pass most of my time sitting on my horse in the hot sun, or the driving
snow, preserving, or pretending to preserve, the life of his Majesty
from real or imaginary dangers. Or else I sit eight or nine hours a day
chatting and smoking with the other adjutants. It is not a healthy life.
It is certainly not romantic."

"Not as you describe it. But I judged from the ease with which you made
the preparations for this expedition that you had done things of the
sort before."

My friend laughed again, but turned the subject.

"I hope that when we meet your friends to-morrow morning, we may have
something to show for our night's work," he said. "Fancy what an
excitement there would be if we brought Alexander Patoff back with us!
Not that it is at all probable. We may bring back nothing but broken
bones."

"I do not think Selim will hurt us much," I answered. "He is not exactly
an athlete. I would risk a fight with him."

"I dare say. But there may be plenty of strong fellows about the
premises. There are the four caidjs, the boatmen, to begin with. There
is a coachman and probably two grooms. Very likely there are half a
dozen big hamals about."

"That makes thirteen," I said. "Six and a half to one, or four and a
third to one, if we count upon our own driver."

"You may count upon him," replied Gregorios. "He is an old soldier, and
as strong as a lion. In case of necessity he will call the watch from
Yeni Koej. There is a small detachment of infantry there. But we shall
not have to resort to such measures. I believe that I can make the
Khanum confess. If so, I can make her order Selim to give up Patoff, if
he is alive."

"And if he is dead?"

"It will be the worse for the Khanum and her people. She is not in good
odor at the palace. It would not take much to have her exiled to Arabia,
even though she be dying, as they say she is. That is the question. Let
me only find her alive, and I will answer for the rest."

"She might very well refuse to confess, I fancy," I remarked, surprised
at my friend's tone of conviction.

"I believe not," he said shortly. Then he remained silent for some time.

My nerves are good; but I did not like the business, though I knew it
was undertaken for a good purpose, and that if we were successful we
should be conferring great and lasting happiness upon more than one of
my friends. I had heard many queer stories of wild deeds in the East,
and in my own experience had been concerned in a