m, which had hitherto supplied
the principal officers of state and had been the real buttresses of the
throne. Then, to fill full the measure of discontent, came ominous
rumours that the prince, although still a mere youth, had, like his
father, become addicted to the use of bhang and strong wines, and,
encouraged by a worthless following, was abandoning himself to all
manner of expensive debauchery. And when at last the screw of heavily
increased taxation gave proof to these stories the first timid whispers
of displeasure among the populace swelled to sullen and continuous
murmuring.

"For the true queen mother and her son the hour of destiny was
approaching!

"But, although the embers of revolt were ready to burst into flame at
the first fanning of a breeze, Todar Rao, now sirdar in command of the
whole army, still dominated the situation. At his slightest word the
mercenary soldiery under his control would have rushed into the bazaars
with sword and torch, like ravening wolves among sheep helpless to
defend themselves. As for the nobles, each surrounded by his own
bodyguard, they were torn into rival factions, the one jealously
watching the other lest open revolt should be made the excuse for
usurpation of the throne by the strongest and best prepared among them.

"In these circumstances it would have been fatal to let word go forth
prematurely that the rightful heir was alive, for disappointed ambitions
among the feudal lords might have become an added danger to the fury of
the sirdar. But any prolonged delay would also be disastrous, for it was
only now that the boy prince would be recognized and received as the
undoubted heir to his father's throne; a few years later he would, to a
certainty, be looked at askance as a mere pretender--a pawn in the game
of some unscrupulous king-maker playing for his own aggrandizement.

"It was the maharanee who devised the bold stroke which involved
undoubted danger yet promised the best chance of success. Her idea was
to take the whole court unawares at one and the same moment, so that the
nobles might have presented to them, not only a common rallying-point
for loyalty, but the chance by united action to break for all time the
hated military power of the slave-born sirdar.

"It was the appointed day when the recently installed maharajah,
according to custom immemorial, was to be publicly weighed, and the gold
he counterbalanced distributed in charity. In the great courtyar