istering black eyes! And a jewel in her nose!"

"It takes you, Gaston," said Guy Matthews, "to discover a dame of
company!"

II

When the white motor-boat had disappeared in the glitter of the
Ab-i-Diz, Senhor Magin, not unlike other fallible human beings when
released from the necessity of keeping up a pitch, appeared to lose
something of his gracious humor. So, it transpired, did his decorative
boatmen, who had not expected to row twenty-five miles upstream at a
time when most people in that climate seek the relief of their
_serdabs_--which are underground chambers cooled by running water, it
may be, and by a tall _badgir_, or air chimney. The running water, to be
sure, was here, and had already begun to carry the barge down the Karun.
If the high banks of that tawny stream constituted a species of air
chimney, however, such air as moved therein was not calculated for
relief. But when Brazilians command, even a Lur may obey. These Lurs, at
all events, propelled their galley back to the basin of Bund-i-Kir, and
on into the Ab-i-Shuteit--which is the westerly of those two halves of
the Karun. Before nightfall the barge had reached the point where
navigation ends. There Magin sent his majordomo ashore to procure
mounts. And at sunset the two of them, followed by a horse boy, rode
northward six or seven miles, till the city of Shuster rose dark above
them in the summer evening, on its rock that cleaves the Karun in two.

The Bazaar by which they entered the town was deserted at that hour,
save by dogs that set up a terrific barking at the sight of strangers.
Here the _charvadar_ lighted a vast white linen lantern, which he
proceeded to carry in front of the two riders. He seemed to know where
he was going, for he led the way without a pause through long blank
silent streets of indescribable filth and smells. The gloom of them was
deepened by jutting balconies, and by innumerable _badgirs_ that cut out
a strange black fretwork against amazing stars. At last the three
stopped in front of a gate in the vicinity of the citadel. This was not
one of the gateways that separate the different quarters of Shuster,
but a door in a wall, recessed in a tall arch and ornamented with an
extraordinary variety of iron clamps, knobs, locks, and knockers.

Of one of the latter the _charvadar_ made repeated use until someone
shouted from inside. The horse-boy shouted back, and presently his
lantern caught a glitter of two eyes in a sl