Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-08-31

CHAPTER VII. (Continued.)
eyes; nor do | understand from
whom 1t comes. All he added, tear
Ing open the letter. ''still another invi-
tation. but Of a very different nature!'
and he read aloud the following lines:
1.-THE Princess Djella begs Sir John
Malcolm, civilian, of the Presidency Of
3enarcs. and his sons, to do her the
honor to assist at a panther hunt. on
Thursday next. September q. After
the hunt the princess hopes to see her
guests 1t supper at Schahabad."
~ panther hunt!' exclaimed George.
"Ah, father, nothing could be more de-
lightful!'
But there is danger" murmured
Agnes. ooh, dear guardian, decline
this invitation, ! beg you!"
II have very strong reasons, dear
child, to accept. But you need not
fear. We will not wantonly expose our
lives. Your love renders them too pre-
cious."
But who is this Princess Djellay'
asked George.
.She Is n descendant in direct line OF
the Tamerlides, and possessed of one
of those gigantic and limitless fortunes
OF whose extent our greatest wealth
a form no idea. Entire provinces be-
long to her. She exercises almost alb
solute rights Of sovereignty. She has
palaces at all the large cities Of India
at Calcutta, Agra, Delhi and a dozen
more. Her country houses. which de-
serve the name Of palaces, are as many
as the days of the year; her influence
Is, Of course, prop0r'lOrately immense,
and IL she were not the faithful friend
of the Company, she might become its
most dangerous enemy"
"You have never doubted her fidel-
1tyy
mo; for on several occasions she has
given of II i~ndisputable proofs"
"Is she marri-dg'
"A eighteen she was a widow. She
Is now scarcely twenty-five, and n OF
the most wonderfully beautiful women
that the imagination OF a poet might
conceive. The singular light in her
eyes, the warm pailor of her complex
ion. the splendor of her black hair, are
Incompatible
"Ah, Sir John.' interrupted Agnes,
with an involuntary shudder, .'how
lovely that womAn must be"
Every lovely, dear child; but less so
thai Yourself. About her unquestioned
and fascinating beauty is something
singular and almost repulsive. Near
her, one does not feel as with YOU, the
charm of purity and innocence
Agnes thanked her guardian with a
smile. but an underlined trouble still
weighed upon her. 1t was the dawn OF
Jealousy within her heart.
HAS this Hindoo princess. who in
vites to a panther hunt as an English
duchess to a tea, preserved the a
ners ana slightly savage customs of
her ancestors asked George.
"She is the most singular contradic-
ton in the world" answered Sir John.
.She is as completely a woman Of the
world as the most honorable and tt
tied lady in all England. She has re-
ceived q most thorough and brilliant
education; she speaks English and
French as though she had been born in
London or Paris; she has travelled
throughout Europe: she has danced at
the Tuileries; she has painted and
drawn from nature from the loveliest
sites in Italy and Switzerland, and
skilled artists who have seen her work
declare that its execution Is marvellous.
Gut iltttIlc ntI JtNtfS llOln llDlitfph.
her toilets from Paris. Her French
cook came to her from one of the
finance kings OF France. One might
not push farther the extreme of refine.
ment and civilization, ana yet, the prin-
cess has preserved all the beliefs and
superstitions and prejudices of her
race. She, whose elegance might rival
any woman's: she. who has visited the
Nr;,l-... ~o tI.nJ,.aI <rnt,o na,,. - Dor.
is and st. Peters at Rome. yet abso-
lItely believes herself descended from
the god Vishnu, and kneels with pro-
found and ardent conviction in the
Temple of silva or Bowhanie. If one OF
these terrible Hindoo diyinities should
demand. to-day, through the mouth OF
their priests, a human sacrifice, / am
confident that this charming woman
who would be found charming in any
country of the globe, would stand by
and assist at the torture with a smile
even thought her victim were her lat.
xSt partner I'm the dance"
'Horrible'.' said George. 'She Is 0
monster"
TN a fashion-yes. She Is of hel
country and her race, and instinct is
with her, stronger than education. She
lives in the midst of luxury. Of which
we, as Europeans, can form no idea
To cross the threshold Of one Of hel
palaces is to be transported from real
tty into fairyland.r
"Of her personal life. what is said?'
Nothing. III her public life is known
her private life is so completely yelled
that 1t defies investigation"
why does she mol marry againY'
Sir John smiled.
"TEat Is a question she alone can an.
swer,' he replied. "Put it to her. II
you viii, but understand that the hour
she discovers widowhood to be a bur
den. the ,aspirants to her hand would
be ns numerous as the stars in the sky
or the sands upcn the shore" ~