90 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
Having ascertained from the man’s unreluctant con- 
fession by whom the assassins had been hired., he dis- 
missed him with a liberal benefaction. 
This remarkable exploit was repeated from mouth 
to mouth with a thousand exaggerations,, so that 
whenever Shere Afkun appeared abroad,, he was fol- 
lowed and pointed at as a man of superhuman powers ; 
but in order to avoid the recurrence of perils similar 
to those from which he had so recently escaped, he 
retired to Burdwan, 
Meanwhile the suba of Bengal had received the 
emperor’s orders to despatch this extraordinary man, 
but dared not openly execute them. Coming with a 
great retinue to Burdwan, about sixty miles from 
the modern capital of this extensive province, under 
pretence of making a tour of the territory placed under 
his political superintendence, he communicated to 
his principal officers the secret of his mission. The 
devoted omrah went out to meet the suba as he was 
entering the town, and the latter affected to treat 
him with great cordiality. In the progress of the 
cavalcade, a pikeman, pretending that Shere Afkun 
was in the way, rudely struck his horse. The in- 
dignant noble, knowing that no soldier would have 
done this without orders, immediately saw that his 
life was aimed at, and directly spurred his horse 
towards the elephant of the treacherous suba, tore 
down the howda and slew the cowardly Kuttub be- 
fore any of his guards could rescue him : then turning 
upon the omrahs, five were almost instantly sacrificed 
to his just revenge. 
