ing. So we set a trap for Athelstan. And Athelstan brought Ganesha
with him. So now I have two men who know the secret, in addition to
myself and all my women. And I have one man who has skill enough to
_learn_ the secret, now that he knows _of_ it. Perhaps both men can
learn it, and I know full well that one can."

"And then?" King suggested.

"You shall conquer the world!" she answered.

King smiled and said nothing.

"I am uncertain yet whether or not I shall choose to be queen of the
earth!" she said. "Sometimes I think it would be fun for you and me to
be absolute king and queen of everywhere. Sometimes I think it will be
better to make some stupid person--say Ganesha here, for instance--king,
and for ourselves to be the power behind the throne. What do _you_
think, Athelstan?"

"I think," he answered.

"And you observe that the Gray Mahatma likewise thinks!" said she. "He
thinks what he can do to thwart us! But I am not afraid! Oh dear no,
Mahatma-ji, I am not at all fearful! Your secret is not worth ten
seconds' purchase unless it is of use to me!"

"Woman, is your word worth nothing?" asked the Gray Mahatma. "You can
not use what you know and keep the secret too. Let those two men escape,
and the secret will be blown to the winds within the hour."

She laughed outright at him.

"They shall not escape, old raven-in-a-robe!"

Just then some of her women brought a table in, and spread it with
fruit-laden dishes at the far end of the room. Yasmini rose to see
whether all was as she wished it, and I got a chance, not only to look
through the curtains, but also to whisper to King. He shook his head in
reply to my question.

"Could you manage for two, do you think?" he asked; and by that I knew
him for a vastly more than usually brave man. Consenting to what you
know is sure to destroy you, if the other fellow fails, calls for
courage.

"Makes a two to one chance of it," I answered.

"Very well, it's a bet. Give your orders!" said King.

The Mahatma sat rigid in mid-room with closed eyes, as if praying. His
hands were crossed on his breast, and his legs twisted into a nearly
unimaginable knot. He looked almost comatose.

The shutters and the glass windows were open wide to admit the morning
breeze. Nothing was between us and freedom but the fluttering silk
curtains and a drop of about seventy feet into an unknown river.

"Hold my hand," I said, "and jump your limit outward!"

The Gray Mahatma open