ld not shoot me for it? Only for raising an alarm? And
surely you cannot be unreasonable about a few words--you must be
very careful, here, this doorway is low--"

It was not past the old ruined mosque, included in the palace's
underground world, that he was leading her, but down a narrow
branching way, between walls so low that the general's head was
bowed in caution.

"This part of the palace is very old," he murmured, over his
shoulder. "An ancestor of mine, Sharyar the Wazir, raised these
walls during the wars--for the dispensing of that sacred duty of
hospitality which Allah enjoins upon the faithful. It is reported
that he was host here to fifty of the enemy during their remaining
lifetime--although they had the delicacy not to cumber him with
overlong living. It is not, as I said, a pleasant place, but the
walls are strong and so I selected a spot here--"

Here, somewhere, then, in these grim ruins, Ryder was penned,
helpless and questioning the to-morrow. The girl trembled with
excitement when she thought of his joy, his deliverance--and at her
hands. For their escape she had no plans, only the decision to
thrust the gun into his hands and follow him unquestioningly ...
Perhaps they could leave the general in his place and he could wear
the general's uniform for disguise....

Everything was possible now that she was nearing him and his safety
was at hand. She thrilled with a reanimating excitement that flew
its scarlet banners in her cheeks ... Only a few steps now....

"Go on," she said breathlessly.

The bey had stopped and now flashed his lantern over a low, timbered
door, studded with ancient nail heads in a design whose artistry did
not arrest her. From a peg beside it he took down a key of brass,
fitted it to the lock and turned it with a deliberation maddening to
her tense nerves.

Her heart was beating as if it would burst its bounds. Only a moment
or two--

He had trouble with that door. It took his shoulder; at last he set
it swinging inward slowly on its creaking hinges. Then he stepped
back and with a wave of his hand invited her to enter.

"Not a chamber of luxury, you understand, but substantial, as you
will see--"

"Go first," she ordered.

He laughed. "Ever distrustful, little thorn-of-the-rose! Follow,
then," and he stepped within, into the darkness, which his failing
lantern but little illumined, calling out in a louder tone in his
halting English, "A visitor, my friend. A touri