Poona almost to Calcutta. His successor at the time of the Mutiny was a
clever rascal, who refused to commit himself openly against the British
while secretly protesting his devotion to their enemies. He balanced
himself adroitly on the fence until it was evident which side would
prove victorious. When Delhi fell and the mutineers were scattered, he
offered a refuge in his palace to certain rebel princes and leaders
who were fleeing with their treasures and loot to Burmah. But the
treacherous scoundrel seized the money and valuables and handed the
owners over to the Government of India.

The present occupant of the _gadi_--which is the Hindustani equivalent of a
throne--was far from being an improvement on his predecessors. He exceeded
them in viciousness, though much their inferior in ability. As a rule the
Indian reigning princes of today--and especially those educated at the
splendid Rajkumar College, or Princes' School--are an honour to their high
lineage and the races from which they spring. In peace they devote
themselves to the welfare of their subjects, and in war many of them have
fought gallantly for the Empire and all have given their treasures or their
troops loyally and generously to their King-Emperor.

The Rajah of Lalpuri was an exception--and a bad one. Although not thirty
years of age he had plumbed the lowest depths of vice and debauchery.
Cruelty and treachery were his most marked characteristics, lust and liquor
his ruling passions.

Of Mahratta descent he was of course a Hindu. While in drunken moments
professing himself an atheist and blaspheming the gods, yet when
suffering from illness caused by his excesses he was a prey to
superstitious fears and as wax in the hands of his Brahmin priests.
Although his territory was small and unimportant, yet the ownership of