'Only the actions of the just, smell sweet and blossom in the dust!'
So come; we really must be off; it's getting late."
He felt in his pocket, and held out a baksheesh to Hushmut; but the latter shook his head, and once more said something rapidly in Hindustani. It had a note of petition in it, but the request was apparently not to the hearer's taste. That was to be seen from his face.
"What does he want?" asked the girl, curiously.
"Nothing he is going to get," replied her lover, moving off; "the cheek of the man!"
But the pink muslin stood its ground. "What is it?" she persisted; "I want to know. He doesn't look to me as if he meant to be rude, and--and"--her face softened--"if it is anything we can do, I'd--I'd like to do it. Tell me, please."
The young fellow shrugged his shoulders impatiently.
"Oh! only fooling! He wants you to give him back some of the rose-leaves he gave you, that he may put them in his new brew, to--to make it sweeter; says the luck-gift of a bride always does--"
The girl blushed and smiled all over.
"Well, why not? It is a pretty idea, anyhow." She drew out the handful of rose-leaves as she spoke, then paused with a faint wonder, for the warmth of their shelter had made their perfume almost bewildering.