this hint, Scragga, looking more evil than ever, advanced a step and
lifted his great spear, and at that moment I saw Good's hand creep to
his revolver. The poor girl caught the faint glint of steel through her
tears, and it sobered her anguish. She ceased struggling, and clasping
her hands convulsively, stood shuddering from head to foot.

"See," cried Scragga in high glee, "she shrinks from the sight of my
little plaything even before she has tasted it," and he tapped the
broad blade of his spear.

"If ever I get the chance you shall pay for that, you young hound!" I
heard Good mutter beneath his breath.

"Now that thou art quiet, give us thy name, my dear. Come, speak out,
and fear not," said Gagool in mockery.

"Oh, mother," answered the girl, in trembling accents, "my name is
Foulata, of the house of Suko. Oh, mother, why must I die? I have done
no wrong!"

"Be comforted," went on the old woman in her hateful tone of mockery.
"Thou must die, indeed, as a sacrifice to the Old Ones who sit yonder,"
and she pointed to the peaks; "but it is better to sleep in the night
than to toil in the daytime; it is better to die than to live, and thou
shalt die by the royal hand of the king's own son."

The girl Foulata wrung her hands in anguish, and cried out aloud, "Oh,
cruel! and I so young! What have I done that I should never again see
the sun rise out of the night, or the stars come following on his track
in the evening, that I may no more gather the flowers when the dew is
heavy, or listen to the laughing of the waters? Woe is me, that I shall
never see my father's hut again, nor feel my mother's kiss, nor tend
the lamb that is sick! Woe is me, that no lover shall put his arm
around me and look into my eyes, nor shall men children be born of me!
Oh, cruel, cruel!"

And again she wrung her hands and turned her tear-stained
flower-crowned face to Heaven, looking so lovely in her despair--for
she was indeed a beautiful woman--that assuredly the sight of her would
have melted the hearts of any less cruel than were the three fiends
before us. Prince Arthur's appeal to the ruffians who came to blind him
was not more touching than that of this savage girl.

But it did not move Gagool or Gagool's master, though I saw signs of
pity among the guards behind, and on the faces of the chiefs; and as
for Good, he gave a fierce snort of indignation, and made a motion as
though to go to her assistance. With all a woman's quicknes