at he had done well, the rajah drew Ram Singh to one
side, and in a few minutes learned from him how, in attending to the
guru's counsel, he had delayed to do the king's message.

In the end the rajah found from some papers the proofs of his dead
brother's treachery; and Ram Singh established his innocence and
integrity. He continued to serve the rajah for many years with
unswerving fidelity; and married a maiden of his own rank in life,
with whom he lived happily; dying at last honoured and loved by all
men. Sons were born to him; and, in time, to them also he taught the
five wise sayings of the old guru.

(A Punjabi story.)

FOOTNOTE:

[4] A Hindu religious teacher or saint; in this case a Sikh.

_THE GOLDEN-HEADED FISH_

Once upon a time there lived in Egypt a king who lost his sight from a
bad illness. Of course he was very unhappy, and became more so as
months passed, and all the best doctors in the land were unable to
cure him. The poor man grew so thin from misery that everyone thought
he was going to die, and the prince, his only son, thought so too.

Great was therefore the rejoicing through Egypt when a traveller
arrived in a boat down the river Nile, and after questioning the
people as to the reason of their downcast looks, declared that he was
court physician to the king of a far country, and would, if allowed,
examine the eyes of the blind man. He was at once admitted into the
royal presence, and after a few minutes of careful study announced
that the case, though very serious, was not quite hopeless.

'Somewhere in the Great Sea,' he said, 'there exists a Golden-headed
Fish. If you can manage to catch this creature, bring it to me, and I
will prepare an ointment from its blood which will restore your sight.
For a hundred days I will wait here, but if at the end of that time
the fish should still be uncaught I must return to my own master.'

[Illustration: THE PRINCE HAS PITY ON THE GOLD-HEADED FISH]

The next morning the young prince set forth in quest of the fish,
taking with him a hundred men, each man carrying a net. Quite a little
fleet of boats was awaiting them and in these they sailed to the
middle of the Great Sea. During three months they laboured diligently
from sunrise to sunset, but though they caught large multitudes of
fishes, not one of them had a golden head.

'It is quite useless now,' said the prince on the very last night.
'Even if we find it this evening, the hu