the pilgrims
who passed to and fro all night long, never fearing to cross the steep
passage which, even by daylight, caused us such perplexity. They came
in parties of twos and threes, and sometimes there appeared a lonely
unescorted woman. They could not reach the large vihara, because we
occupied the verandah at its entrance, and so, after grumbling a little,
they entered a small lateral cave something like a chapel, containing
a statue of Devaki-Mata, above a tank full of water. Each pilgrim
prostrated himself for a time, then placed his offering at the feet of
the goddess and bathed in the "holy waters of purification," or, at
the least, sprinkled some water over his forehead, cheeks, and breast.
Lastly, retreating backwards, he knelt again at the door and disappeared
in the darkness with a final invocation: "Mata, maha mata!"--Mother, O
great mother!

Two of Gulab-Sing's servants, with traditional spears and shields of
rhinoceros skin, who had been ordered to protect us from wild beasts,
sat on the steps of the verandah. I was unable to sleep, and so watched
with increasing curiosity everything that was going on. The Takur, too,
was sleepless. Every time I raised my eyes, heavy with fatigue, the
first object upon which they fell was the gigantic figure of our
mysterious friend.

Having seated himself after the Eastern fashion, with his feet drawn up
and his arms round his knees, the Rajput sat on a bench cut in the rock
at one end of the verandah, gazing out into the silvery atmosphere. He
was so near the abyss that the least incautious movement would expose
him to great danger. But the granite goddess, Bhavani herself, could not
be more immovable. The light of the moon before him was so strong
that the black shadow under the rock which sheltered him was doubly
impenetrable, shrouding his face in absolute darkness. From time to time
the flame of the sinking fires leaping up shed its hot reflection on the
dark bronze face, enabling me to distinguish its sphinx-like lineaments
and its shining eyes, as unmoving as the rest of the features.

"What am I to think? Is he simply sleeping, or is he in that strange
state, that temporary annihilation of bodily life?... Only this
morning he was telling us how the initiate Raj-yogis were able to plunge
into this state at will... Oh, if I could only go to sleep....."

Suddenly a loud prolonged hissing, quite close to my ear, made me
start, trembling with indistinct reminisc