“This favour I will also grant,” said the Emperor; “but first I will entrust you with another task. Some of the most faithful of my own life-guards shall be placed under your orders; go with them to meet Salhana, seize him, and bring him here in the greatest secresy, so that Gorakh may know nothing of his arrest.”
At a sign from the Emperor the audience was at an end; and no sooner had Siddha received the command of his troop of guards than he was again on the road. Sooner than he had expected, he met his uncle, who appeared to have travelled in great haste, and was accompanied by two followers. These were soon disarmed and prisoners. Salhana defended himself for some time, but was at last overpowered, and, to his anger, pinioned by order of his nephew, whom until that moment he had held in such contempt. A veil was flung around his head, so that no passers-by might recognise him, and he was hurried by his captors to the camp.
In the Emperor’s tent his bonds were loosened, and he was left alone with Akbar and Siddha.
“Your treachery, Salhana,” said the Emperor, “and your latest plans are known to me; your nephew has told me all. Prepare to die,—the executioners await you.”
Flinging a glance of rage and hatred towards Siddha, Salhana threw himself at Akbar’s feet, touching the ground with his forehead. “Spare my life,” he implored. “Punish me, gracious Prince, as you will; but let me live, and I will confess all, and tell all that I know.”
“Salhana,” replied the Emperor, contemptuously, “I knew that you were a traitor and a villain; but I had still to learn that you were also a coward. As for your confessions, they are worthless; I already know all that you can tell me excepting one thing, where and how is Gorakh to be found?”
“This I can tell you,” cried Salhana, welcoming with joy this ray of hope; “I can tell you exactly how to find him, and then——”
“I will grant you a shameful life; but should your information prove false, then, you understand, the sword awaits you.”
Salhana now eagerly gave all particulars by which Gorakh might be recognised in his disguise.
“Have this man closely watched,” commanded the Emperor, turning to Siddha; “and you yourself, with your men, go in search of Gorakh, and when you have found him, hang him on the nearest tree.”