his dwelling, where he slept in apparent and paradoxical peace until
morning.

"Ere the sky was red, or the dews, in harmony with this unhappy man's
dilemma, had been appropriated by the sun from the tiara of dawn, Ram
Lal set out for the palace of the Kutub, in which Prince Otondo was
compelled to reside for the present for some very convincing reasons
provided by the British Government.

"In a little while the merchant had traversed the short distance
intervening and was admitted through the courtyard gates.

"The last of the kings of Delhi was a decrepit old man named Dahbur Dhu,
whose sole object in life seemed to be an attempt to reanimate the pomp
and pageantry of a dead dynasty.

"Pensioned by the British Government, which permitted him to continue
this absurd travesty, if his feeble exasperation over his predicament
and his silly ostentations could be called by that name, this realmless
potentate occupied his waking hours in futile revilings of the hand that
at once smote and sustained him.

"While not thus engaged, he would gravitate almost to the extreme of
servility in his efforts to exact additional largess from the powers in
control, to expend upon this senile attempt to augment the consideration
of his pageant throne.

"Several efforts had already been made to remove the irritating presence
of this royal household to Bengal, but the time had not yet arrived when
the British could regard with indifference the native prejudice which
would be aroused by such a procedure.

"The infirm moghul, therefore, continued his vaudeville, which was
mainly confined within the palace walls at Delhi, and persisted in his
endeavors to augment his revenues.

"However, to mitigate the nuisance as far as possible, the British
Government consented to recognize his grandson, Prince Otondo, as the
successor to the throne, and yield a degree to the exactions of the
moghul if his young kinsman would agree to remove himself permanently
from Delhi and reside in the Kutub.

"To this, for a reason which shortly transpired with almost laughable
incongruity, Dahbur Dhu assented, and Prince Otondo established himself
at this royal residence with an outward manifestation of satisfaction,
at least.

"Despite the fact that the merchant was a familiar figure in this
enclosure, he believed that he remarked an unusual degree of interest
awakened by his presence, and was assured that he detected more than one
sinister and smiling