said Simbri, bowing, and I could see that he was
afraid.

Now he too was gone, and after him came his guards. I counted eight of
them, all carrying whips, with which they flogged their horses.

"What does this mean, friend Simbri?" I asked, as the sounds grew faint
in the distance.

"It means, friend Holly," he answered, "that the Khan does justice in
his own fashion--hunting to death one that has angered him."

"What then is his crime? And who is that poor man?"

"He is a great lord of this land, one of the royal kinsmen, and the
crime for which he has been condemned is that he told the Khania he
loved her, and offered to make war upon her husband and kill him, if she
would promise herself to him in marriage. But she hated the man, as she
hates all men, and brought the matter before the Khan. That is all the
story."

"Happy is that prince who has so virtuous a wife!" I could not help
saying unctuously, but with meaning, and the old wretch of a Shaman
turned his head at my words and began to stroke his white beard.

It was but a little while afterwards that once more we heard the baying
of the death-hounds. Yes, they were heading straight for us, this time
across country. Again the white horse and its rider appeared, utterly
exhausted, both of them, for the poor beast could scarcely struggle on
to the towing-path. As it gained it a great red hound with a black ear
gripped its flank, and at the touch of the fangs it screamed aloud in
terror as only a horse can. The rider sprang from its back, and, to our
horror, ran to the river's edge, thinking evidently to take refuge in
our boat. But before ever he reached the water the devilish brutes were
upon him.

What followed I will not describe, but never shall I forget the scene of
those two heaps of worrying wolves, and of the maniac Khan, who yelled
in his fiendish joy, and cheered on his death-hounds to finish their red
work.

CHAPTER IX

THE COURT OF KALOON

Horrified, sick at heart, we continued our journey. No wonder that the
Khania hated such a mad despot. And this woman was in love with Leo,
and this lunatic Khan, her husband, was a victim to jealousy, which he
avenged after the very unpleasant fashion that we had witnessed. Truly
an agreeable prospect for all of us! Yet, I could not help reflecting,
as an object lesson that horrid scene had its advantages.

Now we reached the place where the river forked at the end of the
island, and disembarked up