“‘’Tis on that head I would beseech your majesty!’ exclaimed the merchant, seizing the opportunity provided, with such plausible ingenuousness, by the august speaker.
“‘Proceed, Ram Lal,’ urged the prince, with an amiability which the merchant had known to be a dangerous prelude in the past.
“‘Great prince!’ replied the merchant with the prompt obedience which contemplates a possible reversal of privilege.
“‘Nine days from home I strayed.
“‘On my return I find my house despoiled of all its store.
“‘And with the rest, O prince, the priceless tokens of thy high regard.
“‘Aside from these, I do not mourn my loss, for it may be repaired.
“‘Nor will I question fate, whose ears are dull to hear, whose eyes refuse to see the victims of her spleen.
“‘But hear, O prince—my one ewe lamb, my sole delight—my daughter greets me not.
“‘The empty halls no more re-echo to her tread.