dream of, with the menacing figure of the
merchant directly above him, prepared to strike at the least indication
of suspicion of the jacket and its priceless contents, the pair
presented a striking tableau of the sardonic jest in which fate
sometimes indulges in providing such nearness of opportunity and such a
threat to its embrace.

"'There is something thick about the body!' exclaimed the kneeling
officer.

"Ram Lal crept nearer.

"'Yes,' he replied with a stifled voice, as he shot a quick glance
toward the curtained doorway, on the other side of which the sergeant
was posted, 'yes, the prince was of a phthisical tendency.

"'He was compelled to protect himself against inequalities of
temperature.'

"At this instant the quick eye of the merchant detected the livid
scratch on the dead man's arm. 'Ha!' he cried, with an intonation which
caused the officer to forego his examination for the moment and regard
the merchant attentively.

"'Here!' cried the latter, pointing to the discolored and swollen wrist,
'here! There is no need to look for further sign of life; his heart will
beat no more. This dagger has been inserted in the poison sac of the
cobra--and here is the result!'

"As the officer rose to regard the wound, and understood its
significance, he shuddered and looked upon the hapless heir-apparent
with a sort of bluff compassion, but he made no further attempt to
pursue his investigations, and Ram Lal was spared one sanguinary entry
upon the book of his recording angel.

"'At least,' said the officer, as if in continuation of some unexpressed
idea, 'let us do ourselves the honor of disposing the prince upon his
bed'; and Ram Lal supporting the head and shoulders and the officer
grasping the feet, they carried the stiffened form to the bed.

"'May I ask the privilege,' said Ram Lal, 'of composing the features and
the body of the prince?'

"'Surely,' replied the officer, as he bestowed a departing glance upon
this last descendant of the long line of moghuls with a degree of
deference that was the result of his military training and his own
subjection to discipline, 'surely he is sadly in need of such a
service.'

"For his arms, although disengaged somewhat by their efforts, and the
clutch of the distorted fingers, though not so distended, still pointed
upward in a sort of eerie, rigid salutation to the subdued watchers.

"The eyes, too, which but a short time before had been so vivid with the
con