reported his presence to the king his mind will become hot against us,
and he will without doubt return and destroy all our houses and kill
everybody in our village. Nay, it is better to give him silver and beg
him begone elsewhere," so although they told the messengers of the king
they would follow his words, they simply held their peace when the
dreaded robber chief was near their village.

But after a long time the headman of Myo Haung, who was braver than his
fellows, came to the palace and told the king that the _boh_ was then at
his village, and would leave when it became dark, taking boat for Myo
Kywe, which was a suburb of the city of Pagan.

The heart of the king was filled with joy when he heard this piece of
good news, and he gave the headman a great reward. Also he took off the
royal robes such as is the custom of kings to wear, and put on very poor
ones so that no one would think that he was the lord who ate the country
of Pagan. He also took with him a sword; not the royal sword with the
silver sheath and ivory handle, but an old dah with a wooden handle
bound around with rattan string, and a sheath of wood, such as the
common people carry, then he went to the bank of the river near Myo
Kywe and waited. He waited long, but his heart was strong and he did not
become discouraged by reason of the waiting, and at last he saw coming
down the river a small boat, and in it a man whom he knew immediately to
be the thief.

Maung Lek Byah guided his boat toward the bank near where the king was
seated, for he was a skillful oarsman, and when he had fastened it with
a rattan loop to the end of his oar stuck into the soft mud at the
water's edge he ascended the path to the village, and as he reached the
top of the bank he caught sight of the king in his dingy clothes and
wearing the old sword with the wooden handle, sitting on the side of the
path.

He was surprised to see a man there at that time of night, for the gongs
which call the priests and old women to worship had sounded long before,
and everybody in the village was sound asleep, therefore he gazed
earnestly at the king and then called out:

"Who is that?"

"It is a man who wishes to arrive at the rank of disciple to our lord,"
replied the king.

"Art thou a man of the day or a man of the night?" asked the robber
looking down at him.

"Thy servant is a man of the night," replied the king.

"Hast thou not heard how many of my followers have been caug