han you are, and I do not like to risk everything on one throw of the
dice."

"We might set fire to the house and burn them out," said Gregorios,
thoughtfully. "The danger would be that we might burn Alexander alive."

My friend did not stick at trifles. Under his cold exterior lurked the
desperate rashness of the true Oriental, ready to blaze out at any
moment.

"No," I said, laughing; "that would not do, either. Is it not possible
to send a spy into the house? It seems to me that the thing might be
done. What sort of women are they who gain access to the harems?"

"Women who sell finery and sweetmeats; women who amuse the Khanums by
dressing their hair, when they have any, in the Frank style; women who
tell stories"----

"A story-teller would do," I said. "They are often admitted, are they
not? It is almost the only amusement those poor creatures have. I fancy
that one who could interest them might be admitted again and again."

Balsamides was silent, and smoked meditatively for some minutes.

"That is an idea," he said at last. "I know of such a woman, and I dare
say she could get in. But if she did, she might go to the house twenty
times, and get no information worth having."

"Never mind. It would be a great step to establish a means of
communication with the interior of the house. You could easily force the
Lala to recommend the story-teller to his Khanum. She could tell us
about the internal arrangement of the place, at all events, which would
make it easier for us to search the house, if we ever got a chance."

"If one could get as far as that, it would be a wise precaution and a
benefit to the human race to convey a little strychnine to the Khanum in
a sweetmeat," said Gregorios, with a laugh.

"How horribly bloodthirsty you are!" I answered, laughing in my turn. "I
believe you would massacre half of Stamboul to find a man who may be
dead already."

"It is our way of looking at things, I suppose," returned Balsamides. "I
will see the story-teller, and explain as much as possible of the
situation. What I most fear is that we may have to take somebody else
into our confidence."

"Do none of the ladies in the embassies know this Laleli, as you call
her?" I asked.

"Yes. Many Frank ladies have been to see her. But their visits are
merely the satisfaction of curiosity on the one side, and of formality
on the other."

"I was wondering whether one of them would not be the best person in
whom to confi