the Arab, "and she is not for any
unbeliever. You have earned death, Englishman, but if you can pay for
your life I will give it to you."

Baynes' eyes were still wide at the unexpected sight of Meriem here in
the camp of the Arab when he had thought her in Hanson's power. What
had happened? How had she escaped the Swede? Had the Arab taken her
by force from him, or had she escaped and come voluntarily back to the
protection of the man who called her "daughter"? He would have given
much for a word with her. If she was safe here he might only harm her
by antagonizing the Arab in an attempt to take her away and return her
to her English friends. No longer did the Hon. Morison harbor thoughts
of luring the girl to London.

"Well?" asked The Sheik.

"Oh," exclaimed Baynes; "I beg your pardon--I was thinking of something
else. Why yes, of course, glad to pay, I'm sure. How much do you
think I'm worth?"

The Sheik named a sum that was rather less exorbitant than the Hon.
Morison had anticipated. The latter nodded his head in token of his
entire willingness to pay. He would have promised a sum far beyond his
resources just as readily, for he had no intention of paying
anything--his one reason for seeming to comply with The Sheik's demands
was that the wait for the coming of the ransom money would give him the
time and the opportunity to free Meriem if he found that she wished to
be freed. The Arab's statement that he was her father naturally raised
the question in the Hon. Morison's mind as to precisely what the
girl's attitude toward escape might be. It seemed, of course,
preposterous that this fair and beautiful young woman should prefer to
remain in the filthy douar of an illiterate old Arab rather than return
to the comforts, luxuries, and congenial associations of the hospitable
African bungalow from which the Hon. Morison had tricked her. The man
flushed at the thought of his duplicity which these recollections
aroused--thoughts which were interrupted by The Sheik, who instructed
the Hon. Morison to write a letter to the British consul at Algiers,
dictating the exact phraseology of it with a fluency that indicated to
his captive that this was not the first time the old rascal had had
occasion to negotiate with English relatives for the ransom of a
kinsman. Baynes demurred when he saw that the letter was addressed to
the consul at Algiers, saying that it would require the better part of
a year to get