WHITE LOTUS
The Legend of the Cat’s Eye
Illustrations and Text by
CARLO DE FORNARO
Published by MARCUS & CO.
Jewelers
544 Fifth Avenue
New York
Copyright, 1901, by
Carlo de Fornaro
To
Miss Eugenie White
The great God Indra hadonce forgotten himself so far as to fall in love with a Princess ofMortal Blood.
It must be said in extenuation that she was of the bluest blood, soblue indeed that in comparison to it the sapphire would fade and growpale; and so aristocratic and ancient was her royal lineage that theparchment on which the names of her ancestors were duly recorded wouldeasily have stretched across the peninsula from Mount Davalaghiri toCape Comorin, and with a little tugging might easily have reached overto Ceylon as far as Adam’s Peak.
Now the Ruler of the gods knew well enough that the Princess wasunapproachable by men, no matter how exalted their rank. As a God hewas invisible to mankind; therefore, to the great shock and indignationof the other gods and his wife Indrani, he took the incarnation ofa beautiful Angora cat, as fluffy and delicate as a cotton puff,immaculately white, with a bushy tail, gray-green eyes, very bristlingmustachios and a nose pink as a rose coral bead.
Then he dropped into the lap of the Rajah, the father of the Princess,as he was driving in state through the town.
“Surely this is a message from the gods, O Protector!” said humbly thePrime Minister. “Many moons has the Princess of all virtues wished forsuch a perfect specimen, and if the Protector will deign to utter thewish it will be presented to the Princess.”
“Be it so,” wearily said the Rajah.
Thus it happened that the Angora was incorporated into the royalhousehold. The Princess took a violent fancy to White Lotus, as shenamed him; nothing was too exquisite or too rare for him, and he wasmuch more important an individual than the Prime Minister or even herown mother.
Every morning three white-turbaned bearers would offer him a beautifulcrystal bowl teeming with the fattest and most picturesquely variegatedgold-fishes; then followed three other bearers, wh