emained for him was to hear his
sentence, which even yet, it was clear, he did not believe would be at
all severe.

It was, however, the most severe that could be passed. The sentence ran
that Prince Hsi, having been found guilty by a court composed of his
fellow officers of the charges preferred against him, should be stripped
of his decorations and have the insignia of his rank torn from his
uniform in presence of the assembled officers and crews of the Chinese
fleet, and that thereafter he should be shot upon the quarter-deck of
the flagship _Ting Yuen_.

When this terrible sentence was pronounced Prince Hsi was observed to
stagger and turn deathly pale. Such ignominy as this he had never
dreamed of; and to lose his life into the bargain--

With a lightning-like movement, and before his guards could prevent him,
Hsi placed the back of his hand to his mouth, held it there a second,
and then, with a groan of deepest agony, reeled backward and fell upon
the cabin floor.

When they picked him up he was quite dead, and the cause of his death
was revealed by the large ring which he wore on the third finger of his
left hand. It had been made hollow, with a tiny hinged cover, and
concealed in the hollow there had evidently been a minute dose of an
extremely powerful poison which, from the odour of almonds that filled
the cabin directly afterward, Frobisher recognised as being prussic
acid, one of the quickest and most deadly poisons known to science.

With a solemn, courteous gesture Ting dismissed his officers, and they
trooped silently out of the cabin, leaving the admiral alone with the
dead. A little later in the day the body was enclosed in a coffin and
placed on board a ship bound for Tien-tsin, with directions that it
should be delivered to the Prince's relations.

Thus perished a man who bad used his high position to attain his own
base ends at the expense of his country and the lives of his countrymen.
Nemesis had overtaken him at last, as it sometimes does evil-doers; and
the high-born Prince Hsi died miserably, a condemned criminal.

Frobisher returned to his own ship from the court of justice saddened
and disheartened. True, the Prince had richly deserved his fate, and
China could never have known safety while he remained alive; but it
seemed a dreadful thing that a young man like Prince Hsi, with all
life's infinite possibilities to one of his standing before him, should
deliberately imperil and fin