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 ried to Shashi the Pandit, when Manaswi went to him, and began to wrangle, and said, 'Give me my wife!' He had recovered from the effects of his fall, and having lost her he therefore loved her — very dearly.

But Shashi proved by reference to the astrologers, priests, and ten persons as witnesses, that he had duly wedded her, and brought her to his home; 'therefore,' said he, 'she is my spouse.'

Manaswi swore by all holy things that he had been legally married to her, and that he was the father of her child that was about to be. 'How then,' continued he, 'can she be thy spouse?' He would have summoned Muldev as a witness, but that worthy, after remonstrating with him, disappeared. He called upon Chandraprabha to confirm his statement, but she put on an innocent face, and indignantly denied ever having seen the man.

Still, continued the Baital, many people believed Manaswi's story, as it was marvellous and incredible. Even to the present day, there are many who decidedly think him legally married to the daughter of Raja Subichar.

'Then they are pestilent fellows!' cried the warrior king Vikram, who hated nothing more than clandestine and runaway matches. 'No one knew that the villain, Manaswi, was the father of her child; whereas, the Pandit Shashi married her law-