oups, and all as much interested in the sport as if their lives depended
upon their success. And sometimes, indeed, their fortunes do. Many a poor
little fellow bets sweetmeats upon his kite to the extent of his only anna
in the world; and many a rich baboo has more rupees at stake than he can
conveniently spare. But the exhilarating sport makes every body
courageous; and the glowing colors of the kites enable each to identify
his own when in the air, and give him in it, as it were, a more absolute
property. Matches are soon made. Up go the aerial combatants, and, with
straining eyes and beating hearts, their fate is watched from below. But
their masters are far from passive, for this is no game of chance,
depending upon the wind. Kite-flying is in these countries an art and
mystery; and some there be who would not disclose their recipe for the
nuck-ointment, if their own grandfathers should go upon their knees to ask
it.

Sometimes an event occurs on the common. It is the ascent of a pair of
kites of a _distingue_ air, and whose grand and determined manner shows
that the combat is to be _a l'outrance_, and that a large stake of money
depends upon the result. The fliers are invisible. They are probably on
the flat roof of some neighboring house; but the kites are not the less
interesting on account of their origin being unknown. What a host of
anxious faces are turned up to the sky! Some take a liking to the red at
first sight, while others feel attracted by a mysterious sympathy to the
green. Bets are freely offered and accepted, either in sweetmeats or
money; and the crowd, condensing, move to and fro in a huge wave, from
which their eager voices arise like the continuous roaring of the sea.
Higher and higher go the kites. Well done, Red! he has shot above his
antagonist, and seems meditating a swoop; but the Green, serenely
scornful, continues to soar, and is soon uppermost. And thus they go--now
up, now down, relatively to each other, but always ascending higher and
higher, till the spectators almost fear that they will vanish out of
sight. But at length the Green, taking advantage of a loftier position he
has gained, makes a sudden circuit, and by an adroit manoeuvre gets his
silken string over the silken string of the other. Here a shout of triumph
and a yell of terror break simultaneously from the crowd; for this is the
crisis of the fight. The victor gives a fierce cut upon his adversary's
line. The backers of th