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