o reassure a slip of a girl, gray-eyed or not,
stiff-chinned or not, borne up or not by Scots enthusiasm for a cause.
"This is a native state. My brother rules. The British--"

"Are near enough, and strong enough, to strike and to bring you and your
brother to your knees if you harm a British woman!" she retorted. "You
forget--when the British Government gives leave to missionaries to go
into a native state, it backs them up with a strong arm!"

"You build too much on the British and my brother, sahiba!
Listen--Howrah is as strong as I am, and no stronger. Had he been
stronger, he would have slain me long ago. The British are--" He checked
himself and trotted beside her in silence for a minute. She affected
complete indifference; it was as though she had not heard him; if she
could not be rid of him, she at least knew how to show him his utter
unimportance in her estimation.

"Have you heard, sahiba, of the Howrah treasure? Of the rubies? Of the
pearls? Of the emeralds? Of the bars of gold? It is foolishness, of
course; we who are modern-minded see the crime of hoarding all that
wealth, and adding to it, for twenty generations. Have you heard of it,
sahiba?"

"Yes!" she answered savagely, swishing at his charger again to make him
keep his distance. "You have told me of it twice. You have told me that
you know where it is, and you have offered to show it to me. You have
told me that you and your brother Maharajah Howrah and the priests
of Siva are the only men who know where it is, and you lust for that
treasure! I can see you lust! You think that I lust too, and you make a
great mistake Jaimihr-sahib! You see, I remember what you have told me.
Now, go away and remember what I tell you. I care for you and for your
treasure exactly that!" She hit his charger with all her might, and
at the sting of the little whip he shied clear of the road before the
Rajah's brother could rein him in.

Again her effort to destroy his admiration for her had directly the
opposite effect. He swore, and he swore vengeance; but he swore, too,
that there was no woman in the East so worth a prince's while as this
one, who dared flout him with her riding-whip before his men!

"Sahiba!" he said, sidling close to her again, and bowing in the saddle
in mock cavalier humility. "The time will come when your government
and my brother, who--at present--is Maharajah Howrah--will be of little
service to you. Then, perhaps, you may care to recall my