the imperial, and certainly very noble, nose,
the shadow which he had thought worth all the rest of the picture.
Queen Elizabeth is said, by an edict, to have commanded all artists
who should paint her likeness, 'to place her in a garden with a full
light upon her, and the painter to put _any shadow_ in her face at
his peril'. The next time the Raja came, the Emperor took the
opportunity of consulting him upon a subject that had given him a
good deal of anxiety for many months, the dismissal of one of his
personal servants who had become negligent and disrespectful. He
first took care that no one should be within hearing, and then
whispered in the artist's ear that he wished to dismiss this man. The
Raja said carelessly, as he looked from the imperial head to the
canvas, 'Why does your majesty not discharge the man if he displeases
you?'

'Why do I not discharge him? I wish to do so, of course, and have
wished to do so for many months, but _kuchh tadbir chahiye_, some
plan of operations must be devised.' 'If your majesty dislikes the
man, you have only to order him outside the gates of the palace, and
you are relieved from his presence at once.' 'True, man, I am
relieved from his presence, but his enchantments may still reach me;
it is them that I most dread--he keeps me in a continual state of
alarm; and I would give anything to get him away in a good humour.'

When the Raja return to Meerut, he received a visit from one of the
Emperor's sons or nephews, who wanted to see the place. His tents
were pitched upon the plain not far from the theatre; he arrived in
the evening, and there happened to be a play that night. Several
times during the night he got a message from the prince to say that
the ground near his tents was haunted by all manner of devils. The
Raja sent to assure him that this could not possibly be the case. At
last a man came about midnight to say that the prince could stand it
no longer, and had given orders to prepare for his immediate return
to Delhi; for the devils were increasing so rapidly that they must
all be inevitably devoured before daybreak if they remained. The Raja
now went to the prince's camp, here he found him and his followers in
a state of utter consternation, looking towards the theatre. The last
carriages were leaving the theatre, and going across the plain; and
these silly people had taken them all for devils.[42]

The present pensioned imperial family f Delhi are commonly conside