n Fo-Hi;' and performing an abject obeisance he backed out of
the room.

"At the same moment, Mohammed, whose knees were trembling so that they
seemed no longer capable of supporting him, addressed the Chinaman.

"'Accept the maiden as an unworthy gift,' he began--

"'Her price?' repeated Fo-Hi.

"Mohammed, whose teeth had begun to chatter, asked him twice as much
as he had agreed to accept from the other, Fo-Hi clapped his hands,
and a fierce-eyed Hindu entered the room.

"Fo-Hi addressed him in a language which I did not understand,
although I have since learned that it was Hindustani, and the Indian
from a purse which he carried counted out the amount demanded by the
dealer and placed the money upon a little inlaid table which stood in
the room. Fo-Hi gave him some brief order, turned and walked out of
the room. I did not see him again for four years--that is until my
nineteenth birthday.

"I know that you are wondering about many things and I will try to
make some of them clear to you. You are wondering, no doubt, how such
a trade as I have described is carried on in the East to-day almost
under the eyes of European Governments. Now I shall surprise you. When
I was taken from the house of the slave-dealer, in charge of Chunda
Lal--for this was the name of the Hindu--do you know where I was
carried to? I will tell you: to _Cairo!"_

"Cairo!" cried Stuart--then, perceiving that he had attracted
attention by speaking so loudly, he lowered his voice. "Do you mean to
tell me that you were taken as a _slave_ to Cairo?"

Miska smiled--and her smile was the taunting smile of the East, which
is at once a caress and an invitation.

"You think, no doubt, that there are no slaves in Cairo!" she said.
"So do most people, and so did I--once. I learned better. There are
palaces in Cairo, I assure you, in which there are many slaves. I
myself lived in such a palace for four years, and I was not the only
slave there. What do British residents and French residents know of
the inner domestic life of their Oriental neighbours? Are they ever
admitted to the _harem?_ And the slaves--are they ever admitted
outside the walls of the palace? Sometimes, yes, but never alone!

"By slow stages, following the ancient caravan routes, and accompanied
by an extensive retinue of servants in charge of Chunda Lal, we came
to Cairo; and one night, approaching the city from the north-east and
entering by the Bab en-Nasr, I was taken to the o