THE MOONSTONE. 335
partly
from a superstition which represented it as feeling the influence of
the deity whom it adorned, whilst growing, and lessening in lustre
simultaneously with the waxing and waning of the moon, it first gained
the name by which it continues to be known in India to this day, " The
Moon-Stone."
Presently
this Moon-god in the story escapes the rapacity of conquering
Mohammedans, and, being preserved by three Brahmins, with the Moonstone
still intact in his forehead, is transported to the city of Benares,
and set up again for worship in a magnificent new shrine inlaid with
precious stones, under a roof supported by pillars of gold. One age
follows another, until eventually Aurungzebe, Emperor of the Moguls,
plays havoc with the said shrine, allowing the Moonstone to be seized
by an officer of rank in his army. Powerless to recover their lost
treasure by open force, the three guardian priests follow in disguise,
and watch it through innumerable strange adventures, and hair-breadth
escapes.
Generations
succeed each other. The soldier who had committed the sacrilege has
perished miserably ; the Moonstone (carrying its curse with it) has
passed from one lawless Mohammedan hand to another ; and still, through
all chances and changes, the successors of the three guardian priests
have kept their watch.
Time
has rolled on to the last years of the eighteenth Christian century;
then at length the "diamond" has fallen into the possession of Tippoo,
Sultan of Seringa-patam, who caused it to be placed as an ornament in
the handle of a dagger, commanding that it should be kept among the
choicest treasures of his armoury. Even then the three guardian
priests, having won the Sultan's
