262 HUNTING IN THE JUNGLE. 



" And the abject Sun replied, — 



" ' Light of the Day, I will devote it to adoring you.' 



•' Now the next day was one of fete, and, to add to 

 its festivities, the judges of the people decided that The 

 Sun should undergo the proof from the black panther, 

 and if he got out of the unequal contest alive, he should 

 be reinstated in his honors as guiltless. 



" The Prince approved this judgment, feeling confident 

 in his favorite minister's courage and strength, and left 

 the choice of arms to him. He selected the short Ceylon 

 poniard and a bit of wood shaped like a dumb-bell. 



" Toward the end of the day, when its heat was some- 

 what spent, the amusements began in the court-yard of 

 the palace. A light tent was drawn over it, and from 

 the cornices hung marvellous stuffs from Eastern looms. 

 The Prince made his entry on a tremendous elephant, lost 

 beneath a pile of sumptuous trappings, and surrounded 

 by all the court dignitaries, with their servants and 

 bearers. When the Prince dismounted they threw them- 

 selves down upon the ground, and he walked upon their 

 prostrate forms to his seat, whence he viewed the mar- 

 vellous dancing of his nautcli girls. 



" After the sensuous, the cruel. Two men, their heads 

 covered with turbans, and wearing masks with eyeholes, 

 appeared, each with a long rod. They drew near, and 

 after crossing rods like fencers, began to lash one another 

 in rhythmical time, as if they were hammering iron. Un- 

 der each swishing blow the flesh writhed and the blood 



