ner_?"

Marishka hesitated. The price she had mentioned was cheap for her
liberty--for freedom from the fear that had all day obsessed her, but it
was a large sum, and one which it might be impossible to procure at this
time of night.

"He will give you such assurances as you may require. At least he will
give you something. I shall write that I need this sum of money, and he
will surely do what he can."

"Something--yes," he mused. "Something is, of course, better than
nothing at all. But how can I be certain that I shall see him?"

"Ah, but you must, Effendi. It is necessary for you, to find him--and at
once."

"But if he should refuse?"

"He will not. Do you consent?"

He salaamed deeply.

"Excellency's wish is my law."

So Marishka sat before the tabourette and wrote:

I have promised the bearer of this note fifteen thousand _kroner_,
as the condition of my liberation. Give him what you can, and
arrange for the payment of the balance tomorrow. This is the cry of
desperation. _Do not come here or attempt to see me._ It is
dangerous. I will come to you.

M.

She sealed the note and handed it to him. He turned it over and over in
his fingers, his gaze aslant.

"But suppose," he repeated slowly, "that I should not be able to find
him."

"You must," she said with desperate hardihood. "If the note should not
reach him, the conditions of our agreement change. And be sure of this,
Effendi--if harm comes to Hugh Renwick, payment will be exacted from you
to the tenth part of a hair. His safety and my freedom----"

"I do not comprehend," said the man, his brows raised in a
well-simulated surprise. "What have I to do with the safety of this
Excellency? He can be in no danger, here in Bosna-Seraj. We are a
peaceable people----"

"Still--" she said distinctly, "you will remember."

He shrugged and took a pace away from her, still fingering the note.

"I do not comprehend," he repeated. "But I will do as you request. I
shall go at once," and he moved toward the door, then paused. "As to the
guard at the door below, that will not be necessary, since you will
await me in the _mabein_." He went quickly down the corridor, opened the
door of the _dutap_, and called Zubeydeh, who entered at once. "The
Countess will wait in the outer room. When I return I shall conduct her
to the Hotel Europa, where she will spend the night. You will wait upon
her in the meanwhile, as becomes a disti