. I hope, therefore, that the
results will not be so disastrous as before. The town may be burnt
down again, but unless they blow up my palace, they can do little harm
to it. When I rebuilt it, seeing the possibility of another war, I
would not have any wood whatever used in its construction. Therefore,
when the hangings are taken down, and the furniture from these rooms
cleared out, there will be nothing to burn, and they are not likely to
waste powder in blowing it up.

"As to the town, I warned the people who returned that it might be
again destroyed before long, and therefore there has been no solid
building. The houses have all been lightly run up with wood, which is
plentiful enough in the hills, and no great harm, therefore, will be
done if it is again burnt down. The pagoda and palace are the only
stone buildings in it. They did some harm to the former, last time, by
firing shot at it for a day or two; and, as you can see for yourself,
no attempt has since been made to repair it, and I do not suppose they
will trouble to damage it further.

"So you see, Dick, we are prepared for the worst."

"Will you fight again, as you did last time, Uncle?"

"I do not know, Dick. I show my loyalty to the English rule by
repairing to the capital; but my force is too small to render much
service. You see, my revenues have greatly diminished, and I cannot
afford to keep up so large a force as my father could. Fortunately,
his savings had been considerable, and from these I was able to build
this palace, and to succour my people, and have still enough to keep
up my establishment here, without pressing the cultivators of the soil
for taxes. This year is the first that I have drawn any revenue from
that source; but, at any rate, I am not disposed to keep up a force
which, while it would be insufficient to be of any great value in a
war like this, would be a heavy tax on my purse."

"Even the force you have must be that, Uncle."

"Not so much as you would think, Dick, with your English notions. The
pay here is very small--so small that it would seem to you impossible
for a man to live on it; and yet, many of these men have wives and
families. All of them have patches of land that they cultivate; only
twenty, who are changed once a month, being kept on duty. They are
necessary; for I should have but little respect from my people, and
less still from other rajahs, did I not have sentries at the gates,
and a guard ready to turn