d he doubled himself up as though in pain as he dragged
himself back to the house.

The vanished beggar's tracks were entirely obliterated, and when the
Burman went off in a _gharry_ in company with Shiraz, the whole street
knew that he was being sent away on a secret mission of great
importance.

To know something that other people do not know is to be in some way
their superior. It is a popular fallacy to believe that we all of us are
gifted with special insight. The dullest bore believes it of himself,
but when it comes to the possession of an absolute fact superiority
becomes unmistakable, particularly in circumscribed localities, and Leh
Shin's assistant remembered how the sudden dumbness of the crazy Burman
had irked his own soul. He told a little of what he professed to know,
and having done so, refused to admit more, and so it was current in the
Bazaar that the friend of the rich Punjabi was gone to receive money
paid for jewels, and that the place of his destination was known only to
Leh Shin's assistant, who, having sworn on oath, would by no means
divulge the name of the place.

Even Leh Shin, who awoke late, appeared interested, and asked questions
that made the gross, flabby boy think hard before he replied; and the
mystery that attached itself to the departure of the Burman lent an
added interest to Shiraz, who returned after the usual hour of prayer at
the Mosque, and paced slowly up the street, meditating upon a verse from
the Koran. The evening light softened and the shadows grew long, making
the Colonnade dark a full hour before the street outside was wrapped in
the smoky gloom of twilight and the charcoal fires were lighted to cook
the evening meal, and by the time that the first clear globes of
electric light dotted Paradise Street Coryndon was back in his room and
dressed ready to go out to dinner.

Hartley received the wanderer with enthusiasm, and began at once by
telling him that he had an invitation for him which was growing stale by
long keeping. Mrs. Wilder was giving a very small party and both the
Head of the Police and his friend were invited.

"I accepted definitely for myself, and conditionally for you," said
Hartley cheerfully. "Now I will ring up Wilder and tell him that the
prodigal has reappeared, and that you will come."

Coryndon submitted to the inevitable with a good grace; it was one of
his best social qualifications, and arose from a keen sensitiveness that
made it nearly