Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/277

 followed him since he left Agra, and he gave me food."

"At Agra didst thou ever play on thy harp in the palace?"

"Often, Master; it was in the palace I earned my living."

"And didst thou ever play before the Princes of royal blood?"

"Before Princes, Master, and Princesses too. And Queens and Begums sometimes sent for me and listened to my music."

"Why, thou art a lucky minstrel then. Who sent for thee?"

"Ask me no names, Master, for I know not one from another. But a great Rajput lady—wife of the Emperor and mother of his eldest son—was kind and generous to me, and I would sing her praises all my life if I knew her name."

"It is Queen Jodh Bai thou art speaking of. A kindly heart she has for all strangers."

"Maybe, Master. And I have played before the Chief Queen, and before a Persian Lady of great beauty who was once her guest. There was none in the palace so beautiful as she."

"Ha! knowest thou her name?"

"Little can I remember of the names of those great ladies, Master. But they say the eldest Prince once sought her hand."

"The very same! Why, it is Begum Mihr-un-Nissa thou art speaking of. Hast thou ever seen woman so beautiful, so dignified, so commanding?"

"Master has seen her then?"