ld him she had
not been seen by them that day. This troubled him terribly, and he
roused the whole palace to seek her. Messengers were soon hurrying
to and fro, but not a trace of her could be found. Dridha-Varman
was now quite sure that the woman the barber had talked about was
Kadali-Garbha, the wife he had so loved and trusted. "Perhaps," he
thought, "she has left poison in my food, and has gone away so as
not to see me die." He would neither eat nor drink, and he ordered
all the ladies whose duty it was to wait on the queen to be locked
up till she was found. Amongst them was the wicked woman who had done
all the mischief because of her jealousy of the beautiful young queen,
and very much she wished she had never tried to harm her.

15. Where do you suppose the queen had gone?

16. What mistake did the king make when he heard the queen was missing?

CHAPTER IX

In her trouble about the loss of the king's love Kadali-Garbha longed
for her father, for she felt sure he would be able to help her. So
she determined to go to him. With the aid of the wise woman who
had given her the packet of mustard seed, and who had been her best
friend at court, she disguised herself as a messenger, and, mounted
on a strong little pony, she sped along the path marked out by the
young shoots of mustard, reaching her old home in the forest before
the night fell. Great indeed was the joy of Mana Kanaka at the sight
of his beloved child, and very soon she had poured out all her sorrow
to him. The hermit was at first very much enraged with his son-in-law
for the way in which he had treated Kadali-Garbha, and declared that
he would use all the powers he had to punish him. "Never," he said,
"shall he see your dear face again; but I will go to him and call
down on him all manner of misfortunes. You know not, dear child,
I have never wished you to know, that I am a magician and can make
the very beasts of the field and the winds of heaven obey me. I know
full well who has made this mischief between you and your husband,
and I will see that punishment overtakes them."

"No, no, father," cried Kadali-Garbha; "I will not have any harm done
to my dear one, for I love him with all my heart. All I ask of you
is to prove to him that I am innocent of whatever fault he thinks I
have committed, and to make him love and trust me again."

It was hard work to persuade Mana Kanaka to promise not to harm the
king, but in the end he yielded. Together