The Prince of India, vol 1 | Page 8

Lo! it is all mine, the intruder now asserted title.
Unable, had he so wished, to carry the whole collection off, he looked
around upon this and upon that, determining where to begin. Conscious
he had nothing to fear, and least of all from the owner in the chair, he
was slow and deliberate. From his robe he drew a number of bags of
coarse hempen cloth, and a broad white napkin. The latter he spread
upon the floor, first removing several of the urns to obtain space; then
he emptied one of the vessels upon it, and from the sparkling and
varicolored heap before him proceeded to make selection.
His judgment was excellent, sure and swift. Not seldom he put the large
stones aside, giving preference to color and lustre. Those chosen he
dropped into a bag. When the lot was gone through, he returned the
rejected to the vessel, placing it back exactly in its place. Then he
betook himself to another of the vessels, and then another, until, in
course of a couple of hours, he had made choice from the collection,
and filled nine bags, and tied them securely.
Greatly relieved, he arose, rubbed the benumbed joints of his limbs
awhile, then passed the packages out to the slaves. The occupation had
been wearisome and tensive; but it was finished, and he would now
retire. He lingered to give a last look at the interior, muttering the
sentence again, and leaving it unfinished as before:
"No one has been here since"--
From the face of the king, his eyes fell to the silver tablet in the
nerveless hand. Moving close, and holding the lamp in convenient
position, he knelt and read the inscription.
I.
"There is but one God, and He was from the beginning, and will be
without end.

II.
"In my lifetime, I prepared this vault and tomb to receive my body, and
keep it safely; yet it may be visited, for the earth and sea are always
giving up their secrets.
III.
"Therefore, O Stranger, first to find me, know thou!
"That in all my days I kept intercourse with Solomon, King of the Jews,
wisest of men, and the richest and greatest. As is known, he set about
building a house to his Lord God, resolved that there should be nothing
like it in the world, nothing so spacious, so enriched, so perfect in
proportions, so in all things becoming the glory of his God. In
sympathy with him I gave him of the skill of my people, workers in
brass, and silver, and gold, and products of the quarries: and in their
ships my sailors brought him the yield of mines from the ends of the
earth. At last the house was finished; then he sent me the model of the
house, and the coins, and cloths of gold and pearl, and the precious
stones, and the vessels holding them, and the other things of value here.
Ad if, O Stranger, thou dost wonder at the greatness of the gift, know
thou that it was but a small part of what remained unto him of like kind,
for he was master of the earth, and of everything belonging to it which
might be of service to him, even the elements and their subtleties.
IV.
"Nor think, O Stranger, that I have taken the wealth into the tomb with
me, imagining it can serve me in the next life. I store it here because I
love him who gave it to me, and am jealous of his love; and that is all.
V.
"So thou wilt use the wealth in ways pleasing in the sight of the Lord
God of Solomon, my royal friend, take thou of it in welcome. There is
no God but his God!

"Thus say I--HIRAM, KING OF TYRE."
"Rest thou thy soul, O wisest of pagan kings," said the master, rising.
"Being the first to find thee here, and basing my title to thy wealth on
that circumstance, I will use it in a way pleasing in the sight of the Lord
God of Solomon. Verily, verily, there is no God but his God!"
This, then, was the business that brought the man to the tomb of the
king whose glory was to have been the friend of Solomon. Pondering
the idea, we begin to realize how vast the latter's fame was; and it
ceases to be matter of wonder that his contemporaries, even the most
royal, could have been jealous of his love.
Not only have we the man's business, but it is finished; and judging
from the satisfaction discernible on his face as he raised the lamp and
turned to depart, the result must have been according to his best hope.
He took off his robe, and