* * * * *
There was silence for a time, broken at last by the voice of the
ash-besprinkled devotee:
"Allahu akbar! God is great! Over many things he gives his servants
power."
II. THE HOLLOW COLUMN
TOLD BY THE TAX-COLLECTOR
"Every man's fate is fore-ordained," said the tax-collector,
reflectively stroking his beard. "Although we may not understand it at
the moment each particular event that happens is simply a means prepared
for some destined end that may be many years remote in time. Vishnu the
Preserver saved the life of the little maid of Jhalnagor so that her
father's life might later on be saved. But none can read the future, so
that we are all blindly doing the things of to-day without knowing their
real bearing on the things of a far-away to-morrow. And one man can make
or mar the happiness of another man, even though their lives be
separated by hundreds of leagues in space or hundreds of years in time."
"In your mind doubtless is some tale to illustrate the truth of what you
teach," remarked the astrologer, with a shrewd uplifting of his
eyebrows. "The stars can help us to read the future, as I can prove to
you by a story of actual experience. But before I proceed to my
narrative, pray, friend, let us hear from you.
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