142 AMRA. 



" Dead? O merciful Allah ! crime upon crime ! " 

 " His life is cared for," said Abul Fazil, calmly : " ask no more." 

 " It is sufficient. O my brother ! () Amra ! " 

 " She is thine ! Now hear the will of Akbar." Faizi bowed his 

 head with submission. "Speak!" he said; "the slave of Akbar 

 listens." 



" In three months from this time," continued Abul Fazil, "and 

 on this appointed night, it will be dark, and the pagods deserted. 

 Then, and not till then, will Sahib be found at the accustomed spot. 

 He will bring in the skiff a dress, which is the sultan's gift, and will 

 be a sufficient disguise. On the left bank of the stream there shall 

 be stationed an ample guard, with a close litter and a swift Arabian. 

 Thou shalt mount the one, and in the other shall be placed this fair 

 girl. Then fly : having first Hung her veil upon the river to beguile 

 pursuit ; the rest I leave to thine own quick wit. But let all be 

 done with secrecy and subtlety; for the sultan, though he can refuse 

 thee nothing, would not willingly commit an open wrong against a 

 people he has lately conciliated ; and the violation of a Brahminet- 

 woman were enough to raise a province." 



" It shall not need," exclaimed the youth, clasping his hands : 

 " she loves me ! She shall live for me only for me while others 

 weep her dead ! " 



" It is well : now return we in silence, the night wears fust away." 

 He took one of the oars, Faizi seized the other, and with some diffi- 

 culty they rowed up the stream, keeping close under the overshadowing 

 banks. Having reached the little promontory, they parted with a 

 strict and mute embrace. 



Faizi looked for a moment after his brother, then sprung forward 

 to the spot where he had left Amra ; but she was no longer there : 

 apparently she had been recalled by her nurse to her own apartments, 

 and did not again make her appearance. 



Three months more completed the five years which had been allot- 

 ted for Govinda's Rrahminical studies; they passed but too rapidly 

 away. During this time the Brahman Adhar did not arrive, nor was 

 his name again uttered : and Amra, restored to health, was more 

 than ever tender and beautiful, and more than ever beloved. 



The old Brahman, who had hitherto maintained towards his pupil 

 and adopted son a cold and distant demeanour, now relaxed from his 

 accustomed austerity, and when he addressed him it was in a tone 

 of mildness and even tenderness. Alas for Govinda ! every proof of 

 this newly awakened affection pierced his heart with unavailing re- 

 morse, lie had lived long enough among the Brahmans, to aritici- 



