Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-21

tons. Not as Mr.. Archibald Travers had
with justice complained. that the reign
ing prince, as in other states, took any
part in the general gayety or in any way
enhanced the agreeableness of his capital.
AS far as was known. no European eyes
had ever lighted on him since his child
hood. Under one excuse and another he
had been kept persistently in the back
ground, his place being taken first by the
regent and then by succeeding ministers,
until it was generally supposed that the
young rajah was either afflicted with some
loathSone disease or mentally deficient,
probabilities which the government, with
unpleasant recollections or Behar Singh's
usual readiness. There was no cause
for suspicion. The rajah never left the
precincts Of his palace garden, a piece of
land whose cultivation had cost untold
sums, and which. together with the Hindu
temple, was supposed to stand as the
eighth wonder of the world. Fabulous
stories were told of the beauty and rarity
of the vegetation, and of the value OF
the jewels which were supposed to deco
rate the temple and royal apartments As
there was no opportunity OF confirming
or refuting the statements, they Were al
lowed to grow unhindered.
1t was in this small sphere that Nehal
Singh spent his childhood. his youth and
early manhood. OF the outer world he
had seen nothing, though he had read
much, his education extending over all
European history and penetrating deep
into that Of his own country. Neverthe
less, the picture his mind had formed had
little in common with the reality-it was
too overshadowed by his own character
AS a blind man may be able, through
hearsay, to describe his surroundings de-
tail by detail and yet at the bottom be
possessed by an entirely false conception,
so Nehal Singh, to all appearances well
instructed, was in reality as ignorant as
a child The heroes whose figures peO-
pied his imagination were too heroic, the
villains too evil, and both heroes ard vii
lains were either physically beautiful or
hideous, according to their characters.
He had no comrade against whose prac-
teal experience he might have rubbed
this distorted picture into a more truthful
likeness. His only companions had been
his native instructors and the priests
men separated from him by a gulf OF
years and a curious lack OF sympathy
which he had in vain strfven to overcome.
Thus he had been intensely lonely, more
lonely than he knew. though some dawn
ing realization crept over him on this
particular evening as he passed through
the temple gates. For moment he stood
with his hands crossed over his breast.
absorbed in prayer to Brahma. the Gre
ator. in whose presence he was about to
stand. In such an hour, amidst the
absolute stiffness, under the stupendous
shadows OF the walls, which had, un-
changing, seen generation after genera
ton of worshipers drift from their affairs
into the deeper shades OF Patala. the
young prince felt the wings Of divine sp.r-
its brush close past him, bearing his
prayer on unseen hands to the very ear
of the golden-faced trinity who. from his
earliest years. had seemed to look down
upon him with solemn kindness.
This evening, more perhaps than ever
before, every fiber in him yibrated be-