and sweet glances and irresolution and long
hair. And the image of the Queen rose up before me, laughing as it
were in scorn at Haridasa, and utterly obliterating everything he
said. And I said to myself in ecstasy: Sunset will be here, very soon.
And I reached my house, and looked, and lo! there was sitting at the
door a Rajpoot, covered with the desert's dust, and holding by the
rein a horse that hung its head, trembling still, and white with foam.

And as I came towards him, he stood up, and made obeisance. And he
said: Maharaj, thou art come at last, and it was time. And I said:
What is the matter? Then he said: Thy mother sent me, and I have
ridden night and day. The King thy father is dying, and every moment
he may be dead. And now, if thou carest, either for thy father, or thy
mother, or thy throne, there is only one chance for thee, to fly to
them as fast as any horse can take thee, without the delay of a single
moment. So my message is delivered, and the Maharaj is judge.

And again he made obeisance, and went away on foot, leading his horse
behind. And I stood, looking after him in a stupor, like one struck by
a bolt from heaven, in the form of his appalling news. And I said to
myself: Go I must, or my mother is ousted, and the _raj_ lost. And yet
if I go, the sun will set in the Queen's garden, and I shall not be
there.

And I pushed my door wide open, and went in, and sat down, with my
face buried in my hands. And my own words sang in my head, over and
over again: Go I must, or the _raj_ is lost, and my mother ousted. And
the sun will set in the Queen's garden, and I shall not be there.

And I heard a laugh beside me, and I looked up. Lo! there was
Chaturika, standing in the open door! And she looked at me with
laughing eyes, and she said: Ha! as it seems, I am just in time to
save thy life: for thou art apparently all but dead. And, beyond a
doubt, the Queen is a cunning doctor, who understands her patient's
case. For she sent me to thee, saying: Go to him, O Chaturika, since
without thee he will die: and help him, how thou canst, to live until
the sun has set.

And I stood up, and seized my hair with both my hands. And I groaned
aloud, and said: Alas! O Chaturika, what is a man to do, when two suns
set, in opposite directions? And instantly, all the laughter died out
of her face. And she looked at me with dark eyes, and she said: Two
suns! What dost thou mean? And I told her all, and she listened in