THE WOMAN'S VOICE
meet. Has Master any errands which I can do, any message I can convey?"
"None, child."
"The Prince of Bikanir will return to Agra soon. Has Master any message for him, or for anyone else he knew in the palace?"
"None, child. I know very few in the palace, for I was in a bed of sickness. And yet fain would I know something of her who nursed me so kindly and left me so strangely. Fain would I know that Jelekha the Tartar girl is safe and free and happy."
"Thou mayst know of Jelekha," said the boy, in a hollow voice, "if thy heart desires it."
"What dost thou mean?"
"Messages come from those who are far away, if they are not forgotten."
"Thy words are strange, my boy, and I understand thee not."
"I knew of a woman who was once saved by a warrior. And long after, when he was alone, she appeared before him, and sang and played to him, for he had not forgotten."
"Is this another of thy ghost stories, my child? Can we see those who are far off?"
"The mind can see when the body sleeps."
"Thou speakest still in riddles, child, and I am bad at reading them. But go, my boy, and mayst thou be happy in thy life and merry in thy wanderings. And if ever thou meetest Jelekha, tell her that as long as Norendra Nath lives he shall never, never forget that brave, that true-hearted girl who nursed him in illness, befriended him in peril, saved him in danger.
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