"'Then for a long space did Vikramaditya diligently fulfill that command;
but by and by, growing aweary of feeding the Vetala Agni, he sought
counsel of the jogi Trilokanatha, who had his dwelling on the mount of
Kanahakrita. The jogi, perceiving the manifold merits of the incomparable
Vikramaditya, was moved with compassion towards him, and when he had long
meditated and recited sundry mantras {hymns and prayers}, he thus spake
and said:
"'"Harken, O King. From the sacred tank of Shakravatar spring alleys four
times seven, as it were branches from one trunk, to wit, seven to the
north, seven to the east, seven to the west, and seven to the south. Of
the seven alleys springing to the north do you choose the seventh, and in
the seventh alley the seventh tree from the sacred tank, and on the
seventh branch of the seventh tree thou shalt find the nest of a bulbul.
Within that nest thou shalt discover a golden key."'"
The Babu was now speaking very slowly, and an observer watching Desmond
would have perceived that his eyes were fixed with a strange look of
mingled eagerness and anxiety upon the storyteller. But no one observed
this; every man in the group was intent upon the story, hanging upon the
lips of the eloquent Babu.
"'Having obtained the golden key,'" continued the narrator, "'thou shalt
return forthwith to thy palace, and the same night, when the Vetala Angi
has eaten and drunk his fill, thou shalt in his presence lay the key upon
the palm of thy left hand, thus--'" (here the Babu quietly took up a key
hanging from the bunch attached to the warder's girdle, and laid it upon
his left palm).
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