'Between midnight and one o'clock, Your Highness.'
'It must have been totally dark then,' said the elderly gentleman. 'The amavasya[1] began after half-past eleven.'
Sounds of startled surprise arose. When they had abated, the prince asked, 'And then? What did you see?'
'Countless bones and skulls.'
'What astounding courage is yours, Srikanta! Did you enter the cremation-grounds or did you stand outside?'
'I entered it and sat on a mound of sand,' I answered.
'WeIl, well, what next? What next? What did you see after you sat down?'
'Vast stretches of sand.'
'Anything else?'
'Clumps of kashar shrubs and sinml trees.'
'Anything else?'
'And the river.'
'Yes, yes, we know all that!' cried the prince, bursting with impatience. 'Well, those things—'
I burst out laughing, and said, 'I saw two bats fly over my head.'
The elderly gentleman then advanced towards me and asked in Hindustani, 'Did you see nothing else, sir?'
'Nothing.'
For a moment the whole tent-ful of people seemed disappointed. Then the elderly gentleman cried out
- ↑ Dark phase of the moon.
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