And when Yasmini passed, and Tess and all the other princesses, there was such excitement as surely had never been before; for if you looked carefully, with a hand held to keep the sun from your eyes, you could actually see the outlines of their faces through the veils!  And such loveliness!  Such splendor!  Such pride!  Such jewels!  Above all, such fathomless mystery and suggestion of intrigue!  Pageantry is expensive, but—­believe Sialpore—­it is worth the price!

And then in front of the durbar hall in the dinning, throbbing heat, all the animals and carriages and men got mixed in a milling vortex, while the notables went into the hall to be jealous of one another’s better places and left the crowd outside to sort itself.  And everything was made much more interesting by the fact that Akbar was showing signs of ill-temper, throwing up his great trunk once or twice to trumpet dissatisfaction.  His mahout was calling him endearing names and using the ankus alternately, promising him rum with one breath and a thrashing with the next.  But Akbar wanted alcohol, not promises, and none dared give him any before evening, when he might get as drunk as he wished in a stone-walled compound all to himself.

Then Samson’s horses took fright at Akbar’s trumpeting, he getting out of the carriage at the durbar door only in the nick to time.  The horses bolted into the crowd, and an indignant elephant smashed the carriage; but nobody was hurt beyond a bruise or two, although they passed word down the thunderous line that a hundred and six and thirty had been crushed to death and one child injured, which made it much more thrilling, and the sensation was just as actual as if the deaths had really happened.

And inside the durbar hall there was surely never such a splendid scene in history—­such a sea of turbans—­such glittering of jewels—­such a peacocking and swaggering and proud bearing of ancient names!  Utirtipa sat on the throne in front of a peacock-feather decoration; and-marvel of marvels!—­Yasmini sat on another throne beside him, unveiled!—­with a genuine unveiled and very beautiful princess beside her, whom nobody except Samson suspected might be Tess.  She wore almost as many jewels as the queen herself, and looked almost as ravishing.

But the Princess Yasmini’s eyes—­they were the glory of that occasion!  Her spun-gold hair was marveled at, but her eyes—­surely they were lent by a god for the event!  They were bluer than the water of Himalayan lakes; bluer than turquoise, sapphire, the sky, or any other blue thing you can think of—­laughing blue,—­loving, understanding, likable, amusing blue—­two jewels that outshone all the other jewels in the durbar hall that day.