by the elbows and literally ran them out of the room.

"There," he said, "baggage gone since you make such fuss about it,
though I 'spect they try to give me Bean for this job" (here he spoke
not in figurative English slang, but of the Calabar bean, which is a
favourite native poison). "Well, dinner gone and girls gone, and we
tired, so best go to bed. Think we all private here now, though in Gold
House never can be sure," and he looked round him suspiciously, adding,
"rummy place, Gold House, full of all sort of holes made by old fellows
thousand year ago, which no one know but Bonsa priests. Still, best risk
it and take off your face so that you have decent wash," and he began to
unlace the mask on his master's head.

Never has a City clerk dressed up for a fancy ball in the armour of a
Norman knight, been more glad to get rid of his costume than was Alan of
that hateful head-dress. At length it was gone with his other garments
and the much-needed wash accomplished, after which he clothed himself in
a kind of linen gown which apparently had been provided for him, and lay
down on one of the couches, placing his revolver by his side.

"Will those lamps burn all night, Jeekie?" he asked.

"Hope so, Major, as we haven't got no match. Not fond of dark in Gold
House," answered Jeekie sleepily. Then he began to snore.

Alan fell asleep, but was too excited and tired to rest very soundly.
All sorts of dreams came to him, one of which he remembered on
awakening, perhaps because it was the last. He dreamed that he heard
some noise and opened his eyes, to see that they were no longer alone in
the room. The oil lamps had burned quite low, indeed some of them were
out, but by the light of those that remained he saw a tall figure which
seemed to appear at the edge of the surrounding blackness, a woman's
figure. It walked forward to the altar-like stone upon which lay the tin
box containing Little Bonsa, and after several rather awkward attempts,
succeeded in opening it, thereby making a noise which, in his dream,
finally awoke Alan. For a while the figure gazed at the fetish. Then it
shut the box, glided to his bed and bent down as though to study him.
Out of the corners of his eyes he peered up at it, pretending all the
while to be fast asleep.

It was that of a woman wonderfully clad in gold-spangled, veil-like
garments with round bosses shaped to the breast, covered with thin
plates of gold fashioned like the scales of a fi