bandon that Lal Lu, for a moment forgetful of her own
extremity, gazed with unconcealed amazement and alarm upon the almost
hysterical creature.

"'Ha, ha!' she raved; 'be not afraid, Lal Lu. This royal pest, this
insolent prince, will trouble you no more; you will never see him
again.'

"'Ha!' exclaimed Lal Lu. 'You seem strangely positive. What do you
mean?'

"'Did you see that scratch which the point of your dagger made upon the
wrist of the prince?'

"'No,' replied Lal Lu, shrinking from the picture presented to her mind.

"'Well,' returned the grim-visaged woman with a return to her customary
austerity, 'I did. The wound was slight; only a few easily subdued drops
of blood followed; but, believe me, maiden, it will be sufficient.'

"'What do you mean?' demanded Lal Lu.

"'This,' returned the weird creature with repulsive, evil joy, which she
made no attempt to disguise: 'The point of that dagger was steeped in
the most deadly poison known in India. In twenty minutes, ha, ha! it is
the prince who will be the empty casket.'"

* * * * *

As the Sepoy reached this point in his narrative he paused with
startling abruptness.

Raikes, no longer under the influence of the seductive cadences, looked
up sharply.

"Well?" inquired the Sepoy as he met the inquiring glance of his furtive
auditor, "what of the flaw in the sapphire? Can you trace the blemish?"

"Devil seize me!" exclaimed Raikes, as he offered, by this apostrophe,
an invitation which was certain, at no distant date, to be accepted.

"Devil seize me if I have thought of the sapphire!" and he began at once
an apologetic inspection of the brilliant with the magnifying glass.

"Ha, ha!" laughed the Sepoy. "I must congratulate myself upon my powers
of narration."

"Aye!" replied Raikes, as he continued his examination of the flaming
bauble, "and also upon your irritating habit of concluding at the
anxious moment. But see here," and he held the sapphire up to view; "I
can see nothing wrong; possibly the light is bad. The searching glare of
day is required to discover a blemish such as you speak of."

"Suppose you return to-morrow, then, directly after breakfast?"
suggested the Sepoy.

"I want your judgment. I dare not trust my own; my blindness may be
voluntary."

"Very well, then," assented Raikes, who, now that he had nothing upon
which to fasten his eyes, felt an easily comprehended uneasiness to
leave