The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-11-06


The factor privately warned him thai
should his skill fail, things might bt
made very unpleasant for him at the
Mogul's court. But the young sur
geon had plenty of pluck and self-re
lance; and beside, the thought o
having such a patient as the favoritt
daughter of the Great Mogul excited
his professional ambition. It would bt
sheer madness to throw away such :
splendid chance of winning wealth anc
distinction simply because there wa:
some risk attaching to it. And so
without further parley, Gabriel Bough
ton prepared to start for Delhi.
In less than two hours from the ar
rival of the messenger, the English sur
geon was riding at headlong speed or
the mission which was to make or mai
his fortunes. Weary. anxious and al
most exhausted, Gabriel Boughtor
reached the Mogurs palace, and wa.
rejoiced to learn that he was not toe
late. He was led at once to the apart
ments of the Padshah Begun, and
there he found Shah Jehan, who had
never left his daughters side. Hag.
gard, and worn, and wan from constant
watching, sleepless anxiety and poign.
ant grief, the Great Mogul looked al
most as fit a subject for the Doctor skill
as his unhappy daughter. The mo-
ment he saw the face of the English
surgeon, he rushed to him, clutched
him by the arm, and in imploring &C.
cents besought him to cure his daugh-
ter, declaring on.hisz sacred oath that
whatever reward the surgeon might
ask should be granted him, were he but
successful To have the richest and
most magnificent monarch III the world
thus, y suppliant almost at his feet
might well have shaken the strongest
nerves. But Gabriel Boughton was
calm and collected, and set about the
delicate and critical task before him in
| that cool, business-like manner, which
was even then marked characteristic
of English surgeons, and which served
more than anything else to inspire the
natives of India with confidence in
their skill.
By his unwearying attention, his pa
tient care and skillful treatment, Ga
briel Boughton succeeded in effecting a
complete cure. Not only was the Pad
shah Begun restored to health, but her
beauty was little, if any at all, impaired
by the terrible injuries she had suffered.
The gratitude and Joy of Shah Jehan
knew no bounds. The Grand Vizier,
Assud Khan, to whom Gabriel Bough-
ton owed his introduction to the I'M
perial court, was commissioned to in
form the fortunate surgeon that on a
certain day the Great Mogul would
grant him a special audience in state,
that he might then claim his reward,
and that whatever he might demand the
Emperor pledged himself to grant. The
Grand Vizier was obsequious in his man.
ner, knowing how polite it was to Sc
cure the good graces of rising favor
lite, and even ventured to hint at flu
ture so brilliant and dazzling that Ga
briefs brain went dizzy at the prospect.
Left to his own meditations, the surgeon
pondered deeply over his position. He
was young, he was good-looking, he was
ambitious. Here was father whose
heart was full of the most extravagant
and reverential thankfulness toward
him; here was daughter equally CRATE
full, and even more favorably disposed
toward him than her father. What was
to prevent him from asking her hand,
and becoming the most powerful and
influential parsonage at the court of the
Great Mogul? To Western ideas, such
an inspiration light seem too audacious
and romantic to be entertained for a
moment; but in the East there were
plenty of precedents for such reward,
granted for services of great value
why should he not make this bold bid
for position and fortune?
The day appointed for the state audi
ence with the Great Mogul arrived.
Seated on his splendid throne, the high
heron plumes, clasped with diamonds,
adding majesty to his face, his dress
one blaze of brilliants, by his side, un-
yelled the beautiful Padshah Begun,
|erouhl him lis magnfficent retinue of
noblss. scarcelT less ..gcrgeously clad
than himself, Shah Jekan prepared to
receive the man who had done him a
service which, as he gazed lovingly at
the sweet face beside him, it seemed
that the whole of his imperial treasury
was hardly rich enough to repay. The
Englishman bowed low as he came into
the preserve Of the Emperor. Then
Shah Je}ian abeckoned him to come
nearer, took him by the hand, and,
looking significantly at the Padshah
Begum, babe. him name his reward
There was breathless silence as the
young Englishman opened his lips. And
what was the price he claimed for his
sefvicesp He asked for no private
emolument; he sought no selfish adj
vancement; he simply solicited that his
countrymen, the traders of the. Est
India Company, might have liberty to
trade free of all duties in Bengal and
establish factories in that province!
What the Psdshah Begun thought of
this unromantic request, or whether she
had ever dreamed of any such roman
tic termination t6sthe episode as the
Grand Vizier had svaguely limited at.
history does not say. But Shah ,Tehan
himself was profoundly impressed with
the magpanimity and ~unselishness of
the English safgeh, Nh gave his So
emn word that the most ample priyf
leges and opportunities, for traAinI
should be, granted to the English mer.
chants. .,ssy'a tss;s al
Boughton had thought the matter out
patiently s:apd carefully, and had de-
cided that the position Of favorite and
sunrinzlaw At the GgeaA Mogul, though
dazzling, was precarious; that he should
simply surround himself with unscru-
pulous' enemies, who would sooner OF
later effect his murder or his disgrace;
and that even th0sel who were his
friends at first would come to regard
| him as an upstart and an alien. usurp-
/ ing the riches and the powes. that
should belong to one of themselves. II
would be wiser to use his great inf1u-
ence over the Mogul to promote the
tntensstsof the Company, whose sett-
ant he was, and look to the Company
for reward, which, thoSgh less splen-
: : ~ 'a't alo VIZ se dsrog