d, as he challenged the fires of the gems
with the fever of his eyes, and sent mimic lightnings hither and thither
by communicating the tremble of his hands and the incidence of the
sunbeams to the glorious confusion of facet and hue; 'no pebbles yet.'

"As Prince Otondo repeated this obvious reassurance, he replaced the
gems, which seemed to quiver with lambent life, within the compartment,
and withdrawing the shagreen case from his sash, he discharged the
magnificent sapphire it contained upon the apex of the glittering heap,
where it rested with a sort of insolent disproportion to the irradiant
pyramid of brilliants beneath.

"Regarding the bewildering ensemble for a few moments of exulting
ownership and familiar calculation, the prince closed the panel with the
mien of Paris making restitution of Helen, and, turning aside, prepared
to retire for the night.

"The ceremony was simple and so promptly observed that ere the radiance
had ceased its revel in his mind the prince found himself reclining upon
his couch, unusually ready to succumb to the sleep which he had so
often sought in vain.

"The night was hot and stifling, and yet it seemed to the prince that he
had only retired to rise the moment after, so profound had been his
slumber and so quickly had daybreak arrived.

"For a few moments he lay in that agreeable condition of
semi-realization ere the visages of his wonted obligations had assumed
the definition of their customary insistence, or the menace of a
restrained remorse had reannounced itself, when suddenly, without
introduction or sequence, the phrase 'pebbles for diamonds' slipped into
his consciousness.

"In a second he was alert and awake; the next instant he found himself
at the panel, reaching tremulously for the concealed spring.

"At last he found it; the panel shot back, and the prince, after one
searching glance, stood transfixed and uttered a cry of wondering
despair.

"'The gleaming hoard still shot its varied lightnings. The royal
sapphire still crowned its priceless apex. To his starting eyes his
treasure was not a whit diminished, but directly in front, and at the
base of the precious heap, lay as many as would make a heaping handful
of pebbles."

As the Sepoy reached this startling climax in his recital, the even
modulations of his voice ceased abruptly.

Raikes, missing the somnolent monotone, looked up quickly.

The eyes of the Sepoy were fixed upon him with a gleam in his gl