e ye thank the Merciful One that Khanzada Khanum of the
House of Babar hath found freedom, that after a long and godly life she
hath found rest and peace. Bismillah--ul----"

The long Arabic sentence went rolling through the Hall, while Kumran
stood stunned by the suddenness of his aunt's death. And yet it might
have been expected; the journey was far too trying for one of her years.
And she had risked it--for what?

With a rush Kumran realised that his promise still held good, and for
the moment disappointment, anger, savage desire for revenge swept away
his regret. Yet even he could not fail to be touched by the letter his
brother Humayon had sent him by the hand of the messenger. Dearest-Lady
had, he said, pled his, Kumran's, cause well, and he, Humayon, was ready
to forgive for the sake of the dead woman who had loved them both, whom
they both loved, and who had died with a smile.

But such softer feelings did not, could not linger long in a mind that
had no fixed belief in anything. Before a day had passed the feeling
that he had been tricked onto an oath he dared not break came uppermost
again. Foster-father was ordered back to his damp dungeon, the little
Heir-to-Empire and Roy were taken from the Palace and given over to the
charge of a man noted for his hardness of heart. Only the women and
little Bija, being of no account, were turned out into the streets to
beg or starve as they chose.

Then followed a terrible month in which the little party were cut off
from news of one another. Only Down, the cat, wandering over roofs and
Heaven knows where and how, looked in here and there to settle on some
one's lap and purr.

"Cats," said poor Head-nurse, as she sat opposite Foster-mother,
grinding for all they were worth at a stone hand-mill in order to gain
enough to keep Bija from starving, "are of all God's creatures the most
contented; and so little pleases them. Hark! to Down how she purrs, just
because she has found us poor miserable women."

"Allah!" replied Foster-mother more cheerfully. "Is love such a little
thing? I think not, and Down hath seen my darling. Of that I feel sure;
she would not come and purr otherwise."

Still it was silent comfort and there was so much going on; so much that
even the "miserable women" could not hear, though they were free to come
and go. But one day when Down was purring on Bija's lap in the straw
thatch which was all the three had for lodging, a passer-by paused to
sa