"Come along," said Bimala.
"I shan't go any farther," replied the Brahmin, trembling.
"I too am affrighted," said she.
The Brahmin now advanced a foot, ready to bolt.
Bimala looked at the tree and descried some white object beneath it. She knew that Saileshwara's bull[1] used to lie there; but said to Gajapati,
"Take the name of your guardian god, Gajapati. What do you see under the tree?"
"Help! O! help! my God!" exclaimed Diggaja, and off he bolted. Blessed with long legs, in a trice he left a mile behind him.
Bimala knew the nature of Gajapati sufficiently well to infer that he would go straight to the castle gate;—so that without any misgivings on that head, she proceeded in the direction of the temple.
Bimala had considered everything before she came out, except one:
Had the Prince come?
The thought rendered her extremely uneasy. She saw that the Prince had given no certain assurance of his coming; but had only said, "Here you will find me; if you don't, we shall never meet again." In such a case, the probability of his not coming was very great.
If he had not come, then so much trouble had been taken in vain.
"Ah! why didn't I think of this before?" said she to
- ↑ Maheshwara rides on a bull. Saileshwara, as an image of that god, had a bull consecrated to him.
