rted as with an agony of pain and effort. And
this may have been; I know not, I was otherwise engaged. For at that
first disclosure of the dead man's eyes my Lord Durrisdeer fell to the
ground, and when I raised him up he was a corpse.

* * * * *

Day came, and still Secundra could not be persuaded to desist from his
unavailing efforts. Sir William, leaving a small party under my command,
proceeded on his embassy with the first light; and still the Indian
rubbed the limbs and breathed in the mouth of the dead body. You would
think such labours might have vitalised a stone; but, except for that
one moment (which was my lord's death), the black spirit of the Master
held aloof from its discarded clay; and by about the hour of noon, even
the faithful servant was at length convinced. He took it with unshaken
quietude.

"Too cold," said he, "good way in India, no good here." And, asking for
some food, which he ravenously devoured as soon as it was set before
him, he drew near to the fire and took his place at my elbow. In the
same spot, as soon as he had eaten, he stretched himself out, and fell
into a childlike slumber, from which I must arouse him, some hours
afterwards, to take his part as one of the mourners at the double
funeral. It was the same throughout; he seemed to have outlived at once,
and with the same effort, his grief for his master and his terror of
myself and Mountain.

One of the men left with me was skilled in stone-cutting; and before Sir
William returned to pick us up, I had chiselled on a boulder this
inscription, with a copy of which I may fitly bring my narrative to a
close:

J. D.
HEIR TO A SCOTTISH TITLE,
A MASTER OF THE ARTS AND GRACES,
ADMIRED IN EUROPE, ASIA, AMERICA,
IN WAR AND PEACE,
IN THE TENTS OF SAVAGE HUNTERS AND THE
CITADELS OF KINGS, AFTER SO MUCH
ACQUIRED, ACCOMPLISHED, AND
ENDURED, LIES HERE
FORGOTTEN.

______

H. D.
HIS BROTHER,
AFTER A LIFE OF UNMERITED DISTRESS,
BRAVELY SUPPORTED,
DIED ALMOST IN THE SAME HOUR,
AND SLEEPS IN THE SAME GRAVE
WITH HIS FRATERNAL ENEMY.

______

THE PIETY OF HIS WIFE AND ONE OLD
SERVANT RAISED THIS STONE
TO BOTH.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Unwilling.