e whispered:

"I shall remain with you till dusk. Give no sign whatever that you
know me, for you will be watched. To-night I will smuggle you out of
the palace. Take these, and soon pretend to be quieted."

Winnie swallowed the bits of sugar and lay back. Kathlyn signified
that she wished to be alone with her patient. Once alone with Winnie,
she cast aside her veil.

"Oh, Kit!"

"Hush, baby! We are going to get you safely away."

"I am afraid."

"So are we all; but we must not let any one see that we are. Father
and Ahmed are near by. But oh, why did you attempt to find us?"

"But you cabled me to come, weeks ago!"

"I? Never!" And the mystery was no longer a mystery to Kathlyn. The
hand of Umballa lay bare. Could they eventually win out against a man
who seemed to miss no point in the game? "You were deceived, Winnie.
To think of it! We had escaped, were ready to sail for home, when we
learned that you had left for India. It nearly broke our hearts."

"What ever shall we do, Kit?" Winnie flung her arms round her sister
and drew her down. "My Kit!"

"We must be brave whatever happens."

"And am I not your sister?" quietly. "Do you believe in me so little?
Why shouldn't I be brave? But you've always treated me like a baby;
you never tried to prove me."

Kathlyn's arms wound themselves tightly about the slender form. . . .
And thus Umballa found them.

[Illustration: And thus Umballa found them.]

"Very touching!" he said, standing with his back to the door. "But
nicely trapped!" He laughed as Kathlyn sprang to her feet, as her hand
sought the dagger at her side. "Don't draw it," he said. "I might
hurt your arm in wrenching it away from you. Poor little fool! Back
into the cage, like a homing pigeon! Had I not known you all would
return, think you I would have given up the chase so easily? You would
not bend, so then you must break. The god Juggernaut yearns for a
sacrifice to prove that we still love and worship him. You spurned my
love; now you shall know my hate. You shall die, unpleasantly."

Quickly as a cat springs he caught her hands and wrenched them toward
him, dragging her toward the door. Winnie sprang up from the cushions,
her eyes ablaze with the fighting spirit. Too soon the door closed in
her face and she heard the bolt outside go slithering home.

Said Umballa from the corridor: "To you, pretty kitten, I shall come
later. I need you for my wife. When I