TIPPOO  SVLTAtltr.  4$3

'  I  must  see  him,  Meeran,'  she  said  at  length  j  » the  Khan  is
gone  now,  and  canst  thou  not  devise  some  means  ?  Quick !
think  and  act  promptly,'

'  I  will  send  away  the  women,  my  rose, — ^thou  shalt  see  him,'
said  the  attendant ;  '  when  I  cough  slightly  do  thou  come  in ;
they  say  he  cannot  speak,  and  lies  with  his  eyes  shut.'

'  Ya,  Alia  kureem  !'  cried  Ameena ;  '  what  if  he  should  die  ere  I
see  him  ?  Oh  grant  him  life, — thou  wilt  not  take  one  so  young  and
so  brave.  Quick,  good  nurse !  I  am  sick  at  heart  with  impatience.'

Meeran  found  but  little  difficulty  in  sending  away  the  women
upon  some  trifling  errands,  for  Kasim  slept,  or  appeared  to  dose ;
so  taking  their  place  by  his  side,  she  coughed  slightly,  and  Ameena,
who  had  been  waiting  anxiously  behind  the  screen  which  divided
the  tents,  withdrew  it  hastily  and  entered-

She  advanced  with  a  throbbing  heart ;  she  could  hardly  sup-
port herself,  as  well  from  her  despair  of  his  life  as  of  her  own
feelings  of  love  for  him,  which  would  now  brook  no  control ;  her
mind  was  a  chaos  of  thoughts,  in  which  that  of  his  death  and
her  own  misery  were  the  most  prominent  and  most  wretched.
Nor  was  the  sight  before  her,  as  she  drew  near  Kasim,  at  all
calculated  to  allay  her  fears  j  he  lay  to  all  appearance  dead ;  his
eyes  were  closed,  and  his  breathing  was  so  slight  that  it  scarcely
disturbed  the  sheet  which  was  thrown  over  him ;  the  ruddy
brown  of  his  features  had  ch^iged  to  a  deathlike  hue,  and  his
eyes  were  sunken.
