Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-10-14
STEVENS MEETS A RAJAH.
His Experience in stucco Roya
Palace.

Palace.
At the door of the stucco palace 1
disheyelled sentry presented arms with
even more than the usual fervor
Then / understood--and perceived com
ing slowly, slowly, and quite noIseless
ly toward me down a corridor small
human figure. 1t wore a white turban
a tabard of lilac silk lined with salmon
satin, long muslin scarf round tbs
neck, snOw-white linen drawers, tight
yet shapeless, and white cotton socks
1t came up, always quite noiselessly
appearing TO be moved rather than tc
move; / saw a brown face, melting
black eyes, a long haired, ne-haired
Oiled black beard.
The figure took my hand in hand
that seemed made of souffIet. and with
the same mysterious, unmoving motion
led me across a high-roofed hall. With
chandeliers like forest-trees and the
paint peeling off the skirting board, in.
to a verandah that overlooked reel.
ing chasm of torrent bed and a lower.
ing heaye of mountain beyond He sat
me in o chair beside him, the inter-
prefer opposite, then turned and fixed
his eyes on me. If the movements
We're inhuman the eyes were unearth.
ly Eyes weary beyond satiety-eyes
utterly passonless and purposeleSs, as
If their owner neither desired anything
nor intended anything, had neither
never had interest in the world or had
quite finished with it. Looking into
those black pools of sheer emptiness,
you wondered whether he were new
born baby or a million years old; you
almost wondered il he were alive or
dead.
That was the Rajah. And then, In
voice that seemed to fall among us
from nowhere, he told the fat-cheeked
gold-spectacled babu to tell me he
trusted l was in the enjoyment of good
health.
Awhile the conversation fioated at
this level. and | began to think that
this Nirvana-eyed Rajah was-if one
may SO speak of princes-a fool. But
presently the babu's circumambient
periods began to call themselves round,
a definite subject, and the Rajah was
instructing me on the political question
of the hour. 1t does not matter to you
what the question was; it did not mat
ter to me. The interest to me lay in
comparing what the Rajah suggested
with what | knew to be true In black
and white he said nothing but he hint
ed words. The suggestions We're so
subtly nebulous that you could hardly
be sure they meant anything at all;
the subject seemed to be In the air
rather than in his conversation. /
found it quite impossible to speak a
language so evasive. and had to fly to
brutal verbs and nouns. He accepted
my remarks, though with depreciation
of their bluntness; SO that at least |
had the satisfaction of knowing we
were both talking about the same
thing.
But the astonishing and inhuman
feature of his talk was that he con-
tinually conveyed to me views of the
questions of the hour which / knew
to be false, which he knew me to know
to be false At least. he knew that
/ came with the Resident. and might
have known that | would ask him
about things and believe what he said.
Yet without the least encouragement,
be insinuated and insinuated and in
simulated away, till felt almost trail
tor TO sit and listen to him. He can
not have thought | should take his
side, or that | could be of any service
to him If / did; but that appeared to
matter nothing. Intrigue was his ma
tire, and in default of better confed-
cldlt lit htpt HIS udD0 ny tly Ing W
intrigue with me.
And then suddenly, without flicker
in the eyes of either Rajah or inter-
prefer:
His Highness hopes that on your
return to your country you will write
to him from time to time. and give him
your advice on affairs of State"
| gasped. His Highness has heard
much of your good name and high
pursued the bland, relent-
less voice-he had first heard, and for
gotten. my name three hours before
"and he is sure that your opinion on
the government of his country would
be very valuable to him"
And while / still gasped, His High
ness motionlessly rose, handed me out
of the chair with his soufilettouch, and
prattled, in English, "Do not forget
ne.T-London Mail