nd she and
the Princes gathered about their mother. Then they told the Rajah the
whole story of how his mother and the nurse had sought to destroy
Guzra Bai and her children, and how they had been saved, and had now
come to safety and great honor.

The Rajah was overcome with joy when he found that Guzra Bai was
innocent. He prayed her to forgive him, and this she did, and all was
joy and happiness.

As for the old Ranee, she was shut up in the tower where Guzra Bai had
lived for so many years, but the old nurse was killed as befitted such
a wicked woman.

LIFE'S SECRET

A STORY OF BENGAL

In a far-off country there once lived a great Rajah who had two wives,
one named Duo and the other Suo. Both these Ranees were beautiful, but
Duo was of a harsh and cruel nature, while Suo was gentle and kind to
all.

Though the Rajah had been married to his Ranees for some time they
neither of them had any children, and this was a great grief to every
one. Daily prayers were offered up in the temples for the birth of a
son to the Rajah, but the prayers remained unanswered.

One day a beggar, a holy man who had vowed to live in poverty, came to
the palace asking for alms. Duo would have had him driven away, but
Suo felt compassion for him. She gave him the alms he asked and bade
him sit in the cool of the courtyard to rest.

The beggar thanked her and ate the food she gave him. Just before he
left, he asked to speak to her in private. This favor Suo granted him.
She stepped aside with him, and as it so happened this brought them
directly under the windows of Duo's apartments.

"Great Ranee, you have been very kind to me," said the beggar, "and I
wish to reward you. I know that for years you have desired to have a
son, but that this wish has not been granted. Now listen! In the midst
of the jungle over beyond the city there grows the most wonderful tree
in all the world. Its trunk is silver, and its leaves are of gold.
Once in every hundred years this tree bears a single crimson fruit.
She who eats this fruit, whosoever she may be, shall, within a year,
bear a son. This is that hundredth year,--the year in which the tree
bears fruit, and I have gathered that fruit and have it here."

So saying, the beggar drew from among his rags a piece of silk
embroidered with strange figures. This he unfolded, and showed to the
Ranee, lying within it, a strange fruit such as