"We shall not be long, and you can go to your room directly we reach my
palace."
"His palace!" I thought bitterly; "the palace of a syce." And I was
thinking of it all contemptuously when my hand fell upon the gems which
encrusted my sword-hilt, and I felt that Ny Deen must be one of the
wealthiest of the native chiefs.
The distance that we had to traverse was not great, and I saw emissaries
in the form of sowars dashing forward to announce our coming; but I felt
very weak as I sat back watching the glare of light get brighter and
brighter till I could see that it was rising from among houses, and that
in front of them was a kind of gate hung with lanthorns, while others
kept coming into sight and growing more clear as we approached. Then I
could see the tops of temples and minarets standing up full in the
increasing glare, which made plain at last that we were approaching a
city of considerable size, one that was evidently illuminated in the
rajah's honour, so that the place to which he had taken the guns, and
where we had recovered them, could only have been one of his villages.
In spite of my weariness, the increasing brilliancy of the scene roused
me a little, so that I was sitting up watching eagerly as we drew
nearer, and I could hear the peculiar buzzing roar of a great crowd.
Then fireworks began to rush up skyward rapidly, and the rockets
scattered their blazing stars; the lights of the illumination increased
in number, and at last, as we reached the edge of a crowd which had
surged out through the great gates, there was a sudden burst of wild,
barbaric music, trumpets sent out their brazen clangour, drums were
beaten, and as the band took its place in front, and marched before us,
we went slowly in beneath the great illuminated gate, and then on along
a wide road whose houses were one blaze of light, and sides thronged
with the white-robed people, their eyes glittering curiously as we
passed.
It was a wonderful scene, but I could not appreciate it, for, after the
first few minutes of our triumphal progress, my weariness returned in
greater force, and it all became a blurred dream of lights and glitter,
trampling horses, the swaying elephants, and the deafening clamour of
trumpet and drum.
And all the time I knew that I ought to feel very proud and glad,
because all this preparation and display was got up in my honour; but I
felt neither, for under all was the knowledge that it was for the
rajah's friend, for the one who was to help him by drilling his forces
and making them able to fight and conquer the infidel; and I was one of
the infidels, and one who would not fight against his people to save his
life.
The place was very large, and the light and show appeared as if it would
never end; but at last we turned an angle, and crossed a bridge, beyond
which I could see the white walls of some great building, and trees, and
more lights. There were soldiers there too, and a noble-looking gateway
through which we passed, leaving the crowd behind, and with it the music
and display. For here all seemed peaceful and beautiful, with the
lights glistening among the trees, and I did not need the rajah's touch
upon the arm, nor his word, to tell me that I had reached his home.
"Welcome," he said quietly, and with a pleasant smile. "But, poor boy,
how weary and ill you look."
For I was completely exhausted, and glad of the assistance of the
servants, who supported me into an enclosed court with white marble
paving, and whose centre was a square tank, in which a fountain played
among the glistening leaves of lilies.
I heard the rajah give some order, and directly after the grave old
doctor appeared, and gave me a cup of some cool drink, but it revived me
very little, and the next thing I remember is being carried to a couch,
and uttering a sigh of relief as my helmet and uniform were removed.
Then I dimly saw the face of the rajah looking down at me, and he said
something, but I could not answer, for all was growing misty and
strange, and I dropped at once into a heavy sleep.