[CONTENTS]
| CHAPTER | |
| [PROLOGUE] | |
| [I.] | THE HEIR |
| [II.] | GENERAL SIR WILFRID ELTON |
| [III.] | 'IN VISIONS OF THE NIGHT' |
| [IV.] | A MYSTERIOUS LEGACY |
| [V.] | WHAT THE MOON AND RIVER SAID |
| [VI.] | AN IRREPARABLE LOSS |
| [VII.] | THE RAJAH'S HEIR SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF |
| [VIII.] | THE MASQUERADE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES |
| [IX.] | DELHI—VIVIEN—A MALCONTENT |
| [X.] | MEERUT AND THE ELTONS |
| [XI.] | ON THE BORDERS OF NEPAUL—A JOURNEY THROUGH THE JUNGLE |
| [XII.] | A VISIT TO JUNG BAHADOOR |
| [XIII.] | LUCKNOW AND SIR HENRY LAWRENCE |
| [XIV.] | A MODEL STATE |
| [XV.] | THE RANEE OF JHANSI |
| [XVI.] | THE RAJAH'S RECEPTION |
| [XVII.] | HOW THE NEWS FROM MEERUT WAS RECEIVED AT GUMILCUND |
| [XVIII.] | HOOSANEE'S MISSION |
| [XIX.] | GENERAL ELTON'S MARCH |
| [XX.] | THE SOUBAHDAR SUFDER JUNG |
| [XXI.] | WITHIN THE WALLS OF MEERUT |
| [XXII.] | THE RAJAH SURPRISED |
| [XXIII.] | THE SNAKE-CHARMER AND THE VEILED LADY |
| [XXIV.] | SUBDUL |
| [XXV.] | AN AWFUL RIDE AND A RESCUE |
| [XXVI.] | CAPTAIN BERTIE'S FAQUIR |
| [XXVII.] | THE BREAKING OF THE MONSOON |
| [XXVIII.] | A LITTLE BAND OF FUGITIVES |
| [XXIX.] | THE WELCOME OF A SORROWFUL SPIRIT |
| [XXX.] | CHUNDER SINGH'S PRECAUTIONS |
| [XXXI.] | THE ENGLISH LADIES IN THE RAJAH'S PALACE |
| [XXXII.] | NO NEWS |
| [XXXIII.] | CONTAINING EXTRACTS FROM THE RAJAH'S DIARY, WITH HOOSANEE'S RECOLLECTIONS |
| [XXXIV.] | GOING THROUGH THE LAND—FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, FROM EAST TO WEST |
| [XXXV.] | A BRUSH WITH MUTINEERS AND A CLUE TO THE FUGITIVES |
| [XXXVI.] | IN THE DEADLY TERAI |
| [XXXVII.] | THE ADVICE OF BÂL NARÎN |
| [XXXVIII.] | THE SHIKARI'S DISCOVERIES |
| [XXXIX.] | WHAT BÂL NARÎN HAD BEEN DOING |
| [XL.] | THE ELEPHANTS' CHACE |
| [XLI.] | WHAT THE MORNING BROUGHT |
| [XLII.] | 'DOES PEACE RETURN?' |
| [XLIII.] | A STRANGE JOURNEY |
| [XLIV.] | MORE FUGITIVES IN GUMILCUND |
| [XLV.] | NEWS OF MEERUT—GENERAL ELTON FINDS A NEW SPHERE |
| [XLVI.] | HOW GUMILCUND RECEIVED HER PRINCE |
| [XLVII.] | IN THE PALACE |
| [XLVIII.] | A LETTER FROM ENGLAND |
| [XLIX.] | SEEN IN THE LIGHT OF MORNING |
| [L.] | VISHNUGUPTA, THE PRIEST |
| [LI.] | THE RAJAH WELCOMES A GUEST AND HEARS A STRANGE STORY |
| [LII.] | GIFTS AND CONGRATULATIONS |
| [LIII.] | NEWS FROM LUCKNOW—TRIXY'S DETERMINATION |
| [LIV.] | COMING BACK TO LIFE |
| [LV.] | IN ENGLAND AGAIN—CONCLUSION |
[THE RAJAH'S HEIR]
PROLOGUE
'A dream and a forgetting. Is our life that? The sages who have searched into the past and future say that it is even so. A dream—another dream; a beginning—an ending; a beginning again—an ending again; in all the world no halt for the trembling spirit until the dizzy height be reached. And that—when will it be? I accept not the priceless boon alone. Ye Holy Ones, who have been my companions from my boyhood, whose wills have wrought upon my will, whose bodiless voices have counselled me, ye know what is in my heart. If I had separated myself from my kind, from the children who depend upon me for their daily bread, I might now have attained to the goal of my spiritual desire; instead of going forth upon this weary flight I might have been basking in the light of knowledge, as the Divine—nay, the very Divine myself. But it cannot be. For their sakes I must begin again.'
Slowly and brokenly the words fell upon the silence. He who spoke them—a man but a few hours ago in the full pride and glory of life—was dying. Early that morning he had gone out as was his wont from his palace, he had ridden over fields which he had redeemed from the wilderness, he had visited the fair markets that his munificence had opened; he had gone on foot, as he had often done before, through the crowded streets of the city he governed, when the hand of an assassin struck him down. The blow was dealt before the eyes of the loyal throngs that pressed round their rajah; yet the miscreant who did the foul deed made no effort to escape.
'He is a Feringhee,' he muttered as (the wounded prince having forbidden violence) the people led the assassin to prison. 'He is a Feringhee. He will take away from us our religion and customs, and give us foreigners to rule over us.'
Weeping and moaning, the attendants of the rajah had dressed his wound with such cool unguents as they could procure on the instant, and, while some carried him to his palace, others went in hot haste for the European doctor at the Residency. He let them do what they would, knowing that the doing would ease their pain; but, for himself, he was well aware that the end of his life, as master of these good people and lord of loyal Gumilcund, had come.
When everything that skill and care could devise had been done he begged his attendants to leave him. He wished to be alone.