st word was undeniably hers, and Gerrard hoped that the
recollection of his breach of etiquette might support her in her
consciousness of defeat. Kharrak Singh came pouting out from behind the
curtain, carrying the document as if it had been a snake or a scorpion,
and after running his eye over it, Gerrard hurried him out. He had given
his orders before the interview, and in a very short time the procession
was in motion, and what was even better, Kharrak Singh in a good temper.
He was riding his father's great state elephant, with its very finest
jewelled trappings, and Gerrard accompanied him on another elephant of
less magnificence, while a third carried the patent of investiture in a
gilt box, and the _khilat_ or dress of honour which was to be conferred
on Sher Singh at the same time. It would have been beyond the power of
the boy to continue to pout in such circumstances, and as he mounted,
Kharrak Singh shrilly promised his pet troop of the guard new coats of
yellow satin. The procession wound gallantly through the narrow streets
to Sher Singh's house, but before the door was reached, the officials who
had been sent forward to announce to the Prince the honour that his
sovereign intended to confer upon him came back with long faces. Sher
Singh was not at home. In fact, he had hurried back after his
humiliation at the durbar, called for his horse, and ridden forth on a
journey with a handful of attendants--to Adamkot, so the servants
believed. The blow was so heavy that Gerrard refused at first to believe
in its reality, and sent messengers to the city gates. The news they
brought served only to confirm the first report. The Regent and his band
had passed through two hours before, bound for Adamkot in hot haste.
Gerrard ordered the procession to return, and it retraced its steps
slowly, while he laid his plans for saving the situation. There were
innumerable things to be arranged when he returned to the palace, and he
summoned the Rani's scribe, and desired him to acquaint his mistress with
what was being done, in order to avoid the loss of time which would be
caused by another personal interview.

"I leave early to-morrow for Adamkot to bring Sher Singh back," he said.
"He must come, but I hope he will yield to entreaty and come peaceably.
I take with me three of the state elephants, with sufficient troops to
form an imposing escort, and at the same time to make opposition useless.
A letter couched in te