?
Then separate beds. Then no more companionship, out or in. The gloom for
ever, and the tears of Kalee for ever and ever, and the terror and
anguish of poor soul Aditi! Ah! yes; but he never struck her, never
upbraided her; and at length she shrunk from him as if from a serpent.
And this he could not bear: it made his dun-yellow black, Aminadab!
Then, when the Cradle was finished, and a truckle and a table and a
chair were put in, he called me to him, and said, with a horrid smile on
his face, 'M'Pherson, you are a Highlander, and staunch to your master.
I am true to my word. Yes, I signed a bond, when I married Kalee, that I
would treat her as a father would a child whom he rocked in a cradle. I
have obeyed. Kalee goes into the Cradle to-night. You are to give her
child's food; but you cannot rock the Cradle. Let the winds which drive
in past Balgay woods do that if they can. My honour is pure. Swear to
obey me.'

"I could not say no, and look on that face. Kalee has been in that
dungeon, fed by me, and has never seen her children for a whole year."

"The vengeance of the Lord hangeth over the wicked by a burnt thread,"
said Aminadab.

"Yes, who was to know that her own protector, even the great spirit of
her land, was to come here to help her? He was seen last night again! He
wanders about and about--flits hither and thither. He needs no rest--no
food. He is independent of rain, and wind, and thunder, and storms."

"But he does not help her," said Aminadab.

"His time is coming. Kalee is dying."

"Dying!"

"Ay, dying. Then Brahma will claim that which is a part of himself, and
then will be the time of his return to his chosen people."

"Horrible!" ejaculated Aminadab. The chicken stood untasted. "Does Mr.
Fletcher know this?"

"Why, to be sure, haven't I told him? But may not a child die in its own
cradle, and the father continue feasting with the lords and the lairds,
drinking and swearing, and debauching, when he knows that his honour is
discharged,--ay, and the blood-bond paid?"

"And the body, when she dies--"

"Will be in Logie burying-ground; ay, and strange people from the East,
a long way beyond where our sun rises, with black faces and bleeding
hearts, will come and bend over the little grave, and weep for the
daughter of their prince. Ah! Aminadab, grief makes a learned woman of
me, a poor servant; but I cannot save Kalee, none can save her now.
Consumption has set in; and bad air, and a rejec