ry long?" It
was a conventional question and she was unprepared for the reply.

"I leave to-night," he said, "though very few people know it. You have
surprised a State secret," he smiled again.

And then he began to talk of Morocco and its history, and with
extraordinary ease he traced the story of the families which had ruled
that troubled State.

He touched lightly on his own share in the rebellion which had almost
brought about a European war.

"My uncle seized the throne, you know," he said, taking up a handful of
sand and tossing it up in the air. "He defeated my father and killed
him, and then we caught his two sons."

"What happened to them?" asked Jean curiously.

"Oh, we killed them," he said carelessly. "I had them hanged in front of
my tent. You're shocked?"

She shook her head.

"Do you believe in killing your enemies?"

She nodded.

"Why not? It is the only logical thing to do."

"My brother joined forces with the present Sultan, and if I ever catch
him I shall hang him too," he smiled.

"And if he catches you?" she asked.

"Why, he'll hang me," he laughed. "That is the rule of the game."

"How strange!" she said, half to herself.

"Do you think so? I suppose from the European standpoint----"

"No, no," she stopped him. "I wasn't thinking of that. You are logical
and you do the logical thing. That is how I would treat my enemies."

"If you had any," he suggested.

She nodded.

"If I had any," she repeated with a hard little smile. "Will you tell me
this--do I call you Mr. Muley or Lord Muley?"

"You may call me Wazeer, if you're so hard up for a title," he said, and
the little idiom sounded queer from him.

"Well, Wazeer, will you tell me: Suppose somebody who had something that
you wanted very badly and they wouldn't give it to you, and you had the
power to destroy them, what would you do?"

"I should certainly destroy them," said Muley Hafiz. "It is unnecessary
to ask. 'The common rule, the simple plan'" he quoted.

Her eyes were fixed on his face, and she was frowning, though this she
did not know.

"I am glad I met you this afternoon," she said. "It must be wonderful
living in that atmosphere, the atmosphere of might and power, where men
and women aren't governed by the finicking rules which vitiate the
Western world."

He laughed.

"Then you are tired of your Western civilisation," he said as he rose
and helped her to her feet (his hands were long and delicate, and s