Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/301

 hundred stories are told of his adventures and follies. How he was born in a stall and was saved from the massacre of the innocents ordered by the tyrant of the land, how he stole milk and butter from the dairies of Brindaban and was fastened to a tree as a punishment, how he led kine to the fields and was the playmate of other cowherds, how he played on his flute and made love to the milk-women of Gokul, how he destroyed a serpent and lifted a rock, how he returned from Dwarka and killed the tyrant king—these and such other tales of his human feats and human frailties are narrated in every village home in India, and endear him to man, woman and child among the millions. Worshipping Krishna as an incarnation of the Deity, they are drawn closer to the man for his human weaknesses and sufferings, his human struggles and triumphs.

For days together the Bengal ladies visited every spot connected with the legends of Krishna, while Sirish often went to Agra to make inquiries about Noren. Noren had been honoured by the Emperor and had left Agra on a mission to Mewar, but no one could tell when he would return. Raja Man Singh had gone back to Bengal, but Sirish had introductions to other high officers, Hindu and Mohammedan, and he was nothing loth to prolong his stay in the Imperial city until Noren's return.

Among the chiefs and officers whose acquaintance he made were some relations of Sher Afghan, who received him cordially. Sher Afghan had himself written to them about the Zemindar of Debipur, and Sher Afghan's wife had written to the ladies of the house about Hemlata. The Moslem ladies were good