and bow, and a quiver full of arrows. He
then mounted a fresh horse and rode toward the river.
When he reached the bank of the river, the horse found the current so
rapid and the agitation of the water so great that he was very
unwilling to advance; but Jalaloddin spurred him in. Indeed, there was
no time to be lost; for scarcely had he reached the shore when Genghis
Khan himself, and a party of Monguls, appeared in view, advancing to
seize him. They stopped on the bank when they saw Jalaloddin ride into
the water among the rocks and whirlpools. They did not dare to follow
him, but they remained at the water-side to see how his perilous
adventure would end.
As soon as Jalaloddin found that he was out of their reach, he stopped
at a place where his horse found a foothold, and turned round toward
his pursuers with looks of hatred and defiance. He then drew his bow,
and began to shoot at them with his arrows, and he continued to shoot
until all the arrows in his quiver were exhausted. Some of the more
daring of the Monguls proposed to Genghis Khan that they should swim
out and try to take him. But Genghis Khan would not allow them to go.
He said the attempt would be useless.
"You can do nothing at all with him," said he. "A man of such cool and
determined bravery as that will defy and defeat all your attempts. Any
father might be proud to have such a son, and any son proud to be
descended from such a father."
When his arrows were all expended, Jalaloddin took to the river again;
and his horse, after a series of most desperate struggles among the
whirlpools and eddies, and the boiling surges which swept around the
rocks, succeeded at length in carrying his master over. The progress
of the horse was watched with great interest by Genghis Khan and his
party from the shore as long as they could see him.
As soon as Jalaloddin landed, and had recovered a little from the
fatigue and excitement of the passage, he began to look around him,
and to consider what was next to be done. He found himself entirely
alone, in a wild and solitary place, which he had reason to fear was
infested with tigers and other ferocious beasts of prey, such as haunt
the jungles in India. Night was coming on too, and there were no signs
of any habitations or of any shelter. So he fastened his horse at the
foot of a tree, and climbed up himself among the branches, and in this
way passed the night.
The next morning he came down and began to wal
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