THE SACRED COBRA 127 



point on which all were agreed was the great sanctity 

 of the shrine, and Beharilal was most careful to 

 perform at it every ceremony which custom, or 

 tradition, sanctioned for placating the god and 

 averting any calamity that might arise from his 

 displeasure. 



At the base of one of the old cracked walls of the 

 shrine there was a hole which was the den of a very 

 large, black cobra. Several times it had been seen 

 in the garden, and, when pursued, had glided into 

 this hole and escaped. When Beharilal first heard 

 of it he was much troubled in his mind, but, 

 having consulted a Brahmin, he gave strict injunc- 

 tions that the reptile should not be molested, and 

 since that time he had never failed to place an 

 offering of milk near to the hole in the morning 

 and in the evening. 



Now it happened that at this time there was in 

 Dowlutpoor an English doctor who was generally 

 known as the Jadoo-walla Saheb, because he was 

 believed to practise sorcery and had some mysterious 

 need of snakes. Perhaps he was only making 

 experiments with their venom. At any rate, he 

 wanted live cobras and offered a good price for them. 

 So when Nagoo, the snake-charmer, heard that there 

 was a large one in Beharilal' s garden, he thought he 

 might do good business by capturing it for the 

 Jadoo-walla Saheb, and at the same time demanding 

 a reward from the timorous Bunia for ridding him 

 of such a dangerous neighbour. With this intent he 

 20 



