h renewed
animation:

"'Oh, Lal Lu, be not so cold! Hearken! The native regiments of Meerut
are in revolt and on their way to Delhi.

"'It is their purpose to re-establish Dahbur Dhu, my grandfather, upon
the throne of the moghuls.

"'As thou knowest, I am next in succession, and Dahbur Dhu is feeble and
decrepit.

"'The British are not in sufficient force to withstand a combined
attack.

"'See, then, Lal Lu, what this means for me; what it means for thee.'

"'Oh!' repeated the girl with curious emphasis, 'what it means for thee,
I know; but what it means for me'--and she paused with disconcerting
deliberation as she added--'thou hast not said.'

"'Everything, my own!' exclaimed the prince with generous
ardor--'everything! Thou hast but to command and thy will is done.'

"'Everything?' re-echoed Lal Lu with a questioning stress which the
prince could not ignore--'everything?'

"'I have said,' replied the prince.

"'Am I then to be thy queen?'

"For a moment, a vital moment, the prince hesitated, but brief as the
pause, scarcely the durance of an eye-flash, Lal Lu saw it, and gazed
upon the prince with a disconcerting directness as he added, with the
haste we note in the accused who attempt to distract suspicion by the
utterance of glib generalities:

"'My queen! Thou art always that!'

"'Hold, Prince Otondo!' exclaimed Lal Lu as the prince seemed about to
surrender to an impulse to clasp her in his arms--'hold! Thy answers
suit me not. Reply, then, to this: Thy wife--am I to be thy wedded
wife?'

"An expression like that of a peevish child tantalized by obstacles
intruded to enhance its appreciation of favor withheld brightened his
eyes and sent sullen lines converging in his forehead.

"His hands clenched and opened; a faint suggestion of disdain curled his
thin lips; the amiable inclination of his figure was transformed to an
erect intolerance--and Lal Lu was answered.

"When the unfortunate girl could no longer doubt the unlovely evidence
provided by the prince, and apprehended the humiliating significance of
his hesitation, a majesty surer than his own, a presence superb in its
elevation, encompassed her, and she gazed upon the perturbed man with an
expression from which every trace of tenderness appeared to have
vanished.

"With an angry sweep of his arm, as if to banish with a peremptory
gesture the kneeling envoys of compunction, manliness and nobility, the
prince stepped forward.

"'Wha