"A full month had elapsed, and I had ceased to give my exclusive thoughts to the necklace of blue diamonds; for the harvest time was approaching, and I had to make arrangements for the garnering of my crops. My house was in the open country, half a league or so from the nearest village. It was the evening hour, and I was seated in the vestibule of the outer courtyard, having just dismissed the head reaper with whom I had come to terms for the services of himself and his fellows in the fields of grain.
"Glancing along the road I descried what I took to be a band of travelling yogis, in rags, unkempt, some hobbling on crutches. But as I was accustomed to treat with contempt such Hindu beggars, I gave no special heed to their approach.
"All of a sudden, however, when within less than a bow shot of the house, the pretended yogis raised a loud and terrifying yell, and rushed toward me, brandishing staves and daggers. Then did I realize that I was in the presence of a gang of armed dacoits. Before I could summon help, I was mercilessly beaten over the head with bludgeons; after which I was bound hand and foot, and thrown face downward on the divan on which I had been seated. I could hear the sound of a scuffle in the courtyard, and the dying scream of the eunuch who guarded the entrance to the women's apartments, rising high above the frightened cries of my two wives and the children and of the female slaves who attended them. Then, because of the grievous blows that had assailed me, as well as the agony of my mind, consciousness fled, and I lay like one dead unto the world.
"It must have been hours before I was awakened from this stupor, for the moon was riding high in the heavens. Over me was bending the demoniac face of a Hindu priest, a worshipper of Siva as I knew from the caste marks on his forehead.
"'Where is the Ganapati?' he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the blue diamonds.'
"Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been discovered. And with this joy came the determination that I would rather die than surrender the necklace of blue diamonds, or allow the mocking elephant-headed god to be returned to his place of honour before a crowd of idolatrous worshippers.
"I shall not recount the details of that terrible night. I need but say that I was tortured in a dozen different ways—the soles of my feet were burned with hot embers, the flesh of my thighs was pierced with daggers, I was beaten all over with clubs, and when I lost my senses for a spell I was revived by chatties of cold water being dashed on my face. But I never spoke a word. The very spirit of Shaitan had entered into my soul; if they were devils, then was I the prince of devils in my resolve to defy them.
"I was but faintly conscious of my surroundings, when I heard a whispered colloquy among the priests disguised as robbers.
"'We must not kill him,' I heard one voice say. 'Only if he lives shall we recover the Ganapati.'
"Then also I heard some faint cries from afar off, from the village, showing that the dacoits were discovered, and that courage was being mustered for some attempt to drive them away.