y she had chosen it, she is
reported to have said that it was to bring her good fortune."

Now why did she wear the barbaric marriage gift of Harut and Marut in
preference to all the other gems at her disposal, I wondered. The thing
was so strange as to be almost uncanny.

The second piece of information concerning this pair reached me through
the medium of an old _Times_ newspaper which I received over a year
later. It was to the effect that a son and heir had been born to Lord
Ragnall and that both mother and child were doing well.

So there's the end to a very curious little story, thought I to myself.

Well, during those two years many things befell me. First of all, in
company with my old friend Sir Stephen Somers, I made the expedition to
Pongoland in search of the wonderful orchid which he desired to add
to his collection. I have already written of that journey and our
extraordinary adventures, and need therefore allude to it no more here,
except to say that during the course of it I was sorely tempted to
travel to the territory north of the lake in which the Pongos dwelt.
Much did I desire to see whether Messrs. Harut and Marut would in truth
appear to conduct me to the land where the wonderful elephant which was
supposed to be animated by an evil spirit was waiting to be killed by
my rifle. However, I resisted the impulse, as indeed our circumstances
obliged me to do. In the end we returned safely to Durban, and here I
came to the conclusion that never again would I risk my life on such mad
expeditions.

Owing to circumstances which I have detailed elsewhere I was now in
possession of a considerable sum of cash, and this I determined to lay
out in such a fashion as to make me independent of hunting and trading
in the wilder regions of Africa. As usual when money is forthcoming, an
opportunity soon presented itself in the shape of a gold mine which had
been discovered on the borders of Zululand, one of the first that was
ever found in those districts. A Jew trader named Jacob brought it to
my notice and offered me a half share if I would put up the capital
necessary to work the mine. I made a journey of inspection and convinced
myself that it was indeed a wonderful proposition. I need not enter into
the particulars nor, to tell the truth, have I any desire to do so, for
the subject is still painful to me, further than to say that this Jew
and some friends of his panned out visible gold before my eyes and