Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-20
CHAPTER III.
Nehal Singh.

The royal apartment was prepared for
the suffocating midday heat. Heavy
hangings had been pulled across the door
which led On to the balcony. and only at
one small aperture the sunshine ventured
to pierce through and dance its golden
reflection hither and thither over the
marble floor. The rest was hidden in the
semi-obscurity of starlit night which.
like transparent veil, half conceals and
half reveals an untold richness and
splendor.
At either side slender Moorish pillars
rose to the lofty ceiling. and from their
capitals winking points Of light SHIN
mered through the shadows. Fantastic
designs sprang into sudden prominence
on the walls, shifting with the shifting
of the sunshine, and at the far end. raised
by steps from the level of the floor. stood
a throne. alone marked out against the
darkness by its bejeweled splendor. OF
other furniture there was no trace. To
the left a divan formed Of silken cushions
had been built up for temporary use. and
on this. stretched full length on his side.
lay an old man. whose furrowed visage
appeared doubly dark and sinister be-
meath the dead white Of his turban. His
head was half supported on q pillow, and
thus at his ease he watched with un-
blinking. unlagging attention. tho tall.
1t was the rajah himself who had let
in the one point of daylight. It fell full
upon his face and set into brilliant
blaze the single diamond on the nervous,
muscular hand which held the curtain
aside. Apparently he had forgotten his
companion and indeed, everything save
the scene on which his eyes rested. Be-
meath the balcony. like steps to a mighty
altar. broad and beautiful terraces de-
scended In stately gradations to a para
~
perfume came drifting UP on the calm air
to the very windows Of the palace. This
lovely chaos extended for about mile
and then ended abruptly. AS though cul-
tfvated nature had suddenly broken loose
from her artificial bounds. dark jungle
forest rose up side by side with the flow
ers and well kept walks. and like black
stain spread itself into the distance.
swallowing up hill and valley until the
eye lost itself in the haze of the horizon.
Within a few hundred yards of the palace
ruined Hindu temple lifted its dome
and crumbling towers into the intense
blue Of the sky. And on garden, jungle
and temple alike the scorching midday
sun blazed down with pitiless impartial
ity.
For an hour the rajah had remained
watching the unchanging scene, scarcely
for an instant shifting his own position.
One hand rested on his hip. the other
held back the curtain and supported him
in a half-leaning attitude of dreamy in
dolence- Against the intensified darkness
Of the room behind him his features stood
out with the distinctness of finely cut
cameo. A man Of about twenty-five
years. he yet seemed younger. thanks.
perhaps. to his expression. which was ex-
traordinarily untroubled. Thought, poetic
and philosophic, but never tempestuous,
sat in the dark. we'll shaped eyes and
high, Intellectual forehead. Humor. sor-
row. care. anxiety and doubt, the children
OF q strenuous life. had left his face sin
gularly unscarred with their character
istic lines. For the rest, beyond that he
was unusually fair, he represented in
high caste and noble lineage. Between
him and the old man upon the divan
there was no apparent resemblance. The