eir lords and masters have no money
to procure for them the things that they wish."

Money! Thank God! This man could be bought!

"And Yeva?" Marishka asked, trembling in fear for the new hope that had
risen.

"It is the same with her as with the others, Excellency," he shrugged
despairingly. "She is but a child. I have been foolishly liberal with
her--as liberal as my poor means allowed, and she has come to know the
value of money--the dross for which men perjure their souls, and die if
need be. Yeva, alas! wishes jewels, the pretty clothing of the women of
fashion. And I, as I have related, being a mere dealer in rugs,
Excellency, have not been able to give them to her. It has made
unhappiness come into my household; it has made me, the Beg of Rataj,
hereditary ruler of thousands, ashamed to raise my head or my voice in
her presence--I, Excellency, her lord and master!"

He wagged his head to and fro with an air which might have been comical,
had not Marishka's need been so desperate. But she read him easily, a
vile, blackmailing rogue who held no allegiance higher than what he got
from it--a man who, for all his fine flow of talk, could be dangerous as
well as unscrupulous. But Marishka met him fairly.

"I have taken a fancy to Yeva, Effendi," she said quietly. "She will
tell you perhaps that I have already given her several trifles which she
fancied. Perhaps I can do something to solve your problems. In my own
country I am considered wealthy and I can be generous with those who
treat me with kindness."

"Ah!" The Effendi's eyes sparkled hungrily. The Austrian countess was no
fool. She had already begun to understand him.

"To treat Her Excellency with kindness! And could I do anything else? My
house, poor as it is----"

"Effendi," Marishka cut in boldly, "let us waste no words. I am a
prisoner in your house, at the instance of Captain--of Herr Lieutenant
von Arnstorf----"

"A prisoner? Has not the Excellency----?"

"One moment. I am not aware how much you know of the political situation
which has brought me to Bosna-Seraj, but I do know that I am confined
here against my will--a prisoner in a house within the realms of my own
country. Of course you know that I have sought to escape, that I have
written to a friend who will do what he can to liberate me."

"Excellency, I beg of you----"

"Please let me finish. For political reasons, the fact of my presence
here and my mission should be kept a secret. M