"No," replied the young man. "Bharata Rahon is like that. Sometimes he puts on such airs that one might think him the King himself. Indeed, he has hopes some day of becoming king, for it is said that Beng Kher would marry Fou-tan to him, and as Beng Kher has no son, Fou-tan and Bharata Rahon would rule after Beng Kher died, which may the gods forbid."
"Forbid that Beng Kher die?" asked King; "or that Fou-tan and Bharata Rahon rule?"
"There is none but would serve Fou-tan loyally and gladly," replied Indra Sen; "but there is none who likes Bharata Rahon, and it is feared that as Fou-tan's husband he might influence her to do things which she would not otherwise do."
"It is strange," said King, "that Beng Kher has no son in a land where a king takes many wives."
"He has many sons," replied Indra Sen, "but the son of a concubine may not become king. Beng Kher would take but one queen, and when she died he would have no other."
"If Fou-tan had not been found and Beng Kher had died, would Bharata Rahon have become king?" asked the American.
"In that event the princes would have chosen a new king, but it would not have been Bharata Rahon," replied the officer.
"Then his only hope of becoming king is by marrying Fou-tan?"
"That is his only hope."
"And Beng Kher favours his suit?" continued King.