married the emperor's daughter, he thought it more prudent to postpone
his vengeance, not being quite willing to draw upon himself the
hostility of so great a power.

Prince Kushluk remained for many years in Turkestan and in the
countries adjoining it. He married a daughter of Gurkhan, his
protector. Partly in consequence of this connection and of the high
rank which he had held in his own native land, and partly, perhaps, in
consequence of his personal courage and other military qualities, he
rapidly acquired great influence among the khans of Western Asia, and
at last he organized a sort of rebellion against Gurkhan, made war
against him, and deprived him of more than half his dominions. He then
collected a large army, and prepared to make war upon Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan sent one of his best generals, at the head of a small but
very compact and well-disciplined force, against him. The name of this
general was Jena. Kushluk was not at all intimidated by the danger
which now threatened him. His own army was much larger than that of
Jena, and he accordingly advanced to meet his enemy without fear. He
was, however, beaten in the battle, and, when he saw that the day was
lost, he fled, followed by a small party of horsemen, who succeeded in
saving themselves with him.

Jena set out immediately in pursuit of the fugitive, accompanied by a
small body of men mounted on the fleetest horses. The party who were
with Kushluk, being exhausted by the fatigue of the battle and
bewildered by the excitement and terror of their flight, could not
keep together, but were overtaken one by one and slain by their
pursuers until only three were left. These three kept close to
Kushluk, and with him went on until Jena's party lost the track of
them.

At length, coming to a place where two roads met, Jena asked a peasant
if he had seen any strange horsemen pass that way. The peasant said
that four horsemen had passed a short time before, and he told Jena
which road they had taken.

Jena and his party rode on in the direction which the peasant had
indicated, and, pushing forward with redoubled speed, they soon
overtook the unhappy fugitives. They fell upon Kushluk without mercy,
and killed him on the spot. They then cut off his head, and turned
back to carry it to Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan rewarded Jena in the most magnificent manner for his
successful performance of this exploit, and then, putting Kushluk's
head upon a pole, he di