ly and valuable. All were handsome.

It was evident that every one of the ladies who had been in the room,
when the tiger burst in, had contributed a token of her gratitude.
Many of the more valuable gems had been evidently taken from their
settings, as if the donors did not care that jewels they had worn
should be exposed to view. One parcel contained twenty superb pearls,
another a magnificent diamond and ten rubies, and so on, down to the
more humble gifts--although these were valuable--of those of lower
rank.

Dick's presents were much more costly than those of his companion, and
as soon as this was seen to be the case, Dick proposed that they
should all be put together, and divided equally. This, however,
Surajah would not hear of.

"The whole thing is due to you," he said. "It would never have
occurred to me to interfere at all. I had no part in the matter,
beyond aiding to kill a wounded tiger, and it was no more than I have
done, many times, among our hills, and thought nothing of. These
jewels are vastly more than I deserve, for my share in the affair. I
do not know much about the value of gems, but they must be worth a
large sum, and nothing will induce me to take any of those that you
have so well earned."

"I wonder whether Tippoo knows what they have given us," Dick said,
after in vain trying to alter his companion's decision.

"I don't suppose he troubled himself about it," Surajah replied. "No
doubt he was asked for permission for each to make a present to us.
The jewels in the harem must be of enormous value, as, for the last
fifteen years, Tippoo has been gathering spoil from all southern
India, having swept the land right up to the gates of Madras. They say
that his treasures are fabulous, and no doubt the ladies of his harem
have shared largely in the spoils. The question is, what had we best
do with these caskets? We know that, in the course of our adventures,
it may very well happen that we shall be closely searched, and it
would never do to risk having such valuables found upon us."

"No; I should say that we had best bury them somewhere. Some of these
merchants here may be honest enough for us to leave the jewels in
their care, without anxiety; but as they themselves may, at any
moment, be seized and compelled to give up their last penny, these
things would be no safer with them than with us.

"As to Pertaub, I have absolute faith in him, but he himself is liable
to be seized at any momen