“Circumstances may arise which we cannot foresee, to render my single power available in effecting an object interesting to me, in proportion as its accomplishment is desired by you. Think that I am upon a mission of love, and be happy. You will at least hear of something before the horns of the young moon unite into a circle.” “You go on an enterprise of danger.” “And are not such enterprises dear to the soul of a Rajpoot? I should be unworthy of your love, if I hesitated to venture my life to secure your parent’s liberty.” “There are perils which the brave may shun, because it is prudent to avoid them.” “But when a man listens to the suggestions of prudence before the appeals of duty, his bravery is as questionable as his virtue.” “Go, Jeipal, I would not withhold thee from such deeds as constitute man’s nobility. Bear my love with thee.” “That will be a talisman which shall protect me in the hour of peril. Love is the root of all virtue; the love of good alone makes man happy. When this principle is dead within his bosom, he at once becomes a monster.” After the lapse of a few days Jeipal quitted Jesselmere for Delhi. When Alla-ood-Deen was informed of the Rajpootni’s rescue from the detachment of his troops which had made her captive, his rage knew no bounds, and he resolved to carry a war of extermination into the fertile provinces of Rajpootana. His anger, however, at length cooled, when he considered that, having the father a prisoner in Delhi, he might still get the daughter into his power. He had heard so much of her beauty, that he determined to possess her, at whatever cost; and this determination had induced him greatly to abate the rigours of her parent’s imprisonment. He was treated with considerable lenity, and permitted such indulgences as were seldom known to be granted to the prisoners of despotic princes. Shortly after the rescue of the Chittore Rajah’s daughter, as already detailed, the king ordered Ray Ruttun Sein, who had now been some weeks in confinement, to be brought before him. The Rajpoot entered the imperial presence with a lofty deportment, and stood before the Mahomedan sovereign, awaiting the royal communication. “Rajah,” said Alla-ood-Deen, mildly, “you would no doubt desire to obtain your liberty?” “Every man,” replied the Rajah, “being born free, looks upon captivity as the withholding of nature’s highest immunity. The fortune of war has made me your prisoner, but generosity is the brightest jewel in the king’s sceptre.” “The generosity of princes is only bestowed when merited. It is no longer a virtue when unworthily dispensed: generosity therefore without discretion is an evil.”