ant was permitted to enter. His five servants saw to it that
all his wants were properly attended to, that no indignity to his high
caste might be offered: as having his food prepared by pariah hands in
the hotel kitchens, foul hands to make his bed. He was thoroughly
religious; the gods of his fathers were his in all their ramifications;
he wore the Brahmin thread about his neck.

He was unique among Indian princes. An Oxford graduate, he
persistently and consistently clung to the elaborate costumes of his
native state. And when he condescended to visit any one, it was
invariably stipulated that he should be permitted to bring along his
habits, his costumes and his retinue. In his suite or apartments he
was the barbarian; in the drawing-room, in the ballroom, in the
dining-room (where he ate nothing), he was the suave, the courteous,
the educated Oriental. He drank no wines, made his own cigarettes, and
never offered his hand to any one, not even to the handsome women who
admired his beautiful skin and his magnificent ropes of pearls.

Some one had entered the bedroom, overpowered the guard, and looted the
bag containing the emeralds. The prince, the lightest of sleepers, had
slept through it all. He had awakened with a violent headache, as had
four of his servants. The big Rajput who had stood watch was in the
hospital, still unconscious.

All the way from San Francisco the police had been waiting for such a
catastrophe. The newspapers had taken up and published broadcast the
story of the prince's pastime. Naturally enough, there was not a crook
in all America who was not waiting for a possible chance. Ten
emeralds, weighing from six to ten carats each; a fortune, even if
broken up.

Haggerty laid aside the newspaper and gravely finished his ham and eggs.

"I'll take a peek int' this, Milly," he said to his wife. "We've been
waiting for this t' happen. A million dollars in jools in a chest y'
could open with a can-opener. Queer ginks, these Hindus. We see lots
o' fakers, but this one is the real article. Mebbe a reward. All
right; little ol' Haggerty can use th' money. I may not be home t'
supper."

"Anything more about Mr. Crawford's valet?"

Haggerty scowled. "Not a line. I've been living in gambling joints,
but no sign of him. He gambled in th' ol' days; some time 'r other
he'll wander in somewhere an' try t' copper th' king. No sign of him
round Crawford's ol' place. But I'll get hi