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Updated: May 20, 2025
Then, without more ado, I carried forth this Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been standing tethered under a tree close at hand.
My other servants, who had happened to be outside the house at the time of the assault, had fled, and in the shame of their desertion never again dared to show their faces in my presence. The kotwal of the district made an investigation, but I held my own counsel, and spoke not one word about the Ganapati or the blue diamonds.
But after a time the clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.
Unless by the morrow I made signs of submission by taking the road to Ferishtapur, there to surrender the Ganapati, it would assuredly be upon myself that the sword of fate would next descend. "That very night of the funeral, after securely barricading the outer gates of the house, I locked myself in the treasure chamber.
"'Where is the Ganapati? he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the blue diamonds. "Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been discovered.
"Then I turned to the Ganapati, and after swathing him as before in the cotton quilt, so as to deaden the sound of the gong, with my hands beneath the covering I pressed upon the jewelled eyeballs. I had not gazed upon the blue diamonds since the day when I had restored the two stones shown to the banian merchant in Lahore.
For an extraordinary thing happened. "As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across the body of the Ganapati.
"In prompt answer to my cry of pent-up agony came the sharp sound of splintering timber, and before me, revealed by the flare of a torch held aloft in one hand, appeared the dread visage of the Hindu priest, contorted now by his mingled emotions of hate and triumph. For his eyes had lighted on the idol, and it was with a shout of joyful recognition, 'Ganapati!
'Three more warnings will be given to you, and if these do not succeed in making you restore the Ganapati and the jewels then assuredly will you die. You know whence you stole it. Take back the idol to Ferishtapur, or go to the nethermost hell to which you belong.
"Several days passed before I ventured again to visit the Ganapati, and this at last I did in the full belief that the whole affair had been naught but an idle dream. But when I pressed again on the eyes of the elephant head, there came once more the clicking of wheels, followed by the clangor of the gong.
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