my country so they would capture the secrets of my soul--that they
may sell them for money and increase their traffic. But to none such
shall the treasure be given. I will walk with them in the outer courts;
but the innermost chamber they shall not so much as see."

With the Cabinet Minister Chandrapal had this in common--that both were
lawyers and servants of the Crown. Thus a basis of intercourse was
established--were it only in the fact that each man understood the
official reserve of the other. The first day of their acquaintance was
passed by each in reconnoitring the other's position and deciding on a
plan of campaign. The Minister concluded that there were three burning
topics which it would be unwise to discuss with Chandrapal. Chandrapal
perceived what these topics were, knew the Minister's reasons for
avoiding them, and reflected with some satisfaction that they were
matters on which he also had no desire to talk. His real object was to
penetrate the Minister's mind in quite another direction, and he saw
that this astute diplomatist had not the slightest suspicion of what he
was after. This, of course, gave the tactical advantage to the Indian.

Now Chandrapal was more subtle than all the guests in Deadborough Hall.
With great adroitness he managed to introduce the very topics on which,
as he well knew, the Minister had resolved not to express himself; but
he took care on each occasion to provide the other with an opportunity
for talking about something else. This something else had been carefully
chosen by Chandrapal, and it was a line of escape which led by very
gradual approaches to the thing he wanted to find out. The Minister had
won a great reputation in beating the diplomatists of Europe at their
own game; but he had never before directly encountered the subtlety of
an Oriental mind. Stepping aside from the dangerous spots to which the
other was continually leading him, he put his foot on each occasion into
the real trap; and thus, by the end of the third day, he had revealed
what the Indian valued more than all the secrets of the British Cabinet.
Meanwhile the Minister had conceived an intense dislike to Chandrapal,
which he disguised under a mask he had long used for such purposes; at
the same time he flattered himself on the ease with which he outwitted
this wily man.

Chandrapal, on his side, reflected thus: "Behold the misery of them that
know not the Truth. This man flatters the people; but in hi