And then there would be fun! Whereupon little Prince Akbar
would smile a dignified smile, and say, _of course_ there would be fun!
Now out of this arose a plan which came into King Humayon's head, as so
many other plans came, without very much thought; for he was full of
kindly, not over-wise fancies. And this one was that little Prince Akbar
should choose his own mother!
It would be rather a hard task for a child who had not seen her for two
years and a half, and who was but a baby of less than eighteen months
old when he had parted from her! But Humayon was convinced that _his_
son would remember; and anyway, even if he did not, no harm would be
done and it would be very amusing. So orders were given for a huge
entertainment in the Arta Gardens just outside Kabul. They were the most
beautiful gardens, not close cropped and orderly like English gardens,
but with wide, bare, marble-paved walks and squares, big marble-stepped
tanks full of waterlilies, all set in tangles of widespread roses and
jasmine and gardenia. And here Humayon's fancy set up a Mystic Palace of
three Houses: The House of Pleasure; The House of Fortune, and the House
of Power. Never was such a beautiful Palace. By day it shone with the
reflected light of thousands and thousands of looking-glasses, by night
it rose outlined in every detail by thousands and thousands of little
lamps. Every marble path was spread with priceless silken carpets, the
very fountains were scented with attar-of-rose.
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