h its
subtle radiance.

"'Oh, Lal Lu!' cried the prince as he advanced toward the trembling
maiden with eager precipitation.

"'One moment, O prince!' exclaimed Lal Lu, extending a restraining hand.

"'I know not what to say to thee; yet will I meet thy candor with equal
frankness. Yea, Prince Otondo, I love thee indeed. I feel no shame in
the confession. I have loved thee always. I am----'

"But the prince, after the fashion of lovers, made further speech
impossible; and Lal Lu, with all the exquisite charm of womanly
capitulation, threw her dusky arms about his neck and held his lips to
hers in the only kiss beside her father's she had ever known.

"For one delirious moment, and then, releasing herself, she stood before
the prince, a very blushing majesty of love, and said:

"'And now, O prince, I have told thee my secret. Be thou equally
generous and restore me to my father, and then come to me when thou
desirest and I am thine."

"Concealing his impatience at this last suggestion, the prince, with
wily indirection, said:

"'It is too late to-day, Lal Lu. Thy father will be here on the morrow;
rest thyself until then,' and fearful lest the maiden would penetrate
his purpose, he added:

"'Lal Lu, I am compelled to leave thee for a space; I will send thy
woman to thee. Until to-morrow, then, adieu.' And fixing upon her a
glance so ardent that she almost followed him in its fascination, the
prince withdrew from her presence with a reluctance which was
duplicated in the bosom of the bewildered girl, if not so unmistakably
evinced.

"As the prince retreated toward his apartments, the alarming alternative
proposed by the merchant repeated itself with a sort of wordless
insistence:

"'Unless Lal Lu shall be returned, a handful of my precious stones shall
be missing.

"'Ah!

"'In their place will be as many pebbles!

"'Impossible!'

"And secure in his bedchamber, into which none might venture without
ceremonious announcement, the prince hastened to a recess in the wall,
where, in response to a pressure applied to a spot known only to
himself, a cunningly devised panel shot back, revealing a gleaming,
glittering mass of scintillating light and glamor.

"'Ah, ha!' he gloated, 'no pebbles yet'; and plunging his hands into the
costly heap, he withdrew a motley of diamonds, sapphires, rubies and
opals, and held them, with grudging avarice, to the regard of the
declining sun.

"'No pebbles yet,' he repeate