THE RAJPOOTNI BRIDE. 
167 
upon it, according to the custom of her race, should 
the object of her tenderest attachment perish in 
the encounter. She knew the disparity of num- 
bers between the hostile parties, and was there- 
fore prepared for the worst. When the distracted 
bridegroom entered the enclosure in which his de- 
voted sita had erected the funeral pile, with a con- 
vulsed countenance and bursting heart he beheld her 
already upon the burning fabric. The flames were 
rapidly ascending to do the work of death, while she 
stood erect and undaunted with an expression of stern 
determination on her countenance that absolutely 
appalled him. Her eye gleamed with a portentous 
energy, and as he entered was riveted upon him with 
a look of withering scorn. Her clothes were already 
on fire, and her limbs dreadfully scorched, yet she 
stirred not a muscle ; her whole frame seemed fixed 
like a rock amid the desert upon which the lightnings 
flash with harmless impetuosity. The Rahtore ap- 
proached her hurriedly, but she raised her arm, for- 
bidding his advance. He was in a moment riveted 
to the spot. He dared not interrupt the voluntary 
sacrifice to which she was now submitting. Her eye 
moved not from him, and never for a moment relaxed 
its expression of indignant disdain. 
By this time the fire had made dreadful inroads 
upon her lovely frame ,* still she discovered not the 
slightest indication of an agony too intense and ter- 
rible for description. Her features maintained the 
same fearful immobility. In a few moments her legs 
gave way and she fell upon her knees, the flames 
entirely encircling her. Every now and then, how- 
