THE SLAVE GIRL OF AGRA
thee and thy mountain fairy. Voices in the air bid me depart, for it is midnight, and fairies often wait on their magicians at this hour."
Confused and angry, Noren replied with some heat, though still with the courtesy due to so honoured a guest.
"We are encamped in a strange land and a strange place, Prince, and I know not what beings of earth or air surround and watch us, but one word I would add before we part, if thou wouldst permit. I care not what suspicions may be formed against me, for I am a soldier and but a poor sinner. But that girl, Jelekha, nursed me in my illness and helped me in peril and danger, and I will not permit her name to be lightly pronounced. By Heaven, I believe her to be true, and thou, noble and chivalrous Prince, wilt offer me an insult if thou breathest a suspicion on her who saved my life."
There was a tone of earnestness in Noren's voice which could not be mistaken, and Prithwi Raj had the feelings and the natural nobility of his race.
"Pardon me, Norendra Nath," he said, "if I have given thee pain, and believe me I meant no offence. We soldiers talk lightly of such affairs, but I wished not to wound thy cherished feelings. Keep thy secret, and here is the hand of a Rajput who has always been true to his friends."
Noren grasped the hand cordially and spoke softly:
"Forgive me if I spoke a little warmly, but that Moslem girl, whom I shall perhaps never see again, was a friend to me when I was friendless, and a nurse to me when I was at death's door, and I shall never think of her but with gratitude. No other feeling do
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