could not possibly be done."

"No, monsieur, it could not. So the crown prince broke from her and bent
all his energies upon the recovery of the pearl and the keeping of its
loss a secret from the king and his people. Bravos, footpads, burglars,
all manner of men, were employed before he left Paris. The woman's house
was broken into, the woman herself waylaid and searched, but nothing
came of it, no clue to the lost jewel could be found."

"Why, then, did he not appeal to the police?"

"Monsieur, he--he dared not. In one of his moments of madness
he--she--that is---- Oh, monsieur, remember his youth! It appears that
the woman had got him to put into writing something which, if made
public, would cause the people of Mauravania to rise as one man and to
do with him as wolves do with things that are thrown to them in their
fury."

"The dog! Some treaty with a Russian, of course!" said Cleek
indignantly. "Oh, fickle Mauravania, how well you are punished for your
treasonable choice! Well, go on, count. What next?"

"Of a sudden, monsieur, the woman disappeared. Nothing was heard of her,
no clue to her whereabouts discovered for two whole years. She was as
one dead and gone until last week."

"Oho! She returned then?"

"Yes, monsieur. Without hint or warning she turned up in Mauravania,
accompanied by a disreputable one-eyed man who has the manner and
appearance of one bred in the gutters of Paris, albeit he is well
clothed, well looked after, and she treats him and his wretched
collection of parakeets with the utmost consideration."

"Parakeets?" put in Narkom excitedly. "My dear Cleek, couldn't a
parakeet be made to swallow a pearl?"

"Perhaps; but not this one, Mr. Narkom," he made reply. "It is quite the
size of a pigeon's egg, I believe; is it not, count?"

"Yes, monsieur, quite. To see it is to remember it always. It has the
changing lights of the rainbow and----"

"Never mind that; go on with the story, please. This woman and this
one-eyed man appeared last week in Mauravania, you say?"

"Yes, monsieur; and with them a bodyguard of at least ten servants. Her
demand now is that his Majesty make her his morganatic wife; that he
establish her at the palace, under the same roof with his queen; and
that she be allowed to ride with them in the state carriage on the
coronation day. Failing that, she swears that she will not only publish
the contents of that dreadful letter, but send the original to the chief
o