The Flaw in the Sapphire. Charles M. Snyder
presence, and was assured that he detected more than one sinister and smiling glance directed, with covert insinuation, upon his impassive countenance.
“An uneasy suggestion of conspiracy met him at every turn.
“With that gravid apprehension which creates in advance the very conditions one desires to combat, Ram Lal prepared himself for a series of events which made him shudder to contemplate.
“It seemed to him that the salutes of the swarthy satellites of the prince were a degree less considerate.
“He was convinced of a cynical estimation usually accorded to the destitute.
“The depression of disaster was upon him.
“He could only think in the direction of his forebodings, so when at last he arrived in the familiar ante-chamber and announced himself, his voice reflected his trepidation and his demeanor had lost a palpable degree of its customary assurance.
“While the merchant awaited the response to his request for an audience with the prince, he made a sorry attempt to assume a cheerful aspect, with the success of one who is permitted to listen to the details of his own obsequies.
“When not thus engaged, he traversed the apartment with intermittent strides—another Chryses about to make a paternal plea to this Oriental Agamemnon.
“He had canvassed his demeanor, reviewed his cautious phrases, and had even provided a desperate denunciation, which, when he considered the privileged rascality of his royal auditor, he felt assured would at once conclude the interview and his liberty.
“As Ram Lal was about to end his fifth attempt to apprehend the result of this expected interview, the curtains parted and a stalwart attendant, impassive and silent, appeared.
“In response to the eloquent concern betrayed in the glance of the merchant, the other, holding the curtains aside, indicated, by an inclination of his turbaned head and a sweep of his hand, the dignity of which was intended to convey some intimation of the personality of his master and the proportions of the privileges accorded, that the merchant was expected to proceed, which he did with trembling precipitation.
“As Ram Lal entered the room, his alert glance discerned the figure of the prince extended, with unceremonious abandon, upon a divan.
“Advancing, he made profound obeisance to the reclining potentate, who acknowledged his presence with a spiritless motion of his hand not unsuggestive of the humiliating degree of his condescension.
“At this period of his career Prince Otondo presented, in his personality and surroundings, considerable of the picturesque magnificence with which the native rulers delighted to surround themselves.
“His presence, at once dignified and carelessly amiable, was not the least vital accessory to the sumptuous abundance, to which he added the last touch of distinction.
“A smiling cynicism, which was one of his most engaging characteristics and an invaluable masquerade for his genuine sentiments, lingered about his thin, patrician lips.
“His features balanced with cameo precision, and in his eyes, usually veiled by lashes effeminately long, the whole gamut of a passionate, intolerant nature was expressed.
“ ‘Well, most ancient and honorable!’ said the prince, with an exasperating suggestion in his manner of appreciation of the travesty of his words, as he gazed upon the merchant with a glance whose speculation the latter could not determine. ‘Well, how speeds thy traffic and thrive thy caravans?’
“ ‘Not well, my lord,’ answered Ram Lal, ‘not well.’
“ ‘Ah, ha!’ exclaimed the prince, with an indescribable insinuation of biased rebuke in the look with which he challenged further revelations from the speaker. ‘That touches me nearly; this must not be; an industrious subject may not suffer while there is a remedy at hand.’
“ ‘’Tis on that head I would beseech your majesty!’ exclaimed the merchant, seizing the opportunity provided, with such plausible ingenuousness, by the august speaker.
“ ‘Proceed, Ram Lal,’ urged the prince, with an amiability which the merchant had known to be a dangerous prelude in the past.
“ ‘Great prince!’ replied the merchant with the prompt obedience which contemplates a possible reversal of privilege.
“ ‘Nine days from home I strayed.
“ ‘On my return I find my house despoiled of all its store.
“ ‘And with the rest, O prince, the priceless tokens of thy high regard.
“ ‘Aside from these, I do not mourn my loss, for it may be repaired.
“ ‘Nor will I question fate, whose ears are dull to hear, whose eyes refuse to see the victims of her spleen.
“ ‘But hear, O prince—my one ewe lamb, my sole delight—my daughter greets me not.
“ ‘The empty halls no more re-echo to her tread.
“ ‘No more sweet mur——’
“ ‘Enough, Ram Lal,’ interrupted the prince. ‘I have heard that a needle thrust into the eye of a bullfinch will make it sing, but I did not know that misery could transform a merchant to a bard.
“ ‘Disjoint your phrases a degree. You say your daughter greets you not?’
“ ‘Yes, O prince,’ replied Ram Lal, abashed at this cynical embargo upon the melancholy luxury of his rhythms; ‘yes, and it is of her I would speak.’
“ ‘Speak,’ urged his august hearer.
“After a moment’s reflection, in the manner of the unwelcome envoy who has reached the acute juncture of his recital and is about to disembarrass himself of a dangerous climax, the merchant continued in sordid Hindustani:
“ ‘As I have said, O prince, my daughter has been taken from me, and I come to you in my extremity.’
“ ‘And why to me, Ram Lal?’ demanded the prince, with a gleam in his glance which was directly responsible for the pacific presentation which followed.
“ ‘Because,’ replied the merchant with discerning irreverence, ‘if it so please your highness, your providence is practical, and the ways of Vishnu are tedious.’
“ ‘Ah!’ exclaimed the prince appreciatively; ‘that was not so bad for a merchant; but to the point.’
“ ‘Little can occur in this cantonment that is not known to your highness, or that cannot be determined if you so desire.
“ ‘I ask your august assistance, and I have, as you will see, observed the proprieties in making my request.
“ ‘It is a time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his appreciation of the importance of the favor he solicits, is it not so?’
“ ‘I did not know,’ replied the prince, ‘that commerce could develop such an oracle; it is a subtle sense of fitness you express. I am interested. Proceed.’
“ ‘I will, your highness,’ responded Ram Lal, as he inserted his hand in one of the folds of the sash which encircled his waist. ‘You recall the stone of Sardis?’
“ ‘Ah!’ exclaimed the prince, his cynical listlessness transformed at once into the abandon of eagerness. ‘What of it, O merchant?’
“ ‘This,’ replied the latter as he withdrew his hand from his sash, ‘if your highness will deign to examine it,’ and the speaker extended toward the incredulous prince a small box of shagreen, which the latter clutched with the grasp of avarice.
“ ‘Will his highness deign?’ repeated Ram Lal to himself with bitter irony as the prince pressed back the lid and exposed to view a magnificent sapphire, the gleam and the glitter of which affected