A Prince of Dreamers

arch? Not his th

his will, to tre

a'a

nto some fantastic mushroom growth. Even in Agra itself, connected with Fatehpur Sikri by that twenty-mile-long ribbon of shop-edged road, the talk was all of what was about to happen in Akbar's City of Victory. The King had accepted the appeal of Jamal-ud-din Syed concerning his marriage, and had appointed the next Friday audience for the hearing of proof concerning the sam

ck, the diamond which had of a surety been his talisman these many

n the populace, which brought anxiety to the

visits to the little colony of Christians to whom Akbar gave patronage and protection, "if indeed this diamond, whose worth is the ransom of a world, be given i

against hope for the King's definite conversion to Christianity, spend

work in the end--and Akbar is so close

interrupted

aiths, all things, even these new E

pted Padré Rudolfo mildly. "He was at th

s, his justice, his forgiveness until seventy times seven, Akbar is a stumbling block in our way. Prince Sal?m might serve our purpose better--our purpose, which is Christ's," he added hastily as if to rectify any possible confusion of meaning. Yet the meaning was confused, for the world holds few stories more strang

ess nights might at last count for righteousness in the King's long record of hesitation. And yet in his heart of hearts Rudolfo Acquaviva knew that there was no hope, was conscious e

n. To tma Devi, however, in her secluded sun-saturated roof, the general un

, had passed before the slow assurance that, as woman, she was helpless to support her r?le of c

e distance. That limited vision of hers held all her world; for the years had obliterated memory of the far-off Central Indian home whence she had been brought while still almost an infant by her father. But one or two scenes of that childish life which had been passed beyond her present outlook remained with her, clear yet

roped blindly in the dark, yet found

t or tittle of the many ceremonials of her race. Even if nothing else came of the King's grace save the permission to challenge the

n; so the child had stayed on. Helpless utterly, sustaining life apparently by a mere sup of milk, a mouthful or two of fruit, and sleeping away all the hours of fierce daylight, at dawn and at dusk the soul hidden in the racked, deformed body seemed to be set free from its bonds, and the child would lie with wide-open soft lustrous eyes, smiling and singing to herself. And tma Devi as she sate listening would fee

leep, and entering while--after unbarring the door at his password "From the King"--she sto

r, at the little slip of room. "Within, I suppose," he

with me when he went away. And she is so timid, the very face of a st

l ways. "So does love," he replied mockingly. "Nay! I find n

"My lord cannot see

ven to have sight of her pretty fa

"Let my lord sit silent yonder on the parapet," she said, i

, she called softly, "Sing to m

he tank which Akbar had lately made as a reservoir for the lower part of the town. Half-hidden in morning mist it reflected the morning sky here and there as the vapour, parting, left its s

ho cou

on the purple bricks of wall and floor, and in the topmost branch of the peepul tree whose roots throve beside the tank below,

s wither a

iss cold? Is t

y like shal

nk sails and

away s

e warm, and t

s are calling

sails like s

ay without r

ark that

eter

ver the old silver-hilted sword, gave a soft sigh. To both of them the creeping step of

ve, that essence o

-leaf remains to the heart

for once to Birbal. As usual, he resented the in

not one, since even Charanship to Kings is not sufficient f

loose a flood over the land, and he raised his arm in unconscious sel

i his wife--womanhood incarnate--exiled us from Paradise because we sang his praises overloud--ever since then we Charans have been true, whether God makes us man or woman! Dost deny it? Then by the long discipleship of thy upstar

of, she snatched the death dagger of her ra

back on the parapet with a faint laugh. Set a thief to catch a thief, a woman to catch a woman! The intensity on this one's face might be useful to him. Having long since constituted himself the eyes a

thought, "and I will tell thee wherein thou canst s

g need of her?" ask

"Nay, no one hath need o

s paled. "Wherefore?

of empire," he replied. "Heark

d's appeal and the certainty that the courtesan would swear to having read t

oman's tongue, especially if marriage be the subject. Therefore she must be found and--and--lost

aid tma slowly; "she-

Yamin hates the King. Whether she love Jamal-ud-din is another matter. So fare thee well, tma Devi champ

thing which she remembered about Siyala, which littl

e did, then she, tma, must speak, must p

e death to Siyah Yamin who w

evenly met her ear as she paused at the door of the slip of a room where Zar?fa l

y-petalled red skirt and veil of the mad singer, so catch

us, dreamers who dr

ed courtyards as she hurr

was to serve for the family breakfast. "I deemed she had been dead these days past. But I will get her to tell me my fortune.

acy than the first, and the women's voices gossip

ours. A woman blew loudly at a pile of dried leaves under a toasting pan. The little spark left in the charcoal below showed red, then white, amid the gray ashes, and with a roaring crackle the flame leapt upward. A man guiltless of all clothing save a rag, pared his nails solemnly into the gutter. But in the house where

ave been a lost soul utterly. I have damned myself by giving time to profligate steps. I have sung lewd songs. But what will ye? A d

ernly, "I have need of the

, an insistent, devilish sort of drumming that seemed cre

, see you, there is something that brings confidence to scandal in the continuous burring of a drum. It seem

of Siyah Yamin?"

to wit. Hol-lah! The whole town is agog to know news

Luck?" interrupted t

the Black Water of whom the new infidels talk," replied Deena with

his luck is with him ever. But see--take up thy drum and follow. To-day I will s

ing hymns"--he began one dolorously, then paused shaking his head. "Lo! it hath no discrimination--a holy psalm is ev

n the city, flitting hither and thither, chanting

realised that the need of news was urgent; for the w

he worst came to the worst she could but die to attest the truth of what she remembered. But

f she could be warned; be persua

Deena at the foot of the stairs. She would do her utmost. Zar?fa could be put to sleep with a