“Judging of men as they naturally are, I should fancy that you would feel disgust towards me and hate me. I thought so, but I have since heard from the man who has met you in the Court of Justice that you said this:
“‘I am not guilty of any theft or breach of the peace, but was told by the Judge that I had acted against the law. I was simply acquainted with a Japanese priest of whose antecedents I knew scarcely anything. All these torments which I am now suffering are, to my mind, but the results of the evil deeds (Karmas) of my past lives. Therefore it is I have to bear them in order to get rid of them as such.’
“O my friends! you may mitigate your misfortunes with that kind of consolation; but how is it possible for me to bear the galling thought that I am the cause of all the misfortunes you have suffered for my sake?”
[CHAPTER C.]
The King betrays his suspicion.
THE AUTHOR AND HIS FRIEND BUDDHA VAJRA ENJOYING THE BRILLIANT SNOW AT KATMANDU.
On February 9th at two o’clock, accompanied again by Buḍḍha Vajra, I presented myself at the palatial residence of His Highness Chanḍra Shamsher, Prime Minister or King de facto of Nepāl. The residence with its grounds must cover an area of at least three hundred and fifty yards square, and it has a guarded gate, within which are barracks, a small parade-ground, and a race-course. Proceeding over a broad pavement for about seven hundred yards, we came to the main entrance of the palace. Inside the reception hall, into which we were taken, I saw three chairs and a thick piece of white cloth carpet of the Nepālese style at the upper end of the room, and a teak-wood shelf of European design standing against a wall, with a white statue of a Nepālese Goddess riding on an elephant on its top. Other conspicuous objects catching the eye at a glance were a pair each of the carved heads of lions and deer, and a huge pendulum clock. From where we were seated we saw to the south through the glass-paned windows a most enchanting view of the “Moon Peak,” the “Dragon Tree Peak” and other great elevations.
In the reception hall were many officers of the army and other dignitaries. The Secretary for Foreign Affairs being one of the company, took me to task—all by pre-arrangement as I suspect—and I replied to his questions as well as I could.