1 186 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.
2 their desire of vengeance, at least for the present, and pre-
3 senting the leader with a pair of gold bangles, and distributing
4 gifts of smaller value among his companions, sent them away
5 in good humour.
6 From this time Phoola Sing became very popular among
7 the Akalees, and ere long became an acknowledged chief of
8 the class. At the head of three or four hundred Nahungs,
9 horse and foot, he scoured the country as a free-booter, plunder-
10 ing villages and committing depredations of various kinds.
11 However, like the Robin Hood of English history, or the Deesoo
12 of his own country, he was noted as much for his kindness
13 and forbearance towards the poor as for his ravages upon
14 the rich and well-to-do. It is probable that he lost nothing
15 by pursuing this line of conduct; for by sparing the poor,
16 who were in truth hardly worth robbing, he made them his
17 friends, and in some measure his allies, they often reciprocating
18 his kindness by affording him useful information and some-
19 times assistance or shelter when required.
20 The fame of Phoola Sing's exploits soon reached the ears
21 of Runjeet in the complaints of those who had suffered
22 loss at the hands of the Akalee chief. Runjeet, however,
23 knew the man too well to think of resorting to extremities
24 with him on slight provocation. He therefore politely request-
25 ed his attendance at court, and when he came, gently remon-
26 strated with him on his conduct, endeavouring by presents
27 and persuasions to induce him to adopt a more orderly and
28 honest mode of life. But all the eloquence of the Maharajh,
29 backed as it was by costly bribes, failed to lure Phoola Sing
30 from his evil courses. Runjeet now tried to frighten him
31 into propriety by sending after him large bodies of troops,
32 but the Akalee was not to be caught, and was not to be fright-
33 ened by a vain pursuit. He still therefore continued his career
34 as a robber-chief on a large scale, his band swelling out on
35 occasion to the number of four or five thousand desperate