In this mood, bordering on the hysterical (which is sometimes but a
step to supreme courage), Durga Ram, so-called Umballa, and the council
found her. The face of the former was cold, his eyes steady and
expressionless.
"Has your majesty decided?" asked the eldest of the council.
"Yes," quietly.
"And your decision is?"
"No, absolutely and finally. There is no reason why I should obey any
of your laws; but there is a good reason why all of you shall some day
be punished for this outrage."
"Outrage! To be made queen of Allaha?" The spokesman for the council
stamped his foot in wrath.
"Think!" said Umballa.
"I have thought. Let us have no more of this cat-and-mouse play. I
refuse to marry you. I'd much prefer any beggar in the street. There
is nothing more to be said."
"There are worse things than marriage."
"What manner of indignities have you arranged for me?" Her voice was
firm, but the veins in her throat beat so hardily that they stifled her.
Said the spokesman of the council: "We have found a precedent. We find
that one hundred and ninety years ago a like case confused the council
of that day. They finally agreed that she must submit to two ordeals
with wild beasts of the jungle. If she survived she was to be
permitted to rule without hindrance. It would be a matter for the gods
to decide."
"Are you really human beings?" asked Kathlyn, her lips dry. "Can you
possibly commit such a dreadful crime against one who has never harmed
you, who asks for nothing but the freedom to leave this country?"
Pundita secretly caught Kathlyn's hand and pressed it.
"Once more!" said Umballa, his compassion touched for the first time.
But he had gone too far; for the safety of his own head he must go on.
"I am ready!"
The four men salaamed gravely. They turned, the flowing yellow robes
of the council fluttering in the wind, the sun lighting with green and
red fires the hilt of Umballa's sword. Not one of them but would have
emptied his private coffers to undo what he had done. It was too late.
Already a priest had announced the ordeals to the swarming populace.
You feed a tiger to pacify him; you give a populace a spectacle.
That night Umballa did not rest particularly well. But he became
determined upon one thing: no actual harm should befall Kathlyn. He
would have a marksman hidden near by in both ordeals. What a woman!
She was a queen, and he knew that he would go through all the hells of
Hind to call her his. Long ere this he would have looted the treasure
chests and swept her up on his racing elephant had he dared. Sa'adi's
houri!