विक्रम चरित (उज्जैन सम्राट् विक्रमादित्य - पराक्रम, न्याय एवं ३२ पुतलियों की कथा सटीक)

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royal mansion. He recovered the treasure, in short, and began to retrace his steps to where he had left the princess anxiously praying for the success of his mission and for his speedy arrival. "The locality in which the luckless Malattee had found a temporary shelter was infested by a notorious gang of thieves, one of whom, unfortunately, happened to be near enough to overhear the parting dialogue of the lovers. Allowing a sufficient time to elapse, the thief approached the princess, and gave the signal agreed upon. As soon as the princess heard it, and without in the least suspecting it could be any one but the prince, she hastened delightedly forward to meet him. Though her anxiety of mind and apprehension had been very acute during the short interval which had elapsed, she felt amply repaid for it now. Coming up, therefore, to him whom she imagined to be the prince, she held out her hand and welcomed him. The impostor did not allow her to enter into any lengthy talk, but immediately brought forward the horse that had been left standing beside her, and urged her speedily to resume her seat. The poor victim, fearing that perhaps the prince had been discovered, and was pursued by her father’s men, lost not a moment in complying, and thus, seated beside the thief, she was carried along with great swiftness, under the experienced guidance of one to whom every inch of ground was familiar. The darkness was so intense that they could not see each other’s faces, neither could the princess speak, so great was the rapidity with which they travelled; the wily thief, also, preserved a strict silence, which the princess attributed to the same cause. The morning was now fast breaking, and the warblings of the feathered songsters of the woods began to be heard. Malattee, finding that the horse had been made to slacken his pace, was congratulating herself and the prince upon their escape. She was now quite easy in her mind, thinking that their pursuers, if any there were, must now have been left so far behind as to be unable to overtake or even trace them. In this state of