"Let the prisoner be brought in again," the rajah ordered, when informed of this.
"Dog," he said, "you have betrayed yourself. Had you been innocent, you could not have known in which of the dishes the poison had been placed. You have eaten of all but one. If that one contains poison, you are guilty."
Then, turning to an attendant, he ordered him to take a portion of the untouched food, and to throw it to a dog. Pending the experiment, the prisoner was removed. Half an hour later, the attendant returned with the news that the dog was dead.
"The guilt of the man is confirmed," the rajah said. "Let him be executed."
"Will you give him to me, your highness?" Charlie asked. "His death would not benefit me now, and to save his life, he may tell me who is my enemy. It is of no use punishing the instrument, and letting the instigator go free."
"You are right," the rajah agreed. "If you can find out who bribed him, justice shall be done, though it were the highest in the state."
Charlie returned to his own quarters, assembled his lieutenants and several other of his officers, and had the man brought before him.
"Hossein," he said, "you have taken money to take my life. I looked upon you as my faithful servant. I had done you no wrong. It has been proved that you attempted to poison me. You, when driven by hunger, ate small quantities, which you thought would pass unobserved, of all the dishes but one. That dish has been given to a dog, and he has died. You knew, then, which was the poisoned dish. The rajah has ordered your execution. I offer you life, if you will tell me who it was that tempted you."
The prisoner preserved a stolid silence.
"We had better proceed to torture him, at once," one of the rajah's officers said.