They watched by him night and\nday. His constitution at length overcame the fever, and he rapidly\nrecovered. When his senses returned, he blessed his preservers for\ntheir attention. The Pariah placed his bag of money before him and\naccounted for every piece that had been bestowed. The invalid was\nseveral weeks under the humble roof of his preserver before he could\nproceed on his way.\n\nDuring his recovery, he had a full opportunity of witnessing the\ncharacter of his hosts. Both had recovered their natural health. The\nwife was a small delicate creature, gentle, pretty, with a light\ngraceful figure, and an extremely placid countenance. The man was young\nand vigorous, short but well knit, and exhibiting a frame capable of\ngreat endurance. Their eldest child was a girl scarcely three years\nold, and beautiful as a cherub. Nothing could exceed the perfect\nsymmetry of its little limbs, and both parents seemed to look with\npride upon the budding beauty of their offspring.\n\n\u201cMy worthy host,\u201d said the stranger one day to the Pariah, who was\nseated beside him smoking a small portion of tobacco rolled up in a\nplantain leaf, \u201cI must shortly leave you. This humble dwelling has been\nmy security, as no one would think of seeking the fugitive in the hovel\nof a Pariah. You have ministered to me during sickness with a kindness\nwhich I never can either forget or repay.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, our attentions have been more than repaid by preservation from\na terrible death, and had not that been the case they would have been\nsufficiently requited in your high appreciation of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know not whom you have harboured.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor do I seek to know: it is enough for me that I have saved the life\nof a fellow-creature. To me it is quite a matter of indifference who\nor what you may be; you have proved my benefactor and I shall never\nforget that I am indebted to you, not only for my own life, but for\nthose lives which are far dearer to me than my own.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-morrow I must quit you. It may perhaps be some consolation to you\nto know that you saved the life of the Emperor Humayoon. I have been\ndriven from my throne by a rebel, and I must cast myself under the\nprotection of some foreign power until I can regain it.\u201d\n\nThe Pariah and his wife prostrated themselves before the Mogul the\nmoment he had proclaimed his regality.\n\n\u201cRise,\u201d said the Emperor, \u201cand receive my benediction: take this ring\nand this gold, and may it in future keep you from the privations to\nwhich you have hitherto been exposed.\u201d\n\nSaying this, he took from his finger a ring bearing a large ruby of\nconsiderable value, and put it into the hand of his host, together\nwith a bag containing two thousand rupees in gold. This was a fortune\nto a needy family, a provision for life, which they acknowledged with\ntears of grateful joy. Being now sufficiently recovered to proceed on\nhis journey, the following morning the Humayoon mounted his horse, and\nquitted the Pariah\u2019s dwelling with prophetic sadness.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[24] Gram is a sort of small bean, eaten by cattle in India.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nFrom this moment the Pariah\u2019s family prospered. With the Emperor\u2019s\nbenefaction, he purchased a large quantity of cattle, which he fed with\ngrass from the jungles. By selling these he soon increased his two\nthousand rupees, and in a few years, by a course of active industry,\nbecame a wealthy man. His daughter Yhahil realised, as she grew up,\nthe promise of her babyhood. Her beauty was the theme of every tongue,\nyet no one sought alliance with the Pariah, and she remained unwedded,\nwhich to every Hindoo woman is the sum of human misery. All the members\nof her own tribe were poor destitute objects, from a union with whom\nher soul sickened, and she in vain directed her thoughts to becoming\nthe bride of a man of caste. She considered her case deplorable, and\nbegan to pine in secret at her unhappy lot.\n\nHer father was grieved to observe her sadness, but could not alleviate\nit. He perceived that the web of life was a tangled tissue, which never\ncould be perfectly unravelled. The very fortune which had elevated\nhim above his compeers, had already put forth the buds of misery that\nseemed but too likely to blossom and ripen into fruit. It began to be\nclear to him that a man may be as wretched under the bright sun of\nprosperity, which may scorch and wither his peace, as under the cloud\nof bereavement, where oft amid the darkness a faint light glimmers\nthat imparts a momentary joy, the more exquisite in proportion to the\nbriefness of its duration. He had become wealthy, but his riches,\nelevating him above the society of his fellow outcasts, rendered\nhim comparatively a solitary man. They had placed a bar betwixt his\nchild and that blessed boon which is the inheritance of all God\u2019s\ncreatures,--the union of hearts in a bond of reciprocal affection.\nShe was excluded from the greatest of immunities to the Hindoo, the\nprivilege of perpetuating her race, unless by an alliance which her\nproud but sensitive heart could not stoop to embrace.\n\nMany a Pariah had sighed in vain to win the affections of the beautiful\nYhahil, but she could not yield to solicitations coming from beings\nwho were but too commonly little above the brute in understanding and\nfamiliar with habits which outraged humanity. Hers was no unnatural\npride, but she saw in the members of her own tribe much to pity, and\nnothing to love. Fortune had raised her above them, and she could not\nstoop to an alliance with those who often fed upon the garbage cast to\nbeasts of prey, and had no better home than the perilous retirement of\nthe jungle, where, in common with creatures of rapine and of blood,\nthey shared a precarious abode.\n\nThough the Pariah could bestow upon his daughter a dowry that would\nhave rendered her an eligible object of alliance had she been blessed\nwith the proud distinction of caste, no one out of her own tribe\nproposed for one of the loveliest specimens of nature\u2019s craft that\ncould be exhibited to the admiration of man:--the gentle girl was\ndoomed to pine in utter hopelessness.\n\nA young Pariah had sighed in vain for the love of the beautiful Yhahil.\nHe had sought her notice by every attention, but her averted eye and\ncompressed lip showed that he had no place in the affections he sought\nto win. He was a well-looking youth, with an elevation of mind and a\nnatural refinement of character much above the generality of his race;\nstill he was not beloved. He, nevertheless, laboured with unwearying\nassiduity to thaw the frost that seemed to have incrusted the heart\nof her for whom he would have gladly died, had such a sacrifice been\ndemanded of him. Whenever she quitted her home he was sure to be in\nthe way with some humble offering of attachment, which she invariably\nrefused with gentleness, though in a manner that showed her sincerity.\n\n\u201cYhahil,\u201d he one day said, \u201cwhy am I despised?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are not despised, Goutama; not to love a man is not to despise\nhim, and you know that our affections are not in our own keeping.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why can you not love me? You cannot desire to live unmarried; and\nwhere will you find a husband, if you do not wed a Pariah?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, indeed, that I would be married; but I must find a\nhusband whom I can love, otherwise I shall submit to the curse of\nmaidenhood,--for I never could attach myself to a man who had not\nobtained an entire ascendancy over my heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where do you think of seeking for such a man, if you reject the\nwhole race to which you and your family belong?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I find not a man of caste, I tell you honestly I shall never marry.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! Yhahil, you would spurn from you one who venerates the earth you\ntread upon, for a phantom which you can never possess. Would you marry\na Brahmin only because he is a Brahmin?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot without he had won my affections; but, in truth, the degradation\nattached to the Pariah excludes him from those affections.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you refuse to wed a Pariah if you loved him?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly not, if I loved him, but I never could love him. You,\nGoutama, would have secured my affection, if it had been possible that\nit should fix upon one of your tribe, but it is not; I feel my blood\ncurdle at the very name. My repugnance is invincible. We are outcasts,\nand I would live united by that social bond which would make me a\nmember of a respected community.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! you are preparing a load of misery for yourself, as well as\nfor one who would gladly endure it, provided he could bear it in\nconjunction with you. I see nothing but a gloomy prospect before us\nboth. Will you afford me no hope?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt were hypocrisy in me to encourage hope, as I never can become your\nbride; fate has placed an impassable bar betwixt us.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, not fate, Yhahil, but woman\u2019s pride.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you will. The bar is nevertheless fixed, and there is no removing\nit. Seek, Goutama, some worthier object, and leave me to my destiny.\u201d\n\nYhahil\u2019s parents were unhappy at not seeing their daughter married.\nShe was in her fourteenth year, and still a maiden. She was their\nonly girl, and tenderly beloved by both. The father would have gladly\nseen her united to a man who could have borne her into society which\nshe could not be considered to contaminate; but, rather than she\nshould not be married at all, he would willingly have consented to\nher becoming the wife of a Pariah. Among Hindoo women celibacy is the\ngreatest stigma they can undergo; nevertheless the beautiful Yhahil was\ndetermined to bear the stigma, since she was precluded from becoming\nthe wife of a husband who could lift up his head among his fellows\nwithout exhibiting the brand of pollution upon it.\n\nGoutama, who had aspired to her affections, was an amiable youth,\nbut poor in circumstances, and necessitated to labour in the most\ndegrading vocations, in order to satisfy the demands of nature. His\ngeneral employment was that of scavenger in a neighbouring village,\nto collect cow-dung to plaster the floors of the poorer and lower\ncaste of Hindoos, to prepare bodies for the funeral pile, and similar\ndegrading avocations. The lovely girl whose heart he sought to win was\nrepelled from him by the very necessities of his condition, and though\nshe acknowledged him amiable, and occasionally admitted him to her\npresence, she could not look upon him without a sickening revulsion\nof heart. She felt ashamed of her feelings, but was unable to control\nthem, and her coldness frequently wrung tears of deep distress from the\nrejected suitor.\n\nHer mother pitied him, and would gladly have consented to her\ndaughter\u2019s union with him, had she not perceived the girl\u2019s untractable\nrepugnance. Observing this, she could not forbear offering some gentle\nexpostulations.\n\n\u201cYhahil,\u201d said she, one day, \u201cwhy, my child, do you look so coldly upon\npoor Goutama? He loves you: is not that enough to endear a man to a\nwoman\u2019s heart?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, my mother. We cannot prepare the channel for the current of our\nown feelings; they will take what course they list. We may control\nthem, nay, we may master, but cannot change them; they are independent\nof our will. I cannot love Goutama, and will never wed a Pariah. In\nthis world if there be little happiness, there is, at least, a choice\nof miseries, and mine shall be those arising from unwedded life, rather\nthan from a union which could never render me happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why should you seek to elevate yourself above the condition to\nwhich you were born?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause it is one of acknowledged disgrace. No mortal was ever\nborn degraded, and the stigmas imposed by conventional prejudices I\nam unwilling to sanction by perpetuating them. I would emerge from\nthe atmosphere of social degradation by which I have been for years\nsurrounded. I feel within me the elements of that nobility which is\nindigenous in every living soul, the nobility of mind, and have a\nstrong presentiment that I shall elevate myself above the present\nabasement to which destiny seems to have consigned me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDaughter, these are dangerous sentiments to encourage; they will plant\nthorns in your bosom which you will find it difficult to pluck out.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the thorns are there, the roses will grow upon them, and I am\ncontent.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut is it not better to have the humblest flower blossom within your\nheart, than to find nothing but the bitter root growing there, which\nputs forth neither flower nor fruit?\u201d\n\n\u201cThose joys, my mother, are the sweetest which have sparkled from a cup\nimpregnated with the bitters of affliction. Enjoyment is enhanced by\nsuffering, and I trust I am only passing through the ordeal of the one,\nto bring me into the enviable inheritance of the other.\u201d\n\nThe mother forbore to urge a measure to which she saw her child so\ndecidedly opposed, but her disappointment was severe. She feared that\nher daughter would never perpetuate her race, and that she was destined\nto be the parent of a degraded offspring--degraded even among the\noutcasts of the Hindoo population. The father was no less unhappy, but\nhe did not interfere with the prejudices of a beloved child. In truth,\nhe felt the force of these prejudices, and forbore to divert them. He\nwas a wealthy man, and there was no moral reason why she should not\npursue the bent of her own conscience, when it did not lead her into\npractical dereliction. Yhahil was thus left uncontrolled to follow the\nimpulses of her own feelings.\n\nOne morning she was bathing in the river with a female attendant. While\nstanding in the water, draining it from her long flowing hair, a scream\nfrom the woman beside her directed her attention to an object which\nparalysed her with horror. A large alligator was rushing towards her\nwith the velocity of a sunbeam. She shrieked and closed her eyes; in\na moment a plunge near her caused her to look up, and she beheld the\nunhappy Goutama in the creature\u2019s jaws. \u201cI have saved thee, Yhahil,\u201d\nhe cried faintly, and the monster immediately plunged with its victim\nbeneath the deep dull waters. The surface was slightly tinged with\nblood; a few bubbles rose, which were the only indications of what was\npassing below.\n\nThe lovely Pariah made the best of her way to the bank, upon which she\nfainted. Her woman had witnessed the magnanimity of Goutama. Happening\nto pass at the moment of the alligator\u2019s approach towards its intended\nvictim, he had marked her peril, and, plunging into the stream,\npreserved her life at the expense of his own.\n\nYhahil returned to her home in tears. She thought that such a man\nshould have been reserved for better things. She felt she could have\nloved him had he not been a Pariah, and his melancholy death cast over\nher spirit a gloom which did not readily subside. The intensity of his\npassion, proved by the sacrifice of his life, awoke in her bosom the\ntenderest sympathies. Still there was no disguising from her heart that\nshe could not have married him, even had he escaped destruction, while\nthat moral blight was upon him which rendered him an object of public\nscorn, and of silent, though undeserved, reproach.\n\nTime sped on, but there was no change. The desolation of sorrow had\npassed over the outcast\u2019s dwelling. His wealth was no blessing. He\nbowed to his idols in vain; they heard not his supplications, and his\nprayer returned to his own bosom. He still pursued his occupation, and\nmoney was daily added to his stores, but this did not render him happy.\nHis daughter, the child of his tenderest attachment, was alone in the\nworld, and with all his gold he could not purchase for her the boon she\nsought.\n\nThe death of poor Goutama, whom he respected for his worth, had cast\na cloud over his peace. But for his noble sacrifice, the father would\nhave been doomed to mourn the loss of a daughter, of whose virtues he\nwas proud, and of her beauty vain. He presented the family of Goutama\nwith a compensation sufficient to secure them from want for many a\nyear, but this did not restore the son to the bosom of an anxious\nparent.\n\nOne night as Yhahil flung herself upon her couch, she laid her head\nupon a large snake which was curled upon her pillow. Feeling the\ncold lubricous surface she suddenly raised herself, when the reptile\nrose, and, extending its hideous crest, wound itself gently round her\nneck. She was riveted to the spot; every muscle in her body became\nrigid, all vital action appeared suspended as she felt the venomous\nreptile spanning her neck within its horrible coil. She did not move;\nher breath was arrested, and her eyes fixed in mute horror, when the\nsnake, gliding down her shoulder, passed round her arm, slid upon the\npalampore, and made its escape. She was uninjured. It was some time\nbefore she recovered her self-possession. Her women were summoned, and\nthe apartment examined, but there was no snake seen.\n\nShe lay and mused upon the circumstance. Not being free from the\nsuperstition prevalent among her race, the circumstance affected her\ndeeply. Her escape was one of those incidental chances of good fortune\nwhich occur once in an age. She had lately twice escaped death in its\nmost terrible form. The gods of her country had surely heard her and\nher fathers prayers, and reserved the degraded Pariah for some future\ndestiny. Her pulse rose with the excitement of her feelings. She could\nnot sleep, but visions, almost palpable to the senses, passed before\nher. Although awake, she seemed to behold objects with all the accuracy\nand definite precision of sensible perception.\n\nTowards morning she slept. Her dreams embodied the objects of her\nwaking thoughts. She fancied herself surrounded by the pageantries of\na court, and that thousands of her fellow-creatures bowed the knee\nbefore her. She was no longer an outcast--no longer a disgraced mortal,\nbut a distinguished and adored woman. She awoke from the excitement\ncaused by her dream, rose from her unquiet couch, and went forth to\nhail the rising sun, which marched up to heaven in its splendour as if\nin mockery of human woe. She looked upon the glorious orb, her heart\ndilated, and she became a silent worshipper of its glory.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nAbout a coss from the Pariah\u2019s dwelling lived a jiggerkhar or\nliver-eater, who was looked upon as a pythoness throughout the\nneighbourhood, having the power of foretelling future events.\n\n\u201cOne of this class,\u201d says Abul Fazil,[25] \u201ccan steal away the liver\nof another by looks and incantations. Other accounts say, that by\nlooking at a person he deprives him of his senses, and then steals from\nhim something resembling the seed of a pomegranate, which he hides\nin the calf of his leg. The jiggerkhar throws on the fire the grain,\nwhich thereupon spreads to the size of a dish, and he distributes it\namongst his fellows to be eaten, which ceremony concludes the life of\nthe fascinated person. A jiggerkhar is able to communicate his art to\nanother, which he does by teaching him the incantations, and making\nhim eat a bit of the liver-cake. If any one cut open the calf of the\nmagician\u2019s leg, extract the grain, and give it to the afflicted person\nto eat, he immediately recovers. These jiggerkhars are mostly women.\nIt is said, moreover, that they can bring intelligence from a great\ndistance in a short space of time, and, if they are thrown into a river\nwith a stone tied to them, they neverless will not sink. In order to\ndeprive any one of this wicked power, they brand his temples and every\njoint in his body, cram his eyes with salt, suspend him for forty days\nin a subterraneous cavern, and repeat over him certain incantations.\nIn this state he is called Datchereh. Although, after having undergone\nthis discipline, he is not able to destroy the liver of any one, yet he\nretains the power of being able to discover another jiggerkhar, and is\nused for detecting those disturbers of mankind. They can also cure many\ndiseases, by administering a potion, or by repeating an incantation.\nMany other marvellous stories are told of these people.\u201d\n\nYhahil had heard many things related of the extraordinary woman already\nmentioned, though she had never seen her. Impelled by an unconquerable\nimpulse, she determined to visit her. The woman was reputed to possess\na singular faculty in tracing human destinies, and was said to have\nforetold events which had taken place after a considerable interval\nof time. It was likewise reported, that some of her practices were\nof a less innocent character. The death of more than one person had\nbeen attributed to her, and yet she was held in such awe that no one\ndared to molest her. When a violent hurricane ravaged the land, it\nwas declared to be of her producing. When famine spread devastation\nover the country, it was attributed to the jiggerkhar, and not a\nserious casualty happened, but the blame was attached to her. She was,\ntherefore, shunned and dreaded by the whole country around.\n\nOne day about noon Yhahil sought the abode of this prophetess. It was\na deep cavern, near the base of a hill. No human habitation was near.\nSituated on the north side, the beams of the sun were excluded from it.\nAt the entrance were scattered several large fragments of rock, as if\ncasually flung there by some violent convulsion of nature. Not a shrub\nor particle of verdure was visible within at least fifty yards of the\ncavern. Lizards crawled about the stones, and snakes were occasionally\nseen to glide for a moment from their rocky retreats, and retire at the\nsound of human footsteps. The whole place had an aspect of desolation,\nperfectly concurring with the life and character of the unnatural\nbeing who inhabited the cave. For years the place had been trodden by\nno foot save her own. Yhahil, with a trembling step, approached the\nden of the prophetic hag. The old woman was seated on a fragment of\nrock which lay just in front of her dreary dwelling. On her lap was a\nPariah dog, blind with age and disfigured with mange. As the lovely\ngirl approached, the squalid brute raised its head, and commenced a\nshrill continuous howl, and, when it had finished, began licking its\nmistress\u2019s face with disgusting familiarity. Having finished this\ncanine caress, it resumed its howl in a still louder key.\n\nYhahil undauntedly approached, but, on a nearer scrutiny, was for\nan instant repelled at the sight of the object whom she had come to\nconsult upon the events of the future. Never was anything akin to\nhumanity so perfectly hideous. She might have been taken for any age\nabove a hundred years. She seemed almost to have lived from eternity.\nHer whole aspect was so essentially old, that every mark which in\nage so frequently conveys an association with youth was entirely\nobliterated. She appeared the withered consort of old Time, with whom\none might have imagined she had travelled through all the cycles of\nduration. Every feature of her face was frightful. Her hair, matted\nand grizzled, fell upon her shrivelled shoulders in long thin wisps,\nlike the dull wiry grass which occasionally hangs from the crest\nof the sun-scorched rock. Her forehead appeared as if it had been\ncrimped. The wrinkles were so near together, that a needle\u2019s point\ncould scarcely have been inserted between them. The skin clung so\nclose to her cheek-bones as to develop the grim anatomy of her visage\nwith a minuteness almost appalling. Nose she had none, but the slight\nindication of it which remained showed that such a member had once a\n\u201clocal habitation\u201d upon her now revolting countenance. Her eyes were so\ndeeply sunk into her head, and the lids approximated so closely, that\nthe dim lurid orbs were scarcely discernible.\n\nWhen Yhahil reached the spot where the jiggerkhar was sitting, she\nflung a gold mohur[26] into her lap, saying, \u201cI seek a boon, mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt have it, maiden,\u201d said the hag; \u201cthou knowest how to\nsolicit a boon. Silence Parvati,\u201d she said to the dog, which was\nagain beginning to howl, \u201ccanst thou not distinguish the voice of a\nfriend--peace, churl! What wouldst thou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would know of the future, mother, into which thy dim eye can\npierce with the clearness of a star. I stand upon this world as upon\na pinnacle in the midst of a blasted wilderness, whence I can behold\nnothing but sterility beneath, and vague unfathomable distance above.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose who would know of the future, child, must buy the knowledge at a\nheavier cost than a meal of rice.\u201d\n\nYhahil threw another gold mohur in the sybil\u2019s lap.\n\n\u201cYou are a liberal probationer, and deserve a good reckoning in this\nlife, and a happy change in the better. Follow me, and you shall know\nmore.\u201d Saying this she entered the cavern, and the dog limped after\nher. The entrance was so narrow as to admit only one person at a time.\nYhahil followed the old woman undauntedly, but when she stood within\nthe cave her heart sickened. It was so dark that, three yards beyond\nthe entrance, all was involved in impenetrable gloom. The pythoness was\nno longer visible, but her hoarse cracked voice was audible through the\nintense darkness of the cell, the rugged sides of which reverberated it\nwith so terrible an echo, that the terrified girl started, sickened,\nand would have fallen; but drawing a deep sigh she brushed the\ngathering dews from her forehead, and in another moment had braced her\nmind to the necessary pitch of high resolve that defied all future\nsuggestions of terror.\n\n\u201cNow tell me,\u201d cried the crone, \u201cwhat you especially seek to know.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a Pariah, mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I need not be told, nor how the Pariah became rich. The eye that\nlooks beyond the confines of this world can be no stranger to what\npasses within them.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you read my thoughts?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy;--thou wouldst marry a man of caste, but that may not be; yet shalt\nthou wed.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever, I would sooner perish than wed a Pariah.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat thou wilt not do, and yet marry. Brahma never brought so comely\na creature into this world to discredit his creation. Thou wilt be\na propagator of beautiful sons and daughters; but I must look more\nclosely to the lines of thy face through the darkness that now\nsurrounds thee, before I can obtain a true sign of thy destiny. I must\nread the stars too, and that can only be done at night. Come to-morrow\nby this time, and thou shalt hear more; but let thy sleep be gentle:\nthere is already a fair augury for thee. Parvati, conduct the Pariah to\nthe light.\u201d The dog immediately trotted from the dark extremity of the\ncavern, and, placing itself just without the entrance, gave a single\nshort bark.\n\n\u201cYou are summoned; to-morrow you will hear a more copious record. The\nvolume of futurity is not read in a moment; its page is filled with\ncharacters which require the sage\u2019s expounding. Come to-morrow, and do\nnot forget your gold. If you would learn the secrets hid in the bosom\nof time, you must pay the price.\u201d\n\nYhahil was disgusted at the impatient covetousness of the jiggerkhar,\nbut her anxiety had become so predominant that she determined to\npurchase the promised prediction at whatever cost. She hastened to her\nhome under a new but agreeable excitement. Like all her race, though\nnaturally of a strong mind, she was superstitious. Superstition, in\nfact, was inseparable from the dogmas of that idolatrous creed in the\nbelief of which she had been reared. Her two singular escapes from\ndeath had impressed her mind with a solemn assurance that she was\nfore-doomed to something uncommon. The impression haunted her, and she\nwas impatient for the morrow, to hear her anxious longings confirmed by\nthe oracle of the pythoness. Her father remarked the unusual vivacity\nof her manner, and was pleased, as it encouraged a hope that the root\nof her prejudice was losing its hold in her heart. The mother was no\nless overjoyed, and the outcast\u2019s home was for that evening a scene of\njoy.\n\nBy noon the following day Yhahil was again at the jiggerkhar\u2019s\ndwelling. The crone was seated as before with the mangy dog upon her\nlap, and, as the anxious girl approached, extended her hand, exposing\nher withered palm. Yhahil placed a mohur upon it, but the long fingers\ndid not close over the gold. The coin remained unclutched, yet the hand\ncontinued extended. The hag\u2019s countenance darkened, and her eye emitted\na fierce lurid glare. Another mohur was placed upon the former. The\nfingers immediately compressed the two pieces of pure mintage, the old\nwoman\u2019s countenance relaxed into a subdued expression of gratified\navarice, the dog again licked her face, as if it participated in her\nsatisfaction, and, rising, she said, \u201cFollow me.\u201d\n\nYhahil entered the cave as she had done the preceding day, and remained\nsome minutes without hearing a sound. At length the old woman\u2019s voice\nwas heard through the gloom as before.\n\n\u201cThe volume of futurity is still clasped. In the broad skies it is\nwritten that I shall read further, and that you shall know further, but\nnot now; come to-morrow at this time, and you will ascertain what you\nseek to be informed.\u201d The disappointed girl retired from the cavern,\ndeeply mortified; but there was something too terrible in the aspect of\nthe jiggerkhar to render expostulation prudent. She therefore departed\nwithout uttering a word.\n\nFor several days the same mummery was repeated and the same pretences\nurged; the same fee was received at every visit. At length the crone,\nperceiving that the patience of her victim was gradually waning,\npromised her with an asseveration of blasphemous solemnity, that on the\nmorrow her doom should be read upon paying a double fee.\n\nYhahil had now proceeded too far to retreat, and on the following day\nshe appeared once more at the jiggerkhar\u2019s den. The prophetess was\nseated as usual before the entrance, and received her visitor with a\nsmile, as the latter dropped ten gold mohurs into her filthy hand. She\nnow took from her pocket a snake, and shaking it by the throat with\nher finger and thumb, made it hiss violently; then muttering a few\nwords she entered the cave, and desired the anxious Pariah to follow.\nThis the latter did without emotion, having so frequently obeyed\nthe injunction, without witnessing any terrifying result. In fact,\nher anxiety had now reached to such a painful climax, that she felt\nreckless of all consequences, and stood with unshrinking firmness in\nthe presence of one possessing, as she imagined, the awful power of\ndivination.\n\nShe had not remained long within the cavern when she heard the snake\nhiss; the dog uttered a heavy moan, a sudden flash was seen to break\nthrough the gloom, and a stream of blue light rose from the floor: the\nwhole space was illuminated. The old woman stood behind the flame,\nwhich shone full upon her unearthly form, throwing over it a pale grey,\nquivering radiance, which added tenfold to the natural hideousness of\nher aspect. The snake was coiled round her neck; a guana[27] crawled at\nher feet, where the dog lay with its head erect, looking into her face.\nYhahil blanched not, though every drop of her blood appeared to recede\nwith a sudden gush upon her heart.\n\n\u201cThe word of divination comes,\u201d said the sybil. \u201cYour destiny has been\nperused, and it will be as fruitful as you have been liberal. You will\nnot live a maiden, and you will die ennobled. Go to the Mogul capital,\nand look for the consummation of a blessed lot, or remain where you\nare, and perish an outcast. Go,--your doom has been read.\u201d\n\nThe light now gradually faded, and the place was involved in intense\ndarkness. Yhahil quitted the cavern. Absurd and evident as the juggle\nhad been, she was fully impressed with a notion that she had heard the\nvoice of an oracle. Her bosom swelled with joyous anticipations. She\nseemed to tread on the clouds as she sought her home. For days her\nspirits were so buoyant that her parents became uneasy: the excitement,\nhowever, at length subsided, and she appeared to have become rationally\nhappy. This was an event of real gladness to the delighted father, a\nfeeling also in which the mother fully participated.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[25] See Ayeen Ackberry.\n\n[26] The gold mohur is worth about five and thirty shillings. It passes\nin India for twenty rupees.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d said Yhahil, one day, \u201cI have a great desire to visit the\nMogul capital.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, my child?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause the Mahomedans have no more antipathy towards Pariahs than\nthey have towards the castes; and among them our wealth would gain us\nrespect, though our social degradation did not.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I see no objection to the change. As you know, I once saved\nthe Emperors life, and his liberality upon that occasion was the\nsource of all my present wealth. For a while he was a wanderer in\nforeign countries; but he has since resumed his throne, and governs\nhis subjects with equity. He might chance to remember and acknowledge\nthe outcast, though princes have not the credit of awakening unwelcome\nrecognitions. We will go: any change will be for the better, and at\nDelhi the facilities of traffic are great.--We will go.\u201d\n\nThe wife, who was obedient to her husband in all things, made no\nobjection, and the Pariah family were soon settled in the Mogul\ncapital. In a populous city, where beauty is sought after and\nadmiration easily won, the personal attractions of Yhahil could not\nlong remain a secret. The beautiful Pariah was continually spoken of,\nand at length the reputation of her attractions reached beyond the\nimmediate neighbourhood in which her parent had taken up his abode. She\nseldom quitted the house that there was not a buzz of admiration; and\nas it was not the custom of her tribe, as of women of caste, to appear\nseldom abroad, and then always with the face covered, she was seen\nevery day, and the fame of her beauty spread rapidly over the city.\n\nPassing one morning through the bazaar, which was greatly crowded, she\nwas struck down by the pole of a palenkeen. The person within having\nbeen immediately made acquainted with the accident from the cries of\nthe crowd, ordered his bearers to stop, and proceeded to the sufferer\u2019s\nassistance. Commanding her to be put into his palenkeen, and having\nascertained where she lived, she was carried home, he walking by her\nside.\n\nThe father, surprised at witnessing so unusual a cavalcade approaching\nhis door, rushed out with instinctive apprehension of mischief. Upon\nseeing his daughter, he began to make heavy lamentations, until he\nheard her assurances that she had only been stunned; and quitting the\npalankeen she speedily removed his alarm. The stranger was invited\nto partake of some refreshment, which invitation he did not decline.\nHe was evidently a Mahomedan of rank; and the Pariah was flattered\nat seeing a man, to whom the multitude bowed in homage, seated at\nhis board, from which all but outcasts had been hitherto excluded.\nThe guest at length retired, after having signified that he should\noccasionally repeat his visit, which was anxiously pressed by the\nparents, and seconded by their daughter, not without that silent\neloquence of the eyes, which speaks with a sweeter emphasis than the\ntongue can impart to words.\n\nIt was soon ascertained that the gallant Mahomedan was the son of\nBeiram Chan, prime minister of Humayoon. This adventure naturally led\nto an intimacy; and young Beiram could not behold the beauty of the\nPariah\u2019s daughter without feeling his heart moved. He was young and\nhandsome, full of generous impulses, though too apt to be driven by\nthose impulses beyond the strict line of prudence. He was an object\nof admiration among the chief ladies of the Emperor\u2019s court, yet he\nhad not fixed his affections, though they had several times wavered\nbetween two or three Mahomedan beauties. The lovely Yhahil at once\ndecided him. He had seen nothing among his own countrywomen to approach\nher transcendant loveliness; his resolution therefore was soon fixed\nto give them all up, and cleave to the charming stranger. This,\nhowever, occurred to his sober reflections as likely to involve him\nin considerable perplexity. It would never do for the son of a Mogul\nnoble to ally himself with the daughter of an outcast, except by those\ntemporary ties which may be ruptured at will; and, even upon any terms,\nit would not, he knew, receive the approbation of his family. He did\nnot for a moment imagine that Yhahil would refuse the sort of alliance\nwhich he meant to propose to her, feeling conscious that he was not\nindifferent to her, and knowing, as she must do, the impassable barrier\nto a conjugal union between them. Their eyes had exchanged those\nglances which are the precursors of a declaration on the one hand, and\nof acceptance on the other; still he hesitated to avow himself, being\nunwilling hastily to rouse the indignation of his parent.\n\nYhahil\u2019s father and mother had observed the reciprocations of\nattachment which had been mutually manifested by their daughter and the\nMogul minister\u2019s son, and knowing the stern severity of virtue which\ngoverned all the actions of their beloved child they looked forward to\nher ratifying the conquest, which she had evidently made, by becoming\nthe wife of a Mahomedan noble.\n\n\u201cMy girl,\u201d said her father, as he one day embraced her with anxious\ntenderness, \u201cI still hope to see my home blessed through you. You have,\nI trust, won a good man\u2019s love.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf whom do you speak?\u201d asked the daughter, with a fluttering heart.\n\n\u201cThe minister\u2019s son.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has never avowed his passion.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it needs not the tongue\u2019s avowal to confirm the evidence of a\nsilent yet more credible expression that he loves thee. You will hear\nhim declare himself before the horns of the next young moon meet. Tell\nme, Yhahil, do you love him?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do, father.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you wed him?\u201d\n\n\u201cI never could love the man I would not wed, nor wed whom I could not\nlove.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am satisfied.\u201d\n\nThe parents from this time looked anxiously for the Mahomedan\u2019s\ndeclaration, but it came not, and they began to be impatient, though it\nwas more than ever evident that he loved their child.\n\nThe minister\u2019s son paid his visits daily at the Pariah\u2019s house, and his\nattachment to the daughter increased with their acquaintance. He found\nthat she possessed an understanding, though not highly cultivated, yet\nof a rare order. The degradation in which she had been held in being\nof no caste, had deprived her of the means of raising her mind to the\nelevation of which it was capable; she had nevertheless not neglected\nit. All the means within her reach she had employed, and her natural\nquickness of perception had given her advantages possessed by few. She\nhad not been allowed to attend the village school in consequence of the\ndisgrace attached to her social station; but she had availed herself of\nthe assistance of a learned Mussulman who dwelt at some short distance\nfrom her father\u2019s abode, and he had given her an insight into the\nhistory and literature of her country, and what he could not teach, her\nown readiness of apprehension supplied.\n\nAt this period education was cultivated by the Hindoos in every\nvillage, by a national edict; knowledge was universally inculcated,\nand it was then as rare to find a poor villager who could not read\nas it is now to find one who can. In fact, the whole social system\nseems to have undergone a complete revolution. During those ages\nwhen Europe was enveloped in intellectual darkness that exposed her\nto the contempt of the very countries which are now drawing from the\nstores of her wisdom and science a harvest which bids fair to ripen\ninto universal civilisation, Hindostan was distinguished by a race of\nphilosophers, who, but for the conquest to which that country has been\nsubjected, and the degrading dominion under which its vast population\nhas so long groaned, would probably have raised it to an elevation in\nintellectual and social dignity, not inferior to ancient Greece at the\nbrightest period of her glory. \u201cEducation has always, from the earliest\nperiod of their history, been an object of public care and public\ninterest to the Hindoo government on the peninsula of India. Every\nwell-regulated village under those governments had a public school and\npublic schoolmaster. The system of instruction in them was that which,\nin consequence of its efficiency, simplicity, and cheapness, was a few\nyears ago introduced from Madras into England, and from England into\nthe rest of Europe. Every Hindoo parent looked upon the education of\nhis child as a solemn duty which he owed to his god and to his country,\nand placed him under the schoolmaster of his village as soon as he\nhad attained his fifth year. The ceremony of introducing him for the\nfirst time to the schoolmaster and his scholars was publicly recorded,\nand was attended with all the solemnity of a religious observance;\na prayer being publicly offered up on the occasion to the figure of\nGenesa, the Hindoo God of Wisdom, which was at the head of every Hindoo\nschool, imploring him to aid the child in his endeavours to learn and\nbecome wise.\u201d[28]\n\nYhahil had imbibed, as deeply as the son of Beiram, the impressions of\nlove.\n\n\u201cYhahil,\u201d said the Mahomedan one day, when they were seated in a\nveranda that overlooked a garden at the back of the house, \u201cdo you\nthink you could be happy to quit your parents?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; I see no circumstance that should render it necessary for me to\nquit them.\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely you are not serious?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn truth I am. Why should I leave them under any temporal change that\nyou can imagine?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose you should be married?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey could still be with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut your husband might not like them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he could not like me. They who love truly feel kindly towards\nthose who are dear to the objects of their love. If not, their hearts\nare hollow.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there are other unions which would render it impossible for your\nparents to live with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat may those unions be? I know of none.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose you were living with the objection of your affection in an\nalliance of fervent attachment without being bound by the compulsory\nobligations of marriage.\u201d\n\n\u201cI could never be in such a position, therefore your argument is of no\nweight.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there no man, Yhahil, with whom you would consent to pass your\nlife, free from those civil restraints which so frequently chill the\nwarm glow of hearts, and render wedlock a condition of dull monotonous\ndissatisfaction?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may be, but with all its evils, these, when weighed against the\ngood, are lightest in the balance, and I would rather be a Pariah\u2019s\nwife than an Omrah\u2019s harlot.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought you had determined never to wed a Pariah--your father has\ntold me as much.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd he told you truly--it will therefore follow that I am determined\nnever to become the harlot of an Omrah.\u201d\n\n\u201cYhahil,\u201d said the minister\u2019s son, \u201cI need scarcely say that I love\nyou; but you will hardly imagine with what fervour, and let me ask you\nto state candidly if that love is reciprocated?\u201d\n\n\u201cOmrah, I am a girl unhackneyed in the ways of the world, and know\nlittle of the artifices of life. I am not aware, therefore, that any\nmotive can exist why I should not readily confess to you that my heart\nhas received a strong impression from your delicate attentions to me;\nbut let me assure you at once, for I have a disquieting suspicion,\nthat, the moment they cease to be delicate, my respect for you will\nlikewise cease, and a woman\u2019s love without her respect is a jewel in so\nbad a setting as only to disgrace the wearer.\u201d\n\n\u201cYhahil, you cannot imagine that I can fail to respect one who has\nso entirely engrossed my affections. I love you with an earnestness\nwhich death only can subdue; but you know there are certain social\nimpediments----\u201d he hesitated. The blood mantled to the beautiful\nPariah\u2019s brow.\n\n\u201cProceed,\u201d she said, \u201cwhy do you hesitate? Let me hear what you\npropose: there should be no disguise after the mutual confessions which\nhave passed between us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am sure, Yhahil, you cannot be unreasonable. Where there is a\nsincere interchange of attachment there should be no suspicion. I need\nnot point out to one of your superior mind that the mere circumstance\nof your being a Pariah precludes the possibility of my making you my\nwife. If I did so I should be despised by my countrymen, and you would\nbe an object of scorn among their wives and daughters. I would not for\nan empire expose you to the chance of such indignity. Nevertheless,\nthere is no social bar to a union of hearts apart from those civil ties\nby which it is recognised by the world. We may still be united, we\nmay still be dear to each other, and reciprocate affections which no\ntime shall subdue, no contingencies stifle. My proposal is, that you be\nmine in spite of the civil impediments which interpose between us and a\nconjugal alliance.\u201d\n\nYhahil had listened in silence; every drop of blood had receded from\nher face, and left her lips as pale as ashes. They quivered with\nindignant emotion, but she answered with deliberate and solemn calmness,\n\n\u201cOmrah, you may be privileged by your rank to insult a Pariah, but your\ndignity as a man ought to have withheld you from insulting a woman.\nWhat has there been in my conduct, since our acquaintance, to lead you\nto imagine that I could violate the purity of my womanhood in favour of\na man who evidently does not know how to appreciate a woman\u2019s virtue?\nThough considered an outcast by my countrymen, I am, nevertheless, not\ndestitute. I have a home in which there is no deficiency of comfort,\nand the means of this world\u2019s enjoyments are abundantly within my\nreach. Why then should you imagine that I am prepared to sacrifice\nmy honour to the base passions of a Mahomedan noble? I despise your\nlove--I reject your alliance; from this moment we are strangers to each\nother.\u201d\n\nShe waited not her lover\u2019s reply, but retired from the veranda.\n\nHer parents were surprised at observing the change which had passed\nover the beautiful countenance of their daughter. She appeared\ndejected: the bright smile had ceased to play upon her sunny face,\nand her cheek was pale. The minister\u2019s son paid his usual visit, but\nYhahil refused to see him. She disclosed to her father the cause of her\ncoldness; he approved of her resolution, and the handsome Mahomedan was\nforbidden the house. He frequently attempted to obtain admission, but\nwas always refused. He sent billets,--they were returned unopened. The\nforce of his passion rose in proportion as it met with resistance, and\nhe resolved to see the object who had excited within his bosom such\nintense emotion. He appealed to the father, but found him inexorable;\nthe mother was a cipher, and refused to interfere. He became impetuous;\nthis only provoked a more determined opposition. Yhahil would not see\nhim, and interdicted his messengers from being admitted to her presence.\n\nThe disappointed lover ceased not to encourage his passion, though it\nwas no longer requited. He became more than ever anxious to possess\nthe object of his attachment upon any terms, even at the hazard of\nincurring the general odium of his countrymen.\n\nYhahil used frequently to walk in the suburbs of the town, accompanied\nby a single female attendant. The restraints imposed generally upon\nHindoo women had no influence upon her. She appeared abroad daily\nwithout reluctance. She had not seen the minister\u2019s son since her\nrejection of him, though her wanderings were never restricted. The\nmortification occasioned by his proposal had bowed her proud spirit,\nand she was determined to treat him with repelling scorn, should he\never cross her path. For the present she was spared this exercise of\nher indignation.\n\nOne morning she went out as usual, but did not return at her accustomed\nhour. After a while her parents became uneasy. Evening drew on and\nneither their daughter nor her attendant appeared. Night advanced,\nand her place at the family meal was unoccupied. Their distress\nwas excessive. The next day passed, and she did not return. A dark\nsuspicion crossed the parents\u2019 mind that she had fallen into the\nMahomedan\u2019s hands, and that he had forcibly removed her from her home.\n\n\u201cThere is but one way of frustrating the evil designs of that man,\u201d\nsaid the father to his sorrowing consort. \u201cI will throw myself upon\nthe Emperor\u2019s justice, and beseech him to enforce the restoration of\nmy child. He is a mild and merciful prince, whose clemency is only\nexcelled by his justice. He will remember that I once saved his life,\nand force the son of his minister to restore my daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the mother, \u201cprinces are apt to think too lightly of the\nmoral delinquencies of their nobles to imagine there is much enormity\nin taking away the daughter of an outcast.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have better hopes of the man who has been taught in the school of\nadversity the difficult lesson of virtue. Cast from his throne to\nwander for several years among strangers, he has personally known what\nit is to suffer privation. Since his restoration to sovereignty he has\nexercised the best virtues of a king. Why then should I distrust the\nequity of a man whom I have known by experience to be generous, and\nwhom all acknowledge to be just.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how will you obtain an audience?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will cast myself at his feet at the next durbar, and implore the\nroyal interference to obtain the restoration of my child. It is\nnot much to ask from one who, though he has cancelled one bond of\nobligation, may still do a supernumerary kindness to the man who risked\na valueless life to save that which has been a blessing to his people.\u201d\n\nThe unhappy father determined to throw himself upon the kindness of the\nMogul monarch on the very next day of audience, and, having come to\nthis resolution, his hopes, of again beholding his daughter immediately\nbegan to revive.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[27] A huge lizard, frequently upwards of three feet long.\n\n[28] Extract of a letter of Sir Alexander Johnston to Mr. C. Grant,\nupon the Hindoo national education.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nOn the next day of public audience the bereaved parent repaired to the\nDewan Aum, or Hall of Public Audience. When he entered he was dazzled\nby the extraordinary splendour of the scene. The musnud upon which the\nEmperor sat was so costly a work as to be one of the marvels of the\nage. It was in the form of a peacock with the tail outspread, entirely\ncomposed of diamonds and other precious stones. It was valued at seven\ncrore of rupees.[29] The apartment was built entirely of white marble,\nand richly ornamented with representations of various flowers. Over\nthe arches which supported the roof was the following inscription in\nPersian characters, beautifully inlaid with silver on a ground of\ndark, but brilliantly polished marble--\u201cIf there be a heaven upon\nearth, it is here, it is here, it is here.\u201d The letters were admirably\nformed, and distinctly legible from the floor. In this hall, beside\nthe throne, was an immense block of crystal, upon which the Emperor\nused to sit when he held private audience with his ministers. It was\nsufficiently broad to have formed a table. The apartment was lighted by\na dome, the largest in the palace, richly inlaid with gold.\n\nWhen the Pariah entered, the hall was nearly filled. As he attempted to\napproach the royal presence, he was stopped by one of the guards.\n\n\u201cWhom do you seek here?\u201d asked the soldier.\n\n\u201cYour sovereign.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe does not hold conference with strangers, especially upon days of\nstate ceremony.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour king is reported wise, and not only wise, but just. I come to\noffer an appeal to his royal justice; and you do both him and me wrong\nby defrauding him of the opportunity of exercising his justice, and me\nof receiving that benefit from it which, if report do not belie him, he\nwould be delighted to confer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you not a Pariah?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat then? Are the natural rights of man less my nature\u2019s privilege\nthan another\u2019s? Mahomedans do not despise Pariahs, and your sovereign\nleast of any.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou cannot have audience here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause this place is appropriated to the ceremonies and business of\nstate. You must send a petition.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, soldier, I must see your king: withhold me at your peril!\u201d\n\n\u201cAdvance but a single step further, and I shall cut you down.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy blood, then, be upon your head.\u201d\n\nThe Pariah stepped forward; the soldier did his best to put his threat\ninto execution, but his intended victim had sprung beyond the reach of\nthe stroke.\n\n\u201cJustice!\u201d he cried, in a loud shrill voice, that rang through the\nhall; \u201cjustice from the Emperor of the Moguls.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is it that demands justice?\u201d asked Humayoon, with mild dignity;\n\u201clet him approach.\u201d\n\nThe stranger immediately advanced, and prostrated himself before the\nKing.\n\n\u201cRise!\u201d said the Emperor, \u201cand state your cause of grievance, if you\nhave any.\u201d\n\nThe petitioner rose, and was instantly recognised by the sovereign.\n\n\u201cVuluvir!\u201d he cried--\u201cdo I behold him to whom I am indebted above all\nmen in my dominions?\u201d\n\nThe Emperor descended from the musnud, raised the Pariah and embraced\nhim, to the surprise of his court.\n\n\u201cNobles,\u201d said he, \u201cto this outcast from his own community I owe my\nlife. When pursued by the emissaries of him who had usurped my throne,\nI cast myself into a river and was nearly drowned. This generous\nbenefactor, although then grievously prostrated by famine, plunged\ninto the stream, and, as I was sinking, dragged me to the bank. In his\ndwelling I found an asylum. He watched by my lowly couch while the\nparoxysms of fever were upon me, moistened my parched lips, wiped from\nmy forehead the dews of agony, and restored me to life. My debt to him\nis such as my empire could not repay.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, mighty King,\u201d cried Vuluvir, while the big tear rolled slowly\ndown his cheek, \u201cthat deed of common charity was abundantly requited.\nThe two thousand rupees with which your gracious liberality honoured\nme, were the foundation of my present affluence. Upon them I have\nerected a fortune which might place me in that respect upon a level\nwith nobility; but I am still a miserable man.\u201d\n\n\u201cState your cause of grievance,\u201d said the Emperor, leading him to the\nblock of crystal, upon which he desired him to be seated. Humayoon\nhaving taken his place upon the musnud, Vuluvir said, touching the\nfloor with his fingers and putting them to his forehead--\n\n\u201cSovereign of the Moguls, I have a daughter, the child whom you once\nfondled in your royal arms, and who has since often expressed her pride\nin having received those caresses. That daughter I may say, without a\nparent\u2019s vanity, is a creature endowed with the highest perfections of\nwoman. She is the joy of my heart, and her loss would be a bane which\nI feel I could not survive. She has been stolen from me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI remember thy daughter well, Vuluvir; she promised to be all thou\nsayest. But who has robbed thee of her?--say, and to the farthest\nlimits of my dominions he shall be sought and visited with the\nchastisement he deserves.\u201d\n\n\u201cI attribute her abduction to the son of your minister.\u201d\n\n\u201cSon of Beiram, stand forth,\u201d said the Emperor, solemnly; \u201cwhat have\nyou to answer to this charge?\u201d\n\nThe young Omrah was silent.\n\n\u201cWhat construction am I to put upon your silence?\u201d asked Humayoon,\nsternly.\n\n\u201cI plead guilty to the charge: I am at the Emperor\u2019s mercy.\u201d\n\n\u201cVuluvir,\u201d said Humayoon, turning to his former host, \u201cyour wrong shall\nbe redressed, and your daughter restored.\u201d\n\nThe offender was immediately committed to the custody of an officer;\nand that very night Yhahil was delivered to the arms of her anxious\nparents.\n\nThe next day, Vuluvir was summoned to the imperial presence. \u201cMy\nfriend,\u201d said the sovereign, \u201cI know that the religion you profess is\none from which you derive little consolation, and to which none of\nyour tribe are bound by very strong attachments. It is my intention\nto ennoble you, provided you consent to become one of the faithful;\nand in your conversion I shall look for that of your family.\u201d After a\nconference of some length, the Pariah embraced the Emperor\u2019s proposal;\nand the next day was raised to the rank of Omrah, with a sum from\nthe treasury sufficient to support that dignity. His wife and Yhahil\nbecame, likewise, converts to the new faith. The idea of being now\nnaturalised among a people who welcomed her and her parents as their\ncommon kindred, poured a flood of joy upon Yhahil\u2019s heart. She felt no\nlonger degraded, and began to soften in her indignation towards the man\nwho forced her from her home. He had, however, committed no violence.\nShe had been carried to a house engaged for the purpose of securing\nher; but, when there, the noble only pressed his suit without offering\nthe slightest offence to her purity. She repelled his advances with\nunqualified indignation; he treated her, nevertheless, with uniform\nrespect. The recollection of this disarmed her anger, and she besought\nher father to solicit his release.\n\n\u201cMy daughter,\u201d said he, embracing her, \u201cyou have always found me ready\nto meet every wish of your heart, but in the present instance I have\nsecret misgivings which deter me from compliance. To come at once to\nthe point, I fear the violence of that young noble.\u201d\n\nYhahil smiled.--\u201cHis violence, my father, was not shown when I was in\nhis power, and I can forgive his rashness in his forbearance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, surely, the man who would forcibly tear a daughter from her\nparent\u2019s roof is to be feared.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do believe--nay I am sure, that he loves me; and though he sought to\nwin me to a dishonourable intercourse while I was a Pariah, I think he\nmight no longer hesitate to wed me as an Omrah\u2019s daughter. I love him,\nfather. He must be liberated for my sake. If we should ever meet in\nfuture, it will be as honourable lovers, or as strangers, but I must no\nlonger be the cause of his captivity.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will seek the Emperor and make known your wishes, but----\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father, listen to me: my mortal destiny has been traced. Before I\nquitted our dwelling in the land of my birth, I sought the abode of\nthe jiggerkhar. Her revelations have been marvellously fulfilled--the\nconsummation only remains. She promised me wedded happiness, and I feel\nI shall enjoy it.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough, my child, your desire shall be instantly accomplished;\u201d and\nthe converted outcast was admitted without delay to the presence of\nHumayoon.\n\n\u201cWell, Mahomed Chan,\u201d--the name which had been bestowed upon the\nnewly-made Omrah,--asked the Monarch, \u201cwhat seek you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe release of your minister\u2019s son. It is at my child\u2019s solicitation\nthat I venture to ask this favour.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe shall never have his liberty until he makes your daughter full\nreparation for the insult he has offered her. It is necessary that the\nnoble should suffer punishment for his violations of the law, else with\nwhat justice can we punish the humbler delinquent?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy daughter has forgiven him: he offered her no personal disrespect,\nsave in forcing her from her home.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne of the greatest infractions of public decorum,\u201d cried the\nsovereign, hastily; \u201cand a most reprehensible trespass upon the\nsanctity of private life. His liberty shall be conditional. He has\nviolated the obligations of honour as well as the laws of his country;\nhe must therefore pay the penalty.\u201d\n\nHumayoon ordered the offender to be brought before him, and, after\nupbraiding him with having committed a scandalous offence, asked him if\nhe was ready to repair the wrong he had done to the lovely Yhahil.\n\n\u201cIf marrying her will be considered a sufficient reparation of the\ninjury I have unadvisedly inflicted, I am prepared to offer that\nreparation on the instant.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not,\u201d said Mahomed Chan, \u201cthat my child may be willing to\naccept the man who has offered her so serious an insult; but if you\nwill accompany me to my home you can urge your suit.\u201d\n\n\u201cUpon condition that he becomes the husband of her whom he has so\ngrossly offended I grant him his liberty,\u201d said the Emperor; \u201cotherwise\nhis captivity will be for life.\u201d\n\nThe father returned to his home with the minister\u2019s son, whom he\npresented to Yhahil. She received him with withering coldness. He flung\nhimself at her feet.\n\n\u201cI acknowledge my fault,\u201d he cried, passionately. \u201cI have wronged\nyou--grievously wronged the object of my soul\u2019s adoration, and come to\nrepair the wrong I have done by making her the partner of my life. I\nfeel she would ennoble a diadem. Will you become mine?\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you think I have reason to trust you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes--you know that passion impelled me to act as I did; love was at\nthe bottom of it, and if you have a woman\u2019s heart you will forgive me.\u201d\n\nYhahil smiled; the young Omrah rose and clasped her to his bosom.--\u201cYou\nare mine for ever; this day shall consummate our union. I shall receive\nmy freedom from the sovereign only to cast over my heart the golden\nfetters of bliss.\u201d\n\nYhahil yielded to his embrace; there was joy in the late house of\nmourning. On that very day the lovers were married. The Mogul Emperor\nhonoured their union with his presence, and ratified it with his\nblessing. The jiggerkhar\u2019s prophecy was accomplished, and never was\nthere a happier union than that formed between the Pariah\u2019s daughter\nand the Minister\u2019s son.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[29] About seven millions sterling.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 964 (A.D. 1556).--The young King Akbar fought a desperate battle\nat Paniput against Hamoo, vizier of Mahomed Shah Adily, who now claimed\nthe throne. During the action, fifteen hundred elephants fell into\nthe hands of Akbar, who, marching from Paniput, reached Delhi without\nopposition. Mankote was delivered up to the King after a siege of six\nmonths.\n\nHeg. 965 (1558).--A reconciliation took place between Akbar and Beiram\nChan, which was cemented by the latter marrying Sulima Sultana Begum,\nniece of the late Humayoon, which took place with consent of the King,\nwho was present at the nuptials. Shortly afterwards the breach was\nrenewed between the King and the Regent.\n\nHeg. 966 (1558).--Beiram Chan assembled troops, in order to establish\nhimself in the Punjab. Upon Akbar despatching a messenger to him,\nBeiram sent the ensigns of state, his elephants, banners and drums to\nthe King, and declared his intention of proceeding to Mecca.\n\nHeg. 967 (1559).--Beiram Chan having proceeded as far as Bhickanere,\nrepented of his resolution to relinquish public life, returned to\nNagoor, and began to levy troops. The King sent against him Moolla Peer\nMahomed, who had lately returned from exile, to which he had been sent\nby the regent.\n\nHeg. 968 (1560).--The ex-minister being reduced to the greatest\ndistress, resolved to throw himself upon the King\u2019s mercy. Akbar\naccepted his submission. On entering the court, Beiram hung his turban\nround his neck, and advancing rapidly, threw himself at the foot of the\nthrone. Akbar, stretching out his hand, desired him to rise, and placed\nhim in his former station at the head of his nobles.\n\nHeg. 969 (1561).--One day, while hunting in the vicinity of Nurwar, a\nroyal tiger crossed the road. The King urged his horse forward, and\nwith a single sabre-stroke stretched it dead upon the plain. The nobles\npresent, in the excess of their joy, ran to kiss the royal stirrup, and\noffered thanks to God for his preservation.\n\nHeg. 970 (1562).--Sulim Shah having taken a number of Ghoorkas\nprisoners in war, ordered a prison at Gualior, wherein they were\nconfined, to be blown up with gunpowder. Upon this occasion Kumal\nGhoorka had the good fortune to escape, being only thrown to some\ndistance, without receiving any considerable injury.\n\nHeg. 971 (1563).--Akbar returning from Nurwar towards his capital, fell\nin with a herd of wild elephants. He ordered his cavalry to surround\nand drive them into a kedda, or fold, which was effected with some\ndifficulty. One of the male elephants, finding itself confined, broke\nthrough the palisades. Three trained elephants were despatched to\nsecure it, and, before it was overpowered, it afforded the King much\nsport.\n\nHeg. 972 (1564).--Akbar quelled a formidable conspiracy of Usbeck\nchiefs.\n\nHeg. 973 (1566).--Juanpoor was captured by Akbar\u2019s armies.\n\nHeg. 974 (1566).--The Usbeck chiefs again rebelled, and were subdued.\n\nHeg. 975 (1567).--This year was distinguished by the siege of Chittore,\nin which were eight thousand Rajpoots, with an ample supply of\nprovisions. The King having invested the fort, employed five thousand\nworkmen of different descriptions to conduct the siege. The approaches\nwere made by sabat, a description of defence peculiar to India. The\nbesiegers are protected by stuffed gabions, covered with leather,\nbehind which they continue their approaches until they arrive near\nthe walls of the place to be attacked. The governor appearing on the\nwalls was shot with a matchlock by the King. The Rajpoots immediately\nperformed the Johur, putting their wives and children to death. The\nfort was stormed by the Moguls, who obtained possession of it without\nfurther resistance.\n\nHeg. 976 (1568).--Akbar obtained possession of Runtunbhore.\n\nHeg. 977 (1569).--The favourite sultana gave birth to Prince Selim, who\nafterwards reigned under the name of Jehangire.\n\nHeg. 978 (1570).--Prince Morad was born.\n\nHeg. 980 (1572).--Akbar defeated Ibrahim Hoossein Mirza, and laid siege\nto Surat, which surrendered, and the King returned to Agra.\n\nHeg. 983 (1575).--The Afghans were defeated by the King\u2019s troops, and\ntheir general was taken prisoner. He was put to death by the Mogul\nleader, and his son, who had been severely wounded in the action, died\na few days after. The Mogul general took possession of all Bengal, and\nsent the elephants and other spoils to the King.\n\nHeg. 984 (1576).--Akbar went this year to Ajmere, and employed Shahbaz\nChan Kumbo against Koombulmere, a strong fortress, in possession of the\nRana of Oodipore, which was eventually taken.\n\nHeg. 986 (1578).--Died Hoossein Koolly Chan Toorkoman, governor of\nBengal.\n\nHeg. 987 (1579).--A great fire happened in the Furash Khana, at\nFuttepore, which consumed many tents, lined with velvet and brocade of\ngreat value.\n\nHeg. 989 (1581).--The King\u2019s brother, Mahomed Hukeen Mirza, invested\nLahore.\n\nHeg. 991 (1583).--The King was taken dangerously ill, and the people\nbecame apprehensive of his death; but he recovered, and bestowed large\nsums in charity.\n\nHeg. 992 (1584).--Mirza Khan was defeated by Akbar\u2019s troops in a\nsanguinary battle.\n\nHeg. 993 (1585).--Prince Selim, who afterwards ascended the throne\nunder the title of Jehangire, married the daughter of Rajah Bhugwandas.\n\nHeg. 995 (1586-7).--This year the daughter of Ray Singh was likewise\nmarried to Prince Selim.\n\nHeg. 997 (1589).--Died the learned Azd-ood-Dowla Shirazz, who had\nlately come from Guzerat.\n\nHeg. 998 (1589).--Mirza Azeez Koka was appointed governor of Guzerat.\n\nHeg. 1004 (1596).--The Prince Morad Mirza and Mirza Chan laid siege to\nAhmednugger, but finally entered into negotiations with the besieged,\nby which it was stipulated that they should still retain possession,\nbut that Akbar should have the province of Berar.\n\nHeg. 1011 (1602).--The celebrated Abul Fazel was attacked by banditti\non his way from the Deccan to the capital, and murdered.\n\nHeg. 1014 (1605).--Akbar died after a prosperous and glorious reign of\nfifty-one years and some months. He was certainly the greatest of the\nMogul monarchs.\n\n\n\n\n                       The Defence of Chittore.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nThe Governor of Chittore was upon the ramparts observing the progress\nof the enemy, who were making their approaches behind wicker frames\nfilled with earth and covered with leather. The town was plentifully\nsupplied with provisions; the garrison consisted of eight thousand\nRajpoots, and it was determined to resist whilst a stone remained in\nthe battlements. The siege had already continued six weeks, directed by\nAkbar in person, but no material effect had been produced. The besieged\nfought with that determined spirit peculiar to the Rajpoot character.\nThe fortifications were of great strength, and although the garrison\nhad made several desperate sallies, their loss had hitherto been\ninsignificant.\n\nAkbar was vexed at being detained so long before the place, as he was\nin the habit of carrying much more promptly the towns which he invested\nwith his armies. He, however, knew the strength of the garrison, was\nwell acquainted with the characters of the men who composed it, and had\ntherefore made up his mind that Chittore would not be an easy conquest.\n\nWhile the governor was standing on the ramparts, he was joined by\nhis wife, a handsome woman, under thirty, although the mother of two\nmarriageable daughters.\n\n\u201cJugmul,\u201d she said, whilst a glance of fire shot from her dilated eye,\n\u201cwill these scoffers of our gods prevail?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not--their king is brave.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there a living soul within these walls of whom you cannot say as\nmuch?\u201d\n\n\u201cI trust not; but he is likewise a successful general, and success is\nnot the issue of chance, but of talent.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave we not encountered both before now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; but the latter has its degrees, and the interval between great\nand little is extreme.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you despair of driving these Moslems from before our walls.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know that a Rajpoot never despairs. Nevertheless, of this I am\ncertain, that nothing but a desperate resistance and an extensive\ndestruction of the enemy will cause him to relinquish his present\npurpose.\u201d\n\n\u201cJugmul, he knows not that there are women within this fortress who\nfear not to encounter his men in a struggle of death. Let him beware\nhow he provokes such a collision.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou miscalculate the energies of the wives and daughters of Chittore,\nif you measure them by your own.\u201d\n\n\u201cShould the extremity arrive, it will be seen whether I have misjudged\nmy countrywomen. Meanwhile, Jugmul, I claim to be a partner in your\ntoils, and to share the glory as well as the labour of your resistance\nto this Moslem sovereign. It is but just that the wife should partake\nof her husband\u2019s honours, of which I trust you are about to reap a full\nharvest.\u201d\n\nAt this time, Chittore was invested by an army of thirty thousand men,\ncommanded by Akbar in person, acknowledged the greatest leader of his\nage; yet this did not dispirit the governor\u2019s wife, who was evidently\nmore sanguine than her husband in the valour and resources of the\ngarrison. Her eldest daughter, a lovely girl of sixteen, was engaged to\na young Rajpoot chief, who when the siege commenced had thrown himself\ninto Chittore with a few resolute followers.\n\nPeirup Singh had not only the qualities of daring valour and\nindomitable resolution in common with his race, but was moreover young,\nhandsome, and intelligent. He was ardently attached to the beautiful\nKherla Nuny, though she had not yet experienced the glow of fervent\naffection. The young Rajpoot had been the choice of her parents, not of\nherself; her feelings, therefore, towards him, when brought to a sum,\nwould have formed a total amounting to little more than indifference.\nShe felt no objection to the choice of her parents, for she had no\nreason on the score of his general qualities; but she did not love him.\n\nPeirup Singh was anxious that their nuptials should immediately\ntake place, notwithstanding the siege, which had already been going\non several weeks; and from the strength of the garrison, and the\nresolution of the foe, there was every reason to apprehend that it\nwould not be terminated for some months to come. He therefore sought\nthe Rajpootni to propose an immediate fulfilment of his wishes.\n\n\u201cKherla,\u201d said he, \u201cyouth is the beautiful season of life; but in\nproportion as it is beautiful it is fleeting. The hours of enjoyment\nare sparely meted out to us, it were therefore unwise to cast any away.\nI rejoice in the possession of your love, but would be made happy in\nthe possession of you.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeirup Singh,\u201d replied the noble girl, \u201cyou have been promised that\npossession, and shall have it when the season comes; but I could\nnot wed amid the dangers which surround us. When your valour has\ncontributed to drive the enemy from our walls, I will give myself up to\nyour future good guidance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why delay my happiness? Think you I shall fight less effectually\nas your husband than as your lover?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not; but I would be the spouse of a brave man. You have\nthe reputation of being such, yet I have had no proof of it. Ample\nopportunity is now afforded you of showing that your reputation does\nnot fall below your merit.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! must I prove my claim to your love, Kherla? This is rather a\nmortifying exaction.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot to a brave man, who is always proud to ratify by deeds of arms the\nreputation to which he lays claim.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I promise you, the moment you are mine I will give you those\nproofs you require that your husband is unable to dishonour the name of\nRajpoot.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Peirup Singh, the siege is still going on. I cannot comply with\nyour wishes until the Moslem tyrant is either slain or driven from the\nneighbourhood of our homes. If you were to steep your sabre in his\nheart\u2019s blood, my consent to an immediate union would be won. It may be\nworth your thinking of, Peirup Singh.\u201d\n\nIn Akbar\u2019s army was a Rajpoot, who having quitted Chittore in\ndisgust, had enrolled himself among the Mogul troops. The cause of\nhis abandoning his countrymen was this:--Having become attached to\nthe younger daughter of the governor, who encouraged his addresses,\nher parents had refused their consent, not considering him eligible\nin point of rank for such an alliance. The girl, in consequence,\nimplicitly obeying the directions of her parents, rejected him. His\nmortification was extreme.\n\nAll the passions of these fierce warriors are proportionably strong,\nand his disappointed feelings immediately urged him to an act of\ntreachery. He went over to the enemy, and made those communications\nwhich greatly facilitated the progress of the siege. Akbar well knew\nhow to profit by the information received, but did not trust the man\nbeyond the line of wary policy. The Rajpoot was allowed to see nothing\nby which he could betray the Emperor\u2019s designs to his countrymen, yet\nhe was apparently treated with confidence and kindness. He, however,\nsoon perceived that he was suspected. This discovery raised his\nindignation, and he immediately embraced the hollow maxim, suggested by\nhis passions, that the man suspected of being a traitor is justified\nin becoming one. He was a fierce hot-blooded desperado, who sacrificed\neverything to the gratification of his feelings. Thinking that he\nmight by a second act of treachery win the consent of Jugmul to wed\nhis daughter, and thus gratify at once his love and his revenge, he\ndetermined to seek the governor of Chittore and propose, as the price\nof his consent, to slay the Mogul monarch.\n\nThe first difficulty was to obtain admission into the fort. Aware that\non one side, where the wall was so high as almost to preclude the\npossibility of scaling it, the sentries posted were fewer and less\nvigilant, he resolved alone to attempt to climb the wall in this spot.\nOne dark night, having provided himself with several spikes about nine\ninches long, he proceeded cautiously to the rampart. He had quitted the\ncamp unknown to any one, having passed the sentries by daylight without\nsuspicion, upon some natural pretence. When he reached the base of the\nrampart, which was here at least eighty feet high, he began to try his\nspikes upon the masonry. The stones were laid one on the other without\ncement, so that the interstices between them were sufficiently spacious\nto admit, with a little management, the introduction of his spikes.\nFixing the first about a yard from the ground he stood on it, and\nplacing another a foot above it he again raised himself, and pursuing\nthis plan with cool perseverance, in spite of the great peril, he at\nlength reached the summit of the battlement.\n\nWhilst he was thus ascending, with the patient earnestness of a man who\nhas a personal feeling to gratify, the sentinel above was fortunately\nwhiling away the hours by chanting one of his native songs, which\nprevented him from hearing any sound made during this perilous ascent.\n\nPreviously to attempting the wall, the Rajpoot had cast off his dress,\nso that, the night being dark, the deep hue of his skin was not likely\nto be perceived by any eye that might look over the parapet. The white\ntunic of the soldier upon the ramparts, on the contrary, rendered him\nvisible to a considerable distance through the darkness. When the\nRajpoot reached the summit, he sprang over the parapet as the sentinel\nwas leisurely walking from him. Having fairly gained the ramparts, he\nwent deliberately up to the soldier, and, addressing him as if he were\none of the garrison, had no difficulty in accounting for his appearance\nwithout exciting suspicion. Seeing that he was one of his own caste,\nthe unsuspecting Hindoo entertained no doubt of his belonging to the\ntroops under the command of Jugmul, and consequently allowed him to\nproceed without further interruption. The Rajpoot threw himself under\nthe portico of a temple, and slept soundly until morning. At an early\nhour he appeared before the governor.\n\n\u201cYou are, no doubt, surprised,\u201d said he, \u201cto behold me again within\nthese walls. You have considered me a traitor, but I shall be able to\nprove to you that you have been deceived, and to show that I may be the\nmeans of saving this town from the cruelty of a vindictive foe.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe man who, under the emotions of anger, seeks an enemy\u2019s camp,\u201d said\nJugmul, \u201cis to be suspected.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you cannot be ignorant that by seeking the enemy\u2019s camp, I may\nhave obtained that information which will enable you to foil his\napproaches, and save the lives and properties of those under your\ngovernment.\u201d\n\n\u201cShow me that you have done so before you expect that I should believe\nyou are not a traitor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have now sought you to make a proposal for the benefit of all within\nthis fortress.\u201d\n\n\u201cDeclare it.\u201d\n\n\u201cUpon certain conditions I undertake to kill the Moslem Sovereign.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are they?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat you will give me your daughter in marriage.\u201d\n\n\u201cHad I twenty daughters I should not think it too great a reward for so\nsignal a service. Destroy the tyrant who has led his troops before our\nwalls, and I pledge myself to give you my daughter with an ample dowry.\u201d\n\n\u201cI promise, at least, to attempt his death, and nothing but my own will\nsecure his safety.\u201d\n\n\u201cI need not tell you that you are believed to have deserted to the\nenemy from an impulse of revenge towards me. When once an impression of\nthis kind is excited in the breasts of brave and honourable men, it is\nno easy thing to remove it. If you can accomplish what you propose you\nwill be immediately restored to the good opinion which, so far as now\nappears, you have justly forfeited.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpoot was sufficiently satisfied with his reception, but, when he\ndesired to see the object of his attachment, her father replied:--\n\n\u201cNo. You are still under the imputation of treachery; that imputation\nmust be removed before you can have any intercourse with my daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you suspect my integrity?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no warranty for your honesty, and therefore till you show that\nyour absence from the city was not dishonourable to you, I can look\nupon you in no other light than that of a traitor.\u201d\n\n\u201cTreat me as a traitor then, and order me to be flung from yonder\nbattlements.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! you have undertaken to prove your zeal for the welfare of your\ncountry, and I should be loth to deprive you of the opportunity.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you believe me faithful if I make a vacancy in the Mogul\nsovereignty before the waning of another moon?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe destruction of the Moslem king will restore you to my confidence,\nand to that of your countrymen.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpoot returned to Akbar\u2019s camp. His absence had been noticed. He\nwas summoned before the Monarch. When he entered the presence, Akbar\neyed him with keen and significant scrutiny, but the man did not blanch.\n\n\u201cSoldier,\u201d said the Emperor, \u201cyou were absent last night from the camp.\nWhat was the object of your absence?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe king\u2019s interest.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe king\u2019s interest is not to be promoted by a breach of discipline.\u201d\n\n\u201cI obtained admission into the fort, and have done the base work of a\nspy for the benefit of my country\u2019s enemy.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor was silent for a moment, but his eye fixed with an intense\nexpression of inquiry upon the traitor. \u201cWhat did you learn?\u201d he at\nlength inquired.\n\n\u201cThat a sally will be made by some of the choicest troops of the\ngarrison, on the second morrow from the present. The governor is\ndetermined to suffer extermination rather than capitulate, and has\nemployed a secret assassin to take the Sovereign\u2019s life.\u201d\n\n\u201cKnow you where he lurks?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the Moslem camp.\u201d\n\nAkbar was not to be deceived by this flimsy artifice. He had too acute\na perception of human motives to be persuaded that a man would thus\ngratuitously hazard his life for the interests of one to whom he was\nnationally an enemy, but he disguised his suspicions, and ordered the\nsoldier to take his bow, in the use of which he was reported to be\nsingularly expert, and accompany him before the enemy\u2019s walls. The\nEmperor was attended by only a few followers; a syce[30] led a horse\nbehind his royal master.\n\nWhen they were within bow-shot of the ramparts seeing a group of the\nfoe so near, the besieged crowded to the battlements, expecting that it\nwas the preliminary of an assault. The governor was visible above the\nrest by his elevated stature.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Akbar to the Rajpoot, \u201cprove to me the truth of what you\nhave lately represented by sending an arrow into the brain of yonder\nchief.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpoot affected to comply, and advanced gradually towards the\nsyce, who was leading the Emperor\u2019s charger, and now stood nearly on a\nline with the royal group, a few yards to the left. The Rajpoot having\nplaced himself beside this man, fixed an arrow in the string of his\nbow, and directed it towards the rampart. While the eyes of Akbar and\nhis attendants were gazing upon the object towards which they expected\nevery moment to see the arrow winged, the soldier, suddenly turning,\ndischarged his shaft direct at the Sovereign. It pierced his shoulder\nand fixed in the bone. The Hindoo instantly flung down his bow, drew\nhis dagger, and stabbing to the heart the attendant who was holding his\nroyal master\u2019s horse, vaulted upon its back, plunged his heels in its\nsides, and darted towards the city with the velocity of a thunderbolt.\n\nThe nobles stood amazed. Akbar\u2019s eye glanced fire, but he was silent,\nand walked back to the camp, where the arrow was with some difficulty\nextracted. He was unable to quit his tent for some days; but within a\nfortnight the wound was healed.\n\nMeanwhile, the Rajpoot, after he had discharged the arrow, rode to the\ncity gate, and was immediately admitted. What he had done was reported\nto the governor, who immediately granted him an interview.\n\n\u201cI now come to claim my bride--my arrow has pierced the Moslem king.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs he slain?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is impossible he should survive.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be time to fulfil the conditions of a promise when it is\nproved that the contract has been completed according to the terms\nstipulated.\u201d\n\nIt was soon known in the besieged city that Akbar was recovering from\nhis wound.\n\nThe Rajpoot was again summoned before the governor.\n\n\u201cYou have failed,\u201d said Jugmul, \u201cto perform your undertaking.\u201d The\nman\u2019s brow contracted. \u201cMy pledge is, therefore, cancelled; and I now\ndetermine that you shall pay the penalty of a double treachery. Though\na traitor to your country, had you been the successful instrument of\nits vengeance, however base the motives, your life should have been\nspared, and my child have become a sacrifice: as it is you are not\nworthy of confidence, and therefore deserve to die.\u201d\n\nHe was immediately conducted to the Mahomedan camp, under a guard, with\na letter from the governor to the Emperor, stating, that he gave up the\ntraitor to be dealt with as the Mahomedan sovereign should deem proper.\nAkbar sent back the guard with a courteous message, and ordering one of\nthe state elephants to be brought before him, commanded the traitor to\nstand forth. The man advanced with an undaunted countenance, expressing\nan utter contempt of death. He crossed his arms over his breast, and\ndirected towards the Monarch a look of defiance. At a signal from the\nroyal hand, the elephant was urged forward by the mahout, and, upon\nreaching the criminal, it felled him to the earth with his trunk,\nplaced its huge foot upon his body, and instantly trod him to death.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[30] An Indian groom.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe siege now proceeded with vigour. The Emperor gave orders that\napproaches should be made by a sabut, a description of defence for\nthe besiegers peculiar to India. They were conducted in the following\nmanner:--the zigzags, commenced at gun-shot distance from the fort,\nconsisted of a double wall, and by means of blinds or stuffed gabions,\ncovered with leather, the besiegers continued their approaches till\nthey arrived near the walls of the place to be attacked. The miners\nthen proceeded to sink their shafts, and carry on their galleries\nunder ground, for the construction of the mines; in which, having\nplaced the powder and blown up the works, the storming party rushed\nfrom the sabut, or superficial galleries, to assault the place.[31] On\nthe present occasion, two sabuts or superficial galleries having been\nconstructed, two mines were carried, under bastions, at different spots.\n\nAkbar being determined to obtain possession of the place, at whatever\ncost, daily inspected the working of the mines, which were prepared\nwith great expedition. Several sallies were made by the besieged,\nwhich, though well directed and vigorously maintained, were invariably\nrepulsed by the steady discipline of the Mogul troops.\n\nEncouraged by the presence of their sovereign, the miners worked with\nincredible diligence, and the soldiers displayed a valour against\nthe frequent sorties of the besieged, which completely repelled the\nheadlong valour of the Rajpoots. Akbar marked with his especial\nnotice, not only every officer, but likewise every common soldier who\ndistinguished himself; and thus, besides securing the affection of his\narmy, excited deeds of individual heroism and of united valour, as\ngratifying to him as they were astonishing to the foe.\n\nMeanwhile, within the fort, considerable confusion prevailed at the\nprogress which the Mahomedans were making in their approaches, and at\nthe unsuccessful issue of the sallies of the besieged. The governor\u2019s\nwife was daily on the ramparts encouraging the men. An attempt by the\nfoe to scale the walls had been repelled with determined resolution by\nthe garrison, during which the heroic matron had, with her own hands,\nhurled several Moslems from the battlements as they reached the summit.\nAnxious to reap that glory considered the exclusive inheritance of the\nother sex, she determined upon an act as desperate as it was uncommon.\n\n\u201cJugmul,\u201d said she, \u201cI will visit the enemy\u2019s camp, and try if a\nwoman\u2019s arm cannot reach his heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo,\u201d said her husband, \u201cif you think that you have a reasonable chance\nof ridding us of the foe. But what is your plan?\u201d\n\n\u201cMerely to be conducted to the Mahomedan\u2019s tent; then trust to this arm\nand a woman\u2019s resolution for the issue.\u201d\n\nThe resolute Rajpootni arrayed herself in her most becoming attire, and\nabout dusk sought the hostile camp. She was still a handsome woman.\nBeing stopped by the guard, she represented herself to be a minstrel,\ndesirous of exhibiting the superiority of her art before the Mogul\nEmperor. She was alone, and there did not appear much risk in admitting\na woman unaccompanied within the Mahomedan lines. It was announced\nto Akbar that a Hindoo musician was anxious to play before him. The\nMonarch who, after the harassing fatigues of the day, was fond of\nseeking relaxation from the anxieties which his present undertaking\nnaturally accumulated upon him, commanded her to be admitted. As\nshe entered the royal presence, Akbar was extremely struck with her\nnatural dignity of deportment, and the commanding expression of her\ncountenance. He instantly saw that she was not a common minstrel, and,\nat once suspecting treachery, gave orders that no one, on whatever\npretence, either man or woman, should be admitted into the camp.\n\n\u201cWell, gentle dame,\u201d said the Sovereign, \u201cwhat are your wishes?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have heard that the Mogul Monarch is a munificent benefactor to\nthose who have the good fortune to succeed in administering to his\npleasures. I would attempt to do as much, being held to have great\nskill upon my native vina.\u201d\n\n\u201cA graceful instrument,\u201d said the Emperor. \u201cApproach and try your\nskill, which, if it be at all equal to your beauty, cannot fail to\ndelight.\u201d\n\nShe approached him; and Akbar having placed her on his right hand, bade\nher play; at the same time watching her with so keen a survey, that\nthe Rajpootni began to fear she was detected. With an unruffled brow,\nhowever, she commenced tuning her vina, which is the Hindoo lute, and\nplayed an air with considerable skill. The sovereign was gratified. She\nplayed several airs with great taste and feeling. The enthusiasm of the\nperformer was at length communicated to the Emperor; and in the excess\nof his gratification, he was thrown off his guard. Seizing a favourable\nmoment, when his eyes were withdrawn from her, she drew a very small\ntaper dagger; but before she could plunge it into the body of her\nintended victim, he had seized her wrist, and forced the instrument\nfrom her grasp.\n\n\u201cA very happy close to thy minstrelsy,\u201d said Akbar, with a severe smile.\n\n\u201cI have failed,\u201d said the heroic woman, undauntedly, \u201cand am prepared\nfor the issue. Give your orders, king, I am prepared to die. I did not\nmake this attempt without weighing the penalty. I care not for the\nmode: you will see that I can defy your tortures; and, to give you some\nidea of the spirit of that foe which you seek to overcome, take the\nsolemn assurance of a doomed woman, that there is not a living soul\nbehind yonder battlements that would not brave death in any shape to be\navenged upon the despisers of their gods.\u201d\n\nAkbar made no reply, but, ordering her to be placed under a strong\nguard in a vacant tent, on the following morning sent her with an\nescort to the gate of Chittore, telling her, as she quitted his camp,\nthat the Emperor of the Moguls warred not with women. The haughty\nRajpootni was deeply moved at her failure and the Mogul\u2019s magnanimity.\nIt, however, did not alter her determination to accomplish his death,\nthough at the expense of her own life. She felt no longer surprised\nthat his troops were invincible, and himself so renowned; and her hopes\nof forcing him to raise the siege began, from this moment, to decline.\nShe discovered in Akbar the virtues of bravery, and a contempt of death\nto a degree that would have done honour to a Rajpoot; and besides\nthose virtues, which he possessed common to all brave men, she could\nnot but perceive that he was endowed with some peculiarly his own. She\nexpressed her fears to Jugmul, that under such a leader the enemy must\neventually prevail. \u201cBut we can die,\u201d she said, with energy, \u201cfighting\non our ramparts; and their success, whenever it comes, will be recorded\nin characters of blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cWife!\u201d said the governor, \u201cwe have no reason to despair yet. The\ngarrison is still strong and resolute; we have provisions for at least\nfive months\u2019 consumption, and long before that period it must be\ndecided whether the Moslems or Hindoos are to be masters of Chittore.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe, Jugmul, who could spare the life of one who attempted his, and\ngive her safe conduct to her friends, is no ordinary man. We have more\nto dread from Akbar\u2019s magnanimity, than either from the number or\nbravery of his followers, though he is acknowledged to command the best\ndisciplined armies in the East. What immortal glory would radiate from\nmy brow if this arm had not failed to rid the world of so distinguished\na foe.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are eloquent in his praises.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause he deserves all the good I can say of him, and all the hatred\nI can feel towards him. Jugmul, I could barter my own life, and that of\nall those of whose lives mine has been the source, to send that man to\nthe Assuras.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the governor and his wife were on the ramparts\ninspecting the defences; for, from the enemy\u2019s movements, they\nhourly expected an assault, against which every provision was made\nwhich prudent foresight could suggest. Whilst Jugmul was surveying\nthe progress of new works that he had ordered to be raised behind\nsome low bastions where he considered the fortifications weak, a\nsudden explosion was heard from before the walls, which dismayed the\nbesiegers. The shock was so great that all standing upon the ramparts\nwere thrown upon their faces. A considerable part of the lowest wall\nhad fallen, and opened a practicable breach. A second explosion\nfollowed, still more terrible, and added to the ruin, opening another\nbreach not less formidable. It was soon evident that the enemy had\nsprung two mines, and the besieged expected that the destruction of\ntheir ramparts was about to be followed by a general assault. They\ncrowded the breach, to defend their city with a wall of human bodies.\nThe enemy, however, did not storm the town, as was expected. The cause\nof this, although for a moment matter of anxious conjecture, was\nsoon ascertained. Two thousand of Akbar\u2019s choicest troops, prepared\nto storm, had advanced when the first mine exploded, under the\nsupposition that both mines had been sprung at the same moment. The\nparty immediately divided into two equal bodies, in order to enter both\nbreaches at once. One of the mines only had ignited, and, when the\nparty reached the other, they were scattered as with the shock of an\nearthquake. The ground opened beneath their feet; numbers were blown\ninto the air; others had their limbs torn from the quivering trunks,\nand a scene of consternation prevailed, altogether indescribable.\nFifteen Mogul officers and above four hundred men were killed.\n\nThis unforeseen disaster damped the energies of the storming parties.\nThey paused until the confusion subsided, thus giving their enemies\ntime to prepare for defence. They then advanced boldly--but not with\nelated hearts--to the breaches. They were received with unshrinking\nvalour by the besieged. Every attempt to make good an entrance was\nwithstood by men determined to die in defence of their walls. The\nMahomedans were repulsed. They returned to the camp greatly dispirited,\nnot covered with shame indeed, but without the glory of success. Akbar,\nconscious that the cause of failure was to be sought in the accident\nwhich had occurred previously to the assault being made, visited the\nmen in person, encouraging them under their disheartening defeat,\nraised their sinking spirits, and animated them for fresh encounters.\n\nThe spirits of the besieged were so elated by their success and the\ndestruction of the enemy, that they began with extraordinary energy\nto repair the breaches, which by the next morning they had filled up\nwith a thick wall of mud. This was a secure defence, for the moisture\nof the material rendered the surface so slippery, that the difficulty\nof scaling such an impediment was so great as to render the attempt\nimpracticable. This did not dismay the besiegers, who prepared to\nrenew their attempts upon the town with increased activity. Akbar\u2019s\nwas not a mind to be overcome by difficulties; it became more elevated\nin proportion as impediments multiplied. He gave his orders with that\ncalm earnestness of resolution which showed he would be satisfied\nwith nothing short of complete success. His men evinced the greatest\nalacrity in their obedience to the orders of their officers, and soon\nrecovered from the effects of their late mischance. The Hindoos were no\nless assiduous in providing against all possible contingencies; and, in\nthe course of a few days, the works of Chittore were nearly as secure\nas before the opening of the breaches by the mines.\n\nA few nights after the accident from the explosion of the mine, the\nEmperor, who had given orders that other works should be constructed,\nwas in the batteries directing the workmen. While there, he observed\nthe governor of Chittore superintending, by torchlight, the repairs of\nthe walls, which were now nearly completed. Seizing a matchlock from\none of the attendants, he directed it with so true an aim as to lodge\na ball in Jugmul\u2019s forehead. It was easy to perceive that the greatest\nconfusion prevailed upon the ramparts of the besieged city. Persons\nwere seen hurrying to and fro, and the walls were soon crowded with\ntroops and citizens. Akbar, from this moment, saw that the game was in\nhis own hands. The death of their governor he knew would render the\ngarrison despairing and reckless; he consequently prepared for some of\nthose dreadful eruptions so common among Rajpoot soldiers when driven\nto extremity.\n\nDay had scarcely dawned, when his camp was attacked with a fury which\nnothing but the better discipline of his soldiers, and great numerical\nsuperiority, could have repelled. The Rajpoots, headed by their late\ngovernor\u2019s widow, fought with a desperation which, for the moment,\nbore down all opposition. The widow urged her horse with heedless fury\ntowards Akbar\u2019s tent. An Omrah placing himself before her to oppose\nher further progress, she buried a short spear in his body, and,\ncontinuing her career, reached the royal pavilion. Here she was opposed\nby the guards, the foremost of whom struck her in the face with his\nsword; but having speared him, she flung herself from the back of her\ncharger, and, rushing into the tent, sprang towards the couch,--it was\nempty. With some difficulty she was secured, but not until she had\nwounded several of the guard, and received a second severe wound in the\nneck, from which the blood flowed so copiously that she was obliged\nto relinquish the contest, becoming faint and unable to continue her\nexertions. By this time her followers had been nearly all cut off, and\nfew returned to the city to bear the lamentable tale of discomfiture.\n\nAkbar entered his tent, and saw the noble woman who had made such a\nbrave effort to avenge her husband\u2019s death fainting upon the ground,\nreeking with her own blood and that of her foes. He instantly ordered\nher wound to be dressed, and that she should be carefully attended\nduring the night. He was charmed with her heroism, he reverenced her\ndistress, and determined to offer very advantageous terms on the morrow\nif the garrison would capitulate. The obstinacy of the besieged had won\nhis admiration, and he was heard to say to a confidential officer that\nwith such troops he would undertake to conquer the world.\n\nNext morning the captive widow rose from her couch, and demanded to see\nthe Emperor. She was immediately brought before him.\n\n\u201cSovereign of the Moguls,\u201d she said, undauntedly, \u201cI have thrice sought\nyour life. I have freely braved your vengeance. I am prepared for the\ninfliction which I have provoked, and my failure deserves. What death\nam I to die?\u201d\n\n\u201cAllah forbid, lady, that I should punish any one for trying to take\naway the life of a foe in honourable warfare. It is but natural that\nyou should seek to accomplish the death of him who has destroyed\nyour husband, not from feelings of enmity, for I admired his bravery\nand esteemed his patriotism, but as a melancholy means to a glorious\nend. His death is one of those sad contingencies inseparable from a\nstate of active hostility. I have now to propose to you terms for the\ncapitulation of Chittore.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I have influence to decide upon a proposal that involves the\ndishonour of my countrymen, I will bid them resist till there shall no\nlonger remain among them an arm to strike.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, lady, the terms I intend to offer will be alike honourable to you\nand the inhabitants of yonder fortress.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo terms from the sovereign of the Moguls can be honourable to those\nwhom he has so irreparably wronged. I will listen to no accommodation\nshort of disbanding your army, and leaving the city of Chittore to\nenjoy that peace which you have wantonly interrupted. I am now in\nyour power. I seek not to stay your vengeance. Wreak it upon me, with\nthe flush and glow of a tyrant\u2019s satisfaction. I will brave you with\nmy last gasp of life. I will defy you with my expiring breath; but\nnever could I listen to terms from the man who has profaned the sacred\nsanctuary of the Hindoos, and cast down upon the threshold of their\ntemples the representatives of their gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cLady, I would show the difference between the magnanimity of the\nMahomedan and the Hindoo. You have thrice sought my life with an\nasperity of passion, sanctioned only by what you consider the sacred\nobligations of revenge. You have refused to listen to terms of\nhonourable accommodation. You have expressed towards me the deadliest\nanimosity. You are in my power, and I could in a moment prevent all\nfurther exercise of your hatred; but I forbear. You are free. I have\ncommanded an escort to be ready once more to bear you to the gates of\nyour native city.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpootni turned her head; a tear for an instant glazed her eye,\nbut the warm glow of pride dried it in its crystal formation, and\nit ceased to flow. She uttered not a word, but silently quitted the\ntent, making a haughty salaam to the Emperor as she passed, mounted\na litter which had been prepared to convey her, and in a short time\nwas once more within the gates of Chittore. Her heart now swelled with\nthoughts of desperation and of death. She acknowledged the magnanimous\nforbearance of her enemy, and accepted life only to perform a last\nand awful duty among her family and her countrymen. Her soul dilated\nwith the solemn purpose which she was about to fulfil--the crisis had\narrived.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[31] See Brigg\u2019s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii., page 230.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe inhabitants of Chittore now gave themselves up to despair. Their\ngovernor was dead, a great number of the garrison had been slain in the\nlate sally, and no hope of rescue appeared. The effect was dreadful.\nThe fear of falling into the enemy\u2019s hands drove many to deeds of\ndesperation only heard of among those whose minds have been obfuscated\nby the gloom of that superstition of which idolatry is the monstrous\nparent. Whole families destroyed themselves, dying in each other\u2019s\narms, and with their expiring breaths cursing those who had induced\nthem to embrace such a dreadful alternative. There was scarcely a\nhouse that was not filled with the dying and the dead. The groans of\ndeath within mingled with the clamours of war without, and the great\nconqueror of nature was about to reap a full harvest of triumph.\n\nDay after day passed, and these scenes were repeated. Corpses lay in\nthe streets, and \u201cthere was none to bury them;\u201d so that the steams\nof pestilence began to rise and load the air with the elements of\ndestruction. For two or three days the heroic widow of Jugmul, who now\ndirected the defence of Chittore, was confined to her couch; but the\nmoment she was able to rise, she quitted her house and repaired to the\nramparts. The despair of the citizens had reached her ears; she heard\nit in moody silence, but calmly gave her orders, and, summoning her\nchief officers, among whom was Peirup Singh, she said--\n\n\u201cThe enemy are invincible, and we have nothing now but to prepare for\nour final change. I need not tell you how the Rajpoot comports himself\nat this hour of extremity.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, why this despair?\u201d asked Peirup Singh. \u201cWe are not yet\nvanquished. The garrison is still numerous, our soldiers are brave, and\nour enemies enfeebled by the late conflict.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are mighty in their strength; we are only mighty in our\nweakness--they to vanquish, but we to perish. I need not bid you\nprepare, because I know none of our blood can be backward to meet death\nas becomes the brave.\u201d\n\nPeirup Singh, though a courageous man, was by no means prepared for\nsuch an issue as the Rajpootni\u2019s widow seemed to contemplate. He loved\nher daughter, and, with the prospect of enjoyment before him, did not\nprecisely see the necessity of that desperate alternative to which\nthe late governor\u2019s relict alluded. Even should they be obliged to\ncapitulate, the magnanimity of Akbar was too well known to warrant\nthe supposition that he would treat the vanquished with tyranny; the\nRajpoot therefore thought that a capitulation in time to so generous an\nenemy would be their safest policy.\n\nWhen he expressed these sentiments to her, who directed the movements\nof the besieged, she said, with an indignant glance at the proposer of\nso degrading an act of pusillanimity--\n\n\u201cWhat! does the suitor of my daughter make a proposal so unworthy of\nhis race? It is enough; henceforward you are a stranger to my home.\u201d\n\nShe turned from him, and would not hear his reply. Having given her\norders in case an assault should be made by the foe, she visited the\nhouses of those whom despair had urged to fatal extremities. The sad\nsight only nerved her heart to fiercer resolution. She looked upon\nthe dead without a sigh. She conversed with the dying as if they were\nabout to be hushed in a joyous sleep, and there was neither regret\nnor anguish in their expiring groans. The dead bodies scattered about\nthe streets, and exhaling the elements of death, moved her not to an\nemotion. Her soul was passion-cased--it was absorbed by one intense\nfeeling. Upon entering her home she was met by her elder daughter.\n\n\u201cKherla,\u201d she said calmly, \u201cdeath has been doing much unsightly work\namong us. The conquerors will not find their garland of victory a\nbeautiful wreath. The foul steams of decaying mortality will hang upon\nand blight it. My child, we must go to another change. Are you prepared\nto quit a base world for a brighter? Agni[32] must be our guide to\nthe mutation which awaits us when these poor bodies shall have become\nashes.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy mother, I am ready to perform the conditions of my destiny. I\ndesire not to exist longer than I can live in the freedom to which\nI was born; and, rather than become the captive of the Moslem, I am\nwilling to encounter the flames which shall give me a release from\nthose bonds the foe are preparing to cast upon us.\u201d\n\nThe mother embraced her child. The younger girl had overheard this\nconversation, and her heart palpitated. She had hitherto found life\nan acceptable and sweet possession. She, therefore, felt no desire to\nembrace the faggot, and have her spirit dismissed from her body on\nwings of flame. She was full of youth and health, highly susceptible of\nenjoyment, with a fine flow of animal spirits; and to her, therefore,\ndeath was at once a terror and an evil. She was summoned into the\npresence of her parent, who said with a calm but stern voice,\n\n\u201cGirl, you must prepare for your last hour. The summons of Yama has\nreached us, and we have no choice. When he calls, obedience is our\nduty, and the performance of our duty cannot but be a blessing. We must\nperish, my child.\u201d\n\nThe poor girl shuddered but did not utter a word, knowing how ill the\nstern temper of her only surviving parent could brook resistance.\nShe bent acquiescently, but the tear started into her eye as she\nturned from the bold mother to conceal her emotions. Having dismissed\nher children, the heroic matron began to prepare her mind for the\napproaching sacrifice.\n\nThe rite of the Johur was now determined on. The whole garrison,\namounting to five thousand, three having already perished, were\nassembled. The governor\u2019s widow told them that the last effort was\nto be made. Nothing remained between subjugation and death. They\nheard her without a murmur, but with that profound silence which, in\na multitude, betokens an inviolable unity of purpose, and began to\nassume the saffron robe. They were soon prepared to sally from the\ngate. Peirup Singh was among them. He looked defiance but spoke not.\nTheir swords gleamed in the sun. The stern Rajpootni gazed with a\nglancing eye of pride, as she beheld the brave band going forth to the\nsacrifice, knowing that their swords would be steeped in the blood of\ntheir foes. She waved her hand when all were ready; the gates were\nthrown open and they marched forth to the fatal conflict. Their shouts\nwere deafening as they pushed forward like a living deluge. The Moguls\nknew what they had to expect from the desperate valour of these devoted\nsoldiers. The onset was terrific. Death followed everywhere in the\ntrack of those unshrinking assaulters. There was no quarter accepted.\nThe moment a Rajpoot was taken prisoner he fell upon his own sword.\nThe carnage among the Mahomedans was dreadful. They fell by hundreds\nbefore the swords of those infuriated men who had devoted themselves to\ndestruction. The Hindoos fought against an enemy more than five times\ntheir number with a determination that spread consternation through the\nMahomedan ranks. Even Akbar was amazed. He appeared in person in the\nthickest of that awful struggle, and was twice wounded by a Rajpoot\nsabre: but his armour protected his life, and the half naked bodies of\nhis foes exposed them to the invincible force of his sword.\n\nFor several hours the sanguinary strife continued, until almost every\nRajpoot was slain. Upwards of two thousand Mahomedans were left dead\nupon the field, and full twice that number wounded. The brave Hindoos\nhad raised a memorable trophy round their bodies never to be forgotten.\nAkbar visited the field of carnage. He was astonished at the impetuous\nand unflinching valour displayed by the foe. He dropped a tear as\nhis eye glanced over the field covered with slain. He had obtained a\ndearly bought victory. It was evident that had the enemy met him upon\nequal terms, with them would have remained the honours of triumph. The\nsacrifice had indeed been great, but the victory was complete. As soon\nas the wasted energies of his troops should be recruited he determined\nto make an assault upon the town if the terms which he was disposed to\noffer were rejected.\n\nAmong the few Rajpoots who had survived the carnage of that sanguinary\nday was Peirup Singh. He sought the lovely Kherla Nuny, hoping that she\nwould fly with him from peril to happiness, but it was evident he knew\nher not.\n\n\u201cKherla,\u201d said he, \u201call is lost. We have done everything that brave men\ncould do, and Chittore is at the foe\u2019s mercy. Let us fly, my bride,\nwhile the means of escape remain to us. I can take you to a place of\nsafety.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d calmly asked the noble girl.\n\n\u201cIs it possible you can ask such a question of Peirup Singh, your\naccepted bridegroom, who is prepared to convey you from this scene of\ncarnage to a home where happiness awaits you?\u201d\n\n\u201cPeirup Singh, the bridegroom of Kherla Nuny, would not dishonour his\nkindred. The daughter of Jugmul can never unite herself with one who,\nafter having assumed the saffron robe, has run from the foe and hid his\nrecreant head behind stone walls. Dost thou fear to die, Peirup Singh?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; but I deem life a gift not to be rashly thrown away when it may\nbe appreciated and enjoyed. If good can be purchased by the sacrifice\nit is our duty to yield it up, otherwise such a sacrifice becomes a\nfoolish and culpable suicide.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs not the avoidance of disgrace a good? Is escape from death, with\nthe brand of infamy upon a man\u2019s brow, no evil? He who would hesitate\nbetween life and disgrace, has a petty soul; but he that would accept\nthe one with the polluted inheritance of the other is the worst of\nrecreants. We never can be united, Peirup Singh.\u201d\n\nThe rejected Rajpoot was deeply mortified--she would not listen to\nhis expostulations; but quitting his presence, turned upon him a look\nof withering scorn. He was confounded. Between shame and passion he\nstood aghast. He remained for some time irresolute, when on a sudden\nthe apartment was filled with a thick curling smoke. He rushed into\na court towards a passage whence the stifling vapour proceeded. The\nawful truth at once burst upon his sight. The funereal fire had been\nkindled in a large subterranean chamber, in which all the members of\nthe family, except the late governors widow and her younger daughter,\nhad assembled, to the number of a hundred and forty-seven. Peirup Singh\nlooked into the opening, and beheld the beautiful Kherla waving a torch\nwith which she had just ignited the combustibles strewed over the\napartment. In a few moments the smoke shut out all from his sight, and\nthe crackling flames prevented his ear from catching the groans of the\ndying. The forked fires rose to the skies with a horrid hissing, as if\nof demons triumphing in the frightful consummation of death. Both the\nsight and the sound were horrible. There was no rescuing the infatuated\ngirl from that destruction upon which she had voluntarily rushed. She\nhad already become the virgin bride of death. Young and numerous were\nthe bridesmaids of that fiery marriage. Peirup Singh quitted the scene\nof horror with a deeply smitten heart.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[32] The God of Fire.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nAkbar sent a Vakeel, offering to the besieged most liberal terms, which\nwere indignantly rejected.\n\n\u201cTell your king,\u201d was the reply, \u201cthat we accept no terms from him who\nseeks to dispossess us of our homes. We deem that capitulation is a\nword only admitted into the vocabulary of cowards.\u201d\n\nThe Vakeel returned, and Akbar determined to storm the town. On that\nvery day two mines were sprung, which made a breach in the walls in two\nseveral places as before. The heroine who now commanded Chittore was\nundismayed at what she saw. The whole garrison had been cut off except\nabout two hundred men. Multitudes of citizens had destroyed themselves\nand their families to escape falling into the conqueror\u2019s hands. She,\nhowever, summoned as many of the inhabitants as were in a condition to\nmake a final effort, determined to offer resistance to the enemy so\nlong as there remained a man within the fortress able and willing to\nfight.\n\nThe moment the breaches were formed the heroic widow ordered new works\nto be raised, and thus a slight defence was opposed to the foe in an\nincredibly short space of time. High wooden frames, filled with mud,\nhad been previously prepared, and were instantly placed in the openings\nof the rampart. Upon the battlements stood a small but determined band,\nwith large vessels containing a boiling liquid of the consistence of\npitch, ready to pour it upon the besiegers\u2019 heads as they attempted\nto scale the shattered walls. A number of females armed with missiles\nlikewise crowded the ramparts, determined to take their part in the\nclose of this desperate game. All the principal women within the\nfortress had already suffered themselves to be sacrificed by their\nhusbands, sons, or brothers; those that remained were only a few who\nhad escaped the general massacre to die in the breaches of their native\ncity.\n\nWhile the inhabitants were working at the breaches Peirup Singh came\nbefore the mother of his beloved. She moved from him with a glance of\nscorn.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said he, \u201cturn not from a despairing man. I come here to redeem\nthat honour which you consider I have forfeited. The master-passion\nwithin me is now quelled, and I yield to the sadder circumstances of my\ndestiny.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe man,\u201d said the Rajpootni, \u201cwho prefers life to glory deserves not\nto die the warrior\u2019s death. There are enough on these battlements to\nleave a record for the dark page of history of the desperate defence of\nChittore. You may go and propitiate the conqueror, and live with the\ngalling iron of bondage entering into your recreant soul. We seek no\naid from Peirup Singh.\u201d\n\nThe Rajpoot bit his lip, but stirred not. The hurried glance of his\neye, which darted like a sunbeam towards the advancing hosts, expressed\nthe fierce resolve which swelled his heart at this moment of advancing\nperil. It was the glance of a bayed tiger. He drew his sword and\nwalked with a deliberate but firm step to the least protected part of\nthe breach.\n\nThe enemy advanced at a quick trot, and poured forward like a sudden\nirruption of the sea. When the foremost reached the trench the shock\nwas terrific. They were forced back by the besieged with a resolution\nwhich nothing could withstand. The scalding preparation was poured\nupon their heads. This new mode of resistance confounded them. They\ndrew back from the rampart, and renewed their attack only to meet\nwith a similar reception. Time after time they were repulsed, but the\nbesiegers being greatly exposed in the breaches, suffered extremely\nfrom the enemy\u2019s matchlocks. Peirup Singh fought with the fury of a\ngored lion. He was twice severely wounded, but did not retire from the\nstation he had chosen. Evening put an end to the struggle, and the\nMahomedans were obliged to retreat.\n\nTheir temporary success elated the besieged, still it was evident that\nthey could not maintain a successful opposition for another day. Their\nnumbers had been much diminished by the enemy\u2019s well-directed fire,\nand the temporary defences were considerably weakened by continual\nassaults. Nevertheless, it was determined that resistance should be\noffered so long as there was a man to stand in the trench.\n\nNext morning the attack was renewed. Many of the Mahomedans were hurled\nheadlong from the walls in attempting to scale them, but were succeeded\nby fresh troops equally resolute; and at length, in spite of the\nexertions of the despairing Hindoos, they obtained a footing, and the\ntrench was carried. Peirup Singh, having killed several of the foe, was\nshot through the brain with a matchlock, and fell dead into the ditch.\nThe heroic Rajpootni widow, who, though dangerously wounded, still\nstood upon the battlements encouraging the brave defenders of Chittore,\nrushed forward to meet death in the trench, but the enemy generously\ndropped their swords as she advanced, and attempted to take her alive.\nPerceiving the intention, she instantly retreated towards the town,\nfollowed by a party of Akbar\u2019s soldiers. Though still reeking with her\nblood, she gained her home before them, and, having entered, securely\nfastened the door. Summoning her only remaining daughter, she cried--\n\n\u201cMy child, the moment is come when we must consummate our triumph. We\nshall not fall alive into the hands of the foe.\u201d\n\nShe seized a torch which had been kept ready lighted to meet such a\nmelancholy contingency. The daughter had not the mother\u2019s heroism--she\nshrieked as she advanced towards the pile, and would have retreated,\nbut her resolute parent, with the last collected effort of strength,\ndragged her onward. \u201cThere is no alternative but death, my child,\u201d she\nsaid, calmly. She reached the pyre, took the trembling girl in her\narms, ascended the fatal platform, applied the torch, and in a few\nmoments both mother and daughter were wrapped in the embrace of death.\nThe soldiers entered, having burst open the door, and found their prey\nhad escaped them. They gazed upon the flaming pile, upon which oil had\nbeen poured to excite it to quicker combustion. They were deprived\nof their victim. The flames were singing a fearful requiem over her\nashes. It was a horrible sight to witness the combined consummation of\nsuperstition and despair.\n\nThe fortress was soon filled with the victorious Mahomedans. Those\nHindoos who had not adopted the desperate resource of self-immolation,\nand had survived the carnage, thronged to the temples, the entrances\nof which they barricaded, determined to die in their sanctuaries\nrather than yield to the upholders of a different faith. Akbar himself\nentered the town, and ordered the temples to be forced. They who had\nsought sanctuary thither perished without a murmur. They attempted no\nresistance, but suffered themselves to be slaughtered like animals\nfor the sacrifice. Several thousands thus became martyrs to their\nprejudices, and died with a smile of defiance upon their lips, without\nraising a hand in self-defence. The Emperor, however, did not evince\nthat bigoted zeal which has so much disgraced the religion of every\ncountry in which it has been actively displayed, but spared the\nvenerable monuments of an ancient, though besotted, superstition.\nHis taste admired the structures, whilst his soul contemned the\nprofane rites which they had been reared to consecrate, and though\nhe destroyed the monstrous idols of the heathens, he allowed their\ntemples to stand, many of them noble monuments of Hindoo talent and\narchitectural skill.\n\nWhen the fortress was fully in possession of Akbar he gazed with\nastonishment upon the prodigal sacrifice of human life which had\noccurred in almost every house. The Johur had taken place, and many\nthousand females of all ages signalised the detestation of their\nfoes by submitting to a voluntary death. Multitudes of either sex\nsurrendered their lives, some by the sword, others on the flaming pile.\nBlood flowed in torrents. The steams of death rose to the fair heavens,\nwhich looked down calmly and beautifully, but through which glanced an\nomnipotent eye upon the violence, the follies, and the delinquencies of\nmen.\n\nSo great had been the destruction that little treasure was found by\nthe conquerors within the fortress. They who perished by a voluntary\ndecease had taken care previously to consume or destroy everything\nof value which they possessed. Even the treasures of the temples had\nbeen disposed of, so that the conquerors entered a depopulated town,\nrendered a scene of utter desolation, a fit abode only for the reptile\nand beast of prey.\n\nThat portion of the garrison which had last sallied from the gates to\ndie fighting for their country and its shrines perished in a cause\nwhich they imagined would end in their transportation to higher scenes\nof enjoyment in new states of being. They first purified themselves\nwith water, offered adoration to the Divinity, made benefactions to the\npoor, placed a branch of the toolsi in their casques, and the saligram\nround their necks, emblems of death and the grave; and having cased\nthemselves in armour, and put on the saffron robe, they bound the mor,\na funeral coronet, round their heads, embraced each other for the last\ntime, and rushed forth to perish in the fierce conflict of arms.\n\nAs the king walked through the now desolate streets he was deeply\naffected. Disfigured bodies, black and putrid, and exhaling the\nhorrible odours of decay, lay before him in all their revolting\ndeformity. The corpses of those who fell by their own hands had been\njust put under the surface of the ground, and were seen protruding\nthrough the earth from their superficial graves, filling the air with\nthe seeds of pestilence. Women and children were still among the dead\nand dying, at the last extremity, imploring piteously for a cup of\nwater to slake the raging thirst that was consuming them, and adding\nintolerable torment to their expiring agonies.\n\nAll the corpses were ordered to be collected together and consumed upon\none vast pile, and fires were kept burning for days to purify the air\nand cleanse the polluted town.\n\nSuch were the frightful circumstances under which the Mogul emperor\nbecame master of Chittore. It is, in truth, melancholy to contemplate\nthe horrors which frequently follow on the heels of human ambition.\nIt seems to look upon the sanguinary devastations of war as a sort of\nlegalised licence to destruction, and they therefore fail to excite\nour sympathies; but if we consider what an awful amount of human\nbeings have been cut off by the sword, or by those scourges so often\nthe frightful handmaids of war, pestilence and famine, we should be\nstartled at the prodigious total. Animals destroy each other singly,\nand in obedience to an irresistible instinct to support their own\nlives, which, to them, is the greatest boon of heaven, because they\nhave no prospects beyond, but the rational portion of God\u2019s creatures\ndestroy each other by large masses and in mighty sums merely to\nsubstantiate the sordid calculations of interest, to appease their base\npassions, or to realize the aims of a bloated ambition.\n\nAkbar having done all in his power to alleviate the miseries of the few\nsurviving native inhabitants of Chittore, commanded the walls to be\nrepaired, appointed Asuf Chan Hirvy governor of the fortress, leaving\nwith him a numerous garrison, and returned with the rest of his army to\nhis capital.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\n1603 A.D.--In the year of the Hegira 1014, Prince Selim ascended the\nimperial throne of the Moguls immediately upon the death of his father\nAkbar, who expired at Agra, amid the general lamentations of his\nsubjects, who loved him as their father, admired him as their leader,\nand feared him as their prince.\n\nHeg. 1015 (1604).--A conspiracy was formed in favour of Chusero,\nJehangire\u2019s eldest son. When it was discovered, the prince appeared\nin arms and broke out into open rebellion. He marched to Delhi,\nravaged the country, and laid the suburbs under contribution. Many\nhouses were burned, many persons perished, and thousands were utterly\nruined. Jehangire, hearing of these outrages, immediately commanded his\ncaptain-general to put the army in motion and pursue his rebellious\nson. Suspecting that officer\u2019s loyalty, however, he recalled him just\nas the latter was about to quit the city gates, and gave command of\nthe imperial forces to Ferid Bochari, paymaster-general of the army,\nwho pursued the rebel to Lahore, where he was entirely routed. As the\nperson of Chusero was known to the troops generally, they did not\nattempt his life, and he was permitted to escape. He was, however, soon\nafter taken prisoner, which put an end to the rebellion. In the same\nyear a peace was concluded with Persia.\n\nHeg. 1018 (1609).--Shere Afkun, a Turkoman noble, slew the Suba of\nBengal, and was immediately killed by the latter\u2019s troops.\n\nHeg. 1019 (1610).--Jehangire married the beautiful widow of Shere Afkun\nNoor Mahil.\n\nHeg. 1020 (1611).--The Afghans, a fierce and untractable people,\ninhabiting the mountains beyond the Indus, rebelled, and entering\nCabul with a considerable army, committed the most cruel excesses. The\nrebellion was suppressed by Nadili Meidani, who pursued the Afghans to\ntheir native mountains, putting a great part of their ill-disciplined\ntroops to the sword. The close of this year was distinguished by two\nformidable insurrections, one in Bengal, the other in Behar; the\nformer was put an end to by Sujait Chan, who for this signal service\nwas advanced by his imperial master to the title of Rustum Zim\u00e2n,\nwhich signifies the Hercules of the age. The insurrection in Behar\nwas quashed in consequence of the rebel Cuttub, who assumed to be the\nPrince Chusero, being killed by a brickbat.\n\nHeg. 1022 (1613).--Prince Purvez was despatched with an army\nagainst Amar Sinka, Rana or Prince of Odipoor, in the Deccan, who\nhad attacked and defeated the imperial troops. He was unsuccessful.\nJehangire recalled him and sent Mohabet Chan to replace him. The army,\nhowever, being reduced by disease, and in a state of insubordination,\nMohabet was not in a condition to oppose the Rana. Prince Churrum,\nthe emperor\u2019s third son, was consequently sent with fresh troops to\nsupersede Mohabet. He entered by the mountains, engaged the enemy, and\nobliged him to sue for peace.\n\nHeg. 1023 (1614).--Chan Azim and Man Singh, the two principal\nsupporters of Chusero\u2019s rebellion, died. They were both distinguished\nunder the reign of Akbar, who advanced them to high offices in the\nstate.\n\nHeg. 1024 (1615).--Sir Thomas Roe, the English ambassador to the court\nof Agra, arrived at Boorampoor, where he was courteously received by\nSultan Purvez, governor of that province. He was subsequently received\nby the Emperor at Ajmere with the greatest affability and kindness.\nDisturbances in Guzzarat and Cabul quelled.\n\nHeg. 1025 (1616).--Sultan Churrum\u2019s name was changed to Shah Jehan,\nor King of the World. The princes of the Deccan having rebelled, Shah\nJehan forced them to sue for peace, for which eminent service he rose\ninto high favour with the Emperor.\n\nHeg. 1027 (1618).--The Vizier Actemad-ul-Dowla, father-in-law of the\nEmperor, died. Aurungzebe born. His mother was the Sultana Kudsia,\ndaughter of Asiph Jah. The name Aurungzebe signifies the Ornament of\nthe Throne.\n\nHeg. 1029 (1620).--Shah Jehan marched a second time into the Deccan,\nand reduced to subjection the princes, who had again rebelled. His\neldest brother, Chusero, was delivered into his hands.\n\nHeg. 1030 (1621).--Chusero was assassinated under the walls of Azere by\ncommand of Shah Jehan.\n\nHeg. 1031 (1622).-Shah Jehan assumed the Imperial purple, attacked\nthe fort at Agra, but was repulsed by Asiph Jah, the new Vizier, and\nbrother of the Sultana Noor Jehan.\n\nHeg. 1032 (1623).--Jehangire prepared to march against his rebellious\nson, who endeavoured to justify his rebellion. An action ensued in\nwhich Shah Jehan was entirely defeated. Sultan Purvez arrived in the\ncamp, and under the tuition of Mohabet received command of the imperial\nforces. He defeated the royal insurgent upon the banks of the Nerbuddah.\n\nHeg. 1033 (1624).--Shah Jehan entered Bengal, defeated the Suba, took\npossession of that province and likewise of Behar. Prince Purvez\nadvanced with the imperial army and again defeated his rebellious\nbrother, who fled towards the Deccan, was joined by the Rajah of\nAmbere, and besieged Boorampoor, but was repulsed.\n\nHeg. 1034 (1625).--Shah Jehan was pardoned by the Emperor. Candahar,\na fortified town of Afghanistan, was taken by the Persians under the\ncommand of Shah Abbas their King, who appeared before it in person.\nThe Usbeck Tartars invaded the province of Ghizni, but after an\nobstinate resistance of nine months were driven out of the empire.\n\nHeg. 1035 (1626).--Mohabet was accused of treason, and summoned before\nthe Emperor. He obeyed, was grossly insulted, surprised Jehangire in\nhis tent, made him prisoner, and carried him off to his own camp. The\nVizier attempted a rescue, but was defeated with great slaughter.\nMohabet resigned his power, was obliged to fly, and declared himself in\nfavour of Shah Jehan.\n\nHeg. 1036 (1627).--Jehangire died. Dawir Buxsh, grandson of the late\nEmperor, was raised to the throne, deposed, and murdered. Shah Jehan\narrived at Agra, and was proclaimed Emperor.\n\nHeg. 1037 (1628).--Shah Jehan ascended the throne of the Moguls.\n\n\n\n\n                        The Light of the World\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nThe morning dawned upon two travellers in the midst of a blighted\nwilderness. As the sun threw its level rays over the horizon, they\nflooded a plain where no boundary could be traced but the sky, and from\nwhich the dominion of vegetation was almost wholly withdrawn; there\nbeing nothing to relieve the dull, uniform sterility of the scene but\noccasionally the trunks of a few stunted trees, which appeared to stand\nthere only as so many legible records of the utter barrenness of the\nspot. These sad wayfarers rose from beneath the scanty shades of one of\nthose skeletons of the wilderness to pursue a journey with a deplorable\nprospect before them. They were far advanced upon a wide inhospitable\ndesert, where no welcome serai was to be seen, and where the passenger\nwas seldom met. The refreshing well was nowhere found in these dreary\nand unfruitful solitudes.\n\nThe travellers were a Tartar and his wife, who, in consequence of a\nmarriage not approved of by their respective families, had fled from\ntheir country to seek that home in another which was denied to them\nin their own. The man was handsome, of noble carriage, possessing\nall the generous qualities of his race; bold, active, enterprising,\nwith great capability of endurance, and withal of a mild and placable\nspirit. The woman was young, beautiful, but extremely delicate; and\nto crown her husband\u2019s misery and her own, she was about to become\na mother. When they arose on this sad morning, they consumed the\nlast of their provisions. They had only a small quantity of water\nin a leathern bottle, which the Tartar made his fainting wife drink\nbefore they proceeded on their way. What a deplorable condition! To\nlinger was certain death, and to advance seemed only a dallying with\nhope--there appeared no chances of relief. They had several days\u2019\njourney to perform, without being provided with any sustenance for so\nlong and arduous a travel; and the chances of meeting with passengers\nwere so remote as to render their perishing in the wilderness almost a\ncertainty.\n\nThe Tartar\u2019s wife was mounted upon a small lean horse, which for the\nlast several days had been so sparingly fed that it could scarcely\nproceed. The wretched woman was unconscious of the extent of her\ndanger. She knew not that the whole of their provisions were exhausted,\nsave one small rice cake which the tender husband had reserved for her\nuse. He kept from her the awful fact of their utter destitution, lest\nin her precarious condition it should bring on premature labour where\nno assistance could be obtained, and she would thus probably perish.\nIn spite of the misery of his situation, he still entertained the\nhope that he should obtain relief; and trusting in the mercy of Him\nwho guides the wanderer as well in the wilderness as in the populous\ncountry, he pursued his journey though with a heavy and foreboding\nheart. As the sun rose, the heat became intolerable. There was no\nshelter from its scorching rays. The anxious Tartar held an umbrella\nover the head of his wife as he walked painfully along by the side of\nher lean ambling pony; but after a while his arm became so cramped that\nit was with difficulty he could bear the weight of the chatta. This,\nthough not great, was the more sensibly felt from the elevated position\nin which he was obliged to keep his arms. He was, however, marvellously\nsustained by the excitement of his anxiety for the dear object near\nhim, who bore with unrepining endurance privations which in her state\nwere especially deplorable. They travelled through a long and toilsome\nday. The rice cake was consumed long before they halted for the night.\n\nThere being no shelter near, the husband fixed the handle of his\numbrella into the ground, and throwing over it a thin palampore,[33]\nformed a kind of rude tent, under which his wife might repose without\nimmediate exposure to the unwholesome night air. She was exhausted with\nfatigue; her tongue was parched with thirst, and the rapid increase\nof circulation too plainly told that fever was fast coming on. To\nattempt to depict the husband\u2019s agony were a vain endeavour. Without\nfood--without water--his wife actually in the pains of labour--with\nno hope of relief--in the midst of a vast wilderness, which even the\nwild beasts shunned as a solitude where only death and desolation\nreigned--he had no thought but that both must lie down and die. The\nsufferings of his hapless companion were appalling, yet she bore\nthem without a murmur. The severity of her pangs aggravated that\nthirst by which she had been so long and so grievously oppressed. He\nhad but one alternative, and did not hesitate to adopt it in such a\ntrying emergency. His wife\u2019s agonies were every moment increasing. He\nquitted the insecure canopy which he had erected for her temporary\naccommodation, seized his dagger, ran to the pony, and, in a paroxysm\nof tumultuous anxiety to save the life of the object dearest to him\nupon earth, plunged it desperately into the animal\u2019s throat. Having\ncaught the blood in a wooden trencher, he bore it to the tent.\n\nDuring his short absence, his wife had become a mother. The cry of the\npoor babe raised within him, at this moment, emotions of parental joy;\nbut these were in an instant stifled by the consciousness of those\nawful perils by which he was surrounded. He put the bowl to the lips of\nthe suffering mother; she took a small quantity, and was in a slight\ndegree refreshed. He now kindled a fire upon the wide blasted desert,\nand broiled some flesh of the animal which he had just slaughtered. It\nwas tough and rank. The juices, however, of this unpalatable repast\nsubdued in a degree the yearnings of hunger and the dreadful pangs of\nthirst.\n\nOn the morrow, when the sun again cast its vivid light upon the vast\nlevel of the wilderness, this wretched pair arose to pursue their\njourney. The Tartar dreaded the increased difficulties which he should\nhave now to overcome. His companion was so weak that she could scarcely\nstand; yet she was obliged to carry her infant, as he was loaded with\ntheir baggage and other necessaries, that had hitherto been confined to\nthe back of the pony. They had scarcely commenced the prosecution of\ntheir melancholy journey, when they were cheered with the prospect of\nrelief. Not more than half a coss[34] distance before them, a beautiful\nlake seemed to smile in the morning sun, and to invite the suffering\ntravellers to bathe their limbs in its limpid waters. The margin was\ndotted with groups of trees, displaying a luxuriant foliage, which was\nreflected in the still mirror below, and promised a grateful shade to\nthe travel-worn passenger. Oxen appeared to be grazing on its margin,\nand every now and then, in the luxury of the most exquisite enjoyment,\nto hide themselves under the pellucid surface of its calm waters.\nBeyond, a gorgeous city reared its battlements amid the solemn silence\nof the desert, over which it seemed to cast the glow of its splendour,\nand to speak with a mute but eloquent voice of cheering to the heart\nof the forlorn wanderer, of which they alone can appreciate the magic\nforce who have braved the perils of the wilderness, and seen death\nstand before them face to face amid its vast and inhospitable solitudes.\n\nThe Tartar and his wife, overjoyed at the sight, made the best of their\nway towards the lake and the city, in which the stir of busy life\nseemed to prevail; for they saw, as they imagined, multitudes of their\nfellow beings issue from its gates and spread over the adjoining plain.\nThe scene, to the excited imagination of the travellers, was animated\nbeyond description. The sight of human habitations, and of human beings\nwho could afford them succour; of water in which they might assuage\nthe pangs of the most painful of bodily privations; of houses in which\nthey might find shelter after their perilous journey--all gave such a\nstimulus to their exertions, that even the weak and suffering mother,\nwith the assistance of her husband\u2019s arm, was able to go onward with\ntolerable firmness.\n\nWhen they had proceeded for some time, the lake and the city still\nappeared before them, but no nearer. It seemed to them as if they had\nbeen moving their limbs without advancing a single step. They still,\nhowever pressed forward under the delusive expectation of reaching the\nfair goal of their hopes; but after a while the lake began suddenly to\ndisappear, the city was by degrees shrouded in mist, which dispersed\nin the course of a few minutes, and, to their consternation, they\nsaw nothing save the wide arid expanse of the desert before them.\nThe unhappy woman sank upon the earth in a paroxysm of mental agony.\nThe miserable man was now perfectly overwhelmed with despair. He\nfeared that his wife was dying. She could no longer carry the infant;\nthere was, consequently, but one alternative. The struggle of nature\nwas a severe one, but no choice remained between death and parental\ninhumanity. The desire of life prevailed; and it was determined, after\nan agonizing conflict, that the infant must be sacrificed. The mother\u2019s\ntears were dried up on her burning cheeks, and the father\u2019s pangs were\nlost in the anxieties of the husband. The appeals of nature were only\nstifled by louder appeals in both their bosoms; and, however fierce\nthe repugnance, it was to be resisted and overcome. The death of their\nbabe was the least of two evils; they therefore submitted to the stern\nseverity of their condition.\n\nIt was agreed by the half-distracted parents, that the newborn pledge\nof their affections should be abandoned. The mother having kissed it\nfervently, consigned it to the arms of her husband, who, having taken\nit to a spot where the stunted stock of a tree protruded from the\nscorching sand, placed it under the scanty shade of this bare emblem\nof sterility; and, having covered it with leaves, left it to the mercy\nof that God who can protect the babe in the desert as well as the\nsovereign on his throne. On rejoining his wife, the Tartar found her\nso weak that he feared she would be unable to proceed. Though released\nfrom the burden of her infant, her prostration of strength was so\nextreme, from the united effects of mental and bodily suffering, that\nshe could scarcely rise from the earth. The pangs of thirst were again\nbecoming horrible; still, after a severe struggle, she rose, and the\nwretched pair pursued their journey in silence and in agony.\n\nThey had not proceeded far before the invincible yearnings of nature\nprevailed over mere physical torment, and the bereaved mother called in\na voice of piteous anguish for her child. She could no longer endure\nthe pains of separation. The idea of having voluntarily consented to\nbecome the instrument of its death, was a horror which increased with\nevery step, and she sank exhausted upon the sand. The sun, now rising\ntowards its meridian, poured upon her the fiery effulgence of its\nbeams. The husband\u2019s heart was subdued by her sufferings. Dashing a\ntear from his cheek, he undertook to return and restore their infant to\nthe arms of its distracted mother. Fixing the handle of his umbrella\nagain in the ground and throwing the palampore over it, he placed his\nwife under that frail covering, and immediately retraced his steps.\nWith a sad heart he reached the spot where he had lately deposited the\ninfant; but what was his consternation at beholding the leaves removed,\nand a black snake coiled round it, with its hideous mouth opposed to\nthat of his child! In a frenzy of desperation he rushed forward; but\ninstantly arrested by the instinct of paternal fear, he stood before\nthe objects at once of his tenderest interest and of his terror, as\nif he had been suddenly converted into stone. The previous motion,\nhowever, had evidently alarmed the monster; for it gradually uncoiled\nitself from its victim without committing the slightest injury, and\nretired into the hollow trunk which marked this memorable spot. The\nfather snatched up his child, and bore it in ecstacy to its mother;\nbut she was extended under the palampore in the last struggle of\nexpiring nature. Her feeble spirit had been overborne by her lengthened\nsufferings of mind and body, and she now lay at the point of death. She\nraised her eyes languidly, received the babe with a faint smile upon\nher bosom, and tenderly kissed it. The effort overcame her, and she\nfainted. After a short time she rallied--but it was only to die. The\nhusband hung over her with mute but intense tenderness, cursing in his\nheart with a bitterness which that very tenderness aggravated, those\nrelatives who had caused the death of all he valued upon earth, and\nrendered him the most desolate of men.\n\n\u201cAiass,\u201d said the dying woman, \u201cdig me a grave in the wilderness;\ndon\u2019t leave this poor body to the beasts of prey. We shall be restored\nto each other. There is a paradise beyond this world where all the\ngood meet and are blessed: we shall be among them. I die happy in the\npossession of your love, and in the consciousness of never having\nforfeited my claim to it.\u201d\n\nThe Tartar could not speak. He pressed the wife of his bosom to that\nheart which she had so fondly engrossed, and scalding tears of agony\noverflowed his cheeks. He threw his arms tenderly round her, his heart\nthrobbing audibly, and buried his bursting temples in the hot sand\nbeside her. She spoke not--she stirred not; he raised his head to kiss\nher fading lips--her eye was rayless--those lips were slightly parted,\nbut fixed; a faint smile was on her cheek, yet no breath came. She was\ndead!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[33] A counterpane.\n\n[34] The coss is about two miles.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nAiass raised himself from the earth, cast his eye with a look of\nreproach towards heaven, and gave way to a burst of sorrow; then\nbringing the strong energies of his mind to resistance, the ebullition\nshortly subsided, and he bowed to the stroke with the fortitude of a\nman who looks upon endurance as his province, and upon calamity as his\nlot. During the whole of this melancholy day he did not quit the body.\nHis wife\u2019s dying request was in his ears and in his memory--\u201cDig me a\ngrave in the wilderness,\u201d and he resolved to comply with it. He passed\ntwelve lingering hours in a broiling sun, occasionally casting himself\nunder the palampore beside the corpse, close to which his infant slept\nunconscious of its loss. His thirst became at length so excessive that\nhis throat and tongue swelled, and he began to apprehend suffocation.\nHis face was blistered and sore, his eyes inflamed, from the combined\neffects of weeping, and the glare of an ardent sun upon the white sand\nof the desert. Towards evening he was so overcome by his sufferings\nthat he laid him down to die. The infant cried for nutriment, but\nhe had none to give it. Taking the linen from his body, which was\nsaturated with perspiration, he put it to the babe\u2019s mouth: this kept\nit alive.\n\nThe tongue of Aiass had by this time enlarged to such an immense size\nthat he could not move it. The inflammation was so great that he was\nunable to close his lips. Expecting death every moment, he pressed\nstill closer to his bosom the innocent pledge of conjugal affection,\nwhen he was unexpectedly relieved by the cracking of his swollen\ntongue. A copious discharge of blood followed, which passed into his\nstomach, and somewhat assuaged the fever that burned within him. He was\nso much relieved by this effort of nature, that he almost immediately\nsank into a short but refreshing slumber.\n\nThe sun had gone down in brightness; and when he awoke, the stars were\nlooking upon him from their thrones of light, and the whole heavens\nsmiling above him in their beauty. The intense, calm azure of the sky\nseemed an emblem of the repose that dwells there. A gentle breeze\nhad broken the oppressive stagnation of the air, and fanned his hot,\nblistered features as with an angel\u2019s wing. His energies revived.\nThough the thirst by which he was still parched affected him greatly,\nstill it was in some degree mitigated by that balmy breath of heaven,\nwhich he felt now for the first time since he had entered upon the\ndesert. He commenced his melancholy task of digging a grave to enclose\nthe remains of an object who had been dearer to him than his own life.\nHe took his crease--a short dagger with a wide double-edged blade,--and\nbegan to remove the sand. It was an arduous and sorrowful labour. After\nan earnest application of mind and body for two hours, he succeeded in\nsinking a hole four feet deep. Into this he tenderly lowered the body\nof his departed wife, filled up the pit, and throwing himself upon\nit, lay there until morning. There was a discharge of blood from his\ntongue once or twice during the night, which more than probably saved\nhis life.\n\nTowards dawn he fell into a deep and death-like sleep. He was at\nlength awaked by feeling himself severely shaken. Upon looking up, he\nperceived himself to be surrounded by strangers. They were travellers\non their way to Lahore. They gave him food and water; the infant was\nfed with goat\u2019s milk by means of a sponge. His strength being now\nsomewhat recruited, he joined the travellers, and advanced with them by\neasy stages to their destination.\n\nLahore was the field in which the Tartar\u2019s talents soon displayed\nthemselves. Aiass was no ordinary man. He attracted the notice of the\nEmperor Akbar, who had a singular faculty in discriminating merit, and\nfrom that moment rose to distinction. Akbar perceived his value, and\nmade it available to promote the interests of his empire. The Tartar\nadvanced by a regular but rapid progression until he became high\ntreasurer of the state. He was a chief political organ of one of the\nwisest sovereigns which history celebrates, and held in great respect\nby the whole nation. The Emperor reposed implicit confidence in him: it\nwas well deserved, and ended only with his life.\n\nThe daughter of Aiass, who had been so providentially preserved in\nthe desert, as she grew up, excelled in personal attractions all the\nloveliest women of the East, and was therefore honoured with the\ndesignation of Mher-ul-Nissa: the Sun of Women. The extraordinary event\nwhich had distinguished her birth seemed but as the prognostic of\nfuture distinction. The child of the desert grew to be the perfection\nof woman. The greatest care was taken to make her mistress of every\naccomplishment which could impart additional fascination to the natural\ngraces of her sex. In vivacity, wit, spirit, and all those elegant\nattainments in which women especially excel, she was unrivalled by few\nand surpassed by none.\n\nOf her it might have been almost said, without any assumption of the\nlicence of poetry--\n\n  \u201cThe force of Nature could no further go.\u201d\n\nIn masculine vigour of understanding she stood alone and unapproached.\nHer beauty was the theme of universal praise. Suitors from all quarters\nsought her hand; but it was not easily won. Shere Afkun, a Turkoman\nnoble of distinction, at length presented himself; and to him she\nwas betrothed. The Mogul historians speak of Shere Afkun as the most\neminent person of his age, and much esteemed by the Emperor, who\nnever failed to bestow his favour upon brave men. The Turkoman was of\nlofty stature, and no less remarkable for the beauty of his form and\nfeatures than for the rare qualities of his mind. He was universally\nacknowledged to be every way worthy of the beautiful Mher-ul-Nissa, by\nwhose preference he felt equally flattered and delighted.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nSoon after she had been betrothed to Shere Afkun, the lovely Tartar was\nseen by Prince Selim, afterwards well known as the Emperor Jehangire,\nwho became so desperately enamoured of her, that imagining there could\nbe no obstacle to her union with a prince of the blood, he applied to\nhis father Akbar, for his consent to espouse the beautiful daughter of\nthe high treasurer, Chaja Aiass.\n\nThe Emperor sternly refused his consent; at the same time upbraiding\nhis son with seeking to degrade himself by a mean alliance. Prince\nSelim was abashed; and, to his mortification, the accomplished Tartar\nshortly after became the wife of Shere Afkun.\n\nSelim was from that moment the implacable foe of his successful rival.\nHe could not bear to hear the hated name mentioned in his presence,\nand, with cowardly vindictiveness, determined upon his destruction. He\nkept these feelings a secret from his father, who esteemed the Turkoman\ntoo highly to approve of the prince\u2019s hostility towards him, and had,\nmoreover, expressed his satisfaction at the latter\u2019s marriage with\nMher-ul-Nissa. Selim, however, secretly fomented jealousies among the\nOmrahs against the popular as well as imperial favourite. These were\neasily excited; for there will never be found wanting persons ready to\ntraduce those to whom they are conscious of being inferior in moral\nexcellence; and especially in courts where ambition is the ruling\npassion, nothing can be less difficult than to provoke the envy of\nmen whose sole aim is aggrandisement, and who are therefore naturally\ndisposed to think ill of any who happen to contravene those aims, or\nto cross the path of their ambition. The prince, therefore, had little\ndifficulty in accomplishing his purpose. He secretly disseminated\ncalumnies to the injury of Shere Afkun, who in disgust retired from\ncourt into Bengal, where he obtained from the governor the vicegerency\nof Burdwan, a considerable district in that province.\n\nHere he lived undisturbed until the death of Akbar, which caused the\nsincere regret of the whole nation, who in mourning the decease of\ntheir Emperor deplored the loss of a great and a good man. When Prince\nSelim became sovereign, his passion for the daughter of Aiass revived\nin full force. The restraint being removed under which the smothered\nflame had been so long and so painfully suppressed, it burst forth with\nincreased fierceness. He was now absolute; and being determined to\npossess the object of his disappointed love, he made advances towards\na reconciliation with Shere Afkun; but the brave Turkoman for a time\nresisted all his importunities, perceiving their object, and resolving\nto part neither with his wife nor with his honour, as he could not\nresign the one without relinquishing the other. His strength was\nprodigious, and his bravery equal to his strength; his integrity was\nunimpeached, his reputation high, and he was alike feared and respected\nby all classes. Upon every occasion where danger was imminent, he was\nforemost to encounter it; while his desperate valour was the theme of\nmany a romance and of many a song. His bodily vigour was so great,\nthat he had slain a lion single handed; from which circumstance he\nobtained the cognomen of Shere Afkun, or the Lion-slayer, his original\nname being Asta Jillo. He was, however, no less esteemed for his\nvirtues than for his bravery; and Mher-ul-Nissa fully appreciated\nhis rare endowments. She was proud of his reputation. To her the\nEmperor\u2019s feelings were no secret; but she avoided his presence, in\nobedience to the wishes of her husband, who was not altogether without\nhis suspicions that the hostility which the new sovereign manifested\ntowards him was solely on her account. He continued, therefore, in the\nprovince of Bengal, without visiting the imperial capital.\n\nNot long, however, after Jehangire had ascended the throne of the\nMoguls, Shere Afkun was invited to court, whither, after repeated\nsolicitations, he repaired, trusting to his own high reputation for\nsecurity against any tyrannical exercise of the sovereign power. Upon\nhis arrival he was much caressed by the Emperor, in order to lull\nsuspicion. Open and generous himself, he suspected no treachery in\nothers. He left his wife at Burdwan, not willing to expose her to the\nchance of attention from the sovereign, that might keep alive former\npredilections, and renew his royal rival\u2019s criminal hostility.\n\nThe young Emperor\u2019s court was splendid in the extreme. He was fond\nof state; but hunting being his passion, a day was appointed for the\nchase. All the chief nobles of the empire attended, hoping to have\nan opportunity of exhibiting before their royal master their skill\nand prowess in a pursuit at all times extremely dangerous in eastern\ncountries. A vast train, swelling to the number of an army, issued from\nthe gates of Lahore. The cavalcade was prodigious. Upwards of five\nhundred elephants, upon which rode the Emperor and his court, led the\nvan towards a jungle where the quarry was expected to be roused. The\nhowdah of the royal elephant was covered by a silken canopy, and its\nwhole caparison profusely ornamented with precious metals. Thousands\nof spears glittered in the sun, the rays of which were reflected in\nstreams of glowing light from those various arms borne by this motley\ncavalcade. The neighing of steeds was mingled with the busy hum of men\nwho thronged to the scene of exciting enjoyment.\n\nShere Afkun accompanied the court on horseback, armed only with the\nsword with which he had slain a lion--having by that act immortalised\nhis name in the annals of his country. His royal master showed him a\nvery marked respect, occasionally consulting him respecting the chase;\nthus aggravating the jealousy of the nobles, already sufficiently\nfierce against him. He received the Emperor\u2019s courtesies with a cold\nbut modest respect, not entirely forgetting former unkindness, though\nwithout suspicion of future injury.\n\nThe royal party at length entered the jungle, where the forest haunts\nof the lion and tiger were shortly explored. The hunters soon enclosed\na mighty beast of the latter species, of which Jehangire being\napprized, immediately proceeded to the spot. He began to entertain a\nhope that the period so long desired was arrived when he should have an\nopportunity of exposing the life of his former rival in an encounter\nfrom which the latter would have little chance of escaping. Seeing the\ntiger at a short distance, surrounded by hunters, lashing the ground\nwith its tail and giving other tokens of savage hostility, the despot\ndemanded of those around him, who would venture to attack the ferocious\nbeast?\n\nAll stood silent and confounded. They had not expected such a proposal:\nnor did they appear to entertain any wish to expose their lives in a\nconflict in which more danger than glory would be reaped.\n\nAs none of them advanced, and the Emperor began to knit his brows\nand show symptoms of displeasure, Shere Afkun already entertained a\nhope that the enterprise would devolve upon him; but, to his extreme\nmortification, three Omrahs stepped forward and offered to encounter\nthe forest tyrant. Jehangire cast upon the bold Turkoman a glance of\nsuch unequivocal expression that his pride kindled, and he longed to\nshow how little backward he was to engage the brindled foe; but as\nthree nobles had first challenged the encounter, he could not set aside\ntheir prior claim to a distinction which they insisted upon striving\nfor.\n\nUpon receiving the approbation of their royal master, they severally\nprepared for the encounter, dismounting from their elephants, and\narming themselves with sword, spear, and shield. Shere Afkun, fearing\nthat he was likely to be rivalled, and that his fame would be tarnished\nby inferior men undertaking a conflict which by his silence he might be\nsupposed to have declined, advanced, and presenting himself before the\nsovereign, said firmly: \u201cTo attack an unarmed creature with weapons is\nneither fair nor manly; it is taking an advantage of an animal which\ncannot plead against such injustice but by a fierce retaliation. Such\nis not in accordance with the character of the truly brave. All manual\ncontests should be undertaken upon equal terms. The Deity has given\nlimbs and sinews to man as well as to tigers, and has imparted reason\nto the former in order to countervail the deficiency of strength. Let\nthe nobles of your imperial majesty then lay aside their arms and\nattack the enemy with those only with which the Deity has provided\nthem. If they shrink from such an encounter, I am prepared to undertake\nit.\u201d\n\nJehangire rewarded the speaker with a smile of gracious approbation;\nbut his Omrahs, one and all, declined such a perilous contest,\ninsisting upon the madness of the enterprise. To the Emperor\u2019s infinite\nsurprise and delight, the bold Turkoman instantly cast aside his sword\nand shield, and prepared to engage the tiger unarmed.\n\nThe circle of hunters, which had surrounded the forest tyrant, opened\nto admit the champion. The ferocious beast with which he was to engage\nlay at the root of a tree, snarling hideously as its enemy approached,\nerecting the fur upon its tail and back, passing its tongue every now\nand then over the terrific fangs with which its jaws were armed, but\nseeming ill disposed to commence the contest. Shere Afkun was stripped\nto his trousers, and his fine muscular frame, a model for an Indian\nApollo, exhibited its noble proportions as he advanced cautiously but\nfirmly towards his foe. The tiger lay upon its belly without attempting\nto stir, nevertheless giving evident tokens of a determination to\nretaliate if attacked. The ponderous paws projected from beneath its\nchest; and upon these it occasionally rested its head, until roused\nby the approach of its adversary. Every eye was fixed upon the scene;\nevery heart throbbed with the strongest emotion of anxiety. The\nsovereign alone sat upon his elephant, apparently calm and undisturbed;\nbut the deep flush upon his cheek showed that he took no ordinary\ninterest in the approaching encounter. He did not utter a word as he\nsaw the man whom he considered doomed to inevitable destruction march\nresolutely up to the prostrate tiger and strike it in the ribs with\nhis foot. The animal, now excited to ferocious resistance, instantly\nsprang upon its legs, but crept backward with its face to the enemy and\nits belly to the ground. Shere Afkun advanced as it retreated, keeping\nhis eyes fixed upon those of the enraged beast. At length the latter\nsuddenly turned, and bounded forward; but was stopped by the spears\nof the hunters, who still encircled it at a distance, all armed to\nprevent its escape. Finding its purpose foiled, it again turned, and\nbeing beyond the influence of the Turkoman\u2019s eye, prepared to make its\nperilous spring.\n\nShere Afkun now retreated in his turn, and, pausing near a tree,\nawaited the approach of his enemy. It instantly bounded onward,\nsweeping its tail above the ground with an uncertain motion, but\nwithout uttering a sound. The brave champion, who from experience was\nwell acquainted with the habits of those animals which are the terror\nof the jungles and their immediate neighbourhood, well knew that the\ncreature was about to spring. Placing his right foot forward, and\nplanting his left firmly against the projecting root of the tree, he\ncalmly awaited the menaced peril. The tiger crouched, and uttered\na short sharp growl, projected its body forward with a celerity\nand force which nothing could have resisted; but the wary Turkoman\nleaped aside as the living projectile was about to fall upon him, and\nturning quickly, seized his baffled foe by the tail; then swinging it\nround with a strength and dexterity that astonished every beholder,\nbrought its head in such violent contact with the tree, that for\nseveral seconds it was completely stunned. After a while, however,\nit recovered, but lay still and panting, not at all relishing, as it\nseemed, a renewal of the conflict. As the victory was not yet decided,\nShere Afkun again approached the prostrate beast in order to rouse it\nto resistance. He kicked it several times, but it only growled, lashed\nits tail, showed its fangs--remaining perfectly passive under these\nacts of aggression.\n\nThe hero, tired of this indecisive mode of warfare, seized it again\nby the tail, and, swinging it round as he had already done, brought\nits head once more in stunning contact with the tree. The blow, though\nsevere, did not produce the same effect as before; for the enraged\nanimal, suddenly rising to the full height of its stature, turned on\nits aggressor with a savage roar, and seized him by the fleshy part of\nthe thigh behind. As his trousers were loose the tiger was somewhat\ndeceived, and therefore, fortunately, did not take so large a mouthful\nas it no doubt would have done had the limb been entirely naked. Shere\nAfkun instantly grasped it by the windpipe, and, squeezing it with\nall his might, soon obliged the creature to quit its hold; but with a\nviolent twist it freed itself from the strong grip of its adversary,\nand instantly renewed the encounter.\n\nThe struggle now became indeed terrific, and the anxiety of the\nspectators increased in proportion. Jehangire could no longer control\nthe feeling by which he was overborne. His parted lips, between which\nthe tongue protruded with a quivering nervousness of motion, his\neyelids so raised as to discover the entire orb of his eager, restless\neyes, the tremulous aspect of his whole frame,--showed the extent of\nhis interest in the issue of this unnatural strife.\n\nBy this time the tiger had again rallied, and having raised itself upon\nits hind-legs, struck both its fore-paws upon the Turkoman\u2019s breast,\ntearing the flesh from the bone. Shere Afkun fell under the weight of\nthis deadly assault; but, still undismayed, after a desperate effort he\ncontrived to roll over upon his panting foe, now nearly exhausted from\nits exertions and by the severe blows it had received, and, forcing\nhis hand between its extended jaws, griped it so firmly by the root of\nthe tongue, that in a few seconds it lay strangled beneath his grasp.\nHe then rose streaming with blood, pointed to his dead enemy, made a\nsalaam to the Emperor, and quitted the field grievously lacerated.\n\nThe Emperor was astounded at the issue. The champion was borne home\nin a palankeen, and for several weeks his life was despaired of. To\nthe surprise of Jehangire, Shere Afkun eventually recovered, though he\ncarried the marks of the tiger\u2019s claws to his grave. The royal rival\nwas nevertheless determined not to forego his purpose of destroying\nthis remarkable man, though he feared to do it openly. Meanwhile the\nhero went abroad, everywhere unattended, utterly unsuspicious of a\ndesign against his life. He was not conscious of having offended a\nhuman creature, and therefore did not suppose that any man living could\ndesire his death. He lived in retirement; but whenever he appeared\nat court, which he occasionally did, he was always treated by the\nsovereign with marked respect and great apparent cordiality. This,\nhowever, was only to mask the most sanguinary intentions, which were no\nsecret to many of the nobles, who, in common with their master, desired\nthe destruction of a brave man because he was a hated rival.\n\nPrivate orders had been given to the driver of a large elephant to\nwaylay the Turkoman and tread him to death. The opportunity did not\nimmediately occur, as the victim went abroad at uncertain periods; and\nthough his movements were watched, it was found a difficult matter\nto come upon him at a favourable moment. One day, however, as he was\nreturning from the public baths through a narrow street, observing\nan elephant approaching, he ordered his palankeen-bearers to turn\naside and permit it to pass. As the huge animal came near, he at once\nperceived that there was no room for it to pass without crushing the\npalankeen, and thus endangering the lives of himself and attendants.\n\nThe elephant still came onward. Shere Afkun called to the mahoot to\nstop, but his order was disregarded. The phlegmatic Hindoo, sitting\nupon its neck apparently in a state of half consciousness, took no heed\nof the peril of the party before him. The Omrah, seeing that it was\nimpossible to avoid the approaching danger except by making a timely\nretreat, ordered his bearers to turn and carry him back to the baths;\nbut they, terrified at the evident hazard to which they were exposed,\nthrew down the palankeen and fled, leaving their master to settle the\nquestion of priority of right to a passage on the Emperor\u2019s highway.\nThe hero, undismayed by the formidable aspect of the jeopardy by which\nhe was menaced, sprang instantly from the ground, drew his sword,\nand, before the elephant could accomplish its fatal purpose, severed\nits trunk close to the root. The gigantic animal immediately dropped\nand expired. The mahoot leaped from its neck as it was in the act of\nfalling, and escaped.\n\nShere Afkun, suspecting that in urging the elephant upon him the fellow\nhad been actuated by that personal feeling which so generally exists\nbetween Hindoo and Mahomedan, forebore to pursue him, thinking the mean\npassions of a hireling too contemptible to rouse his indignation; he\ntherefore allowed the offender to escape unmolested, and coolly wiping\nthe blade of his sword, returned it to the scabbard.\n\nJehangire witnessed the whole scene. He had placed himself at a small\nlattice that overlooked the street. He was perfectly amazed, but\ndisappointment and vexation banished from his bosom the better feelings\nof nature. Shere Afkun waited upon him and communicated what had\npassed: the Emperor extolled his bravery with warmth, and thus escaped\nhis suspicion.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nRepeated disappointment only served the more to exasperate the\nsovereign\u2019s jealousy. It raged like a furnace within him; for to\nexercise a due control over their actions is not the general character\nof despots. His peace of mind was perpetually disturbed by the\nfierceness of his emotions, and he became more than ever bent upon the\ndeath of his successful rival in the affections of Mher-ul-Nissa.\n\nShere Afkun was not permitted to remain long unmolested. Kuttub, Suba\nor governor of Bengal, knowing his master\u2019s wishes, and in order to\nensure his future favour, hired forty ruffians to assassinate the\ndreaded Omrah. So confident was the latter in his own strength and\nvalour, that he took no precaution to protect himself against secret or\nopen enemies. He lived in a solitary house in which he retained only an\naged porter, all his other servants occupying apartments at a distance.\nRelying upon his own courage and the vigour of his arm, he had no\napprehension either of the secret assassin or the open foe.\n\nThis was a tempting opportunity. The murderers were engaged, and had\nbeen promised such a reward as should urge them to the most desperate\nexertions in order to ensure the consummation of their employees\nwishes. They entered the apartment while their victim was asleep. A\nlamp hung from the ceiling and threw its dim light upon him as he\nreclined in profound slumber. There was no mistaking the hero, as he\nlay with his noble head upon his arm, his expansive forehead turned\ntowards the light, every line blended into one smooth unbroken surface\ndenoting the perfect placidity of repose. Over his muscular frame\nwas lightly thrown a thin coverlid, which did not entirely conceal\nits beautiful proportions, exhibited in the indistinct but traceable\noutline of the figure beneath. He slept profoundly. The murderers\napproached the bed and raised their daggers to strike; when one of\nthem, touched with remorse at the idea of such an unmanly assault upon\na man who had so signalised his courage and virtues, cried out, under\nan impulse of awakened conscience, \u201cHold! are we men? What! forty to\none, and afraid to encounter him awake?\u201d\n\nThis timely interposition of the assassin\u2019s remorse saved the life\nof his intended victim; for the Turkoman, aroused by the manly\nexpostulation, started from his bed, seized his sword, and retiring\nbackwards before the assassins had all entered, reached the corner\nof the apartment, where he prepared to defend himself to the last\nextremity. As he retreated, he had drawn the couch before him, thus\npreventing the immediate contact of his enemies, who endeavoured in\nvain to reach him; and as they were only armed with daggers, he cut\ndown several of them without receiving a single wound. Urged on,\nhowever, by the great amount of the reward offered, the murderers still\npressed upon him, and succeeded at length in dragging the couch from\nhis grasp, though not before he had caused several others to pay for\ntheir temerity with their lives. He was at length exposed to the full\noperation of their brutal fury. Ten of his enemies already lay dead\nupon the floor, showing fatal evidence of the strength and celerity of\nhis arm; there, however, remained thirty to vanquish; and, placing his\nback against the wall, the hero prepared for the unequal and deadly\nstruggle.\n\nSeeing him now entirely exposed to their assault, the ruffians rushed\nsimultaneously forward, in the hope of being able to despatch him at\nonce with their daggers; but they so encumbered each other by suddenly\ncrowding upon their victim in their anxiety to prevent his escape,\nthat they could not strike. He meanwhile, taking advantage of the\nconfusion, laid several of them dead at his feet: nevertheless they\npressed forward, and the same result followed. Shifting his ground,\nbut still managing to keep his back against the wall, he defeated all\ntheir attempts; and such was his fearful precision in employing his\nsword, that not a man came within its sweep without receiving practical\nexperience of the strength with which it was wielded. Besides those\nalready slain, many others of the assailants fell desperately wounded.\nAt length the rest, fearing the extermination of their whole band,\nbetook themselves to flight, and left him without a wound.\n\nThe man who had warned Shere Afkun of his danger stood fixed in mute\nastonishment at the prowess of him whom he had received a commission\nto murder. He had been so paralysed, that he could neither join in the\nattack, nor defend his victim from the sanguinary assault which the\nlatter had so heroically defeated. He had no time for meditation. The\ncharge had been so sudden, and the defence so marvellous, that his mind\nremained in a state of stagnation, and was restored to its proper tone\nonly upon seeing the extraordinary issue. Perceiving himself to be\nalone with the man whom he had undertaken to destroy for a base bribe,\nhis heart sank within him--he felt that he deserved to die; but his\nintended victim advanced, and kindly taking his hand, welcomed him as\nhis deliverer. Having ascertained from the man\u2019s unreluctant confession\nby whom the assassins had been hired, the hero dismissed him with a\nliberal benefaction.\n\nThis remarkable exploit was repeated from mouth to mouth with a\nthousand exaggerations; so that wherever Shere Afkun appeared, he was\nfollowed and pointed at as a man of superhuman powers. Songs and\nromances were written to extol his prowess and magnanimity. He was\ncheered by the populace wherever he approached. Mothers held up their\nbabes to behold this extraordinary warrior, blessing him as he passed,\nand praying that their sons might emulate his virtues. He was flattered\nby these universal suffrages in his favour; nevertheless, in order to\navoid a recurrence of perils similar to those from which he had so\nrecently escaped, he retired to Burdwan.\n\nMeanwhile the Emperor, burning with secret rage at hearing the valour\nof his rival the theme of every tongue, gave orders to his creature,\nthe Suba of Bengal, to seek a more favourable opportunity than he had\nbefore availed himself of, to destroy this detested Omrah: for such was\nhis astonishing strength and dexterity, that the Suba dared not attack\nhim openly.\n\nBeing now at a distance from court, the bold Turkoman thought himself\nbeyond the influence of his sovereign\u2019s jealousy, and, with the natural\nfrankness of his character, immediately cast aside all suspicion of\nmischief. The Suba coming with a great retinue to Burdwan, about sixty\nmiles from the modern capital of Bengal, with a pretence of making\na tour of the territory placed under his political superintendence,\ncommunicated to his officers the secret of his mission. They heard him\nwith silent pleasure; for most of the nobles being jealous of a rival\u2019s\npopularity, with a mean and dastardly spirit joined readily in the\nscheme for his destruction.\n\nUnsuspicious of any hostile intention towards him, the devoted Omrah\nwent out to meet the Suba as he-was entering the town, and the latter\naffected to treat him with great cordiality. He rode by the governor\u2019s\nelephant, familiarly conversing with the nobles who formed his suite,\nand frequently receiving a gracious smile of approbation from the\nEmperor\u2019s vicegerent. He was completely thrown off his guard by this\napparently courteous bearing; and abandoning himself to the generous\nwarmth of his nature, invited the Omrahs to his abode, resolving to\nentertain them with a munificence equal to the liberality of his\ndisposition; a determination which he knew his wife, the beautiful\nMher-ul-Nissa, would not be backward in fulfilling. Full of these\nhospitable resolutions, he pressed forward with a gaiety which showed\nthe utter absence of suspicion.\n\nIn the progress of the cavalcade, a pikeman, pretending that Shere\nAfkun was in the way, rudely struck his horse. In a moment the latter\u2019s\nsuspicions were roused; his countenance darkened, and he cast around\nhim a look of fiery indignation. Without an instant\u2019s delay he drew\nhis sword and clove the offender to the earth. Knowing that no soldier\nwould have thus acted without orders, the insulted noble immediately\nsaw that his life was aimed at, and directly spurring his horse\ntowards the elephant of the treacherous Suba, he tore down the howdah,\nseized the cowardly Kuttub by the throat, and buried his sword in the\ntraitor\u2019s body before any of his guards could rescue him; then turning\nupon the Omrahs, five were almost instantly sacrificed to his just\nrevenge.\n\nReeking with their blood, the avenger stood before the host, sternly\nbraving the retribution which he saw them preparing to inflict,\nand hailing them with a loud defiance. He expected no quarter, and\ntherefore determined not to yield without a struggle. His mind was\nbraced to the extreme tension of desperate energy, and he resolved that\nthe coveted prize of his death should be dearly won. Those who were\nwithin the immediate reach of his arm he slew without distinction, and\nsuch was the fatal celerity of his motions that the enemy fled before\nhim in dismay. He did not pursue, but challenged the unequal strife.\nLike a grim lion, he stood defiant before them, spotted with the gore\nof the slain, and prepared for fresh slaughter, but there was not a foe\ndaring enough to approach him.\n\nTerrified at his prowess, the soldiers began to discharge their arrows\nand matchlocks at him from a distance. His horse, struck by a ball in\nthe forehead, fell dead under him. Springing upon his feet, he slew\nseveral of the enemy who had ventured to rush forward in the hope\nof despatching him while encumbered with the housings of his fallen\ncharger. They fled at the sight of their slain comrades, and left their\nunvanquished destroyer to the aim of his distant foes, who fired upon\nhim without intermission. Covered with wounds and bleeding at every\npore, the still undaunted lion-slayer called upon the Suba\u2019s officers\nto advance and meet him in single combat, but they one and all declined\nthe encounter. They saw that certain death to each of them must be the\nissue of such a contest. It was evident, moreover, that their victim\ncould not escape the aim of so many enemies.\n\nAt length, seeing his end approaching, the brave Turkoman, like a\ndevout Mahomedan, turned his face towards Mecca, threw some dust upon\nhis head by way of ablution, there being no water near, and standing\nup, calm and undismayed, before the armed files of his murderers,\nreceived at one discharge six balls in his body, and expired without a\ngroan.\n\nThus perished one of the greatest heroes whose exploits have had a\nconspicuous place in the histories of nations.\n\nThe beautiful widow was immediately transported to Delhi, but Jehangire\nrefused to see her, whether from remorse or policy is uncertain. He\nordered her to be confined in one of the worst apartments of the harem.\nThis was exceedingly galling to her sensitive and haughty spirit.\n\nThe harem of an eastern prince is at once the penetralia of the\npolitical and social sanctuary, whence emanate all the cabals and\nconspiracies so rife in the cabinets of Moslem potentates; it may,\ntherefore, be as well to give a brief description of a Mahomedan\nsovereign\u2019s domestic establishment.\n\nIn the harem are educated the Mogul princes and the principal youth\namong the nobles destined for posts of responsibility in the empire.\nIt is generally separated from the palace, but so nearly contiguous as\nto be of ready access. None are admitted within its apartments except\nthe Emperor and those immediately attached to its several offices,\nthe duties of which are performed by women. It is generally enclosed\nby lofty walls, and surrounded by spacious gardens, laid out with all\nthe splendour of eastern magnificence, where every luxury is obtained\nwhich the appetite may demand or money can procure. Those inmates who\nform the matrimonial confederacy of the Mogul potentate are among the\nmost beautiful girls which the empire can furnish. They are taught\nembroidery, music, and dancing by certain old women hired to instruct\nthem in every blandishment that may captivate the senses and stimulate\nthe passions. These lovely captives are never permitted to appear\nabroad except when the Emperor travels, and then they are conveyed in\nlitters closed by curtains, or in boats with small cabins, admitting\nthe light and air only through narrow Venetian blinds.\n\nThe apartments of the harem are very splendid, always, however, of\ncourse in proportion to the wealth of the prince. The favourite object\nof his affections exhibits the dignity and enjoys the privilege of a\nqueen, though of a queen in captivity. While her beauty lasts she is\nfrequently regarded with a feeling almost amounting to idolatry, but\nwhen that beauty passes away the warmth of love subsides, her person\nno longer charms, her voice ceases to impart delight, her faded cheeks\nand sharpened tones become disagreeable memorials of the past. Neither\nher song nor her lute is now heard with pleasure, for in the beautiful\nimagery of the Persian poet, \u201cWhen the roses wither and the bower loses\nits sweetness, you have no longer the tale of the nightingale.\u201d\n\nThe favourite, however, while she continues her ascendancy over the\nheart of her lord, is treated with sovereign respect throughout the\nharem. She smokes her golden-tubed hookha, the mouthpiece studded\nwith gems; and enjoys the fresh morning breeze under a veranda that\noverlooks the gardens of the palace, attended by her damsels, only\nsecond to herself in attraction of person and splendour of attire.\n\n  \u201cHer smiling countenance resplendent shines\n  With youth and loveliness; her lips disclose\n  Teeth white as jasmine blossoms; silky curls\n  Luxuriant shade her cheeks; and every limb,\n  Of slightest texture, moves with natural grace,\n  lake moonbeams gliding through the yielding air.\u201d[35]\n\nHere she reclines in oblivious repose upon a rich embroidered carpet\nfrom the most celebrated looms of Persia. Through an atmosphere of the\nrichest incense she breathes the choicest perfumes of Arabia the happy,\nand has everything around her that can administer to sensual delight;\nstill she is generally an unhappy being. She dwells in the midst of\nsplendid misery and ungratifying profusion, while all within herself\nis desolation and hopelessness. Her sympathies are either warped or\nstifled; her heart is blighted and her mind degraded. She cannot join\nin the enthusiasm of the inimitable Hafiz[36]: \u201cThe breath of the\nwestern gale will soon shed musk around; the old world will again be\nyoung,\u201d but languishes, as the seasons return, in the most debasing\ncaptivity, and feels that the western gale breathes not upon her either\nthe freshness of freedom or of joy.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[35] Uttara Rama Cheritra, a Hindoo drama, translated by Horace Hayman\nWilson, Esq., from the original Sanscrit.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe daughter of the Tartar Aiass was a woman of haughty spirit, and\ncould ill brook the indifference with which she was treated by her\nformer admirer. It preyed deeply upon her mind. She was not ignorant of\nthe Emperor\u2019s hostility towards her late husband, though unconscious\nthat it had been the cause of his death. She severely felt her\nbereavement; and the change from perfect freedom to captivity--from the\naffection of a generous husband to the indifference of a capricious\nmaster, deeply mortified her. Meanwhile, however, she was not idle: the\nresources of her mind were no less fertile than extraordinary.\n\nBeing very expert at working tapestry and all kinds of embroidery,\nand in painting silks with the richest devices, she applied herself\nwith great assiduity to those employments. By intense application,\nshe acquired an expertness which enabled her to transcend the works of\nthe best manufacturers in the empire. In a short time the exquisite\nproductions of her taste and skill became the talk of the capital, and\nshe immediately became a person of importance, apart from her being the\nwidow of the renowned Shere Afkun. The ladies of the Omrahs of Delhi\nand Agra would wear nothing upon grand occasions but what came from the\nhands of the lovely Mher-ul-Nissa; she was consequently soon pronounced\nthe oracle of fashion and of taste.\n\nWhile she affected an extreme simplicity in her own dress, she attired\nher attendants in the richest tissues and brocades, making those\nwho had attractive persons the vehicle of setting off to advantage\nthe works of her own industry. She thus amassed a considerable sum\nof money, and became more celebrated in her obscurity than she had\nhitherto been as the wife of the most distinguished hero of his age.\nHer milder glories had been hitherto eclipsed by the predominancy of\nhis.\n\nNotwithstanding the success of her exertions in the occupation to\nwhich she had devoted herself, the daughter of Aiass the Tartar was\nstill an unhappy woman. She loathed her captivity: she felt the moral\ndegradation to which she was subjected, and that the influence which\nshe imagined herself born to exercise was extinguished by an untoward\ndestiny. She had always entertained a secret conviction that the\nstrange events of her birth portended a mortal distinction of singular\nsplendour; it therefore mortified her to find that she continued to\nlive celebrated only as a fabricator of brocades and tissues. Her\nspirits drooped: she grew peevish and irritable. Her occupation became\na toil, and she talked of relinquishing it, when one day she was\napprised that there was an old woman in the harem who pretended to\nlook into the future and read the destinies of mankind. Mher-ul-Nissa\nimmediately sent for the prophetess. The crone appeared before her,\nbending beneath the weight of years. Upon seeing the widow of the late\nShere Afkun, she lifted her skinny arms, clasped her bony fingers\ntogether, and muttered a few incoherent words which had more the\nseeming of madness than of prophecy: there was, however, more sanity\nthan madness in the mummery--it was a sort of label to her draught of\nforeknowledge.\n\n\u201cWell, mother,\u201d inquired Mher-ul-Nissa mildly, \u201cwhat do those strange\nwords portend? I would know something of my destiny, if it is in thy\npower to read it: if not, take this, and leave a blessing behind thee;\nfor an aged woman\u2019s curse is a dreadful thing to hang over any one\u2019s\nhead.\u201d Saying this, she placed a gold mohur upon the beldam\u2019s right\npalm, who giving a chuckle of delight, mumbled forth her vaticination\nwith a distorted grin of satisfaction. \u201cYou were born in a desert to\ndie upon a throne. She who as a babe was embraced by a reptile, as a\nwoman will be embraced by a king. The infant that was brought into\nthe world amidst famine will go out of it amidst plenty. The star, so\npuny at thy birth, will expand into a sun. I am not deceived;--believe\nme, and leave here a proof of your faith.\u201d She extended her hand, and\nhaving received another golden recompense, retired.\n\nMher-ul-Nissa was willing to believe the prophecy of the sibyl.\nThere was something in it, in spite of its vague generalities, that\nharmonized closely with those silent presentiments which she had for\nsome time past permitted herself to cherish. She was ambitious, and\na thirst after distinction was her ruling passion. Her mind was too\nstrongly fortified against superstition to render her the dupe of a\njuggler\u2019s predictions; nevertheless, the mere promise of aggrandisement\nwas agreeable to her ear, and she therefore lent a willing attention\nto what her reason despised, not caring to pay for the indulgence a\nthousand times above its value. She cherished the promise of worldly\nexaltation, not because she believed the hag who made it had a further\ninsight into futurity than her neighbours, but only because the theme\nwas grateful to her sensitive ambition; and there moreover existed\na strong presentiment within her, that she should rise from the\ngrovelling condition to which she was now reduced, and be exalted in\nproportion to her present degradation.\n\nActuated by this feeling, she did everything in her power to give\ncurrency to her reputation. She well knew that her taste was the\ntheme of general approbation, and the marvellous power of her beauty\nbegan to be talked of beyond the precincts of the harem. An Omrah\nof distinction, holding a high office in the state, offered her his\nhand, and it was soon noised abroad that she was about to become his\nwife. She secretly encouraged this report, though she had given him no\npledge, hoping that it would come to higher ears and procure her an\ninterview with the Emperor.\n\nThis state of things could not last long; and when pressed by the\nimpatient noble for a definitive answer to his offer of marriage,\nto his astonishment and that of all who were acquainted with the\ncircumstance, she declined it. Mortified at his repulse, he determined\nto obtain by force what was denied to his entreaty, and took an\nopportunity of violating the sanctity of the harem by appearing before\nher. She was alone in her apartment when the disappointed lover\nentered. He commenced by upbraiding her with her caprice, which she\nbore with dignified patience, until, irritated by her calmness, the\nOmrah seized her arm and roused her indignation by the most offensive\nmenaces. He being a powerful man, she was as an infant in his grasp;\nnevertheless, with the impulse of roused passion, she suddenly burst\nfrom his embrace, rushed into an inner chamber, and, seizing a crease,\ncommanded the intruder to retire. Maddened by disappointment, he sprang\nforward to repeat the violence which he had already offered: she\ninstantly raised her arm and buried the dagger in his body. He fell\nreeking in his blood. He was borne from the apartment insensible; and a\nconfinement of three months to his bed, under the daily peril of death,\ntaught him a lesson never to pass from memory but with his life. Other\nsuitors sought the hand of the Tartar\u2019s daughter, but all with like\nsuccess.\n\nThe accomplishments of this singular woman were soon carried to the\nears of the Emperor, who had probably by this time forgotten the\nascendency which she once held over his heart; or perhaps it was that\nthe mortification of her having been the wife of another rendered him\nsullen in his determination not to see her. He resolved, however, now\nto visit her, in order to have ocular proof whether the voice of\npublic report were a truth or an exaggeration. One evening therefore\nhe proceeded in state to her apartment. At the sight of her unrivalled\nbeauty, all his former passion revived in an instant. She was reclining\non a sofa in an undress robe of plain white muslin, which exhibited her\nfaultless shape to the best advantage, and became her better than the\nrichest brocades of Bagdat, or the finest embroideries of Cashmere.\nAs soon as the Emperor entered, the siren rose with an agitation that\nserved only to heighten her charms, and fixed her eyes upon the ground\nwith well-dissembled confusion. Jehangire stood mute with amazement,\nand rapture took immediate possession of his soul: he felt, if he did\nnot utter, the sentiment of an eminent poet of his own religion:--\n\n  \u201cSweet maid, if thou wouldst charm my sight,\n  And bid these arms thy neck infold;\n  That rosy cheek, that lily hand,\n  Would give thy lover more delight\n  Then all Bocara\u2019s vaunted gold,\n  Than all the gems of Sarmacand.\u201d\n\nHe was dazzled by the perfection of her form, the dignity of her mien,\nand the transcendent loveliness of her features. Advancing to where she\nstood with downcast eyes and suffused cheeks, blushing in the dazzling\nplenitude of her beauty, he took her hand and said: \u201cSun of women, the\nEmperor of a great and mighty nation throws himself at thy feet as an\nact of just homage to thy beauty. Wilt thou be the Sultana of Jehangire\nthe predominant?\u201d\n\n\u201cA subject has no voice,\u201d replied the enchantress; \u201cand a woman\nespecially can have no will but that of her sovereign: it is his\nprivilege to command--her heritage is to obey.\u201d\n\nJehangire again took her hand, declared his resolution to make her his\nEmpress, and immediately a proclamation was issued for the celebration\nof the royal nuptials with the lovely relict of the late Shere Afkun.\n\nA general festival was observed throughout the empire. Those rich\nembroideries which had lately been the admiration of the ladies of\nDelhi no longer issued from the harem. The humble embroidress cast\naside the distaff for the crown, and in the issue proved to be one of\nthe most extraordinary women which the pen of history has celebrated.\nShe became the principal director of the complex machine of government.\nThe name of Mher-ul-Nissa was exchanged for that of Noor Mahil, \u201cThe\nLight of the Harem.\u201d\n\nFrom this moment she was acknowledged as the favourite wife of the\nEmperor of the Moguls. In the climax of her exaltation her name was\nagain changed to Noor Jehan, or, \u201cThe Light of the World.\u201d As a\ndistinguishing mark of her pre-eminence in the sovereign\u2019s affections,\nshe was allowed to assume the title of Shahe, or Empress. Her family\nwas held next in rank to the princes of the blood, and advanced to\nplaces of the highest trust. Its members were admitted to privileges\nwhich had never before been enjoyed by subjects under the Mogul\ndomination. The current coin of the realm was stamped with her name,\nas well as with that of the sovereign! She converted the harem into\na court, where the mysteries of state policy were discussed with a\nfreedom and a power seldom known under despotic governments.\n\nIt was from the harem that those celebrated decrees were\nfulminated--for though they passed in the Emperor\u2019s name, it is\ncredibly attested that they emanated from his Sultana--which rendered\nthe reign of Jehangire one of the most politically prosperous in the\nannals of Mahomedan history. Her influence exceeded that of any other\nperson in the empire, not even excepting the sovereign; and perhaps,\nunder the rigid scrupulosity of Mogul policy with regard to women\nsharing in the administration of the state, there never has been an\ninstance of one of the sex attaining an ascendency so paramount, and\nsuch perfect political control over the destinies of so many subject\nprincipalities as the renowned Noor Jehan.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[36] Hafiz was a lyric poet, called, by way of pre-eminent distinction,\nthe Anacreon of Persia.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n\nA few years after the elevation of this extraordinary woman, Churrum,\nthe third son of Jehangire, who afterwards ascended the imperial\nthrone under the assumed designation of Shah Jehan, began to interrupt\nthe harmony of the state. He had been sent with a powerful army into\nthe Deccan to quell a formidable confederacy against the reigning\nauthority, and having succeeded in reducing the insurgents to\nobedience, began to show his ambitious designs upon the crown. Under\nthe most plausible pretences, and while in command of the army with\nwhich he had just quelled a dangerous insurrection, he persuaded the\nEmperor to put into his hands Chusero, Jehangire\u2019s eldest son, and\nconsequently heir to the throne, who had been imprisoned for rebellion.\nIt soon became evident why he had been so urgent to obtain the person\nof his rebellious brother. Chusero was the grand obstacle between him\nand the crown. The traitor Churrum now shortly threw off the mask, and\npublicly declared his designs. His success in the Deccan had endeared\nhim to the troops; his courage had gained their confidence, and his\nliberality secured their affections. Confiding in his imagined power,\nhe disregarded the mandates of his father, continued in arms, and\ncommanding his unhappy brother to be murdered under the walls of Azere,\nimmediately assumed the imperial titles.\n\nThe Sultana had long suspected the intentions of Churrum. In spite of\nthe veil which he had thrown over his base designs, they did not escape\nher penetration. Ambition was the dominant feeling in the bosom of this\ncrafty prince. The Empress, seeing the evils likely to accrue from this\nfierce passion if suffered to operate unchecked, determined to take\nprecautions to contravene his measures. Before the death of Chusero she\nsaw that the unnatural brother, into whose power he had fallen, had a\ndesign upon the throne. Every action of his public life had shown a\nsecret but undeviating perseverance in the pursuit of dominion, not to\nbe mistaken. His cunning she felt might be overreached, but his talents\nwere formidable. He was not only a crafty intriguer, but a brave and\nsuccessful general. He had become the idol of the army; and with such a\nmighty engine to power, she dreaded the final success of his schemes.\nShe declared her suspicions to the Emperor, who was at first unwilling\nto entertain them; but the wife had such an influence over the mind of\nher royal husband, that he always listened with great confidence to\nher suggestions. She assured him that Churrum must be watched, advised\nhis recall, and that the army should be placed under a less dangerous\ncommand. She insisted upon speedy and decisive measures, in order to\nobviate danger to the state. To the Emperor\u2019s doubts of Churrum\u2019s\nambitious intentions she answered:\n\n\u201cA man does not seek the instruments of authority but to employ them.\nWhen princes lay themselves out for popularity they intend to make the\nmob their tools, and the citizens their stepping-stones to dominion.\nHe who has once deceived is never to be trusted; and I can too well\ndiscover that, under the smiles of allegiance which so frequently play\nupon the features of Prince Churrum in his father\u2019s presence, hypocrisy\nlurks like the serpent in a bed of flowers.\u201d\n\nAfter a while Jehangire was convinced by the arguments of the Sultana\nof his son\u2019s evil designs, which an account of Chusero\u2019s death soon\nconfirmed. He was enraged at such a sanguinary act of ambition, and\ndetermined to punish the fratricide. In order to obviate the stigma\nwhich he knew would be attached to the crime of murdering a brother,\nthe crafty prince affected such extreme grief, that he was believed by\nmany to be innocent of so atrocious an offence. Jehangire, however, or\nrather his Empress, was not to be deceived by this barefaced hypocrisy:\nthe former wrote him a letter, accusing him of the crime; at the same\ntime ordering the body of his murdered son to be disinterred; it was\nbrought to the capital, and buried with the honours due to his rank.\n\nAlthough Prince Churrum was married to a niece of Noor Jehan the\nhostility between him and the Empress had risen to such a height\nthat it was perfectly implacable. The rebellious prince well knew\nthat he owed the indignation of his parent to her influence; he\ntherefore resolved to lose no time in endeavouring to get her into his\npower. Seeing no probability of a reconciliation with his father, he\ndetermined to continue in his rebellion.\n\nAt the suggestion of his consort, Jehangire prepared to reduce his son\nto obedience; but his troops being at a distance, he could not bring\nan army into the field. At this critical juncture, a courier arrived\nfrom Mohabet Chan, the imperial general, stating that he was advancing,\nwith all the forces of the Punjab, to join the royal army. Shortly\nafter, the troops of Jehangire engaged the rebels and entirely defeated\nthem. The refractory prince was so overcome by this unexpected reverse\nof fortune, that he meditated suicide. The paroxysm, however, passed,\nand he fled to the mountains of Mewat, where he found for the moment a\nsecure refuge from the anger of his father and the hostility of Noor\nJehan. Misfortune followed him: his party was defeated in Guzerat.\nStill the royal rebel was so formidable, that it was resolved to take\nhim alive, as the only means of extinguishing the flames of civil war,\nalways disastrous to the victors as well as to the vanquished. Mohabet\nChan was therefore despatched, at the head of a large detachment of\nRajpoots, a race of soldiers proverbially brave, to capture the royal\ninsurgent. Churrum, in consequence, quitted his retreat, determined\nto face the danger and try the chance of another battle. Crossing the\nriver Nerbudda, in the province of Malwa, he threw up works to defend\nthe ford. Of the large and well-appointed army which had followed him\ninto the Deccan there remained only a small dispirited remnant, and\ndesertions were daily thinning his lines. He had no reliance upon the\nsoldiers, dejected from successive defeats, and murmuring for their\narrears of pay, which he was unable to provide. He lost his energy,\nbecame incautious and irresolute, and allowed himself to be surprised\nby the imperial general, who routed his disheartened forces with great\nslaughter, and forced him again to seek refuge in the hills. He soon,\nhowever, passed through Golconda, and took the route to Bengal.\n\nHis escape was a source of severe mortification to the Sultana, who\nforesaw that the repose of the state was not likely to be secured\nuntil he should either be taken or destroyed. She was besides anxious\nthat the succession should be fixed upon Shariar, the fourth son\nof Jehangire, who had married the daughter whom she had borne to\nShere Afkun. By her representations, no doubt in the main just, the\nEmperor\u2019s enmity towards his son was kept alive; of which the latter\nbeing aware, saw that it would not be prudent to trust himself within\nthe walls of his father\u2019s capital. He had more than once thought of\nthrowing himself upon the paternal clemency; but his knowledge of the\nSultana\u2019s vindictive spirit, and the consciousness of his own manifold\nderelictions, kept him from running the risk of captivity for life, if\nnot of undergoing extreme punishment.\n\nHis affairs, however, now began to assume a more favourable aspect.\nHaving invested the fort of Tellia Gurri, in Bengal, with a new army\nwhich he had raised in that province, after an obstinate defence\nby the garrison, he succeeded in carrying the place by storm. This\nunexpected success animated him to new exertions. He now overran the\nwhole district, which shortly submitted to his arms. He reduced Dacca,\na considerable city, and once the capital of Bengal, in which he found\nan immense treasure in gold and silver, besides jewels and warlike\nstores. The Suba was deposed, and a new governor raised, who ruled in\nthe name of Shah Jehan, by which title Prince Churrum finally ascended\nthe imperial throne.\n\nNo sooner had he settled the government of Bengal, than he turned his\nthoughts to the neighbouring province of Bahar. The governor fled at\nhis approach; but the wealthy zemindars crowded to his camp to offer\nhim their allegiance. He accepted their submission, together with\nthe rich presents which they brought to ratify the mutual compact of\nprotection and affiance, and to confirm their sincerity. But the most\nimportant occurrence, and which greatly tended to strengthen him in\nhis new conquests, was the unexpected submission of Mubarick, governor\nof the fort of Rhotas, who came to his camp, presented him the keys,\nand made a vow of perpetual fealty. This fortress was considered\nunimpregnable. It had never been taken by force, and was therefore\nlooked upon by the rebellious prince as a place of security for his\nfamily. Here he immediately removed them; and being now relieved from\nimmediate anxiety on their account, he was better prepared to encounter\nthe dangers of the field, and to brave the vicissitudes of fortune.\n\nThis uninterrupted current of success inflamed the pride of the royal\nrebel, and he fancied himself in a condition to contend for the\nimperial sceptre with that army which had already twice so signally\ndefeated him. Mohabet Chan had again taken the field, and marched as\nfar as Benares, on the banks of the Ganges, to chastise the insurgents,\nwho mustered upwards of forty thousand horse,--a force scarcely\ninferior to the imperialists in number,--and were drawn up on the bank\nof a small stream.\n\nThe battle was desperate, but decisive. The rebels were routed after a\nprodigious slaughter. The conduct of Prince Churrum on this occasion\nwas marked by reckless bravery. Plunging into the thickest of the fight\nwith five hundred horse, who had resolved to devote themselves to death\nwith their leader, he maintained a sanguinary struggle against immense\nodds, and would, no doubt, have fallen a victim to his despair, had not\nsome of his officers seized the reins of his charger, and forced him\nfrom the battle to a place of security. He fled to the fort of Rhotas,\nwhere he had left his family. The plunder of his camp, which contained\nthe spoils of Dacca, saved him from immediate pursuit.\n\nLeaving his family in the fortress, where he imagined they would be\nsecure, the wretched prince collected the scattered remains of his\narmy, and threw himself into Patna, which he determined to defend, but\nthought it prudent to evacuate the city at the approach of his enemies.\nHe fled through Bengal towards the Deccan. The provinces which he had\nso lately conquered fell again under the legitimate authority. When\nMohabet had settled the government of these districts, he marched\nafter the royal fugitive.\n\nThough his fortunes were reduced to so low an ebb, the prince did not\ndespond. His mind was active, and these severe reverses only seemed to\nanimate him to new enterprises. He attached to his desperate fortunes\nthe Rajah of Ambere, who entertained some cause of enmity towards\nJehangire. Strengthened by the forces of this new ally, he reduced the\ncity of Boorhampoor; when the imperial army arriving, forced him to\nraise the siege and take shelter in the mountains of Ballagat. In his\nretreat he made an attempt upon a strong fortress on the frontiers of\nKandeish, where he was repulsed with considerable loss.\n\nThis completed his ruin. His nobles no longer followed him; and the\ntroops, under the sanction of their example, deserted his standard.\nA thousand horse only remained. \u201cHis spirits sank within him; his\nmisfortunes oppressed him, his guilt and folly were always present to\nhis mind. Sickness was added to his other miseries. He was hunted like\na wild beast from place to place; all mankind were his enemies--he was\ntheir foe. Where he thought he could not overcome, he fled; he spread\ndevastation through places where he could prevail. He was, however,\ntired of rapine. Worn down by contention and hostility, he wrote\nletters of compunction to his father: he enlarged on his own guilt,--he\neven added, if possible, to his own wretchedness and misfortune.\nJehangire was often full of affection--he was always weak: and he was\nshocked at the miserable condition of a son whom he had once loved; his\ntears fell upon the part of that son\u2019s letter which mentioned guilt,\nand his crimes vanished from memory.\n\n\u201cIn the midst of this returning softness, Jehangire was not altogether\nvoid of policy. He wrote to his son, that if he would give orders to\nthe governors of Rhotas, of Azere, and other places which were still\nheld out in his name, to deliver up their forts, and send his three\nsons, Dara, Aurungzebe, and Murad, to court, he would be forgiven for\nhis past crimes. Churrum embraced the offer with joy; he delivered up\nthe forts and sent his children to Agra. He, however, found various\npretences for not appearing in person at court. He alleged that he\nwas ashamed to see a father whom he had so much injured; but he was\nactually afraid of the machinations of the Sultana. He made excursions,\nunder a pretence of pleasure, through all parts of the empire, attended\nby five hundred horse. He was sometimes heard of at Ajmere, sometimes\nat Tatta on the Indus, and again in the Deccan.\u201d[37] Such was the\ntermination of this formidable rebellion, the suppression of which\nJehangire entirely owed to the vigilance and foresight of his Empress,\nNoor Jehan. This remarkable woman was ever conspicuous amid the great\nstir of the times; and in every action of her life she displayed that\npredominancy of mind which had distinguished her even before her\nexaltation to the imperial sceptre, which she may be said to have\nwielded,--for though it appeared in the hand of her husband, she gave\nstrength to the grasp by which he held it, and imparted stability to\nhis throne.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VII.\n\n\nAmong the extraordinary occurrences of Noor Jehan\u2019s life, perhaps\nthere is none that more forcibly developes her character than her\nbearing towards Mohabet Chan, after the signal services which he had\nrendered the state by suppressing the rebellion of Prince Churrum.\nThe eminent abilities displayed by Mohabet during his command of the\nimperial armies had won for him the confidence of his master and of the\nEmpress; and this confidence was increased by his suppression of the\nmost formidable rebellion which disturbed the reign of Jehangire. His\nfamily was raised to offices of trust in the state, and the Emperor\ntreated him with a distinction that excited the envy of the nobles. But\nthe gratitude of princes has ever been a questionable virtue; their\nsuspicions are readily excited, and there are never wanting engines to\nset those suspicions at work.\n\nThe Sultana soon became apprehensive of Mohabet\u2019s influence with the\nEmperor; and therefore, to abridge it, put in operation the active\nenergies of her mind. Jehangire was naturally a credulous man, and the\nrebellion of his son had rendered him suspicious. The virtues of his\ngeneral ought to have placed him above the petty surmises suggested by\nenvy; but his abilities had raised him enemies at court, and his master\nwanted firmness to repel the insinuations levelled against the man who\nhad been the main prop of his throne. Mohabet soon perceived a change\nin his sovereign\u2019s feelings; but, conscious of his own integrity, he\nwas at no pains to remove the prejudices excited against him. He was\nconscious that he owed much of the growing coldness evident in the\nEmperor\u2019s manner towards him to the misrepresentations of Noor Jehan;\nand thence grew a strong and mutual antipathy, which had nearly proved\nthe means of transferring the empire from the house of Timur to another\ndynasty.\n\nThe immediate cause of that open rupture which ensued, and had nearly\ncost Jehangire his crown, was an accusation made to the Sultana by a\nnoble that Mohabet had sanctioned his son\u2019s death, which the father\nexpressed himself determined to avenge. He further stated that the\ngeneral entertained a design of raising his sovereign\u2019s second son to\nthe throne. This was reported to the Emperor; it immediately excited\nhis fears, and he listened with weak credulity to a charge of treason\nagainst his general. Blinded by his terrors, he forgot the services\nwhich that great and good man had rendered to the state, and weakly\nlistened to the voice of his slanderers.\n\nMohabet, who was at this time in Bengal, received his master\u2019s\nimperative orders to repair immediately to the capital. As he did not\ninstantly obey, he received a second summons, still more peremptory,\naccompanied with such manifestations of displeasure, that he could\nno longer mistake the danger of his situation. Although surprised at\nthis total change of good feeling towards him, yet having really done\nnothing justly to excite his sovereign\u2019s displeasure, he resolved to\nobey the mandate at all hazards, but to take every necessary precaution\nagainst his enemies, whether secret or open. When, however, he\nreflected upon the unworthy requital he had received for his services,\nindignation and disgust overbore his first resolution, and he came to\nthe determination of retiring to a castle of which he had some time\nbefore been appointed governor; but, to his astonishment, he found\nthat an order had been received at the fortress to deliver it up to a\nperson whom the Sultana had appointed to take immediate possession.\nThis unjustifiable act of tyranny convinced him of what some of his\nfriends at court had already apprised him, that his life was in danger\nfrom the secret machinations of his foes; he determined therefore not\nto put himself in their power before he had at least made some effort\nto ascertain the extent of his peril.\n\nHe wrote to the Emperor, expressing surprise at his hostility towards\nan unoffending subject, and declaring that, though he had the greatest\nconfidence in the honour of his sovereign, he had none in that of his\nevil counsellors. The only reply which he received to this temperate\nexpostulation was an order, still more peremptory than those already\nsent, to appear at court without further delay. To refuse was to rebel;\nhe therefore addressed another letter to his imperial master. In it he\nsaid, \u201cI will serve my sovereign with my life against his enemies; but\nI will not expose it to the malice of his friends. Assure me of safety,\nand I will clear myself in your presence.\u201d\n\nThis letter was construed by the Sultana, who directed all the\nEmperor\u2019s measures, into an indignity. Jehangire was angry, and\ndespatched a messenger, summoning Mohabet, in very reproachful terms,\nto appear before him. The general prepared to obey; but took the\nprecaution of going with an escort of five thousand Rajpoots in the\nimperial pay, who had long served under him, and were devoted to their\ncommander. With this guard of faithful soldiers he proceeded towards\nLahore, where the sovereign at that time held his court.\n\nWhen the Empress heard that Mohabet was advancing with so numerous an\nescort, she became alarmed. She feared that such a formidable force\nmight either terrify the Emperor into a reconciliation, or place his\ncrown in jeopardy. Either way there was cause for apprehension. She\npersuaded him, therefore, not to admit the refractory general into the\ncamp, for at this time the imperial retinue was on its way from Lahore\nto Cabul. When he arrived near the royal encampment, a messenger was\ndespatched to inform him that he would not be allowed to enter the\npresence of his sovereign until he had accounted for the revenues of\nBengal, and the plunder taken at the battle of Benares. Provoked at\nsuch a demand, the general despatched his son-in-law to complain of\nthe indignity; but no sooner had the young man entered the Emperor\u2019s\npresence, than he was stripped, bastinadoed, covered with a ragged\nrobe, placed upon a lean tattoo[38] with his face towards the tail,\nand thus sent back to his father-in-law amid the jeers of the whole\narmy. This was an insult not to be forgiven. Mohabet was grieved at the\nEmperor\u2019s weakness, but attributed the scandal of the late scene to\nthe Sultana, to whose intrigues he imputed her royal husband\u2019s violent\nhostility. He saw that to put himself in her power was at once to\nrelinquish his liberty, if not his life; and he accordingly formed his\nresolution. It was no less decisive than bold. He resolved immediately\nto surprise the sovereign and carry him off.\n\nThe imperial army lay encamped on the banks of a river, across which\nwas a bridge. On the morning after the maltreatment of Mohabet\u2019s\nmessenger, they proceeded on their march. Not being in an enemy\u2019s\ncountry, no precautions were used against surprise, as no danger was\napprehended. The army commenced its march early in the morning; and\nJehangire, being in no haste to move, continued in his tent, intending\nto follow at his convenience. When the imperial troops had crossed the\nbridge, Mohabet advancing with his Rajpoots, set it on fire, and thus\ncut off the sovereign\u2019s retreat. He then rushed forward to the royal\ntent. His face was pale, but his whole aspect severe and resolute:\nthere was no mistaking the purpose which was legibly written in every\nfeature. He was followed by his brave Rajpoots. Resistance was vain.\nThe guards and nobles were instantly disarmed.\n\nJehangire had retired to the bath, whither Mohabet followed him. The\nguards attempted to oppose the latter\u2019s entrance; but putting his hand\nupon his sword, and pointing to his numerous followers, no further\nopposition was made, and the bold general entered the bathing-tent. The\nOmrahs present, seeing the folly of resistance, relinquished their arms\nand became silent spectators of the scene. Mohabet passed them with a\nstern countenance, which brought to their memories the outrage of the\npreceding day, but did not utter a word.\n\nMeanwhile information of what had happened was carried to the inner\ntent, where the Emperor was, by some of the female attendants. He\nseized his sword, but was soon brought to a sense of his defenceless\nposition. Perceiving that all his guards and nobles were disarmed,\nand that Mohabet was accompanied by a band of resolute followers\nprepared to obey his commands to the very letter, he approached the\ngeneral, whom his conscience now told him he had treated with signal\ningratitude, and said, \u201cWhat does this mean, Mohabet Chan?\u201d Mohabet,\ntouching the ground, and then his forehead, thus replied:\n\n\u201cForced by the machinations of my enemies, who plot against my life, I\nthrow myself under the protection of my sovereign.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are safe,\u201d answered the Emperor; \u201cbut what would these who stand\narmed behind you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey demand full security,\u201d rejoined Mohabet, \u201cfor me and my family;\nand without it they will not retire.\u201d\n\n\u201cI understand you,\u201d said Jehangire: \u201cname your terms, and they shall be\ngranted. But you do me an injustice, Mohabet: I did not plot against\nyour life; I knew your services, though I was offended at your seeming\ndisobedience of my commands. Be assured of my protection; I shall\nforget the conduct which necessity has imposed upon you.\u201d\n\nMohabet did not reply, but, ordering a horse, requested the Emperor\nto mount. They then rode forward, surrounded by Rajpoots. When they\nhad proceeded beyond the skirts of the camp, the imperial captive\nwas respectfully requested to place himself upon an elephant, in\norder to avoid accident in any confusion that might ensue from his\ndeparture. He readily complied with the general\u2019s request, seeing that\nopposition would be fruitless, and ascended the elephant, upon which\nthree Rajpoots immediately placed themselves as guards. Some of the\nnobles, seeing the captivity of their sovereign, advanced to oppose\nhis progress, and were instantly cut down by the followers of Mohabet.\nThere was no further interruption offered, and Jehangire was taken\nto Mohabet\u2019s tent. Here the latter explained himself to his royal\nprisoner, assuring him that he had no design either against his life or\nhis power. \u201cBut,\u201d he continued, sternly, \u201cI am determined to be secure\nfrom treachery.\u201d\n\nMohabet was greatly disappointed that he had not been able to secure\nthe Sultana. During the confusion caused by the entrance of his\nnumerous followers into the imperial tent, she had contrived to escape,\nand passing the stream upon her elephant, had joined the army, to whom\nshe communicated the disaster of her husband\u2019s captivity.\n\nMohabet not considering himself secure while the Sultana was at large,\ndetermined to leave nothing unattempted to get her into his power.\nHe had now publicly shown his hostility; the banner of rebellion was\nraised, and no alternative remained but to pursue his purpose with the\nsame resolute boldness with which he had begun it. He was conscious of\nthe resources of his own genius. He was the idol of the troops which\nhe commanded; and though aware of the consummate abilities of the\nSultana--who in fact directed the movements of the imperial army--and\nof her brother the Vizier, still he knew they were not popular with\nthe troops, and that, moreover, a great number of the Omrahs were\ndissatisfied with the influence exercised by her and her family.\n\nMohabet having returned with the Emperor to his former camp on\nthe banks of the river, found that Sujait Chan, an Omrah of high\nreputation, had just arrived to join the imperial army. Finding\nthe camp deserted, and the Emperor a prisoner in the hands of his\nrebellious general, Sujait upbraided the latter with treachery in\nthe presence of his Rajpoots. The general, at once enraged and\nalarmed, ordered his troops to fall upon the haughty noble, whom they\nimmediately slew, together with his whole retinue. This decisive stroke\nof severity at once terrified the other nobles, who had been watching\nfor an opportunity of rescuing their sovereign, and they fled across\nthe river, carrying to the imperial army the melancholy intelligence of\nSujait\u2019s death.\n\nThis information produced a general gloom. The captivity of the Emperor\nexcited the indignation of the Sultana, and of Asiph the Vizier. Noor\nJehan summoned the nobles who had just joined the army; and upbraided\nthem with their cowardice in not hazarding their lives in defence of\ntheir royal master. A council was promptly summoned, and a consultation\nheld as to the best method to be pursued for rescuing the sovereign\nout of his enemy\u2019s hands. There was no time to be lost: the moment\nwas critical; delay only diminished the chances of success, as it\nstrengthened the power of the rebel, who was universally popular. It\nwas determined to recross the river with the dawn, and attack Mohabet.\nJehangire, whom they had contrived to apprise of this intention, began\nto fear for his life. He instantly sent a messenger to the Vizier to\ndesist; but that minister not considering himself bound to comply with\nthe commands of a captive monarch, determined to persevere in his\nintention.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[37] Vide Dow, ad loc.\n\n[38] A native pony.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nAt daybreak the Vizier retraced his steps with the army. Upon reaching\nthe bridge, finding that it had been burned down, he instantly came to\nthe determination of fording the river; but the water was very deep,\nand in this attempt many were drowned. The banks on the opposite side\nwere so steep, that those who gained them had to contend with an enemy\nunder great disadvantage. The enemy, too, were vigilant and active, and\ncut them off as fast as they quitted the water. Nothing could withstand\nthe headlong valour of the Rajpoots. Not a man escaped; the moment he\ngained the bank, he was slain in attempting to ascend it. The imperial\narmy, however, was numerous, and the rear pressing upon the front, many\nat length made good their footing; but it was to encounter foes whose\nprinciple of warfare was to vanquish or to die. The action continued\nfor several hours, and the slaughter of the imperial forces was\nprodigious. The Vizier did all in his power to encourage the troops, to\nno purpose--they were dispirited; but still, trusting to their numbers,\nthey continued the struggle under the greatest disadvantages.\n\nNoor Jehan witnessed the whole scene from the river-bank, and her\nalarm was excessive at beholding the slaughter of the royal forces.\nHer resolute spirit was roused, and her determination instantly taken.\nMounted upon an elephant,--on which was likewise her daughter, a\nbeautiful maiden, in the prime and freshness of youth--armed with a bow\nand arrows, she plunged fearlessly into the stream. The Empress was\nfollowed by several nobles, who, ashamed at beholding the resolution of\na woman, followed her into the river, and made for the further side.\nUrging her elephant to the middle of the channel, she waved a scarf to\nencourage the Vizier\u2019s troops. Undaunted at the carnage before her,\nshe stood in the howdah, and discharged her arrows with fatal aim at\nthe foe. Three Mahoots were successively killed; yet she maintained\nher position, and having exhausted her quiver, demanded another to be\nbrought. Her elephant was three times wounded, and her situation became\nextremely dangerous from the violent plunges of the animal under the\nexcitement of suffering. Still she continued to discharge her arrows\nwith fearless determination. Her daughter was at length wounded in the\narm, which only stimulated the heroic mother to greater exertions. She\nurged her elephant forward to the bank, soon exhausted another quiver\nof arrows, and called for a fresh supply. The sight of her heroism gave\nan impulse to the wavering courage of her brother\u2019s troops, and many\neffected their landing.\n\nThe battle now became sanguinary in the extreme; but the imperialists\ngained no ground. In spite of the Sultana\u2019s presence, they could not\novercome the determined resistance of the Rajpoots; nevertheless, they\nfought with a bravery worthy of better success. Noor Jehan, having\nurged her elephant close to the bank, a Rajpoot gave it a severe wound\nwith his sword, just at the root of the trunk. With a shrill cry the\nhuge animal fell; but whilst it was in the act of falling, the Sultana\nhad placed an arrow in the string of her bow, and fixed it in the\nbrain of her foe, who rolled dead upon the plain. When the elephant\nfell, both mother and daughter were thrown into the stream, and, as\nthe current was rapid, their lives were in jeopardy; but the Empress,\nseizing her bow with her teeth, swam towards some Omrahs, who were\ncrossing to second her heroic exertions. Her daughter was delivered\nfrom peril by the enemy and made prisoner. Meanwhile, the mother\nbreasted the current, and with difficulty reached an elephant, upon\nwhich a noble was seated, who rescued her from the river. Whilst she\nwas in the water, a ball from a matchlock struck her in the side; but\nit passed round by the rib, and thus did not enter her body.\n\nUndismayed by the danger she had just escaped, the Empress continued to\ndischarge her arrows at the enemy, doing considerable execution with\nher single arm. Mohabet was the chief object of her aim; but he was\ntoo far from the bank to enable her to accomplish her fatal purpose.\nHer danger was becoming every moment more imminent; she nevertheless\nurged her elephant forward, reckless of personal consequences. She\nhad already exhausted three quivers of arrows, when a fourth was\nbrought to her. At the first discharge she struck a soldier in the\nbody, who instantly tore out the shaft from his flesh, and with a\nfierce resolution of revenge leaped into the stream. He held his sword\nabove the water with one hand, and dashed with the other towards the\nSultana\u2019s elephant. Already was his arm raised to strike; but before he\ncould accomplish his purpose, another arrow from the heroine\u2019s bow was\nburied in his breast, and he sank beneath the whirling eddies.\n\nA number of Rajpoots now rushed into the river to seize the Sultana.\nThey soon surrounded her; but she plied her bow so vigorously, that\nseveral of them were wounded. They were, however, about to make good\ntheir capture--the glory of the Moguls was in jeopardy. A Rajpoot had\nascended the back of her elephant, and commenced a fierce struggle\nwith the Omrah who accompanied his mistress. At this moment, the huge\nanimal having received a severe wound behind, sprang suddenly forward,\nmaking its way through the soldiers by whom it had been surrounded,\nand scrambled up the bank. It was immediately despatched. As it fell,\nNoor Jehan leaped from the howdah, and with a voice of stern command\nsummoned some of the imperial troops, who were engaged in a desperate\nconflict with the enemy, to her rescue. They obeyed a voice which\nthey had long been taught to consider as that of their sovereign. She\nwas soon surrounded by friends and foes. Seizing a sword, she fought\nwith a heroism that astonished even the Rajpoots, with whom valour\nis a heritage. A deep sabre-cut in the shoulder seemed only to add\na stimulus to her resolution. The man who had inflicted the wound\nreceived from her arm a signal retribution: she dashed her sword into\nhis skull, and he was instantly prostrated among the dead.\n\nThe battle now raged with prodigious fury; but the imperialists were\nfast giving way. At length the Sultana was left fighting with unabated\nenergy, supported by only a few soldiers. The moment was critical.\nTwo Rajpoots advanced to seize her; she saw there was not an instant\nto be lost, and rushing to the river\u2019s bank, turned her head upon her\nfoes with a haughty expression of defiance, and leaped undauntedly\ninto the torrent. The two soldiers followed, resolved to make her\ntheir prisoner or die in the attempt. In spite of her wound, with a\nresolution which nothing could subdue, she bore up against the rapid\ncurrent; but, notwithstanding all her exertions, was carried by its\nforce down the stream. As the soldiers were more encumbered, the body\nof each being protected by a thick quilted tunic, the royal fugitive\ngained considerably upon them. That portion of the imperial army which\nhad not yet crossed the river, watched her with intense anxiety. She\nrose buoyantly above the waters, and after great exertions, landed\nupon the opposite bank. Her pursuers were by this time close upon her.\nDetermined not to be made a prisoner, she prepared for a desperate\nresistance.\n\nOne of the Rajpoots being before the other, first gained the shore.\nThe bank was steep: just as he reached the brink, his foot slipped,\nand he partially fell, but clung to the roots of some wild shrubs that\nprotruded from the earth. The opportunity was not to be lost: Noor\nJehan drew a dagger from her girdle, and as the soldier was struggling\nto regain his footing, struck him with all her force upon the\ntemple--his body being protected by the quilted tunic, his face was the\nonly part that she could successfully strike. The blow was dealt with\nfatal aim; it divided the temporal artery, and the man fell back into\nthe water, deluged in his blood. His companion, who had been carried\nfarther down the stream, gained the bank during this fatal struggle.\nOvercome by the extraordinary heroism of the Sultana, he approached\nher with a profound salaam, and said, \u201cLady, your heroic bearing\ndeserves a better meed than captivity. You are now within my power;\nbut, astonished at the matchless valour you have displayed, I cannot\npersuade myself to make you prisoner. Promise me a safe conduct back\nto the army to which I belong, and you are free; refuse me, and I will\nplunge immediately with you into the stream, where we will both perish\ntogether.\u201d\n\n\u201cSoldier,\u201d replied the Sultana with composed dignity, \u201cI accept your\nterms. I promise you a safe conduct to your friends. Your behaviour is\nnoble, and claims my esteem: what boon can I offer you?\u201d\n\n\u201cA Rajpoot never accepts a boon from a foe. Besides, I have no claim\nupon your generosity. I do not spare you because you are Empress of the\nMoguls, but because I admire the valour which you have exhibited as\na woman. With women it is a rare quality, and deserves its reward. I\nshould have felt the same towards a Pariah who had displayed as much.\u201d\n\nNoor Jehan was received by her friends with shouts of joy; and the\nsoldier who accompanied her was conducted to a ford some distance up\nthe river, where he passed over to the army of Mohabet.\n\nSeeing their Empress safe, two Omrahs, with their followers, crossed\nthe stream and joined the imperialists, who were now giving way on all\nsides. Encouraged by this fresh accession of force, the retreating\nparty again rallied, and the contest was maintained with renewed\nvigour. The Rajpoots were in their turn repulsed. They retreated\ntowards the tent in which the Emperor was confined. Several arrows and\nballs piercing through the canvas and exposing Jehangire\u2019s life to\ngreat danger, he was covered with a shield by an officer of the guard.\nMeanwhile, Mohabet rallied his troops behind the tents and turned them\nupon the flank of the imperialists, who, dispirited by this fresh\nassault, gave way, and a general rout followed. Mohabet, after a hard\ncontest, remained master of the field, which was literally covered with\nthe slain.\n\nThe Vizier, seeing that all was lost, fled from the scene of carnage,\nand reaching the castle of New Rhotas, shut himself up there with five\nhundred men. The castle was strong, but offered a retreat of very\nequivocal security against an army flushed with recent conquest, and\ncommanded by the greatest general of his time. Noor Jehan escaped to\nLahore; yet her safety was anything but certain, being without troops,\nand all the bravest Omrahs of the imperial army either slain or in\ncaptivity. Nevertheless she bore her reverse with that indomitable\nresolution so natural to her lofty and energetic spirit.\n\nMohabet despatched a messenger to the Vizier with assurances of safety;\nbut the latter declined putting himself in the power of a successful\nrebel; upon which the incensed general sent his son with a strong\ndetachment to invest the fort of Rhotas. He almost immediately joined\nthis officer with his whole army, and after a feeble resistance the\nVizier surrendered at discretion. He was, however, treated with great\nurbanity and kindness by the conqueror, which not only conciliated his\ngood opinion, but won his friendship.\n\nMeanwhile the Emperor forwarded a letter to his royal consort, begging\nher to join him, speaking in high terms of the respectful treatment he\nreceived from Mohabet, and giving her assurances of a kind reception;\nurging her at the same time to forget past causes of animosity, and lay\naside all thoughts of further hostilities, that the empire might not be\ninvolved in the horrors of a civil war. He besought her to follow him\nto Cabul, whither he was then proceeding; declaring that there was no\nrestraint put upon his actions, but that he was allowed to direct his\nmarch wherever he thought proper.\n\nNoor Jehan, seeing at a glance the desperate condition of things,\ndetermined to comply at once with the Emperor\u2019s commands, being\nsatisfied that there was more danger in resistance. She therefore came\nto the resolution of choosing the least of two evils, and, setting out\nfrom Lahore, joined her captive husband on his march towards Cabul.\nMohabet sent a strong detachment to meet and pay her the honours due\nto her rank; but she was not to be deceived by so flimsy an artifice.\nIt was evident to her that she was surrounded by her future guards;\nnevertheless she affected to receive the ostensible compliment, and met\nthe Emperor with a cheerful countenance.\n\nShe was immediately subjected to a rigorous confinement. Her tent\nwas surrounded by troops, and she was not permitted to stir abroad.\nMohabet accused her of treason against the state, and insisted that so\ndangerous a criminal should be instantly put to death. \u201cYou who are\nEmperor of the Moguls,\u201d said he to Jehangire, \u201cand whom we look upon as\nsomething more than human, ought to follow the example of God, who has\nno respect for persons.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\n\nMohabet, feeling that his future safety depended upon the death of Noor\nJehan, had sent a soldier to despatch her. The minister of destruction\nentered her tent after midnight, when she was plunged in profound\nrepose. Her beautiful limbs were stretched upon a Persian carpet,\nthe rich colours of which glowed in the light of a lamp that burned\nupon a silver frame near her bed. Her fine features were relaxed into\nthat placid expression which sleep casts over the countenance when no\ndisquieting dreams disturb and excite it into muscular activity. The\nslow and measured breath came from her lovely bosom like incense from\na sacred censer. Her right arm, naked to the shoulder, and on which\nthe scar of the wound she had lately received appeared still red and\ntender, was thrown across her bosom, showing an exquisite roundness of\nsurface and delicacy of outline that fixed the attention of the rugged\nsoldier, who hesitated to remove so beautiful a barrier to that bosom\nwhich his dagger was commissioned to reach. He stood over his victim in\nmute astonishment. He was entranced by her beauty. The recollection of\nher undaunted heroism disarmed his purpose, and he dropped the weapon\nof death. Noor Jehan was roused by the noise;--she started from her\nslumber. Seeing a man in the tent, she sprang from her couch, and,\neyeing him with calm disdain, said,\n\n\u201cI apprehend your purpose; you are a murderer;--Noor Jehan is not\nunprepared to die even by the assassin\u2019s dagger. Strike!\u201d she said\nsternly, and bared her bosom.\n\nThe man was overcome; he prostrated himself before her, pointed to the\nfallen weapon, and besought her to forgive the evil purpose with which\nhe had entered her tent:\n\n\u201cI am but an humble instrument of another\u2019s will.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo,\u201d replied the Sultana with dignity, \u201cand tell your employer that\nyour mistress and his knows how to meet death when it comes, but claims\nfrom him the justice awarded to the meanest criminal. The secret dagger\nis the instrument of tyranny, not of justice. I am in his power; but\nlet him exercise that power as becomes a brave and a good man.\u201d\n\nMohabet was not surprised, though greatly mortified, when he found that\nhis purpose had been thus defeated. He therefore sought the Emperor,\nand insisted that he should immediately sign a warrant for the death\nof his Sultana. Jehangire knew too well the justice of the demand,\nthe wrongs which she had heaped upon the man who made it, and his own\nincapability of resistance, to disobey. Not having seen the Empress for\nsome time, he had in a degree forgotten the influence of her charms;\nand prepared, though with reluctance, to comply with the sanguinary\nrequisition. When the awful announcement was made to the Sultana, she\ndid not exhibit the slightest emotion. \u201cImprisoned sovereigns,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201close their right of life with their freedom; but permit me once\nmore to see the Emperor, and to bathe with my tears the hand that\nhas fixed the seal to the warrant of my death.\u201d She was well aware\nof the influence she still possessed over the uxorious Emperor; and,\nher request being complied with, she attired herself in a plain white\ndress, with the simplest drapery, which showed her still lovely figure\nto the greatest advantage, and was thus brought before Jehangire in the\npresence of Mohabet. There was an expression of subdued sorrow upon her\ncountenance, which seemed only to enhance the lustre of her beauty. She\nadvanced with a stately step, but did not utter a word; and, bending\nbefore her royal husband, took his hand and pressed it to her bosom\nwith a silent but solemn appeal. Jehangire was deeply moved. He burst\ninto tears, and raising the object of his long and ardent attachment,\nturned to Mohabet, and said in a tone of tremulous earnestness, \u201cWill\nyou not spare this woman?\u201d Mohabet, subdued by the scene, and feeling\nfor his sovereign\u2019s distress, replied,\n\n\u201cThe Emperor of the Moguls should never ask in vain.\u201d\n\nWaving his hand to the guards, they instantly retired, and the Sultana\nwas restored to liberty. She, however, never forgot the wrong, and\ndetermined to avenge it. She manifested no signs of hostility, but\nalways met the general with a cheerful countenance and a courteous air,\nby which she completely lulled his suspicions. Secure in the general\nestimation of the troops, and especially of his faithful Rajpoots, he\nfelt no fears for his own personal safety; and having completely won\nthe good opinion of Jehangire by his late act of generous forbearance\ntowards Noor Jehan, he had little apprehension from the intrigues of\nthe latter, however she might choose to employ them. He, however, knew\nnot the person of whom he judged so lightly. Her aims were not to\nbe defeated but by the loss of liberty. She never lost sight of her\npurpose save in its accomplishment. Nothing could reconcile her to the\ndegradation which she had been lately made to endure. Her daughter\nindeed had been restored to her; but she likewise had been deprived of\nfreedom, and treated with the indignity of a prisoner. The wound of the\nlatter, which was slight, had soon healed; yet the mother felt that she\nhad received a double wrong in the captivity of herself and child. She\nemployed her time in devising schemes of vengeance; but for six months\nshe plotted so secretly, that not the least suspicion was excited in\nthe mind of Mohabet. Jehangire treated him with the open confidence\nof friendship, and the Sultana appeared to meet him at all times with\namicable cordiality. This, however, was only the treacherous calm which\noften heralds a tempest.\n\nOne morning, when the general, accompanied by a considerable retinue,\nwent to pay his customary respects to the Emperor, he was attacked at\nthe same moment from both ends of a narrow street. He was fired at from\nthe windows of several houses. Great confusion ensued; but Mohabet\u2019s\nfollowers being well armed, he put himself at their head and cut his\nway through the assailants. His escape was a miracle; the whole of his\nretinue were either wounded or slain, yet he was unhurt. The plot had\nbeen so well concerted, that not a single creature was prepared for\nit but those persons to whom it had been communicated. The spirit of\ndisaffection soon spread. The guards who surrounded the Emperor were\nattacked by the citizens; and all, to the number of five hundred, put\nto the sword. The whole city of Cabul was in an uproar; and had not\nMohabet fled to his camp, which was pitched without the walls, he would\nhave fallen a sacrifice to their fury. Enraged at their perfidy, he\nprepared to take a speedy and ample revenge. The Sultana, perceiving\nthe failure of her scheme, was aware that she was in a situation of\nextreme peril. The citizens, terrified at the preparations which the\nincensed general was making to punish their perfidy, sent some of the\nprincipal inhabitants to him, supplicating his forbearance; declaring\nthat the tumult originated with the rabble, and offering to give up the\nringleaders to his just indignation. Although Mohabet suspected that\nNoor Jehan had been the principal instrument of the attack upon his\nlife and the massacre of his guards, he dissembled his resentment, and\naccepted the offers of submission, but made a vow never again to enter\nCabul. Having punished the ringleaders, he quitted the neighbourhood on\nthe following morning, taking the Emperor with him.\n\nOn their way to Lahore, Mohabet suddenly resolved to resign his\npower, and to place Jehangire again at liberty. The resolution was\nas inexplicable as it was sudden and unexpected. He had no wish for\nempire. Having punished his enemies and vindicated his own wrongs, he\nexacted from Jehangire oblivion of the past; then disbanding his army,\nand retaining only a small retinue, he left his sovereign to his entire\nfreedom. Noor Jehan, not in the least moved by this act of generosity\non the part of a man whom her own intrigues had forced into rebellion,\nresolved now to seize the opportunity of consummating her revenge.\nShe could not forget the indignities she had endured at the hand of\nMohabet; that he had once attempted her life, obliged the Emperor to\nsign her death-warrant, and held her in odious captivity. She demanded\nthat her royal consort should immediately order his execution.\n\n\u201cA man,\u201d said she, \u201cso daring as to seize the person of his sovereign\nis a dangerous subject. The lustre of royalty must be diminished in the\neyes of the people, while he who has dragged his prince from the throne\nis permitted to kneel before it with feigned allegiance.\u201d\n\nJehangire, remembering the provocations which Mohabet had received,\nand his temperate use of power, was shocked at the Sultana\u2019s\nvindictiveness, and commanded her, in a severe tone, to be silent.\n\nAlthough she made no reply, she did not relinquish her design. Shortly\nafterwards, an attempt being made upon the general\u2019s life, he found\nit necessary to quit the camp secretly. The emissaries of the Empress\nwere sent to capture him, but he effected his escape. He who had\nso lately had a victorious army at his command was now a fugitive,\nwithout a follower, and obliged to fly for his life. He had left all\nhis wealth behind him, which was seized by the implacable Noor Jehan;\nand she issued a proclamation through all the provinces of the empire,\ndenouncing him as a rebel, commanded him to be seized, and set a price\nupon his head. This violence on the part of the Sultana was disapproved\nboth by the Emperor and the Vizier, the latter of whom did not forget\nthe courtesy shown to him by the fugitive after the defeat of the\nimperial army, when he was made prisoner by that very man who was now\npursued with such hostility by a vindictive enemy who owed to him her\nlife and liberty.\n\nAsiph, Noor Jehan\u2019s brother, was not insensible to the merit of\nMohabet. He knew him to be the best general of his time, an ardent\nlover of his country, and that he had been forced into rebellion by\nacts of repeated and unjustifiable aggression. He felt assured that\nsuch was not a man to be cast off from the state without doing it an\ninjury that could never be repaired. Besides, he feared the lengths\nto which the Sultana\u2019s ambition might carry her, and considered it\nwas high time it should be checked. Although Mohabet was a wanderer\nand a refugee under the denouncement of death, he bore up against his\nreverses with the same magnanimity which had actuated him when at the\nsummit of his power.\n\nThe Vizier having found means to assure him of his friendship, Mohabet\nmounted his horse and rode four hundred miles without a single\nfollower, to meet and confer with that high functionary; trusting to\nhis bare and secret promise of protection. The minister was at that\ntime encamped in the road between Lahore and Delhi. Mohabet entered\nthe camp in a mean habit, late in the evening. Placing himself in the\npassage which led from the apartments of the Vizier to the harem, and\ntelling the eunuch that he wished to see that minister, the fugitive\nwas immediately led into the latter\u2019s presence. When Asiph saw the\nwretched condition of Mohabet, he fell upon his neck and wept. Retiring\nwith him to a secret apartment, the general declared his determination,\nnotwithstanding the low ebb of his fortunes, to raise Shah Jehan to\nthe imperial throne. Asiph was overjoyed at this declaration, as that\nprince was allied to him by the double tie of friendship and family\nconnexion.\n\nThe result of this conference was a general declaration, in favour of\nJehangire\u2019s third son, who had already twice rebelled; but the Emperor\ndying a few months after, the state was freed from the probable effects\nof a civil war, and Prince Churrum ascended the imperial throne, under\nthe title of Shah Jehan. From that moment the Sultana retired from the\nworld, devoting the rest of her days to study, and the quiet enjoyments\nof domestic life. As her power ceased with the death of Jehangire,\nher haughty spirit could not brook the public mortification of seeing\nherself holding a secondary rank in the empire. She never henceforward\nspoke upon state affairs, or allowed the subject to be mentioned in\nher presence. The singular beauty of her person continued almost to\nthe last moment of her life; nor was the structure of her mind less\nremarkable. She was a woman of transcendent abilities; she rendered\nherself absolute in a government in which women were held to be both\nincapable and unworthy of holding the slightest share. It was not\nmerely by the permissive weakness of Jehangire that she acquired such a\npolitical dominancy in the state; but by the pre-eminent superiority of\nher own mental endowments, and the indomitable energy of her character,\nbefore which the inferior mind and spirit of her royal husband shrank\ninto comparative insignificance. She had as well the resolution to\nachieve as the intellects to project, and kept a mighty nation in awe\nby the extreme vigour of her administration. Though her passions were\nviolent, her chastity was never impeached, and she lived an eminent\npattern conjugal fidelity. To her, the world are indebted for that\ndelicious perfume so well-known by the name of atar of roses, which she\ndiscovered during her retirement from public life. She died in the city\nof Lahore eighteen years after the death of Jehangire.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nA.D. 1628.--In the year of the Hegira 1037, Shah Jehan ascended the\nImperial throne of the Moguls. The Rajah of Bundelcund was taken\nprisoner by Mohabet, who was shortly afterwards removed from the head\nof the army. The Usbeck Tartars made a successful irruption into the\nimperial dominions, laid siege to the fort of Bamia in the mountains of\nCabul, and made themselves masters of it.\n\nHeg. 1038 (1629).--Chan Jehan Lody escaped from Agra. Having opposed\nthe accession of the reigning Emperor, he had been publicly disgraced.\nHe was pursued and overtaken; but his retreat was secured by the\ngallantry of his son, Azmut, who engaged the imperial army, and thus\nenabled his father to get beyond the reach of his enemies. The noble\nAzmut, however, fell a sacrifice to his filial intrepidity; he was\nslain gallantly fighting against a host of foes. Lody having effected\nhis escape, found an asylum at the court of the Nizam at Dowlatabad.\nThis year died Shah Abbas, Sovereign of Persia.\n\nHeg. 1040 (1631).--Shah Jehan sent a large army into the Deccan to\noppose Chan Lody, who had induced the princes of that extensive\ndistrict to take up arms against the house of Timur. For a while Lody\nwas successful against the imperial general, Eradit, whom he prevented\nfrom penetrating into Golconda, by throwing himself into the passes of\nthe mountains before his march, and thus repelling his advance. He was\nfinally obliged to retreat; and being attacked by Lody, was defeated\nwith great slaughter. Six Omrahs of the imperial army were slain. After\nthis defeat, Eradit was superseded, and the Vizier appointed to command\nthe army. This struck the confederates with dismay, and they abandoned\ntheir brave friend. The Nizam proposed terms; and Lody, being at length\nleft without support, was pursued by a detachment of the Vizier\u2019s\nforces, and slain, with thirty followers only, who had resolved to\nparticipate in his fallen fortunes. During this year Shah Jehan\u2019s\nfavourite Sultana died in childbed. She was the daughter of Asiph Jah,\nthe Vizier, and niece of the celebrated Noor Jehan. The magnificent\nTaje Mahal was raised at Agra as a tribute of respect for her memory.\n\nHeg. 1044 (1633).--Prince Dara, the Emperor\u2019s eldest son, married the\ndaughter of his uncle Purvez. About the same time, Suja, the second\nson, espoused the daughter of Rustum Suffavi, of the royal line of\nPersia.\n\nHeg. 1044 (1634).--Mohabet died. He was the greatest general of his\ntime.\n\nHeg 1045 (1635).--A new throne of solid gold was erected at Agra.\nIt was seven years in finishing, and the value of the jewels alone\namounted to twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. Among\nthe ornaments was a parrot, the size of life, cut out of a single\nemerald.\n\nHeg. 1046 (1636).--The Emperor again sent an army into the Deccan,\nreduced the refractory Rajahs to obedience, and concluded a peace with\nPersia.\n\nHeg. 1049 (1639).--The capital of Bengal was destroyed by fire.\n\nHeg. 1051 (1641).--Asiph Jah, the Vizier, died, in the seventy-second\nyear of his age.\n\nHeg. 1052 (1642).--Shah Jehan removed his court from Lahore to Agra,\nand completed the Taje Mahal, a splendid mausoleum, raised at vast\nexpense, to the memory of his favourite Sultana, Mumtaza Zemani, niece\nto Noor Jehan.\n\nHeg. 1053 (1643).--The Usbeck Tartars, who had made incursions into the\nEmperor\u2019s territories, were defeated by Ali Murdan, governor of Cabul.\n\nHeg. 1054 (1644).--Aurungzebe was removed from the government of the\nDeccan.\n\nHeg. 1055 (1645).--The Sultana, Noor Jehan, died at Lahore.\n\nHeg. 1056 (1646).--By an imperial edict Prince Morad was banished to\nthe mountains of Pesh\u00e2wir.\n\nHeg. 1057 (1647).--Aurungzebe defeated the Usbecks, and took their camp.\n\nHeg. 1058 (1648).--The repairs of Delhi were finished, and the Emperor\nmounted the throne of his ancestors in this city, which afterwards\nbecame the capital of the Mogul empire.\n\nHeg. 1059 (1649).--Aurungzebe defeated the Persians, who had become\nmasters of Candahar.\n\nHeg. 1062 (1652).--Dara was appointed successor to the empire, under\nthe title of Shah Belind Akbal--the Emperor of exalted fortune.\n\nHeg. 1066 (1656).--Mahommed, the son of Aurungzebe, took Hyderabad, and\ndefeated the King of Golconda.\n\nHeg. 1067 (1657).--Shah Jehan was seized with a paralysis, and his life\ndespaired of; the management of public affairs consequently fell into\nthe hands of Dara.\n\nHeg. 1068 (1658).--Aurungzebe, secretly aspiring to the throne, induced\nhis brother Morad to join him, and defeated the imperial army, under\nthe command of Dara, who retired to Delhi. Having raised fresh forces,\nthey were corrupted by the wily conqueror. The confederate princes\nappeared before the capital with the combined army. Aurungzebe sent\na message to his father, who commissioned his daughter, Jehanara, to\nvisit him: she was deceived by his duplicity, and incautiously betrayed\nto him the resources of her brother Dara. He intercepted his father\u2019s\nletter to that prince; and shortly after Mahommed, Aurangzebe\u2019s son,\nseized within the citadel at Agra, Shah Jehan, who offered him the\ncrown of the Moguls as the price of his release. It was declined by\nMahommed. Morad having discovered the duplicity of Aurungzebe, in\nattempting to defeat it was seized by his crafty brother, and sent\nprisoner to Agra. The ambitious conqueror advanced to Delhi, and\nmounted the imperial throne. Dara fled to Lahore.\n\n\n\n\n                      The Prince and the Fakeer.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nOn the crest of a lofty hill in the province of Delhi, towards\nthe north, was a fortress of impregnable strength, which had been\nfrequently converted by the Mogul emperors into a state prison. The\nhill was inaccessible on all sides, presenting, to a height of two\nhundred and thirty feet from the base, sheer walls of rocks, upon the\nscarped summit of which a light parapet surrounded one of the most\nextraordinary fortresses ever constructed by the art of man. Within the\nparapet it consisted of a shaft, sixty feet deep, sunk into the living\nstone. At the bottom of this shaft, chambers of considerable dimensions\nhad been hollowed out, lighted by narrow loopholes, perforated through\nthe mountain to the light, of which they admitted just sufficient to\nrender \u201cdarkness visible,\u201d and cast a sepulchral gloom through the\napartments of this cavernous retreat.\n\nThe entrance of this stronghold was a circular aperture at the top of\nthe rock, like the mouth of a well, four feet in diameter; through\nwhich the garrison, captives, provisions, and all things in short\nnecessary to be deposited below, were lowered by means of a rope\nattached to a windlass.\n\nIn one of the chambers of this mountain fortress a prisoner was\nconfined whose youth and accomplishments appeared to deserve a better\nfate. He was in the beautiful dawning of his manhood, when the blood\nbounds from the heart with a pulse of joy, and flows back again with an\nuntroubled current. He had just passed his nineteenth year. The breeze\nof the mountain had fanned his cheek, and spread over it the glow of\npure but delicate health. The down upon his upper lip had strengthened\ninto a sleek dark curl. His limbs were rounded to their full\nproportions; and his whole form was one of a symmetry better adapted\nfor the rich woofs from the looms of Cashmere than for the helmet or\ncuirass. The languid expression of his dark, restless eye, showed that\nhe was unhappy. The only furniture in his prison was a rug upon which\nhe slept, a hookah, a lamp, and a few utensils employed at his meals.\n\nNotwithstanding the severity of his captivity, the prisoner kept up a\nsort of state in his solitary cell: he treated those attendants who had\nbeen appointed to wait upon him with a dignity which commanded respect,\nand at the same time with an amenity which won obedience. His dress,\nthough of ordinary materials, except that portion of it which covered\nhis brows, was disposed with a taste which at once bespoke refinement\nof mind and a consciousness of personal elevation. His turban, composed\nof a fine, thin white muslin, worked in gold, was folded round his head\nwith a care that evidently showed an attention to what was becoming;\nits numerous convolutions being precisely defined, and managed with\nalmost geometrical precision. A common Cashmere shawl, loosely twisted,\nencircled his waist, the ends hanging on one side with that peculiar\nair of elegance which Orientals, whether Mussulman or Hindoo, know so\nwell how to exhibit.\n\nThe prisoner had just thrown himself upon his rug to take his rest\nfor the night, when an unusual stir upon the ramparts above roused\nhim. He rose to listen. A parley was evidently going on with some one\nbeneath the fortress. He repaired to a small ante-chamber, in which\nwas a loophole that looked into a deep glen, whence the mountain rose\nwithin the bosom of which the place of his painful captivity had been\nhollowed. The night was calm: not a breeze stirred the thick foliage\nof the valley. The heavens were starred and radiant, though the moon\u2019s\nlamp was not yet hung out upon the battlements of heaven. The faint\nbeams of the stars, though they scattered the radiance of their glories\nover the whole azure surface of the skies, did not penetrate the\ndepths of the ravine formed by the mountain, down the sides of which\nthe prisoner strained his eye from one of the narrow apertures that\nadmitted light and air into his prison. The whole valley was immersed\nin that equivocal gloom, the more perceptible from contrast with the\nsparkling heaven, that seemed to smile in its beauty at the dull and\ntorpid earth.\n\nThe captive, placing his ear against the artificial fissure in the\nrock, heard the following dialogue:\n\n\u201cI am the Prophet\u2019s messenger,\u201d said a voice below. \u201cI have a\ncommission to the prisoner: refuse me admittance, and the curse of\nGod\u2019s vicegerent be upon you!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the Prophet\u2019s curse is breathed from the lips of one of his holy\nmessengers, say who that messenger is.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe fakeer of the valley, over whose reverend head ninety-six years\nhave rolled; whose fasts and penances have gained him one of the high\nstations in Paradise, to which he will be exalted when the angel of\ndeath shall waft him from the shores of time to that unknown land where\nthe harvest of eternal joys shall be reaped.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know that voice, and shall heed the injunctions of so holy a man;\nbut you must ascend alone: and I have no choice but to obey the orders\nimposed upon me, which are, to examine the person of every one admitted\ninto this fortress. If it were the Prophet himself, I should be obliged\nto subject him to the scrutiny.\u201d\n\n\u201cExamine me as you will, but let me see your prisoner. I come a\nmessenger to him from God\u2019s Prophet, and must perform my mission.\nObedience is man\u2019s heritage; resist the divine will at your peril.\nLower the rope, that I may ascend.\u201d\n\nThe prisoner was amazed at this announcement of a visitor--an\naccredited minister of the Prophet too; but, upon reflection, he\nthought it might be the friendly interposition of some one who wished\nto break his bonds, and release him from a captivity as odious as it\nwas undeserved.\n\nThe reverence formerly entertained for some of the fakeers was\nsufficient to prevent any surprise at the readiness with which the\nsoldier upon guard consented to admit him into the fortress. The\nman who demanded admittance was well known to all the country as\na troglodyte saint, inhabiting a cavern hollowed out of the earth\nin the valley immediately beneath the fortress, and whose severe\nmortifications had elevated him to such a degree of sanctity as to\nrender his intercession with the Divinity a sure pledge of pardon. He\nwas held to have immediate communion with Heaven; no one, therefore,\nventured to gainsay anything insisted upon by this holy man. He always\nbore about him the sacred filth of his long penance; and the very\nodours from his body, which was foul with the unwashed incrustations\nof years, were supposed to be redolent of that paradise where, as he\nmaintained, a place was reserved for him at the right hand of Allah\u2019s\ninspired minister.\n\nShortly after the dialogue just mentioned, the door of our captive\u2019s\nchamber was unclosed, and the fakeer stood before him, accompanied by\none of the garrison. The holy man was quite naked, so that nothing\ncould be concealed about him. Although the skin hung loose upon his\nlong narrow countenance, like shrivelled parchment drawn over the\nbones of a skeleton, nevertheless there gleamed from underneath his\nsharp projecting brows a pair of eyes which appeared as if they had\nconcentrated the rays of the midday sun, lancing them at intervals from\norbs that seemed to glare with the intense lustre of those potential\nfires which light the throne of Eblis. He was perfectly straight; but\nhis head had sunk upon the shoulders, where it seemed to rest, giving\nto the upper part of his figure an aspect of hideous deformity. His\narms were long, fleshless, and so stiff that he could not bring the\njoints even to a curve. He was a living skeleton.\n\nThe prisoner gazed upon him in silence, but did not utter a word. The\nfakeer stood still for a moment; then opening wide his gaunt, bony\njaws, which displayed a black toothless chasm, and giving a sudden\njerk of the head, a ring dropped from his mouth upon the floor. He now\nshook from his long bushy hair a single blossom of the rhododendron,\nand a small bit of panel, upon which was rudely scratched the form of\na dove escaping from the talons of a hawk. They both fell beside the\nring. Pointing emphatically to the three several objects he quitted\nthe cell, and immediately gave the signal to be drawn up. The soldier\nwho had accompanied him remained behind, gathered up the things which\nthe holy visitor had cast upon the floor, showed them severally to the\nprisoner, though he held them at a distance, and asked him what was the\ncommunication intended to be conveyed?\n\n\u201cI am not read in the lore of sages,\u201d replied the youth; \u201cneither do\nI understand the mysteries of vaticination. You would probably make a\nbetter interpreter.\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear this will only increase the rigours of your confinement, unless\nyou can explain why the holy man of the valley has made you this\nstrange visit.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn truth, I know not. I never saw him until this night; and how should\nI be able to expound what you, who are familiar with the stranger,\ncannot comprehend?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe would not have visited you without a motive.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I may be unacquainted with that motive.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is not a man to act without calculating results.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless his calculations may prove erroneous.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you do not understand the nature of his communication?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese symbols will be shown to those who are quick at expounding\nriddles. Yet it is scarcely to be conceived that so worthy a minister\nof the Prophet should have addressed his symbols to one who cannot read\ntheir meaning.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is but a man, and all men are alike prone to error.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue;--you may soon look for confinement in a deeper and darker\nchamber.\u201d\n\nWhen the soldier quitted the prisoner\u2019s cell, the latter began to\nmuse upon the communication intended to be conveyed by his unexpected\nvisitor. He knew the fakeer to be a man eminent for his piety\nthroughout the country, and therefore held in the greatest reverence.\nHe was supposed to have supernatural communication with members of\nanother world, and, consequently, was as much feared as reverenced;\nwhich accounts for the respect and forbearance shown to him by the\ngarrison of the mountain-fortress during his mysterious visit to their\nprisoner.\n\nAfter the fakeer\u2019s departure, the unhappy captive began to reflect\nupon the signification of those symbols which had been dropped upon\nthe floor before him. It was evident they were intended to convey some\ninformation, which it was expected his wit would be quick enough to\ncomprehend. Although he had obtained but an imperfect glance at the\nring which the soldier who had accompanied the stranger held in his\nown hand and at a distance, yet he fancied it was familiar to him. He\nhad, however, only a vague and indefinite recollection of it; still it\noccurred to him that it was not the first time he had seen the golden\ntrinket. Upon considering the matter further, it struck him that the\nring must be a pledge sent from some one interested in his welfare: it\nimplied confidence in the messenger, and a religious man could only be\na messenger of peace.\n\nThe more he thought, the more satisfied he felt that he had received a\nmessage which warranted the expectation of liberty. The rhododendron\nwas a flower which grew upon the far mountains, where the genius of\nLiberty abides; it was therefore an emblem of that freedom which\nhis heart panted to secure. In this symbol, then, he recognised the\nsuggestion that his liberty might be obtained: but how? The third\nsymbol was a sufficient corollary to the two first problems: a dove\nflying from a hawk told him, in terms sufficiently clear, that he must\nattempt his escape. It was by no means evident how this was to be\naccomplished; and the difficulties which presented themselves, as he\ncalculated the probable chance of success, staggered his resolution,\nand almost crushed his hopes. It occurred to him, notwithstanding,\nthat means would be supplied. That the fakeer had visited him for some\nespecial purpose there could be no doubt; and he resolved to await the\nissue, satisfied it would not end where it had begun.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nNext morning the prisoner was confined to the ante room, and told that\non the following day his cell would be changed for one deeper in the\nheart of the mountain. He knew that the lower he descended, the more\ncheerless would be his habitation. About sunset an arrow was shot\nthrough the loophole of his cell, to the shaft of which was attached\na strip of the palmyra leaf: upon this was scratched with a stylus\nthe following words: \u201cUnfasten the twisted thread at the head of this\narrow; break off the steel barb, attach it to the end of the thread,\nand lower it into the valley as soon as darkness shall render it\ninvisible to your guards.\u201d\n\nSoon after the sun had sunk behind the ocean, with a palpitating heart\nthe captive obeyed this injunction, and drew up a strong silken rope,\nabout the size of his fore-finger; attached to which was another strip\nof palmyra leaf, with the following direction: \u201cConceal this, and take\nthe first seasonable opportunity to lower yourself from the rock.\nDespair not--you have friends; be vigilant and cautious--but despise\ndifficulties.\u201d On that night the sky became overcast, and the heat\noppressive to such a degree that the air of the prisoners cell was\nscarcely respirable. There was no star visible throughout the whole\nexpanse of the heavens. The sun had set behind vast masses of clouds,\nthe skirts of which caught his rays, and reflected them in infinitely\nvaried tints upon the summits of the hills. They were of an intensely\nopaque purple, but fringed with a fiery glow, as if the trains were\nalready fired that communicated with the magazines concealed within\ntheir dark bosoms, and about to be ignited to a fearful explosion. The\naspect of the skies had been lowering throughout the day. As evening\nadvanced, the gloom had increased; and as the sun was withdrawing\nhis light, which faded from the deepening volumes that hung around\nhis disc, he seemed to glare ominously. He bade this world a sullen\ngood-night, as he descended behind the grey waters to enlighten other\nspheres, and leave this to its repose; but the elements were too busy\nto allow that repose to be universal.\n\nThe hurricane roared over the sleepers\u2019 heads, and roused them from\ntheir dreams to witness the strife of nature in one of her sublimest\nconflicts. Long before midnight the tempest howled fearfully above the\nfortress. The sentinels upon the walls were drenched, and the clouds\nprojected their fires, as if commencing the final conflagration. This\nwas supposed to be the work of the fakeer, who had quitted the fort,\nmuttering menaces of mischief. The storm was appalling. The soldiers\nshrank from the conflux of excited elements, and sought shelter within\nthe shaft from their pitiless fury. The thunder burst with an explosion\nthat appeared to convulse the whole expanse above. A peal shook the\nfortress to its foundation. The entire mountain seemed to stagger as if\nreeling over the chasm of an earthquake: a flash of lightning followed;\nthe bolt struck the rock, and split it almost to the base. The thunder\nagain rolled above, and the immediate silence which succeeded was like\nthe intense silence of death.\n\nThe mischief had taken place upon that side of the mountain inhabited\nby the prisoner. He started from his couch; and so sudden was the\neffect produced by the thunderbolt, that, upon reaching the loophole,\nhe perceived a huge mass had been struck down by the electric fire,\nand the side of the mountain so shattered, that by pushing against\nthe fractured body, a large portion of rock which formed the wall of\nhis cell gave way, and rolled with a hideous crash into the valley\nbeneath. The cries of the monkeys inhabiting the trees succeeded to\nthe dull booming sound of the falling rock, and mingled strangely with\nthe furious collision of the elements above. The prisoner stood still\nawhile, amazed at the awful violence of the tempest, when the soldier\nwho had attended the fakeer again abruptly entered his cell. He started\nat seeing the opening made by the lightning, and cautiously closed the\ndoor behind him.\n\n\u201cYou must change your apartment this night; there is too much of\nheaven\u2019s light here for a state captive.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot well exchange for a worse,\u201d said the youth calmly: \u201cconduct\nme whither you please; I am resigned to my destiny. Paradise hereafter\nis for the wretched here, but not for those who make them wretched.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod is merciful!\u201d ejaculated the soldier; \u201cwe are his instruments; he\nratifies the punishment of those we doom to trial, and will reward his\nown instruments who perform their duty conscientiously. I have sworn\nallegiance to the Emperor, and if he were to command me to cut your\nthroat, I should not only be justified in my obedience, but should\nreceive the divine sanction for doing my duty.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is the casuistry of tyrants; and with such a plea for murder,\nwho can wonder that so many souls are freed from the incumbrance of\nmortal flesh amid the dark and secret recesses of the dungeon, where no\neye can behold the horrible deed, but His to whose vision there is no\nlimit, and to whose knowledge there is no boundary.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou say well, but you are too clever to be free. In these perilous\ntimes, princes who have wise heads upon their shoulders may be\ndangerous subjects; therefore, \u2019tis the policy of courts to keep them\nfrom plotting. The hand of Heaven has been here to-night,\u201d said he,\napproaching the loophole, and surveying the opening which had been left\nby the thunderbolt: \u201cthe whole side of the mountain seems to have been\nsplintered,\u201d he continued, running his hand along the side of the cell\nwhere the mischief appeared. \u201cWe must try what stone and mortar can do\nin the morning. But the leap is too high to apprehend escape.\u201d\n\nBy this time he had placed himself within the rift made by the\nlightning. His head was projected forward, and his eyes strained\nto pierce into the gloomy ravine beneath. This was too tempting an\nopportunity to be lost. The captive sprang forward, thrust his hands\nsuddenly against the soldier\u2019s shoulders, who with a scream of agony\nbounded from the edge of the opening, and fell like a plummet into\nthe hideous gloom below. His body dashed through the branches; the\nchattering of the monkeys was heard for a few moments, and then all was\nstill.\n\nHappily for him who had thus opportunely got rid of a foe, the storm\ncontinued so violent that none of the garrison heard the cry uttered\nby the man as he was propelled from the rock, nor the crash which\nfollowed; and as he did not return to his comrades, it was naturally\nenough surmised by them that he was keeping watch over the prisoner, of\nwhom suspicions of an unfavourable nature had been entertained since\nthe visit of the fakeer.\n\nAbout two hours after midnight the storm abated. The clouds rolled from\nthe heavens, and left its blue plains studded with stars, which cast a\ndun dingy light upon the objects around. The air was fresh and balmy.\nA gentle breeze stirred the foliage, from which it tenderly shook\nthe spray gathered there by the recent tempest. The breath of heaven\nfanned the prisoner\u2019s cheek, and he felt as if it was kissed by the\nairs of paradise. He looked through the chasm which the lightning had\nformed in the mountain\u2019s side upon the far-spreading sky, and his heart\nleaped with an effervescent and holy joy. The aspirations of freedom\nwent up from his bosom on the wings of gratitude. He saw the means of\nescape before him, and the flush of hope radiated upon his brow like\nthe moon\u2019s light upon a calm solitary lake, in which its beauty is\nenshrined as flowers in amber. His thoughts were now free as the breeze\nwhich played upon his temples, and seemed as if imbued with the spirit\nof life. How the soul was tossed within him! but it was in a tumult of\nthe most exquisite fruition.\n\nHe took the cord from a nook in which he had secreted it from the\nprying gaze of intruders. It was slight, but strong; and the hope\nof freedom subdued his fears of trusting to so slender a security.\nThe difficulties of descending by so thin a rope were not easy to be\novercome. The height from the ground on the side of the hill was at\nleast ninety feet; and it would be all but impossible to slide from\nsuch an elevation by a rope scarcely more than the third of an inch in\ndiameter, and which, being of silk, was so slippery that a firm hold of\nit could not be secured.\n\nAbout twenty feet below the rift grew a thick bush from a fissure in\nthe rock. The prisoner having secured his cord to a large iron ring in\nthe door which closed upon his prison, fastened the silver mouthpiece\nof his hookah between the twistings, so that it crossed at right\nangles, and thus gave him a resting-place for his foot. Having made\nall secure, he slid down, tore the bush from the cleft, and with great\ndifficulty regained his prison. He now continued to place, at intervals\nof about ten feet, small lengths of the stem and branches of the shrub,\nas he had already done the mouthpiece of his hookah, thus forming a\nkind of ladder.\n\nHaving prepared his frail instrument, he commenced his descent. He\nhad passed the rope over a projecting crag above, in order to keep it\nclear from the face of the precipice. When he had descended midway, one\nof the steps broke, and he was left for a few moments clinging with\ndesperate tenacity to the cord. He could not sustain himself--it flew\nthrough his hand; but his progress was fortunately arrested by the next\nstep, which happened to be stronger, and sustained his footing. The\nshock, however, of his rapid descent gave increased momentum to the\nrope, which began to turn round with considerable velocity; and this\nwas increased by every effort made to still it.\n\nThe prisoner was becoming dizzy with the fearful whirl. He was afraid\nto move, expecting every moment that he should be obliged to relinquish\nhis hold, and commit himself to the abyss beneath; when happily the\ncord slipped from the projecting buttress above, and dashed him with\nconsiderable violence against the stony face of the mountain. Though\nseverely bruised, he managed to retain his hold of the silken ladder,\nnow no longer agitated; and after pausing a moment to recover his\nself-possession, he continued to lower himself until his progress was\narrested by the branches of a large tree. Upon these he rested, and\ndetermined to remain till dawn.\n\nAs soon as the first beam of day slanted over the valley in which the\nescaped prisoner had taken refuge, he perceived that he was in the\nheart of a thickly-wooded glen, surrounded by a family of monkeys,\nwhich began to announce their dissatisfaction at his unwelcome\nintrusion by the most discordant chattering. Fearing that their din\nmight give warning of his escape to the garrison above, he descended\nthe tree with all possible despatch; when his joy was only equalled\nby his astonishment at beholding before him the unsightly form of the\nfakeer.\n\n\u201cWelcome to liberty! God is merciful! Your enemies shall be scattered,\nand the captive prince enthroned! Retire with me to my dwelling, and\nyou shall know further.\u201d\n\nSaying this, the holy man led the way, followed by the grandson of\nJehangire: for he who had just escaped from captivity was no less a\npersonage than Dawir Buxsh, son of Sultan Chusero, and heir to the\nimperial throne. Beneath the root of a large forest tree, a hole had\nbeen dug to the depth of seven feet, which led into a small cavern\nscarcely two yards square. The mode of entrance and egress was by means\nof the notched trunk of a small tree, that served as a ladder.\n\nBefore he entered the subterranean retreat of his venerable companion,\nthe young prince, aided by the old man, twisted round a tree the cord\nby which he had escaped from the fortress, and with a stick tightened\nit until it gave way above, just where it had been chafed by the\nrough ledge over which it had been thrown to prevent contact with the\nmountain side. Having taken this precaution, he entered the sacred\ndwelling of the fakeer.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\n\u201cWelcome,\u201d said the venerable man, \u201cto the abode of the free! You\ninterpreted the symbols as I had anticipated, and your liberty is\nsecured. The Emperor is dead, and the Vizier seeks to place you upon\nthe throne as legitimate heir of the empire. You must repair instantly\nto the capital, and the crown will be placed upon your head.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay not this be a device,\u201d asked the prince musingly, \u201cto seduce me\ninto the power of new enemies? Is not Shah Jehan in arms? What forces\ncan I oppose to so powerful a rival?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe kingdom is divided. Your uncle Sheriar, at the Sultana\u2019s\ninstigation, claims the succession, and is prepared to substantiate\nhis claims by force of arms; but the Vizier is determined to place\nthe sceptre in your grasp; and backed by the imperial army under the\nconduct of such a leader, no one can be in a condition to dispute your\nlawful inheritance with any chance of success. Your father\u2019s rebellion\nis forgotten, and the people shout your name with enthusiasm.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how,\u201d inquired the prince, with a keen glance at the venerable\nminister of the Prophet,--\u201chow have all these facts reached this lone\nretreat?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d replied the old man solemnly, \u201cthis lone retreat is\ncelebrated from one extremity of Hindostan to the other, and princes\nvisit the cavern of the fakeer. I am consulted by the wisest\nlegislators, as well as by the ignorant vagrant whose only abode is the\nforest jungle, and his bed the dry turf. I am respected, but I am also\nfeared. My friendship has been won in your behalf: do not despise it,\nfor my enmity can reach you even upon the throne, though surrounded by\narmies and directed by the wisest counsellors.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, father, it is certain that I cannot be in a worse position than\nI was, confined in the dark bowels of yonder mountain. Liberty is a\ncheap purchase almost at any price. Your good-will assures me I can\nscarcely fail of success, supported by the alliance and directed by the\ncounsels of so holy a man. But suppose the garrison should seek me in\nthis retreat; am I secure from their search?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have too much respect for the old man of the valley to desecrate\nthe sanctuary which he has rendered sacred by an occupation of more\nthan fifty years. But even should they be so bold as to forget what is\ndue to the character of one whose life has been devoted to God, their\nefforts to recapture you will not avail:--there is succour at hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is advancing to my rescue?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne, my son, little accustomed to mount the war-horse: but when the\nheart once rouses the spirit to action, the meek dove becomes an eagle\nin all things--save in a thirst for blood.\u201d\n\nBy this time the sound of voices was heard in various directions round\nthe fakeer\u2019s abode. The wood grew so thickly in the valley, that in\nmany parts it was impossible to penetrate; and the fakeer\u2019s retreat\nwas in the most inaccessible part of the jungle. There was, however, a\nnarrow path leading to it from the plain, which happened to be known to\none of the garrison, who undertook to conduct his comrades to the spot.\nNot anticipating any interruption in their search after the fugitive, a\nvery small party had undertaken the pursuit.\n\nThe prince was alarmed as the voices approached, but his venerable\ncompanion endeavoured to assure him.\n\n\u201cYoung man,\u201d said he, \u201cthis is not a moment for idle fears. Remember\nthat the success of human endeavour is permitted only where it answers\nthe wise ends of Him who is the source of all wisdom. I have heard that\nyou once escaped the tiger\u2019s deadly spring: but know, that He who could\npluck thee from the jaws of the tiger can likewise rescue thee from the\narm of man. Bear this, moreover, in mind, that the prince who has no\nconfidence in God cannot be fit to reign; for no man can rule an empire\nwisely except God be with him.\u201d\n\nThe party in search of the prince had now surrounded the cavern in\nwhich he lay concealed.\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d said one of the soldiers, who seemed to be their leader,\n\u201cour prisoner has escaped, and we must seek for him in your burrow.\nHe would, no doubt, prefer being buried alive here, with such holy\ncompany, to occupying a more spacious abode higher up the hill, without\nany merrier companions than his own thoughts.\u201d\n\n\u201cSoldier!\u201d said the fakeer, rising from his underground dwelling, and\nstanding before the party with an aspect of stern indignation, \u201csearch\nwhere you list: profane the sanctuary of the Prophet\u2019s vicegerent by\nyour unhallowed intrusion, and be the consequences upon your own head.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy head for the consequences!\u201d said the man, and leaped down into the\nsubterraneous abode of sanctity.\n\nAt this moment the fakeer stepped behind a tree--struck rapidly upon a\ngong three blows, which resounded through the valley The soldier now\nhailed his companions from below, announcing to them that he had found\ntheir prisoner. The party consisted of ten men, nine of whom had by\nthis time surrounded the entrance of the cavern to assist their comrade\nin securing the captive: they had, however, no sooner done this, than\neach man fell to the earth transfixed with an arrow. A party of twenty\nBheels, rushing from their ambush, instantly despatched and stripped\nthe wounded soldiers.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the fakeer, addressing the prince, who had ascended\nfrom his place of sanctuary, \u201cyou see how little cause there was\nfor distrust. Those who have been instrumental to your escape had\ncalculated the probabilities of a recapture too nicely not to provide\nagainst such a contingency. You must follow your rescuers, who will\nconduct you to a place of security.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut shall I not leave you in jeopardy? Will it not be surmised that\nyou have been privy to my escape, and will not my enemies wreak their\nvengeance upon you?\u201d\n\n\u201cShould they do their worst, they can only cut off the ragged remnant\nof an existence now well nigh spun to its last thread. Let them do\nwhat they list--I fear them not. I have fulfilled the purposes of my\nvocation, and am ready to enter upon the consummation of my destiny.\nStill, while I live, the benefits of my experience are at your command.\u201d\n\nThe prince now quitted the spot with the old man\u2019s blessing, and\nfollowed the Bheels into the thickest of the jungle. These half-savage\nmountaineers threaded the thicket with surprising facility, clearing\nthe way before their royal charge, and treating him with a rude\ncourtesy which showed that they were less barbarians by nature than by\ncircumstance. They were almost entirely naked, having only a narrow\nstrip of cloth round the loins, and another round the head, meant to\nrepresent a turban, or rather a skull-cap. They were armed with bows\nand arrows of the rudest construction, but which they used with a skill\nperfectly amazing. During their progress through the forest, several\nof them took occasion to display their dexterity before the royal\nstranger. A partridge rose from some long grass in an open vista in\nthe wood, and, while on the wing, was transfixed with an arrow by one\nof the Bheels. A pigeon was killed in a similar manner. A hare fell a\nvictim to the dexterity of a third archer.\n\nAfter travelling about six hours, they reached a rude village, nearly\non the summit of a hill, in the gorge of a deep glen. The prince was\nhere shown into the best habitation the village afforded; which was a\nsmall hovel thatched with dried plantain-leaves, the walls consisting\nof thin bamboos interlaced with jungle-grass, the floor of mud being\noverlaid with a compost of cow-dung and straw. A coarse rug was\nspread in one corner, and this constituted the whole furniture of the\napartment.\n\nThe soldier who had sprung into the fakeer\u2019s cave, and thus escaped\nthe arrows of the Bheels, they took prisoner, and made him accompany\nthem to the village. On their arrival, a consultation being held, they\ndetermined to put him to death. He was accordingly hung with his own\nturban upon the branch of a tree; and while struggling in the agonies\nof strangulation, six arrows were discharged at him. His body was\nafterwards cut down, stripped, and thrown into a well.\n\nDismal as the hovel was into which the prince was obliged to creep,\nthe consciousness of freedom imparted to it an air of comfort which he\nhad never yet enjoyed so sensibly even in his father\u2019s palace. Before\nevening closed in, a bustle was heard in the village, which was almost\nimmediately followed by a palankeen and two hackeries,[39] accompanied\nby about twenty attendants. Such a circumstance having probably never\nbefore occurred in a village of poor Bheels, excited a considerable\nsensation among the inhabitants; some of whom, however, were evidently\nso little overcome by surprise, as to render it more than probable\nthat the arrival had not been altogether unexpected. The prince could\nnot help feeling surprise when the fact was announced to him; and on\nquitting the hut, in which he had flung himself upon the rug, in\norder to snatch a brief repose after the fatigues of his journey,\nhis astonishment was only surpassed by his delight at meeting in the\nstranger, whose arrival had just been announced to him, the daughter of\nSultan Shariar, who, immediately upon the death of Jehangire, had set\nup his claim to the imperial throne.\n\nAn attachment had long subsisted between the daughter of Shariar and\nthe heir of Chusero, his eldest brother, who had been murdered by Shah\nJehan, third son of the deceased monarch Jehangire. This attachment was\noriginally encouraged by the parents; but Sultan Shariar had lately\nwithheld his approbation upon the most futile pleas, his motives\nbecoming sufficiently evident upon the death of his father, the late\nEmperor, whom he sought to succeed as sovereign of the Moguls. Prince\nDawir Buxsh, son of Chusero, and consequently the lawful successor\nof his grandfather, had been imprisoned through the intrigues of\nhis uncle, Shariar, who had persuaded the credulous Emperor that\nthe young prince was engaged in a conspiracy against his life. When\nJehangire died, Shariar immediately resolved to assert his title to the\nsovereignty of the Mogul empire. His daughter, whose affection for her\ncousin had not abated, in spite of her parent\u2019s hostility, effected\nthe escape of Dawir Buxsh, through the intervention of the fakeer, who\nhired a body of Bheels, whom he placed in ambush near his underground\ndwelling, and accomplished the prince\u2019s retreat, as has been already\ndescribed. The princess had for some days taken up her abode in the\nneighbourhood, and had been apprised about noon of the success of those\nmeasures she had employed for the prince\u2019s release. Upon receiving this\ninformation, she immediately set out for the village, where she arrived\nabout the close of day.\n\nThe prince was overjoyed at so unexpected a meeting; he could scarcely\ncontrol the excess of his rapture. Blessings seemed so to accumulate\nupon him, that he already began to fancy he had swallowed the last\nbitter in the draught of life, which had been sweetened by a medicament\nthat had either expelled or spiritualized the minutest dross, and that\nthere now remained nothing but a residuum of joy. He recollected the\nrebukes of the holy man to whom he was so signally indebted for his\nrelease from an odious bondage, and readily persuaded himself that\nthere was something prophetic in his solemn homily.\n\n\u201cWelcome,\u201d said he, \u201csweet lady,\u201d as he handed the princess from her\npalankeen: \u201cthis is, indeed, an unexpected but welcome meeting. To what\nam I indebted for so signal a gratification?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo a woman\u2019s affection, prince, which, like the lightning of Heaven,\novercomes all obstacles; and, though it sometimes blasts that on which\nit falls, is nevertheless a light and a glory: love throws a beam of\ngladness over the dark lines of human destiny, as lightning gilds the\nstorm.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe comparison is somewhat ominous. I would rather feel the warm glow\nof a woman\u2019s love than the bright shaft which flies before the thunder.\nIt has a deadly gleam, when one knows that death may be in its flash.\nThe fires of true love harm not. But welcome, lady, to the retreat of a\npoor fugitive, whose only abode is the wretched hovel of the mountain\nrobber.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will make but a short sojourn here among these rude though\nfriendly mountaineers. To-morrow you may expect to meet friends ready\nto place you upon that throne which you were born to honour. I have had\na hard struggle between filial love and the obligations of a plighted\naffection, but the latter have prevailed. As your affianced bride, I\nquitted my father\u2019s roof to join you, when I saw he would deprive you\nof your lawful inheritance. The Vizier has armed in your cause, and the\nimperial army under his command is now encamped in the neighbourhood\nof Lahore, where he is expecting you to join him, having been apprised\nof the measures to be adopted for your escape. My father\u2019s army is on\nits march towards the capital, and when the adverse forces meet, the\nstruggle will no doubt be desperate.\u201d\n\nThe prince resigned his hut to the princess, who ordered in her\npalankeen, within which she determined to pass the night. Meanwhile,\nDawir Buxsh was conducted to another hut, much less clean and\ncommodious than that he had quitted, as a Bheel family had vacated\nit in order to accommodate him. The attendants of the princess were\ndispersed about the village, most of them spreading their rugs under\ntrees, satisfied with that sort of accommodation which, though no\nhardship in eastern climes, would be considered among the severest\nin countries where excess of refinement has almost given a new\ninterpretation to privation.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[39] A hackery is a covered carriage, drawn by bullocks.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nThe royal fugitive now thought that he was beyond the reach of pursuit,\nand, in a state of enviable tranquillity, threw himself upon a rug in\na corner of his hovel. He was too happy to sleep, and lay thinking\nupon the splendid prospects opening before him, and which appeared on\nthe eve of consummation. The first man in the empire had armed in his\ncause; the whole imperial army appeared favourable to his pretentions,\nand few or none of the principal Omrahs, so far as he could ascertain,\nhad declared against him. He was secure in the affections of the most\nbeautiful princess of her age. Being young, in high health, and in the\nvigour of early manhood, he foresaw nothing but enjoyment.\n\nAs he lay pondering the happiness which his full and joyous heart\nflattered itself was in store for him, he seemed to be carried\ninto a new but delightful world, where the visionary was not to be\ndistinguished from the true, but where there was nothing of the one or\nthe other to arrest that full tide of fruition which was flowing in\nupon him. His very body appeared to be lifted above this gross earth,\nand though it was reclined upon a coarse rug, within the small dirty\nsty of a Bheel, it was at that moment alive to sensations of thrilling\ndelight. The soul was too buoyant to be tied down to the material\npleasures of this gross world, but soared with the imagination into a\nnew field of bliss, where, though it was entranced in a delusive dream\nof the moment, this was nevertheless one of those exquisite fictions\nwhich have all the glow and vividness of the most distinct reality.\nThese happy visions at length gave way to a profound sleep; his senses\nwere steeped in an unconsciousness so absolute that no perceptible\nimage passed over the fine speculum of the brain, which the heavy\nbreath of slumber had rendered too dull for reflection. In the midst\nof his stubborn repose he was roused by sounds that portended evil.\nHe listened; the clash of arms was distinguishable, and presently\nblended with the shouts of conflict. Morning had not yet dawned,\nbut the stars were bright above, and there was sufficient light to\ndistinguish objects not very remote. The prince was staggered, he knew\nnot what to think. It occurred to him that part of the garrison, from\nwhose custody he had escaped, must have traced him to his retreat, and\nwere in the act of attempting a rescue. Impelled by his apprehension\nfor the princess, he rushed towards the hut which she occupied, but\nto his consternation found it deserted. None of her attendants were\nat hand. The shouts of battle still sounded in his ears; he bounded\nforward, but was almost immediately surrounded. Being unarmed, he could\noffer no resistance. How suddenly was the beautiful fabric raised by\nthe enthusiastic ardour of hope subverted! His hands were instantly\nsecured, and he was ordered to proceed between two soldiers, two\npreceding and two following.\n\nLight streaks of grey were beginning to dapple the horizon. The prince\nwas now made acquainted with the nature of the late conflict, which he\nalready partly suspected. Sultan Shariar, having been apprized, just\nbefore the princess quitted her home, that she had projected a plan\nfor the delivery of Dawir Buxsh, had ordered a strong party of troops\nto follow in her track, suspecting that she was about to proceed to\nthe place where his competitor for the throne of the Moguls would lie\nconcealed, if he should succeed in effecting his escape. The princess,\nthe better to cover her design, quitted her home under pretence of\nmaking a pilgrimage to an ancient mosque raised by one of the early\nMahomedan conquerers. Her intention was no secret to her father, who\nordered her to be followed at a convenient distance, and brought\nback when she should have reached the place of her destination, with\nthe Prince Dawir Buxsh, if he should be discovered there. This order\nhad been executed with such success that both the princess and her\naffianced husband fell into the hands of the detachment from Shariar\u2019s\narmy, as has been already detailed.\n\nAs the dawn advanced the troops were galled by arrows from the Bheels,\nwho lay in ambush in the various thickets of the jungle. Not an enemy\nwas to be seen, and yet the frequent wounds received by the Sultan\u2019s\nsoldiers as they descended the hill told with a forcible eloquence\nhow deadly were the foes by whom they were surrounded. In order to\nkeep their body as compact as possible, that it might present less\nsurface to the arrows of the foe, they marched in close column of\nsix deep, dividing in the centre, where the princess was borne in\nher palankeen, and the prince, guarded by six soldiers, brought up\nthe rear. The column was dreadfully galled as it proceeded. Several\nsoldiers fell dead from the arrows of their secret foes. There was no\nevading the peril, and no possibility of reaching the bowmen, who were\nso intimately acquainted with every intricacy of the jungle that the\nmoment they were pursued they disappeared among the thickets, where it\nwas impossible to follow them.\n\nThe prince was vigilantly guarded; but in passing through a dark hollow\nof the wood, the two soldiers on either side of him received at the\nsame moment an arrow in their temples, and expired on the spot, the\nfour others being likewise wounded, though not mortally. A party of\nBheels darted from the covert in an instant and seized the captive,\nbut were impeded by the brave resistance of the four wounded soldiers,\nuntil a party of the main body came up and put those bold mountaineers\nto flight. In the struggle, their royal prisoner received a severe\nsabre-cut on the back part of his arm, which was bound up tightly\nwith his turban to prevent the effusion of blood. Happily for Sultan\nShariar\u2019s troops, their march through the jungle was not a long one, or\nthey would have been more than probably cut off to a man.\n\nUpon gaining the bottom of the hill, the detachment entered a naked\nplain, in which, after a short march, they halted near a village,\nunder a tope or grove of mango trees. Such however was the severe\nexecution done among them in their progress through the forest, that\nupon numbering their force, they discovered that fifteen out of a\nhundred had been killed, and thirty-two wounded, nine of whom they were\nobliged to leave behind them at the village, to the care of the native\nsurgeons. The prince\u2019s arm was here examined, but the hurt, though\nsevere, was found to be only a flesh wound; which being dressed, the\ndetachment proceeded on its march after taking a slight repast, and\nhalted a second time at another village, about two hours before noon.\nHere the prince began to suffer considerable pain from his wound. He\nbecame feverish and depressed. He requested to be allowed an interview\nwith the princess, which was refused. The reaction of disappointment\nsoon increased his feverish symptoms to an alarming extent. He was now\nas despondent as he had been previously exhilarated, and saw nothing\nin the future but gigantic miseries, or the shadows of departed joys.\nHis heart sickened; he gave way to unmanly sorrow. His ardent spirit,\nwhich had been elevated to the highest pinnacle of hope, sank at once\ninto the very lowest depths of despair. He felt as if the stroke of\ndeath would be a blessing. His fever increased to such a degree that\nhe was unable to proceed, for he had hitherto been forced to march\nlike a common soldier. In consequence of his illness a rude litter was\nprovided, upon which he was placed, a coarse cloth being thrown over\nit, to exclude the scorching rays of the sun, and he thus proceeded,\nborne upon the shoulders of six men. No entreaties could induce the\nofficer commanding the detachment to allow him to hold a moment\u2019s\nconversation with Shariar\u2019s daughter, who was guarded with a vigilance\nthat defied evasion. She was, however, treated with the greatest\nrespect, and every attention paid to her comfort; while her cousin, on\nthe contrary, had not only been treated with marked disrespect, but\nsubjected to many painful indignities. Of this his companion in sorrow\nwas ignorant. Still, although every wish she expressed consistent with\nher security was immediately granted, yet her earnest solicitations to\nsee the prince were refused. She therefore proceeded in silence and in\nsadness under this bitterest privation of her captivity.\n\nThe illness of Dawir Buxsh was studiously kept from her knowledge, nor\nuntil they reached their destination was the circumstance of his having\nbeen wounded made known to her.\n\nUpon their arrival at Shariar\u2019s camp, the prince was consigned to a\ntent which was rigidly guarded; and the father having upbraided his\ndaughter with treachery, gave her into the custody of some of the\nfemale attendants of the harem, who took her to a tent in the rear\nof the encampment, likewise surrounded by a numerous and vigilant\nguard. Her ordinary attendants were withdrawn; the men distributed in\ndifferent divisions of the army, and the women sent to other services.\n\nThe royal prisoner was kept in rigid confinement; and though his\nfever became high and threatened to be fatal, not even a servant was\npermitted to wait upon him. He was deeply galled at this indignity;\nbut the guards derided his expostulations, and he was left to struggle\nagainst his malady as he best might. The strength of his constitution\nprevailed. On the third day the violence of his fever abated, and his\nwound began rapidly to heal.\n\nShariar, hearing that the Vizier was advancing towards him with the\nimperial army, which, though less in number than his own, was composed\nof choicer troops, was afraid of proceeding to extremities against his\nprisoner, lest it should weaken his own cause by casting upon him the\nslur of having murdered a nephew and lawful heir to the throne. He was\nnevertheless in hopes that harsh treatment might aggravate the fever\nwhich the prince\u2019s wound had induced, and thus, by removing out of his\nway a dangerous competitor, leave the road to empire comparatively\nclear before him.\n\nThe Vizier had now advanced within two coss of Shariar\u2019s army, which\nwas encamped on the opposite side of a narrow but deep stream, that\ndivided the hostile forces. Shariar had taken up a strong position on\nthe slope of a hill, flanked on one side by the stream, and on the\nother by a thick jungle. The Vizier crossed this stream during the\nnight, at a ford about two miles below the enemy\u2019s encampment, and\nappeared next morning drawn up in battle array upon the plain. His army\nwas formed into three divisions; the right wing being commanded by\nMohabet Chan, the second by an Omrah, who had distinguished himself in\nthe Deccan, under Shah Jehan, and the centre by the Vizier in person.\nAs the army of Shariar was in too strong a position to render an attack\nprudent on the part of the imperialists, the Vizier, suspecting that\nthe enemy, confiding in superior numbers, would rush down upon him from\nthe height which they occupied, warily awaited the expected onset.\nHe was not deceived in this conjecture. Shariar, conceiving that the\nimpetuosity of a charge from the elevation of his position would give\nhim considerable advantage, commanded a vigorous onset to be made\nagainst the enemy\u2019s centre, where the Vizier commanded. The shock was\nso great that the imperialists recoiled; but Mohabet Chan immediately\nbrought up his men, who, attacking the Sultan\u2019s troops with great\nenergy upon the left flank, soon checked the momentary advantage which\nthey had obtained, and the battle raged for some time with a pretty\nnear equality of success.\n\nThe raw forces of Shariar were several times repulsed by the\nwell-disciplined valour of the imperial soldiers; but fresh troops\nrushed to the charge as their comrades gave way, and the balance\nof victory hung for some time doubtful. The Vizier\u2019s elephant was\nkilled under him, but he leaped from the howdah, and fought on foot\nwith a spirit which infused new courage into his army, and baffled\nthe repeated assaults of the enemy. Whilst the right wing, under the\ncommand of Mohabet, and the centre, at the head of which the Vizier\nstill fought in person, were maintaining a desperate conflict against\nsuperior numbers, with slow but manifest advantage, the left wing was\nrepulsed, and obliged to retreat before the impetuous charge of its\nfoes, headed by their princes. At this critical moment, Dawir Buxsh,\nwho had managed during the confusion of the battle to escape from his\nguards, was seen in full career towards the contending armies. He had\nmounted a charger which had galloped from the battle on the death\nof its rider. Reaching the left wing of the imperial army as it was\nretreating before its victors, he shouted to the soldiers to support\ntheir sovereign. The enemy paused for an instant in their career of\npursuit, unable to comprehend the arrival of a foe from their own camp.\nDuring that pause the imperialists rallied. Dawir Buxsh placed himself\nat their head, charged and drove back the insurgents, who, becoming\ndispirited by so unexpected a check, faltered, retreated, and their\nretreat was soon converted into a total rout. The centre and right\nwing, commanded by the Vizier and Mohabet Chan, had already obtained so\ndecided an advantage over the main body of the army to which they were\nopposed, that the rout of the enemy\u2019s right wing almost immediately\ndecided the fortune of the day. The army of Shariar was totally\ndefeated, and he fell into the hands of the Vizier. The slaughter was\ndreadful, the victory decisive.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nPrince Dawir Buxsh was received with loud acclamation by the troops.\nHis late exploit gave them hopes of an emperor that would lead them on\nto conquest. He was borne in triumph to the imperial camp, and next\nday the army proceeded to Agra. Sultan Shariar\u2019s daughter had fallen\ninto the victor\u2019s hands. The youthful sovereign desired that she might\nbe brought into his presence; she accordingly appeared before him,\nher bosom agitated by conflicting emotions. She was at once elated by\njoy at her lover\u2019s release, and depressed by sorrow at her father\u2019s\ncaptivity. Her beauty was heightened by the singular variety of feeling\nwhich her countenance expressed. She fell at the prince\u2019s feet: he\naffectionately raised her, and said, with earnest but tender passion,\n\n\u201cLet not my preserver kneel to one who is indebted to her for his\nliberty--perhaps his life; for the dungeon soon puts an end to earthly\ncaptivities. The star of our destinies has risen--may it ascend in\nglory to its meridian! As soon as I am placed upon the musnud, our\nmarriage shall be solemnized, and we will enjoy the consummation of our\nhappiness, which adverse chances have so long delayed.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut my father!\u201d exclaimed the princess with a suffused eye and\nquivering lip.\n\n\u201cHe will, for the present, remain a prisoner. He has sought to usurp\nthe crown. The sovereign of the Moguls must perform his duty to his\npeople as well as to himself.\u201d\n\nThis was said with a tone of grave determination, which strikingly\ncontrasted with the warm glow of tenderness that had preceded it. There\nwas an expression of almost stern resolution in the calm but brilliant\ngleam of the speaker\u2019s eye. The princess burst into tears.\n\n\u201cBe composed, lady,\u201d said the prince, resuming his former tenderness,\n\u201cand confide in my justice, which I trust will never neutralize my\nclemency. Your father has erred; and if he may not be forgiven, for\nyour sake his life is sacred.\u201d\n\nThe daughter gave an hysteric sob, threw herself upon the prince\u2019s\nneck, and yielded to an irrepressible burst of emotion. She was\nrelieved by the promise: a smile dilated her brow; her dark full\neye expanded with a strong impulse of gratitude; and a single tear\ntrickled slowly down her cheek, upon which a delicate smile quivered,\nlike sunshine following the shower. The attendants were moved at\nthe scene; the prince was subdued, still his determination relative\nto the prisoner, which had not yet transpired, remained unaltered.\nHis attachment towards his daughter was strong and fervent, but he\ncould not forget that he had been grossly wronged. The indignities\nso wantonly heaped upon him during his march to Shariar\u2019s camp, when\nsuffering from the pain of his wound, did not pass from his mind, and\nit is not the character of despotic princes to suffer injury to escape\nretribution.\n\nThe princess retired from the royal tent with a joyous satisfaction\narising from the assurance that her father\u2019s life should be spared. She\ncould not for a moment suppose that the man by whom she was evidently\nbeloved, would allow himself long to entertain feelings of hostility\ntowards her parent, however great the provocation. But she knew not\nthe heart of him upon whose clemency she relied. Revenge is the most\ndifficult passion of our nature to subdue; and its indulgence, among\nabsolute princes, is one of the greatest evils of despotism.\n\nDawir Buxsh proceeded to Agra, accompanied by the Vizier and Mohabet\nChan, and was hailed as their Emperor by the universal acclamation\nof the citizens. He was immediately seated upon the musnud, and a\nproclamation issued for the celebration of the royal nuptials with the\ndaughter of Sultan Shariar.\n\nOn the following day the prisoner was summoned into the presence of\nhis imperial nephew. He appeared with an emaciated countenance and a\ndejected mien. He had been long suffering from a dreadful malady, which\nhad almost reduced him to a shadow. His daughter was present when her\nparent entered, and seeing his bitter dejection, she threw herself upon\nhis bosom in a paroxysm of filial grief. She was gently removed by the\nattendants.\n\n\u201cWhat does the man deserve,\u201d asked Dawir Buxsh sternly, turning towards\nthe disconsolate prisoner, \u201cwho has rebelled against his lawful\nsovereign, cast him into prison, treated him with indignity, and\nexposed his life to jeopardy?\u201d\n\nShariar was silent.\n\n\u201cSilence is the most eloquent confession of guilt,\u201d continued the\nEmperor; \u201cdost thou not deserve that death, which, had your ambitious\narms succeeded, you had no doubt in reserve for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am in your power,\u201d replied Shariar firmly; \u201cyou can exercise that\npower as your discretion may prompt. I may be your victim, but nothing\nshall force me to disclose my intentions. I acted as I felt justified\nin acting; it has ended in failure, and I am prepared to pay the\npenalty.\u201d\n\nThe indignation of the young Emperor was kindled, and he said fiercely,\n\u201cHoary traitors must not escape punishment, however nearly allied to\nthe throne. I have promised to spare your life,\u201d said he, \u201cbut the\nlight of heaven shall never more beam upon those eyes.\u201d\n\nSaying this he rose, and gave the signal to a soldier, who advanced\nand seized the unhappy Shariar. His daughter, with a wild scream of\nagony, threw herself between the ruffian and his victim; but she was\ninstantly torn from the embraces of her parent, who stood with patient\nresignation, awaiting the execution of his dreadful sentence. The\nsoldier advanced, and plunged the point of his crease into both eyes\nof the unfortunate Sultan. With the blood trickling down his cheeks,\nmingled with tears, he implored to be once more permitted to embrace\nhis child. She rushed into his arms.\n\n\u201cTyrant!\u201d said she, addressing the young Emperor, \u201cthis heart shall\nnever be united with that of one whose hand is stained with my parent\u2019s\nblood. I have no longer anything to render this world desirable, and\nquit it imprecating the malediction of a dying woman upon thy head!\u201d\n\nSaying this, she seized a crease which was stuck in the girdle of one\nof the guards, drew it suddenly before he was aware of her purpose,\nand plunging it into her bosom, fell dead at the soldier\u2019s feet. The\nprince was staggered at the dreadful but unexpected issue of his own\nseverity. He had never for a moment contemplated such a consummation.\nHis attachment to the princess had been ardent, but he could not forget\nthe wrongs received at the hands of her father.\n\nFrom this moment a cloud of gloom hung upon his brow. He saw no one;\nand his seclusion gave umbrage to his subjects, who began to murmur\nat the want of enterprise in their new Sovereign. Rumours were daily\nspreading of Shah Jehan\u2019s approach to avenge the indignity offered\nto his brother Shariar, and the death of that prince\u2019s daughter; but\nthe Emperor disregarded these rumours, fancying himself secure in the\naffections of his people, and in the support of the Vizier and Mohabet\nChan.\n\nShortly after the decease of his affianced bride, the venerable fakeer\nstood before Dawir Buxsh, and with undaunted severity upbraided him\nwith his cruel rigour towards his uncle.\n\n\u201cYour throne totters,\u201d he said solemnly; \u201cthe sceptre which a tyrant\nsways is ever held in a feeble grasp, and by a precarious tenure.\nJustice can never sanction cruelty; and you should have remembered that\nyou were indebted for liberty, most probably for life, to the daughter\nof that prince whom you have so wantonly mutilated. The blood of that\ndaughter will cry from the earth against you. Heaven has its punishment\nfor guilty sovereigns, and your doom has gone forth.\u201d\n\nThe youthful monarch was subdued by the solemn earnestness of the holy\nman, and quailed before him.\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d he said, \u201cI have but visited a rebel with merited\nretribution. His cruelties towards me have been repaid with cruelty,\nwhich the laws of justice sanction.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut which,\u201d fervently exclaimed the fakeer, \u201cthe laws of religion\nforbid. The justice of tyrants is not the justice of the great and good\nGod, who so tempers it with mercy that repentance converts it into a\nblessing both to the receiver and the giver. Justice becomes a bane\nwhere mercy is defied and scorned. Retribution is an attribute which\nbelongs alone to Omnipotence; man knows not how to exercise it. You\nhave attempted to grasp the thunder; beware that it does not recoil\nupon your own head with that terrible energy which leaves behind the\nfearful impress of destruction.\u201d\n\nBold as was the rebuke of this venerable man, and even insolent as was\nhis intrusion and bearing, yet such was his character for sanctity,\nand so universal the awe in which he was held, that no one attempted\nto resent the indignity offered to their sovereign, and the fakeer\nquitted the imperial presence with a smile of calm defiance, as he\ntottered out of the palace. The Emperor called to mind his visit while\nhe was a captive, and remembered that to him he was chiefly indebted\nfor the success of the princess\u2019s plan for his escape, which had been\neventually crowned with such complete success; he therefore permitted\nhim to pass from the palace without molestation. The old man\u2019s words,\nhowever, had sunk deep into the heart of Dawir Buxsh, and harrowed him\nto the quick. There was a fearful import in them which troubled him\nsorely; they sounded like the dark presage of doom.\n\nThe rumours of his uncle Shah Jehan\u2019s approach daily strengthened,\nand he already began to fancy that he saw his own speedy downfall.\nThose nobles who were more immediately about his person, whispered\ndoubts of the Vizier\u2019s sincerity, and these doubts were but too soon\nconfirmed. The report of Shah Jehan\u2019s march towards the capital was\nshortly verified. He reached Lahore at the head of a numerous army,\nand encamped a few miles from the city. The young Emperor had taken no\nmeasures to interrupt his passage, relying upon the fidelity of the\nVizier and Mohabet Chan, both of whom, as he found out, too late, had\nfavoured his uncle\u2019s designs upon the throne. He received a summons,\nwhich was communicated by the Vizier, to resign the sceptre into older\nand abler hands. When the unhappy sovereign upbraided his minister with\ntreachery, the latter did not hesitate to confess that he had simply\nfavoured his accession, in order to give time for Shah Jehan to collect\nan army and put himself in a condition to dispute his rights. \u201cThe\nMoguls,\u201d continued the Vizier, \u201cdo not like to be governed either by\nboys or by women, both of whom ought to yield to the natural supremacy\nof men.\u201d\n\nThis was not the time to dispute a doctrine subversive of all\nlegitimate rights, with one who had the power to illustrate it in his\nown hands. Dawir Buxsh, without a moment\u2019s hesitation, seeing that\nopposition would be mere fatuity, consented to relinquish the imperial\nsceptre provided his life were spared, and a competent maintenance\nassured to him. No answer was returned to these stipulations, but on\nthe following day the deposed Emperor was confined to one of the lower\napartments of the Seraglio, and Shah Jehan proclaimed Emperor, with\nalmost universal consent; such is human tergiversation! The people have\nno lasting affection for sovereigns. The favourite of to-day is an\nobject of hatred to-morrow--\n\n              Within the hollow crown\n  That rounds the mortal temples of a king,\n  Death keeps his court.\n\nDawir Buxsh, who had been lately raised to a throne amid popular\nacclamation, was now hurled from his elevation, and more an object of\npity than the meanest among those whom he had so lately governed. His\ncruelty to the unhappy Shariar too late filled him with remorse. The\ndeath of that Sultan\u2019s daughter tortured his memory with a thousand\nbitter pangs. He saw that his fate was determined on, and the lingering\ndesire of life made him look forward to death with horror.\n\nOn the morning after his uncle\u2019s accession to the throne of the Moguls,\ntwo eunuchs entered the prison of Dawir Buxsh; he immediately knew\nthat he was to die, and throwing himself upon his knees, was strangled\nwhilst in the act of putting up a prayer to Heaven. The aspiration was\ncut short by the bow-string, and Multan Shariar and his daughter were\nboth fully avenged.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Omrah\u2019s Daughter\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nLody Chan was seated in the veranda of his palace, smoking his hookah,\nand enjoying the luxury of repose which that exquisite instrument is\nso admirably calculated to induce. Behind him stood a tall attendant\ndressed in a tunic of green cloth, his waist encircled by a red\ncummerbund, his head surmounted with a bright yellow turban, undulating\na yak\u2019s tail over his master, to prevent mosquitos from sounding in his\nears their little note of warning, or fixing their fine taper antenn\u00e6\ninto those rich conduits through which the currents of life meander in\nten thousand winding avenues to and from the heart. Beside this man\nstood another attendant, somewhat differently clad as to colour, but\nprecisely similar in costume, waving a punka beside the Chan, in order\nto break the stagnation of the hot air of noon, in a shade where the\nthermometer would stand at ninety-eight degrees.\n\nLody was seated upon a carpet from the valued looms of Persia; beside\nhim stood a goblet of Shiraz wine, and at his right hand a matchlock,\nits stock richly inlaid with gold. From the eaves of the veranda fell\na silk awning, which was lowered when the sun slanted its level rays\nabove the horizon in its early rising, or flooded the plain with its\ndeparting glories, ere it sank behind the broad ocean. This awning\nwas brocaded with the precious metals from the celebrated bazaars\nof Ispahan, unrivalled throughout the East for the richness of its\ntissues. The walls were panelled with polished steel, which multiplied\nthe reflection of every object near, and seemed to give an almost\ninterminable space to the balconies by which the palace was surrounded.\nArms, burnished with a care that showed how highly they were prized,\nhung from the pilasters which supported the projecting roof of the\nveranda, and various emblems of war were distributed around, with a\nprofusion and an attention to effect, which sufficiently evinced how\nfamiliar the lord of this palace was with that bane of peace upon earth\nof which it has been too truly said, and but too little heeded, that\n\n                              War\u2019s a game\n  Which, were their subjects wise, kings would not play at.\n\nEverything around the palace of Chan Lody attested his predilection for\nthis most desperate game of chance that man can engage in. He was one\nof the greatest warriors of his day. Being a descendant of the imperial\nfamily of Lody, he felt anxious to maintain the dignity of his house;\nbut though glory was the fierce aim of his ambition, he never tarnished\nit by an act of dishonour. He was indeed an ambitious prince, but a\ngenerous soldier and a virtuous man.\n\nWhilst he sat drawing through the golden mouthpiece of his beautifully\nembossed hookah the exhalations of a richly aromatic chillam, a\nstranger was announced desiring to have an interview with the Chan.\n\n\u201cAdmit him,\u201d said Lody to the attendant, who instantly withdrew, and\nshortly returned, ushering in the stranger.\n\nThe latter appeared to be a youth of noble deportment and gallant\nbearing. He was evidently in the dawn of manhood, but had all its best\nattributes legibly recorded on his clear open brow and small decided\nfeatures. Lody\u2019s eye relaxed into a faint yet bright smile as he bent\nit upon the noble stranger, whose salutation he returned with much\ncourtesy.\n\n\u201cChan Lody,\u201d said the youth, \u201cyou are aware that the Emperor Jehangire\nis in paradise; a usurper, aided by the influence of the Sultana, is\nupon the throne: the Sultan, Shah Jehan, now lawful sovereign of the\nMoguls, is on his march to vindicate his rights and seize the imperial\nsceptre: his route lies through your territories, through which he\ndemands your permission to pass, and a safe conduct. What answer shall\nI return, Chan Lody?\u201d\n\nLody\u2019s brow became suddenly overcast; and he said bitterly, \u201cPrinces\nwho solicit favours should know how to bestow them.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs this the answer I am to return to the Sultan?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; when you have refreshed yourself with food and rest, I will give\nyou my answer at length.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it hostile or peaceable?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will know when you receive it.\u201d\n\n\u201cChan Lody, I accept not the hospitality of an enemy. If you deny what\nI come to solicit, I quit your presence with a full and unqualified\ndefiance; if you grant it, I will eat your salt with joy, and the\nProphet\u2019s blessing will requite you for the boon.\u201d\n\n\u201cYoung man, your defiance or your blessing is to me alike indifferent.\nI have no desire that you should either eat my salt or make my palace a\nplace of rest. Bear my answer to your master. I grant no safe conduct\nto rebels. A rebellious son cannot be a just prince. I would rather see\nthe enemy at my gates, than Shah Jehan Emperor of the Moguls.\u201d\n\n\u201cA time may come when Chan Lody will be glad to forget that he has\ndared to insult his sovereign.\u201d\n\nSaying this, the youthful messenger turned upon his heel and was about\nto depart, but the Chan ordered him to be detained; then, by way of\nadding contempt to his refusal, the indignant Omrah commanded the dress\nof a menial to be brought, and filling a small bag with rupees, he\ncharged the sultan\u2019s envoy to deliver them, together with an old lean\nhorse, to his master.\n\nThe young man departed; and meeting a shepherd at some short distance\nfrom Burhampoor, gave him the dress, the rupees, and the horse, bidding\nhim deliver them to Chan Lody with this message:--that Prince Morad,\nson of the Emperor Shah Jehan, returned the gift designed for his\nroyal parent, as the giver might one day need a beggar\u2019s boon, since\nadversity was generally the lot of insolent nobles and disaffected\nsubjects.\n\nThe shepherd, not considering himself bound by the laws of honour,\nand not being harassed by delicate scruples, appropriated the dress,\nrupees, and horse to his own purposes. What to one man was an offence,\nwas to another a blessing.\n\nMorad, galled by the indignity which had been so wantonly offered to\nhim, proceeded towards his father\u2019s encampment. On emerging from a\nthick forest upon an extensive plain, he saw a party at some distance\nadvancing in the direction of the jungle. As they approached nearer, he\nperceived a palankeen accompanied by a numerous train of attendants.\nBefore they had reached the path which led into the forest, a wild\nelephant started from the thicket, and rushed with a short shrill cry\ntowards the approaching cavalcade. Terrified at the sight of such a\nhuge foe, the attendants dispersed; and the bearers laying down the\npalankeen, fled in different directions. The elephant advanced with\nan aspect of deadly hostility towards the palankeen, which, as Morad\nperceived, from the curtains being closely drawn round it, contained a\nfemale; and, from the number of her attendants, it was evident that she\nwas a female of rank. Unappalled by the danger, he darted forward; and\nbeing nearer the palankeen than the elephant, came up with the animal\nbefore it could reach its victim. Striking it with his sword just above\nthe knee joint of the right leg behind, he at once disabled it, and\ndiverted its attention from the object of attack. The huge creature\nimmediately uttered a scream of agony, and turned upon Morad but unable\nto use the wounded limb, its movements were slow and embarrassed:\nMorad, therefore, had no difficulty in evading its assault by actively\nrunning behind it, and seizing his opportunity, he inflicted another\nwound on the other hind leg, which rendered the elephant unable to\ndo mischief. It rolled upon the earth: and Morad calling upon his\nattendants to approach, took a matchlock, and placing the muzzle to the\near of the huge beast, sent a bullet into its brain. The animal uttered\na short loud roar, and died.\n\nMeanwhile the lady had quitted her palankeen, and stood before her\nyouthful deliverer in the beaming lustre of her beauty. Her countenance\nwas calm and unruffled, and her dark eye was fixed upon the dead\nelephant with an expression of resolute satisfaction that showed how\nlittle she had been disturbed by the past danger. She made a graceful\nsalaam of acknowledgment; and, beckoning with an air of haughty\ncommand to her attendants, thanked her deliverer with a somewhat lofty\ncourtesy, and, inviting him to return to her father\u2019s palace, entered\nher palankeen. Morad, who had been struck with her beauty, learned in\na few words that she was the daughter of Chan Lody. Notwithstanding\nthe late discourtesies which had passed between them, and the insult\noffered to his parent, he determined to escort the lovely girl to her\nfather\u2019s dwelling. He had been charmed with the beautiful countenance\nand magnanimous bearing of the Chan\u2019s daughter, and now felt really\nanxious that a better understanding should exist between her parent and\nhis own. He therefore returned with her to Burhampoor. On reaching Chan\nLody\u2019s palace, the lady wished Morad to enter, in order that he might\nreceive her father\u2019s acknowledgments for the signal service he had\nrendered his child.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d said the prince, \u201cI am the son of Shah Jehan, to whom your\nfather refuses a passage through his dominions. I cannot again enter\nthe presence of one who has denied my parent and his sovereign so poor\na boon.\u201d\n\n\u201cLife, prince, is a valueless possession, unless we hold it on those\nterms which make it worth the prizing; and, believe me, I would rather\nmine were forfeited than be indebted for its preservation to a scion\nof Chan Lody\u2019s foe. You, however, have conferred the obligation nobly,\nat the risk of your own; my courtesy, therefore, is the least I can\noffer you. Enter, and I will take upon me to secure for you my father\u2019s\nhospitality, who could not but be happy to entertain his daughter\u2019s\ndeliverer.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should be sorry to test the hospitality of a man whose heart would\nbe at variance with his urbanity. For what I have done, the approbation\nof my own conscience is a sufficient reward; and your courtesy has\ncancelled whatever obligation you may have considered yourself under to\nme. But perhaps you will do me the favour to tell Chan Lody that he is\nindebted for his daughter\u2019s life to the son of Shah Jehan.\u201d\n\nThe lovely Jahanira a moment bent her piercing eye upon Morad, and\nsaid, in a tone of proud dignity, \u201cOur acquaintance then will end\nhere, since you refuse the hospitality which has been at least\ncourteously offered; but I am your debtor, and shall, I trust, live to\ncancel my debt. Farewell!\u201d\n\nShe entered the palace, and Morad retraced his steps. As he pursued his\njourney towards his father\u2019s tents, he could not help reflecting on the\nsublime beauty of Chan Lody\u2019s daughter. She was evidently a woman of\na lofty and indomitable spirit. Her parent\u2019s dauntless soul beamed in\nher full black eyes, and her small budding mouth, the lips of which met\neach other with a firm compression that seemed to mock the tenderness\nof a more gentle contact, showed there was a high resolve within her\nwhich nothing short of death could subdue. Morad was young and ardent.\nHis whole soul quivered like a sunbeam at the bare thought of an\nenterprise that should cast a halo of glory around it and his bosom\nglowed with germane sympathy, where he beheld any symptom of feeling\ncongenial with his own. The stern refusal of Chan Lody had roused his\nindignation; the proud spirit of his daughter had won him to a gentler\nmood, and her beauty ratified what her lofty bearing had expressed.\n\nWhen he entered his father\u2019s presence, he reported the Omrah\u2019s refusal,\nbut withheld the indignities with which it had been accompanied. Shah\nJehan was mortified and indignant at this issue of his embassy to the\nhaughty noble of Burhampoor; and, breaking up his camp, he proceeded to\nthe capital by another route.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nWithin a few weeks after the events related in the preceding chapter,\nChan Lody was apprised of Shah Jehan\u2019s accession to the imperial\nthrone. He was too powerful an Omrah not to be conciliated; the\nEmperor, therefore, despatched his son Morad with a message to\ninvite Lody to visit the capital, promising him oblivion of all past\nindignities, with assurances of future favour. The Chan, trusting to\nthe dignity of his own character, and his influence among the nobles,\nwho honoured him as a man of lofty courage and impregnable integrity,\nconsented at once to repair to Agra with his family, considering that\nhis presence at the seat of government might be of some advantage to\nthe state, as he was determined to watch with jealous scrutiny the\nmotions of the reigning sovereign, to whose accession he had always\nbeen vehemently hostile. He, however, received Morad with courteous\nhospitality, as the saviour of his daughter\u2019s life; and the young\nprince, remembering the impression which the lovely Jahanira had made\nupon him, offered himself to the father as her suitor. This was an\nalliance not at all coveted by Chan Lody, who, though he was by no\nmeans wanting in ambition, bore nevertheless too great an antipathy to\nthe reigning Emperor to be desirous of a family connexion with him.\n\n\u201cMy daughter,\u201d said he to Morad, \u201cis the person most concerned in this\nmatter. You must consult her. She knows my wishes and her own. Whatever\nher choice may be, I shall not obstruct it. When you have gained her\nconsent, I shall not withhold mine.\u201d\n\nMorad obtained an interview, and made his proposals. Jahanira paused,\nand surveyed him with a calm countenance, yet every feature radiant\nwith that mind of which they were all most eloquent interpreters. After\nan earnest, but still respectful, scrutiny, she replied, \u201cPrince,\nyou are of noble birth, and therefore an alliance with you could not\ndishonour me; you are of a manly and agreeable person; you have the\nreputation of being brave, generous, just, and, in short, of possessing\nall the best qualities that belong to great and good men; personally,\ntherefore, I cannot object to you as the disposer of my future life.\nMoreover, you have saved that life; gratitude, consequently, would\ninduce me to accede to any honourable proposal which you could make me:\nbut my father and yours bear a deep enmity against each other, and this\nis an impassable bar to such an alliance as you seek between the house\nof Timour and that of Lody.\u201d\n\nMorad was mortified at this rejection, and returned to Agra with\nthe poison of disappointment rankling in his bosom. He kept the\nmatter secret from his royal parent, who, he knew, would have felt\nthe greatest indignation at his having made such a proposal to the\ndaughter of a man who had treated him with offensive indignity.\n\nShortly after this, Chan Lody arrived with his family at Agra, and took\nup his abode in a large house surrounded by strong and lofty walls,\nnot far from the palace. A few days after his arrival, he appeared at\ncourt, attended by his two sons. He was received by the Emperor with\nconstrained courtesy, which satisfied him that the royal forgiveness\nso solemnly pledged to him was hollow and unsound. He was obliged to\nperform certain ceremonies which he considered not consistent with his\nrank and influence in the state; but seeing the impolicy of resistance\nat that moment, he patiently submitted to the indignity, though he\nclearly perceived that it was meant as a tacit retaliation. His son\nAzmut, a fine spirited youth of sixteen, followed his father into the\nhall of audience. The usher Perist, keeping him prostrate before the\nsovereign longer than the customary ceremony required, Azmut started up\nfrom the ground, sprang upon his feet, and was about to turn his back\nupon the royal presence when Perist struck him smartly upon the head\nwith his rod, and ordered him in a peremptory tone, again to prostrate\nhimself. The boy\u2019s spirit was kindled; with sparkling eyes and flushed\ncheeks he drew his sword, and made a stroke at the usher\u2019s head, which\nwould have proved fatal, had not his weapon been struck down by some of\nthe guards, who, on state occasions, were always in attendance in the\ncourts of Mogul potentates.\n\nLody, suspecting that his life was aimed at, drew his dagger; and his\ntwo sons, placing themselves on either side of their father, with\ntheir weapons bared, produced a scene of general consternation. Many\nof the Omrahs unsheathed their swords, but the known valour of Chan\nLody kept them in awe. The Emperor leaped from his throne, and ordered\nthe refractory noble to be seized, together with his sons. One of the\nmace-bearers, who happened to be near Azmut, laid hold of him, but the\nyouth instantly buried a crease in his throat. The confusion increased.\nTwo Omrahs fell beneath the arm of Chan Lody, who, rushing from the\npresence, followed by his sons, sought refuge in his own house, and\nordered the gates to be instantly closed. He was proclaimed a rebel,\nand orders issued for his immediate apprehension; but the house to\nwhich he had repaired was so strongly fortified, that the fulfilment of\nthe royal mandate was anything but an easy matter.\n\nThe Emperor\u2019s rage was now at its height; all his former hostility\nrevived in full force, and he determined that the refractory Omrah\nshould pay the extreme penalty of his rashness. He commanded Morad to\nbesiege him in his castle. The latter, though he had scarcely recovered\nfrom the mortification to which he had been subjected by the beautiful\nbut haughty daughter of the refractory noble, nevertheless undertook\nthe command with some reluctance, respecting the virtues of the man\nwhom, though he certainly did not love, he nevertheless could not\ndespise.\n\nThe house was invested; and the rebel, as Chan Lody was pronounced\nto be, summoned to surrender. He returned an answer of defiance. In\nreply to Morad\u2019s summons, he appeared with his sons and daughter upon\nthe walls, and said, pointing to the latter, \u201cYou shall receive our\nanswer from the lips of a woman, but that woman the daughter of Chan\nLody.\u201d--\u201cPrince Morad,\u201d said Jahanira, advancing to the very edge of\nthe wall, \u201cthe brave never succumb to tyranny. Life is really only\nenjoyed by the free; and tyrants grant not liberty when they can\nexercise their power upon those who do not acknowledge it. We are\nresolved never to yield, Prince Morad; and even if your legions should\noverwhelm us, I need not remind you that the brave have a certain\nrefuge in death.\u201d\n\nThe siege was pursued by Morad with such vigour for several days,\nthat it was evident the besieged must shortly capitulate. Lody was\nembarrassed. He saw that there remained only one course--to cut his way\nthrough the enemy, and escape to Malwa. Desperate as the attempt was,\nhe resolved to make it on the following morning. His sons and daughter\ndetermined to accompany him in his perilous flight. He communicated his\nintention to his women and the various members of his family, most of\nwhom, he said, he must leave to the imperial mercy. Tears and groans\nfollowed the communication, but there was no alternative betwixt death\nand captivity. He endeavoured to persuade his women that they, at\nleast, would be treated with clemency. They answered with him renewed\ntears. He turned from them in an agony of grief; but his determination\nwas taken, and, retiring to his apartment, he gave vent to the overflow\nof his feelings. Calling his three sons, he arranged with them the time\nfor the desperate sally which was to be made on the following morning.\nHis daughter, whom he loved as a son, and perfectly adored for the\nelevated heroism of her character, was present at this arrangement, and\nthey finally separated for the night.\n\nLody could not sleep, and quitted his chamber to break the gloomy train\nof his thoughts. He passed into a large court, which was flanked by\nthe women\u2019s apartments. The night was dark, the sky overcast, and the\nwhole aspect of nature seemed to suit the gloomy habit of his soul.\nThe dew fell heavily, but it cooled his fevered brow. As he passed by\nthe apartments of his women, he heard groans as of persons in agony.\nHe stopped to listen--they were repeated; there could be no mistaking\nthe sound. His heart throbbed audibly. He entered--listened--all\nwas still; every light had been extinguished. He passed through the\ndifferent chambers, but there was no sound. He called upon several, who\nwere wont to answer his summons with a ready alacrity; there was no\nreply. What could be the cause? Horrible, but indefinite, suspicions\ncrowded upon his mind. He at length entered into an inner apartment,\nand, stumbling over some obstacle, fell upon his face. He arose, and,\nin a small ante-chamber, perceived a light glimmering faintly behind\na curtain. Upon removing the drapery, he perceived the dead body of a\nfemale favourite. He raised the lamp from the floor, and saw that his\nhands and dress were stained with blood. Returning to the chamber in\nwhich he had fallen, a sad revelation of the mystery of the groans and\nsucceeding silence was made horribly manifest. The floor was covered\nwith gore, which still feebly welled from the bosoms of several women,\nin whom life was yet scarcely extinct. Every member of his harem was\ndead, or in the last pangs of dissolution. They had considered suicide\nas the preferable alternative to falling into the power of those who\nwere enemies to Chan Lody.\n\nThe sight was overpowering. The sacrifice had been noble, but it poured\na tide of agony through the bosom of him for whom it was so unanimously\nmade. The mothers of his children lay dead among the lifeless forms\nbefore him. He looked upon them, and, after the first terrible burst of\ngrief had subsided, he uttered a vow of deep and implacable revenge.\nSummoning his children, they joined in his vow. Jahanira embraced her\nmother\u2019s corpse, and supplicated vengeance upon the heads of those who\nhad forced her to self-immolation.\n\nTears rolled over Lody\u2019s cheeks, but he dashed them off, and called\nupon his children to assist him in performing the obsequies of the\ndead. His eye dilated with an expression of energetic resolution as he\nraised the bodies from their gory beds, wrapped them in clean linen,\nand, assisted by his sons, carried them into a garden beyond the court,\nwhere, having hastily dug a large hole, they buried them in one common\ngrave. There was no prayer uttered--no ritual form observed--but\nthe fervent aspiration of earnest and sorrowful hearts went up as a\nmemorial to God.\n\nAs they quitted the garden, the young dawn began to glimmer in the\neast. Lody summoned his followers; though few, they were determined. It\nwas a desperate cast, but the late scene had given an impulse to the\nspirits of each and all. The danger of the enterprise vanished before\nthe daring which impelled him, and those who were so dear to him, to\nbrave the peril, and either secure their escape or perish.\n\nOn a sudden, the gates were thrown open. Lody rushed out, followed by\nhis three sons and his daughter, who spurred their horses towards the\ncity walls. The imperial troops were struck with awe at the daring of\nthis small but determined band. They swept onward like the whirlwind;\nall who opposed them were cut down. The light was still so imperfect,\nthat the imperial troops, being suddenly roused by this unexpected\nassault, were confused, and fell before the swords of Lody and his\nfollowers, who finally succeeded in cutting their way through their\nfoes, and escaping by the city gates.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe conflict between the followers of Chan Lody and the imperial troops\nhad been short but desperate. Many of the latter, taken by surprise,\nwere slain, whilst scarcely one of the assailants lost his life.\nJahanira, upon a small roan Arab, rode immediately behind her father,\nthrough the thickest of the enemy. She dyed her virgin sword in blood.\nJust as she had reached the gate, Morad intercepted her passage.\n\n\u201cYou have no further chance of escape,\u201d he cried, attempting to seized\nthe reins of her steed; but she, striking her heels into the animal\u2019s\nside, caused it to rear, and thus prevented Morad\u2019s intention.\n\nBy this time the whole of her party had escaped, and she alone remained\nwithin the walls. A soldier now grasping the reins of her horse, she\ninstantly severed his arm at the wrist with a single stroke of her\nkeen Damascus sabre. The man, exasperated, urged a comrade to cut her\ndown. The latter sprang forward, but she met him as he advanced, and\nburied her weapon in his throat. Morad commanded that the troops should\nretire, and urged his charger towards Jahanira.\n\n\u201cLady, you are our prisoner.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever!\u201d cried Jahanira, drawing a dagger. \u201cI will not survive\ncaptivity. Open yonder gates, and allow me to follow my father, or I\nwill leave you only my body for the gratification of your revenge. You\nshall never take me alive!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, this intemperance ill befits a daughter of the illustrious house\nof Lody. None but cowards die to escape the shocks of destiny.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd none but cowards submit to the caprices of tyrants. You once\npreserved my life; but if you intend to inthral the life you saved,\nall obligation is cancelled between us, and I now dare you to mortal\ncombat; for, woman as I am, you shall find me no contemptible\ncompetitor.\u201d\n\nShe spurred her Arab towards Morad and made a stroke at his head; but\nhe suddenly reined back his horse and avoided the blow, which fell\nupon the animal\u2019s neck. It plunged violently, and the prince had great\ndifficulty in evading the fierce onset of his beautiful antagonist, who\nat length wounded him in the arm; and seeing several horsemen approach\nto the aid of their general, she urged her little roan charger towards\nthe gate. Morad, charmed with her heroism, ordered it to be opened;\nwhen, bounding through the portal with the swiftness of an arrow, she\nsoon joined her father and brothers about four leagues from the city.\n\nThe Emperor having been roused by the sudden shouts of the fugitive and\nhis followers, as they made their unexpected eruption from the castle,\nstarted from his bed, and seizing a sword, sent messengers to ascertain\nthe cause; apprehending an insurrection of the citizens in favour of\nChan Lody, who was extremely popular among them. On ascertaining that\nthe Omrah had escaped, he despatched a large body of troops, headed\nby Perist, the usher, who was accompanied by several other nobles of\ndistinction, and ordered to bring back the fugitives to the city either\ndead or alive.\n\nPerist, eager to punish Azmut for the attack made upon him by that\nyoung warrior in the Emperor\u2019s presence, readily undertook the command,\nand promised that before the waning of another moon the heads of his\nmaster\u2019s enemies should either be blackening on the walls of Agra, or\ntheir bodies bound in chains within the state prisons. This empty boast\nsatisfied Shah Jehan, who well knew the usher\u2019s hostility to the family\nof Lody, which he would have been willing to exterminate, even at the\nsacrifice of his own life.\n\nPerist was a Calmuc Tartar, of amazing power of body, and no less\nintrepidity of spirit, who had raised himself to distinction in the\nimperial army by his gigantic strength and desperate valour. He had\nrisen from a low station in the army to one of high distinction in the\nstate, and this had emboldened him to seek an alliance that should\nperpetuate his name. The lovely Jahanira had long been the theme of\npublic panegyric, and the reputation of her beauty, together with\nher illustrious descent, made him desire to become united with this\ndistinguished maiden.\n\nWithout having seen the object of his ambitious aspiring, but relying\nupon the reports of her high qualities, he sent his proposals, which\nwere rejected with scorn. This roused the malignity of the Tartar. To\nbe contemned by a woman was an injury never to be forgotten; and he\nmeditated a distant but signal revenge. He expected that his treatment\nof the fiery young Azmut would rouse the indignation of his family,\nand most probably excite them to acts of violence. It had happened\nprecisely as he had foreseen, and he now gladly seized the opportunity\nof following up to its issue the plan of retribution which he had so\nwarily laid. He was not a man to let his resolution lie in abeyance\nuntil chance concurred to elicit the desired result; but he had that\nenergy of malice which tries every hazard, however desperate, to\nrealize the consummation of its most atrocious purposes.\n\nLody had well weighed the chances of pursuit; and knowing the fierce\nhostility with which the usher regarded him, had calculated the\nprobability of being followed by his ancient foe. He urged forward his\nlittle band for fifteen leagues without halting, and was then stopped\nby a river. It was broad and rapid, and so swollen by recent rains,\nthat to cross it seemed utterly impracticable. It flowed onward in\na wide turbid stream, broken every now and then into small whirling\neddies by the rapidity of its progress, and thus became so agitated,\nthat there appeared no chance of stemming its tumultuous current. There\nwas not a boat to be seen; all had been carried down the stream by the\nimpetuosity of the torrent: and a wooden bridge was swept away by the\nextraordinary pressure of its augmented waters, which in several places\noverflowed their banks and inundated the country, except upon the\nhigher grounds, to a distance of several miles.\n\nThis was a melancholy impediment. Here was a check which bid fair to\nfrustrate their escape, but there was no choice; and with a foreboding\nheart Chan Lody and his faithful adherents encamped for the night upon\nthe banks of the river. He threw himself upon a rug to snatch a short\nrepose after the bodily fatigue and mental excitement of the last\ntwenty-four hours. His reflections were sad and harassing. The scene\nof the past night recurred to his mind with sickening vividness, and\npainful recollections swept over it with the might and suddenness of\nthe whirlwind. The perilous situation in which he stood, perplexed and\nagitated him. He had but a few followers to oppose to the large body\nof troops which he was certain would be sent against him. The swollen\nstate of the river forbad the possibility of flight, and the small\nnumber of his adherents banished every chance of successful resistance.\nFor himself he entertained no apprehensions; but when he thought of his\nchildren, an involuntary pang, which he could not repress, shook his\nframe.\n\nIn proportion, however, as his reflections magnified the dangers by\nwhich he was surrounded, his spirit rose, and finally settled into a\ndetermination of resistance which nothing could disturb. Prepared to\nmeet the worst emergencies of the morrow, he at length sank into a\nprofound slumber, which was increased by that reaction of repose after\nexcitement, which invariably follows the tension of mind produced by\nextreme mental disturbance.\n\nHe awoke with the dawn: and upon quitting his tent was informed\nthat the imperial troops were in full march towards him. He\nimmediately summoned his sons and daughter; and representing the\nutter impossibility of escape, asked them if they would wish to throw\nthemselves upon the enemy\u2019s clemency?--that for himself he was resolved\nto die in arms. Hussein, the eldest son, swore he would follow his\nfather\u2019s fortune, and perish rather than fall into the hands of a\nconqueror. Azmut made the same solemn vow.\n\n\u201cAnd you, my child,\u201d said Chan Lody, addressing his daughter, \u201cwhat\nreason is there that you should not live to form an alliance, which\nmight perpetuate the race of Lody, with a man, perhaps, that would\nvindicate thy father\u2019s wrong?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d replied the noble girl, throwing herself upon her parent\u2019s\nbosom, \u201cI am from a stock that has ever preferred death to captivity.\nThere is no sex in soul; and I feel mine to be as capable of those\ndeeds which will excite unborn ages to noble emulation as they who\nexclusively claim the privilege of performing them. I am resolved to\nperish with the enemy\u2019s blood upon my sword, and will dye this dagger\nwith my own rather than accept the clemency of tyrants.\u201d\n\nThe father embraced her: and having summoned his small but resolute\nband, declared to them his determination of dying in arms rather than\nyield to the approaching foe. This resolution was hailed with a cheer,\nand the troops prepared for action. There was a pass between two hills\nin their rear which opened into a narrow plain. Of this pass Chan Lody\ntook possession, and he had scarcely disposed his order of battle, when\nthe van of the imperialists appeared advancing along a rising valley.\nHis position was a very strong one, being accessible only in front;\nthe river, which so effectually cut off his retreat, as effectually\ncovering his rear.\n\nThe imperial army amounted to upwards of eight thousand men; Chan\nLody\u2019s did not exceed as many hundreds. The enemy advanced leisurely\nonward, and halted within about two furlongs from the pass where the\nfugitives were so advantageously posted. A message was immediately\ndespatched to Chan Lody, summoning him to surrender. He returned\na reply of haughty defiance, and the Emperor\u2019s troops advanced to\nthe charge. They were so warmly received that, after a short but\nvigorous struggle, they were obliged to fall back. Though considerably\ndispirited by this repulse, relying upon their numbers, they again\nadvanced to the charge with like success.\n\nThese attacks were several times repeated with a similar result, until\nevening terminated the conflict, when the imperialists retired within\ntheir camp on the slope of a neighbouring hill. They had suffered\nseverely; upwards of twelve hundred men having been slain, and nearly\ndouble that number wounded. Chan Lody\u2019s band had likewise suffered\nseverely. Not more than a hundred and fifty remained unhurt. Three\nhundred were killed, and many more desperately wounded; so that he\nhad nothing more consolatory to look forward to than their utter\nextermination, as soon as the sanguinary conflict should be renewed.\n\nIt was a gloomy prospect. A council was held among the survivors, who\nunanimously declared their resolution to fight to the last extremity;\nbut Hussein and Azmut both proposed that their father should attempt\nthe river, and they would secure his retreat.\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d said Hussein, \u201cyou may still live to avenge your wrongs.\nBesides, you have been severely wounded in the action of to-day, and\nyour death will therefore be rather a suicide than a sacrifice, if\nyou expose yourself merely to court destruction. You cannot, in your\npresent state, endure the exertion of another conflict. Try the river;\nyour steed is stout, and may bear you to the shore in safety; we will\ncover your retreat.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe danger is equal,\u201d replied Lody; \u201cbut it is more honourable to die\non the field than in the river.\u201d\n\nStill they urged his retreat. \u201cBut can I fly and leave my children? No!\nI will perish on this field. I will never leave my brave sons to meet\nan honourable death and live to become a mere man of sorrows.\u201d\n\nIt was at length agreed, after considerable difficulty, that Chan Lody\nand one of his sons and daughter should try the river, and the other\nremain behind to keep the enemy in check until the fugitives had gained\nthe opposite shore.\n\nWhen this was determined, they separated for the night. With early dawn\nthe brothers were at their posts. As the light was gradually stretching\nover the distant plain in a broad grey stream, a dispute arose between\nthem which should attack the enemy. Whilst, however, the generous\naltercation was going on, Perist, who had struck Azmut in the Emperor\u2019s\npresence, appeared at the head of the imperialists.\n\n\u201cIt is decided,\u201d said Azmut; \u201cthere is my enemy,--especially and\npersonally mine. Hussein, you would not interfere with your brother\u2019s\nprivilege to redress his own wrongs. Fly with my father, and leave me\nto my revenge.\u201d\n\nSaying this, he spurred his horse forward; and his father, joined by\nHussein, plunged into the river.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nChan Lody and his son Hussein had great difficulty in stemming the\nrapid current. Their horses were carried a considerable distance down\nthe stream, and almost exhausted before they reached the opposite bank;\nfortunately, the channel was so full that the water was on a level\nwith the land. When they had made good their transit, they shouted to\napprise the generous Azmut of their safety, whom, however, they did not\nsee; for he was engaged in that perilous onset of destruction to which\nhe had so heroically devoted himself.\n\nThe father\u2019s distress was great when he perceived that Jahanira had not\nfollowed them. He concluded that, fearing to encounter the peril of\ncrossing the river, she had resolved to throw herself upon the clemency\nof the conquerors; for the defeat of her brother and his small band was\ncertain. Such a resolution, however, was so contrary to her nature that\nhe rejected the supposition almost as soon as he had formed it, and\ncame to the final conclusion that she had determined to share the fate\nof Azmut. The anxious father hoped, that, should they hear his shouts\nof safety, they would immediately fly from the unequal contest, and\nattempt the passage of the river, as he and his elder son had done with\nunexpected success.\n\nHe was not far from right in his judgment concerning Jahanira; she had\nremained with Azmut, resolved either to perish or escape with them. No\nsooner had Chan Lody and Hussein plunged into the stream than Azmut\nspurred towards the imperialists, who were advancing slowly towards the\npass. Seeing him approach, Perist ordered his army to halt, determined\nto have the satisfaction of slaying him with his own arm. Jahanira had\narmed herself with a bow and arrows. Following her brother, she paused\nwhen she saw his foe singly advance to meet him. The hardy Calmuc,\nconfiding in his own strength, awaited with a smile of anticipated\ntriumph the coming onset of his impatient enemy.\n\nAzmut was rejoiced to see the halt of the imperial army, as it would\nrender secure the retreat of his father and brother, provided the\ncurrent of the river did not prove too strong for them. Being upon\na light active horse, he passed the usher at speed, and striking at\nhim in full career, inflicted a deep gash on his knee. The Tartar\nturned, and Azmut wheeling at the same moment, their horses met with\na tremendous shock, and the light charger of the latter rolled upon\nthe plain. Its rider was upon his feet in an instant. Perist spurred\ntowards him, but he parried a furious stroke, at the same time\nspringing actively on one side, as his huge adversary attempted to ride\nhim down. His danger, however, was imminent, and the moment critical.\nJahanira beheld the peril of her beloved brother. She placed an arrow\nupon the string of her bow. The Tartar had again advanced upon Azmut,\nand as he raised his heavy sabre to bury it in the body of his youthful\nopponent, a shaft, sped with unerring aim, entered his temple, and he\ndropped dead at his horse\u2019s feet.\n\nAzmut saw from whence the succour came, waved his arm in token of\nacknowledgment, and retreated towards the pass; but being on foot, he\nwas overtaken by a party of the enemy\u2019s cavalry before he could reach\nhis followers. The latter, however, rushed forward to his rescue, and\nfor some time a desperate struggle ensued; it was short and decisive.\nOverwhelmed by numbers, the fugitives were cut off to a man. Azmut slew\ntwo Omrahs with his own hands, but was transfixed by a lance as he was\nin the act of bringing his sword upon the crest of a third. An arrow\nfrom the bow of his heroic sister entered the bosom of his destroyer,\nand she had the satisfaction of witnessing his death-pang while she\nbeheld that of her brother.\n\nSeeing that all was lost, and hearing her father\u2019s shouts, she spurred\nher horse towards the river, discharging several arrows in her\nflight at the pursuing squadron: the enemy expected that the water\nwould arrest her flight, and therefore slackened their speed as they\napproached; but to their amazement she dashed fearlessly in, and pushed\nbravely for the opposite shore, upon which stood her father and only\nsurviving brother.\n\nThe enemy halted upon the bank in amazement, not daring to attempt the\npassage. The turbid waters rolled rapidly on, foaming and hissing in\ntheir way, as they were occasionally interrupted in their course by\nthe partial sinuosities of the channel. Her horse was slight, but full\nof fire, and pawed the turbulent stream with an impatient but resolute\nspirit. The undaunted girl was frequently sucked down by the eddies,\nbut she maintained her seat and rose above them with an intrepidity\nthat amazed while it mortified her hostile spectators. Vexed that she\nshould have eluded them, several archers discharged their arrows at her\nas she was struggling amidst the perilous element. One shaft hit her on\nthe turban; this being saturated, repelled it; but such was the force\nwith which the arrow had been urged, that the turban was struck from\nher head, exposing it to the cowardly aim of her incensed foes.\n\nBy this time she had passed the middle of the channel where the current\nwas strongest, and thus somewhat abated the chances of perishing amidst\nthe troubled waters. Her enemies still continuing to discharge their\narrows, as if in derision of their impotent malice, she raised herself\nin her stirrup, threw back her long raven hair which streamed around\nher like a fine sable fringe, and waved her arm, bidding them a mute\ndefiance. Her father and brother cheered her from the shore, but her\nsafety was still doubtful. Her horse was fast sinking. Its nose was\nscarcely perceptible above the agitated surface of the stream. There\nwas but one resource--she flung herself from its back, and the noble\nanimal almost immediately sank.\n\nShe was yet a considerable distance from the bank, and the current was\nstill strong. She breasted it, however, with fearless energy, straining\nevery nerve to reach the shore. The foe had ceased to impel their\narrows, as she was by this time beyond the reach of anything like a\ncertain aim. She flung her sandals from her feet as they embarrassed\nher movements, and in spite of the fierce rush of the stream, she rose\nabove it and gradually advanced towards the bank. It was evident that\nshe would not be able much longer to continue her exertions, and her\nanxious parent was beginning to entertain his doubts of her eventual\nescape, when she caught the branch of a tree which was just underneath\nthe surface, and sustained herself until she had recovered her breath.\nJust below, the bank had given way and formed a sort of frith, in which\nshe finally landed, and was welcomed by her father with a transport of\nemotion.\n\nWhen she had sufficiently recovered, Chan Lody could no longer subdue\nhis anxiety to know the fate of his brave son. \u201cAnd Azmut,\u201d he said,\n\u201chas become a sacrifice to his father\u2019s safety, for I see him not.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jahanira, solemnly, \u201che has met a soldier\u2019s doom. He is\ngone to the inheritance of the brave.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod is just; he did not perish unrevenged.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, the man who offered him an indignity in the imperial presence has\npaid the penalty of his daring. I slew him, father.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy child!\u201d the parent fell upon his daughter\u2019s neck and wept.\n\n\u201cAzmut died with his sword in his hand, reeking with the slaughter of\nhis enemies. His was a noble death,--how much better than an inglorious\nlife!\u201d\n\nOf Chan Lody\u2019s followers, three only survived,--the whole had been\nslain, except five who had plunged into the river a short time before\nJahanira. Two had perished in attempting the passage, and three had\nsucceeded in gaining the shore. With this wretched remnant of his\nlittle army, he proceeded towards Malwa, halting for the night at a\nsmall village about ten leagues from the river. His misfortunes had\nbeen severe, but they rather tended to render him resolute than to\nsubdue his unbending spirit. His march into this province was speedy,\nbut sorrowful. The loss of Azmut was a bitter grief. He was the pride\nof his father\u2019s house;--a mere child in years, he had shown the wisdom\nof the sage, and the skill in arms of an accomplished warrior. Chan\nLody lived but to avenge his early and premature fate, and the idea of\nvengeance was a solace to his lacerated spirit.\n\nWhen he reached Malwa, to the government of which he had been appointed\nby Shah Jehan, he began to levy troops, and soon found himself at the\nhead of a small but well-disciplined force. His name was formidable\nthroughout the empire, and the late events had obtained for him an\nalmost universal sympathy. He was not, however, permitted to remain\nlong unmolested. Within three weeks after he had crossed the river\nto avoid the imperial army, the waters had subsided, and his enemies\nhaving recruited their forces, advanced to Malwa. He met them in the\nfield, but was defeated, and obliged to retire to the mountains, where\nhe maintained a successful defence, until the monsoon obliged the enemy\nto retire. Lody had harassed them by frequent surprises, by cutting off\ntheir supplies, and by reducing them to such straits that they were\nfinally obliged to leave him in undisturbed possession of the province\nwhich the Emperor had placed under his government. They were glad at\nlength to escape the difficulties which he raised around them.\n\nThe Emperor was extremely perplexed at Chan Lody\u2019s escape. He knew the\nabilities of that Omrah, and the estimation in which his principles and\ntalents were almost universally held. So long as he lived, the Mogul\nthrone was a contingency. Nothing but the death of Chan Lody could\ngive security to the reign of Shah Jehan. With these impressions, the\nEmperor determined to destroy that noble, as a maxim of state policy;\nand therefore, so soon as the monsoon had passed, he despatched a\nnumerous army to drive him from his stronghold in the mountains, and\nbring him to Agra, alive or dead.\n\nThe imperial general was a noble of distinguished reputation, and\ncommanded a numerous and well-appointed army. He encamped within a\nday\u2019s march from the mountains to which Chan Lody had retired for\nsecurity. Conscious of his numerical superiority, he affected to\ndespise his enemy. On the evening after he had encamped, a nautch-girl\nentered his presence, soliciting permission to dance before him. Struck\nwith her singular beauty, she was allowed to exhibit her professional\nskill in his presence after the evening meal. He did not long enjoy the\nexhibition of her evolutions. He was taken ill shortly after having\nswallowed a copious draught of sherbert, and before the morning was\na corpse. His mysterious death provoking inquiry, it was immediately\nascertained that he had been poisoned. The sudden disappearance of\nthe nautch-girl excited suspicion. She was nowhere to be found. The\ndeath of the imperial general soon reached Lody\u2019s ears, and all the\nmysterious circumstances attending it. \u201cI can explain the mystery,\u201d\nsaid the Omrah\u2019s daughter; \u201cI entered the hostile camp in disguise, and\npoison has removed a foe whose place will not be easily supplied.\u201d\n\nThe death of their general rendered the imperial army inactive for some\ntime, and gave an opportunity to Lody to escape into the Deccan, where\nhe had powerful friends.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nShah Jehan was alarmed at the successful resistance which Chan Lody\nhad made against his armies; but, being determined to crush him, he\ndespatched for this purpose an exterminating force under Eradit,\na commander of reputation. The talents of the imperial general,\nhowever, could not for a moment stand in competition with those of his\nadversary. In his flight from Malwa, with a few brave adherents, who\ncontinued attached to his fortunes, Lody foiled all the attempts of\nthe Mogul troops, which pursued him to the number of twelve thousand.\nHe harassed them by night attacks--cut off their supplies--fortified\nhimself in the passes of the hills--until the enemy, wearied by long\nand difficult marches, roads almost impracticable, and constant\nwatching to escape the assaults of a vigilant enemy, at length gave up\nthe pursuit, and allowed the rebel, as they styled him, to continue his\njourney unmolested; after which he passed into Golconda, and presented\nhimself before the Nizam at Dowlatabad.\n\nThe Nizam granted him protection, which was a source of extreme\nmortification to the Emperor, who, knowing the abilities of Lody, was\nfearful that he might offer a successful resistance to the imperial\narms with the resources which his powerful ally would place at his\ndisposal. He saw that there was no time to be lost, as delay would only\nenable his foe to unite the jarring interests of the Deccan princes,\nwho were all avowed enemies to the house of Timour. He determined,\ntherefore, to follow Eradit in person, with a numerous reinforcement.\nThe Emperor\u2019s arrival in the Deccan had a sinister influence upon\nthe cause of the magnanimous Lody. The refractory princes knew their\nsovereign\u2019s abilities, and dreaded his power. As they saw a storm\nimpending, each fearing that it might fall upon himself, withdrew his\naid from him to whom they had promised assistance, and all returned to\ntheir allegiance.\n\nShah Jehan, enraged with the Nizam for having received his enemy,\ndetermined to humble that haughty prince. He therefore despatched three\narmies against Dowlatabad: one under Eradit, amounting to twenty-five\nthousand men, and two others, of the same strength, under the separate\ncommands of Raja Gop Singh and Shaista Chan.\n\nFor some time, through the talents of Chan Lody, the Nizam\u2019s troops\nbaffled every attempt against his capital. According to his former\npolicy, Lody had secured the passes of the mountains, and upon one\noccasion, rushing down upon Eradit, at the head of twelve thousand men,\nhe defeated him with great slaughter, and obliged him to retire out of\nthe province. This so exasperated Shah Jehan, that he suspended Eradit\nfrom the command, and put the army under that of his Vizier, whose\nreputation as a general considerably damped the ardour of the Nizam\u2019s\nforces. Lody still retained possession of the passes, from which every\neffort hitherto made to dislodge him had proved ineffectual.\n\nPrince Morad accompanied the Vizier. His love for the heroic daughter\nof the refractory Omrah had not abated. Her beauty had at first forged\na fetter round his heart, and her heroism riveted the chain.\n\nOne night, after a day of severe skirmishing with the enemy, Jahanira,\nwho always followed her father to the field, had quitted her tent to\nbreathe the fresh air of heaven. The night dews fell upon her burning\nbrow and cooled her brain, which ached with the concurring excitement\nof bodily exertion and mental anxiety.\n\nShe saw that the arm of destiny was raised to smite. She wept. Her\nfather\u2019s wrongs were not yet half avenged. That very day the Nizam had\nwithdrawn his forces, and abandoned his brave ally, with whom there\nremained only a few hundred followers, to contend with an army of\nabove eighty thousand men. The Nizam had submitted to the Vizier, and\nLody was left without a single friend. Jahanira perceiving that his\ndetermination to die in arms was shortly to be realised, resolved to go\nwith him to the peace of a less distracted world.\n\nAbsorbed in the intensity of these reflections, she had wandered beyond\nthe boundary of the camp. The night was still and balmy; fresh dews\ndescended from the hills, and moistened her blanched cheek, which was\nfanned by the passing breeze. The distant cries of jackals interrupted\nat intervals the repose of this solemn scene; and the lulling gush\nof a stream, which flowed through a neighbouring ravine, suited the\nmelancholy temper of her spirit at this hour of darkness and of\nsilence. She strolled onward thoughtfully. Raising her eyes to the side\nof a hill, where a narrow path diverged from the main road, she saw\na figure emerge from a clump of trees, and stand in complete relief\nagainst the sky. She drew her dagger, and, approaching cautiously,\ncried, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d at the same moment springing forward, and\nstanding with her drawn crease within a few yards of the intruder.\n\n\u201cJahanira!\u201d exclaimed a voice, which she instantly recognised to be\nthat of Morad.\n\n\u201cWhy this intrusion, prince? Are you come a spy upon our path? Can the\nfoe so fear to approach the bayed lion, that he is obliged to resort to\nstratagem? Locusts, prince, will desolate a country by the mere force\nof numbers: your armies may likewise overwhelm Chan Lody, but you will\nnot subdue him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI come not as a spy, lady,\u201d replied Morad earnestly, \u201cbut to renew my\nvows of eternal attachment to the noblest woman in the universe. If the\nlovely Jahanira will accept an alliance with the family of Timour, and\nbecome the wife of Morad, her father may be restored to his honours and\ninfluence in the state. All that is past will be forgotten.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, prince, what is past can never be forgotten. The death of Azmut,\nand the degradation of my parent, are scored with a fiery brand upon\nmy heart, and cannot be erased. I have seen my brother slain--I have\nseen my father wronged. In this world, but one object remains to me\nand mine--revenge! We are a doomed family, Prince Morad; we shall\nperish together. There is no alternative between that and yielding our\nallegiance to a tyrant. The latter we shall never do; the former must\nbe our destiny. We are prepared; but they who die desperately, with\nweapons in their hands, are to be dreaded. Let the oppressor tremble.\u201d\n\n\u201cJahanira! why should this be? I come to offer you freedom--to raise\nyou to a dignity which you were born to adorn.\u201d\n\n\u201cFreedom! Prince Morad? I have been free--I am free--I will be\nfree--and there is no dignity higher than being the daughter of Chan\nLody. Retire! this secret communication neither befits you to make,\nnor me to encourage. Why skulk under the cover of night to an enemy\u2019s\ntents? Leave me, or I shall be compelled to treat you as a foe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI came under the cover of night to avoid suspicion of treachery in the\nimperial camp. I have incurred some hazard, lady, in coming hither to\ndeclare myself, to release you and your family from certain death, and\nto offer you the heart of an Emperor\u2019s son.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhich I reject, prince; for however I might respect the son of a\ntyrant, I never could wed him. My resolve is immutable. To-morrow, in\nthe battle, remember that the daughter of Chan Lody has dared to reject\nthe son of Shah Jehan!\u201d\n\nMorad was in the act of speaking, when she turned from him, waved her\nhand with an air of haughty courtesy, and ascended the hill towards her\ntent. Upon reaching it, she threw herself on her couch, agitated by a\ntumult of conflicting feelings. Prince Morad\u2019s affection for her was\nnot to be thought of without emotion; she had rejected him--even with\nbitterness, yet he had twice saved her life; but every other feeling\nwas merged in her filial obligations.\n\n\u201cHe is the son of my parent\u2019s worst foe,\u201d she said mentally; \u201cI am\ntherefore bound to withhold all feelings towards him but those of\nenmity.\u201d\n\nMorad was deeply mortified at the issue of his adventure. He had run\nthe risk of incurring a base suspicion from his own party, and of\nbeing seized as a spy by the enemy, only to meet a cold and bitter\nrepulse. He could not, however, withhold his admiration from the woman\nwhose affections he sought to win, though she had met his advances\nwith uniform haughtiness. He saw that hers was, in truth, as she had\ncharacterized it, a doomed family, and it grieved him that he could not\nrescue them from destruction.\n\nChan Lody\u2019s followers were reduced to a mere troop; and, however strong\nhis position, it was evident that he must eventually yield to such an\nimmense majority of numbers. Morad dreaded the approaching onslaught.\nBy daybreak the pass was to be stormed by the imperial army, and there\ncould be no doubt of the issue. He would have laid down his life to\nrescue Jahanira from the impending doom, but this could not be.\n\nDay dawned: the pass was attacked, and the imperialists were repulsed\nwith great slaughter. Jahanira appeared among the combatants, fighting\nwith a hero\u2019s energy. The pass was again attacked; repulse followed\nas before, with immense loss on the side of the assailants. Lody\u2019s\nsmall band, however, was diminished by every fresh attack, and he was\nat length obliged to abandon the pass, with only a few followers.\nDescending into the plain on the other side of the mountain, he\nresolved there to await the coming of the foe, and fulfil his\nresolution of dying in arms. He was not allowed long to pause after he\nhad quitted the hills. The imperial troops appeared in sight, and he\nprepared himself for the sacrifice.\n\nSummoning his brave adherents, now amounting only to thirty-two, in\nwhich number was included his son Hussein and his daughter Jahanira, he\naddressed them with much earnestness, suggesting that they would seek\ntheir own safety in flight, and leave him to die alone by the hand of\nan implacable enemy. When he had concluded his pathetic address, there\nwas a general murmur of sorrow. Not a man would stir. All expressed\ntheir determination to die in arms with their beloved leader. \u201cThen be\nit so,\u201d said Lody; \u201cour enemies shall still find that a few valiant men\nare formidable even to the last, and their destruction a dear-bought\ntriumph.\u201d\n\nThe imperialists advanced in a large body towards the devoted band, who\nsuffered them to approach within a hundred paces, when they discharged\ntheir matchlocks, which, being directed with deadly aim, did signal\nexecution. The moment after the discharge, veiled for a moment by the\nsmoke, Jahanira spurred her horse towards the advancing host. As she\nrode, she fixed an arrow in the string of her bow, and discharged it\nat the officer who led the detachment. It struck upon a small conical\nbuckler with which he was armed, and the reed quivered as the head\nof the shaft pierced the tough buffalo hide that covered it. At this\nmoment a ball from a matchlock entered the heroine\u2019s breast. She fell\nfrom her horse. The blood trickled from the wound. Morad rushed forward\nto raise her. She opened her languid eyes as he lifted her to his knee,\nfixed them on him with a look of stern despair, heaved a deep-felt\nsigh, and fell upon his shoulder--dead.\n\nChan Lody saw what passed. He gave the word to advance. His followers\nspurred their horses onward, and in a few moments came in contact with\ntheir foes. The onset was short but desperate. Hussein was struck to\nthe earth by a stroke from Morad\u2019s sword, who felt no tender mercy for\nthe brother of her whom he would have saved at the sacrifice of his own\nlife. Her death had roused the fiercer energies of his spirit. Hussein\nfell beneath his arm.\n\nThe valour of Chan Lody\u2019s followers astonished their enemies. They\nscattered death and dismay around them. Chan Lody slew no less than six\nofficers with his own hand. He was at length disabled by a sabre-cut\non the shoulder; he dropped his sword, and was instantly surrounded\nand slain. He died with his eyes fixed upon the broad heavens--a smile\nwas on his lips--the left arm grasped a dagger. His adherents fought\nto the last man--not one survived; but the victors purchased a dear\nvictory--the death of Chan Lody was signally avenged.\n\n\n\n\n                          HISTORICAL SUMMARY.\n\n\nHeg. 1068 (A. D. 1658).--Aurungzebe ascended the imperial throne of the\nMoguls. He was alarmed by the approach of his nephew, Soliman Sheko,\nwho was finally deserted by his army, and obliged to take refuge in\nSerinagur. Soliman despatched a messenger to his father Dara, with the\nnews of his ill-fortune. Dara, distressed at his son\u2019s misfortunes and\nhis own, retreated from the banks of the Suttulege, on which he was\nencamped, and shortly after retired to Lahore, whence he was obliged\nto fly before the imperial army. Several of his nobles, perceiving his\ndesperate circumstances, submitted to Aurungzebe. The Vizier, Meer\nJumla, having arrived at court, Aurungzebe marched to Moultan; but\nfinding his presence necessary in the capital, immediately returned to\nprepare against the invasion of his brother Suja.\n\nHeg. 1069 (1659).--Suja approached with a considerable army, but was\nmet near Allahabad by the Emperor. In consequence of the treachery of\nJesswint Singh, Suja was defeated with great slaughter; and taking\nflight, was pursued by the Emperor\u2019s son Mahomed, who followed him to\nPatna, whither he had fled in disguise. Upon the news of Suja\u2019s defeat,\nDara retired to Bicker beyond the Indus. Having changed his course to\nTatta, he crossed the desert, and after reaching Guzarat, gained over\nthe governor to his interests. He here contrived to raise an army,\nand marched towards Agra; but was deceived by Jesswint Singh, who had\npromised to join him with a numerous body of forces, but treacherously\ndeserted Dara, and joined Aurungzebe. Dara fortified himself in Ajmere.\nHither the Emperor marched and offered him battle, and deceived his\nunfortunate brother by a stratagem; after which he routed his army,\nand reduced him to the most pitiable distress. Dara fled to the desert\naccompanied by his wife, who died under circumstances of dreadful\nprivation on the march. The unhappy prince in his extremity sought\nthe protection of Jihon Chan, an Omrah of great power, whose life\nhad been twice saved during the sovereignty of Shah Jehan through\nthe influence of Dara; Jihon delivered him into the hands of the\nconqueror; he was paraded with every mark of ignominy through Delhi,\nconfined in a neighbouring village, and eventually put to death by\norder of Aurungzebe. Suja took the field after the death of his brother\nDara, and was joined by the Emperor\u2019s son, Mahomed, who had conceived\na passion for one of his daughters. Suja was finally defeated by\nthe Vizier Jumla, and the prince Mahomed detached from him by the\nartifices of his father, who ordered the unfortunate Suja to be seized\nand imprisoned.\n\nHeg. 1070 (1660).--Suja was obliged to take refuge in Arracan, where he\nwas murdered, and his family reduced to the greatest extremity.\n\nHeg. 1071 (1661).--Soliman, the son of Dara, was seized through the\nartifices of Aurungzebe, and sent to Delhi. He was imprisoned in the\nfortress of Gualior, and, like his unfortunate father, shortly after\nmurdered. During this year a dreadful famine raged throughout the\nempire.\n\nHeg. 1072 (1662).--The imperial general, Shaista Chan, took one of\nSevajee\u2019s hill-forts by flying a kite which concealed a blind match\nover the fort just at the moment the garrison were taking powder from\nthe magazine. The kite was allowed to drop upon the powder, which was\nkindled by the match, and an explosion took place; the greater part of\nthe fort was thrown down, and nearly the whole garrison buried in the\nruins.\n\nHeg. 1073 (1663).--An attempt was made by the Marajah to assassinate\nShaista Chan, who escaped with the loss of three fingers; but his son\nwas slain.\n\nHeg. 1074 (1664).--Aurungzebe fell sick, and his son Shah Allum\nbegan to intrigue for the throne; but his efforts were foiled by the\nEmperor\u2019s unexpected recovery. Shah Allum was appointed to a command in\nthe Deccan, in order to remove him from the capital.\n\nHeg. 1075 (1665).--A dangerous insurrection broke out in Guzarat, and\nwas quelled with difficulty. This year was distinguished by the death\nof Jumla, who had been appointed to the government of Bengal. Jumla\nwas a man of great talent, having risen from a very low station to the\nhighest offices in the state. He was much esteemed by Aurungzebe for\nhis abilities, but still more dreaded than esteemed. During this year\nalso there was an insurrection of Fakeers, who, under the influence\nof a very wealthy old woman, committed dreadful ravages, and marched\nto the number of twenty thousand towards the capital. Their march\nwas marked by the most horrible cruelties. They totally defeated the\nimperial troops commanded by the collector of the revenue. At length\nthe Emperor subdued them with their own weapons: employing the juggles\nof pretended enchantment, the insurrection was quelled, but not until\nalmost every one of the enthusiasts had been slain.\n\nHeg. 1076 (1666).--This year was remarkable for the death of Shah\nJehan, and the capture of Sevajee, chief of the Mahrattas, who from\nthe seventeenth year of his age had been pursuing a career of success\nalmost unparalleled in the history of potentates. From commanding a\nsmall band of mountain robbers, he had raised himself to be the leader\nof a formidable army, with which he awed the surrounding provinces.\nHe was at length taken prisoner by the imperial general, and confined\nat Delhi, whence he contrived to escape disguised in the dress of\na man who had been admitted into his apartment with a basket of\nflowers. After enduring unparalleled hardships, he reached his native\nmountains, where he was crowned sovereign of the Mahrattas, who from\nthat period gradually increased in political importance, till they\nbecame the most numerous and influential of the native powers in India.\nThey produced several distinguished warriors, among whom the names\nof Scindia and Holcar will be remembered so long as history has its\nrecords, and man the capacity to peruse them.\n\n\n\n\n                      The Revolt of the Fakeers.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nAbout noon, under the scorching beams of a tropical sun, a young\nMussulman was on his way towards the Mewat hills, accompanied by a\nparty of fakeers. His hands were bound behind him with his turban, and\nhe had nothing on his head but a silk skull-cap to resist the intense\nrays which shot from the cloudless heavens in an uninterrupted stream\nof glowing light. His black hair, which was long and bushy, fell over\nhis shoulders and temples; thus supplying a natural protection against\nthe influence of the solar fires, which were almost insupportable. He\nwas urged onward by his companions at a rate which the excessive heat\nrendered extremely distressing, though to them it appeared mere matter\nof pastime. Accustomed as they were to undergo the severest bodily\ninflictions, what to him was positive torture was to them a relaxation\nfrom it.\n\nEvery one of his companions was perfectly naked, and each bore the\nmarks of having submitted to the torturing process of some dreadful\npenance. Their limbs were sunken and fleshless, the skin shrivelled and\ndiscoloured by the severity of those torments to which their bodies\nhad been exposed. Their nails protruded and curved into a point over\nthe fingers and toes, like the claws of a beast of prey. Their hair,\nmatted with the filthy accumulations of years, hung over the backs of\nthese Mahomedan Nazarites, like the locks from a Medusa\u2019s head, and was\nfrequently so thick as to shroud them in a capillary veil, revolting\nto more than one sense, and agreeable to none. They were armed with\nhuge clubs, the heads of which were charged with iron. These they used\nwith considerable dexterity, being in the habit of employing them in\nthe jungles for the purpose of destroying small game, upon which they\nfrequently feasted with a gluttonous zest that would have shamed even\nthe Roman Apicius.\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said one, eyeing their prisoner with a look of Satanic triumph,\n\u201cnaked men know how to fight. Devotion is their shield, which all the\noutcasts from Paradise shall never be able to pierce.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am in your power,\u201d replied the captive; \u201cbut beware how you\nexercise your momentary ascendancy. Your foul revolt will not escape\nits due punishment: in spite of your devotion you will suffer the\npenalty--torture me for a false prophet else. Success has turned your\nbrains. The war waged by enthusiasm is like a sudden burst of the\ntempest, which crushes the oak in its impetuous sweep, but quickly\npasses away; the surrounding plain springs out into renewed luxuriance\nand beauty, and thus smiles at the impotence of the hurricane.\u201d\n\n\u201cHold, blasphemer!\u201d cried a huge gaunt devotee, the bones of whose\njoints were heard to clatter as he wielded his fleshless arms with the\nmost extravagant gesticulations; \u201cbend the knee to those holy men who\nhave defeated the sons of darkness, and are about to place upon the\nthrone of the Moguls a queen who shall close the dynasty of Timour,\nand fill the world with the children of the faithful,--for you are all\naliens from the true stock.\u201d\n\nThe prisoner turned from this filthy saint with an expression of\ndisgust, and allowed him to rail at the Emperor and all his faithful\nsubjects till he foamed like a gored bull with the frantic energy of\nhis vociferations.\n\nThey now entered upon a scene of desolation not to be witnessed\nwithout deep emotion, which naturally follows wherever the melancholy\nconsciousness arises that a vast addition has been made to the sum\nof human misery. For leagues, as they proceeded onward, nothing was\nto be seen but deserted villages; the whole country having been laid\nwaste, and bearing the appearance of \u201ca land not inhabited.\u201d The\njungles had been fired; and for miles the ashes left by the devouring\nelement, and the charred trunks of trees, which had for centuries\nlifted their sturdy limbs amid the feebler growth of the forest, showed\nhow terrific had been the conflagration. Not a shrub, not a blade of\ngrass, not a single trace of vegetation, was anywhere visible; and as\nthe stranger cast his eyes over the scene of devastation, he could not\nhelp expressing his indignation against the perpetrators of such wanton\noutrage.\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said one of the enthusiasts; \u201cwe take care not to provide forage\nfor enemies; they who visit the stronghold of the fakeers, must make\nup their minds to take a hungry journey. If ever you live to see your\nfriends, you will have strange news to tell them, believe me. When\nholy men seize the sword, and fight in carnal battles, no mortal arm\ncan resist them. We have taught your sovereign what it is to oppose\nHeaven\u2019s vicegerents. He is already tottering on his throne. You shall\nsee and know more anon.\u201d\n\nThe ogre-like being who spoke had taken so much opium during the\njourney thus far, as to have reached that pitch of excitement to which,\nwhen a fakeer arrives, he can submit to bodily tortures altogether\nincredible. His eyes glared with the glassy radiance of incipient\nmadness. Though the heat was intolerable, and the earth steamed with\nthe intensity of the sun\u2019s rays, like exhalations from a caldron, he\nleaped about, and threw himself into a thousand contortions, until his\nbody was covered with a tawny scum from the severity of his exercise.\nAfter he had fatigued himself by these violent antics, he took a\nnumber of large needles, and having passed them through the flesh in\nseveral parts of his body, threaded them with silks of various colours,\nand then strutted before the party with the pride and bearing of one\nconscious of having performed an act for which he should receive the\nhomage of his companions, who treated him with a reverence evidently\nvery flattering to the spiritual vanity of this mad visionary.\nHaving at length relieved himself from the needles, he drew the\nsilken strings through the wounds, and then attaching to each a small\npointed instrument, exceedingly sharp, turned himself round until the\nrotation became so violent that the outline of his figure was scarcely\ndistinguishable. When he ceased, his body was covered with gashes and\nreeking with blood.\n\nAfter six hours of continued travelling, with scarcely a pause, the\nparty arrived at the foot of a small hill, which had evidently been\nspared from the devastation that exhibited so sad a prospect in the\nsurrounding country. The prisoner, though overcome by the excessive\nfatigue of so arduous a journey, was not allowed to pause, but\ncompelled to proceed up the ascent. About midway a considerable ruin\nwas disclosed, upon which the last rays of the sun slanted, as it\nwas sinking behind the low hills that skirted the distant plain. The\nentrance was lofty, and encumbered with fragments of pillars, which\ntime or violence had thrown down. Within was an extensive area; on\nevery side of it were gigantic sculptures, representing the history of\nsome Hindoo superstition, which had been greatly mutilated by the zeal\nof pious Mahomedans. This building was a dilapidated choultry, and had\nbeen converted into the vestibule of the abode of an old crone, bending\nbeneath the weight of years, and mistress of inexhaustible treasures.\n\nIn this hall, Bistamia, which was the hag\u2019s name, was engaged in\npreparing the evening meal for her beggarly dependants--a thing she\ninvariably did with her own hands. During the culinary process she\nappeared to mutter certain incantations over the smoking viands, which\nconsisted of the most revolting ingredients.\n\nWhen the stranger was brought before her, she eyed him with that\nhaggard, feeble scowl peculiar to wicked old age, in which is exhibited\nthe will, but not the power, of the demon. Her deformed and decrepit\nbody was bare to the waist, and presented a loathsome image of living\nmortality.\n\nWhat an antidote to the vanity of youth and the pride of beauty! Her\nwhite locks streamed over her brown, withered shoulders, exhibiting\none of those repelling contrasts which the eye cannot gaze upon without\ninstinctively closing. Her skin hung from her like the dewlap of a\nsacred bull, but flaccid and bloodless, as if the principle of life\nwere withdrawn from it. The nails of her fingers had grown into claws,\nand seemed as if they could distil poison, like those of the Egyptian\nlizard.[40]\n\n  \u201cHer eyes with scalding rheum were galled and red,\u201d\n\nand her whole appearance seemed to speak \u201cvariety of wretchedness.\u201d She\napproached the stranger, eyed him with a look of intense malice, and\nsaid--\n\n\u201cWho are you, son of a dog? How came you within these walls?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d replied the stranger, \u201can officer of the imperial army, who,\nupon the issue of an unsuccessful encounter with your insurgent\nfanatics, have fallen into their hands. How I came within these walls,\nthey will best explain to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHah! an enemy! You shall soon learn how we treat enemies when they\nprofane our sanctuary. Would you save your life!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no desire to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, the burden of every coward\u2019s song. Fall down, then, at our feet,\nand hail us Queen of the Moguls.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Moguls were never ruled by women.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you so? We shall see. Bind him to yonder statue.\u201d\n\nHer order was speedily executed, and the hag began to prepare the\nlast dish of the evening\u2019s refection. This was a medley, fit only\nfor the stomachs of ghoules or devils. It happened to be a certain\nday of the moon, and on this day the same mixture was always placed\nbefore her retainers. The first thing she ordered to be brought, when\nabout to make her infernal stew, was the trunk of a human body, which\nhad been conveyed for this very purpose from the scene of slaughter.\nShe deliberately cut large pieces from the fleshy parts; these she\ndivided into small squares, with slow, calculating precision, and\nthen placed them severally in a human skull that stood beside her.\nHaving covered them with a layer of herbs that had been gathered under\ncertain influences of the moon, she took from a covered basket a hooded\nsnake, from the jaws of which the poisonous fangs had been previously\nextracted, and placed it alive in the skull. To this she added the\nlegs of a frog, the tail of a lizard, the head of a bat, and the claws\nof an owl. Having placed the skull, with its contents, in a capacious\nearthen vessel, in which there was a sufficient quantity of water to\ncomplete the dressing, she put it upon the fire, and watched it with\neager anxiety, muttering to herself a sort of mystical chant during the\nentire period of the cooking. The smoke ascended in volumes from the\nflame over which this disgusting mess was hanging, and soon filled the\nwhole chamber with a thick and suffocating cloud.\n\nThe mode of hanging the earthenware vessel over the blaze was as\nremarkable as any part of the singular process. Two fakeers stood on\neither side of the fire, an iron bar resting upon the shoulders of\neach, from which the mysterious stew was suspended above the flame.\n\nWhen sufficiently dressed, the skull was taken from the earthenware\nreceptacle; its contents were put upon square pieces of plantain leaf,\nand the portions placed before each fakeer present, who devoured them\nwith a greediness that made the prisoner\u2019s heart leap up to his throat.\n\nThe idea of those wretched enthusiasts was, that this abominable meal\nwould have the surprising effect not only of rendering them fearless in\nthe day of battle, but of inspiring their enemies with such terror that\nthey would not dare to approach them; that, moreover, it would cause\nthem to become invisible when engaged with their foes, who would thus\nfall an easy prey to persons so supernaturally endowed.\n\nA portion of a mess which had been previously prepared was offered to\nthe prisoner; but he rejected it with disgust, and partook only of\nsome plain boiled rice, which somewhat refreshed him after so long and\ntoilsome a journey.\n\nWhen they had concluded their evening\u2019s repast, Bistamia retired from\nthe scene of this extraordinary carousal, and the fakeers, flinging\nthemselves upon the bare ground, without the slightest covering, were\nsoon hushed in profound repose. The opium, in which they had indulged\nto excess, rendered their sleep so heavy that it seemed like the deep\nslumber of death. The flames, by which the chamber had been illumined,\nsubsided by degrees, and the gloom of silence and darkness gradually\nsucceeded.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[40] The Gecco.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe Mogul was left chained to one of the statues on the side-wall, when\nthe fakeers betook themselves to their night\u2019s repose: the chain by\nwhich he was fastened only enabled him to seat himself upon the floor.\nHe could not lay his body at full length, and was therefore obliged\nto lean his back against the figure to which he was attached. In that\nposition he tried for some time to sleep, but without effect; feverish\nand distracting thoughts obtruded. His reflections were of the most\nmelancholy character. He was surrounded by a body of enthusiasts, into\nwhose power he had fallen, and who would very probably doom him to\nsome cruel death, by way of celebrating the orgies of their sanguinary\nsuperstition. Fanatics are the worst of tyrants; who, alas! too often\ndo the work of the devil, whilst they fancy themselves working in the\nservice of their God. In proportion as the infatuation takes possession\nof their minds, they become cruel towards all such as they imagine\nseceders from the worship of that deity of whom they claim to be\nvicegerents, and see no virtue but in those who, like themselves, have\nbeen inoculated with the rabies of spiritual enthusiasm. In every age\nof the world, in every country, and among all communities, that sort of\nenthusiasm which claims exclusive spiritual endowment, and pretends to\nsupernatural communications, is the greatest bane against which pure\nReligion has ever had to contend. It invests her in a factitious garb\nthat conceals while it arrays her. False zeal has driven more from the\ntrue fold than have fallen victims to the slaughter of war, the inroads\nof pestilence, or the devastations of famine. No one is driven into the\npaths of peace, or scourged into the embrace of virtue. All men are won\nto good by its own sweet suggestions, by gentle implorations, by the\nlight and fragrant blessings which it offers to those who properly seek\nto possess them; not by those terrible denunciations which scare the\ntimid, offend the proud, and provoke the contempt of the reckless.\n\nThe prisoner was pursuing these reflections with a melancholy sense of\nhis present condition. He gazed round the apartment to see if he might\nencourage any hopes of escape. The embers yet glowing upon the stone\nfloor, threw a sickly light around, which only rendered the remote\ngloom of the chamber still more murky. The fakeers, who were stretched\nat length near the smouldering fire, looked like so many semi-monsters\nunder the power of enchantment. Their hard breathing, the only symptom\nof life which they exhibited, sufficiently indicated the intensity\nof their slumber, that seemed to have been rendered more profound by\nthe horrible meal of which they had partaken just before they gave\nthemselves up to the enjoyments of \u201cnature\u2019s sweet restorer.\u201d\n\nThe prisoner, closing his eyes, tried to conjure up images before the\nspeculum of his mind more agreeable than those realities upon which it\nwas an agony to gaze;--finally overcome by bodily fatigue and mental\nexhaustion, he fell into an unquiet sleep.\n\nHis slumber was at length disturbed by the pressure of a gentle grasp\nupon his arm. He opened his eyes and perceived that there was an object\nstanding between him and the light, which had already begun to dispel\nthe gloom of the capacious apartment in which he lay. Unable to guess\nwhat such a visit could portend, he remained motionless, though not\nentirely without some painful apprehensions of mischief. After an\ninterval of a few moments, the hand was removed from his arm and placed\nupon his brow. The tender pressure, the smoothness of the palm, the\nfeminine texture and delicate movement of the fingers, convinced him\nin an instant that it was the hand of woman, but not of her whom he had\nlooked upon the previous evening with a loathing so absolute that his\nvery blood curdled, and whose fingers would have rather pressed upon\nhis forehead like the hard-pointed talons of a harpy, than with the\nsoft and thrilling impress of an angel\u2019s touch.\n\nThat touch made every nerve thrill with emotion. The stranger leaned\nover him as if to hear from his breathing whether he slept profoundly\nor not. Her breath was as the air of Paradise. He could not be\nmistaken. There was an inexplicable but infallible sympathy which\nassured him,--with that mysterious power of conviction communicated how\nwe know not, but still more powerful than any arising from positive\ntestimony,--that the being before him was something far above the\nordinary level of human nature. He listened instinctively to catch the\nmusic of her voice; his breath was for the moment suspended lest the\nleast sound from her lips should escape his ear. He was in a waking\ntrance, the more delicious from its succeeding to reflections which had\nso painfully harassed him.\n\n\u201cStranger!\u201d at length said a soft voice in a tone that seemed to come\nfrom the throat of a Peri.\n\n\u201cWho is it that calls me?\u201d asked the prisoner, in a scarcely audible\nwhisper.\n\n\u201cOne who has compassion upon your condition, and would give you the\nmeans of freedom if you are disposed to embrace them.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we not be overheard by those holy sleepers who are lying round\nyonder embers?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; they are lapped in too profound a slumber to be easily roused.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo whom do I address myself?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the granddaughter of Bistamia, who would escape with you the most\nodious of all slaveries. You will, no doubt, be surprised that I speak\nthus freely to a stranger, but mine is a desperate position, and I\nseek its alleviation under any circumstances. To-morrow, when the\nfakeers shall have quitted these walls, which they will do to engage\nthe Emperor\u2019s troops, I may see you again. I have sought you now to\napprise you that a friend is at hand, bent upon your release. To-morrow\nwe meet--farewell!\u201d And her a\u00ebrial figure glided through the gloom,\nwithout leaving the faintest echo of her footsteps, like a bright\nmist in a summer eve over the surface of a calm lake, upon which the\nmountains have projected their gigantic shadows.\n\nShortly after the morning had cast its fresh light into the gloomy hall\nthe fakeers awoke, and rising from their hard bed, each with a sudden\nmotion of the different limbs, caused the joints to snap with a sound\nlike the cracking of nuts in rapid succession; after which they seated\nthemselves, crossed their legs, and began to smoke, passing the tube\nfrom mouth to mouth, every one inhaling the luxurious narcotic from the\nsame instrument. After a while Bistamia entered.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said she, \u201c\u2019tis time you were on your way. The Emperor\u2019s troops\nwere encamped last night beyond the country over which we have passed\nwith the scourge of our power. They will be on their march by this\ntime. You must all fight, and wrap the souls of your foes in the black\nveil of terror. Who undergoes the penance this morning?\u201d\n\nWithout uttering a word, one of the fakeers who had accompanied the\nMogul on the day of his capture, and rendered himself conspicuous by\npassing needles through his flesh, rose from his recumbent position,\nand, with an expression of callous indifference, advanced towards the\nspot where the flame had brightly blazed on the preceding evening.\nRubbing two smooth pieces of a black-grained wood rapidly together, he\nkindled a tuft of dry grass on which some brushwood had been placed,\nand upon this several dry logs. A strong fire was soon burning, into\nwhich the devotee placed a long cylindrical rod of iron. In the course\nof a few moments it became red hot. When in this state he placed\nthe point of the rod against his cheek, and deliberately pressed it\nuntil it had passed through his tongue, and was visible on the other\nside. It was then bent down on either cheek, towards the shoulder,\nforming three sides of a square, to prevent the possibility of its\nbeing withdrawn. The stern composure of his countenance did not relax\na single instant during the revolting infliction. His companions\nlooked upon him with fatuitous admiration, making him the most solemn\nobeisance after the odious penance had been concluded.\n\nThe man next deliberately opened the wounds which he had made on the\nprevious day, and passed different coloured strings through them. Thus\nadorned, he declared himself ready to go forth in his own invincible\nmight, and crush the enemies of his venerable patron. Bistamia placed\na golden boon within his half-closed hand, upon which he grinned as\nwell as his locked jaws would permit, and was about to quit the place\naccompanied by his companions, when the hag said with a savage laugh:\n\u201cOn your return you shall enjoy a rare pastime with yonder son of\na scurvy dog: I will reserve him for your merriment. A little easy\nblood-spilling without labour will be a relaxation, after the fatigue\nof making carrion in the gross. Go and prosper--slay and spare not!\u201d\nThey made their salaam, departed, and the prisoner was once more left\nto his own solitary reflections.\n\nAbout noon, his visitor of the night approached him. As she advanced,\nthe lightness of her step, and the buoyant elasticity of every motion\nof her frame, proclaimed the beauty which he had already anticipated.\nIn a few moments, a lovely girl, in the very birth and freshness of\nwomanhood, stood before him. She was young and beautiful as the morning\nstars when they sang together at the birth of creation. Her breath\nseemed impregnated with spicy perfume wafted on gentlest airs from the\nshores of Arabia the Happy. It invested her in an atmosphere of its own.\n\nHer eyes were dark--of the deepest hue, but brilliant as gems, and soft\nas the soul of which they were eloquent interpreters. Her hair was\nraised in a cone on the top of her head, and confined by a long silver\npin, giving increased altitude to her majestic figure, and exposing the\nwhole of her finely-arched forehead to the rapturous gaze of the Mogul.\n\n\u201cI would not have escaped this captivity for worlds!\u201d he cried, as she\nstood beside him in the plenitude of her almost unearthly beauty.\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d she replied, \u201chave you the courage to bear me from the\nhouse of bondage, if I free you from your chains?\u201d\n\n\u201cTry me; and if I fail to realise your wishes, cast me back again to\nmy prison, and gall my limbs with the fetters from which I should no\nlonger deserve to be free.\u201d\n\nShe bent over him, and released his hands from the manacles that\nconfined them, and he stood before her disencumbered of his bonds.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d cried the beautiful girl, \u201cwhile I unfold to you the\nmiserable position in which I stand. My grandmother has given me as a\nconcubine to the fakeer who this morning underwent the penance which\nyou witnessed. On his return from the battle he will claim me. I need\nscarcely tell you that I entertain towards him a disgust so intrinsical\nand unconquerable, that I am determined to die by my own hands rather\nthan become the instrument of that man\u2019s pleasures. Upon you my hopes\nare fixed to release me from this horrible alternative. To-night, when\nthe fakeers shall be hushed in sleep after their debauch, in which they\nare sure to indulge, we may fly from these detested walls. Meanwhile,\nyou must resume your chains. You will now have the power of casting\nthem off when you please. At midnight I will again visit you, prepared\nto fly with you from the most odious persecution to that freedom which\nI shall rely upon your honour for securing to me.\u201d\n\nThe sound of footsteps induced her to depart; and Bistamia entered,\nfollowed by several fakeers, who announced another defeat of the\nimperial troops by the naked army of an old woman.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis well,\u201d she cried; \u201cto-morrow I shall place myself at the head of\nmy brave followers for a final victory, and the imperial sceptre shall\nshortly be swayed by a wiser head than ever surmounted the shoulders of\nan Emperor.\u201d\n\nIn the course of that evening, the abode of Bistamia was filled with\nher victorious enthusiasts, who encouraged her absurd pretensions to\nthe Mogul throne.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nAt midnight the granddaughter of Bistamia entered the dreary vestibule,\nand approaching the prisoner, he immediately released himself from his\nbonds. Several fakeers were sleeping in a distant part of the chamber,\nand among them the fanatic who had passed the red-hot iron through his\ncheek. The captive had scarcely cast aside his chains, when the fakeer\nstarted to his feet, and rushed forward like a demon. His appearance\nwas beyond description hideous. The wound in his tongue, in which the\niron rod was still fixed, prevented him from articulating; thus his\nefforts to speak were followed by unintelligible sounds, so discordant,\nthat they seemed to come from the throat of some monstrous wild beast\nyet unknown to man. His eyes flashed with the lurid glow of a live\ncoal, dimmed by the cold air, and the fires of which are fast fading.\nSome half-consumed logs still burnt upon the floor, where they had\nbeen kindled to prepare the evening\u2019s meal as before, and afforded\nsufficient light to show the ferocious aspect of this truculent\nvisionary. He seized the trembling girl in his arms, for this was the\nmonster to whose embraces she was to be devoted by her grandmother,\nand was about to bear her off, when the Mogul raised his chain, and,\nhitting him with all his force upon the temple, struck him to the\nearth. The wretched man gave a horrible howl as he fell; this was\naccompanied with a smothered groan, and all was still. The floor was\nalmost instantly covered with his blood. The temporal artery had been\ndivided with the force of the blow, and he lay dead before his intended\nvictims.\n\nThe other fakeers had by this time advanced and seized the prisoner,\nwho prostrated two of the fanatics with his chain before they could\nsucceed in binding him. Bistamia was summoned. When she saw her\nfavourite dead, she shrieked like a maniac, and staggering towards her\ngranddaughter, laid her skinny fingers upon the latter\u2019s shoulders, and\nlooking into her eyes as if she would work a demon\u2019s spell upon her,\ncursed her with a loud and bitter imprecation.\n\n\u201cThou shalt die before to-morrow\u2019s sun goes to his rest, and thy\naccomplice with thee. The expiring groans of both shall swell the song\nof to-morrow\u2019s triumph. Chain them to yonder wall.\u201d\n\nThis order was instantly obeyed; they were each chained to a figure\nin recesses of the wall, about twelve feet apart. They could just see\neach other. A guard of fakeers was placed over them. They were not\nallowed to converse. Those ferocious bigots took delight in dwelling\nupon the horrible tortures to which the Mogul was to be exposed, by way\nof signalising their contemplated victory on the morrow. They felt a\nsavage joy in exciting their prisoner\u2019s terrors; and the tears of the\nbeautiful girl, who had become the companion of his captivity, only\nexcited their stony hearts to fresh insults.\n\nNext morning, just as Bistamia was prepared to quit the vestibule for\nthe purpose of heading her army of fanatics, a messenger entered,\ninforming her that the Emperor had employed magical incantations, in\norder to secure her defeat.\n\nShe was startled at this intelligence: Aurungzebe\u2019s known sanctity led\nher to fear that a spiritual warfare pursued by him would be likely to\nturn the tide of success against her.\n\n\u201cWhat are the methods of the enemy\u2019s sorcery?\u201d asked the hag.\n\n\u201cHe has delivered to each soldier in his army a small billet, written\nwith his own hand, and, as it is supposed, with his own blood,\ncontaining magical incantations. He has moreover ordered similar\nbillets to be carried upon the point of a spear before each squadron,\nwhich the soldiers are persuaded will counteract the enchantments of\ntheir enemies; so that they are advancing with a degree of enthusiasm\nwhich I fear will be irresistible.\u201d\n\nBistamia was perplexed, for she had sagacity enough to perceive that\nthe same credulity which had induced Aurungzebe\u2019s troops to believe\nin the witchcraft of an old woman, would give them at least equal\nconfidence in the pretended charm of their Emperor.\n\n\u201cWell, should they drive us to the foot of this mountain, the\nstronghold behind will defy them: a few resolute spirits may defend the\nhill from a host; and success has given courage to the army of the\nfakeers. They will protect their potentate to the last drop of their\nblood.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where is our leader?\u201d\n\n\u201cDead.\u201d\n\n\u201cA bad omen of success!\u201d\n\n\u201cWill not the presence of Bistamia inspirit the naked armies of\nParadise, for thither they are on their way through a pilgrimage of\nwarfare, to crush the outcasts? We shall teach them yet a terrible\nlesson. Come--to the field, and mind\u201d--turning to the fakeers who had\ncharge of the captives--\u201cyou look with a vigilant eye upon those doomed\noffenders who shall expiate their crimes with their blood. This night\ntheir death-pangs shall record our triumph.\u201d\n\nDashing her long pale locks from her withered forehead, she seized a\ndagger and staggered from the spot.\n\nShe had some reason for the confidence she expressed in the strength of\nthe place selected for her abode. The hill was steep, and accessible\nonly by a single path. By rolling down huge stones upon the heads of\na besieging force, a few resolute men might defend the ascent against\nmultitudes. This had been already done with fatal success. Beyond the\nvestibule, in which the two prisoners were confined, was an extensive\nrange of apartments, hollowed out of the living rock. The entrance was\nfrom the ruin, through a long passage only fifteen inches wide and\nthirty feet in length, cut through the solid stone, and protected by a\nsort of massive iron portcullis, which was let down about the centre,\nand raised or lowered by means of heavy chains. The dimensions of the\nexcavations beyond were prodigious; there being cavern after cavern,\nin which were deposited immense treasures of various descriptions, but\nhow realised has remained a mystery, though considered to have been the\nproduce of sorcery.\n\nThe neighbourhood of this spot was shunned as an enchanted region; and\nthe desolation spread by the inexorable Bistamia around her dwelling,\nonly tended to increase the superstitious horror with which she was\nuniversally regarded.\n\nThe Mogul\u2019s situation was now far more distressing than it had been\nsince his captivity among the fakeers. He could not behold his lovely\ncompanion suffering on his account without the keenest emotions. But\nfor him she would be at that moment free; and yet the bitterness of\nthese reflections was, in some measure, qualified by the knowledge\nthat her liberty was worse than bondage, exposed as she had been to\nthe loathsome advances of a man whom she could not look upon without\nabhorrence, and to whose detestable passions her innocence might have\nbeen eventually sacrificed. He felt, therefore, some consolation, amid\nthe harassing thoughts which poured like a turbid flood upon his mind.\nHe was forbidden to hold any conversation with his fellow-captive;\nso that, although they could see each other\u2019s misery, they were not\nallowed the sad consolation of reciprocating their thoughts. The moment\nhe made an effort of this kind, one of his naked guards stood before\nhim, and drowned his voice with horrible imprecations.\n\nFour of these wretches were left as a guard over him and the partner\nof his captivity. They indulged in that loose freedom of conversation\npeculiar to the lowest and most depraved natures. Seated upon the bare\nstones of the apartment they smoked and chewed bhang[41] until they\nwere nearly stupified. One of them then brought a leathern bottle\nfull of arrack, from a hole underneath one of the pillars; and this\nstrong spirit they continued to drink until they were all in a state\nof disgusting intoxication. They then danced before their prisoners,\nraving like maniacs, and flourishing their clubs over their heads with\nterrifying violence. Fatigued at length with these exertions, they\nthrew themselves prostrate, and were soon in a swinish sleep.\n\nThe dead body of the fakeer still lay where it had fallen when the soul\nquitted its deformed tabernacle for a brighter or a darker destiny.\nThe odours which exhaled from it were becoming extremely offensive;\nand the prospect of soon breathing an atmosphere teeming with the\nfoul particles of corruption, was anything but a promising subject of\ncontemplation to the wretched captives.\n\nThe thoughts of escape now took entire possession of the Mogul\u2019s mind.\nHis guards were powerless, and he began to try the strength of his\nchains. He was fastened to the leg of a gigantic figure which stood in\na niche, and which, therefore, the darkness of the place had hitherto\nprevented him from examining. It happened that the sun, being at this\nmoment opposite to a small aperture in the roof of the building, poured\na narrow but strong stream of light upon the figure. On examining\nminutely the limb to which he was fastened, the prisoner observed a\nlarge crack in the stone, just above the ankle; this opened in the\nslightest degree when he pulled the chain. He felt confident that, by\na great effort, he could break off the stone limb; though even then he\nwould only free himself in a degree, for his wrists were bound together\nby a handcuff, to which the chain was attached that fastened him to\nthe statue. The discovery, however, gave him some hope of eventually\nbeing able to take advantage of it; and his mind became considerably\ncalmed. He dreaded Bistamia\u2019s return, remembering her horrible menaces,\nand having good reason to believe that she would not fail to put them\ninto execution, if something did not intervene to cross her sanguinary\npurpose.\n\nThe fakeers still slept. Except their loud breathings, nothing was\nheard to disturb the gloomy silence that reigned around. It was already\nlong past noon, and no tidings had been received of the hostile armies.\nAt length distant shouts came suddenly upon the ear. They sounded\nlike the acclamations of triumph, mingled with those frantic yells\npeculiar to the fakeers when under a state of violent excitement. The\nsounds gradually approached, and it soon became evident that victory\nhad favoured the Moguls. The clash of arms was now heard, cries of the\npursuing and pursued were distinctly perceptible, and at length rose to\na tumult.\n\nIn a few moments, Bistamia entered the vestibule, spotted with gore.\nThe whole upper part of her bronzed fleshless body was uncovered. Her\nappearance was positively hideous. There was a deep gash in her neck,\nwhence the blood bubbled. She staggered towards her granddaughter--a\ndagger glimmered in her bony fingers. She raised it over the head of\nthe trembling girl, who sat mute and motionless under her harpy clutch,\nblanched with terror. The old crone gave a gasp; a guttural chuckle\nfollowed, and her arm fell; she fixed her teeth, whilst her eyes glared\non those of her victim.\n\nThe Mogul, in a paroxysm of alarm for the safety of one who had put\nher life in jeopardy for him, threw his whole weight on the chain\nwhich attached him to the statue. The cracked limb gave way. He rushed\ntowards the hag, raised his chained hands to strike, but perceived that\nshe was motionless. Her arm had not force to impel the dagger which had\nfallen from her feeble grasp, and the wretched creature lay dead on the\nbosom of her grandchild.\n\nA party of Moguls entered. The drunken fakeers were instantly put\nto death, and the two captives released. The apartments beyond the\nvestibule were searched, and vast hoards of wealth discovered, which\nwere seized, and ultimately deposited in the imperial treasury. The\nlovely Zulima was received with flattering courtesy by the Emperor,\nand shortly after became the wife of her late companion in chains, who\nproved to be the son of Shaista, one of Aurungzebe\u2019s favourite generals.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[41] An intoxicating leaf.\n\n\n\n\n                          The Mahratta Chief.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n\nA cavalcade was on its way to Madura through one of those deep gorges\nwith which the Western Ghauts abound. Evening had already set in, and\nthickened by the dense shadows of the mountains which intercept the\nsun\u2019s rays as he verges towards the horizon, the darkness was intense.\nThe evening hour had been chosen by the travellers for the renewal of\ntheir journey, in order to escape the scorching heat of the sun, which\nin the daytime, when reflected from the bare sides of the hills, is\nso great as to be scarcely endurable. The night was lovely. The glen\nthrough which the party were passing was a profound hollow; above the\nmountains rose on either side, sloping upwards from the base, and thus\npresenting the form of a funnel. The sky, seen from this pitchy glen,\nappeared of uncommon brilliancy, and was so thickly studded with stars,\nthat the light seemed to percolate through the entire expanse: but it\nreached not the bosom of the ravine through which the travellers were\npassing, being repelled by the ponderous shadows of the surrounding\nhills.\n\nIn the midst of the cavalcade was a palankeen of costly construction,\nborne upon the shoulders of four sturdy Hindoos. Round it hung a rich\nsilk drapery which entirely enclosed and concealed the person within.\nWhining a dull monotonous chant, the hamauls[42] proceeded at a slow\nbut steady pace, on account of the inequalities of the ground. A guard\nof a hundred and fifty soldiers followed close behind them. The murmurs\nof their voices as they chatted to beguile the tediousness of their\njourney was multiplied by the slumbering echoes of the hills, which\nwere awakened at their approach, and appeared to mock them with their\nown hilarity.\n\nThey came at length to a gloomy pass between two huge masses of\nrock that seemed to have been cast there by some mighty convulsion\nof the earth. Here the strait was so exceedingly narrow that there\nwas scarcely room to force the palankeen through. Two men could not\ngo abreast. When the hamauls were just about to emerge from this\nmountain gorge, they found their progress opposed by a troop of armed\nmen. Cowardly at all times, and rendered doubly so by their confined\nposition, they would have cast down their burthen and fled; but as this\nwas impossible from the nature of the passage, they fell upon their\nknees with the palankeen still resting on their shoulders, and implored\nmercy of the armed strangers.\n\nLittle ceremony was used in reply to their supplications. The palankeen\nwas lifted from their shoulders and taken possession of, together with\nits burthen, and the bearers were ordered to make the best of their\nway back through the passage, upon pain of summary chastisement. This\nwas no easy matter to accomplish, as the troops followed so closely\nbehind that several were already in the gorge. With some difficulty the\npassage was at length cleared; but when the guards learned what had\ntaken place, they pushed forward to recover their charge, and in a few\nmoments the strait was again filled. The foremost man, however, was\nthrust through the body with a lance the moment he reached the end of\nthe strait.\n\n\u201cAdvance another step,\u201d said a voice, in a tone that showed it had\nbeen practised in command, \u201cand you die. We are in force sufficient to\nslaughter you like so many wild conies coming out of a burrow. Remain\npatiently where you are for a few minutes, and your march shall be no\nfurther impeded.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is the palankeen?\u201d demanded the guard.\n\n\u201cWhere it and its gentle occupant will be well attended to. We know\nour prize. She must lack refreshment amid the rugged passes of these\nhills, and we are prepared to afford her a specimen of our hospitality.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo whom will she be indebted for this compulsive courtesy?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Sevagee, the Mahratta. The Princess Rochinara will be safe in his\ncustody. Tell the Emperor, on your return, that his daughter is with\nthose whom he contemptuously calls \u2018The Robbers of the Hills:\u2019 but\nSevajee may live to dispute with him the throne of Delhi; he therefore\nneed not deem an alliance with the Chief of the Mahrattas a disgrace.\u201d\n\nBy this time the party who had attacked the palankeen had dispersed,\nleaving only their leader, and a few followers. These, when sufficient\ntime had been given to secure their captive, suddenly plunged into the\nrecesses of the mountains, with most of which they were familiar, and\nleft the troops of Aurungzebe to pursue their march, with nothing to\nprotect but their own lives. They emerged from the glen, and in their\nrage at losing their sovereign\u2019s daughter, who had been committed to\ntheir custody, they sacrificed the hamauls on the spot, determined to\nrepresent to the Emperor that the treacherous Hindoos had purposely\nled them into the pass, in order to betray them into the power of\nSevajee. They knew Aurungzebe to be an inexorable man, and feared the\nconsequences of making known to him the loss of his daughter, whilst\nunder their protection. He made no allowance either for accident or\ncontingencies. Whenever anything happened contrary to his expectations,\nthe presumed instruments of failure were generally punished, and too\nfrequently with the loss of life. Like all tyrants, he was without\npity; and his sympathies might really be said never to be excited,\nsave where they received their impulse from something either directly\nbearing upon, or collaterally allied to, his own interests.\n\nThe soldiers dreaded an interview with their sovereign, who was at\nthat time encamped near Madura, where he daily expected his daughter\nto join him. She had left the Deccan for that purpose, and was passing\nthe Ghauts, when she was captured by the daring Mahratta, as already\nrelated.\n\nThe princess was borne from her guards, and carried for some hours\nthrough the intricate windings of the hills, until at length the\nbearers stopped before a small mountain fortress. It was still dark,\nbut having emerged from the lower regions of this elevated range, the\ngloom had considerably diminished, and near objects were sufficiently\nvisible to render the progress of travelling tolerably certain.\nThe princess was desired to alight from her palankeen, and being\nrespectfully placed in a sort of basket, ingeniously woven from the\nhusk of the cocoa-nut, was drawn up into the fortress, the entrance\nof which was through a low portal, terminating a narrow landing-place\nupon the naked side of the hill. Through this, after traversing a short\npassage, there was an ascent by steps into the fort, which was not\nextensive, containing a garrison of only sixty men.\n\nThe Princess Rochinara was ushered into a small but airy chamber; and\ntwo of her women, who had been taken with her, were allowed to attend\nupon their captive mistress. The princess was at this time only in her\nseventeenth year, of an agreeable rather than handsome person, finely\nformed, showy, of a healthy, vigorous constitution, and sprightly\ncountenance. She was a great favourite of her father, and therefore not\nunder much apprehension from her present captivity, knowing that he\nwould immediately make an effort to rescue her from bondage, and the\nwarlike efforts of Aurungzebe had seldom failed of being crowned with\nsuccess. She knew not into whose power she had fallen, but imagined\nthat a band of mountain robbers had captured her, and intended to\nretain her, merely for the sake of a liberal ransom, which she was\nsatisfied her parent would never pay, but release her at the point of\nthe sword.\n\nFor a day or two she saw no one but her attendants, and, having\nbeen accustomed to the seclusion of the harem, she did not find her\nsolitude at all insupportable. One of her women, who was an adept\nat story-telling, and had made herself acquainted with many of the\nsingular legends of Hindoo history, entertained her mistress by\nrelating some of those monstrous fictions which abound in those two\npoetical depositories of the marvellous, the Mahabarat and Ramayana.\nThus the time was agreeably beguiled, until the princess became, at\nlength, impatient to know something about her captivity, and into whose\nhands she had fallen. No information was to be obtained upon this\ninteresting question. A pretty female slave daily brought the gentle\ncaptive her food, consisting of the most delicate viands and delicious\nfruits, but did not utter a word in reply to her questions, which only\nimparted a keener edge to her anxiety.\n\nOn the fourth morning after Rochinara had become an occupant of the\nmountain fortress, an unusual bustle announced an arrival; but nothing\ncould be drawn from the slave when she paid her usual periodical visit;\nher lips appeared hermetically sealed, for not even the offer of a\nliberal bribe could tempt her to unclose them. Patience, therefore,\nwas the only alternative left; and in all cases of captivity it is a\ncardinal virtue. The princess, however, was becoming restless;--she\nrejected her food--she grew petulant, and no longer listened with\nany relish to the tales of her favourite woman. Her eyes were often\nsuffused with tears; but during a rather strong burst of emotion,\noccasioned more from the idea of being neglected than of being a\ncaptive, the door of her prison was opened, and to her surprise, not\nunmingled with pleasure, her captor stood before her. He was a short,\ncompactly built man, apparently under thirty years of age. His face was\nround and \u201cfull-orbed,\u201d but every feature small and highly expressive.\nHis eye was intensely brilliant, and seemed to possess a concentration\nof power that could pierce through anything opposed to its gaze. Its\nexpression was somewhat severe--restless, quick, and scrutinising;\nbut that of every other feature was bland even to playfulness. The\nforehead was both high and broad, and as smooth as the surface of a\nmirror. There was no hair on his face, except rather a strong moustache\non the upper lip, which was in perfect harmony with the true Oriental\ncast of his countenance. His neck, bare to the shoulder, was rather\nshort, and as thick as that of a Thessalian bull; whilst his ample\nexpanse of chest denoted that strength and hardihood with which he\nwas particularly endowed. His legs were uncovered to the knee, and\nmodelled with a neatness and upon such an exact scale of proportion as\nto combine masculine beauty with that physical vigour to which true\nsymmetry is invariably allied.\n\nThe stranger stood with his arms folded before the princess, after\nhaving made her a courteous salaam. She gazed upon him at first only\nwithout displeasure; but it was evident, by the gradual brightening\nof her countenance, that a more minute scrutiny produced something\nthe very opposite of dissatisfaction. She waited several moments for\nthe visitor to address her; but he remained silent, keeping his eyes\nsteadily fixed upon the interesting Rochinara, as if awaiting her\ncommands. An arch smile danced in his eye, and an occasional undulation\nof the upper lip showed that he was not about to play the ruffian.\n\n\u201cTo whom,\u201d said the princess at length, in a gentle voice, \u201cam I\nindebted for the constrained hospitality to which I am forced to\nsubmit?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Servajee, Chief of the Mahrattas.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why is the daughter of the Emperor Aurungzebe arrested in her\njourney, and forced to become an occupant of this fortress?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause, lady, the Mahratta chief desires to be upon a better footing\nwith the Emperor of the Moguls, and would make the daughter a medium of\nalliance with the father.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Princess Rochinara could never stoop to so low a degradation as to\nbecome the wife of a mountain robber.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou mistake lady; I am a sovereign in these mountain solitudes, and\nall monarchs are equal in moral rights. The name of Sevajee will\nbe heard of among the heads of nations: for who so renowned as the\nfounders of kingdoms? You are in my power; but I shall not use that\npower to win you to my purpose. I am content to woo; and assure\nyourself, that no woman who can look upon the sun would be degraded by\nbecoming the wife of the Mahratta chief. Whatever you desire, express\nit, and your command in all things, save quitting this fortress, will\nbe obeyed. We shall be better acquainted; and when you know me, you\nmay think me something nobler than a robber. We shall meet daily.\nFarewell!\u201d\n\nMaking a low obeisance, with a calm smile he quitted the apartment.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[42] Palankeen bearers.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe rise of the Mahratta power in India was one of those sudden and\nsurprising revolutions which, amid the troubled currents of political\nevents, have been so frequently seen to spring from the reaction\nof despotism. The Mogul empire, under the able though absolute\ndirection of Aurungzebe, extended over nearly the whole of India.\nThe most fertile and populous provinces of Hindostan were subjected\nto the dominion of a tyrant, who, nevertheless, governed wisely,\nthough he ruled despotically. The extensive plains of the Deccan and\nof Hindostan proper, which are protected by that elevated chain of\nmountains called the Ghauts, forming a natural and almost impregnable\nbarrier against irregular and undisciplined troops, were inhabited by\na hardy and active race. They felt the galling yoke of a conqueror;\nthey were encouraged to resistance by their distance from the capital\nof their despot, and by the natural barriers which, under judicious\nmanagement and an enterprising leader, were considered an almost\ncertain protection against the inroads of an invading army. Besides\nthis, the Mahomedan nations had been involved in such constant wars,\nand the successions of that mighty state were so continually disputed,\nand so bloodily contested, that ample opportunities were afforded to\na leader of daring and comprehensive mind to assemble the disunited\nmembers of a vast and dislocated empire, at a distance from the seat of\ngovernment, and establish them into an independent community, upon the\nwreck of that power by which they had been subdued. Such a leader was\nSevajee, the founder of the Mahratta dynasty, which finally became the\nmost flourishing in Hindostan. This hero was born in 1627, at Poonah,\nthen a village, but afterwards the capital of the Mahratta state.\nHe was of noble descent, and great pains seem to have been taken in\ntraining him early to deeds of arms. He despised letters, but devoting\nhimself to military exercises, soon commenced that career of enterprise\nwhich distinguished him above all the heroes of his day. Before he was\neighteen, he had collected together a band of the inhabitants of his\nnative glens, and commenced the daring but inglorious profession of\na robber. By degrees he became a terror to the neighbouring princes,\nin whose territories his depredations were committed. From heading a\nfew profligate adventurers, he rose to be the leader of a small but\nformidable army. Fortresses and cities submitted to his arms, and he\nfound himself at length master of a considerable extent of territory,\nwith an army of fifty thousand foot and seven thousand horse.\n\nSuch prodigious and rapid accession of power alarmed the jealousy of\nAurungzebe, who was by this time securely seated upon the throne of the\nMoguls, and seemed resolved to extend his conquests to the farthest\npossible limits. He therefore sent a large body of troops under an\nexperienced leader to crush the rising influence of the Mahrattas; but\nthe wary conduct of Sevajee, who was prolific in dacoit[43] stratagems,\nbaffled the military skill and defeated the enterprises of the Mogul.\n\nIt was to reduce the growing power of this extraordinary man, that the\nEmperor had marched in person, and was encamped in the neighbourhood\nof Madura, in order to subdue some refractory Polygars who had\ndisturbed the peace of that district, when his daughter was made\ncaptive by Sevajee on her way from the Deccan. So difficult were the\nvarious passes of the Ghauts for a regular army to traverse, and so\nimpenetrable the jungles, that the bold Mahratta defied the hostile\npreparations of Aurungzebe, whose detachments he continually defeated,\npouring down upon them like a deluge from the hills, committing\nprodigious ravages and retreating beyond the reach of pursuit to his\nmountain-holds.\n\nThe fortress to which the Princess Rochinara had been conveyed was\nsituated in one of the most impracticable recesses of the Ghauts. The\nonly approach to it was by a path so narrow that two persons could\nnot proceed abreast, and in many places hollowed out of the living\nrock. It was reached by a gradual ascent of three miles, the road at\nvarious places overhung by vast ledges projecting from the precipice by\nwhich it was skirted. There a few resolute men might defend themselves\nagainst a host. Besides, this part of the country was so thinly\npopulated, and so seldom visited on account of the asperities which it\npresented to the traveller, that it remained a sort of terra incognita.\nSevajee\u2019s retreats, and among the rest the fortress already mentioned,\nwere known to few or none save his own followers; so that he felt in\nperfect security against the irruptions of invaders.\n\nThe captivity of the princess became daily less and less irksome; all\nher wishes were complied with, and she finally entertained no further\ndesire to quit a prison where in fact she enjoyed more liberty than in\nher father\u2019s harem. She had been much struck with the frank countenance\nof the Mahratta, who used daily to visit her, until at length his\nvisits were looked forward to not only with pleasure, but anxiety.\n\nThe princess was young, Sevajee was handsome, and, what is always\nattractive in the eyes of an Eastern beauty, brave. She quickly\nfelt her heart subdued; the merits of the Mahratta could not escape\nher woman\u2019s scrutiny, quickened as this soon was by certain tender\npredilections.\n\nShe now frequently challenged the opinions of her women upon Sevajee\u2019s\nmerits, to which they appeared as keenly alive as their mistress, and\nit was finally no secret throughout the garrison that their chief had\nobtained a conquest over the affections of the Princess Rochinara.\n\nThe royal captive had attracted the admiration of one of Sevajee\u2019s\nofficers, in whose bravery and conduct his chief had great confidence.\nOne day when Sevajee was abroad, this officer ventured to declare\nhimself to the interesting captive. He was rejected with indignation.\nHis passions were roused, and he treated the princess with unmanly\nviolence. She was saved from his brutality by the interference of one\nof the garrison, who, upon Sevajee\u2019s return, informed him of what had\nhappened. The Mahratta made no reply, but repairing to the princess\u2019s\napartment, learnt from her the precise particulars. Summoning the\ngarrison before him, he thus addressed the offender:--\n\n\u201cYou have violated the sanctity of a warrior\u2019s home. Arms are placed in\nour hands to protect, not insult the weak. You must expiate the wrong\nyou have committed. I stand forward as the champion of an insulted\nwoman. You are brave, and know how to defend yourself. There is space\nwithin these ramparts to try your prowess against mine. Arm yourself,\nand let this matter be instantly decided.\u201d\n\nSevajee took his sword, and the combatants repaired to the summit of\nthe rock. His adversary was much taller and bigger than himself, but\nfar less active and firmly set. He was, however, a hardy, desperate\nfellow, who had proved his valour in many a rough encounter. He smiled\nas he stood before his chief, as if the contest were to him a pastime.\nBoth were armed with a short sabre, a shield, and a broad-bladed dagger\nstuck in their girdles. The shield was small, reaching from the wrist\nto the elbow of the left hand, rising to a cone, and terminated by a\nsharp brass boss. It was covered with an untanned hide.\n\nSevajee commenced the strife by darting upon the offender with the\nquickness of an eagle\u2019s spring, dashing his shield against that of\nhis opponent, and wounding him with considerable severity on the hip.\nThe man, however, coolly forced backward his indignant chief, and\nrecovering his own guard, advanced upon him with a calm, sullen smile,\nand struck at his head with a force that would have reached through the\nskull to the chine, had not the interposing shield caught the blow, and\nfrustrated the intended mischief: it however struck the boss from the\nbuckler, and shattered the frame so completely that Sevajee was obliged\nto cast it from him, and expose himself unprotected to the attack of\nhis formidable foe. Trusting, however, to his activity, he parried the\nblows of his adversary, and baffled his advances by springing on one\nside; the other, exhausted from fatigue and loss of blood, dropped his\nsword; Sevajee instantly raised his and struck him to the earth. His\narm was nearly severed, just below the shoulder, and in this sad state,\nreeking with gore, he was lowered from the fortress, either to die or\nmake his escape.\n\nThis feat of gallantry, in vindication of an insult offered to the\ndaughter of Aurungzebe, completely decided her affections. She accepted\nthe Mahratta\u2019s proposals, and from this time felt a greater pride in\nbeing the wife of a petty sovereign than the daughter of a mighty\nemperor.\n\nSevajee now daily increased in power and influence among the sovereigns\nof the principalities by which he was surrounded. He was enabled to\nmuster an army of fifteen thousand men, and had become the terror of\nthe neighbouring potentates. He was, to all intents and purposes,\nsovereign of the Mahrattas, and had made the daughter of Aurungzebe\nhis queen, with her own consent, before she had been in his power two\nmonths. His followers were a hardy race, selected from all tribes for\ntheir daring exploits, or feats of personal strength.\n\nA common cooley or porter of the mountains had been admitted into his\narmy, and finally raised to a place of trust; the first, in consequence\nof a singular act of daring, and the last by an uniform adherence\nto the interests of his master. As the act was singular which first\nbrought this man under the notice of the Mahratta chief, it may be\nworth recording.\n\nSevajee was one day passing through a mountain jungle, when a\nleopard appeared making its way stealthily through the bushes, as if\nthreatening hostility. The cooley was descending the hill at this\nmoment, and seeing the leopard, volunteered to attack it, with a weapon\nas singular as it was formidable. Opening a small leathern wallet, he\ntook from it an iron instrument, which fitted the hand, covering the\nfingers like a gauntlet. Beyond the tips of the fingers, it extended\nto the length of at least three inches, curving like claws, tapered\nto a point as sharp as the tip of a dagger, being brought to an edge\nunder the curve, nearly as keen as that of a razor. The man fixed it\non his hand,[44] and entered the jungle. The leopard seemed uneasy\nat his approach, waved its tail, rested its head upon the earth, yet\nmade no attempt to spring. The cooley did not give his enemy time to\ncommence an attack, but advancing boldly, struck it on the right eye,\nand drawing the instrument across its head, blinded it in a moment.\nThe wounded beast started up, and yelled in agony; when the man\ndeliberately plunged the weapon under its belly, opened a prodigious\ngash, and the animal\u2019s entrails protruded through the wound. It rushed\nforward, and came with such stunning contact against a tree, that\nit instantly fell, turned upon its back, and not being able to see\nits aggressor, another stroke from the instrument despatched it: the\nvictor returned to Sevajee without a scratch. This won the Mahratta\u2019s\nadmiration; the cooley was immediately enrolled in Sevajee\u2019s army, and\nfrom henceforth became a distinguished man.\n\nIt was of similar daring spirits that the followers of this formidable\nchieftain were composed; and when they became numerous, they roused\nthe apprehension of Aurungzebe, who was determined to crush a rising\npower that threatened to shake the Mogul throne. When made acquainted\nwith his daughter\u2019s captivity, he resolved that her deliverance should\ninvolve the death of his foe.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[43] Dacoit gangs are organised bands of robbers.\n\n[44] A similar instrument is frequently used by the fakeers when they\nare passing through the jungles, and with like success.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe Mahratta, who had been wounded by Sevajee, on being lowered from\nthe fortress, lay some time upon the ground exhausted from loss of\nblood. As evening advanced, he crawled into a thicket, and threw\nhimself at the root of a tree surrounded with high coarse grass, upon\nwhich he slept until the morning. He tore his turban into strips as\nwell as he was able, stanched the blood that flowed copiously from his\nwounds, and bound them up. By the next morning his limbs were so stiff\nthat he could scarcely move; he was parched with a painful thirst; his\nhead was confused, and objects floated before his sight in ten thousand\nfantastic configurations. A thin spring welled from a chasm in the\nhill; and being acquainted with the locality, thither he dragged his\nenfeebled body, and bathed his temple in the limpid waters. He drank\ncopiously of the pure element, and was somewhat refreshed. Still,\nunable to use much exertion, he cast himself again at the root of the\ntree and slept.\n\nThus passed the day. The second night came, and he was still there,\nhelpless as a babe. He thought that here his death-bed was made, and\nresigned himself with sullen courage to his fate. The cries of the\njackal disturbed his slumbers, and continually reminded him that he\nwas at the mercy of the prowling beast of the forest. The bright\nmoon looked from her glorious temple of serene and delicate blue,\nilluminating the boundless expanse through which she marched to her\nzenith with the majesty and beauty of a thing of heaven, and poured\nthe gentle stream of her light upon the wounded Mahratta, who slept\nin spite of bodily prostration and of mental suffering. The morning\nbroke upon him bright and cloudless. He was relieved, and his limbs\nless stiff; for it is astonishing how rapidly the natives of eastern\ncountries recover from the most desperate wounds, owing to their habits\nof excessive temperance. He quitted the jungle, and proceeded leisurely\ndown the mountain. His progress was slow and difficult; and he was\nfrequently obliged to seek the cool recesses of the forest in order to\nrecruit his exhausted frame.\n\nAfter a toilsome march of two days he reached the bottom of the Ghauts.\nHe knew that a detachment of Aurungzebe\u2019s army lay encamped in the\nplains. It was commanded by a general of reputation, and amounted to\nfifteen thousand men, prepared to attack Sevajee in his stronghold;\nbut the difficulty was how to reach this through the numerous mountain\nravines among which it was concealed and protected.\n\nThe wounded man crawled into the camp and desired to be conducted to\nthe general\u2019s tent. \u201cI can lead you to the abode of Sevajee,\u201d he\ncried. This was sufficient to remove all reluctance from the minds\nof the soldiers, who at first showed a disinclination to conduct the\nstranger to their general. They suspected him to be a spy; but the\npossibility of his being a traitor gave him a better claim to their\ncourtesy, and they brought him to the tent of the Omrah, under whose\ncommand they acted.\n\n\u201cWhat is your motive, soldier,\u201d inquired the general, \u201cfor entering an\nenemy\u2019s camp.\u201d\n\n\u201cBehold these wounds!\u201d said the man. \u201cThey were inflicted by the tyrant\nwho now holds sway over the Mahrattas. That is my sufficient answer why\nI appear in the Mogul camp.\u201d\n\n\u201cPersonal enmities are but a poor recommendation to confidence. He who\nwould betray a friend would be little likely to serve a foe.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere a person has his revenge to gratify, you have the strongest\nguarantee for confidence. Apart from all motives that raise man in the\nscale of moral dignity, that wrong which stimulates to vengeance will\nrender him true to those who promote his deadly purposes; for vengeance\nis like the raging thirst of fever, never to be slaked till the cause\nis removed. Until mine is appeased, you may trust me; after that I make\nno pledges. Do you accept my services?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you undertake to perform?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor a sum of ten thousand rupees, to be paid after the terms of\nthe contract have been fulfilled, I undertake to conduct you to the\nfortress in these mountains where Sevajee usually resides, and to put\nyou in possession of it. I have a brother among the troops who compose\nthe garrison. He will, I know, promote any scheme that shall bring\nretribution upon him by whom I have been so grievously wronged. Send a\nbody of fifteen hundred men, when I am sufficiently recovered to march\nwith them, and my life for the issue.\u201d\n\nThis plan was concurred in, the man taken to a tent, and his wounds\ndressed. In three weeks he was in a condition to proceed against the\nstronghold of the Mahratta chief. Fifteen hundred men were selected for\nthe enterprise; and these were followed at a short distance by another\nstrong detachment, unknown to the Mahratta guide in case of treachery.\n\nFor two days they threaded the mazes of the hills by paths almost\nimpracticable, and halted in the evening of the second day in a wood\nabout three miles from the fortress. The Mahratta, quitting the camp,\nproceeded up the hill alone, and making a certain signal, well known\nto the garrison was drawn up the rock. The soldiers were surprised at\nbeholding their old comrade, who had been so recently expelled, and\nwhom they all considered to have furnished a feast for vultures or\njackals. He desired to be conducted before their chief, to whom he\nexpressed the deepest contrition for what had passed, and begged to be\nagain admitted among that community from which he had been expelled.\nSevajee, deceived by the soldier\u2019s apparent contrition, and knowing\nhim to be a man of great daring and skill in conducting a perilous\nenterprise, consented to his re-admission among his hardy band of\nmountain warriors.\n\nBefore quitting his new allies, the traitor had arranged that, should\nhe gain admission into the fort, he would, in conjunction with his\nbrother, admit them during the midnight watch: that if the thing turned\nout not to be practicable on that night, they must retire into the\nthickets, and there await the desired opportunity.\n\nAn hour before midnight a body of four hundred men wound slowly up\nthe hill by the dim light of the stars, and concealed themselves in a\nhollow about two hundred yards from the fort. This hollow was covered\nwith a thick growth of jungle grass and underwood, which effectually\nconcealed them from observation. The Mahratta had contrived that his\nbrother should be upon guard at midnight at that part of the ramparts\nwhere admission was obtained into the fort.\n\nThe matter had been so secretly arranged, that nearly a hundred of\nthe Moguls were drawn up into the fortress before any alarm was\ngiven. A soldier hurried to Sevajee\u2019s apartment, and roused him with\nthe unexpected cry of--\u201cWe are surprised! the Moguls have obtained\npossession of our mountain citadel.\u201d The Mahratta chief grasped his\nsword, and hurried to that part of the ramparts where the two brothers\nwere in the act of drawing up the enemy. As there was but an uncertain\nlight, his approach was not observed. With the quickness of thought he\nsevered the cord just as a Mogul soldier had been drawn to the landing\nplace. He did not stay to hear the crash of the succeeding fall, but\ncutting down the traitor who had admitted the foe, made a speedy\nretreat to collect the slumbering garrison. He was shortly surrounded\nby his faithful followers, who all flew to the ramparts.\n\nThe Moguls had already destroyed several of the Mahrattas who were\ntaken by surprise, and in the suddenness of their alarm had started\nunarmed from their beds. Sevajee fought like a lion. The darkness gave\nhim a great advantage over the enemy, who were perfectly ignorant of\nthe localities, though their guide, the treacherous Mahratta, had\ngiven them what information the hurry and confusion of the scene\npermitted. Sevajee sought him out amid the fierce struggle of attack\nand resistance. They perceived each other in the imperfect light; the\nrebel would have retired, but the indignant chief arrested his purpose,\nand compelled him to turn in self-defence. Knowing Sevajee\u2019s skill at\nhis weapon, the Mahratta sprang upon and closed with him, hoping to\ndespatch him with his own dagger; but this purpose was foiled by his\nactive foe, who drew it suddenly from his cumberbund, and flung it\nover the battlements. The struggle was now desperate. They tugged and\nstrained with the fury of gored bulls. They glared in each other\u2019s\nfaces, inhaling the hot breath as it came quick and gasping from their\nparched throats, and steaming at every pore with the might of their\nexertions. At length Sevajee, dashing his head in the face of his\nfoe, obliged him partially to relax his hold, and at the same moment\nspringing backward, entirely disengaged himself; and while the other\nwas half stunned, he suddenly rushed forward, forced his head between\nthe traitor\u2019s legs, raised him upon his neck, and with irresistible\nforce flung him over the battlements.\n\nSevajee again seized his sword; but perceiving that the Moguls were\nmasters of the fortress, he flew to the princess:--\u201cYou are in the\nenemy\u2019s power--you will be taken to your friends, and have therefore\nnothing to fear--with me, captivity is the harbinger of death.\u201d\n\n\u201cFly,\u201d said Rochinara eagerly; \u201cif there is yet a chance of escape,\nseize it, and leave me to make my peace with the victors.\u201d\n\nThere was no time for parley. Sevajee proceeded to a part of the\nrampart which abutted upon a face of the hill, where the precipice was\nhere and there feathered with shrubs, that grew from the interstices\nof the rock, and its surface broken into inequalities by projecting\nledges, which would not have afforded footing for a goat. At the bottom\nrolled a deep stream, that gurgled through a straitened channel,\nand foamed between large masses which had fallen into it from the\nsuperincumbent mountain.\n\nThe moment was critical. Sevajee commenced this perilous descent. His\ndanger was imminent. The small projections to which he was obliged to\ntrust his footing frequently gave way under the pressure of his step,\nand he several times despaired of making his escape. About midway the\nshrub which he had grasped proved too weak to support his weight, and\nhe slipped several yards down the precipice. His course was luckily\narrested by a thick bush, something like a huge tuft of birch, which at\nonce broke his fall and arrested his progress.\n\nHe was now within forty feet of the water. Here, to the edge of the\nrivulet, the hill was less precipitous; and having paused a few moments\nto rest himself, he determined to slide down the rest of the precipice\ninto the stream, which would break the force of his fall, though it\nwould expose him to the chance of being drowned. Tearing up part of\nthe bush, he placed it under him, in order to prevent himself from\nbeing wounded by the rocky projections of the hill. It was a desperate\nhazard; but he at length let himself slip from the ledge. Sustaining\nsome severe bruises, he was precipitated with considerable violence\ninto the rivulet, which fortunately happened at this spot to be deep,\nand its channel tolerably free from masses of rock. After a short\nstruggle he gained the opposite bank, and was soon beyond the reach of\npursuit.\n\nMeanwhile the princess was taken from the fortress, and borne by easy\nmarches to Delhi, whither her father had retired, leaving his generals\nto complete the conquest of the Deccan and the subjection of the\nMahrattas.\n\nAurungzebe was greatly exasperated when he discovered that she was\nabout to become a mother. She had ever been his favourite child, and\nhe calculated upon marrying her to some powerful prince, who would\nstrengthen his political influence. She was confined to the harem, and\nhe refused to see her. As soon as her babe was born, it was taken from\nher, and put under the care of a nurse, no one knew where. It being\na boy, the Emperor was determined that it should be brought up in\nignorance of its birth. The mother was wretched at being separated from\nher infant. The Mahratta chief had ever treated her with tenderness\nand respect, and she was far less happy amid the splendours of the\nimperial palace than in the rude citadel of the mountain warrior. She\nimplored to be allowed to see her child; but her parent was inexorable,\nand the bereaved mother poured out her silent sorrows amid the\nmonotonous seclusion of the harem, where she found neither sympathy nor\nconsolation.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\nSevajee soon summoned his warriors into the field, and, at the head\nof ten thousand men, invested the fortress of which the Moguls had\npossessed themselves. In the course of a few weeks he starved them\ninto a surrender. From this time he so rapidly extended his conquests\nthat he was looked upon as a formidable potentate even by the haughty\nAurungzebe. He sacked the neighbouring cities, and so enriched himself\nwith the plunder, that he was finally enabled to appear in the field at\nthe head of a very formidable army. His personal prowess and conduct\nas a leader were the theme of universal praise. Though he could neither\nread nor write, yet so exact and tenacious was his memory, that the\nsmallest disbursements of his government were never forgotten, and no\none could dare attempt to deceive him, even in the minutest matters of\nfinancial computation, without certainty of detection. He knew the name\nof almost every man in his army.\n\nSome time after his escape from the fortress, he was surprised by the\nimperial general with only a few hundred followers. In this dilemma the\nMahratta chief intimated to the Mogul general that he should be very\nwilling to submit to his master\u2019s clemency, but was afraid to trust\nhis own person to the mercy of a man who felt such deadly hostility\ntowards him. He consequently proposed a meeting between himself and the\nimperial general at a distance from their respective armies, and that\neach party should repair to the spot accompanied by only one attendant.\nNot doubting that this proposal would be acceded to, the wily Mahratta\nput a suit of strong chain armour under his cotton robe, and a steel\ncap under his turban. Then arming himself with a dagger, he proceeded\nto the place of meeting.\n\nAccording to his military code of morals, treachery towards an enemy\nwas, under any circumstances, justifiable: he therefore determined\nto employ it upon the present occasion at all hazards. Distributing\nhis men in ambuscades near the spot, he soon had the satisfaction\nof seeing the Mogul draw near with an escort of eight hundred men,\nwhom he left at some distance, and advanced with a single follower to\nthe appointed place of meeting. Sevajee appeared apparently unarmed,\nexpressing great apprehension and affecting alarm at the presence of\nhis enemy. At length, coming up with hesitating steps, according to\nthe Oriental custom, he embraced his foe, at the same moment drawing\nhis dagger and plunging it into his body. The Mogul, feeling himself\nwounded, instantly drew his sword and struck Sevajee on the head, which\nwas protected by the steel cap; the blow therefore fell harmless, and\nthe wounded general sank under the repeated stabs of his treacherous\nassailant. His attendant, rushing to his master\u2019s assistance, was\nlikewise slain.\n\nThe blast of a horn roused the Mahrattas from their ambuscade, and\nfalling upon the Moguls thus taken by surprise, they slew a great\nnumber, and the rest, panic-stricken, fell back upon the main body,\ncarrying the melancholy intelligence of their leader\u2019s death. Meanwhile\nthe Mahrattas escaped among the intricacies of the mountains, and the\nMoguls were forced to retreat. Sevajee next marched with his victorious\ntroops to Singurh, one of his strongest fortresses, which had been\nwrested from him by the Moguls. Like all hill-forts, it was built upon\nthe summit of a lofty rock that rose to the height of ninety feet\nfrom a deep glen. It was considered inaccessible on all sides. At the\nback, where the precipice declined gradually inward from the summit,\nthe ramparts were not so strong, as any attempt on that side appeared\nutterly impracticable. On the ridge just outside the parapet that\nbeetled over the base of the rock, grew several trees, the roots of\nwhich were partly bared, and projected from the naked face of the hill,\nin which they were fixed with a tenacity peculiar to those mountain\ntrees that vegetate amid the most scanty supplies of earth, and insert\ntheir tough fibres between the fissures of rock composing the face of\nthe precipice.\n\nThe daring Mahratta was determined upon regaining possession of this\nstronghold, and having fixed upon the point of attack, prepared his\nfollowers for the desperate enterprise. These consisted of a thousand\nMawabees, mountain marauders, who followed the fortunes of their\nleader, seduced by the hope of plunder and the love of adventure.\nChoosing a dark night, he resolved to enter the fort on the least\npracticable side, where he knew such an attempt would never be\nsuspected. Having procured a long cord as thick as a man\u2019s thumb, he\ncaused it to be knotted at intervals of about two feet. When this was\nprepared, he placed it upon his shoulder and proceeded alone to the\nfortress through an unfrequented part of the mountain, ordering his men\nto follow in small parties, and unite in a thicket a few hundred yards\nfrom the base of the rock.\n\nArriving at the desired spot, Sevajee took a leaden ball, and attaching\nit securely to a slight cord, threw the former, with a precision which\nonly long practice in similar feats could have produced, over the\nprojecting root of one of the trees that grew beneath the battlements.\nThis done, he drew the rope with which he had come provided gradually\nup, and contrived, by means of the small cord, to pass a hook, fixed\nto the end of the knotted rope, over the root. The hook, upon being\npressed by means of a spring, clasped the object upon which it rested\nwith a perfectly secure hold.\n\nEverything being now ready, the Mahratta summoned his band. There\nwere no sentinels placed upon that side of the rampart, on account of\nthe supposed impracticability of an ascent. The night happened to be\nextremely dark, which favoured the purpose of the assailants. Sevajee\nmounted first. With the agility of a cat he clambered up the rope and\nquickly gained the ramparts. The next that followed, being a heavy man,\nand not over active, paused about twenty feet from the ground, alarmed\nat the motion of the rope, which swayed with such a rapid and violent\noscillation that he was unable to proceed; and after hanging a few\nmoments by his hands, his feet having slipped from the knot on which\nthey rested, he quitted his hold and fell to the ground.\n\nHe had nearly disconcerted the whole enterprise. There was an awful\npause. None of the Mawabees attempted to mount. Sevajee began to grow\nimpatient. Shaking the rope, and finding there was no weight upon it,\nhe slid down to ascertain the cause. This was soon explained, but no\none would venture to ascend. The Mahratta, unappalled by the general\nrefusal, approached the man who had fallen, and instantly ordered him\nto mount. He refused, and Sevajee, without a moment\u2019s hesitation,\nplunged his creese into the rebel\u2019s heart. He now gave the same order\nto a second. Terrified at the fate of his companion, the Mawabee\ngrasped the rope, and Sevajee followed close after, to prevent him from\nquitting his hold. With much difficulty they reached the top, when the\nundaunted Mahratta descended and forced another of his followers to go\nbefore him. This he repeated until more than a dozen men had gained the\nparapet. Taking courage from the success of their companions, the rest\nattempted the ascent one after another, until the whole were safely\nraised to the battlement.\n\nSevajee was the first to leap over the wall. A sentinel, alarmed at\nthe noise, hastily approached; the Mahratta chief seized him by the\ncumberbund and the trousers, and swinging him over the parapet, cast\nhim into the empty void beneath. He uttered a shrill shriek as he fell,\nwhich seemed to rise to the very heavens, like a sudden peal from the\ngrave, so quick and piercing as to vibrate to the brain with a painful\nintensity. In a few moments the whole garrison were in arms, and the\nstruggle commenced. They had, however, the double disadvantage of\ncontending against superior numbers and the shock of sudden surprise;\nnevertheless, they resisted with the fury of madmen. They demanded no\nquarter, and none was given.\n\nThe whole garrison was cut off to a man, and the morning dawned upon\na scene of carnage never to be forgotten. Not a single Mogul survived\nto tell the melancholy story of defeat, and the Mahratta chief took\npossession of Singurh amid the shouts of a sanguinary triumph. The\nbodies of the slain were flung over the battlements to be devoured by\nbirds and beasts of prey, their bones to whiten in the mountain wilds,\nunder the scorching beams of a tropical sun, far from the home of their\nfathers, of their wives and little ones, and where the solemn rites of\nsepulture were denied to their remains.\n\nBy degrees, Sevajee obliged the imperial troops to evacuate the\nmountains; and after a while they were recalled to Delhi by Aurungzebe,\nwho was exceedingly mortified at being thus perpetually baffled by a\nmountain chieftain, whose principle of government was a mere system\nof predatory warfare, in which he extended his political influence\nand his territory by any measure, however inconsonant to the general\npractices of military conduct. Sevajee now began to be conscious of his\npower, and determined therefore to seek more advantageous conquests.\nHis career was attempted to be checked by Shaista Chan, an omrah\nhigh in the confidence of Aurungzebe. This general advanced with a\nformidable army against the Mahratta, and carried on his operations for\nsome time with great success. Sevajee was unable to meet the Moguls in\nthe field, and therefore had recourse to that mode of predatory and\nirruptive warfare which had hitherto been attended with such success.\nThe Mogul, however, somewhat altered his tactics in order to contravene\nthose of his enemy, and with such advantage that he reduced Sevajee to\nconsiderable embarrassment. Finding that the imperial troops were daily\nobtaining a stronger footing in his dominions, having taken several of\nhis forts, the Mahratta determined to have recourse to one of those\nbold and daring exploits for which his whole military career has been\nso celebrated, and which had invariably been attended with signal\nsuccess.\n\nShaista Chan, having made himself master of Poonah, the capital of\nSevajee\u2019s dominions, situated upon the banks of a considerable river,\non the level country, about fifty miles from the Ghauts, occupied the\npalace of the Mahratta chief. The town was at this time little better\nthan a village, surrounded by a low mud wall, and easily accessible\nfrom every quarter. Shaista, not imagining that the bold adventurer,\nwho was only secure among the hills, would venture to attack him in\nthe open country, was rather remiss in placing guards round the town\nto anticipate any sudden assault. Taking advantage of this remissness,\nSevajee selected a small band of resolute soldiers, advanced towards\nPoonah, and concealed himself in the neighbourhood. Having heard that a\nMogul chief, jealous of Shaista Chan\u2019s influence with the Emperor, had\nsecretly expressed strong sentiments of disaffection, he found means to\ntamper with him, and seduced him at length to favour his enterprise.\n\nThe residence of the imperial general was a large loose building\ncomposed entirely of mud. Having been admitted into the town about\nmidnight, and the guards previously removed through the management\nof the treacherous Omrah, Sevajee and his followers, armed with\npickaxes, attacked the frail wall, and soon forced an entrance into\nthe cook-room. Raising a shout of exultation they rushed into the\ninterior of the house, brandishing their naked swords. At the head of\nthem appeared their chief, encouraging them to the work of slaughter.\nShaista, hearing the clamour, started from his bed; but not having time\nto arm himself, was obliged to make his escape through a window. In\neffecting this, however, he was severely wounded by the Mahratta chief,\nwho severed one of the fingers from his right hand, and likewise slew\nhis son. The Mogul general, overcome by this disaster, and dreading the\nfurther jealousy of his own officers, solicited his recall. He shortly\nafter quitted the Deccan, and the army being placed under an inactive\ncommander, all military operations against the Mahrattas were for a\ntime suspended, and Sevajee soon recovered what he had lately lost.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n\nAurungzebe, exasperated beyond all bounds at being thus perpetually\nfoiled by a petty chieftain, determined at once to stop the further\nprogress of his arms. He therefore sent against him Mirza Rajah, a\ngallant Rajpoot, accustomed to make war in a mountainous country.\nSevajee at length found himself opposed to a man whom he was unable to\nresist. As the Mogul army more than five times outnumbered his own,\nhe was obliged to retreat to his mountain fastnesses, whither he was\npursued by the victorious Mirza. All his fortresses shortly fell into\nthe enemy\u2019s hands, and he was driven to extremity. At length, the fort\nin which he had placed all his treasure was invested.\n\nIt resisted for many weeks; but one morning, when the magazine was open\nto supply the garrison with powder, a paper kite, to which a blind\nmatch had been previously attached, was raised over the battlements\nand dropped into the combustible repository. A tremendous explosion\nsucceeded, and the fortress became an easy capture. Finding that he\nhad no chance of being able to recover it, he resigned himself to his\ndestiny, and upon receiving a solemn pledge from Mirza Rajah that he\nshould meet at Delhi with a safe and honourable reception, he disbanded\nhis army, and delivered himself up to the victorious Rajpoot.\n\nOn his arrival at Delhi, the Mahratta chief was ordered into the\nEmperor\u2019s presence, and commanded by the usher to make the usual\nprostration; but he refused to obey, and casting towards Aurungzebe a\nlook of indignant scorn, expressed contempt for his person.\n\n\u201cI am now in your power,\u201d he said haughtily; \u201cbut your victory over me\nhas been to you a disgrace, and to me a triumph. You have subdued me\nby mere numerical force. For years, with a few hardy followers, I have\nbaffled your hosts. You have at length taken captive the object of your\ndread: but princes should not forget their pledges. When I delivered\nmyself into the hands of your general, I was assured of honourable\ntreatment. Am I then to be degraded by being commanded to prostrate\nmyself before a man, even though he be Emperor of the Moguls? We are\nboth sovereigns, and be assured that the Mahratta chieftain will never\npay that adoration to man which is due alone to God.\u201d\n\nAurungzebe did not condescend to reply. He was deeply incensed, and\nturning to the usher, ordered that the refractory prisoner should be\ntaken from his presence. In spite, however, of this rude bearing, the\nEmperor was much struck with the unbending boldness of the mountain\nwarrior. He could not but feel respect for the man who had for years\ndefeated his armies, and raised himself to sovereignty from being chief\nof a mere band of robbers. The exploits of Sevajee had reached as far\nas Delhi, and public curiosity was excited to see this remarkable man.\nHis bearing in the imperial presence astonished all who heard him, nor\nwere they less surprised at the forbearance of Aurungzebe, who was not\ngenerally backward in administering summary justice where occasion\nseemed to demand it.\n\nIt happened that, while the Mahratta chief was before the Emperor, the\nprincipal ladies of his harem saw what passed from behind a curtain.\nAmong these was the Princess Rochinara, to whom the memory of Sevajee\nwas still dear, though the lapse of years had somewhat weakened her\nformer impressions. She had never been allowed to see her child, nor\nwould her father ever give her the least information respecting him.\nThis was a bitter penalty for having degraded herself in the eyes of\nthe haughty representative of the house of Timour, by an alliance with\na petty chieftain, whom that proud potentate looked upon in no other\nlight than that of a mere marauder. The princess had often sighed for\nthe freedom she had enjoyed during her short abode in the mountains\nwhich overlooked the coast of Malabar.\n\nWhen Sevajee appeared before the Emperor, all Rochinara\u2019s former\npartialities revived. She was struck with his lofty deportment of\nfearless independence. The toils and military enterprises of years had\nnot abated the fire of his eye, or the beauty of his person. He was\nstill the man to win alike a lady\u2019s love and the warrior\u2019s admiration.\nWhen the princess perceived the silent indignation of her father, as\nhe ordered the noble Mahratta to be removed from his presence, she\ntrembled for the safety of a man whom she felt to be still dear to\nher. His boldness, and the reputation of his exploits, had won the\nadmiration of many Omrahs of the Emperor\u2019s court, and they interceded\nwith their indignant master in behalf of the captive. Aurungzebe, not\nwithstanding their intercession, expressed his determination to confine\nSevajee for life, recalling to mind with a bitterness which years\nhad failed to mitigate, the disgrace he had heaped upon the house of\nTimour, by espousing, without her parent\u2019s consent, a princess of that\nillustrious race.\n\nHearing that her father was inexorable, Rochinara sought his presence,\nand falling at his feet, pleaded for the liberty of his prisoner, and\nendeavoured to extenuate his conduct at the late interview.\n\n\u201cThough I despise pomp,\u201d said the Emperor, in a tone of severe\nsolemnity, \u201cI will ever insist upon receiving those honours which the\nrefractory presume to refuse. Power depends as much upon the empty\npageantries and ceremonies of state as upon abilities and strength of\nmind. The former, in fact, are the most successful instruments of\nthe latter. When the rebel, whom I have condescended to admit into\nmy presence, knows how to honour the sovereign of the Moguls, he may\nexpect his indulgence.\u201d\n\n\u201cAllow him, my father, another interview, but abate somewhat of the\nrigour of court form. In his native mountains he has not learned to\nbe courtly, but nature has taught him to be magnanimous; and let not\nAurungzebe, though mighty, yield to him in this, or in any other\nquality which the brave respect.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, to please a daughter whom I love, I will indulge\nthe haughty mountaineer with a remission of some portion of that\nstate-ceremony which it is customary to offer in the imperial presence,\nand of that external homage which conquered princes owe to the Emperor\nof the Moguls.\u201d\n\nA message was sent by Rochinara in the warmth of her zeal to the keeper\nof Sevajee\u2019s prison; and the Mahratta, without being consulted upon\nthe measure, was introduced into the Dewan Aum, or hall of public\naudience. The corrugated brow and compressed lip, apparent to all\npresent, as he entered, proclaimed in terms sufficiently intelligible\nhis determination not to succumb to a superior.\n\nWhen he had reached the centre of the hall, the usher advanced and\ncommanded him to make the customary obeisance at the foot of the throne.\n\n\u201cI was born a prince,\u201d said Sevajee, \u201cand am incapable of acting the\npart of a bondsman. Chains cannot enslave the soul of the free.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the vanquished,\u201d replied Aurungzebe, \u201close all their rights\nwith their fortune. The chance of war has made the Mahratta chief my\nservant, and I am resolved to relinquish nothing of what the sword has\ngiven.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe chance of war has indeed placed me in your power; but not as your\nservant. I received the pledge of your general that I should be treated\nas a prince, not as a slave. I have yet to learn if the sovereign of a\ngreat empire can descend to the low and pitiable degradation of a lie.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe law of the conqueror is his will--of the vanquished, obedience.\u201d\n\nSevajee turned his back upon the throne: Aurungzebe, losing his usual\nequanimity, started from his seat: his lip quivered, his cheek became\nblanched, his hand was laid upon his dagger, and he was about to issue\nsome terrible order against Sevajee, when that prince turning towards\nhim said, with an undaunted tone--\n\n\u201cEmperor of the Moguls, restore to me your daughter, whom you have torn\nfrom the protection of a husband, and I will honour you as a father:\ngive me back my child, which you have withheld from the longings of\na parent, and I will venerate you as a benefactor: restore me to\nmy subjects, and I, as a tributary prince, will acknowledge your\nsupremacy: but be assured that no reverse of fortune can deprive me of\nmy dignity of mind, which nothing shall extinguish but death.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor\u2019s wrath appeared to subside at this request, which he\naffected to treat as absurd. Pretending to look upon Sevajee as a\nmadman, he ordered him from his presence and gave him in charge to the\ndirector-general of the imperial camp, who had orders to subject him\nto a rigorous confinement. He was in consequence imprisoned in that\nofficer\u2019s house, and guarded with a vigilance that seemed to defy all\nchance of escape.\n\nMonths flew by, and Sevajee became extremely uneasy under his\ncaptivity, which was however relieved by occasional communications from\nthe princess; she having contrived to convey information to him from\ntime to time by means of a person who was permitted to enter his prison\nwith flowers. This man was well known to the director-general, who\nhad the highest confidence in him; but the gold of Rochinara and the\npromises of remuneration made by the Mahratta, corrupted the integrity\nof the vendor of flowers, and he finally became instrumental to one\nof the most extraordinary escapes which the pen of history records.\nFor weeks he had been in the habit of visiting the prisoner at stated\nperiods, under the plea of selling him flowers, of which the latter\naffected to be extremely fond. Not the slightest suspicion was awakened.\n\nOne morning the usual attendant entered Sevajee\u2019s prison with his\nfirst meal, but to his astonishment found that the captive had\nescaped. Upon the floor lay a man apparently in deep slumber. He was\nupon his face, quite naked. An alarm was instantly raised, and the\ndirector-general hastened to the prison. The naked man turned out to\nbe the flower-seller, whose sleep was so profound that he awoke with\nthe greatest difficulty. Upon opening his eyes he appeared amazed at\nseeing himself naked, and no less so at being surrounded by inquisitive\npersons who questioned him concerning the prisoner\u2019s flight. He\nprotested his utter ignorance of the matter, but observed that he had\nbeen evidently robbed of his clothes, though by whom he could not tell,\nunless the Mahratta had taken them the better to effect his purpose.\nHe affected to be astonished at having been found in such a state of\nunpremeditated oblivion; but, as if struck by some sudden recollection,\nhe stated that Sevajee had induced him to drink a glass of sherbet,\nshortly after he entered his room, which he could now have no doubt\nhad been drugged with opium, as he had swallowed it but a short time\nwhen he was overcome by a drowsiness which he could not control, and\nhad evidently sunk down senseless from the powerful effects of the\nopiate. His story was sufficiently plausible; and, fortunately for\nhim, under the sanction of his supposed integrity, was believed; the\nman thus eluded suspicion. An alarm was immediately raised, and a\nsearch made after the fugitive, but he was nowhere to be found. When\nthe Emperor was informed that Sevajee had quitted his prison he was\ngreatly exasperated, and ordered several bodies of men to be despatched\nin search of him; but his vexation was destined to receive a still\ngreater aggravation, for shortly after the news had reached him of the\nMahratta\u2019s escape, he discovered that his favourite daughter had become\nthe partner of his flight.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n\nSevajee had found no difficulty in leaving his prison unsuspected,\ndisguised as the flower vendor, being about the same height, and\nloosely clad, according to the fashion of Eastern countries. As had\nbeen preconcerted between him and the princess, he repaired to the\nharem with his flowers, and the man whom he personated being known to\nthe attendants, who were prevented from approaching his representative\ntoo nearly by some natural pretence, which women in the East are seldom\nat a loss to find in order to secure the success of any favourite\nscheme, Sevajee obtained admittance without incurring suspicion. It\nwas now arranged that he should instantly hasten to a certain jungle,\nwhere he was to await the arrival of Rochinara, who, under pretence\nof devotion, would quit the city immediately, and join him at the\nappointed spot.\n\nThis plan was successfully executed. The empire being at this period\nin a state of general peace, no rigid scrutiny was observed towards\npersons passing to and from the city as in more turbulent times.\nOn leaving the gates, Rochinara gave orders to be carried towards\na particular mosque; but no sooner had she got beyond the reach of\nobservation, than she stepped out of her palankeen, commanded the\nbearers to wait for her at a certain spot, and declared her intention\nof proceeding with one favourite attendant to the sacred edifice. The\nmen retired, and the princess quitting the high road, diverged from the\nmosque, and hastened towards the jungle.\n\nThough utterly unaccustomed to such exercise, Rochinara and her woman\nmade their way through a rough and unfrequented track to the place of\nappointment, being directed by the few casual passengers whom they\nhappened to meet. They wisely confined their questions upon this point\nto pariahs, several of whom were passing on their way towards the\nsame spot: these persons having so little intercourse with any but\nindividuals of their own tribe, there was the less chance of detection\nfrom their communicating with the citizens, or with those who would, no\ndoubt, be sent in pursuit of the fugitives.\n\nAfter a tedious journey of full two hours, the princess and her\nattendant joined Sevajee in the jungle. He had now cast off his\ndisguise and resumed his own attire.\n\n\u201cWe must travel alone through this forest,\u201d said he, \u201cand when we reach\nits borders towards the south, I will provide a hackery for you and\nyour companion, and we shall proceed with better chance of security;\nbut we must avoid the public roads until we reach the coast. What think\nyou, lady, of this?--\u2019tis an arduous undertaking for tender limbs and\ngentle spirits.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe daughter of Aurungzebe, Sevajee, will know how to meet\ndifficulties. The energies of woman are not known until they are tried,\nand none of the race of Timour ever shrank from danger.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us proceed then; our course lies amid perils, but they are already\nhalf overcome in the resolution to brave them.\u201d\n\nThey proceeded warily on their way, apprehensive that every sound might\nbe the forerunner of discovery. The jungle was thick, but broken into\nfrequent vistas, where they occasionally reposed from the fatigues of\ntheir journey, which were rendered more harassing from the circumstance\nof the travellers being frequently obliged to make themselves a path,\nby putting aside with their hands the thick growth of underwood that\nimpeded their progress.\n\nTowards evening they halted in a small glen, which was entered by a\ndefile formed by the proximity of two small hills. It was a sequestered\nspot in the heart of the forest. The jackal was already beginning\nto raise his dismal cry, and the occasional crackling of the bushes\nannounced that they were not the only sojourners in the jungle. The\ntravellers kindled a fire in order to keep off the beasts of prey, and\nSevajee having fixed a bamboo in the ground, untwisted from his waist\nseveral folds of a close kind of calico, threw it over the pole, and\nthus formed a rude tent, under which he strewed some dried grass as a\nbed for the princess and her attendant.\n\nThe only access to this glen was through the defile already mentioned.\nThe Mahratta therefore placed himself upon the road which immediately\nled to it in order to keep watch, lest any person sent by Aurungzebe in\npursuit of the fugitives should happen to take that track. The dense\ngrowth of the forest rendered it so dark that no object was to be\ndiscerned beyond the distance of a few paces; but Sevajee, having been\nmuch accustomed to thread the jungles by night in his own native hills,\nhad acquired a quickness of perception peculiar to himself in detecting\nthe movements of approaching objects. For some time he trod the path of\nthis forest solitude without any interruption; but at length the sound\nof distant footsteps caught his ear. He immediately advanced, and soon\nascertained that a party of the Emperor\u2019s guard were approaching. It\nconsisted of ten men. One of the soldiers preceded the rest, bearing a\nlarge torch. The Mahratta retreated quickly to the tent, extinguished\nthe fire which had been kindled to scare the beasts of prey, and having\nroused the princess and her attendant, led them into a thicket on one\nside of the glen, where he desired they would remain until he should\nreturn.\n\n\u201cI go,\u201d said he, \u201cto baffle our pursuers, who are now close upon our\ntrack. Should I fail, I am determined never to fall into their hands\nalive. For you there is mercy, for me none. Should I perish, return to\nyour father, and he will still succour you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever! I wear a dagger, Sevajee, and the same hour that concludes your\nexistence, shall likewise conclude mine. I shall not submit to another\nseparation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe act I contemplate is desperate. If I succeed we are safe; if I\nfail, we are lost.\u201d\n\nHaving tenderly embraced Rochinara, he quitted her, and hurried to the\ndefile. By this time the Moguls were within a hundred yards of the\ngorge. The Mahratta grasped a creese in either hand, and placed himself\nbehind a short but thick shrub which grew on one side of the entrance\nto the defile. As soon as the man who carried the torch reached the\nplace of his concealment, Sevajee stabbed him to the heart, seized\nthe torch, and pressing his foot upon the flame, extinguished it, at\nthe same moment plunging his second dagger into the breast of the\nofficer who led the party. This was the work but of a few moments. The\nconfusion was indescribable. Sevajee, whose eye had been accustomed to\nthe darkness, was able to see his foes, though they could not perceive\nhim. He stabbed four of them in succession, they being unable to\nperceive from whence the stroke of death came. His enemies knew not\nwhere to strike. Six already lay upon the earth weltering in their\nblood. Two others shortly shared the same fate;--another followed,\nand one only remained to be sent to a similar account. Upon him the\nMahratta sprang in his eagerness to complete the work of carnage,\nseized the sword with which his foe was armed, and wrested it from him;\nbut with the exertion his creese fell, and he could not recover it.\n\nThey were now both unarmed, and the struggle was desperate. The Mogul\nwas a tall, powerful man, but no match for the Mahratta in activity and\nprompt vigour. He fell under the assault of his active adversary, yet\nstill retained him in his grasp. Sevajee seized his prostrate enemy by\nthe throat, and pressing him firmly upon the windpipe, endeavoured to\nstrangle him; but the sudden agony imparted an impulsive energy to the\nMogul, who, doubling his legs under Sevajee\u2019s body, suddenly raised\nhim, and cast him to a distance of several feet upon his back.\n\nIt happened that in turning to regain his feet, the Mahratta\naccidentally placed his hand upon his enemy\u2019s sword, which had fallen\nto the ground during their struggle. He lost not a moment, but buried\nit in the Mogul\u2019s body before he could raise himself from his recumbent\nposition. Thus, aided by the darkness, Sevajee destroyed ten men\nwithout receiving a wound.\n\nHaving paused a moment to breathe, after his exertions, he rejoined\nthe princess, whom he found anxiously awaiting his return. They\npassed the whole night in the thicket, exposed to the ravages of\nwild beasts, which, however, happily did not molest them, and on the\nfollowing morning they pursued their dreary journey, encompassed by\nperils, which the princess bore with a heroism worthy the daughter\nof Aurungzebe. Having procured a couple of miserable tattoos,[45] at\na village on the borders of the jungle, the travellers proceeded by\neasy stages, and without suspicion, to Muttra, thence to Benares and\nJaggernaut. From the latter place they went round by Hydrabad, and at\nlength found themselves among the native hills of the Mahratta chief,\nwhere his fierce but gallant followers soon rallied round him.\n\nAbout the time of his daughter\u2019s flight the Emperor was taken ill,\nand for many weeks his life was despaired of. This circumstance\nconsiderably abated the eagerness of pursuit after the fugitives, as\nthe attention of every one was directed to the danger of the sovereign.\nA gloom prevailed through the empire; for the wise policy adopted by\nAurungzebe, in spite of his hollowness and hypocrisy, had rendered him\nthe most popular monarch that ever sat upon the Mogul throne. With all\nhis moral blemishes, his public character stood very high, and the\ngeneral prosperity which his wise administration diffused, added to the\nrigid piety which seemed the mainspring of all his acts, rendered him\nan object of all but idolatry with a large portion of those who lived\nin ease and affluence under his wise supremacy. He at length recovered,\nto the universal joy of his subjects, and seemed to have forgotten his\ndaughter\u2019s flight.\n\nA youth now appeared at court, in whom the Emperor took great interest,\nbut whose birth and parentage were a mystery. No one could tell to\nwhom he belonged, or whence he came, and yet the Emperor treated him\nwith marks of distinguished favour. He was a remarkably handsome young\nman, had just entered his seventeenth year, and was eminently expert\nin every military exercise. In all hunting excursions, honoured by the\nsovereign\u2019s presence, he was the foremost to court peril, and always\nsuccessful in pursuing the dangerous adventures of the chase. He soon\nexcited the attention of the Omrahs by his daring, and the singular\nskill which he displayed in feats of arms. Who he could be, was a\nfrequent inquiry; but on this question the profoundest political sages\nappeared just as ignorant as the most unlettered menials.\n\nThe young man gradually won the good opinion of all. His courtesy and\namenity of manners were no less conspicuous than the more chivalric\nfeatures of his character. Aurungzebe was gratified at the general\napprobation awarded to his favourite, and lost no opportunity of\nstrengthening the flattering impression. In several incursions of the\nrebellious Usbecks, this youth had distinguished himself, and the\nEmperor looked forward to his becoming one of the most conspicuous\nleaders of his time. He was not only remarkable for his superiority\nin military exercises, but his talents in the cabinet were likewise\nhighly promising, and though he was an object of jealousy to some of\nthe nobles, who were mortified at seeing a stranger and a mere youth so\nflattered by their sovereign, yet with the majority he was a great and\ndeserved favourite.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[45] Native ponies.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VII.\n\n\nSevajee, on his return, finding that there was no enemy to oppose him,\nsoon regained the territory which he had lost during his captivity. All\nthe mountain forts again fell into his hands, and he found himself in\na better condition than ever to frustrate the supremacy of the Mogul\nEmperor in Southern India. In a few months this enterprising warrior\nwas at the head of an army of fifty thousand soldiers, all daring\nmen, accustomed to the privations and fatigues of mountain warfare,\nand possessing that activity, hardihood, and bodily energy peculiar\nto mountaineers. Calculating his power, Sevajee determined upon some\nexploit that should signalize his return from what he considered a\nhumiliating bondage. Assembling a body of fifteen thousand choice\ntroops, he marched towards Surat, during the rains, when an assault\nfrom enemies was the least expected.\n\nOne morning a Banian entered that city, offering various stuffs for\nsale. Being a facetious man--as, indeed, most of those itinerant\ntraders are--and having a quantity of choice brocades, he readily found\nadmittance into the houses of the opulent citizens. Surat at this time\nwas surrounded only by a slight mud wall, a very insufficient defence\nagainst the attacks of a daring enemy; but, secure in their immense\nwealth and commercial importance, the citizens never seem to have\nthought upon a hostile attack from any quarter, and it being now the\nperiod of the monsoon, they slumbered in perfect security. The Banian\nvisited all parts of Surat with his pack, meeting everywhere with a\nflattering reception, and especially in the houses of the wealthy\nmerchants. For three days he continued in the city. When he had sold\nall his merchandise, he departed with the general goodwill of the\ncitizens.\n\nIn order to mislead the inhabitants of Surat, Sevajee had divided his\nforces into two bodies, with which he encamped before two important\nplaces, as if about to besiege them. Suddenly he ordered the troops to\nwithdraw from those places, leaving only small parties who had received\nhis instructions to keep up a continued clamour, and have lights\nburning during the night, in order to give the appearance of a large\narmy encamped on the spot. These devices were completely successful\nin lulling the suspicions of the citizens of Surat. The streets were\nthronged by day with thrifty traders, the bazaars with busy chafferers,\nwho by night reposed in unapprehensive safety. In the midst of their\nslumbers, however, they were roused by the din of arms. Starting from\ntheir beds, they were stunned with the shrieks of women and the cries\nof men. The confusion was indescribable. An enemy was within the walls,\nbut amid the darkness it was impossible to distinguish friends from\nfoes. The clash of arms was everywhere heard, mingled with the groans\nof the dying and the shrieks of the despairing. Terror magnified the\ndanger. The enemy appeared an overwhelming host, sweeping through the\nstreets like a torrent, and spreading death around like a blast of the\nsimoom. There was little or no resistance. A long and indolent security\nseemed to have unnerved every arm, and the bad cause triumphed.\n\nDay dawned, and presented a spectacle of general devastation. The\nMahrattas had become masters of Surat. The Banian who had received the\nhospitality of its citizens was recognised in the Mahratta chief, who\nnow reclaimed without an equivalent the merchandise which he had so\nlately sold. The mercy of the conqueror was propitiated by submission\nto the pillage which he directed to be made. He permitted no bloodshed\nafter the surrender, but practically showed, however, that he fully\nunderstood the law of appropriation. All the rich merchants and factors\nwere obliged to exhibit their stores, and redeem them at a valuation.\nFor three days the work of plunder continued, but no personal violence\nwas offered to any of the inhabitants. When Sevajee had satisfied his\nappetite for pillage, and that of his troops, he retired from the city\nof Surat, with booty supposed to have exceeded in value one million\nsterling.\n\nAurungzebe was exceedingly mortified when he heard of this daring\nviolation of the laws of honourable warfare; looking upon it as an\nact of mere predatory aggression, at once unbecoming a soldier and\na prince. He now took the same resolution which he had already so\nfrequently acted upon, but with little eventual success, of sending\nan army against Sevajee that should extinguish his power for ever.\nAccordingly he ordered a hundred thousand men under command of an\nexperienced and active general to proceed to the Deccan. The young\nfavourite already mentioned was made second in command, and marched\nwith the high and proud hope of distinguishing himself in the field\nagainst the most formidable enemy of his sovereign. His birth was a\ngeneral mystery, but such were his popular virtues, that although\nAurungzebe had raised him to a post of distinction about his own\nperson, still this advancement had excited little jealousy among the\nnobles, who generally admitted him to be deserving of such honour.\n\nWhen the Mogul army reached the Deccan, they found Sevajee at the\nhead of a numerous force. By adopting his usual system of mountain\nstrategy, harassing his enemy by sudden surprises, cutting off their\nsupplies, falling upon straggling parties, and keeping up continued\nalarms in their camp, the indefatigable Mahratta soon thinned their\nranks, and reduced them to considerable distress. He carefully avoided\nmeeting his enemies in the open field, conscious not only of his own\nnumerical inferiority, but of the superior discipline of the Moguls.\nBy no strategem could they withdraw him from his mountain fastnesses.\nThe troops at length became dispirited, and clamoured either to be led\nat once against the mountaineers, or return to the imperial city, as\nthey were wasting their energies in difficult marches and skirmishes,\nwithout coming into fair contact with a foe.\n\nIn order to still these murmurings, the youthful officer, who had been\nappointed second in command, offered to lead a detachment of twenty\nthousand troops among the hills, and engage the enemy upon his own\nground. This proposal was acceded to by the general in chief. The young\ncommander repaired with his detachment to the mountains. Sevajee,\nas usual, avoided a conflict until he could avail himself of some\nadvantage of position.\n\nOne morning the Mogul camp was suddenly attacked, but the young general\nforming his squadrons behind their tents, soon repulsed the assailants,\nand pursuing them into the gorges of the mountains, slew many, and took\nseveral prisoners. In the heat of pursuit he was separated from his\ntroops. Turning into a narrow valley, he received an arrow discharged\nby some hidden archer, through the fleshy part of his left arm. Heated\nby the ardour of pursuit, and pained by the wound, he spurred forward,\nforgetting that he was alone. Suddenly his horse was shot under him:\nhe fell--but almost instantly springing upon his feet, looked round\nand perceived that he was not followed by a single Mogul. Just as he\nwas preparing to retrace his steps, he saw an armed Mahratta advancing\ntowards him. Calmly awaiting his approach, and perceiving that he\nwas no common enemy, the Mogul cried--\u201cDo I see the leader of the\nMahrattas?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause of all others he is the man I would meet hand to hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you may enjoy your wish, for Sevajee stands before you.\u201d\n\nThere was no further parley; the two leaders encountered with mutual\nanimosity. The struggle was fierce but short. The Mogul, being\nembarrassed by the wound in his arm, and somewhat enfeebled by\nconsequent loss of blood, was unable to bring his best energies to the\nencounter. Sevajee was superior both in strength and activity, and\nvery soon struck his adversary to the earth by a severe sabre-stroke\non the head. The Mogul, being stunned, was quite at the mercy of his\nfoe; but that foe was as generous as he was brave. Struck with the\nyouth and beauty of his enemy, Sevajee supported the youth\u2019s head,\nand opening his vest to expedite the recall of his senses, saw to his\nastonishment the distinct mark of a spear-head upon the right breast.\nRaising a clear shrill cry, in a few moments he was surrounded by his\nfollowers, whom he ordered to lift the wounded officer and bear him to\none of his mountain fortresses in the neighbourhood. The blow which he\nhad received on the head was so severe as to render him insensible: the\nsabre, had, nevertheless, inflicted no wound. The numerous folds of his\nturban had repelled it.\n\nUpon recovering his consciousness, the young Mogul perceived that he\nwas in the hands of his enemy. The wound in his arm had been dressed\nand carefully bandaged, and in the course of that evening he became an\ninmate of one of Sevajee\u2019s strongholds. On the following day he was\nbrought into the presence of Rochinara, who greeted him with a courtesy\nwhich seemed to throw a gleam of sunshine upon his captivity.\n\nSevajee approaching him with a bland air besought him to bare his\nbosom. He immediately exposed it to the view of the princess, who,\ngazing at him for a moment in speechless astonishment, rushed forward,\nthrew herself upon his neck and covered it with her tears. \u201cMy child,\u201d\nat length she cried--\u201cmy long lost son, you are come here to freedom\nand to joy: in your vanquisher behold a parent,--in me behold a mother.\nThat mark upon your breast, stamped there before the light of heaven\nhad beamed upon the embryo babe, is too strong and unerring a signature\nby God\u2019s hand to be mistaken.\u201d\n\nThe youth\u2019s astonishment was extreme, but there were certain passages\nin his life with which he alone was familiar, that to his mind\nperfectly ratified what he now heard, and elucidated what to his mind\nhad ever been wrapped in painful secrecy. Sevajee embraced his son,\nwho told him that a mystery had always hung over his birth, which\nhe had in vain endeavoured to unravel. He had been brought up at a\nsolitary village, in a family with whom, though treated with kindness,\nhe was not happy. He had been instructed by a learned Mussulman in the\nliterature of his country, and his natural predilection for all manly\nexercises naturally led him to become an adept in the use of arms. He\nwas treated with evident deference by the persons who had the charge\nof his infancy, which always induced him to suspect that his birth was\nabove their condition. At the age of fifteen being summoned to the\ncourt of Aurungzebe, he was immediately distinguished by his sovereign,\nand shortly raised to a post of responsibility.\n\nThe meeting between the long-lost son and his parents was one of\ntender and reciprocal congratulation. Sambajee, by which name he was\nhenceforward known, was too much rejoiced at having been restored to\nhis parents to feel any desire of returning to the imperial court.\n\nAs soon as his wound was sufficiently healed to enable him to venture\nout, he rejoined the Mogul army. As he was extremely beloved by the\ntroops, among whom was a large body of Rajpoots, he had no difficulty\nin persuading those more especially under his own command, to revolt\nfrom the Emperor and join the forces of Sevajee. To the surprise and\nconsternation of the Mogul general, in one night nearly one half of\nhis army went over to the Mahrattas, and left him no longer in a\ncondition to face those formidable enemies of the state. Breaking up\nhis encampment, therefore, he returned to Delhi with the news of his\nill success, occasioned by the revolt of the troops and their union\nwith the foe. Aurungzebe could not repress his indignation at these\ntidings. He now saw that the strength of his enemy was increased to\nsuch a degree as to render him a dangerous rival!--that the harmony\nof his family was disturbed, and his favourite, on whom he had\nlavished honours and whom he had intended to advance to still higher\ndistinctions, had turned traitor.\n\nSevajee now became the most powerful prince of Southern India. He\ncould muster an army of fifty thousand foot and a hundred thousand\nhorse. Dreaded by the neighbouring potentates, and having raised\nthe reputation of his arms by foiling the legions of Aurungzebe, he\ndetermined to satisfy his pride and dazzle his followers by a formal\ncoronation, modelled upon that of the Mogul, in which the weighing\nagainst gold and other pompous ceremonies were not omitted. Gifts to an\nimmense value, bestowed upon Brahmins; gave lustre to this as well as\nto other high political festivals.\n\nFrom this time the prosperity of Sevajee continued without abatement\nuntil his death, which happened in the year 1680, at the age of fifty,\nand he was succeeded by his son Sambajee. The Princess Rochinara did\nnot long survive him.\n\n\n                               THE END.\n\n\n           WOODFALL AND KINDER, PRINTERS, LONG ACRE, LONDON\n\n\n\n\nFrederick Warne & Co.\u2019s\n\nPUBLICATIONS IN\n\nNOVELS, WORKS OF FICTION, &c.\n\n\nPrice 6s. each.\n\nONE VOLUME COPYRIGHT NOVELS.\n\n_In crown 8vo, cloth gilt._\n\n =JULIAN KARSLAKE\u2019S SECRET.= By Mrs. J. H. NEEDELL.\n\n =PASSING THE LOVE OF WOMEN.= By Mrs. J. H. NEEDELL, Author of \u201cStephen\n Ellicott\u2019s Daughter,\u201d &c.\n\n\u201cMrs. Needell\u2019s story is not only interesting, it is told with a charm\nand dignity of expression that are extremely rare.\u201d--_Court Circular._\n\n =PHILIP METHUEN.= By Mrs. J. H. NEEDELL, Author of \u201cJulian Karslake,\u201d\n &c.\n\n\u201cNo one should fail to read this, the most powerful and original novel\nwe have read for some time.\u201d--_Manchester Examiner._\n\n =UNDER FIRE: A Tale of the War with the Sioux.= By Captain CHARLES\n KING, Author of \u201cThe Queen of Bedlam,\u201d &c., &c. With Original\n Illustrations by C. R. COX.\n\n\u201cCaptain Charles King has all the faculty of James Grant in writing\nvivaciously a military novel, and, what is still higher praise, he\nhas a considerable share of Marryat\u2019s power of stirring the deeper\nemotions.\u201d--_Bristol Mercury._\n\n =A CRUEL DILEMMA.= By MARY H. TENNYSON.\n\n\u201cThe book is entertaining, and the character, notably the Baronet\nand the picture-dealer--a refreshing old ruffian--are cleverly\nportrayed.\u201d--_Daily Chronicle._\n\n\nPrice 3s. 6d. each.\n\nWARNE\u2019S POPULAR NOVELS.\n\nA NEW SERIES OF COPYRIGHT WORKS BY WELL-KNOWN ENGLISH AND AMERICAN\nAUTHORS.\n\n_In crown 8vo, cloth gilt._\n\n  =GUENN=: A Wave on the Breton Coast. By BLANCHE WILLIS HOWARD.\n  =AULNAY TOWER.= By the Author of \u201cGuenn.\u201d\n  =A YOUNG GIRDS WOOING=: A Love Story. By the Rev. E. P. ROE.\n  =LADY MAUDE\u2019S MANIA=: A Tragedy in High Life. By G. MANVILLE FENN.\n  =THROUGH ONE ADMINISTRATION.= By FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT.\n  =SYLVESTER SOUND=, the Somnambulist. By HENRY COCKTON. With Twelve of\n   the Original Steel Plates by ONWHYN.\n  =A DIVIDED DUTY.= By IDA LEMON, Author of \u201cThat Little Woman,\u201d &c.\n  =STEPHEN ELLICOTT\u2019S DAUGHTER.= By Mrs. J. H. NEEDELL.\n  =DUN WELL PARVA.= By REGINALD LUCAS.\n  =HIS GREAT SELF.= By MARION HARLAND.\n  =ON THE EDGE OF THE STORM.= By Author of \u201cMdlle. Mori,\u201d &c.\n  =HIS LIFE\u2019S MAGNET.= By THEODORA EMSLIE.\n\n\nPrice 2s. 6d. each.\n\nTHE LIBRARY OF FICTION.\n\nA Series of Copyright Works by well-known Authors.\n\n_In crown 8vo, cloth gilt._\n\n  =The Queen of Bedlam.= By CAPTAIN CHARLES KING.\n  =The Gargrave Mystery.= By HUGH COLEMAN DAVIDSON.\n  =The Mynn\u2019s Mystery.= By G. MANVILLE FENN.\n  =Expiation.= By OCTAVE THAVET. With Illustrations by A. B. FROST\n  =The Fatal Request.= By A. L. HARRIS.\n  =Charlie Kingston\u2019s Aunt.= By Sir HENRY THOMPSON, F.R.C.S.\n  =At Bay.= By Mrs. ALEXANDER.\n  =Struck Down.= By HAWLEY SMART.\n  =Marie May.= By Mrs. W. K. CLIFFORD.\n  =Sir Jeffrey\u2019s Wife.= By A. W. MARCHMONT, B.A.\n\n\nPrice 2s. each,\n\n_In crown 8vo, picture boards_.\n\n  =Through One Administration.= By FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT.\n  =Sylvyster Sound=, the Somnambulist. By HENRY COCKTON.\n  =Guenn.= By B. W. HOWARD.\n  =Aulnay Tower.= By B. W. HOWARD.\n  =The Queen of Bedlam.= By Captain CHARLES KING.\n  =Philip Mordant\u2019s Ward.= By MARIANNE KENT.\n  =The Mynn\u2019s Mystery.= By G. MANVILLE FENN.\n  =Expiation.= By OCTAVE THANET. With Illustrations by A. B. FROST.\n  =The Knight\u2019s Ransom.= A Tale of the Crusades. By Mrs. L. VALENTINE.\n  =The Captain-General.= By W. J. GORDON.\n  =That Lass o\u2019 Lowrie\u2019s.= By FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT.\n  =Valentine Vox, the VentriloQUIST.= By HENRY COCKTON.\n  =Handy Andy.= By SAMUEL LOVER.\n  =Rory O\u2019More.= SAMUEL LOVER.\n  =The Fatal Request.= By A. L. HARRIS.\n  =Lady Maude\u2019s Mania.= By GEO MANVILLE FENN.\n  =He Would Be a Gentleman.= By SAMUEL LOVER.\n  =Jack Hinton=, the Guardsman. 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BELL.\n\n 21 =Kenneth and Hugh.= Ditto.\n\n 22 =Rosa\u2019s Wish.= Ditto.\n\n 23 =Margaret Cecil.= Ditto.\n\n 26 =What Katy Did at School.= By S. COOLIDGE.\n\n 28 =Wearyfoot Common.= By RITCHIE.\n\n 30 =Aunt Jane\u2019s Hero.= By Mrs. E. PRENTISS.\n\n 31 AUNT AILIE. By C. D. BELL.\n\n 32 =What Katy Did.= By S. COOLIDGE.\n\n 38 =The Flower of the Family.= By Mrs. E. PRENTISS.\n\n 39 =Madame Fontenoy.= By the Author of \u201cMdlle. Mori.\u201d\n\n 41 =Toward Heaven.= By Mrs. E. PRENTISS.\n\n 42 =Little Camp on Eagle Hill.= By S. WARNER.\n\n 45 =The Prince of the House of= DAVID. By Rev. J. H. INGRAHAM.\n\n 46 =The Pillar of Fire.= Ditto.\n\n 47 =The Throne of David.= Ditto.\n\n 48 =The Admiral\u2019s Will.= By M. M. BELL.\n\n 51 =That Lass o\u2019 Lowrie\u2019s.= By F. H. BURNETT.\n\n 54 =Alec Green.= By S. K. HOCKING.\n\n 57 =Little Women.= By LOUISA ALCOTT.\n\n 58 =Little Wives.= Ditto.\n\n 59 =Barriers Burned Away.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 60 =Opening a Chestnut Burr.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 61 =Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin.=\n\n 63 =Dorothy.= By J. A. NUTT.\n\n 69 =Huguenot Family.= C. D. BELL.\n\n 70 =Only a Girl\u2019s Life.= By Mrs. MERCIER.\n\n 74 =Bessie Harrington\u2019s Venture.=\n\n 76 =Without a Home.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 77 =Moods.= By LOUISA ALCOTT.\n\n 81 =The Torn Bible.= By ALICE SOMERTON.\n\n 82 =Lily Gordon.= By C. D. BELL.\n\n 83 =A Knight of the Nineteenth= CENTURY. By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 84 =Near to Nature\u2019s Heart.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 85 =His Sombre Rivals.= Ditto.\n\n 93 =Una.= By M. BIRD.\n\n 94 =A Young Girl\u2019s Wooing.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 98 =The House in Town.= By S. WARNER.\n\n 99 =Trading.= By S. WARNER.\n\n 104 =What Katy Did Next.= By S. COOLIDGE.\n\n 112 =The Queen of Spades.= By Rev. E. P. ROE.\n\n 115 =Mariamne.= NATHANIEL OGLE.\n\n 116 =A Titled Maiden.= By C. A. MASON.\n\n 117 =My Lady Nell.= By EMILY WEAVER.\n\n 118 =In Safe Hands.= By M. H. HOWELL.\n\n 124 =John Ward, Preacher.= By MARGARET DELAND.\n\n 127 =Faith Gartney\u2019s Girlhood.= By Mrs. WHITNEY.\n\n\nPrice 1s. 6d. each.\n\nNOVELS AND STORIES.\n\nBY MRS. BURNETT.\n\n_In small crown 8vo, cloth gilt, neat uniform style._\n\n =A Fair Barbarian.=\n\n =A Woman\u2019s Will=; or, Miss Defarge.\n\n =Natalie=, and other Stories.\n\n =Theo=: A Love Story.\n\n =The Fortunes of Philippa= FAIRFAX.\n\n =That Lass o\u2019 Lowrie\u2019s.=\n\n =Kathleen=: A Love Story.\n\n =The Tide on the Moaning= BAR, &c.\n\n =Dolly=: A Love Story.\n\n =Lindsay\u2019s Luck.=\n\n =Pretty Polly Pemberton.=\n\n =Miss Crespigny.=\n\n =Esmeralda=, and other Stories.\n\n =Surly Tim=, and other Stories.\n\n =The Pretty Sister of Jos\u00e9.=\n\n\u201cThe Press have received the short stories and novels of Mrs. Burnett\nwith the same enthusiasm as they did \u2018Little Lord Fauntleroy.\u2019 In\nspeaking of \u2018Dolly,\u2019 the _Post_ says: \u2018It is one of the sweetest of\nlove stories ever written.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nBY JOHN STRANGE WINTER.\n\n_In small crown 8vo, cloth gilt, neat uniform style._\n\n  Bootle\u2019s Baby.\n  Houp-La.\n  Harvest.\n  Dinna Forget.\n\n\nSPORTING, FARMING AND COUNTRY BOOKS.\n\nIn demy 8vo. half-bound, =price 21s.=, marbled edges, 1,100 pages.\n\nTHE SEVENTEENTH EDITION OF\n\nSTONEHENGE\u2019S\n\nBRITISH RURAL SPORTS\n\nCOMPLETELY RE-EDITED, RE-ARRANGED AND RE-COMPOSED.\n\nBy =STONEHENGE= (J. W. WALSH, late Editor of _The Field_).\n\n_Comprising Athletics, Shooting, Hunting, Coursing, Yachting, Lawn\nTennis, Fishing, Hawking, Racing, Boating, Pedestrianism, and the\nvarious Rural Games of Great Britain, with complete Index, &c._\n\nIllustrated by numerous Engravings.\n\n\u201cOne of the most inclusive, best-written and best-arranged compendiums\never published.\u201d--_Times._\n\n\u201cIt is unnecessary to recommend a work that has been so emphatically\nendorsed by the sporting world.\u201d--_Standard._\n\n\u201cAs an authority on sporting matters it seems unnecessary here to say\nthat it is a book no country gentleman should be without.\u201d--_Yorkshire\nPost._\n\n\nPrice 2s. 6d. each.\n\nHANDY INFORMATION BOOKS.\n\nAGRICULTURAL MANUALS.--NEW EDITIONS.\n\n =THE HORSE=: Its Varieties and Management in Health and Disease.\n\n =SHEEP=: Their Varieties and Management in Health and Disease.\n\n =CATTLE=: Their Varieties and Management in Health and Disease.\n\nNew and Enlarged Editions by GEORGE ARMATAGE, M.R.C.V.S.\n\nVery fully Illustrated. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt.\n\n\u201cThese works are deserving of a large sale, and the more carefully\nthey are perused the more highly they will be appreciated by the horse\nowner.\u201d--_Farrier and Stockbreeder._\n\n(_Also the three volumes in cloth upright case_, \u201cTHE FARMER\u2019S\nLIBRARY,\u201d _per set_, 7_s._ 6_d._)\n\n =ANGLING AND HOW TO ANGLE.= By J. T. BURGESS. A new Edition, entirely\n Re-edited by R. B. MARSTON, Editor of the _Fishing Gazette_, with\n additional chapters on Pike Fishing by JARDINE, and Dry Fly-fishing by\n R. S. MARSTON. Crown 8vo. Also Popular Edition, sewed 1s.\n\n\nBOOKS ON BIRDS.\n\n =BIRD-KEEPING=: A Practical Guide to the Management of Cage and\n Singing Birds. By C. F. DYSON. With numerous Engravings and Coloured\n Plates. Crown 8vo.\n\n =THE CANARY=: Its Varieties, Management and Breeding. By Rev. F.\n SMITH. Crown 8vo.\n\n\u201cA useful handbook giving extensive and accurate information as to the\nmanagement of these most delightful of household pets.\u201d--_Fancier\u2019s\nGazette._\n\n\n=Price 2s. 6d. each.=\n\nHANDY INFORMATION BOOKS--_continued_.\n\n_In crown 8vo, cloth gilt extra._\n\nBY A MEMBER OF THE ARISTOCRACY.\n\n =THE MANNERS AND RULES OF GOOD SOCIETY.= The Standard Handbook of\n Etiquette. Twenty-first Edition, thoroughly Revised.\n\n\u201cThis book may be accepted as a standard work of reference on all\nquestions of etiquette.\u201d--_The Queen._\n\n =SOCIETY SMALL TALK=; or, What to Say and When to Say It. Tenth\n Edition.\n\n =THE MANAGEMENT OF SERVANTS=: A Practical Guide to the Routine of\n Domestic Service. Fourth Edition.\n\n =THE CORRECT GUIDE TO LETTER WRITING.= Fifth Edition.\n\n =HEALTH, BEAUTY AND THE TOILET=: Letters to Ladies from a Lady Doctor.\n By ANNA KINGSFORD, M.D., Paris. Third Edition.\n\n =THE HOME=, as it Should Be: its Duties and Amenities. By L.\n VALENTINE. Second Edition.\n\n =TRICKS WITH CARDS=: A Complete Manual of Card Conjuring. By Professor\n HOFFMANN. Illustrated with over a Hundred Practical Illustrations and\n Diagrams.\n\n =GAMES FOR FAMILY PARTIES.= Containing over 350 Games. Edited by Mrs.\n VALENTINE. Fully Illustrated.\n\n =MENUS MADE EASY=; or, How to Order Dinner and Give the Dishes their\n French Names. By NANCY LAKE. Eighth Revised Edition.\n\n =DAILY DINNERS.= 366 Menus in English and French. By NANCY LAKE,\n Author of \u201cMenus Made Easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cA capital little book for ladies who find difficulty in varying\ntheir menus and who are blest with idealess cooks, and it will be\nfound most useful for planning out dinners which are both dainty and\ninexpensive.\u201d--_Myra\u2019s Journal._\n\n =HOW WE ARE GOVERNED=: A Handbook of the Constitution, Government,\n Laws and Power of the British Empire. By ALBANY DE FONBLANQUE.\n Sixteenth Edition, Revised by W. J. GORDON.\n\n =ELECTRICITY UP TO DATE=, for Light, Power and Traction. By JOHN B.\n VERITY, M. Inst. E.E. With a New Chapter on Electric Cooking and\n Heating, and nearly 50 practical Instructions. (Also POPULAR EDITION,\n boards, 2s.)\n\n =MUSICAL GROUNDWORK=: Being a First Manual of Musical Form and History\n for Students and Readers. By =Frederick J. Crowest=.\n\n\u201cWe have not met with any manual of the same kind so well calculated\nto quicken the mind of the musical reader and thence to stimulate\nhim to a more extended study of the history and science of musical\nform.\u201d--_Manchester Guardian._\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nPunctuation errors have been corrected.\n\nPage 63: \u201cconnot practise\u201d changed to \u201ccannot practise\u201d\n\nPage 368: The sentence containing \u201c...rtant occurrence, and\u201d is missing\nthe beginning in the original. The likely missing text, \u201cBut the most\nimpo\u201d, has been supplied by consulting an alternate version.","title":"Legendary & romantic tales of Indian history","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":185000}