thoughtfully. "No other
foreigner has ever passed into our secret city. Is there word as to how
he got there?"

"He came as a Russian artificer from that city in Russia of which we do
not speak," Li Wen replied. "He brought letters, and his knowledge was
great."

"His name?" the Prince asked.

"Gilbert Jesson, Highness. His passport and papers refer to Washington,
but his message, if he sent one, is believed to have come to London."

"The man must die," the Prince said calmly. "That, without doubt, he
expects. Yet the news is not serious. My heart has spoken for peace, Li
Wen."

Li Wen bowed low. His master watched him curiously.

"If I had asked it, Li Wen, where would your counsel have led?"

"Towards peace, Highness. I do not trust Immelan. It is not in such a
manner that China's Empire shall spread. There are ancestors of mine who
would turn in their graves to find China in league with a western
Power."

"You are a wise man, Li Wen," his master declared. "We hold the mastery
of the world. What shall we do with it?"

"The mightiest sword is that which enforces peace," was the calm reply.
"Highness, the lady whom you were expecting waits in the anteroom."

Prince Shan nodded. He welcomed Naida, who was ushered in a moment or
two later, with rather more than his usual grave and pleasant courtesy,
leading her himself to a chair.

"I wondered," she confessed, "if I were ever to be allowed to see inside
your wonderful house."

"It is my misfortune to be compelled to pay so brief a visit to this
country," he replied. "As a rule, it gives me great pleasure to open my
rooms three evenings and entertain those who care to come and see me."

"I have heard of your entertainments," she said, smiling. "Prima donnas
sing. You rob the capitals of Europe to find your music. Then the great
Monsieur Auguste is lured from Paris to prepare your supper, and not a
lady leaves without some priceless jewel."

"I entertain so seldom," he reminded her. "I fear that the fame of my
feasts has been exaggerated."

"When do you leave, Prince?" she asked him.

"Within a few days," he replied.

"I come for your last word," she announced. "All that I have written to
Paul Matinsky you know."

"The last word is not yet to be spoken," he said. "This, however, you
may tell Matinsky. The scheme of Oscar Immelan has been laid before me.
I have rejected it."

"In what other way, then, would you use your power?" she asked.

He made