----"

"You heard in Algiers that Cassim had died in Constantinople?"

"Yes. The Governor himself said so."

"The Governor believes so. Every one believes--except a wretched
hump-backed idiot in Morocco, who sold his inheritance to save himself
trouble, because he didn't want to leave his home, or bother to be a
marabout. Perhaps he's dead by this time, in one way or another. I
shouldn't be surprised. If he is, Maieddine and Maieddine's father, and
a few other powerful friends of Cassim's, are the only ones left who
know the truth, even a part of it. And the great Sidi El Hadj Mohammed
himself."

"Oh, Saidee--Cassim is the marabout!"

"Sh! Now you know the secret that's kept me a prisoner in his house
long, long after he'd tired of me, and would have got rid of me if he'd
dared--and if he hadn't been afraid in his cruel, jealous way, that I
might find a little happiness in my own country. And worse still, it's
the secret that will keep you a prisoner, too, unless you make up your
mind to do the one thing which can possibly help you."

"What thing?" Victoria could not believe that the answer which darted
into her mind was the one Saidee really meant to give.

Saidee's lips opened, but with the girl's eyes gazing straight into
hers, it was harder to speak than she had thought. Out of them looked a
highly sensitive yet brave spirit, so true, so loving and loyal, that
disloyalty to it was a crime--even though another love demanded it.

"I--I hate to tell you," she stammered. "Only, what can I do? If
Maieddine hadn't loved you--but if he hadn't, you wouldn't be here. And
being here, we--we must just face the facts. The man who calls himself
my husband--I can't think of him as being that any more--is like a king
in this country. He has even more power than most kings have nowadays.
He'll give you to Maieddine when he comes home, if Maieddine asks him,
as of course he will. Maieddine wouldn't have given you up, there in the
desert, if he hadn't been sure he could bribe the marabout to do exactly
what he wanted."

"But why can't I bribe him?" Victoria persisted, hopefully. "If he's
truly tired of you, my money----"

"He'd laugh at you for offering it, and say you might keep it for a
_dot_. He's too rich to be tempted with money, unless it was far more
than you or I have ever seen. From his oasis alone he has an income of
thousands and thousands of dollars; and presents--large ones and small
ones--come to him from al