Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Atmâ - A Romance by Caroline Augusta Frazer
page 7 of 101 (06%)
slope very slowly. The rest walked in bands of five, of ten, of twenty,
but Raee Singh walked alone. Although his flowing beard was white, he
did not bear himself erect in the dignity of years; his eyes were fixed
on the ground, for the shadow of defeat and dishonour which rested on
him was hard to bear.

Presently he stood before the tent of the British general. A great heap
of weapons lay there glittering in the sun. As he looked, the pile grew
larger, for each Sikh cast his sword there. Raee also extended his arm,
grasping his tulwar, but he did not let it go until an officer touched
his shoulder and spoke. The blade fell then with a clang, and he turned
away. He passed from the camp without seeing it, and took his homeward
way as silently as he had come. The dreams of youth make the habit of
age, and Raee had revered the Khalsa in childhood, and in manhood he had
urged its high commission to his own hurt. As a Khivan proverb has it,
"That which goes in with the milk only goes out with the soul," and the
soul of Raee Singh gathered the fragments of its broken faith and
prepared to depart with them to the Land of Restoration.

He lay for four days, taking no food, and only wetting his lips with the
water which his sole surviving son proffered from time to time. His
heart was crushed, he was full of years, his end was near; and his son,
knowing this, was dumb with sorrow. On the evening of the fourth day he
turned his face to the boy, and spoke,

"Son, well beloved,
My parting hour is nigh;
A heavenly peace should glorify
A life approved
By God, by man, by mine own soul;
DigitalOcean Referral Badge