Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-04-18
THE ECCENTRIC RAJAH.

was. perhaps. the most eccentric monarch
that ever existed, and many amusing an.
ecdotes are related OF him He had q
Summer palace at Surat. not far from ,h.
: Gulf OF Gambia, where part Of the Arab.
an sea thundcred past like an avengiue
spirit, roaring and see,hing along the coast
until it smo,e the Cape Of Clutch; then par.
tally changing its course. il rushed past
"Ormus and the Ind. and only exhaus.
ted its ferceness when il reached the Per.
sian Gulf.
!, This JolnS Indra had Q ecrrer named
Dato, who rcsembled him very much, and
nothing gave the rajah so much delight as
when he occasionally placed his own ROY.
al robes on Dato and seated him on his
throne. Then hc would take the porter's
place at the gate. and laugh until he was
almost convulsed. 10 see his courtiers bow
ing down before Dato and obeying him
Many. however, took offcnsc at the levity
displayed By the porter on those occas-
ions. and frequently reported him to the
rajah as being drunk, but the royal man
lie Of clcmency invariably screened the
culprit from punishment, so that at last
the people declared i, was useless TO make
further complaint against him. Now it
was an ancient custom that the rajah. on
state days. when passing to his throne,
should publicly kiss the queen. who gen.
orally sat with her women on a purple
pias at the Western extremity Of the
throne-room.
Wishing to dispense with this ccremo-
ny on such days as Dato represented him.
he Informed his beautiful young wife. TO
whom he was only short time married,
that 1t would sometimes be his pleasure to
omit the pleasing duty of publicly salut-
ing her. The queen on several occas-
ions submitted to this apparent slight with
as good grace as possible. until at length.
fired by the representations of her women,
who wIekcdly insinuated that she had n
rival IN some quarter, to whom the rajah
had transferred his affections. she dcterm-
incd t, burst through the cold restraints
of royalty and act as her heart dictated.
The next time that Dato occupied the
throne. TIE queen. in all the virgin fresh.
ness OF youth an1 beauty. arose from her
char, and, ascending the throne. flung
her jcwc!cd arms around his neck. This
was n nice prcdicament for yirtuous
Young man to be placed in What must
DC done! Should he boldly cast off the
mask and expose the deception No
that would not do, because the raiah had
more than once gently reminded him that
if ever he should betray the secret, bis
head would be found in the skittle- ground
For 4 moment his mind traversed back
to the worthless termagant of a wife at
home. who had been the plague Of his life.
and oh. ec>tacy supreme. to b. cclipsed
in the fond embrace Of the loycliest wo-
man in India. and that woman queen
! why. 1t was fore:astc Of heaven? Will
any Of my readers feel surprised that. an
der the pressure OF such circumstances the
scif>hncss of Da;o's icy nature complete
~ thawcd 'u'-that he actually warmed
10 the beautiful Sheba and paid back her
embraces with interest Indeed 50 fire.
qu"nt and tender were those salutations
exchanged that the courtlcrs could not sup
press their JOY aud admiration. but whis-
! percd. How they love each other p
Never before did such shout Of laughter
ring through the vaul,ed corridors Of the
palace as at that moment as.ailed the ears
Of the assembly. What meant that hol-
low mockery? II was repeated again and
again. until at length all eyes mechanically
turned toward the palace gates. where
could be described the porter rolling on
his back. bis hands and feet beating the
air, and his face purple from immodcra,c
laughter. For moment Dato appeared
nervous and irresolute. but finally called
Out in firm voice: .Ho. guards. Who
is that fellow at the gate OF with his
head Fifty blades flashed in the sun
light, and the rajah's head rolled from bis
shoulders. The royal wrath was appeas-
cd, the mobiles were delighted. and the
queen was radiant with smiles at the re-
suit of her late victory. Feastiug and
dancing were kept up till late hour.
when the royal couple retired TO their
chamber, and the travellers departed. -
The next day the head Of the lucklcss
monarch garnished the palace gates. willie
the trunk was conveyed TO Dato's resi-
dence and delivered to his wife. To her
credit he it recorded. this estimable woman
exhibited no symptom Of weakness at this
sudden bereavement. but on the contrary,
piously expressed the hope Of being able
to get along quite as well without the
'dirty loafer." Toward noon she was
not little surprised to find tha, there
were ivc perfect fingers on the sht hard
instead Of four; for she had affectionatelv
bitten of the las. phalange Of her hus-
bands little finger in little domestic skir
m'sh month before. making the neigh
oorhood quite lively. aud the house too
hot to hold her spouse.
lhis circumstance puzzled her not lit
tie. She next discovered that the raiah's
s'snet ring was on the lef, hand. Wha,
could all this mean? She was a, her wits
end The more sue considered the sub
Ject the more perplexed she became. until
at length she gave it up in dispair. She
Was BY no means remarkable tor her in
tcgri'y OF character. but she knew that II
this ring were found in her possession ia.
penalty would BE death. She. therefore,
fastened before the raiah on the second
day. and prsssrseing herself before hin,
yielded uP the ring, In accepting il, how
ever. ne anecuseiousiy exposed the i'm
perfect finger. paso's wife vas leud in
her protes,a.ions that the headlcss trunk
vas not her adorable husbsnd's. "scr. y
an,1 cha sshn k.l ,.1- g. q = ,