RAKUSH AND HIS MASTER 



I. THE PRINCE 



RUSTEM was eight years old when his grand- 

 ^ father, the mightiest of all the princes of 

 Iran, came up out of Seistan to see him. For the 

 old man had heard that the boy excelled all others 

 in stature and beauty, and the fame of his 

 strength was known throughout the whole of 

 Persia. At the head, therefore, of a splendid 

 retinue of warriors, the aged prince set out for 

 Zaboulistan, the home of Rustem and his noble 

 father, the white-headed Zal. When he was yet 

 a day's journey from the city, the young boy, 

 mounted on an elephant of war and accompanied 

 by a cavalcade of lords and nobles, went out to 

 meet him. 



As the long line of riders wound through the 

 defiles of the mountains or passed in orderly ar- 

 ray across the plains, it presented a picture of 

 splendor and beauty. which, even in the gorgeous 

 East, has seldom been surpassed. The young 

 prince's body-guard, mounted on coal-black 



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