I heard.
There is still time to escape, and the way is known to you alone.'

"'So be it,' returned the prince as an expression of savage
determination compressed his thin lips and ignited baleful fires in his
restless eyes. 'Await me without; I will join you presently.'

"As the Hindoo turned to obey, the prince darted, with lithe haste, into
the inner room and pressed the spring in the wall.

"Slowly the panel rolled aside and revealed the glittering pyramid of
gems within.

"From the depths, just in the rear of the priceless heap, he withdrew a
sort of jacket, separated upon its upper edge into a series of openings
similar to the partitions of a cartridge-belt.

"Into these, with a sort of clumsy trepidation, he began to pack the
almost elusive portions of the gleaming mass of brilliants from the
recess.

"At the conclusion of fifteen vital minutes the prince had deposited the
last of the gems in the receptacles of this curious jacket, and, if the
reports of the Hindoo were to be credited, the advancing British were
that much nearer the Kutub.

"With desperate rapidity he disengaged the folds of the delicate cambric
which covered the upper portion of his body, inserting the precious
jacket beneath, and after adjusting it to his figure, strapped it
securely in place and rearranged his attire into non-committal contours.

"'And now,' he cried with an expression of savage determination, 'and
now for the rarest gem of all!' and darting through the silken hangings
which concealed his extreme of the passageway leading to the apartments
of Lal Lu, he hastened along that dingy bypath and presently reached the
threshold from which he had issued but a short time before with such
little credit to himself.

"Without pausing to announce himself or consider the impropriety of his
abrupt intrusion and its possible influence upon Lal Lu, the impetuous
heir-apparent swept aside the curtains and rushed into the room.

"Startled at the rattling rings which held the hangings in place, and
the impetuous swish of its folds, Lal Lu sprang to her feet and gazed
with indignant rebuke upon the inconsiderate prince.

"Heedless of the unconcealed disdain of her glance and ignoring the
presence of the furtive-eyed waiting-woman, he cried:

"'Lal Lu, the time for further parley is past. The Kutub is shortly to
be attacked by the British. We must fly--come!' and the speaker advanced
with unreflective haste to the side of the palpitati