s of
relief. Rabda came and knelt down beside the couch, and, taking one
of her hands, pressed it to her lips. Isobel threw her arms round the
girl's neck, drew her close to her, and kissed her warmly.--Rabda then
drew a piece of paper and a pencil from her dress and handed them to
her. She wrote:

"Thanks a thousand times, dear friend; I will follow your instructions.
Please send me if you can some quick and deadly poison, that I may take
in the last extremity. Do not fear that I will flinch from applying the
things you have sent me. I would not hesitate to swallow them were there
no other hope of escape. I rejoice so much to know that you have escaped
from that terrible attack last night. Did Wilson alone get away? Do you
know they murdered my uncle and all the others in the boat, except Mrs.
Hunter and Mary? Pray do not run any risks to try and rescue me. I think
that I am safe now, and will make myself so hideous that if the wretch
once sees me he will never want to see me again. As to death, I have no
fear of it. If we do not meet again, God bless you.

"Yours most gratefully,

"Isobel."

Rabda concealed the note in her garment, and then motioned to Isobel
that she should close her eyes and pretend to be asleep. Then she gently
drew back the curtains and seated herself at a distance from the couch.

Half an hour later the mistress of the zenana came in. Rabda rose and
put her finger to her lips and left the room, accompanied by the woman.

"She is asleep," she said; "do not be afraid, the potion will do its
work. Leave her alone all night. When she wakes in the morning she will
be wild with fever, and you need have no fear that the Rajah will seek
to make her the queen of his zenana."

CHAPTER XX.

Prepared as the mistress of the zenana was to find a great change in the
captive's appearance, she was startled when, soon after daybreak, she
went in to see her. The lower part of her face was greatly swollen, her
lips were covered with white blotches. There were great red scars
round the mouth and on her forehead, and the skin seemed to have been
completely eaten away. There were even larger and deeper marks on her
neck and shoulders, which were partly uncovered, as if by her restless
tossing. Her hands and arms were similarly marked. She took no notice
of her entrance, but talked to herself as she tossed restlessly on the
couch.

There was but little acting in this, for Isobel was suffering an agony