Shafts from an Eastern Quiver.
V.—THE SWORD-HILT OF THE IDOL AT DELHI.
By Charles J. Mansford, B.A.
I.
"
AM sorry that we could not persuade Hassan to join us in this attempt, I said to Denviers; "he is a strange character in some respects, but I have no doubt his knowledge of these Hindu temples would have been of great service to us in this scrape. I wonder if we shall escape with our lives?"
"He is telling the Brahmins."
"Can't say, Harold," responded my companion; "we are evidently in for it at present. Look at that treacherous guide—how I wish we could hear what he is telling the Brahmins! We were fools to trust him, in face of what Hassan said to the contrary, when he endeavoured to dissuade us from entering the temple. It was a religious scruple entirely which influenced our own guide when he refused to come—the Arab is brave enough otherwise!"
"Never mind, Frank," I replied; "if things come to the worst we shall die game, no doubt, but I certainly would prefer to continue our adventures and travels to being finished off by these fanatics. What villainous countenances they have!"
We were prisoners in a temple near Delhi. After seeing the wonderful rock of Hestra, we started next day in the direction of the Suliman Mountains. Thence we proceeded to Lahore, and, crossing the Punjab, paid a visit to the great fair of Hurdwar, and were now at the sacred city of Delhi, in a difficulty which threatened to effectually terminate our wanderings. We had a special reason for visiting this temple, for during our travels in Persia we had been entertained on one occasion by a famous Parsee at Shiraz. From him we obtained certain information which inspired us with the suicidal notion that we could penetrate into a Hindu temple, succeed in abstracting from it a long-hidden treasure, and thus have sufficient wealth at our disposal to enable us to indulge in whatever travels we cared to undertake without interfering with the proceeds of our first adventure.
We had won his confidence by abjuring in his presence the fragrant weed, for fire in any form was sacred to him, even when contained in the pipe of peace. Talking to the Guebre for some time, we eventually succeeded in persuading him speak of Nadhir Shah. He related to us a rumour, which was current in Persia, to the effect that during his two months' occupation of Delhi, this famous Shah had hidden some fine brilliants in a temple, and to secure their safety until his departure, a special mode of concealing them had been devised. He averred, with his hand upon his beard, that in the inner court of the temple an idol had
