ear distant and the distant near.

Now, Charioteer, see me kill the deer.

[_Takes aim_.

A VOICE BEHIND THE SCENES.

Hold, O King! this deer belongs to our hermitage.
Kill it not! kill it not!

CHARIOTEER. [_Listening and looking_.

Great King, some hermits have stationed themselves so as to
screen the antelope at the very moment of its coming within range
of your arrow.

KING. [_Hastily_.

Then stop the horses.

CHARIOTEER.

I obey.

[_Stops the chariot_.

_Enter a_ HERMIT, _and two others with him_.]

HERMIT. [_Raising his hand_.

This deer, O King, belongs to our hermitage. Kill
it not! kill it not!

Now heaven forbid this barbed shaft descend
Upon the fragile body of a fawn,
Like fire upon a heap of tender flowers!
Can thy steel bolts no meeter quarry find
Than the warm life-blood of a harmless deer?
Restore, great Prince, thy weapon to its quiver.
More it becomes thy arms to shield the weak,
Than to bring anguish on the innocent.

KING.

'Tis done.

[_Replaces the arrow in its quiver_.

HERMIT.

Worthy is this action of a Prince, the light of Puru's race[12].

Well does this act befit a Prince like thee,
Right worthy is it of thine ancestry.
Thy guerdon be a son of peerless worth,
Whose wide dominion shall embrace the earth.

BOTH THE OTHER HERMITS. [_Raising their hands_.

May heaven indeed grant thee a son, a sovereign of the earth from
sea to sea!

KING.

[_Bowing_.

I accept with gratitude a Brahman's benediction.

HERMIT.

We came hither, mighty Prince, to collect sacrificial wood. Here
on the banks of the Malini you may perceive the hermitage of the
great sage Kanwa[13]. If other duties require not your presence,
deign to enter and accept our hospitality.

When you behold our penitential rites
Performed without impediment by saints
Rich only in devotion, then with pride
Will you reflect:--Such are the holy men
Who call me Guardian; such the men for whom
To wield the bow I bare my nervous arm,
Scarred by the motion of the glancing string.

KING.

Is the Chief of your Society now at home?

HERMIT.

No; he has gone t