that air of humility with
which _chelas_ listen to their _gurus_.

That was partly because I really respected the man in a way; and partly
because there was small harm in flattering him a little, if that could
induce him to tell me the more.

"Know then," he began, "that it was my fault that the Princess Yasmini
was able to play that trick on us. It was to me that she first made the
proposal that we should use her audience hall for our conference. It was
I who conveyed that proposal to those whom it concerned, and I who
persuaded them. It was through my lack of diligence that the
hiding-place was overlooked in which she and certain of her women lay
concealed, so that they overheard some of our secrets.

"For that I should have been condemned to death at once, and it would
have been better if that had been done.

"Yet for fifty years I have been a man of honor. And although it is one
of our chief requirements that we lay aside such foolishness as
sentiment, nevertheless the seeds of sentiment remained, and those men
were loath to enforce the penalty on me, who had taught so many of them.

"So they compromised, which is inevitably fatal. For compromise bears
within itself the roots of right and wrong, so that whatever good may
come of it must nevertheless be ruined by inherent evil. I bade them use
me for their studies, and have done with compromise, but being at fault
my authority was gone, so they had their way.

"They imposed on me the task of making use of the Princess Yasmini, and
of employing her by some means to make a beginning of the liberation of
India. And she sought to make use of me to get Athelstan King into her
clutches. Moreover, believing that her influence over us was now too
great to be resisted, she demanded that Athelstan King and yourself
should be shown sciences; and I consented, believing that thereby your
friend might be convinced, and would agree to go to the United States to
shape public opinion.

"Thereafter you know what happened. You know also that, because the
seeds of compromise were inherent in the plan, my purpose failed.
Instead of consenting to go to the United States Athelstan King insisted
on learning our sciences. You and he escaped, by a dive from the upper
window of this palace that would not have disgraced two fish-hawks, and
although you never guessed it, by that dive you sentenced me to death.

"For I had to report your escape to those whom it most concerned. And at
onc