h that placid
length of lash usually associated with the sensuous, were saved from
that suspicion by the innocent question and confiding abandon of her
half-parted lips.

"Her hands, clasped at the moment before her, possessed the
indescribable contour of refinement and high breeding, and manifested a
degree of the tension of her present privileges by a closer interlace of
the fingers than usual.

"A robe of white, confined loosely to her waist by a vari-colored sash,
which drooped gracefully to catch up the folds in front, clung softly to
her figure in sylphid revelation of the matchless proportions it could
never conceal.

"'Lal Lu!' exclaimed the prince unevenly, his face reflecting the strife
of deference and desire as he disengaged the clasped hands of the maiden
and held them closely in his own, 'what is it to be, the Vale of
Cashmere or the snows of Himalaya?'

"For a moment the girl gazed with disconcerting directness upon her
ardent companion, as the warmth of his impulse deepened the dusk of his
countenance and threaded the fine white of his eyes with ruddy
suffusions.

"'O prince!' she replied, veiling her eyes the while with tantalizing
lashes and reflecting, with exquisite duplication, a degree of the color
which burned in the cheeks of her visitor, 'other answer have I none
save that I gave thee yesterday.'

"With an impatient exclamation the prince released the hands he held in
such vehement grasp, and stood, for a space, with his arms folded,
directing upon the trembling beauty the while a gaze of vivid, glowing
menace which was scarcely to be endured.

"'Ah!' he cried in a voice of husky contrast to his usual placid
utterance, 'have you reflected, Lal Lu, how futile thy objections may be
if I choose to make them so?'

"With surprising calmness and a sweet dignity, which was not without its
effect upon the prince, although it sharpened to the refinement of
torture the keenness of his infatuation, Lal Lu replied:

"'I have said, my lord.'

"At this reply the prince, exasperated beyond further control, with
ruthless, fervent abandon, caught the trembling Lal Lu in his arms and
held her, palpitating, reproachful, in his savage embrace.

"Bewildered at the quickness of his action, Lal Lu reposed inertly
within the passionate restraint of his sinewy arms, but the next
instant, transformed into an indignant goddess, struggled, with
surprising strength, from his clasp and held the mortified princ