After considerable manoeuvring, the
snake appeared to have had enough of it, and deemed it prudent to beat a
retreat. He dropped on the ground, and headed for a thicket; but this was
just what Dinky wanted. He sprang upon the neck of the cobra, placing his
fore-paws on him, and then crushed his spine with his sharp teeth. The
serpent was dead, after writhing an instant.
The fight was ended, and Khayrat caressed the victor. Louis declared that
the mongoose was a friend worth having, and immediately made a bargain with
the huntsman to procure him a couple of them, and send them to Calcutta.
They returned to the palace; and at the breakfast-table Louis told the
story of the battle, in which all the Americans were much interested. But
the business of the forenoon was the great Sowari, or public procession;
and the party were conveyed in carriages to the pavilion, from the veranda
of which they were to see the spectacle. An abundance of easy-chairs was
provided for them, and they were made very comfortable.
It required more than an hour for the procession to pass the point of
observation; and when the last of it had disappeared in the distance all
the Americans declared that they had never seen anything, even in Europe,
which could be compared with it in variety and magnificence. It was an
Oriental spectacle, and the tourists could easily believe they had
witnessed a pageant that had stepped out of the pages of the "Arabian
Nights.
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