“No! you have undertaken to prove your zeal for the welfare of your country, and I should be loth to deprive you of the opportunity.”
“Will you believe me faithful if I make a vacancy in the Mogul sovereignty before the waning of another moon?”
“The destruction of the Moslem king will restore you to my confidence, and to that of your countrymen.”
The Rajpoot returned to Akbar’s camp. His absence had been noticed. He was summoned before the Monarch. When he entered the presence, Akbar eyed him with keen and significant scrutiny, but the man did not blanch.
“Soldier,” said the Emperor, “you were absent last night from the camp. What was the object of your absence?”
“The king’s interest.”
“The king’s interest is not to be promoted by a breach of discipline.”
“I obtained admission into the fort, and have done the base work of a spy for the benefit of my country’s enemy.”
The Emperor was silent for a moment, but his eye fixed with an intense expression of inquiry upon the traitor. “What did you learn?” he at length inquired.
“That a sally will be made by some of the choicest troops of the garrison, on the second morrow from the present. The governor is determined to suffer extermination rather than capitulate, and has employed a secret assassin to take the Sovereign’s life.”