must not be afraid zat they will contaminate you," she explained,
noting the look of dismay in Ruth's eyes. "Zey have never adorned my
body, zey have never been expose to the speculating eye of the public,
zey have not hid from view these charms of mine. No, these are fair
and virtuous fabrics. It is you who will be the first to wear them, my
friend. Take your choice. See! Zis piece, is it not wonderful? It comes
from Buda Pesth. One day it would perhaps have caressed my flesh in the
Dance of the Sultan's Dream,--but, alas,--zat is not to be. Feel, my
friend,--take it in your hand. See? You could hide it in the palm of one
of them,--and presto! Throw it outspread,--and it is like a blanket of
mist filling the room. It is priceless. It is unobtainable. None except
Obosky can afford to dance in such imperial stuff as this. Take it,--it
is yours. It is my pleasure that you should have it. Better far it
should be your bridal veil than to drape these abandoned legs of mine."

And so it was that the scant costume of the Sultan's Dream became the
bridal veil of the governor's lady.

If Olga Obosky was sore at heart, she gave no sign. On the contrary,
she revealed the sprightliest interest in the coming nuptials. Percival
himself had told her the news within the hour after his interview with
Mrs. Spofford. In his blind happiness, he had failed to notice the
momentary stiffening of her body as if resisting a shock; he did not see
the hurt, baffled look that darkened her eyes for a few seconds, and
the swiftly passing pallor that stole into her face and vanished almost
instantly. He saw only the challenging smile that followed close upon
these fleeting signs, and the mocking gleam in her eyes.

"So?" she had said. "So the citadel is yours, my friend. Hail to the
chief! I salute you. But consider, O conqueror, what it is you are
about to do. You are setting a woeful example. There will be a stampede,
a panic. People will trample each other under foot in ze mad rush
for captivity. The wedding bell will crack under ze strain of so much
ringing. Everybody will be getting married, now zat they find it is so
easy and so simple. I congratulate you, my friend. You have been very
slow,--I have said she was yours for the asking, you will remember. She
is good, she is beautiful, she is pure gold, my friend. I am her friend.
Do not ever forget, my Percivail, I am her friend."

He flushed warmly. He could not misinterpret her meaning. She s