Page:Indian tales of the great ones.djvu/100

92 said the boy, standing firm. "See, I appeal to Shiva to protect me;" and he put out his hand to the large pebble of black stone, Shiva's symbol, which had been brought to the shrine from the great sacred river of the West Country.

Then the King of Death was angry, and he laid hands on the boy to take him by force; and he dragged him away, so that the symbol of Shiva fell to the ground.

And now Shiva himself, the great god, was angered, and his voice thundered forth, ordering the King of Death back to the Kingdom of Death. "And you shall not return to the world of the-things-that-pass, till I bid you," said Shiva.

So back went the old king on his slow-moving, grey-black buffalo, And the boy was happy, and life was again