k decision and rewarded; he
was plainly in high dudgeon as he swaggered out of a dark door near the
stables and advanced sulkily toward his master.

"Remove the prisoner from that cell, taking great care that the hag
yonder sees what you do--yes, that hag--the new one; she is a spy. Bring
the prisoner in to me, where I will talk with him; afterward place him
in a different cell--put him where we kept the bear that died--there is
a dark comer beside it, where a man might hide; hide a man there when
it grows dark. And give the hag access. Say nothing to her; let her come
and go as she will; watch, and listen."

Without another word, the Prince got up and shuffled in his decorated
slippers to a door at one end of the cloister. Five minutes later Ali
Partab--high-chinned, but looking miserable--was led between two men
through the same door, while the old woman went on very ostentatiously
with her sweeping about the yard. She even turned her back, to prove how
little she was interested.

Ali Partab was hustled forward into a high-ceilinged room, whose light
came filtered through a scrollwork mesh of chiselled stone where the
wall and ceiling joined. There were no windows, but six doors opened
from it, and every one of them was barred, as though they opened into
treasure-vaults. The Prince sat restlessly in a high, carved wooden
chair; there was no other furniture at all, and Ali Partab was left
standing between his guards. The Prince drew a pistol from inside his
clothing.

"Leave us alone!" he ordered; and the guards went out, closing the door
behind them.

"I gave no orders for your capture," said Jaimihr, with a smile.

"Then, let me go," grinned Ali Partab.

"First, I must be informed on certain matters."

Ali Partab still grinned, but the muscles of his face changed their
position slightly, and it took no expert in physiognomy to read that
questions he would answer must be very tactfully asked.

"Ask on!"

"You are Mahommed Gunga's man?"

"Yes. It is an honorable service."

"Did he order you to stay here?"

"Here--in this palace? Allah forbid!"

"Did he order you to stay in Howrah?"

"He gave me certain orders. I obeyed them until your men invited swift
death for themselves and you by interfering with me!"

"What were the orders?"

Ali Partab grinned again--this time insolently.

"To make sure that the Jaimihr-sahib did not make away with the treasure
of his brother Howrah!" he answered.

"If y