"'Aye!' exclaimed the woman with savage affirmation. 'Do not doubt it.

Sooner than submit to the embraces of that wretch I would turn that weapon against myself.'

"'Oh!' exclaimed Lal Lu with a superb gesture and the light of unmistakable resolution in her eyes, 'that I can do; but the other----'

And the poor girl trembled at the spectacle pictured in her mind.

"'Well,' exclaimed the woman, 'I will leave this dagger here; do as you will; I have done for you what I could,' and she turned to depart, unmindful, apparently, of Lal Lu's tremulous 'And I am grateful to you.'

"When the prince arrived at the apartment in which he accorded his audiences, if the attention he bestowed upon the meager assemblages which presented themselves occasionally can be dignified by that description, he found awaiting him a Hindoo, whom he recognized at once, and whose presence invariably preceded the recital of important information.

"To the degree that Prince Otondo had reason to suspect that his grandfather had certain of his servants subsidized at the Kutub, he measured secretly by similar secret embassies at the Delhi palace.

"The egotistical old moghul, with a vanity which even his anomalous situation with the British had not impaired, wished to assure himself that he would be worthily succeeded, and the prince was equally solicitous concerning the advancing senility of the moghul.

"In such bloodless intrigues this picturesque pair kept their servants engaged, until this germ of mutual distrust infected every dependent in the two households with that singular propensity to conspire which the studious historian of this mysterious country cannot have failed to record.

"On this basis certain shrewd spirits among the British intruders at this period were able to discover more of the character of the people under their unwelcome rule, in a single establishment of native servants, than in the general observations of a hundred English households.

"Awaiting, therefore, the conclusion of the ceremonies of approach, upon which he always insisted and which were shortly to be rendered so absurd, the prince at last, calling the Hindoo by name, demanded the occasion of his presence.

"'It is an ill service, O prince,' replied the Hindoo, 'which I am about to render you.'

"'What, then?' exclaimed the prince. 'To the point, to the point!'

"'Your grandfather----'

"'Is dead?' inquired the prince with badly disguised eagerness.

"'Nay; worse.'

"'Proceed!' demanded the prince. 'What can be worse?'

"'Your grandfather,' replied the messenger, in evident haste to conclude a disagreeable task, 'has taken to himself a young wife.'

"'Ah!' cried the prince, startled into a degrading abandonment of his customary elevation of demeanor. 'The dotard, the imbecile! Married? To whom?'

"'A daughter of the house of Nadis Shah, Rani Rue.'

"'I know her!' cried the prince savagely. 'Implacable, ambitious, unscrupulous. What will she not attempt with that old driveller?' Then, evidently impressed by something shadowed in the expression of his ill-omened Mercury, he exclaimed: 'You have more to tell me?'

"The Hindoo bowed his head in perturbed affirmation.

"'Quickly, then!' demanded his august listener.

"'The British forces have concentrated at the cantonment without the walls of Delhi; a detachment is even now on the way to your palace, which they propose to seize and garrison.'

"'Ah!' murmured the prince, 'the freshet is turning to a deluge. Is there more?'

"'Yes, O prince,' returned the Hindoo; 'the British intend to hold you as a hostage for the safety of the English resident, who is a prisoner at the palace in Delhi.'

"'So!' exclaimed this royal reprobate as he reflected upon the picturesque possibilities to himself, in view of the sanguinary temptation which the helpless resident would present to the ambitious Queen Rani Rue. 'How far in advance of the detachment are you?'

"'About one hour's march.'

"'This is short reckoning. You have hastened with leaden feet.'

"'Nay, your highness,' cried the Hindoo, 'I came the instant I heard.

There is still time to escape, and the way is known to you alone.'

"'So be it,' returned the prince as an expression of savage determination compressed his thin lips and ignited baleful fires in his restless eyes. 'Await me without; I will join you presently.'

"As the Hindoo turned to obey, the prince darted, with lithe haste, into the inner room and pressed the spring in the wall.

"Slowly the panel rolled aside and revealed the glittering pyramid of gems within.

"From the depths, just in the rear of the priceless heap, he withdrew a sort of jacket, separated upon its upper edge into a series of openings similar to the partitions of a cartridge-belt.

"Into these, with a sort of clumsy trepidation, he began to pack the almost elusive portions of the gleaming mass of brilliants from the recess.

"At the conclusion of fifteen vital minutes the prince had deposited the last of the gems in the receptacles of this curious jacket, and, if the reports of the Hindoo were to be credited, the advancing British were that much nearer the Kutub.

"With desperate rapidity he disengaged the folds of the delicate cambric which covered the upper portion of his body, inserting the precious jacket beneath, and after adjusting it to his figure, strapped it securely in place and rearranged his attire into non-committal contours.

"'And now,' he cried with an expression of savage determination, 'and now for the rarest gem of all!' and darting through the silken hangings which concealed his extreme of the passageway leading to the apartments of Lal Lu, he hastened along that dingy bypath and presently reached the threshold from which he had issued but a short time before with such little credit to himself.

"Without pausing to announce himself or consider the impropriety of his abrupt intrusion and its possible influence upon Lal Lu, the impetuous heir-apparent swept aside the curtains and rushed into the room.

"Startled at the rattling rings which held the hangings in place, and the impetuous swish of its folds, Lal Lu sprang to her feet and gazed with indignant rebuke upon the inconsiderate prince.

"Heedless of the unconcealed disdain of her glance and ignoring the presence of the furtive-eyed waiting-woman, he cried:

"'Lal Lu, the time for further parley is past. The Kutub is shortly to be attacked by the British. We must fly--come!' and the speaker advanced with unreflective haste to the side of the palpitating girl.

"In an instant, however, his headlong progress was checked as Lal Lu, with a superb gesture, raised the gleaming dagger above her head and cried, encouraged by the lowering eyes of the evilly-expectant waiting-woman: 'With thee--never! I will die first!'

"As the prince recoiled a step at sight of the flashing blade, Lal Lu, with contemptuous emphasis, exclaimed: 'Be not afraid, Prince Otondo, this is not for thee. Advance but a step and it will be but an empty casket that awaits thee!'

"Never had Lal Lu appeared so desirable in the eyes of this royal rogue, and never had he been more resolute to possess her.

"With misleading quiet, therefore, he gazed upon the upraised hand which menaced the one unattained object of his desire. Quickly he measured the distance between them. Slowly he removed one foot behind the other.

Lightly he pressed the slipper's point upon the tessellated floor, and then with a leap of incredible quickness, he darted forward, caught the descending arm of Lal Lu in his grasp, and, with his disengaged hand, wrenched the dagger from her and threw it away from him into the center of the apartment.

"But as rapidly as he had moved, the prince had not been able to prevent the incision which the dagger's point made in his wrist and from which a thin stream of blood issued.

"'Ah, ha, my beauty!' he cried as he released the struggling girl and retreated a step, the better to enjoy her discomfiture; 'ah, ha! I like thy spirit. I would not have thee mar the lovely casket which contains it. Here!' he called to the waiting-woman, who had witnessed the episode and into whose quick eyes, which had detected the slight wound upon the wrist of the prince, there crept a strange, inexplicable expression of leering triumph, 'here, guard this maiden for a space. Your life shall pay the penalty if aught befalls her in my absence.

"'I shall return presently with the help I need to overcome such elevated objection'; and turning abruptly, the prince hastened toward the doorway, pausing a second to regain possession of the dagger which he had cast from him during the brief struggle.