A FASCINATING TRAITOR

AN ANGLO-INDIAN STORY

By Col. Richard Henry Savage

CONTENTS. 

 BOOK I. OUT OF THE DEAD PAST. 

 I. -A Chance Meeting at Geneva

 II. -An Offensive and Defensive Alliance

 III. -"And at Delhi What Am I to Do?"

 IV. -The Veiled Rosebud of Delhi

 V. -A Diplomatic Tiffin

 BOOK II. "A DEVIL FOR LUCK. "

 VI. -The Mysterious Bungalow

 VII. -The Price of Safety

 VIII. -Harry Hardwicke Takes the Gate Neatly!

 IX. -Alan Hawke Plays His Trump Card

 X. -A Captivated Viceroy

 BOOK III. PRINCE DJIDDIN'S VISIT TO ENGLAND. 

 XI. -"Do You See This Dagger?"

 XII. -On the Cliffs of Jersey

 XIII. -An Asiatic Lion in Hiding. 

 XIV. -The Council at Granville

 XV. -The French Fisher Boat "Hirondelle"

BOOK I. OUT OF THE DEAD PAST. 

CHAPTER I. A CHANCE MEETING AT GENEVA. 

"By Jove! I may as well make an end of the thing right here to-night!"was the dejected conclusion of a long council of war over which MajorAlan Hawke had presided, with the one straggling comfort of being itsonly member. 

All this long September afternoon he had dawdled away in feeding certainrapacious swans navigating gracefully around Rousseau's Island. He hadconsumed several Trichinopoly cigars in the interval, and had moodilygazed back upon the strange path which had led him to the placid shoresof Lake Leman! The gay promenaders envied the debonnair-looking youngBriton, whose outer man was essentially "good form. " Children left theside of their ox-eyed bonnes to challenge the handsome young strangerwith shy, friendly approaches. 

Bevies of flashing-eyed American girls "took him in" with parthianglances, and even a widowed Russian princess, hobbling by, easing hergouty steps with a jeweled cane, gazed back upon the moody Adonis andsighed for the vanished days, when she possessed both the physical andmental capacity to wander from the beaten paths of the proprieties. 

But--the world forgetting--the young man lingered long, gazing out uponthe broad expanse of the waters, his eyes resting carelessly upon thesuperb panorama of the southern shore. He had wandered far away from theGrand Hotel National, in the aimlessness of sore mental unrest, and, allunheeded, the hours passed on, as he threaded the streets of the proudold Swiss burgher city. He had known its every turn in brighter days, and, though the year of ninety-one was a brilliant Alpine season, and hewas in the very flower of youth and manly promise, gaunt care walked asa viewless warder at Alan Hawke's side. 

He had crossed over the Pont de Montblanc to the British Consulate, onlyto learn that the very man whom he had come from Monaco to seek, was nowalready at Aix la Chapelle, on his way to America, on a long leave. He had wearily made a tour of the principal hotels and scanned theregisters with no lucky find! Not a single gleam of hope shone out inall the polyglot inscriptions passing under his eye! And so he hadsadly betaken himself to a safe, retired place, where he could hold theaforesaid council of war. 

The practical part of the operations of this sole committee of waysand means, was an exhaustive examination of his depleted pockets. Afew sovereigns and a single crisp twenty-pound Bank of England noteconstituted the rear guard of Alan Hawke's vanished "sinews of war. " Theyoung man briefly noted the slender store, with a sigh. 

"Twenty-five pounds--and a little trumpery jewelry--I can't ever getback to India on that!" He seemed to hear again the rasping voice of thevulpine caller at Monte Carlo: "Messieurs! Faites vos jeux! Rien ne vaplus! Le jeu est fait!" And, if a dismal failure in Lender had been hisLeipsic, the black week at Monaco had been his long drawn-out Waterloo!"I was a rank fool to go there, " he growled, "and a greater fool to comeover here! I might have got on easily to Malta, and then chanced it fromthere to Calcutta!"

The sun's last lances glittered on the waters gleaming clear as crystal, with their deep blue tint of reflected sky, and liquid sapphire! Thegardens were becoming deserted as the loungers dropped off homeward oneby one, and still the handsome young fellow sat moodily gazing down intothe rushing waters of the arrowy Rhone, as if he fain would cast thedark burden of his dreary thoughts far away from him down into thosedarkling waters. But thirty-two years of age, Alan Hawke had alreadyoutlived all his wild boyish romances. The thrill with which he hadfirst set foot upon the land of Clive and Warren Hastings had faded awaylong years gone! And, Fate had stranded him at Geneva!

As he sat, still irresolute as to his future movements, the dyingsunlight gilded the splendid panorama of the whole Mont Blanc group. Rose and purple, with fading gold and amethystine gleams played softlyupon the far-away giant peak, with its noble bodyguard, the Aiguillesdu Midi, Grandes Jorasses, the Dent du Geant, the sturdy pyramid ofthe Mole, and the long far sweep of the Voirons. But he noted notthese splendors of the dying sun god, as he stood there moodily defyingadverse fate, a modern Manfred. "I might with this get on to London--butwhat waits me there? Only scorn, callous neglect!" His eye fell upon thestatue of Jean Jacques, lifted up there by the sturdy men who have forcenturies clung to the golden creeds of civil and religious liberty--theindependence of man--and the freedom of the unshackled human soul. "Poor Rousseau! seer and parasite, fugitive adventurer, the sport of thegreat, the eater of bitter bread--the black bread of dependence! I willnot linger here in a long-drawn agony! Here, I will end it forever, andto-night!"

There were certain visions of the past which returned to shake eventhe iron nerves of Alan Hawke! Face to face now with his half formedresolution of suicide, the wasted past slowly unrolled itself beforehim. 

The brief days of his service in India, an abrupt exit from the service, long years of wandering in Japan and China, as a gentleman adventurer, and all the singular phases of a nomadic life in Burmah, Nepaul, Cashmere, Bhootan, and the Pamirs. 

He smiled in derision at the recollection of a briefly flatteringfortune which had rebaptized him with a shadowy title of uncertainorigin. Thus far, his visiting card, "Major Alan Hawke, Bombay Club" hadbeen an easily vised passport, but--alas--good only among his own kind!He was but a free lance of the polished "Detrimentals, " and, under thislast adverse stroke of fortune, his poor cockboat was being swamped inthe black waters of adversity. He had staked much upon a little campaignat the Foreign Office in London. The cold rebuff which he had receivedto there had carried him in sheer desperation over to Monaro andincoming onto Geneva, he had "burned his ships" behind him. Ignorant ofthe precise manner in which his clouded reputation had stopped the wayto his advancement in the English Secret Service, he remembered, evenat the last, that a few letters were due to those who still watched hislittle flickering light on its way over the trackless sea of life. For hard-hearted as he was, --benumbed by the blows of fate, his heartcalloused with the snapping of cords and ties which once had closelybound him--there were yet loosely knit bonds of the past which tingedwith the glow of his dying passions--the unforgotten idols of hisadventurous career!

He rose and walked mechanically along the Qua du Mont Blanc with thealert, springy step of the soldier. "Once a Captain, always a Captain"was in every line of his resolute, martial figure. His well-set-up, graceful form, his nobly poised head and easy soldierly bearingcontrasted sharply with the lazy shuffle of the prosperous Swissdenizens and the listless lolling of the sporadic foreign tourists. Crisp, curling, tawny hair, a sweeping soldierly moustache, with aresolute chin and gleaming blue eyes accentuated a handsome face burntto a dark olive by the fiery Indian sun. An easy insouciance temperedthe habitual military smartness of the man who had known severaldifferent services in the fifteen years of his wasted young manhood. Ashe swung into the glare of the hospitable doorway of the Grand Rational, the obsequious head porter doffed his gold banded cap. 

"Table d'hote serving now, Major!" With the mere social instinct of longyears, Alan Hawke recognized the man's perfunctory politeness, tippedhim a couple of francs, and then, mechanically sauntered to a seat inthe superb salle a manger. "I'll get out of here to-night, " he muttered, and then he bent down his head over the carte du jour and peered at thewine list, as the chatter of happy voices, the animated faces of lovelywomen and the eager hum of social life around, recalled him to thatworld from which he contemplated an unceremonious exit. It was in adeference to old habit, and the "qu en dira't on, " that he ordered ahalf bottle of excellent Chambertin and then proceeded to dine with allthe scrupulous punctilio of the old happy mess days. 

Something of defiance seemed to steal back into his veins with thegenerous warmth of the wine--a touch of the old gallant spirit withwhich he had faced a hard world, since the unfortunate incident whichhad abruptly terminated his connection with "The Widow's" Service. Hiseye swept carelessly over the international detachment seated at thesplendid table. Lively and chattering as they were, it was a humanSahara to him. He easily recognized the "Ten-Pounder" element ofwandering Britons; poor, anxious-eyed beings grudgingly furloughed fromshop and desk, and now sternly determined to descend at Charing Crosswithout breaking into the few reserve sovereigns. Serious-lookingwomen, clad in many colors, and stolid cockneys, hostile to all foreigninnovation, met his eye. He sighed as he cast his social net and drew upnothing. 

There was a vacant chair at his left. Very shortly, without turning hiseyes, he was made aware of the proximity of a woman, young, evidently acontinental, from her softly murmured French. 

"Houbigant's Forest Violets, " he murmured. "She is at leastsemi-civilized!" He was dreaming of the far off lotos land which hehad left, as he felt the rebellious protest of his young blood andthe defiant spirit awaked by the mechanical luxury of the well-ordereddinner. "These human pawns seem to be all prosperous, if not happy! I'llhave another shy at it! By God! I must get back to India!" The wholecheckered past rushed back over his mind! The fifteen years of his"wanderjahre"! Scenes which even he dared not recall! Incidents which hehad never dared to own to any European! He but too well knew the originof his loosely applied title of Major--a field officer's rank morehonored at the easygoing clubs of Yokahama, Shanghai, and Hong Kong thanon the Army List--a rank best known at the ring-side of Indian sportinggrounds, and only tacitly accepted in the extra-official circles ofHindustan. For it figured not in the official Army List, either asactive or retired. The whole panorama of the mystic land of the Hinduswas unrolled once more by the memories of fifteen clouded years, Hesaw again his far-away theater of varied action, with its huge grimmountains towering far over the snow line, its arid wastes, its fertileplains bathed in intense sunshine, its mystic rivers, and its silent, solemn shrines of the vanished gods. 

Major Alan Hawke silently ran over his slender professionalaccomplishments. "I'm not too heavy to ride yet. I've a fair hand atcards--tough nerves, and even a bit of staying power. Luck may turn myway yet and there's always the Pamirs! At the worst, the Russians--theAfghans, --or those fellows up in Sikkim and Hill Tipperah! Anartillerist is always welcome there!" But even in his moral desperation, he hung his head, for a flush of his boyhood's bright ambitions returnedto shame him. An old song jingled in his memory, "When I first put thisuniform on. " He lapsed into a bitter reverie!

The soldier of fortune was finally aroused from a brown study by theimpassive steward presenting two great dishes. The clatter of some lateconvive seating himself also caused him to turn his head. 

"Hello, Anstruther! You are a long way from staff headquarters here!"quietly said Hawke, as the new arrival gazed at him in a mute surprise. 

Captain the Honorable Anson Anstruther put up his monocle and dulyanswered: "I thought that you were still in Calcutta, Hawke. " There wasa faint noli me tangere air in the young staff officer's manner, andyet mere propinquity drew them together in a few minutes. With theinsouciance of men bred in club and at mess, the two soldiers soondrifted into an easy chat, meeting on safe grounds. They calmlyignored the surrounding civilians, regardless of the attractions of twofalcon-eyed Chicago beauties, loud of voice and brilliantly overdressed, who were guiding "Popper" and "Mommer" over the continent. Theseresplendent daughters of Columbia already boasted a train consistingof a French count (of a very old and shadowy regime), a singularlysecond-hand looking Italian marquis, a wooden-soldier figured Germanbaron, and a sad-eyed, distant-looking Russian prince, whose bold Tartarglances rested hungrily upon both Miss "Phenie" and Miss "Genie" Forbes. 

The Anglo-Indians, however, calmly pursued their dinner and gossipregardless of the fact that Miss "Phenie" had violently nudged Miss"Genie, " and whispered in a stage aside: "Say, Genie, look at those twoEnglish fellows! They are something like--I bet you that they aretwo Lords!" The approval of the gilded Western maidens, whose fathersystematically assassinated a thousand porkers per diem, was lost uponthe chance-met acquaintances. "I must get back to India, by hook orcrook, " mused Alan Hawke, and therefore, he very delicately played hiswary fish, the sybaritic young swell of the staff. Captain the HonorableAnson Anstruther's reserve soon melted under the skillful bonhomie ofthe astute Alan Hawke. An easy-going patrician of the staff, he was inthe magic circle of the viceroy. The heir to an inevitable fortune, andalready vested with substantially stratified deposits at "Coutts"and Glyn, Carr and Glyn's, he would have been envied by most lucklessmortals the heavy balances which he always carried at "Grind-lay's, " afortune for any less fortunate man. 

He was already interested in the remarkably fetching looking young womanat Alan Hawke's left, being a squire of dames par excellence, whileMajor Alan Hawke himself wondered how Anstruther had drifted so far awayfrom the direct line of travel to London. 

Thawing visibly under the influence of Hawke's gracefully modulatedcamaraderie, the susceptible Anstruther was attentively examining hisfair neighbor in silence, while he tried vaguely to recall some storywhich he had once heard, quite detrimental to the cosmopolitan Major. 

He gave it up as a bad job! "Hang it!" he thought. "It may have beensome other chap. Very likely!" It was the strange story of a sharpencounter with the hostile Kookies, in which a couple of Englishmountain guns, long before abandoned by a British expeditionary force, had been served with due professional skill and most desperate dash bya reckless man, easily recognized as an English refugee artillerist. The wounded escaped British soldier, who had died after denouncing thedeserting adventurer, had left his parting advice to the Royal Artilleryto burn the fearless renegade, should he ever be captured. It was theStory of a nameless traitor!

But, the vague distrust of the curled darling of Fortune soon faded awayunder Hawke's measured social leading. A silver wine cooler stood behindtheir chairs, and the old yarn of a British officer playing Olivier Painbecame very misty under the subtle influence of the Pommery Sec. AlanHawke guarded the expected story of his own wanderings, waiting craftilyuntil Bacchus and Venus had sufficiently mollified Anstruther. 

He duplicated the champagne, knowing well the warming influence of"t'other bottle. " The Major of a shadowy rank had early learned thegraceful art of effacing himself, and on this occasion, it stood greatlyto his credit. Anstruther was now quite sure that the graceful head ofthe beautiful neighbor swayed in an unconscious recognition of his wittysallies. A true son of Mars--ardent, headlong, and gallant as regardedle beau sexe--he talked brilliantly and well, aiming his boomerangremarks at a woman whom he knew to be young and graceful, and whosebeauty he was gayly taking upon trust; an old, old interlude, playedmany a time and oft. 

"What is going on here in this beastly slow old town? Nothing much forto-night, I fancy, " said the aid-de-camp, wondering if a promenade auclair de la lune or a carriage ride to Ferney would be possible! Healready had noted the purity of the French accent of the fair unknown. No guttural Swiss patois there, but that crisp elegance of tone whichpromised him a flirtation en vraie Parisienne. 

"Only Philemon and Baucis, an antique opera, at the Grand Opera House, and sung by a band of relics of better days, wandering over here!" saidHawke. 

And then it finally dawned upon the blase young staff officer that hehad met Alan Hawke in certain circles where plunging had chased away thetedium of Indian club life with the delightful sensations of raking inother people's money. 

"Better come up to my rooms then, and have a weed and a bit of ecarte!"slowly said Anstruther. "We may manage a ride afterward!" Alan Hawkenodded, and a thirsty gleam lit up his crafty eyes. He instinctivelyfelt for the little card case containing that solitary twenty-poundnote; it was a gentleman's stake after all. And the would-be suicidesilently invoked the fickle goddess Fortuna!

Captain Anstruther, however, furtively murmured a few words to thesolemn head steward and then leaned back contentedly in his chair. His ostensible orders for cafe noir and cards, as well as the leastmurderous of the obtainable cigars, covered the plan of using afive-pound note in an adroit personal inquiry. For, the Honorable AnsonAnstruther proposed to ride that very evening, and he did not wish tobore Major Hawke with his company. He nursed a little scheme of his own. "Do you make a long stay?" carelessly said the wary Major. 

"I intend to leave to-morrow night, " gayly answered the other. "I cameover here on a very strange errand. I've got to see an eminent Gorgonof respectability, who has a finishing school here for the young personbien clevee, " said Anstruther, eyeing the unknown. 

"Hardly in your line, Anstruther!" laughed Hawke, casting his eyesaround the depleted table, for Miss Phenie and Miss Genie Forbes hadvanished at last, leaving behind them expanding wave circles of sharplyechoing comment. The noisy Teutons had devoured their seven francsworth, and the fair bird of passage on their left was left alone, woman-like, dallying with the last sweets and finishing her demibouteille with true French deliberation. "It's a case of the wolf andthe sheep-fold!"

"Not that; not at all!" gayly answered Anstruther. "I have a long leave, and I only ran over here to oblige His Excellency. " He spoke with allthe easy disdain of all underlings born of an Indian official life--thehabitual disregard of the Briton for his inferior surroundings. "ByJove! you may help me out yourself! You're an old Delhi man!" He gazedearnestly at Hawke, who started nervously, and then said:

"You know I've been away for a good bit of the ten years in the farOrient, but I used to know them all, before I went out of the line. "

"Then you surely know old Hugh Johnstone, the rich, old, retired deputycommissioner of Oude?" Alan Hawke slowly sipped his champagne, for hisDelhi memories were both risky and uncertain ground. 

"I fail to recall the name, Johnstone--Johnstone, " murmured Hawke. 

"Why, everyone knows old Johnstone; he is an old mutiny man. You surelydo! He was Hugh Fraser until he took the name of Johnstone, ten yearsor so ago, on a Scotch relative leaving him a handsome Highland estate!"There was a warning rustle at Hawke's left, as the fair strangerprepared for her flitting. 

"I was very intimate with Hugh Fraser in my griffin days. But I thoughthe had retired and gone back home. He is enormously rich, and an oldbachelor! I know him very well; he was a good friend of mine in the olddays, too!"

Anstruther leaned toward Hawke, as he signed to the waiter to refill hishearer's glass. "Well, I can surprise even you! He has turned up with abeautiful daughter--at Delhi--just about the prettiest girl I ever--"

"Je demande mills pardons, Madame!" politely cried Major Hawke, as hisfair neighbor's wineglass went shivering down in a crystalline wreck. 

"Pas de quoi, Monsieur, " suavely replied the woman whom till now he hadhardly noticed. A moment later the slight damage was repaired, and thenCaptain the Honorable Anson Anstruther had his little innings. 

With courtly hospitality he offered the creamy champagne as aremplacement for the lost vin du pays. 

A charming smile rewarded the gallant youth, while Major Hawke turnedwith interest to the renewal of the interrupted narrative. He had caughta glance of burning intensity from the dark brown eyes of the lady ala Houbigant, which set every nerve in his body tingling. It wasa challenge to a companionship, and, as he led on the triumphantAnstruther, he deeply regretted the absence of that most necessaryorgan, --an eye in the back of the head. He was dimly aware that hisbeautiful neighbor was very leisurely drinking the peace offering of thesusceptible son of Mars. "I will bet hundreds to ha'pennies she speaksEnglish!" quickly reflected the now aroused Major. 

"You astound me, Anstruther, " the Major said. "Not a lawful child! SomeEurasian legacy--a relic of the old days of the Pagoda Tree! Why, theold commissioner always was a woman hater, and absolutely hostile to allsocial influences!" The Captain was now stealing longing glances at thewillowy figure of the beautiful woman whose glistening dark brown eyeswere turned to him with a languid glance, as Alan Hawke leaned forward. To prolong the sight of that bewitching half profile, with the fair, lowbrows, the velvet cheeks, a Provencale flush tinting them, the partedlips a dainty challenge speaking, and the rich masses of dark brown hairnobly crowning her regal outlines, Anstruther yielded to the spell andbabbled on. "The whole thing is a strange melange of official businessand dying gossip!" dreamily said Anstruther with his eyes straying overthe ivory throat, the superbly modeled bust and perfect figure of theyoung Venus Victrix. 

He was duly rewarded by a glance of secret intelligence when he leanedback, dreamily closing his eyes. "You see, they were going to make oldHugh Fraser or Hugh Johnstone, as he is now called, a baronet for somesecret services to the Crown of an important nature, rendered about thetime when mad Hodson piled up the whole princely succession to the Houseof Oude in a trophy of naked corpsess pistoling them with his own hand. "He ordered a third bottle of Pommery, with a wave of his hand, andproceeded: "Of course, you know, Her Majesty's Government always closelyinvestigate the social antecedents of the nominee in such cases. Thechange of name is all right; it is regularly entered at Herald's Collegeand all that sort of thing, but the Chief has heard of the suddenappearance of this beautiful daughter. Now, old Johnstone surely neverlooked the way of woman in India! It's true that he went back abouttwenty years ago to England on a two years' leave. He has lived the lifeof a splendid recluse in his magnificent old bungalow on the ChandneeChouk. "

Anstruther paused, fishing for another fugitive smile. He caught itbehind the back of the wary adventurer. 

"I know the old house well, " said Hawke with an affected unconcern. "Men were always entertained royally there, but I never saw a woman ofstation in its vast saloons. "

"Now there you are!" cried Anstruther, lightly resuming: "I was sentup to Delhi to delicately find out about this alleged daughter, for theChief does not want to throw Johnstone's baronetcy over. The fact isbefore they packed the toothless old King of Oude away to Rangoon todie with his favorite wife and their one wolf cub out there, Hugh Fraserskillfully extorted a surrender of a huge private treasure of jewelsfrom these people while they were hidden away in Humayoon's tomb. There's one trust deposit yet to be divided between the Governmentand this sly old Indo-Scotch-man, and I fancy the empty honor of thebaronetcy is a quid pro quo. " Alan Hawke laughed heartily. "It is reallydiamond cut diamond, then. "

"Precisely, " said Anstruther, as he most calmly waved his hand to thesteward, who silently refilled even the glass of the Venus Anonyma. A slight inclination of the head and parthian glance number three, encouraged Anstruther to hasten and conclude, for the moon was sailinggrandly over the lake now. 

Love thrilled in the young man's vacant heart, sounding the chords ofthe Harp of Life. He had been in a glittering Indian exile long enoughto be very susceptible. "I spent two weeks up there with the expectantSir Hugh Johnstone, " lightly rattled on the aid. "I verified the factthat the young woman is his acknowledged daughter. He has no otherlineal heir to the title, for an old, dry-as-dust, retired Edinburghprofessor, a brother, childless and eccentric, is living near St. Helier's, in Jersey, in a beautiful Norman chateau farm mansion, whereold Hugh proposed once to end his days. It seems to be all squareenough. I was as delicate as I could be about it, and the matter isapparently all right. The papers have all gone on, and, in due time, Hugh Fraser will be Sir Hugh Johnstone!"

Anstruther quaffed a beaker with guileful ideas of detaining his fairneighbor, now ruffling her plumage for departure, for only a sporadicknot of diners here and there lingered at the long table. "The girlherself?" asked Hawke, with a strange desire to know more. 

"Report has duly magnified her hidden charms, " replied Anstruther. "Sheis called "The Veiled Rose of Delhi, " and no manner of man may lift thatmystic veil. I was treated en prince, but held at arm's length. "

Hawke smiled softly, and said in a low voice, "I hardly see how all thisbrings you over here. The Rose blooms by the far-away Jumna. "

"Then know, my friend, " laughed Anstruther, "such a rose as the peerlessNadine Johnstone must have a duenna. " He deftly caught an impassionedglance from the softly shining brown eyes, and hastily went on. "She waseducated right here in this emporium of watches, musical boxes, correctprinciples, and scientific research. Mesdames Justine and EuphrosyneDelande, No. 122 Rue du Rhone, conduct an institute (justly renowned)where calisthenics, a view of the lake, a little music, a great dealof bad French, and the Conversations Lexicon, with some surface womanlygraces, may all be had for some two hundred pounds a year. Miss JustineDelande, a sedately gray-tinted spinster, has been tempted to remainon guard for a year out in India, having safely conducted this Pearlof Jeunes Personnes Bien Elevees out to the old Qui Hai. I have beencharged with some few necessary explanations and negotiations, thedelivery of some presents, and, when I have visited this first-classinstitute, enjoying all the attractions of the Jardin Anglais and thePromenade du Lac, I shall flee these tranquil slopes of the PennineAlps. Incidentally, the records of Mademoiselle Euphrosyne will confirmthe very natural story of the would-be Sir Hugh, whose vanished wife noAnglo-Indian has ever seen. She is supposably dead. A last official noteafter I have run on to Paris will close up the whole awkward matter. Iwill call there tomorrow and then take the early train, as I am on fora lot of family visits and sporting events before I can settle down tohave my bit of a fling. "

"It's a very strange story, " murmured Alan Hawke. "No man ever suspectedHugh Fraser of family honors. "

"And 'the Rose of Delhi!' will probably marry some lucky fellow outthere, as old Johnstone has lacs and lacs of rupees, " said Anstruther, "for he cannot keep her in his great gardens forever, guarded by thestony-eyed Swiss spinster, or let her run around as the Turks do theirpriceless pet sheep with a silver bell around her neck. There was someold marital unhappiness, I suppose, for the girl is evidently born inwedlock, and the story is straight enough. "

"Have you seen her?" eagerly inquired Hawke. 

"Just a few stolen glimpses, " hastily replied Anstruther, politelyrising and bowing as the fair unknown suddenly left her seat, in evidentconfusion. 

The two men strolled out of the salle & manger together, Major AlanHawke critically observing the heightened color and evident elan of hisaristocratic friend. 

"Oh! I say, Hawke, " cried Anstruther, "they'll show you up to my roomsin a few moments. I'll go and see the maitre d'hotel here! The serviceis beastly--beastly!" and the youth fled quickly away. 

Major Alan Hawke nodded affably, and slowly mounted the staircase to hisroom, wondering if the aid-de-camp was destined by the gods to furnishforth his purse for the return to India. "He's pretty well set up now, and he evidently has his eye upon this brown-eyed nixie. Dare I rush myluck? The boy's a bit stupid at cards. " With downcast eyes the anxiousadventurer wandered along the corridor in the dimly-lighted secondstory. It was the turning point of his career. 

There was the rapid rustle of silk, the patter of gliding feet, a warm, trembling hand seized his own, and in the darkness of a window recess hewas aware that he was suddenly made the prize of the fair corsair cila Houbigant. "Quick, quick, tell me! Do you go with him?" the strangeenchantress said, in excited tones, using the English tongue as if tothe manner born. 

"Madame! I hardly understand, " cautiously said the astounded Major. 

"I want you to help me! You must help me! I must see him! I mustfind out all. " The sound of a servant's steps arrested her incoherentremarks. "Wait here!" the excited woman whispered, as she walked backdown the hall. There was a whispered colloquy, and Alan Hawke caught thegleam of the silver neck chain of the maitre d'hotel. The sound ofan opening door was heard, and, in a few moments the flying Camillareturned to her hidden prey. 

"Tell me truly, " she panted, "what will you do with him? He wishes me toride with him; my answer depends on you. You are in trouble; I can seeit in your haggard eyes. Help me now, and--and I will help you!" Andthen Alan Hawke spoke truly to the waif of Destiny, whom chance hadthrown in his way. 

"I only wish to play with him for a couple of hours; if luck turns myway, that will be time enough!"

"Ah! you would have money! Let him go away in peace! Help me to-morrow, here, and I will give you money!"

"What is your own scheme?" the doubting vaurien demanded. 

"I must know all of this Hugh Johnstone, all about this girl, " shewhispered, her lips almost touching his cheek. 

"Let me play with him to-night; I am yours as soon as he departs!"sullenly said Hawke. 

"Then, finish in two hours, " the woman said, gathering her draperies toflee away, "for I will ride with him to-night!"

"Just a bit unconventional, " murmured Alan Hawke. "Who the devil canthis French-English woman be anyway. " He realized that some subtle gamedepended upon the memories of the past strangely evoked by the artlessAnstruther's babble. As he strolled back to the smoking-room, he sawthe maitre d'hotel slyly deliver a twisted bit of paper to the all toounconcerned looking young Adonis, and the gleam of a napoleon shone outin the grave faced Figaro's hand. "Now for our cafe noir, a good poussecafe--and--a dash at the painted beauties. I can't play very long, "was Anstruther's salutation, as he complacently twisted his mustache enhussar. Major Hawke bowed in a silent delight. 

And so it fell out that both wolf and panther--hungry vulpine prowlerand sleek feminine soft-footed enemy--gathered closely, around theyoung British Lion, whose easy self-complacency led him into the snare, hoodwinked by the fair unknown Delilah. 

Alan Hawke strode to the windows of Anstruther's rooms and standingthere, watched the drifting moonbeams mantling on the spectral bluelake, while his chance-met friend rang for a waiter. There was themurmur of confidential orders, and then Anson Anstruther with a brightsmile dropped easily into the role of host. The young staff officer wasso elated by the apparently flattering selection of the fair anonymathat he never considered the idea of possible foul play. It was evidentthat Major Hawke had not noticed the little by-play which was thedelightful undercurrent of the table d'hotel dinner. There was no timelost in the preliminaries of the card duel. 

Through curling blue wreaths of aromatic incense, over the brandy-dashedcoffee, the two men sententiously struggled for the smiles of Fortune, with impassive faces, in a rapid duel of wits as the fleeting momentssped along. 

The tide of luck was set dead against Anstruther, who strangely seemedto be now possessed of a merry devil. He made perilous excursions intothe land of brandy and soda, gayly faced his bad fortune, and feverishlychattered over the well-worn Anglo-Indian gossip adroitly introduced bythe now nerve-steadied Hawke. General Renwick's loss of his faded andfeeble spouse, the far-famed "Poor Thing" of much polite apology for hersocially aristocratic ailments; Vane Tempest's singular elopement withthe beautiful wife of a green subaltern; Harry Chillingly's untowardend while potting tigers; Count Platen's enormous winnings at Baccarat;Fitzgerald Law's falling into a peerage; and Mrs. Claire Atterbury, thewealthy widow's purchase of a handsome boy-husband fresh from Sandhurst. All this with Jack Blunt's long expected ruin, and a spicy court-martialor two, furnished a running accompaniment to Anstruther's expensive"personally conducted tour" into the intricacies of ecarte, led on bythe coolest safety player who ever fleeced a griffin. Truly these weregolden moments. The Major's cool steady eyes were sternly fixed on hiscards. 

The self-imposed sentence of suicide of the afternoon was indefinitelypostponed when Alan Hawke amiably nodded as Anstruther at lastapologized for glancing at his watch. "I've a bit to do to get ready forto-morrow, and we'll try one more hand and then I'll say good-night. "

"Well, I'll give you your revenge at any time, Anstruther! By the way, what's your London address?" Hawke was complacently good humored ashe glanced at a visiting card whereon sundry comfortable figures wereroughly totted up. 

"Junior United Service, always, " carelessly said Anstruther. "They keeprun of me, for I'm off for the woods as soon as the shooting seasonopens. Where will you be this winter?"

Major Hawke assumed a mysterious air, "That depends upon the Russian andChinese game--the Persian and Afghan intrigues! You see, I am awaitingsome ripening affairs in the F. O. I was called back on account of myfamiliarity with the Pamirs, and there's a good bit of Blue Book workthat my knowledge of Penj Deh, and the whole Himalayan line has helpedout. " The captain was a bit agnostic now. 

"You were---" began Anson Anstruther, timidly, the old vague gossipreturning to haunt him. His ardor was cooling in view of the very neatsum of his losses in three figures. 

"On Major Montgomerie's escort as a raw boy when I came out, " promptlyinterrupted Hawke. "I went all over Thibet in '75 with Nana Singh asa youngster. He was a wonderful chap and besides executing the secretsurvey of Thibet, he ran all over Cashmere, Nepaul, Sikkim, and Bhootan, secretly charged with securing authentic details of the death of NanaSahib. " The cool assurance of the adventurer disarmed the now seriousAnstruther, for both the sagacious English officer and his disguisedassistant, Nana Singh, were both dead these many years. "Morley's is myregular address; I keep up no home club memberships now, " coolly saidHawke, as at last they threw the cards down. 

Anstruther picked up his marker card as he glanced at Hawke's readymoney upon the table. There was a ten-pound note folded under theMajor's neat pocket case and a plethoric fold of Bank of Englandnotes bulged the neat Russia leather. He never knew that only thirteenone-pound notes made up this brave financial show of his adversary. AlanHawke was a past master of keeping up a brave exterior and he blessedthe Cook's Tourists who had that day left these small bills with thehotel cashier. 

"Now, here you are, " hastily said Anstruther. "Do you make the sametotal as I do?" The spoiled patrician boy carelessly shoved out sixtypounds in notes and rummaging over his portmanteau produced a checkbook. "There, I think that's right. Check on Grindlay, 11 and 12Parliament Street, for four hundred and twenty-eight. " Hawke bowedgravely with the air of a satisfied duelist, and then carelessly sweptthe check and notes into his breast pocket. 

"Tell me, what sort of a girl is this Nadine Johnstone, " the wanderersaid, by way of a diversion. 

"I can't tell you! Only old General Willoughby has pierced the veil. Of course, Johnstone could not refuse a visit from the Commander ofHer Majesty's forces. In fact, Harry Hardwicke, of the Engineers, accompanied Willoughby. The old chief treats Hardwicke as a son sincehe bore the body of the dear old fellow's son out of fire in the KhyberPass, and won a promotion and the V. C. Harry says the girl is a modernNoor-Mahal! But, she is as speechless and timid as a startled fawn! Now, Major, you will excuse me. I have to leave you!" There was a fretfulhaste in the passionate boy's manner. The hour was already nearmidnight. 

"Shall I not see you to-morrow?" politely resumed Hawke. "You willnot spend your whole morning with the stern damsel in spectacles andsteel-like armor of indurated poplin?"

"Do you know I'm afraid I shall miss you, " earnestly said the aide. "Hugh Johnstone wishes me to urge Mademoiselle Euphrosyne to allow hersister to remain in India, in charge of the Rose of Delhi until the oldeccentric returns. Of course, the girl left alone would be an easy preyto every fortune hunter in India, should anything happen!" There was aferocious, wild gleam in Alan Hawke's eyes as the aide grasped his hatand stick. "I wish to probe the family records and find out what I canof the 'distaff side of the line, ' as Mr. Guy Livingstone would say. Ihave some really valuable presents, and I am on honor to the Viceroy inthis, for, of course, a baronetcy must not be given into sulliedhands. Johnstone will probably hermetically seal the girl up till theKaisar-I-Hind has spoken officially. Then, if this delicate matter ofthe hidden booty of the King of Oude is settled, the old fellow intendsto return to the home place he has bought. I'm told it's the finest oldfeudal remnant in the Channel Islands, and magnificently modernized. Thegovernment does not want to press him. You see they can't! The thingswent out of the hands of the hostile traitor princes, and Hugh Fraser, as he was, cajoled them from the custody of the go-betweens. We havenever gone back on the plighted word of a previous Governor-General! TheQueen's word must not be broken. I have a bit of persuading to do, andsome other little matters to settle!"

"Well, then, Anstruther, we may meet again on the line of the Indus, "said Hawke, with his lofty air. "I have always preferred the secretservice to mere routine campaigning, for, really, the waiting spoilsthe fighting! Poor Louis Cavagnari! He confirmed my taste for silent andoutside work! I was sent out from Cabul by him as private messenger justbefore that cruel massacre, a faux pas, which I vainly predicted. Hetaught me to play ecarte, by the way!"

"Then he was a good teacher, and you--a devilish apt scholar!" laughedAnstruther, as he politely held the door open for the man who had coldlyfleeced him. 

Alan Hawke's pulses were now bounding with the thrill of hisunlooked-for harvest! He experienced a certain pride in his marvelousskill, and, restraining himself, he soberly paced along the corridor. The excited aid-de-camp stood for a moment with his foot on the stair, and then slowly descended. "He suspects nothing!" the amatory youthmurmured, as he passed out upon the broad Quai du Leman. 

He walked swiftly along, gayly whistling "Donna e Mobile, " with certainprivate variations of his own, until he reached the splendid monumenterected to the miserly old Duke of Brunswick, who showered hisscraped-up millions upon an alien city, to spite his own fat-wittedBrunswickers, and so escaped the blood-fleshed talons of thehungry-Prussian eagle. 

Duke Charles I hovered amiably in the air, over a comfortable carriagewherein the "other little matters" were most temptingly materializedin the person of a lovely woman waiting there with burning eyes, hersplendid face veiled in a black Spanish lace scarf. It was the oldfate--"Unlucky at cards, lucky in love!" The staff officer's abruptcommand to "drive everywhere, anywhere, " until "further orders, " wasimplicitly obeyed by the stolid cabby, who set off at once for along round of the mild "lions" of fair Geneva, nestling there by theshimmering lake. 

The click of the horses' feet upon the deserted roadway kept time to themurmurs of a most coy Delilah, who molded as wax in her slender handsthe ardent military Samson, who was all unmindful of his flowing locks!And the silent moon shimmered down upon the waste of waters!

Alan Hawke was seated for an hour alone in his room, enjoying the cigarsoffered up by the "Universal Provider, " who had yielded up so liberally. The strong brandy and soda had at last restored his shaken nerves, forhe had played with his life staked upon the outcome! He then grimlycounted up his winnings. "Four-hundred and eighty-eight good pounds!That will take me back to Delhi in very good shape, " he soliloquized. "I wonder if there is anyway to get at that girl? If I mistake not, shewill have a half a million! The old Commissioner always liked me, too. By God! If I could only get in between him and this baronetcy I mightcreep in on the girl's friendship! But the old curmudgeon keeps herlocked up! Rather risky in India!" He leaned back, enjoying memories ofthe women with pulses of flame and hearts of glowing coal whom he hadmet in the days when he was "dead square. " This strange woman! Who isshe? What does she know?

He dozed off until the clattering return of the Misses Phemie and GenieForbes, of Chicago, aroused him. His broad grin accentuated the easilyoverheard strident remark: "Say, Genie, I wish we had had those twoEnglish Lords at our opera supper. They are just jim-dandies, that'swhat!"

"As long as the world is full of such fools, I can afford to live, " hepleasantly remarked, as he turned in. A new campaign was opening tohim. Far away, up the shores of the moon-transfigured lake, a hot-headedyoung fool was showering kisses on the hand of a woman, who sweetlysaid: "Remember my conditions! Prove yourself my friend, and I will meetyou in Paris! Now, take me home. " Samson was shorn of his locks, and thedelighted Alan Hawke found a little note slipped under his door in themorning. 

CHAPTER II. AN OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE. 

When the now buoyant Major Alan Hawke was awakened by the golden lancesof morning which shivered gayly upon the Pennine Alps he proceeded to amost leisurely toilet, having first satisfied himself that his winningsof the night before were not the baseless fabric of a dream. He smiledas he fingered the crisp, clean notes, and gazed lovingly upon thedingy-looking but potent check drawn on the old army bankers. 

"No nonsense about that signature, " he cheerfully said. "Anstruther isno welsher, " and, as he rang for his hot water and a morning refresher, he picked up the little note with an eager curiosity. 

"By Gad! she is a cool one! This is no vulgar darned occasion! I needall my wits to-day!" He was studying over the brief words when the readywaiter took his order for a cosy breakfast. He had deliberately movedout all his lines to an easy comfort, throwing out a line of picketsagainst any appearance of social shabbiness. "She said that she hadmoney, " he murmured, as he read the note again. "What the devil does shewant, then, if she has all the money she needs! Perhaps some discardedmistress! Bah! The old man's heart is as hollow as a sentrybox, and, besides, he has not been in Europe for nearly twenty years. Ah, I see!Perhaps a bit of blackmail--some early indiscretion! She did speak aboutthe girl! Then I must be the silent partner of her future harvest! Sheprobably needs a man's arm to reach the wary old Baronet in future. Mylady writes in no uncertain tone. "

He carefully folded the note and bestowed it safely with the spoil ofthe young patrician. "Of course I must show up, " he said as he betookhimself to his tub whence he emerged shapely as an Adonis with thecorded torso of an athlete. The appetizing breakfast put the Major inexcellent humor, and he drew forth his "sailing orders" as he lit hisfirst cheroot. Seated in a window recess, he watched the hotel frontage, while he read the imperative lines again. They were explicit enough andhad been dictated en reine. "Meet me at the Musee Rath, in the vestibuleat two o'clock. He leaves here at one-thirty. Keep away from the hoteland avoid us both. Go up to Ferney and come back on the one o'clockboat. "

There was a neat carte de visite in the inclosure. 

"Now, I will wager that is not her name, " he smiled as he read theItalian script. 

"I can certainly now afford to throw a day or so away on her. At anyrate, I will let her make the game. I must wait a day or so to send onthe Grindlay check, " the wanderer mused, smiling genially upon the headporter. Major Alan Hawke casually inquired, upon his leisurely descent, "My friend?"

"Ah, sir! Paid his bill and left. Luggage already sent to the stationlabeled 'Paris. '" Alan Hawke most liberally tipped the functionary. "Ithink I will take a run of a few days up to Lausanne or Chillon myself;the weather is delightful. " He strolled over to the local Cook's Agencyand sent his treasure-trove check on to London for collection. 

"I think that I will fight shy of this sleepy burgh, " he ruminated, asthe little paddle-wheel steamer sped along toward Ferney, leaving behinda huge triangular wake carved in the pellucid waters. "It might bedevilish awkward if Anstruther should find me here, hovering around hisfair enslaver. I may need this golden youth again, in the days to come!He will be out of India for a couple of years, but I will not trust Fateblindly. What the old Harry can she be up to?" He suddenly burst into amerry peal of laughter, to the astonishment of the crowd of passengers. 

"Fool that I am! I see it all now! Anstruther cleared out early! Theproprieties of the home of Calvin must be respected! After he hasadroitly pumped the intellectual fountain of the past dry, then a quietlittle breakfast tete et tete will give Madame Louison the time to foolhim to the top of his bent! The sly minx! Evidently she is cast for the'ingenue' part in this little social drama! And her trump card is tohide from me what she extracts from our Lovelace by the coy use of thosedeuced fetching brown eyes and--other charms too numerous to mention!But you shall tell me all yet, Miss Sly Boots!" And the Major dreamedpleasant day dreams. 

Life now seemed so different to the hopeful vaurien, with the physicaland moral backing of the four hundred and odd pounds! "I was a fool--adamned fool, yesterday, " he cheerfully ruminated. "If I only handlethis woman rightly, then I may get the hold I want on this old recluseJohnstone, congested with the fat pickings of forty-five years. Aclose-mouthed old rat is he, and yet it seems that he is vulnerableafter all. If he is playing fast and loose with the government hewill never get his honors before he gives up the sleeping trust of theforgotten years. "

Major Hawke vainly tried to follow the exuberant Anstruther in hisincursion into the placid temple of Minerva, where that watchfulspinster, Miss Euphrosyne Delande, eyed somewhat icily the handsome. Young "Greek bearing gifts. " Professional prudence and the memory ofcertain judiciously smothered escapades caused Miss Euphrosyne at firstto retire within her moral breast works and draw up the sally-portbridge. For even in chilly Geneva, young hearts throb in nature'sflooding lava passions, jealously bodiced in school-girl buckram andglacial swiss muslin. So it was very cool for a time in the augustcavern of conference where Anson Anstruther, a bright Ithuriel, struggled with the cautious and covetous Swiss preceptress, and theswift steamer Chilian was far up the lake before Captain the victoriousHonorable Anson Anstruther, sped away to the morning meeting with thewoman who had seemed to lean down from the moon-lit skies upon her youngEndymion in that starry night by the throbbing lake. 

Major Alan Hawke, proceeding on his voyage, found a certain bitternessin the distant mental contemplation of Captain Anstruther's employmentof his leisure till train time, not knowing that the young soldier'ssense of duty led him first to dispatch several careful officialdispatches, one to London, and the two others to Calcutta and Delhi, respectively. When Captain Anstruther finally deposited his mail withthe head porter of the Grand Hotel National he deftly questioned thatfunctionary. "My friend--Major Hawke?"

"Gone up the lake for two or three days, sir. Going to Lausanne andChillon. Keeps all his luggage here, though. Shall I give him anymessage for you?" With a view to artfully veiling his coming meetingwith the beautiful Egeria a la Houbigant, the captain deposited a cardmarked "P. P. C. "

"A devilish pleasant fellow and a right stunning hand at ecarte. "Anstruther prudently walked for a couple of squares, and then haileda passing voiture, directing him to the very cosiest restaurant in thesnug city of Bonnivard. 

Major Hawke, far away now, entertained a slight resentment toward theman who had so coolly aspired to les bonnes fortunes, and ignored hisown possible interference with the Lady of the Lake. It was with a grimsatisfaction, however, that he saw on the boat the Misses Phenie andGenie Forbes, of Chicago, the bright particular stars of the travelingupper tendom. "Popper" and "Mommer" were deep in certain red-boundBaedeker's and busied in delving for "historic facts, " while the artfulAlan Hawke glided into a fast and familiar flirtation with the twobright-eyed, sharp-voiced damsels. Both the heiresses were dressed as iffor a reception, with judiciously selected jewelry samples, evidencingthe wondrous success of machine conducted pig demolition. They glitteredin the sun as Fortune's bediamonded favorites. 

And, so, while Madame Berthe Louison and Captain Anstruther lingered aucabinet particulier, over their Chablis and Ostend oysters, the recoupedgambler extended his store of mental acquirement, by tender conversewith the two sprightly belles of the Windy City. In fact, the whistleof the steamer was heard long before Alan Hawke could extricate himselffrom the clinging tentacles of the audacious beauties. He was somewhatrepaid for his social exertions, however, as he sped back to keep histryst at Geneva, by the acquisition of a large steel-engraved businesscard inscribed, "Forbes, Haygood & Co. , Chicago, " loftily tendered himby "Popper. " He smiled at the whispered assurances of the Misses Phenieand Genie that they "should soon meet again. "

"Bring your friend--that other Lord, " cried the departing Miss Genie, waving a thousand-franc lace fan, as she sagely observed, "Two'scompany--three's none. We'll have a jolly lark--us four. Don't forget, now!" The polite Major laid his hand upon his heart and played theamiable tiger, although burning inwardly now, in a fierce personaljealousy of Anstruther as he wandered alone around the cold gray hallsof the museum, and gazed upon the pinched features of the permanentlyeclipsed shining lights of the "Bulwark of Civil and Religious Liberty. "There was no charm for him in the bigoted ferocity of Calvin's lean, dark face, smacking his thin lips over the roasted Servetus. He abhorredthe departed heroes of the golden evolution from Eidegenossen intoHiguerios and later Huguenots. They interested him not, neither did helove Professor Calame's scratchy pictures, nor the jumbled bric-a-bracof art and history. None of these charmed him. He waited only for thegliding step, the clasp of a burning hand, and the flash of the lustrousdark-brown eyes. It was his own innings now. 

He had referred to his watch for the fiftieth time, when, from a closedcarriage, the object of his mental vituperations gracefully alightedat last. It was with the very coldest of bows that the irritated manreceived the graceful, self-possessed woman, whose lovely face was butpartially hidden by her coquettishly dotted veil. 

"She dresses like a Parisienne, walks like an Andalu-sian, and hasall the seductiveness of a Polish countess!" the quick-witted rascalthought, as they strolled into the museum, which the departed GeneralRath knew not would be the scene of many a hidden love intrigue, whenhe endowed it with a benevolent vanity. The two wary strangers strolledalong until they found a retired corner. Madame Louison seated herself, waving her lace parasol with the impatient gesture of one accustomed tocommand. 

Alan Hawke was in no gentle humor, and his cheeks reddened as hefelt the calm scrutiny of the woman's searching glances. He was nowdetermined to take the whip hand, and to keep it. His accents werestaccato as he said, "Tell me now who you are, and what you wish ofme!" A clock, hung high over them on the dreary, drab walls, ticked awaybrusquely, as the angered woman gazed steadily into his face. 

"And so your little windfall of last night has already made youimpudent? If you cannot find another tone at once, I will find anotheragent! The man whom you plucked has told me the story of your wonderfulskill at cards!" The sneer cut the renegade like a whip lash, and AlanHawke sprang up in anger. Madame Berthe Louison coolly settled herselfdown into the red cushions. 

"The way to India is before you, but five hundred pounds is not afortune for Major Alan Hawke! Listen! I watched you carefully yesterday, in your vigil upon Rousseau's Island. Your telltale face betrayedyou. You were left stranded here in Geneva. An accident has brought ustogether. You cannot divine my motives. I can fathom yours easily. Tellme now, of yourself, of your past in India--of your present standingthere. If you are frank, I may contribute to your fortune; if not--ourways part here!"

"And, if I warn Anson Anstruther that you are a mere adventuress, if Inotify my old friend Hugh Fraser (soon to be Sir Hugh Johnstone), thenyour little game will be spoiled, Madame Louison!" defiantly said Hawke. The woman leaned back and laughed merrily in his face. 

"You are like all professional lady killers, a mere fool in the handsof the first woman of wit. I dare you to cross my path! I will then joinCaptain the Honorable Anson Anstruther, in Paris, at the Hotel Binda!I will also see that you are excluded from every club in India! Youroccupation will be gone, my Knight of Ecarte. Anstruther waits forme. " She tossed him a card. "See for yourself. He was kind enough atbreakfast, and, he will help me, if I ask him. "

"And why do you not fly to his arms?" sneered Alan Hawke, who hadquickly resigned the bullying tone of his abordage. 

"Because he is a nice boy and a gentleman, " the woman said, with acutting emphasis. "Now, let me read you, Monsieur le Major, a lessonin manners. Never be rough with a woman! That is the road which alwaysleads on to failure. I wish you a good appetite for your breakfast, which I have delayed, and for which I beg your pardon!" She rose andswept along with her Juno strides, and had reached the second Hall ofAntiquities before Alan Hawke overtook her. It had flashed across hismind that he had for once in his life met a woman who was not afraid ofthe future, whatever had been her past. A single malicious letter fromAnstruther would ruin him in India, for there was an ominous cloud, nobigger than a man's hand, lingering in that hiatus between his oldrank of Lieutenant of Bengal Artillery, and the shadowy tenure of hisself-dubbed Majority. This Aspasia hid none of her methods. She hadboldly captivated the passing Pericles, and, evidently, she was thedesired one. 

"Let me explain, " he began, as the woman looked calmly into his face. 

"We are only losing time, Major, " Madame Louison remarked, as she soughta corner. "I see that you have already repented. Do you know any one inGeneva?"

"Not one of the seventy-five thousand here, " frankly answered Hawke. "The only man I came here to see, the English Consul, is away on leave. "

"Then I can use you safely, " answered the stranger. "Now, I owe you abreakfast. Will you put me in my carriage? I know the town thoroughly. Remember that it is only business that brings us together, and yet wemay become better friends. " In a half an hour they were seated in anarbor by the lake, where a homely German restaurant offered good cheer. 

The Lady of the Lake did the honors ceremoniously, and Major AlanHawke was permitted a cigar after the lake trout, filet, pears, cheese, Chambertin, and black coffee had been discussed. He was both conqueredand repentant, and had adroitly atoned for his mauvais debut by arespectful demeanor, which was not feigned. He answered the running fireof questions which had led him from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, andfrom Chittagong to the Khyber Pass. 

"You are sure that no one in Geneva knows your face?" Berthe Louisonasked at last. 

"I have been here only two days, and it is twenty years since I firstroved over Switzerland on schoolboy leave, " was the truthful answer. 

"Then I can use you if you will decide to aid me, after you have heardme. I know, already, all that young Anstruther knows of the wholeJohnstone matter. I do not intend to meet him at Paris, " she demurelysaid. "I am absolutely untrammeled in this world. I am free to act asa woman's moods sway her. I have plenty of money, a fact which lifts meabove the degradation of man's chase, and I indulge in no illusions. I am a soldier's daughter, and my dead father was the son of one ofNapoleon's heroes of La Grande Armee. My whole life has been mostunconventional; and I am free to dispose of myself, body and soul, andwill, but for one thing. " She was pleased with Alan Hawke's mute glanceof inquiry. "Only the business which brought me to Geneva! We are allthe slaves of circumstance! The veriest fools of fortune! I do not blameyou for your surmises! I had vainly sought, for two years, the veryinformation which I gained last night by chance at a Geneva tabled'hote. It was from Anstruther that I discovered the changed name underwhich Hugh Fraser's daughter has been hidden from me for years. ForI owe this all to chance, to Anstruther's susceptibility, and to myplaying the risqu'e part which you saw fit me so well. " The woman's eyeswere now flashing ominously. 

"But you led me on--you deceived me!" stammered Alan Hawke. 

"I had nothing to risk!" the resolute beauty replied. "My name is notBerthe Louison, as you may well imagine! As for the little amourettede voyage, I will leave the laurels to your handsome young friend andyourself. I do not play with boys, and, as for you, I should alwaysguard myself against you!

"Now, I will be practical! I know Europe; I do not know India! I needa man brave, cool, and unscrupulous; I need a resolute man to aid me inthe one purpose of my life! I wish to go out to India to face thisHugh Fraser, to lift up the curtain of the dead past, and I need aprotector--a paid champion--a man who values the only thing which isconcrete power in life; a man who knows the power of money! For, gold isirresistible!" Her bright face hardened. 

"My duties are, then, not to be of a tender nature, " lightly hazardedHawke. 

"I can soon judge of your value by your adroitness, and you can makeyour own record!" smiled the strange woman waif. "Let me see howyou would do this! I do not care to personally approach MademoiselleEuphrosyne Delande, I would have a picture of the woman whom I seek--thelonely child whom I have hungered for long years to see! I do not careto expose myself here--"

"The Preceptress might telegraph out to India and the girl be spiritedaway!" broke in Alan Hawke. 

"Very good! Precisely so!" said Berthe Louison, gravely. "I will tellyou now that I have played perfectly fair with Anstruther! I haveenabled him to assure himself of Nadine Johnstone's regular standingas the legal and only heiress of the would-be Baronet! I do not fearAnstruther! He is a gallant boy, worthy to wear a sword, and, he doesnot work for hire! He tells me that Euphrosyne Delande showed him thelast pictures of the girl which were sent on before Hugh Fraser suddenlytelegraphed to have his child 'personally conducted' on carte blancheterms out to join him. "

Major Hawke buried his head in his hands and slowly said: "I can do iteasily! We must not be seen together here! Go up to the Hotel Faucon, atLausanne, and wait for me there for three days. I have to remain here atany rate to collect Anstruther's check in London. I have in my favor allthe facts of Anstruther's story. I happen also to have Anstruther'sP. P. C. Card. I will bring you the picture you want, or a half dozencopies. Will you trust to me? I make no professions!"

"That is right!" sternly said Berthe Louison. "Let our casualassociation be one of a mere money interest. We can find each otherout easily. You have no motive to injure me, your own interest now andalways lies the other way. I only wish to have some one at hand when Iam ready to face the embryo Sir Hugh Johnstone!"

"You are bold!" slowly said Alan Hawke. "If I should denounce you toJohnstone, himself! If he should be warned--"

"I hold him and his long cherished dream, the Baronetcy, in my hand, "the brown-eyed beauty frankly cried. "I should not burn my ships inEurope! Even if I were to be betrayed, the purpose of my life will becarried out. I should leave here behind me the safest of anchors inother well-paid agents. Your rash meddling would only ruin your ownmoney interests and not hurt my plans. "

"Then we are to make an offensive and defensive alliance without trustor faith in each other?" agnostically remarked Hawke. 

"Just so!" answered Madame Louison. "I can make it to your interestto serve me well, better than the man whom I wish to face. You knowIndia--you happen to know Delhi. Your possible adversary is an oldcivilian, rich, retired, and unable to rake up trouble for you inmilitary circles. I will do my work alone, but I shall want your aid, and I will pay you liberally. I will go up to Lausanne. You will find meat the Hotel Faucon. Bring up some route maps of India. We will go outas soon as possible. Do you wish any present money?"

Alan Hawke reddened as he shook his head. 

"Then, Major Hawke, if you will take the first passing carriage, we willmeet as soon as you have succeeded. Send me a telegram of your coming. "The adventurer's low bow of silent assent terminated the strangebreakfast scene, and at the gate of the vine-clad garden he turned andsaw her seated there alone, with her head bowed in a reverie. 

"Damme if she is made of flesh and blood!" mused the Major, as he droveback to the Hotel National. That very evening he revenged himself uponthe callous-hearted stranger, by a reckless flirtation with the MissesPhenie and Genie Forbes, still of Chicago. It was not a matter ofconcern to any one but Paterfamilias Forbes that the Major indulged ina stolen moonlight excursion upon the lake in charge of two extremelyprononcee Daisy Millers. The Major's slumbers, however, were of thelightest, for the face of the chance-met directress of his immediatefuture haunted his uneasy dreams. He was a model of respectable gravity, however, when he presented himself before Mademoiselle EuphrosyneDelande, at her Institute, when the bells clanged ten in the morning. Major Hawke at once impressed the sleek door-opener, Francois, by theultra refinement of his demeanor, and the suave elegance of his French. "Evidently the one necessary Adam in this Garden of undeveloped youngPeris, " thought Hawke, as he gazed around the cheerless room, with itsglobes, busts of departed sages, topographical maps, and framed samplesof the "Execution" of the jeunes personnes, with brush and pencil. 

"Looks breachy, that fellow--they all have to sneak out to drink, andfor les fetifs plaisirs! He may be made useful. I'll have a shy at him, "mused the Major, now on his mettle. Francois stood there expectant of atip, when he announced the regrets of Mademoiselle Delande, that classduties would detain her for a few moments. 

"Would Monsieur kindly pardon, etc. ?"

"Am I right in inferring that the ladies, are the daughters of thefamous Professor Delande?" the Major hazarded, with a wild guess. Beforethe votary of Minerva finally descended, Francois had artfully "yieldedup" much valuable information to the gravely interested visitor. Theattendant was the richer by a five-franc piece when he retired tovigorously fall upon the Major's hat and brush it in an anticipatorymanner. 

It was but a half an hour later when Alan Hawke had concluded his deftlyworded compliments upon the justly famed Institute, and had subjugatedthe still susceptible spinster by his adroitly veiled flatteries. Theeasy aplomb with which he introduced the forgotten commission of CaptainAnstruther was aided by the presentation of that gentleman's visitingcard, and the charms of an interesting word sketch of Delhi and itssurroundings. 

The sound of distant girlish voices punctuated the refined murmur of theensuing conference, which was an exposition of Mademoiselle Delande'sgrand manner! Hawke adroitly soothed the natural uneasiness of thecunning Swiss spinster as to her sister's comfort, safety, and thesurety of Hugh Johnstone's fabulously liberal money inducement to retainMiss Justine in his service for a year. The flattered woman felleasily into Alan Hawke's net, and she freely dilated upon the singulareccentricities of the Indian magnate as to his daughter's education. 

There was a breaking light now illumining the strange childhood of agirl, nurtured by proxy, and kept in ignorance of her brilliant futureand vast monetary inheritance. 

"In fact, I have never seen the honored Mr. Hugh Fraser, " concluded MissEuphrosyne. "Nadine was brought to us a child of three by the wife ofProfessor Fraser, since deceased! And, by special arrangement, she wastaken by us, and her whole girlhood has been passed in our charge. Wehave never seen her uncle, Professor Fraser, whose duties at EdinburghUniversity chained him down. It was her own father's written andpositive direction that no one, whomsoever, should be admitted toconverse with his child. And so Justine and myself have formed herentirely!"

Hawke's keen eyes glowed for a moment, in a secret satisfaction. "I haveyou, my lady! They wished to keep you away from this young Peri, formed upon such heroically antique models. " Major Hawke gazed uponthe leather-faced visage of the slaty-eyed woman, whose age none mightventure to guess. An artless admiration of the absent Miss Justine'sphotographed charms, caused a faint glow to flicker upon the ancientmaiden's cheek. When Alan Hawke drew forth a hideous carbuncle andIndian filigree bracelet (an old relic of bazaar haunting), the thinlips of the preceptress parted in a wintry smile. 

With modest urging, he soon overcame the Roman firmness of MademoiselleEuphrosyne, and, wonder of wonders, was honored by an invitation to dinewith the austere Genevan maiden. The happy Major was soon triumphantat all points, and Francois was hastily dispatched to the PhotographicAtelier to order a half dozen copies of the card portrait whichdisplayed to Alan Hawke the rosebud face of the Veiled Beauty of Delhi. The adventurer made haste to excuse himself for interrupting the flow ofthe Parnassian stream, and walked backward from the presence of the poorold woman whom he had duped, as if she were a queen. 

It was an easy matter for the Englishman to waylay and intercept thereturning man-at-arms of this castle of cosmopolitan beauty. Francoishad duly availed himself of his lengthened absence, and his thick tongueand swimming eye spoke of potations of the Kirsch-wasser dear to theSwiss heart. Major Hawke impressed the servitor with the necessity ofbringing the pictures down to his rooms upon the morrow, and then theMajor judiciously duplicated his five-franc piece. The happy butlerwinked with an acute divination of the Major's purpose and wentunsteadily back to the whirlpool of learning. The Major cheerfully wenton his own way to meet Miss Genie Forbes, with whom he had establisheda private understanding as to a runaway visit to the Cathedral, tobe followed by an impromptu breakfast. "I can stand the old Gorgon'sdinner, " mused the happy adventurer, "after a tete-a-tete with MissGenie, and as for Francois, I will also waste a bottle of good Cognacon him. I think that I will start into this strange partnership with abetter stock of family history than even this remarkably self-possessedyoung woman, who seems to be the heiress of some old family vendetta. "

The Major laughed as he heard the mills of the gods grinding out agolden grist of the future. But lifted up beyond the impulses of hisitching palm the sight of the delicate, girlish face of the Rosebudof Delhi had caused him to dream the strangest dreams. "Why not?" hemurmured as he wandered back to the hotel and privately indulged in apetit verre before his rendezvous with Miss Genie, the belle of theWest Side. Major Alan Hawke was in "great form" as he piloted thebright-eyed, willful Chicago girl through the dim religious light of theCathedral. His mocking history of the gay life and racy adventures ofBonnivard, when posing as the rollicking Prior of St. Victor in the wilddays of his youth, greatly amused the nervous American heiress. 

"I should say that he was a holy terror, " laughed Miss Genie, "and Idon't blame the Bishop of Geneva and the Duke of Savoy for making himdo his six years in that dark old hole at Chillon! He was a gay boy, youbet, and with his three wives and his lively ways, I reckon the Genevanswere blamed sorry they ever let him out. He seems to have been a freethinker, a free liver, and a free lover!"

"And yet, " mused Alan Hawke, "his writings to-day are the pride ofGenevan scholars; his library was the nucleus of the Geneva University;his defiant spirit broke the chains of Calvin's narrowness, and hisresistant, spiritual example caught up has made Geneva the home of theoppressed, the central, radiant point of mental light and libertyfor the world! Geneva since 1536 has harbored the brightest wanderingSpanish, French, English, and Irish youth! Even grim Russia cannotreclaim from the free city its wayward exiles. France, in herdistress, has found an asylum here for its helpless nobles and expelledphilosophers. I willingly take my hat off to brave little Switzerland, where Royal Duke, proscribed patriot, mad enthusiast, bold agnostic, and tired worldling can all find an inviolate asylum under the majesticshadows of its mountains--by the shores of its dreaming lakes!" AlanHawke dropped suddenly from the clouds as the practical Miss Genie ledthe way to the breakfast rendezvous, cheerfully demonstrating her ownbold ideas of social freedom by remarking:

"Say! what's the matter with a little day's run up to Chillon? Phenieis game for anything! You just get that other English Lord and we willdodge Popper and Mommer. "

"I am sorry to say that my friend has left suddenly, bound for London, "laughed the Major, gazing admiringly at this pretty feminine Bonnivard. 

"That's awful bad luck!" gloomily remarked Miss Genie. "He was a regulardandy, and I liked him--but, " she said, with a thirsty peck at a glassof champagne, as they waited for the breakfast, "Phenie will then haveto give that long-legged Italian fellow the tip. The Marquis of SantaMarina! He's not much, but better than nothing at all. We'll have ajolly day!"

Major Hawke was mystified at the daring personal independence of thesprightly young heiress. She was a social revelation to him, and thesunny afternoon was not altogether thrown away, for they carelesslyrambled over the proud old town together, doing all the sights. Theyvisited the stately National Monument, the Jardin Anglais, the Hotelde Ville, the Arsenal, the Muse'e Foy, the Botanic Gardens, and theAthende. He gazed upon the fresh face of the rebellious young Americansocial mutineer with an increasing wonder as they wandered alone on thePromenade des Bastions, and was simply astounded when he vainly triedto take advantage of a shady corner in the Musee Ariana to steal a kissfrom the wayward girl's rosy lips. Miss Genie "formed herself into ahollow square" and calmly, but energetically, repulsed him. 

"See here! Major Hawke!" she coolly said, "get off the perch! I don'tcare for any soft sawder! I'm a pretty good fellow in my way, but I knowhow to take care of myself!"

In fact, Major Alan Hawke at last recognized the existence of a speciesof womanhood which he had never before met. Miss Genie was franklyunconventional, and yet she was both hard-headed and hardhearted. Whenhe carefully dressed himself for the intellectual feast of MademoiselleDelande's "refined collation, " he dimly became aware that the roleof unpaid bear leader to the Chicago girl simply amounted to being anunsalaried valet de place! "As for compromising that devil of a girl, "he growled, "she could have given the snake in the Garden of Eden longodds and beaten him hollow, in subtlety. " This view of the impeccabilityof the Chicago epidermis was confirmed later when Hawke returnedfrom the "Institute" at the decorous hour of ten that evening. He wasthoroughly happy, for the sly Francois was ready to meet him at thedoor, whispering:

"I will be at your rooms at ten, and bring you the photographs. I have acouple of hours of freedom then. "

Mademoiselle Euphrosyne's pale, anemic nature had bloomed out under thegraceful attentions of the gallant officer, and gradually she expanded, little by little unfolding the desiccated leaves of her tranquil past, and, yielding, as of old, to the charm of youth and good looks, thefaded spinster told him all. 

"I will sell my precious knowledge, bit by bit, to Madame Berthe, " heruminated. "Evidently the Louison dares not face this stony-facedSwiss Medusa. The felites histoires of Francois will fill up my mentalnotebook. " Major Hawke then sat down at ease in the cafe of the HotelNational to indite a dispatch of spartan brevity to "Madame Louison" atthe Hotel Faucon, Lausanne. "The Cook's Agency tell me that the Londondraft will be paid to-morrow. Francois will deliver me the photographs, and relate his selected historical excerpts, and then I will be readyto have a duel of wits with Madame Berthe. " So he simply telegraphed toLausanne:

"Successful--arrive to-morrow night. " He then dispatched the head porterwith the telegram, and while enjoying his parting brandy and soda, was suddenly made aware of the near proximity of Mr. Phineas Forbes ofChicago, who was anxiously drinking cocktail after cocktail in amoody unrest. The lank Chicago capitalist waved his tufted chin bearddejectedly as he answered the Briton's casual salutation. "I'm worriedabout the girls, " he simply said. "They're off on the lake, with theMarquis de Santa Marina and that French chap, the Count de Roquefort. Idon't more than half like it. " The hour was late, and the heavy fatherglued his eyes upon the darkened window pane. "Is Madame Forbes withthem?" murmured the Englishman. 

"Oh, Lord, no!" simply said the Illinois capitalist. "The girls are usedto going out alone with their gentlemen friends, but I'm afraid thatthese two damned useless foreigners will upset the boat and drown my twogirls. I wouldn't care a rap if they were alone. But these Dago noblemenare no good--at least that's my experience. I indorsed a draft for oneof them that Mommer and the girls dragged up to the house last year. Came back marked 'N. G. '--I wish to God the girls wouldn't pick up thesefellows. "

Alan Hawke hazarded the inquiry "Why do you permit it?"

The Chicago pork jammer thrust his hand in his pockets and whistledreflectively. "How the deuce can I help it?" he reflectively answered, "Mother and the girls go in for high society. What'll you have? You cantalk French to this fellow. Now, order up the best in the house, " AlanHawke laughed and charitably divided the hour of long waiting withthe simple-hearted old father. At half-past twelve, with a rush anda flutter, the two young falcons sailed into the main hallway andeffusively bade adieu to their limp cavaliers, who slunk away, indifferent directions, when they observed the disgruntled parent and theheartily amused Briton. 

"So they brought you home safely?" calmly remarked Hawke, as he watchedthe happy father gathering his chickens unto his wing. 

"We brought them home safe, " cutely remarked Miss Phenie. "Those fellowsare heavenly dancers, but they are not worth shucks in a boat. I wishwe had had you out with us. I like Englishmen!" with which frankdeclaration Miss Phenie and Miss Genie whisked themselves away to bed, Miss Genie leaning over the banister to jovially cry out:

"Don't you go away till we fix up that Chillon trip. " Major Hawke andPhineas Forbes, Esq. , drank a last libation to the friendly god Neptune, the old man huskily remarking:

"Say, Major, those are two fine girls, and they will have a millionapiece. I want 'em to be sensible and marry Chicago men, but, they bothgo in for coronets and all that humbug. " The laughing Major extricatedhimself from the social tentacles of the honest old boy, mentallydeciding to play off Miss Genie against Mad-ame Berthe Louison. 

"I will give these strange girls 'a day out. ' It may reduce the nezretrousseeoi my mysterious employer. " And so he dreamed that night thathe was an assistant presiding genius of the great pig Golgotha, wherePhineas Forbes was the monarch of the meat ax. "Right smart girls, andyou bet they can take care of themselves, " was the last encomium oftheir self-denying parent which rang in Alan Hawke's ears as he wanderedaway into the Land of Nod. 

"They are a queer lot, " laughed the happy schemer, as he woke nextday to his closing labors at Geneva. "Now, for my check cashing, then, Monsieur Francois, a farewell visit to Miss Euphrosyne, and a secretcouncil with the fair Genie, " He merrily breakfasted, and was more thanrewarded for his Mephistophelian entertainment of Francois. The slyFigaro "parted freely, " and when he slunk back to the "Institute" he wasthe richer by fifty francs. Major Hawke was the happy possessor ofthe coveted photographs, and a private address of Francois, artfullyinforming that person that he was going to London, and on his return, in a few months, desired a cicerone in the hypocritically placid town. Francois's eyes gleamed in a happy anticipation of more Cognac and manyeasily earned francs. "Now, Madame Berthe, I think I have the key ofthe enigma! I see a year's assured comfort before me, for I can play thepart of the Saxon troops at Leipzig, " the schemer joyously ruminated. 

His farewell to Miss Delande impressed that thrifty dame with the goldenfortunes which had descended upon her sister. "Should you return toIndia, Major, " she sibillated, "I will give you a confidential letter toJustine, for I know there is no one more fitted to remain in charge ofsweet Nadine than my dear sister!" The Major blushingly accepted thehonor, and directed the letter to be sent at once to Morley's Hotel, for, as he mysteriously whispered, "The Foreign office may send me back to India--in fact, I may betelegraphed for at any moment, and your sister will surely find a fastfriend in me. "

"Easily gulled!" laughed Alan Hawke. "I will sweeten' upon Miss Justine;those thin lips indicate the auri sacra fames. These miserly Swisssisters may aid me to approach the veiled Rose Bird. " His delight atfingering the crisp proceeds of Anstruther's check sent him to the Ouchysteamer in the very happiest of moods, and, his cup was running overwhen the birdlike Miss Genie Forbes descended upon him to announce ameeting on the morrow at Montreux. 

"We can do the castle, and essay the airy railroad at Territet Glion, have a jolly dinner on the hill, and come home on the last boat! You besure to meet Phenie and me. " The astounded Major murmured his delightand surprise. "Oh! Popper will let us go up there. He likes you--he saysthat you are a thoroughbred. So, we'll cut the other fellows and comealone. Say, can't you scare up another fellow like yourself for Phenie?"Whereat Alan Hawke laughed, and promised to secure an eligible "fellow"among the migratory Englishmen hovering around Lausanne-Ouchy, andhe pledged a future friendship with the patient Phineas Forbes, wholingered in the cafe, engulfing cocktails, while "Mother and Phenie wereout shopping. " The vivacious Genie had confided to her callous swainthat she had watched him as he lingered on Rousseau's Island. 

"I rather thought that you were sick and distressed, you looked sopeaked like, and I was mighty near speaking to you. I was just bound tomeet you. " And upon this frank declaration, Alan Hawke kissed her firmwhite hand, agreeing to her plans, and the glow of prosperity shone outupon his impassive face, as he glided away to meet the strange womanwhom he distrusted. "I hold the trump cards now, my lady!" he cried, ashe watched Miss Genie's handkerchief fluttering on the quay. Major AlanHawke wasted no time in his three hours' voyage to Lausanne-Ouchy incarefully preparing for his interview with Madame Berthe Louison. Heabandoned the idea of trying the "whip hand, " remembering howsuddenly he had descended from the "high horse. " "Bah! She is about assentimental as a rat-tail file. However, she is good for my passageto India, at any rate, and, the nearer I am to old Johnstone and thispretty heiress to be, the better my all-round chances are. " So, hecontented himself with watching the pictured shores of Lake Leman glideby, and wondering if he might not turn aside safely to the chase ofthe bright-eyed, sharp-featured, Miss Genie Forbes. He had profited byPhineas Forbes's frank disclosures, and yet the Madame Sans Gene mannersof the heiresses rather frightened him. He was aware from the amatoryfailure in the dim old cathedral that Miss Genie was armed cap-a-fie. "Those American girls, apparently so approachable, are all ready tostand to arms at a moment's notice. " And so, he drifted back in his daydreams toward the Land of the Pagoda Tree, with Ouchy and Chillon. Hestudied the beautiful face of the lonely child from the school-girlphotograph, and decided, in spite of hideous frocks and a lack ofconventional war paint, that she was a rare beauty. 

"Yes! She will do--with the money. All she needs is the art to showoff her points, and that is easily gained. The recruits in VanityFair easily pick up the tricks of society, and old Hugh's money andprospective elevation will surely draw suitors around like fliesswarming near the honey. " The boat gracefully glided in to the port ofOuchy before Major Hawke's day dream faded away. 

A flattering dream which led him on to a future gilded by Sir HughJohnstone's money. He longed to ruffle it bravely with the best. Tohold up his head once more in official circles, and to smother the uglyfloating memories ef a renegade who had served those English guns underthe fierce Sikkim hill tribes against his one-time fellow soldiers. "Imust have that money, with or without the girl! There must be a wayto it! I will cut through the barriers to get it!" There was a steelyglitter in his blue eyes as he murmured: "Now for the fox's hide! Sheshall have her way--for a time! My play comes on later, when the deal iswith me!"

He sprang lightly ashore, and was chatting with the gold-banded porterof the Hotel Faucon, when a lovely face, thrilling in its awakenedemotion, met his glance at the window of a carriage. He dispatchedhis luggage to the Faucon, and sprang lightly in the carriage whenthe omnibuses had departed for the Lausanne plateau. Alan Hawke wascarefully differential in his greeting and he meekly answered all therapid queries of his mysterious employer. 

"You have closed up your own private affairs?" she briskly queried. 

"All is ready for the road in one day more. I have a private socialengagement for to-morrow, " he replied. "But I brought you all thesailing dates and the detailed information you requested. "

"You obtained the pictures safely, then, and with a prudent caution, "anxiously demanded Madame Louison. 

"You shall know all soon. I hope that I have satisfied you!" he said, handing her a packet, failing to tell her that he had kept two picturesof the far-away girl for his own private use. They were now near theplateau where the Hotel Faucon shows its semi-circular front to thesplendid panorama unrolled before its windows. 

An afternoon concert was in progress at the Casino, near the localmuseum. "We will stop here for a few moments, " said the excited woman. "You can go on alone, and walk over to the hotel and secure your ownrooms. Then send your card up to me in the usual manner. To-night wewill go out separately and meet for a conference. We can arrange allour business. " The Major bowed submissively, and assisted the lady toalight. 

Madame Louison dismissed her carriage, and the confederates-to-beentered the afternoon concert room. A superb orchestra was playing thefinishing bars of the last number on the program, and the audience haddwindled away to a few knots of demure residents. Following his passivepolicy, the adventurer sat silently, stealing oblique glances athis companion as she nervously unfolded the wrappings of the covetedpictures. There was a gasp, a low moan, as the woman's head fell back. Alan Hawke's strong arms were clasped round her, as she leaned backhelplessly in her fauteuil. But a smile of secret triumph was on hisface as he quickly bore the helpless form to an anteroom at once openedby the frightened ushers. Berthe Louison's face was corpse-like in itspallor, as she lay there upon a divan, her fingers still clutching thephotograph. 

"There is a physician near by, " hazarded a sympathetic woman who hadcrowded into the room. The music had stopped with a crash. 

"Summon him at once!" energetically ordered Hawke. "Some brandy--quick!"he cried, listening to her agonized words, "Valerie! My God! It isValerie herself! My poor sister!" In a few moments an elderly man partedthe assembling loiterers. His bustling air of command soon dispelled theloiterers. A woman attendant was bending over the still senseless womanas the spectacled medico seized Alan Hawke's arm. "Has your wife everhad a previous heart attack?" he gravely asked, as he opened his lancetcase. Major Hawke shook his head, and gazed pityingly upon the beautifulpallid face before him. 

"Can I be of any use to Monsieur?" demanded the chef d'orchestre inevening grand tenue, his baton still in his hand. 

There was a glance of wondering astonishment as the Englishman faced thespeaker. "Wieniawski--Casimir, you here?" The other dropped his voice asthe physician ripped up the sleeve of the patient's gown. 

"Major Hawke, I thought you were still in Delhi? Your wife--" falteredthe artist, as he listened to a low moan when the lancet blade enteredthe ivory arm of the sufferer. Then, with a backward step, he pressedhis hands to his brows. "My God! It is Alixe Delavigne!" he brokenlysaid. But Hawke sprang to his side and quickly drew him from the room. 

"Not a word! Not a single word to any one! Where are you stopping? Iwill come to you tonight!" the excited man sternly said, his firm handstill clutching the musician's arm. 

"Here, at the Casino! Come in after ten! I will await you! But where didyou meet her?" the Polish violinist cried, speaking as if in a dream. 

"You shall know all later! I must get her to the hotel!" He returned tothe physician's side, who authoritatively cried, "Now an easy carriageand to the Faucon, you said?" In half an hour, Berthe Louison wassleeping, a nurse at her side, while Alan Hawke counted the momentscrawling on till ten o'clock. 

CHAPTER III. AND AT DELHI WHAT AM I TO DO?

Major Alan Hawke was the "observed of all observers, " in the cosysalon of the Grand Hotel Faucon, when the sympathetic hotel managerinterrupted a colloquy between the handsome Briton and the Doctor. "A mere syncope, my dear sir. Perhaps--even only the result of tightlacing, or inaction. Perhaps some sudden nerve crisis. These are theresults of the easy luxury of an enervating high-life. All thesesocial habits are weakening elements. Now, fortunately, your wife has asingularly strong vital nature. You may safely dismiss all your fears. Madame will be entirely herself in the morning. "

"Can I be of any service?" demanded the genial host, secretly urged onby a coterie of curious, womanly sympathizers in silk and muslin. 

"I am the trustee of Madame Louison, in some important business matters, and not her husband, " gravely remarked the Major. "I only came up hereto confer with her upon some matters of moment. " Both the listenersbowed in silence. 

"Then, my dear sir, you can be perfectly reassured, " the physicianbriskly concluded, tendering his card. "My professional consciencewill not allow me to make even a single future visit, as doctor, to thecharming Madame Louison. Should Madame awake in other than her normalhealth and spirits, I should be professionally at fault. "

Major Hawke then led the doctor aside and pressed a five-pound noteupon him. "Madame is of a wonderfully strong constitution. An heiress ofnature's choicest favors, " the happy Galen floridly said, as he took hisleave. 

"So she is, " grimly assented Hawke. 

The gossipy boniface was already spreading such meager details of thesudden seizure as he had been able to pick up, and, the words "Polishnoblewoman, " "Italian marchesa, " "French countess, " were tossedabout freely in the light froth of the conversation in the ladies'drawing-room. 

Meanwhile, Alan Hawke was smoking a meditative cigar alone, while pacingthe old Cantonal high road before the Faucon. "I think I will remain onpicket here, " he mused. "This fiddler fellow, Wieniawski, must not meether. She must be led on to leave here at once. Constitution, nerve, aplomb; she has them all. She should have been born a man. What asoldier! One of nature's mistakes--man's mental organization, woman'ssoft, flooding emotions, and beauty's fiery passions. "

"I must pump Casimir. He will be safely nailed to the platform by hisduties, from eight to ten. I will not leave her a moment, however, tillhe has the baton in his hand. I will then watch him until ten--meet himdown there, and, if he meets her after we separate for the night, he isa smarter Pole than I take him for. And now I must go and frighten heraway from here. "

Major Hawke was quick to note all the outer indications of man's varyingfortunes. He had so long buffeted the waves of adversity himself that hewas a past master of the art of measuring the depth of a hidden purse. He recalled the brilliant Casimir Wieniawski of eight years past--thecurled darling of the hot-hearted ladies of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay andSingapore. In a glance of cursory inspection Alan Hawke had noted thedoubtful gloss of the dress suit; it was the polish of long wear, notthe velvety glow of newness. There was a growing bald spot, scarcelyhidden by the Hyperion Polish curls; there were crows'-feet around thebold, insolent eyes, and the man's smile was lean and wolfish when theglittering white teeth flashed through the professional smirk of thetraveling artist. The old, easy assurance was still there, but cognachad dulled the fires of genius; the tones of the violin trembled, evenunder the weakening but still magic fingers, and the splendid sapphireand diamond cluster ring of old was replaced by a too evident PalaisRoyal work of inferior art. 

"Poor devil! It is the downward fluttering of the wearied eagle!" musedAlan Hawke. "Women, roulette, champagne, and high life--all thesepast riches fade away into the gloomy pleasures of restaurant cognac, dead-shot absinthe, and the vicarious smiles of a broken soubrette orso! And all the more you can be now dangerous to me, Monsieur CasimirWieniawski, for the old maneater forgets none of his tricks, even whentoothless. "

Casimir, the handsome Pole, glib of tongue, the heir to a thousand minorgraces, reckless in outpouring the wine of Life, had truly gone thedownward way with all the abandon of his showy, insincere race. Hawkewell knew the final level of misery awaiting the wandering, broken-downartist here in a land where really fine music was a mere drug; wherethe orchestra was only a cheap lure to enhance the cafe addition. The "Professor" was but a minor staff officer of the grim TeutonicOberkellner of the Brasserie Concert. 

"But how shall I muzzle this Robert Macaire of the bow?" cogitatedHawke, as he anxiously eyed the two windows of Madame Louison's rooms, and then sternly gazed at the open front doors of the Hotel Faucon. 

A light broke in upon his brain. "There is the golden lure of the MissesPhenie and Genie Forbes, of Chicago, U. S. A. Those madcap girls will beeasily gulled. They arrive to-morrow at nine. A few stage asides, as tothe stock romance of every Polish upstart, will do the trick!"

"Russian brutality, fugitive Prince, Siberian wanderings, romanticescape, killed the Russian general who burned his chateau; all that sortof thing will enchant these. This may occupy Casimir and leave me free. When the devil is idle he catches flies, and under the cover of thisrosy glow of romance I will get away to India, but only after MadameAlixe Delavigne goes. I can afford to put in ten pounds on Casimir toloosen his lying tongue. In vino veritas may apply even to a gallantand distinguished Pole. If I can get the true story of Alixe Delavigne'slife, then I have the key of the Johnstone mystery. Ah! There is now aduty signal for me!" The Major smartly approached the main entrance ofthat cosiest of Swiss family hotels, the Faucon, as the anxious faceof a woman nurse appeared. "Madame veut bien voir Monsieur!" simplyannounced the servant. Major Hawke brushed by her with a nod and quicklymounted the stair. To his utter surprise, on entering Madame BertheLouison's apartment, the signs of an approaching departure were but tooevident. A stout Swiss maiden was busied stolidly packing several trunksin an indiscriminate haste, while the fair invalid herself sat at thecenter table poring over an opened Baedeker and the outspread mapsbrought on by her "business agent. " Hawke's murmured astonishment wasat once cut short by the decisive notes of Berthe Louison's flutelikevoice. 

"We have no time to waste, Major!" she said, with an affectedcheerfulness. "I am all right now. There is an eleven-thirty train forConstance. I will take that, reach Munich, and get right over to Veniceby the Brenner Pass, and thence go down to Aricona, and Brindisi. You can return to Geneva, and, by Mont Cenis and Turin you will reachBrindisi before me. So, I leave to-night; you can go up to Genevato-morrow night. No one will possibly suspect our business connection inthis way. I will have time to see you depart for Bombay, before I takethe steamer for Calcutta. I have marked off the sailings. This littleoccurrence here to-night has brought us both too much under the eyes ofother people. "

"Bah!" said the astounded Major. "No one knows anything of us here. Weare of no importance. "

"You think so?" mused the woman, as if careless of his presence. "Andyet I have seen a face here, rising out of a past that is long dead andburied. Now, are you ready to meet me at Brindisi?"

Alan Hawke blushed even through the sun-browned complexion of the Nepauldays, as the clear-eyed woman, faintly smiling, discerned his "hedging"policy. 

"You will not be put to the slightest inconvenience. " She opened ahandsome traveling bag. The falcon-eyed Major Hawke observed the gleamof a pearl handled and silver chased revolver of serviceable make, andthere was also a very wicked-looking Venetian dagger lying on the table, even then within the lady's reach! "Here is the sum of five hundredpounds in English notes, " said Berthe. "That will neatly take you toDelhi, and there is fifty more to liquidate my bill, and pay themedical expenses. I am not desirous that the landlord should know of mydeparture. You may bring all my trunks on. I will be waiting for youat the 'Vittorio Emmanuele' at Brindisi. Please do telegraph to me fromTurin of your arrival. "

Cool globe-trotter as he was, Alan Hawke was speechless. "Shall I notsee you safely on board the Constance train?" he muttered. 

"The nurse will attend to all that; money will do a great deal, " thelady said. "I will send her back from Constance. Please do ring thebell. " The Major was obedient, and he listened in dumb astonishment, asMadame Louison ordered a very dainty supper for two, with a bottleof Burgundy and a well-iced flask of Veuve Cliquot. When the door hadclosed upon the gaping servant, the lady merrily laughed:

"Pray take up your sinews of war, Major. I shall consider you asretained in my service, if I am obeyed. "

Alan Hawke turned and faced the puzzling "employer" with a half defiantquestion: "And when shall I know the real nature of my duties?" as hecarefully folded up the welcome bundle of notes, without even looking atthem. 

"Major, you are not an homme d'affaires. Do me the favor to count yourmoney, " laughed the mocking convalescent. "Thank you, " continuedthe lady as he obeyed her. "Now I will only detain you here till teno'clock. Then you must disappear and not know me again until we meet atthe Hotel Vittorio Emmanuele at Brindisi. Should any accident occur, youare to take the Sepoy for Bombay direct and go on to Delhi. Leave me aletter at Suez and also one at Aden, care P. And O. Company. I will askat each of these places. I will go direct to Calcutta, and will thenmeet you at Delhi. Arriving at Delhi, you may telegraph to me careGrindlay & Co. , Calcutta. "

"I wonder if she bled Anstruther, " inwardly growled Hawke, as herecognized the name of that social butterfly's bankers. But the ladyonly sweetly continued: "I have some business in Calcutta. You canwrite to me at the general postoffice at Allahabad, and leave your Delhiaddress there. I shall probably telegraph for you to come down and meetme there. "

Major Hawke, neatly entering the lady's directions in a silver-claspedbetting book, murmured lazily without lifting his eyes: "You seem toknow a great deal about Hindostan. "

"I have made a careful study of it for years--long years, " said thewoman with a telltale flush of color, as the servants entered with theimpromptu feast. 

They were left alone, at an imperious signal, and Madame Louison badeHawke regale himself en garcon. The Major paused with suspended pencil, as he quietly approached the decisive question: "And at Delhi, what am Ito do?"

"You are to take up your old friendship with Hugh Fraser--this buddingbaronet, " replied Berthe calmly. She was pouring out a glass of the winebeloved of women, but her hand trembled as she hastily drank off theinspiring fluid. "All this is bravo--mere bravo! She's a very smartwoman, and a cool customer!" decided the schemer, who had filled himselfup a long drink. He took up at once the object-lesson. They were simplyto be comrades--and nothing more. 

"I will obey you to the very letter, " he said simply, for he was wellaware the woman was keenly watching him. 

"Then that is all. There is nothing more, " soberly concluded hiscompanion. "The letters at Suez and Aden are, of course, to be merebillets de voyage. The correspondence at Allahabad may cover all ofmoment. Can you not give me a safe letter and telegraph address atDelhi?"

"Give me your notebook, " said Alan Hawke, as he carefully wrote down theneeded information: "Ram Lal Singh, Jewel Merchant, 16 Chandnee Chouk, Delhi. "

"There's the address of my native banker; and as trusty a Hindu as eversold a two-shilling strass imitation for a hundred-pound star sapphire. But, in his way he is honest--as we all are. " And then Alan Hawke boldlysaid: "How shall I address you at Allahabad?"

The flashing brown eyes gleamed a moment with a brighter luster thanpleasure's glow. "You have my visiting card, Major, " the woman coldlysaid. "I travel with a French passport, always en regie. "

"By God! she has the nerve!" mused Alan Hawke, as he hastily said: "Andnow, as we have settled all our little preliminaries, when am I to knowwhether you trust me or not?"

He was pressing his advantage, for her precipitate departure would robhim of the expected effect of Casimir Wieniawski's disclosures. "IfI find you en ami defamille, at Delhi, so that you can confidentiallyapproach Sir Hugh Johnstone, the ci-devant Hugh Fraser, your taskwill be soon set for you, and your reward easily earned; but under nocircumstances are you to make the slightest attempt to a confidentialacquaintance with this wonderful Nadine. That is my affair. " The tonewas almost trifling in its lightness, but Alan Hawke recognized the handof iron in the velvet glove. 

"And now, Sir, " coquettishly said Madame Berthe Louison, "you have beena squire of dames in your day. Tell me of social India, for, whileI shall get a good maid out at Calcutta, I must depend upon Munich, Venice, and Brindisi for my personal outfit. I know the whole UnitedKingdom thoroughly. The Englishman and his cold-pulsed blonde mate athome are well-learned lessons. The Continent, yes, even Russia, I know, too, " she gayly chattered; "but the Orient is as yet a sealed book tome, and I would be helpless in Father India, without the womanly gearappropriate to the social habits of your countrywomen. "

"You have lived in England?" briefly demanded Alan Hawke, in somesurprise at her frank admissions. 

"Yes, too long!" sternly answered Madame Louison, who was enjoying acigarette, as she signed to the maid to leave them alone. "I detest thefoggy climate, " she added, a little late to temper the bitterness of theremark. 

"I will lull this watchful feminine tiger, " the Major secretly decided, as he began a brilliant sketch of the social life of the strange land ofBrahma, Vishnu, and Siva. "I presume, of course, that you do not care toappear with a fifty-pound Marshall & Snell grove outfit, as if you werethe wife of an Ensign in a marching regiment. I will give you the reallife our women lead out there. You could have secured a splendid Londonoutfit by a little time spent in making the detour. "

"I wish to appear en Francaise, my true character, " smiled Berthe. "Inever could sacrifice my Gaelic taste to the hideous color mixturesand utilitarian ugliness of the English machine-made toilette. AnEnglishwoman can only be trusted with a blue serge, a plain graytraveling dress, or in the easy safety of black or white. They are notthe 'glass of fashion and the mold of form. ' Now, Sir, let me see howyou have profited by your wandering in Beauty's gardens on the Indus andGanges?"

Alan Hawke knew very well at heart what the quickwitted woman wouldknow. He sketched with grace, the natural features, the climaticconditions, the bizarre scenery of the million and a half square mileswhere the venerable Kaisar-i-Hind rules nearly two hundred millions ofsubjugated people. He portrayed all the light splendors of Mohammedanelegance, the wonders of Delhi and Agra, he sketched the gloomy templemysteries of Hinduism, and holy Benares rose up before her eyes beneaththe inspiration of his brilliant fancy. 

The ardent woman listened with glowing eyes, as Hawke proudly referredto the wonderful sweep of the sword of Clive, which conquered anunrifled treasure vault of ages, annexed a giant Empire, and set withGolconda's diamonds the scepter of distant England. The year 1756 washailed by the renegade as the epoch when England's rule of thesea became her one vitalizing policy--her first and last nationalnecessity--for the Empire of the waves followed the pitiful beginning inMadras. 

Temples, groves, and mosques peopled with the alien and warring raceswere conjured up, the splendid viceregal circle, the pompous headquartermilitary, the fast set, staid luxury-loving civilians, and all thefierce eddies and undercurrents of the graded social life, in whichthe cold English heart learns to burn as madly under "dew of the lawn"muslin as ever Lesbian coryphe'e or Tzigane pleasure lover. 

The burning noons, the sweltering Zones of Death, the cool hills, theVanity Fair of Simla, the shaded luxury of bungalow life, and the madundercurrent of intrigue, the tragedy element of the Race for Wealth, the Struggle for Place, and the Chase for Fame. Major Alan Hawke wasgracefully reminiscent, and in describing the social functions, thehabits of those in the swim, the inner core of Indian life under itscanting social and official husk, he brought an amused smile to themobile face of his beautiful listener. He did not note the passage oftime. He could now hear the music floating up from the Casino below. He had answered all her many questions. He described pithily the voyageout, the social pitfalls, the essence of "good Anglo-Indian form, " andhe was astonished at the keenness of the questions with which he wasplied by his employer. 

"You have surely traveled in India, " he murmured, when his relationflagged. 

"So I have, by proxy, and, in imagination, " laughed Madame BertheLouison, as she demurely held up her jeweled watch. "Ten minutes more, and then, Sir, I shall give you your ordre de route. For, I must goquietly. I trust to your experience and good judgment. There is nothingto say here. There will be no letters. My bankers have their orders. Youmust simply pay our bill, and depart quietly via Geneva. May I ask ifyou wish any more money? Some personal needs?"

Major Hawke shook his head. "You may rely on me to meet you, andto faithfully obey you, " he gravely said. There were unspoken wordstrembling on his lips, which he fain would have uttered. "By Heavens!She is a witch!" he murmured, in a repressed excitement, as he walkedquietly down the hallway to keep his tryst with Casimir Wieniawski. ForBerthe Louison had at once divined the cause of his unrest. 

"You think that I should tell you more? Why should I tell you anything?We are strangers yet, not even friends. You may divine that I trust noman. I have had my own sad lessons of life-lessons learned in bitternessand tears. I go out to your burning jungle land, with neither hope toallure, nor fear to repel. The whole world is the same to me. That Ihave a purpose, I admit; and even you may know me better by and bye!Till then, no professions, no promises, no pledges. I use you for myown selfish purposes, that is all; and you can frankly study your ownself-interest. We are two clay jars swept along down the Ganges of life. For a few threads of the dark river's current, we travel on, side byside! You have frankly taken me at my word! I have taken you at yours!There is a written order to settle my affairs and remove my luggage. Of course, should you meet with any accident, telegraph to the VittorioEmmanuele, at Brindisi. Money, " she said, almost bitterly, "would betelegraphed; and so, I say"--he listened breathlessly--"au revoir--atBrindisi!" she concluded, giving him her hand, with a frank smile. 

As Alan Hawke descended the stair, he growled. "A woman without a heart, and--not without a head!" As he calmly answered the manager's politeinquiry for Madame's health, the "heartless woman" whom he had left waslying sobbing in the dark room above--crying, in her anguish, "Valerie!My poor, dead Valerie! I go to your child!"

But, none suspected her departure, when the trimly-clad woman glided outof the entrance of the Hotel Faucon, at eleven o'clock. The maid was inwaiting on the circular place in front with a carriage, and the keyof the apartment lay in a sealed envelope on Alan Hawke's table, whichproves that a few francs are just as potent in Switzerland as the samenumber of shillings in London, or dollars in New York. It was a clearcase of "stole away. "

When Major Alan Hawke leaned over the supper table at the Casino, pledging Madame Frangipanni's bright eyes in very fair cafe champagne, he nervously started as he heard the wailing whistle and clanging bellsof the through train for Constance. He forgot the faded complexion, the worn face, the chemically tinted hair and haggard eyes of thebroken-down Austrian blonde concert singer, in the exhilaration ofBerthe Louison's departure. 

For he had not lost Professor Casimir Wieniawski from sight a momentsince the hour of ten, and that "distinguished noble refugee" was nowin a maudlin way, murmuring perfunctory endearments in the ear of theex-prima donna, who tenderly gazed upon him in a proprietary manner. Alan Hawke had judged it well to ply the champagne, and, at the witchinghour of midnight, he critically inspected Casimir's condition. "Heis probably about tipsy enough now to tell all he knows, and, with anacquired truthfulness. I will, therefore, bring this festive occasionto a close. " Whereat the watchful Lucullus of the feast artfully drewMadame Frangipanni aside. 

"I have to go on to London, Chere Comtesse, " he flatteringly said, "youmust give me Casimir for a couple of hours to-night, to talk over theold times. "

He lingered a moment, hat in hand, as he chivalrously sent MadameFrangipanni home in a carriage. The poor old singer's bosom was thrilledwith a sunset glow of departing greatness, as she lingered tearfullythat night over the memories of the halcyon days when the officers ofFrancis Joseph's bodyguard had fought for the honors of the carriagecourtesies of the Diva. Eheu fugaces!

Closeted together, the minor guests having been artfully dispersed, Major Alan Hawke and his friend recalled the olden glories ofWieniawski's Indian tour. It was with a jealous hand that Hawke doledout the cognac, until Casimir abruptly said: "And now, mon ami, tell mewhat has linked you to Alixe Delavigne?" Alan Hawke had keenly studiedhis man, and found that the limit of the artist's drinking capacityseemed to be infinity, and so he leaned back and coldly scrutinized themusician's shabby exterior. "I think that I can risk it now, " he mused, and then, in a crisp, hard voice, he suddenly said: "I don't mindparting with a twenty-pound note, Casimir, if you will tell me all youknow about that beauty. You need it now--more than I. I am to be thejudge of the value of your story, however. Mark me, I know the mainfeatures, but I also know that you have met her in the old days. " Thebroken-down artist flushed under the changed relation of guest and paidtool. 

He uneasily stammered, as he filled a brandy glass, "As a loan--as aloan!" But Hawke was sternly business-like in his reply. 

"Don't make any pretenses with me. You are hard down on your luck, andyou know it. This is a mere matter of business. " He unfolded a bundleof notes and carelessly tossed two ten-pound notes over to Casimir, whoseized them with trembling fingers. The pitiful sum represented to theartist two months of his meager salary. Here was absinthe unlimited, a little roulette, a new frock for Madame Frangipanni, perhaps even adress coat for himself. 

"How old do you think Alixe is?" unsteadily began the artist. 

"I should say about twenty-five, " gallantly replied the Major. 

"We will premise that she is thirty-three, " confidently began themusician, "or even thirty-five. When I was a young fool at Warsaw, eighteen years old, " he babbled. "I was the local prodigy. My firstessays in public were, of course, concerts, and I was soon the vogue. And, later, asked as an artistic guest to the chateaux of the nobilityin Poland, Kowno, Vitebsk, Wilna, Minsk, Grodno and Volhynia. I wasa poet in thought, a lover of all womankind in my dreams, and aconspirator in the inmost chambers of my defiant Polish nature. "

"They made me the cat's-paw of adroit adventurers who were filling theirpockets from wealthy Polish sympathizers in France and America, andsome of them were Russian paid spies. I braved all the risks. I wasthe secret means of communication of the highest circles of our cult ofRebellion. Fool that I was, wandering from province to province, I livedthe life of a mad enthusiast. The proud memories of Poland were mine, the spirit of her music, arts, and poetry had cast its witchery overme. Her history, the tragedy of a crownless queen of sorrows, hadtransported me into a dreamy idealism. I was soon the confidant ofour seductive mobile Polish beauties. Sinuous, insincere, changeful, passionate, and burning with the flames of Love and Life, I was, atonce, their idol and their plaything, their hero, and their willingslave. 

"For then, the spirit of old Poland rang out in my numbers, and I wakedthe quivering echoes of woman's heart at will. It was in seventy-threethat I was sent on a special mission to Prince Pierre Troubetskoi'ssplendid chateau at Jitomir in Volhynia. The crafty Russians werewatching us even there, and were busied in assembling troops secretly, at Kiev and Wilna. To another was given the proud place of secret spyover the higher circles of Wilna, while my duty was to watch Jitomir andKiev. Troubetskoi was a bold gallant fellow, an ardent Muscovite, andhad secretly returned from a long sojourn in Paris. He was in closetouch with the Governors of Volhynia, Kiev, and Podolia, and we fearedhis sword within, his Parisian connections without. An evil starbrought me into his household as his guest. For nearly a year I was keptvibrating between the points of danger to us, my personal headquartersbeing at the Chateau of Jitomir. And there I lived out my briefheart-life, for there I met Valerie Troubetskoi. No one seemed to knowwhere Pierre had found her, but later I learned her story from her ownlips. 

"That is, all of the story of a woman's heart-life which is everunveiled to any man! She was beautiful beyond--compare, her wistfultenderness shining out as the moon, softer than the fierce noondayglare of the passion-transfigured faces of our Polish beauties. Forthey loved, for Love's own sake, and Valerie Troubetskoi offered upthe chalice of her own heart in silent sadness. I never saw so lovely abeing. "

"Did she look like that?" suddenly demanded Hawke, thrusting aphotograph before the haggard eyes of the broken artist. He gasped, andtears gathered in his lashes. "Valerie, herself, and, as I knew her onlybefore her fatal illness had marked her down. Did Alixe give you this?"He clutched at it with his trembling hands. 

"Go on, " harshly said Alan Hawke, "the hour is late!"

The Pole buried his face in his thinned hands, and then brokenlyresumed: "The old story--the only one you know. She was about my ownage; Troubetskoi was nearly always away; perhaps he thought to trap allmy traitorous circle through me, or else he was in the secret serviceof the hungry Russian eagle. Valerie roamed silently through the greathalls of Jitomir, saddened and lonely, for their union was childless. My heart spoke to her own in my music; she knew the prayer of my soul, though my lips were silent. For I madly adored her. Then, then, I wasa man! My life belonged to Poland, my soul to art, but my heart was asealed temple of love, a temple where Valerie, the beloved, the secretlyworshiped, sat alone on her throne. 

"One day a woman, radiant in youth, and reflecting Valerie's own beauty, was brought to the chateau by Troubetskoi, who had journeyed on toVienna. It was Alixe Delavigne, the woman whom I saw last with you. Amonth later Valerie called me to her side: 'My poor Casimir, ' she said, as I knelt at her feet, 'I am dying! The struggle will not be a longone. I know the secret of your boyish heart. Your eyes have spoken andyour music has reached my heart. Your love is written in your songswithout words. When you have forgotten me, there is Alixe; she is aloneupon earth. Let me seal your heart to hers, and even in death I shallfeel that I love you both. ' Then, " the artist sobbed, "I lost my head. I told her all in mad, burning words. She raised her eyes to mine, andsoftly said: 'I shall see you no more unless Alixe is with us, for Ilove Pierre and he loves me. When I am gone, Alixe will be the only onewho knows the secret of my life. '

"It was two months later--for I would not leave her side, even PierreTroubetskoi could not see her passing away, for it was a mysteriousmalady--when a sudden alarm brought me to my senses. My secret societywork was done, and yet I lingered there, at the very steps of thescaffold. Alixe Delavigne burst into my room at midnight. 

"'Hasten!' she cried. 'Even now the Cossacks are surrounding the house!'She let me out through the secret passage of the old Chateau. A cloakwas thrown over me by the Intendant. He was a Pole--and one true tothe old blood. Alixe pressed a purse upon me. An address in Paris waswhispered. 'I will write! Go! For Valerie's sake, go!'

"Forty-eight hours later I crossed the Galician frontier at Lembergdisguised as a Polish peasant. My guardian, the Intendant, turned meover to our friends in the valley of the Styr. After six months ofwandering, I finally reached Paris in safety. There were sorrowfulletters awaiting me. Valerie was hidden forever in the yawning tombsof the gloomy old chapel of Jitomir, and Alixe herself wrote of PierreTroubetlskoi's generous blinding of the pursuit. I was, however, prosecuted and hunted. I fled to America, for all our plans of revoltwere miserably wrecked--and by Polish traitors!

"Two years later, I learned from a fellow refugee that PierreTroubetskoi had been killed by accident in a great forest battle. And toAlixe Delavigne, all the wealth which would have been Valerie's wasleft by the lion-hearted man who awoke too late to the early doom of hisbeloved. 

"I knew naught of the family history save that the sisters were thedaughters of Colonel Delavigne, a gallant French officer, who wasmurdered by the Communists in seventy-one. " Alan Hawke was now sternlyeyeing the musician, who abruptly concluded: "I have never met AlixeDelavigne since. I dare not return to Poland. My own course has beensteadily downward, and, beyond knowing that she still possesses thesplendid domains of Jitomir, we are strangers to each other. Polishrefugees have told me that she has always administered the vast estatewith liberal kindness to all. And now you will tell me of her?" Thetremulous hand of Wieniawski raised a brimming glass of brandy to hislips. He stared about vacantly when Hawke said:

"Madame Delavigne left Lausanne this evening on a special mission. Herlife is a sealed book to all, and a mere business interest has drawnus together. " The Englishman went callously on: "There are a couple ofmountainously rich American girls coming down here to-morrow at nineo'clock to spend the day at Chillon with me. I need a running mate. Willyou then meet me at the Montreux Landing? You can have a day off, andthese young fools are fat pigeons, ardent, and enthusiastic. " Hawke sawthe hesitation on the man's face. 

"You can say to Madame Frangipanni that you are with me and that I willexplain later at the dinner. " With a glance at his watch, Alan Hawkerang for the Oberkellner. He was extending his hand in goodnight, whenthe refugee cried imploringly, "I must see her once more! Tell me of herjourney!" and Major Hawke deliberately lied to the poor vaurien artist, the wreck of his better self. "The through train to Paris is her onlyaddress. I presume that Madame Delavigne will spend some time in asanitarium after this heart attack, and she has my banker's address. Itis only through them that we meet to arrange some affairs of business. Whether maid, wife, or widow, I know not, for you know what womenare--sealed books to their enemies, and to their husbands andlovers--only enigmas!

"But fail not to meet me. I'll give you a pleasant day. You will findthe two Americans both gushing and susceptible. " Then as Major AlanHawke stepped lightly away to the sedately closed Hotel Faucon, CasimirWieniawski staggered back into the cafe. 

His fit of passionate sorrow was brief, for in a half hour he was theking of a mad revel, where his meaner sycophants divided Alan Hawke'sbounty. The cool Major strode along happy hearted to his rest, quietlyrevolving the plan of campaign. 

"There was then a sealed chapter in Valerie Troubetskoi's life. And thekey of that is in Berthe Louison's keeping. Now, my fair employer, it isdiamond cut diamond. I think that I have done a fair day's work. " Andhe thanked his lucky stars for the precipitate flight of his mysteriousemployer. "She evidently feared the noble Casimir following upon thetrail. Strange--strange pathways! Strange footprints on the sands ofTime! It is a devilish funny world, but, after all, the best that wehave any authentic account of. " And so he slept the sleep of the just, for he was making the woes of others the cornerstones of his newerfortunes. 

Major Hawke arose with the lark, by a previous arrangement with theHotel Bureau. His face was eminently businesslike in its gravity, as hesummoned the porter and dispatched all his luggage to the care of theChef du Gare, Geneva. "Business of extreme importance awaiting uponMadame's complete recovery had caused her to depart to consult aneminent specialist. Thank you, there will be no letters, " said theMajor, as he pocketed both receipted bills. He amused himself whilewatching for the morning boat, as the mountain mists, lifting, revealedthe glittering lake, in sending a very carefully sketched letter toMademoiselle Euphrosyne Delande, No. 123 Rue du Rhone, Geneva. Thisletter was of such moment that it went on to London, to be posted backduly stamped with good Queen Victoria's likeness. A very careful Major!

The lofty semi-official tone, in which the writer spoke of a possiblereturn to India "under the auspices of the Foreign Office, " was wellcalculated to fill the spinster's bosom with the flattering unction thata mighty protector had been raised up for the adventurous Justine, nowsupposed to be environed with all the glittering snares of society, aswell as enveloped in the mystic jungle. 

A week later, when Euphrosyne Delande laid down the pen and abandonedher unfinished "Lecture Upon the Influence of the Allobroges, Romans, Provencal Franks, Burgundians, and Germans Upon the IntellectualDevelopment of Geneva, " she read Alan Hawke's letter with a thrill ofsecret pride. 

The smooth adventurer had written: "If I have the future pleasure ofmeeting Mademoiselle Justine Delande I only hope to find a resemblanceto her charming and distinguished sister. As my movements arenecessarily secret, pray write only in the utmost confidence toMademoiselle Justine. I hope to soon return and enjoy once more thehospitalities of your intellectual circle. " The address given for Indiawas "Bombay Club. " Miss Euphrosyne gazed up at the stony lineaments ofProfessor Delande, her marble-browed and flinty-hearted sire, locked inthe cold chill of a steel engraving. He was as neutral as the bustsof Buffon, Cuvier, Laplace, Humboldt, and Pestalozzi, which coldlyfurnished forth her sanctum. She thought of the eloquent eyed youngMajor and sadly sighed. She proceeded to enshrine him in her witheredheart, and then wrote a crossed letter of many tender underlinings toher distant sister. And thus the pathway was made very smooth for theartful wanderer, who had already stepped upon the decks of the Sepoy. 

Major Hawke had dispatched an excellent breakfast before he stepped intothe carriage to be whirled away to Montreux. His bridges were burnedbehind him. There was not a vestige of Madame Berthe Louison left togive the needy Pole a clue. "They are separated, and Anstruther and theSwiss schoolmistress are harmless. I have only my play to make upon thelovely Justine, and to retake up my old friendship with Hugh Fraser. Then I am ready to bit by bit unravel the story of Valerie Delavigne'schild--the Veiled Rose of Delhi. "

"Between a father with a secret to keep, and this strange woman with apurpose, there is a pretty girl and a vast fortune at issue, besidesthe prospective pickings of Madame Berthe Louison. " These musings ofthe Major led him up to the question of his employer's false name, as heswept down to the nearby Montreux station. "She evidently had traced thechild to Switzerland, and was upon a still hunt to find out the home ofthe growing heiress, and, --for what purpose? Ah! One day after another, "he pleasantly exclaimed, as he saw the artist awaiting him. "Peu apeuI'oiseau fait son nid. " He had already evolved a scheme to permanentlyseparate Casimir Wieniawski from his own beautiful employer, who was nowdashing along well on her way toward Munich. Alan Hawke was startledat the distinguished appearance of the musician. An aristocratic pallorrefined his face, he was neatly booted and gloved, the elegant lines ofthe Pole's supple figure were displayed in a morning frock coat, and hischapeau de soie was virginal in its gloss. 

"Some of my own twenty pounds, " mused Alan Hawke, as he gayly sprangout and saluted his dupe. "Ah! There you are. You look to-day the oldCasimir. Let us have a few last words before the boat arrives. "

Hardened as he was, Alan Hawke was surprised at the childlike lightnessof the Pole's manner when they encountered the fresh young beauties whowere already the cynosure of all eyes upon the morning boat. Thestorm of emotion had spent itself, and while Alan Hawke squired, theaggressive Miss Genie, Casimir Wieniawski was bending over the slightlydreamy and more romantic Miss Phenie! They distributed themselves inopen order, as they strolled along toward the drawbridge of that mosthospitable of old horrors, Chillon Castle. 

It was a day of days, and the artful Hawke laughed as he smoked hiscigar upon a rustic bench in the castle Garden. Miss Genie was at hisside, pouting, petulant, provokingly pretty and duly agnostic as to thePolish prince. 

A week later, Alan Hawke stood on the deck of the Sepoy, as thatreliable vessel steamed out of Brindisi harbor for Bombay. He waswatching a lace handkerchief, waved by a graceful woman, standing aloneupon the pier. The adventurer drew a silver rupee from his pocket, andthen gayly tossed it into the waves, crying, "Here's for luck!" as hewatched the slender, distant, womanly figure move up the pier. There laythe Empress of India with steam now curling from her stacks, ready tofollow on to Calcutta. "I have not broken her lines yet, " murmured MajorHawke as he paced the deck, "but I have her pretty well surrounded, cunning as she is!" and so he complacently ordered his first bottle ofpale ale. 

CHAPTER IV. THE VEILED ROSEBUD OF DELHI

The October winds were whirling the pine needles down the mountaindefiles in the bracing Alpine autumn, as Alan Hawke sped on past Suez, gliding on through the stifling furnace heat of the Red Sea, past Mocha, and dashing along through the Bridge of Tears, to Aden. He left at Suez, and also at the Eastern Gibraltar of haughty Albion, the brief lettersfor his mysterious employer, and he mentally arranged the social gambitof his reappearance at Delhi in the nine days before the Sepoy steamedinto the island-dotted bay of Bombay. 

Sternly shunning, on his arrival, the local sirens, whose songs of oldfell so sweetly upon his ear, the determined Major sped away at oncefor Allahabad. He was on shaking social quagmires at Bombay. There weresundry little threads of the past still left hanging out in the shape ofstray urban indebtedness, and he now scorned to throw away a single oneof the crisp Bank of England notes showered upon him by Fortune. He wasgrowing sadly wise. He had lately mused over the old motto, "Lucky atcards--unlucky in love!" The cool provision of the funds at Lausanne byBerthe Louison, her separate route to Delhi, her business-like coldnessin their strangely frank relations, all these things proved to himthat he was to be only an intelligent tool; not a trusted friend in thelittle drama about to open at the old capital of Oude. 

Alan Hawke had already abandoned the idea of any sentimental advancesupon Alixe Delavigne. "Strange, strange, " he murmured; "a woman cansometimes easily be flattered into a second conjugation of the verb 'ToLove, ' but an internal previous evidence of man's unreliability cando that which no personal sorrow can effect. The key to this woman'sbehavior is in the story of her sister's shadowed life. 

"The hiatus from Hugh Fraser to Pierre Troubetskoi covers the tragedyof Valerie Delavigae's life, the death blow was then struck, and thecentral figure is the child. So, with the strangely acquired fortune ather beck and call, Alixe Delavigne has consecrated herself to that mostillogical of human careers--a woman's silent vengeance! That achieved, will the furnace fires of her stormy heart be lit by the hand ofpassion?"

He ruminated sagely over these matters as he sped on over the GreatIndian Peninsula Railway. The western Ghauts were now far behind himand their dark basalt crags. Bombay, Hyderabad, Berar, the CentralProvinces, Central India, and the southern prong of Oude was reached. Hewas, however, no whit the wiser when he reached the Ganges and hastilysought the telegraph station at Allahabad. But he felt like a prince inthe direct line of succession with his net eight hundred pounds still tothe good. His first care was to telegraph to Madame Berthe Louison, to the care of Grindley, at Calcutta: "Waiting at Allahabad for yourletters, and news of your safe arrival. " While rushing past the VindhiaMountains he had encountered several of his old Indian acquaintances. The mere hint of a secret governmental employ of gravity satisfied thelanguid curiosity of the qui hais. For a week he lingered in the "Cityof God, " and daily haunted the post and telegraph offices. 

He had sent on to the Delhi Club a note for the maw of the localgossips, and also had dispatched a skillfully constructed letter tothe unsuspecting Hugh Johnstone. With a veiled flattery of the oldcivilian's wisdom and experience, he referred to his desire to consulthim as to a secret journey in the direction of the Pamirs. The opportunewindfall of Anstruther's ecarte and Berthe Louison's liberal advanceenabled Major Alan Hawke to maintain a dignified and easy port as hewandered through Allahabad. Strolling by the waters of the Ganges andJumna, he invoked anew the blessings of the goddess Fortuna, as he gazedout upon the majestic heaven descended stream. The daily tide of traveltoward Delhi brought on each day some familiar faces, and yet Alan Hawkelingered gently, declining their traveling company. "Waiting orders, " hesaid, with the sad, sweet smile of one enjoying a sinecure. His swellingoutward port thoroughly proved that the days were gone when he was tobe scanned before the morning salutation. Les eaux sout basses, theimpecunious Frenchman mourns, but there was a swelling tide bearing AlanHawke onward now. 

A hearty welcoming letter from the ci-devant Hugh Fraser was a goodomen, for rumor of a thousand tongues had already invested the returningMajor with an important secret mission. His epistolary seed plantedin Delhi had brought forth fruit as rapidly as the magic of the Indianconjuror's mango-tree trick. It was already rumored even in Allahabadthat "Hawke had dropped upon a decidedly good thing. " The Major wasbusied, however, in analyzing the motives of Alixe Delavigne, in herchange of name, her separate journey, her choice of the Calcutta route, and the inner nature of her projected enterprise. 

"A woman in her position, easy as to fortune, will stoop to none of thearts of the blackmailer; she could choose a life of soft luxury, for sheis yet in the bloom of vigorous early womanhood. To her the personalityof Hugh Fraser is surely nothing. There are but two objects ofattack--his proposed social elevation, the nattering title, and thepeace of mind and future of the daughter, this lovely veiled Rose! Love, a natural love, even for the stranger child, would ward away the blow;but only an unslaked vengeance would point the shaft! The reproductionof her sister's face seemed to touch her to her very bosom's core. There is some fixed purpose in this cold-hearted woman's coming! Nota lingering annoyance, but some coup de main, a bolt to be launched atHugh Johnstone alone!"

"I do not know how I can break her lines, unless she shows me some weakpoint, " he mused. "But either her fortune or Johnstone's shall yield mea heavy passing toll. And, there is always the girl! There, I would haveto meet Berthe Louison as a determined enemy!" In recognizing the factthat his employer must make the game at last, that she must lead outand so uncover herself, he saw his own masterly position between the twoprospective foes. 

"I can play them off the one against each other, at the right time, and, if they fight each other, with the help of Justine Delande, I may evenmake a strong running for the girl. I think I now see a way!" He feltthat his wandering days were over. The dark days of carking cares, of harassing duns, of frequent changes of base, driven onward by therolling ball of gossip and innuendo. 

He felt strangely lifted up in the familiar scenes of his years ofwanderings. For he was at home again. Alixe Delavigne, however carefullywatched for her eastern adventure, was socially helpless in a land ofstrange alien races, of discordant Babel tongues, of shifting scenes, aland as unreal as the visions of a summer night. 

But to Alan Hawke all this Indian life was now a second nature. Thescenes of Bombay recalled his once ambitious youth, the days when hefirst delightedly gazed upon the wonders of Elephanta, and the gloomygrottoes of Salcette. From his very landing he had set himselfone cardinal rule of conduct, to absolutely ignore all the lighterattractions of native and Eurasian beauty, and to let no single wordfall from his lips respecting the sudden occultation of Miss NadineJohnstone--this new planet softly swimming in the evening skies ofDelhi. He felt that he was beginning a new career, one in which neithergreed nor passion must betray him. It was the "third call" of Fortune, and he had wisely decided upon a golden silence. "If I had only met thefavored Justine, instead of that withered Aspasia, Euphrosyne, then, the girl's heart might have been easily made mine, " was the unavailingregret of the handsome Major. "If I could have come out with them, " hesighed. He well knew the softening effect upon romantic womanhood of along sea voyage where the willing winds sway the softer emotions of thebreast, and the trembling woman is defenseless against the perfidiousdarts of Cupid. 

"My time will come, " he murmured as the train rushed along through theincense breathing plantations. A richer nature than foggy England wasspread out before him in treacherous Hindostan with its warring tribes, its dying creeds, its dead languages, its history sweeping far back intothe mists of the unknown. For every problem of the human mind, everythroe of the restless heart of man is worn old and threadbare inHindostan, with its very dust compounded of the wind-blown ashes ofdead millions upon millions. Gross vulgar Gold reigns now as King on thebroad savannas where spice plantations and indigo farms vary the cotton, rice, and sugar fields. Wasted treasures of dead dynasties gleam outin the ornamentation of the temples abandoned to the prowling beastof prey. And riches and ruin meet the eye in a strange medley. Deadgreatness and the prosaic present. 

Modern bungalows, where the faltering conqueror watches the tax-riddenryots dot the landscape, and an overweighted official system brings itshaughty military, its self-sufficient civilians, its proud womanhood, to drain the exhausted heart of India. And the ryot groans under manytaskmasters. 

Lingering with a restless heart, in Allahabad, Alan Hawke roused himselfas at a bugle call, when he received a telegram announcing the safearrival of the Empress of India at Calcutta. 

"La danse va commencer, " he muttered, as he read the brief words of hisemployer: "Go on to Delhi, await me there. Telegrams to you there atprivate address. Leave letters. " The signature "Lausanne" was a newspur to his well-considered prudence. And, so, the next day, Major Hawkesedately descended at Delhi. 

There was nothing to distinguish Hawke from any other well-to-doEuropean, as he stood gazing around the station, in his cool linens, hispith helmet and floating puggaree. The prudent air of judicious mysterylately adopted sat easily upon him as his eye roved over the familiarscenes of old with a silent gleam of recognition, he followed aconfidential attendant who salaamed, murmuring "My master awaits thesahib whom he delights to love and honor. "

"There is one card I must play at once, " murmured Hawke, as the carriagesped along. "Mademoiselle Justine Delande must be my secret friend! Iwonder if Euphrosyne really swallowed the bait! If she has fallen intothe trap and written to her sister, then--all is well!"

His eyes roved over the familiar scene of the broad Chandnee Chouk, sweeping magnificently away from the Lahore gate to the superb palace. The sun beat down with its old ferocious glare on shop and bazaar. Gravemerchants lolled over their priceless treasures of gold and silver work, heaped up jewels and bullion-threaded shawls for princely wear. Underthe awnings lingered the familiar polyglot groups, while beggary andopulence jostled each other on every hand. 

"It's the same old road in life!" murmured Alan Hawke, "whether calledInderput, Shahjehanabad, or Delhi--the same old game goes on hereforever, here by the sacred Jumna!"

He was dreaming of the artful part which he had to play in the fiercemodern race for wealth. "They used to fight for it like men in the olddays, " he bitterly murmured. "Now, the only gold that I see before meis to be had by gentlemanly blackmail! Right here--between old HughJohnstone and this flinty-hearted woman avenger--lies my fortune. And Iswear that nothing shall stop me! I will be the prompter of the littleplay now ready for a first rehearsal!" His eyes lighted up viciouslyas he was swept along past the great marble house, gleaming out in theshady compound, where the Rosebud of Delhi was hidden. 

"Cursed old curmudgeon! To lock the girl up!" muttered the handsomeyoung rascal. "Old Ram Lal must do a bit of spying for me!" Hawke couldsee on the raised plateau of marble steps all the evidences of thesumptuous luxury of the haughty Briton, "who toils not, neither doeshe spin. " But, the dozen pointed arches on each face of the vast palacehouse of the budding baronet showed no sign of life. The clusteredmarble columns stretched out in a splendid lonely perspective, andthe square inner castellated keep rose up in the glaring sun, but withclosed and shaded windows. Dusky shapes flitted about, busied in theinfinitesimal occupations of Indian servitors, but no graceful womanform could be seen in the witching gardens where a Rajah might havefitly held a durbar. 

"I'll warrant the old hunks has Bramah locks and Chubb's burglar proofsto fence this beauty off!" growled the Major, as he sank back in thecarriage. "I fancy, though, that a liberal dose of Madame Louison'sgold, judiciously administered by me, in her interest, to JustineDelande, may open the way to the girl's presence! The mother's storymay serve to win the girl's heart. If I can only busy old Hugh and theMadame in watching each other, then I can handle Justine. "

"Yes, " the satisfied schemer concluded, "the old man's game is thebauble title. Berthe Louison's must be some studied revenge. She isabove all blackmail. I know already half the story of this clouded past. Madame Alixe Delavigne must yield up the other half, bit by bit. By thetime she arrives, my spies will have posted me. I will have opened myparallels on the Swiss dragon who guards the lovely Nadine. Now to makemy first play upon the old nabob. "

Major Alan Hawke had studied skillfully out his gambit for an attackupon Hugh Johnstone's vanity. When he descended at the hospitable doorsof his secret ally, Ram Lal Singh, he plunged into the seclusion of aluxurious easy toilet making. A dozen letters glanced over, a comfortinghookah, and Alan Hawke had easily "sized up" the situation. For RamLal's first skeleton report had clearly proved to him that the coastwas clear. "Thank Heavens there are as yet no rivals, " Hawke murmured. "Neither confidential friend of the old boy, no dashing Ruy Gomez asyet in the way. " Hawke viewed himself complacently in the mirror. Hewas severely just to himself, and he well knew all his own good points. "Pshaw!" he murmured, "any man not one-eyed can easily play the PrinceCharming to a hooded lady all forlorn, a mere child, a tyro in life'ssoft battles of the heart. I must impress this pompous old fool that Iknow all the intrigues of his proposed elevation. He will unbosom, andboth trust and fear me. These pampered civilians are as haughty in theirway as the military and be damned to them, " mused Hawke, cheerfullyhumming his battle song, those words of a vitriolic wit:

"General Sir Arthur Victorious Jones, Great is vermillion splashed withgold. "

"This old crab has quietly stolen himself rich, and now forsooth wouldtack on a Sir Hugh before his name. Ah! The jewels! I must delicatelyhint to him that I am in the inner circle of the cognoscenti. "

And then Alan Hawke cheerfully joined his obese and crafty friend andhost, Ram Lal Singh. For an hour the soft, oily voice of the old jewelmerchant flowed on in a purring monologue. The ease and mastery of theConqueror's language showed that the usurer had well studied themasters of Delhi. Sixty years had given Ram Lal added cunning. A craftyconspirator of the old days when the mystic "chupatties" were sent outon their dark errand, the sly jewel merchant had survived the bloodywreck of the throne of Oude, and from the place of attendant to one ofthe slaughtered princes, dropped down softly into the trade of moneylender, secret agent, and broker of the unlawful in many varied ways. 

It was Ram Lal's easy task to purvey luxuries to the imperious Briton, to hold the extravagant underlings in his usurious clutches, to be atpeace with Hindu, Moslem, Sikh, Pathan, Ghoorka, Persian, and Armenian, and to blur his easy-going Mohammedanism in a generous participation inall sins of omission and commission. A many-sided man!

Alan Hawke heaved a sigh of easy contentment when he had brought thechronique scandahuse of Delhi down to the day and hour. 

"You say that she is beautiful, this girl?"

"As the stars on the sea!" nodded Ram Lal. 

"And the Swiss woman?"

"Never leaves her for a minute. They see no one, for all men say the oldCommissioner will take her home, to Court when he is gazetted!"

"None of the great people go there?" keenly queried Hawke. 

"Not even the fine ladies, " laughed Ram Lal. "The old fellow may havehis own memories of the past. He trusts no one. The girl is only abulbul in a golden cage and with no one to sing to. " Hawke cut short RamLal's flowery figures. 

"Does the Swiss woman trade with you?" he demanded. 

"Yes, she buys a few simple things--my peddlers take the Veiled Rosemany rich things. The old Sahib is very generous to the child. And thedragon loves trinkets, too!" Then Alan Hawke's eyes gleamed. 

"She knows your shop here?"

"Perfectly, " replied Ram Lal, "and comes alone--on the master'sbusiness. You know I had many dealings with Sahib Hugh Fraser in the olddays, " mused the jeweler. "He always admits my men. I have valued gemsfor him for twenty years. "

"Good!" cried the happy Major. "I want to send a man now to her with anote. I am going to put up at the United Service Club, but I must seethis woman first. I don't like to send a letter, though. If I had anyone to trust--"

The merchant promptly said: "I will go myself! They are always in thegarden in the afternoon. I can easily see her alone. "

"First rate! Then I will give you a message, " answered Hawke. "I mustsee her to-morrow early, for old Hugh will surely ask me to tiffin. And, Ram, you must at once set your best man on to watch all that goes onthere. I have a good fat plum for you now--to set up a neat little househere for a friend of mine who is coming, and you shall do the wholething!" The merchant's dark eyes glistened. "A new officer of rank?" hequeried. 

"It's a lady--a friend of mine--rich, too, and she wants to live on thequiet! She will stay here for some time!" The oily listener had learneda vast prudence in the days when he trod the halls of the last Kingof Delhi, so he held his peace and wondered at the suddenly enhancedfortunes of that star of graceful wanderers, Allan Hawke!

"I'll go over to the club now and get a room! Send all my things over!"said the Major. "I wish to let Hugh know that I am here. I will giveyou the directions about the house to-morrow. Make no mistake with thismessage now!" Whereat Alan Hawke repeated a few words which wouldawake the slumbering curiosity in the woman-heart of the lonely JustineDelande!

"Now, I will return and await your success, " concluded Hawke as he readover a dozen times Madame Berthe Louison's long dispatch, ordering himto prepare her pied de terre in Delhi. "Gad! Milady means to do thething in style, " he murmured. "She is a deep one, and she must have apot of money!" He lit a cheroot and sauntered away to show up officiallyat the club. Major Hawke soon became aware that nothing succeeds likesuccess. Not only did all the flaneurs of the Chandnee Chouk seizeupon him, but, from passing carriages, bright, roguish eyes merrilychallenged him as the hot-hearted English Mem-Sahibs whirled by. 

Rumor had magnified the importance of Major Alan Hawke's secret serviceappointment, and the wanderer was astounded when the highest official ofthe Delhi College gravely saluted him. 

"By Gad! I believe that I am really becoming respectable!" laughed thedelighted major. His uncertain past seemed to be fast fading away in theglow of the skillfully hinted official promotion. "I wonder now if oldRam Lal has a hold on my canny friend, Hugh Fraser Johnstone--Sir Hughto be! Perhaps they are like all the rest of us--rascals of the samegrade, but only in different ways. The old jewel matters! I must look tothis and watch Ram Lal!" The returned Anglo-Indian carelessly noddedto the group of men gathered in the club's lounging-room as he entered. Designedly, he loudly demanded to know if his traps had arrived. "Leftall my odds and ends in store, " he murmured to a friend, as he calledfor a brandy pawnee. "Beastly bore! Must wait orders here for sometime!"

Skilled at tossing the ball of conversation to and fro, Major AlanHawke, while at luncheon, artfully planted seeds here and there, to beneatly dished up later for that incipient baronet, Hugh Johnstone. Andyet a graceful shade of dignified reserve lent color to his rumoredadvancement, and the schemer leaned over the writing table with quite aforeign-office air as he indited his diplomatic note of arrival to hisdestined prey. 

With a grave air he selected his rooms and accommodations to suit hisswelling port, and even the club stewards nodded in recognition of thetidal wave of Alan Hawke's mended fortunes. 

With due official gravity the man "who had dropped into a good thing, "disappeared, to allow the gilded youth of Delhi to carry the gossip tomess and bungalow. It was a welcome morsel to these merry crows!

It was late when the handsome Major returned to find a small pyramid ofnotes on his table and many letters in his box. He was in the highestgood humor, for the wary Ram Lal had most diplomatically acquitted histask of opening a secret communication. 

"Just as I thought, " laughed the Major, as he sipped his pale ale in RamLal's spacious room of pleasaunce. "They all protest, woman-like, butthey all come!"

The watchful Swiss exile's heart fluttered tenderly in the far-off Lotosland at the arrival of a secret friend of her sage sister. She longedfor the morning to meet her new friend. Alan Hawke's irresistibleattractions had pointed the praises which flowed smoothly over thedouble crossed letter which had preceded him! The oily Ram Lal, aveteran observer of many an intrigue, scented a budding rose of romancein the Major's adroit coup, and the arrival of the only lady whom AlanHawke had ever socially fathered in Delhi. 

"In three days I will be all ready! So you can telegraph to-night, "reported the merchant, when the Major carefully went over all thedetails of the proposed temporary establishment of the disguised AlixeDelaviarne. 

"Very good!" approvingly answered the dignified confidant and patron. "See here, Ram Lal! You have only to serve me well in these littleprivate matters, and you shall handle all the coming Mem-Sahib's moneybusiness here! She wants to be quiet. I am to direct all her privatematters! Not a word, however, to old Hugh!" The two men separated, Hawkewith the knowledge that one of Ram's men had already glided into theswarming household entourage of Hugh Johnstone's stately home, and thespy was on every movement of the strange interior, which defied theDelhi beaux. 

"Not a bad day's work, " mused Hawke, as he dined in solitary state. Thehospitable bidding of the wealthiest civilian of Delhi to tiffin on themorrow brought him in touch with Alixe Delavigne's proposed victim oncemore. The delighted rascal mused: "I will surely have letters from herto-morrow, possibly even a telegram of her arrival. When the silly Swisswoman is the partner of an innocent secret, she is mine to control! Thenthe chase for a few lacs of rupees begins!"

Major Hawke was somewhat startled at the little avalanche of welcomingcards and notes. "Bravo! this will throw old Hugh off the track a bitalso. The simple duty of piquing local curiosity shall open all hearts, hearths, and homes to me!" And then, Alan Hawke joyously realized howeasily the light-headed world can be fooled to the top of its bent bythe hollow trick of a bit of mystery play. 

"This falls out rightly, " he mused. "I will take up all the threads ofmy old society life and Madame Berthe Louison may deign to confide a bitin me the first half of the story forced from her, then I will guess outall the missing links of the chain. Once domiciled here, she ishelpless in my hands, for I can either gain her inner secrets, or boldlycheckmate her. And the veiled Rose of Delhi?"

Alan Hawke dreamed not of the sorrows of the restless heart beatingin that virginal bosom. He paced the veranda of the Club gravelypreoccupied till the midnight hour. Long before that, Justine Delandehad sought her rooms in a feeble flutter of excitement over the harmlessassignation of the morrow. There was a stern old man pacing his splendidhall alone, with an unhappy heart, that night, for Hugh Johnstonesaw again in the sweet uplifted eyes of his beautiful child the oldunanswered question!

He stood long gazing out upon the unpitying stars, while above him, lonely and lovely, Nadine recked not the queenly splendor of hermagnificent apartment. Glittering wealth, splendid train of servants, the golden future stretching out before her, all this she noted not, for, even in the gray, colorless life of the pension school at Geneva, soft-eyed Hope whispered to her of a gentle and gracious mother!Loved--gone before, but not lost--and, here in the land of gaudy Asiaticsplendors, a strange land of wonderment and fairy riches, she sobbedalone in her heart anguish:

"He will not speak! He tells me nothing! A marble palace this, butnever a home!" The timid girl had seen no beloved woman's face uponthe fretwork of the walls of this Aladdin's castle. And, in her ownfrightened heart, she remembered the ashen pallor of her father'sface when she had faltered out the burning question of her yearningheart--the question of long years! The past was still a blank to her, while on this same night, crafty Alan Hawke in Delhi, and, in farCalcutta, a woman, pacing her boudoir in sad unrest, were both busiedwith the story of the vanished mother whom the Rose of Delhi had neverseen!

Alixe Delavigne, lonely and resolute, was thinking of her departureon the morrow, to face the man who had locked his dead past in his ownmarble heart, in his grand marble palace. Her busy days at Calcutta hadastounded the senior manager of Grindlay & Co. The old banker marveledat the strange commissions and imperative orders of his beautifulbusiness client, but many years had taught him much of theincomprehensibility of womanhood! Whereupon he marveled in silence, andbowing with his hand upon his heart, assured the lady of his absolutediscretion, and the unbroken honor of the house. "Some very queer littlelife histories go on out here in India!" mused the old banker, as hehanded the lady her special letter to the Delhi agents of the greathouse which house which he directed. "As beautiful as a statue, as firmas a flint! Where have I seen a face like hers?" mused the old man, ashe sought his rest. 

The "beautiful statue" was steadfastly gazing at the picture of theyoung Rose of Delhi, in her lonely boudoir. "She shall learn to loveher! To love her--through me! And this man of iron shall yield! He shallhear my prayer! For, if he does not, then, he shall be struck to theheart--blow for blow! And Fate shall pass her over! I swear it by thatlonely grave in far away Jitomir!" There were kisses rained upon thepictured face smiling up at her, the face which had called back to herthe dead past, and then the "beautiful statue" tore aside her gown. Shegazed upon a folded paper which had long lain upon her throbbing heart. "This shall speak for me--at the last! His pride shall bend! He shallnot break the child's heart! For the mother's sake, I swear it! Sheshall love and be loved!" and as she spoke, in far away Delhi sweetNadine stirred in her sleep, and smiled, with opening arms, for thephantom mother she fondly sought seemed to clasp her now to a lovingbreast!

In the Delhi Club there was high wassail below him, while Major AlanHawke restlessly paced his spacious rooms above, watching the lonelywhite moon sail through the clearest skies on earth. The quid mines hadall observed the patiently haughty air of the returned Major, and eventhe chattering club stewards marveled at the sudden efflorescence ofHawke Sahib's fortunes. 

"Devilish neat-handed fellow, Hawke, " growled old Major Bingo Morris, over his whist cards. "Close-mouthed fellow! Always wonder why he leftthe service! Neat rider! Good hand with gun and spear! He ought to be inour Staff Corps! He knows every inch of the northern frontier!" The oldMajor glared around, inviting further comment. 

"Fellow in Bombay tells me he went a cropper about some woman or other, ten years ago, " lisped a rosy young lieutenant who was spreading thegolden revenues of a home brewery over the pitfall-dotted path of a richIndian sub. 

"Right you are!" sententiously remarked Verner of the Horse Artillery. "He went a stunning pace for a while, and at last had to get out. Bigflirtation--wife of commanding officer! Hawke acted very nicely. Saidnothing--sacrificed himself. That's why the women all like him. Verysafe man. But, he's a shy bird now. " They dissected his past, guessed athis present, but could not read his future!

And then and there, the man who knew it all, told of the mysteriousgovernmental quest confided to Major Alan Hawke. "You see, he has a sortof roving commission in mufti, to counteract the ceaseless underminingof the Russian agents in Persia, Afghanistan and in the Pamirs. Wealways bear the service brand too openly. It gives away our own militaryagents. Now, Hawke's a fellow like Alikhanoff, that smart Russianduffer! He can do the Persian, Afghan, or Thibetan to perfection! He hasbeen on to London. Some morning he will clear out. You'll hear of himnext at Kashgar, or in Bhootan, or perhaps he will work down into Chinaand report to the Minister there. He is a Secret Intelligence Departmentof One, that's all!"

"That's all very irregular for Her Majesty's Service, " growled anenvious agnostic. 

"Bah! Secret Service has no rules, you know, " said the man who knew itall, thrusting his lips deeply into a brandy pawnee. 

And so it was noted that Alan Hawke was a devilish pleasant fellow, arising man, and one who had certainly dropped into an extremely goodthing. The tide of Fortune was setting directly in favor of the manwho, pacing the floor upstairs, unavailingly tormented himself with thesubject of the missing jewels. 

"If I could only get a hold on Hugh Johnstone!" mused the adventurer. "Berthe Louison knows nothing of these old matters. She only seeks toapproach the child. And she will be here to watch me in a day or so. Ram Lal, the old scoundrel! Does he know? If he did, he would bleed thewould-be Baronet on his own account. But he may not know of the goldenopportunity, and the old wretch always has many irons himself in thefire. Hugh Fraser was a canny Scot in his youth. Sir Hugh Johnstone is ahorse of another color. If old Johnstone has the jewels, why does he notyield them up? Perhaps he wants the Baronetcy first, and then his memorymay be strangely refreshed. "

As the wanderer strode up and down the room like a restless wolf, hereturned in his memories to the strange intimacy of Hugh Fraser and RamLal. "I have it!" he cried. "I will kill two birds with one stone. Mypretty 'employer' shall furnish the golden means to loosen old Ram Lal'stongue. This Swiss woman is fond of gewgaws, he tells me. I will let RamLal 'squeeze' the Madame's household accounts to his heart's content. Ifthe Swiss woman is susceptible, she can be delicately bribed withjewels paid for by my haughty employer's money, and my feeding this'bucksheesh' out to Ram Lal liberally may bring him to talk of the olddays. I must give Hugh Johnstone the idea that I am inside the officialsecrets as to the affair of the Baronetcy. Fear will make him bend, ifhe is guilty, and I will alarm Ram Lal at the right time. If they haveany old bond of union, the ex-Commissioner may turn to me for help, and all this will bring me nearer to the still heart-whole woman who ishidden in that marble prison. I will make my strongest running on theSwiss woman. Once the bond of friendly secrecy established between us, she can be fed, bit by bit, for then she dare not break away. "

Ram Lal Singh was the last watcher in Delhi who coveted a glimpse thatnight into the dim future. The old schemer sat alone in his favoriteden in rear of the shop. His round, black eyes surveyed complacently hisfaithful domestics, sleeping on the floor at the threshold of the doorsof the four rooms opening into the central hall of his shop. A singleclap of his hands, and these faithful retainers were ready to rise, tulwar in hand, and cut down any intruder. 

The old jewel merchant's eye roved over the medley of pricelessbric-a-brac in the main hall. The spoils of temple and olden palace castgrotesque, soft, dark shadows on the floor, under the glimmer of theswinging cresset lamp filled with perfumed nut oil. Seated cross-legged, and nursing the mouth-piece of his narghileh, Ram Lal pondered long overthe sudden appearance of the rehabilitated Major Hawke, and the comingof the rich Mem-Sahib who was to be a hidden bird in the luxurious nestalready awaiting its inmate. 

Ram Lal was vaguely uneasy, as he glanced at the pretty pavilion in hisown compound, where languid loveliness awaited his approach. He resignedhimself with a sigh to his lonely schemes. He rose and with his ownhand, poured out a draught of the forbidden strong waters of theFeringhee. 

Dropping down upon the cushions, he reviewed the whole day's doings. "Itis not for him, for Hawke Sahib, this bungalow of delight is made ready!And the old Sahib is to know nothing. Can it be a trap for him? I am towatch the old man for Hawke Sahib. This woman who comes. They say herehe will go soon away, over the sea to the court of the Kaisar-I-Hind. Heis rich, why does he linger? And perhaps not return. 

"All these long years of my watch thrown away! For, never a single oneof the sacred jewels has he shown me! They have never seen the lightsince the awful day in Humayoon's Tomb. Has he the jewels? Does he hidethem? Has he buried them? Has he sent them away? If he has them, then hedies the death of a dog. The jewels of a king to be the spoil of a lowtax-gatherer! The King of Kings. 

"But why does he not go? I have watched him for years. 

"There is some reason! Hawke Sahib shall tell me all! He must tell!He needs my help!" The old man's slumbers were haunted with the oldenmemories of a day of doom, the day when the bodies of the sacred Princesof Oude lay naked in the glaring sun as they were despoiled afterHodson's pistol had done its bloody work. "They may have taken them allfrom him, these English are greedy spoilers, " muttered the crafty oldman, as his head fell upon the silken cushions with a curse. He was arebel still, as rank as Tantia Topee. 

In the splendid marble palace of Hugh Johnstone, the startled JustineDelande was awake long before the dawn, thinking only of the meeting ofthe morning, her bosom heaving with its first questionable secret, butMajor Alan Hawke smiled as he leisurely breakfasted later, reading atelegram just received. "On my way. Will come to private address. Sendservants to Allahabad to join me. Silence and discretion. --Lausanne. "

CHAPTER V. A DIPLOMATIC TIFFIN. 

Major Alan Hawke had designedly breakfasted in the stately seclusion ofhis rooms, and as he came gravely sauntering into the Club ordinary, wasat once beset by a friendly chorus, as he carelessly glanced over themorning letters which attested his progress toward the social zenith. He, however, gazed impatiently at the club-house door, where a neat pairof ponies awaited him, with servants deftly purveyed by the subtle RamLal. His two body servants were also afrites of the same sly Aladdin. His swelling port duly impressed his old friends. 

The man "who had dropped into a good thing" gently put aside sundryhospitable proffers, politely laughed away several tempting bargainsas to horses, carriages, furnished bungalows, and offers of racingengagements, hunting bouts, and "private" dinners. "Waiting orders, d'ye see!" he gently murmured. "Not worth while to set up anything!"And then, with the air of a martyr, he disappeared, the ponies springingbriskly away, leaving all baffled conjecture behind. The curious men whowere left discussing a flying rumor that Major Hawke was authorized toraise a Regiment of Irregular Horse for a special expeditionary secretpurpose, wrangled with those who maintained that a brilliant localcivil-service vacancy would be theatrically filled by the man who nowbore a brow of mystery. The advent of this prosperous Hawke had made thegreat social deeps of Delhi to boil like a pot. His mission was one ofthose things no fellow could find out. 

Laughing in his sleeve, the object of all this sudden curiosity madea number of detours, and adroitly followed a native servant down anobscure rear street, after dismissing his pony carriage. The equipagewas busied during the earlier hours of the day in leaving the visitingcards of the returned soldier of fortune in certain quarters wellcalculated to attract social notice. 

Threading the spacious gardens in rear of Ram Lal's establishment, theartful Major entered the jewel merchant's abode without the notice ofthe morning gossips of the Chandnee Chouk. "All right, now, " he laughed, as he bade the sly merchant set a private guard to prevent all intrusionupon their privacy. "I think that I have thrown these fellows off thetrack very neatly!" he laughed. "No one knows of your rear entrances atthe club, I am sure!" It suited the luxurious old jewel merchant to hidethe opulence of his secret life, and to veil the graceful lapses of hisprivate code from the sober austerities of a dignified Mohammedanism. 

"Look alive now, Ram Lal!" said Hawke, briskly, as he handed hisconfederate the telegram from Berthe Louison. "You see that the ladywill arrive here tomorrow night! Some one must go down to Allahabad forher! Are you all ready for her coming?"

"Perfectly!" smiled Ram Lal. "The Mem-Sahib could give a dinner oftwenty covers in an hour after her arrival! You know that the bungalowwas fitted up for--" he bent his head and whispered to Major Hawke, wholaughed intelligently and viciously. 

"All right, then! Here is the address in Allahabad, where the lady is towait for her conductors. She seems not to wish me to come down. I willbe at the bungalow, then, on your arrival! I will give you a letterfor her, " said Hawke. Ram Lal's eyes gleamed in anticipation of the fatpickings of the Mem-Sahib. He pondered a moment over the case. 

"Then, I will go down myself, " complacently said Ram Lal, with an eyeto future business. "You can tell her to trust to me in all things. Sheshall travel like a queen!"

"That is better, and so I will telegraph to her, at Allahabad, thisafternoon, that I have sent you to meet her! Have a covered carriageawaiting her here, and no one must be allowed to follow her to herhidden nest. It is the making of your fortune with her!" cried Hawke, ashe lit a cheroot. 

"Trust to me, Sahib!" answered the wily jewel merchant, relapsing intoan expectant silence. He already connected the arrival of the beautifulforeigner with the destiny of the opulent man whom he had revengefullywatched for twenty years. Hugh Fraser Johnstone had heaped up a fortune, but it was not yet successfully deported to England. 

"And the Swiss woman, when may I see her; this morning?" demanded theadventurer, as he dropped into a cool, Japanese chair. 

"My man will bring you the news of her coming!" answered the oily oldmiscreant. "I told him to watch her, and run on to warn me!" Ram Lal wasa wily old Figaro of much experience. 

"Good! Then go outside and wait for her, " coolly commanded the youngman. "When she comes, you can come in and warn me, and I will be ready. "Ram Lal obediently left Hawke without a questioning word, and the busybrain of the adventurer was soon occupied with weaving the meshes forthe bird nearing the snare. "This woman's help is absolutely necessaryto me now!" he thought, as he contemplated his own handsome person in amirror. "If she can only hold her tongue and keep a secret, she maybe the foundation of my fortunes. I think that I can make it worth herwhile, but she must never fall under the influence of this she-devil inpetticoats, who comes to-morrow night! And yet, the Louison knows she ishere! A friendship between them must be prevented!" He closed his eyesdreamily, and studied the problem of the future attentively, revolvingevery point of womanly weakness which he had observed in his pastexperience. 

He had finally hit upon the right thing. It came to him just as Ram Lalentered, with his finger on his lip. "She is in there, waiting for you, and she came alone!" said the crafty merchant. "I can perhaps frightenher with the idea that Madame Louison wishes to supplant her as ladybear leader. The future pickings of this young heiress would be thenlost to her! Yes! A woman's natural jealousy will do the trick!" sosagely mused the young man as he walked out into the hall, where RamLal's treasures were heaped up on every side. There was no one visiblein the shop, but Ram Lal silently pointed with a brown finger, gleamingwith whitest gems, to a closed door. It was the entrance to the roomspecially devoted to the superb collection of arms, the regained loot ofDelhi, slyly collected in the days of the mad sacking by the revengefulEnglish soldiery. A bottle of rum then bought a princely token. 

It had been with a guilty, beating heart that Justine Delande abandonedher fair, young charge to the morning ministrations of a bevy ofdark-skinned servants. However, the sturdy Genevese waiting-maid who hadaccompanied them to India was at hand, when the spinster incoherentlymurmured her all too voluble excuses for an early morning visit to theEuropean shops on the Chandnee Chouk, and then fled away as if fearfulof her own shadow. She was duly thankful that no one had observed herentrance to the jewel shop, and the refuge of the room, pointed out bythe amiable Ram Lal, at once reassured her. Justine was accorded a briefbreathing spell by the fates as the Major settled his plans. 

It did not seem so very hard, this first fall from maidenly grace, whenMajor Alan Hawke, entering the little armory chamber, politely led thestartled woman to a seat, with a graceful self-introduction. 

"I should have recognized you any where, Mademoiselle Justine, " deftlyremarked the Major, "by your resemblance to your most charming sister. You have, I hope, received some private letters from her, with regard tomy visit?" The Swiss gouverriante faltered forth her affirmative answer, while secretly approving the enthusiastic judgment of her distant sisterupon this most admirable Crichton of English Majors. "Then, " said Hawke, alluringly, "we must be very good friends, you and I, for we are alonetogether, among strangers, in this far-away land!" Then he calmlydropped into an easy discourse, in which Geneva and Sister Euphrosynepunctuated the graceful flow of his friendly chat. There was nothingvery sinful in the debut of this little intrigue. 

"Let us always speak French!" said Alan Hawke, with a quiet, warningglance at the closed door. "These same soft-eyed Hindostanees are thevery subtlest serpents of the earth. The only way to do, is never totrust any of them!" The Major was busied in carefully taking a mentalmeasurement of Mademoiselle Justine, who, still well on the sunny sideof forty, was really a very comely replica of her severer intellectualsister. Justine Delande still lingered in that temperate zone of lifewhere a fair fighting chance of matrimony was still hers. "If a ray ofsunshine ever steals into the flinty bosom of a Swiss woman, there maybea gleam or two still left here, " mused the Major, most adroitly avoidingall reference to Justine's rosebud charge, and only essaying to placeher entirely at her ease. 

But, in proportion as he gracefully labored, the frightened governessbegan to realize the danger of her situation. 

"I hope that no one will observe us, " she said, speaking rapidly andunder her breath. "Mr. Johnstone is so eccentric, so haughty, and sovery peculiar!" Her distress was evident, and the gallant Major at oncehastened to allay her fears. 

"I have already thought of that. My old friend, Ram Lal, has a lovelygarden in rear of his house and there we will be entirely unobserved. For I have so much that I would say to you. " It was with a sigh ofrelief that the frightened woman hastily passed through Ram Lal'sspacious snuggery in rear of his jewel mart and was soon ensconced ina little pagoda, where Major Hawke seated himself at her side andskillfully took up his soft refrains. 

In half an hour they were thoroughly en ban rapport, for the gracefulMajor Hawke adroitly conversed with his laughing eyes frankly beamingupon the lonely woman. He had drawn a long breath of relief when he ranover the letter which the delighted Justine frankly submitted to himfor his inspection. The fair Euphrosyne's secret advices justified hiswarmest anticipations. He had conquered her heart. 

"I will not delay you longer this morning, " he said at last, with anartful mock confidence. "I am infinitely grateful to you for so kindlycoming to meet me here. And it is only due to you to tell you why Ibegged you to come here to-day. The nature of my important officialduties is such that I am not permitted to exhibit my real character toany one here as yet. I am charged with some very delicate public dutieswhich may force me to linger here for some time, or perhaps disappearwithout notice, only to return in the same mysterious manner. But in meyou have a stanch secret friend always. I have already written to yourcharming sister, and I expect to receive from her letters which will befollowed by letters to you from her. And I shall write to-day and tellher of your goodness to me. " Miss Justine Delande's eyes were downcast. Her agitated bosom was throbbing with an unaccustomed fire, and thedesire to be safely sheltered once more in Hugh Johnstone's marblepalace was now strong upon her. 

Hawke paused, still keeping his pleading eyes fixed upon thefluttering-hearted woman's face. "Miss Nadine sees absolutely no one!"murmured the governess, "and, of course, I never leave her. It is a veryexacting and laborious position, this charge which I now fill, andof course the life is a very lonely one, though Nadine is an angel!"enthusiastically cried Miss Justine. 

"And so, " earnestly said Major Alan Hawke, "I am absolutely preventedfrom seeing you, unless you will trust yourself to me, and come hereagain. " The frightened woman cast a glance at the unfamiliar lovelinessof the secluded garden, with the hidden kiosques, sacred to Ram Lal'sfurtive amours. 

"I dare not!" she said, with trembling lips. "I would like to come, but--"

"Listen!" said Alan Hawke, softly taking her unresisting hand, "I willconfide in you. I must, even to-day, go to Hugh Johnstone's house. Hehas bidden me to a private interview. And he gives a tiffin in my honor. I have known him in past years. He does not as yet know of my officialposition. My duties are secret. My very honor forbids me to divulgeit. I dare not openly acknowledge an acquaintance with you, with yoursister. It rests with you that we meet again, for my sake, for your ownsake, for your sister's sake. I cannot lose you for a mere quibble. "

There was a genuine alarm in Justine Delande's voice as she started up, crying out, "You come to us to-day?"

"Precisely!" gravely said Major Hawke, as he tried a long shot. "Both Captain Anstruther and myself have the gravest secret duties inconnection with Hugh Johnstone's future. He soon may be Sir Hugh, youknow. And I dare not divulge to him my own delicate functions in thismatter. Now you understand me at last, " said Hawke, warmly pressingJustine Delande's hand. "I feel that I must not lose you, because I havemy duty to perform, and I trust my honor to you. All will be well ifyou will only favor me with your womanly kindness, and trust to me asfrankly as I to you. We must meet to-day at Hugh Johnstone's as absolutestrangers. We must also remain strangers to all appearances for a time, "he said at last. The Swiss spinster gazed up at him piteously. 

"May I not even tell Nadine?" she faltered. 

"Ah!" carelessly said Alan Hawke, "she is a mere child; I shall probablynever see her. It is you alone that I would trust. Will you not comehere again? I dare not, for your own sake, detain you longer now. " Thetimid woman glanced hurriedly at her watch. 

"I have been here already too long, and I must go! And there is so muchI would say to you!" She was almost handsome in her blushing confusion. 

"Then you will come again, here? Ram Lal is my old factotum!" the youngMajor pleaded. 

"I will come!" the half-subjugated woman whispered under her breath. "But when?" Her eyes were meekly downcast and her faltering voicetrembled. 

"The day after to-morrow, at the same time, " said Alan Hawke, his heartleaping up in a secret victory, "but no living soul must ever know ofit. I will be here in the pagoda, waiting for you. Ram Lal will wait foryou himself and admit you. Do you promise?" he said, with a glance whichset her pallid cheeks aflame. 

"I promise! I promise! Let me go, now!" gasped the excited woman. Withstately courtesy, the Major then led her back into the jewel merchant'sluxurious lounging-room. 

"Wait here for a single moment!" he whispered as he quickly poured out aglass of cordial. And, then, returning in a few moments, he clasped uponthe woman's wrist a bracelet of old Indian gold, whose flexible linksglittered with the fire of a row of old Indian mine stones. JustineDelande sat mute, as if dreaming. 

"Our little secret is now all our own!" he pleasantly murmured. "Remember! Should we meet at the marble house, you do not know me!Can you trust yourself? You must--for my sake! This will help you toremember our first meeting. "

"You may depend upon me, whenever you may wish to call upon me, " shewhispered. "I will come!" and then she fled away, with soft, glidingsteps, to regain the safety of her own room before the trying hour oftiffin. 

Major Alan Hawke closed the door, and laughed softly as he threw himselfinto a chair. "They are all the same!" he mused. "Not a bad morning'swork! For she will never tell our little secret! And she will surelycome again! She may be my salvation here! Madame Louison, I now debityou just thirty pounds!" laughed Major Alan Hawke, as he deftly blew akiss in the direction of Allahabad. "You shall pay for this bracelet, and much more! You shall pay for all! And I'll set this soft-heartedSwiss woman on to watch you, and you shall pay her well, too! Now, formy old friend, Hugh Johnstone!" He waited in a most happy frame of mindtill his carriage bore him to the club for an elaborate Anglo-Indiantoilet. 

There was a crowd of eager gossips secretly tracking him who watched himroll away in state to the marble house. 

"By Jove! I believe that he is the coming man!" said old Captain Verner. "I wonder if this handsome young beggar is really going in for theVeiled Rose of Delhi. Just his damned luck!" And then the loungersleft the club window and drank deeply confusion to the would-be wooer'sstratagems. 

All unconscious of their busy curiosity, the gallant Major Alan Hawkecalmly descended at the marble house, with a secret oath now registeredto ignore the very existence of Nadine Johnstone, "The old man is alwaysharping on his daughter, " he mused. "I must throw this old beggar offhis guard thoroughly to-day, once and for all. He must never think thatI, too, am 'harping on his daughter. '

"But only let me get to the core of this old secret of the jewels, and Iwill find a way to frighten the baronet-to-be until he opens his miserlyold heart. " And so the wary guest sought his old friend's presence. WhenMajor Alan Hawke's neat trap drew up before the marble house therewas an officious crowd of Hindu underlings in waiting to welcome theexpected guest. 

Casting his eyes around the wide hall gleaming with its superb trophiesof priceless arms, with a quick glance at the crowd of sable retainers, Major Hawke realized in all the barren splendors of the first story theabsence of any womanly hand. As he followed the obsequious house butlerinto a vast reception room, he murmured:

"A diplomatic tiffin, I will warrant! The old fox is sly. " He wanderedidly about the Commissioner's sanctum, admiring the precious loot ofyears, displayed with an artfully artless confusion. On the walls, aseries of beautiful Highland scenes recalled the Land o' Lakes. Pausingbefore a sketch of a stern old Scottish keep of the moyen age, MajorAlan Hawke softly sneered: "Oatmeal Castle! The family stronghold of theold line of the Sandy Johnstone's, nee Fraser. " And, picking up the lastnumber of the Anglo-Indian Times, he then affected a composure which hewas far from feeling. 

"Damn this sly Scotsman! Why does he not show up?" was the chafingsoliloquy of the Major, now anxious to seal his re-entree into Delhisociety with the open friendship of the most powerful European civilianwithin the battered walls of the wicked city. He needed all hisnerve now, for Hugh Fraser Johnstone was a past master of the arts ofdissimulation. 

In fact, the mauvais quart d'heure was really due to the innate womanlyweakness of Mademoiselle Justine Delande. This guileless Swiss maidenhad been carried off her feet by the romantic episode of the morning. Her cool palm still tingled with the meaning pressure of the handsomeMajor's hand! She had hastened away to her own apartment, as a woundedtigress seeks its cave for a last stand! The concealment of the diamondbracelet was a matter of necessity, and, with a beating heart, sheburied it deep under the poor harvest of paltry Delhi trinkets which shehad already gathered, with a mere magpie acquisitiveness. 

Alan Hawke had builded better than he knew, when he selected this samebauble. He had been guided by a chance remark of Ram Lal's. "Give herthat, " said the crafty old jeweler. "She has priced it a dozen timessince her first coming here. " It was the Ultima Thule of personaldecoration to her. The Swiss governess reserved the secret delight ofdonning the glittering ornament until she was positive that no tell-talespy had observed her innocent assignation with her sister's chivalricfriend. "He must be rich and powerful, " she murmured as she fled fromher room to play the safety game of being found with the heiress whenher Prince Charming should arrive. Miss Nadine Johnstone failed not toobserve the unusual color mantling her sedate friend's cheeks. 

"You look as if you had received some good news. Is the mail in?"queried Miss Johnstone. 

"Not yet. I hastened back, for I forgot to take my watch and wasbelated. I fear I am late, even now, for tiffin, " demurely replied theSwiss maiden, dropping for the first time in her life into the balefularts of the other daughters of Eve. She had broken the ice of proprietyin which her past life had been congealed and an insidious pleasure nowthrilled her quickened veins, as she felt herself possessed of a secret, one linking her to an attractive member of the dangerous sex, and a heroof romance, a very Don Juan in seductive softness. Her knees trembled ata sudden summons to report to the Master of the marble house, forthwith. 

Her bosom heaved with a vague alarm as she timidly descended the grandstair, and was conducted to the private snuggery of the Commissioneradjoining his own apartments. "Does he know aught of the meeting?" shequestioned herself, in the throes of a sudden fright. She was somewhatreassured as she observed the carriage drawn up in the compound and, byhazard, caught a glance of Alan Hawke's graceful martial figure, ashe stood regarding her intently from the safe shelter of the darkenedreception-room. Her heart bounded with delight as her Prince Charmingsmilingly placed his finger on his lip. 

A sense of manly protection, never felt before, gave her the strength often as she then glided along boldly to face her gray-headed master. Fornow she knew that she had a champion at her side, a man professionallybrave, both resolute and charming. Her promise to meet Alan Hawke againat the jeweler's now took on a roseate hue. 

"I must surely keep my plighted word at all risks, " she murmured toherself. For the sage reflection that she owed a sacred duty to hersister's friend, now came to comfort her, in her heart of hearts. It wasalmost a pious duty which lay before her now. And so she became bravein the knowledge of the innocent secret shared between herself and thehandsome official visitor. 

To her delight and relief she found it an easy task to face HughJohnstone, after that one reassuring glance. Her stern employer failedto pierce the muslin fortifications of her guilty bosom and discern themoral turpitude lurking there. She stole a last anxious glance at herstill plump wrist where the diamond bracelet had softly clasped herflesh, and then softly sighed in relief as the master calmly said:

"Miss Justine, I have a gentleman of some distinction to entertainto-day at tiffin. An official visitor. I would be thankful if you woulddo the honors. Will you kindly join us in the reception room in halfan hour, and I will present Major Hawke, my old friend. He has justreturned from England. "

"And Miss Nadine?" meekly demanded the happy woman. The oldCommissioner's brow darkened, as he shortly said: "My daughter willbe served in her rooms, as usual on such formal occasions. Theseinterlopers are no part of her life. We may soon leave for Europe, andshe is therefore better off to remain a stranger to these merely localacquaintances. It is very unlikely that we shall ever re-visit India!Will you see her and say that I purpose driving out with her later?"

No woman in India was as happy, at that particular moment, as theGenevese, who merely bowed in silence, and glided softly away, havingescaped the levin-bolt of Hugh Johnstone's wrath, ever ready, lurkingunder his bushy, white eyebrows. It was the work of a moment for her tofulfill her simple task as messenger, and this done, she burned tohide herself in her own coign of vantage, for certain new-born ideasof personal decoration were crystallizing in her excited brain. Forthe first time in her life, she would be fair to man's views; so as tojustify the partner of her momentous secret in the complimentary remarkswhich, even now, made her ears tingle in delight. 

"Do you know aught of this Major Hawke who comes to-day?" wearily, said the listless girl. "Some one of these red-faced old relics of myfather's early life, I suppose!" The Rose of Delhi was gazing wistfullyout upon the wilderness of beauty in the tangled gardens, sweeping farout to where the high stone wall shut off the glare and flying dust ofthe Chandnee Chouk. 

"Certainly not, Nadine!" softly said the governess. "This is only apeopled wilderness to me!" Her heart smote her as the girl, with asudden lonely sinking of the heart, threw her arms around the neck ofher startled companion. 

"I am so unhappy here--so wretched, this is but a gleaning white stoneprison, Justine! I stifle in this wretched land! Why did my father bringme here to die by inches?" There was no pretense in her stormy sobs. 

"We are soon going home, Darling!" cried the affrighted Swiss. "Justnow your father told me that we were all to leave India forever, and atonce. " And so, gently soothing the unhappy girl, orphaned in herheart, Justine Delande escaped to the first essay of her life in highdecorative art. "There is some strange mystery of the past in all this!He has a heart of flint, this old tyrant!" murmured Justine, as withfingers trembling in haste she completed a toilet, which later causedeven old Hugh Johnstone to growl "By Gad! This Swiss woman's not halfbad looking!" A last pang, caused by the keen secret sorrow of notdaring to wear her diamond bracelet, was effaced by the rising tideof indignation in Justine Delande's awakened heart. There were strangeemotional currents fitfully thrilling through her usually placid veinsas she stole a last glance at herself in the mirror. "A tyrant to thedaughter. I warrant that in the old days he broke the mother's heart! Henever mentions her! Not a picture is here--nothing--not even a memento, not a reference to the woman who gave him this lovely child! Her life, her death, even her resting place, are all wrapped in the selfish andbrutal silence of a selfish tyrant! He should have been only a drillsergeant to knock about the half-crazed brutes who stagger under asoldier's pack over these burning plains!" It suddenly occurred to herthat in some mysterious way Major Alan Hawke's coming would contributeto the rescue of the captive Princess. 

Justine Delande really loved her beautiful charge with all the fondattachment of a mature woman for the one rose blossoming in her lonelyheart. Their gray passionless lives had run on together since Nadine'schildhood, as brooks quietly mingle, seeking the unknown sea! She nowfelt the wine of life stirring within her, and, seizing upon anotherjustification for her dangerous secret association with Alan Hawke, shemurmured: "I will tell him of all this. He has high influence withthe Home Government. This Captain Anstruther on the Viceroy's staff iscertainly his firm friend. We must leave here and return to dear oldSwitzerland. Perhaps the Major himself knows the secret of the familyhistory!"

And there was a meaning light in her eyes as she stole back to Nadine'sroom when the silver gong sounded, and throwing her arms around thegirl, whispered: "We are going home soon, darling! Be brave and trust tome! I will find out the story of the past and tell you all, my darling!"Justine Delande unwound the girl's arms from round her neck, whilehonest tears trembled in her eyes. 

The low cry: "My mother! My darling mother! He never even breathes thename!" had loosened all the tide of repressed feeling long pent up inJustine Delande's heart. 

"Trust to me! You shall know all, dearest! I am sure that Euphrosyneknows, and we shall see her soon!" So with an added reason fortheir second meeting, Miss Justine descended the grand marble stair, murmuring: "He shall tell me all he knows; he can search the past here!He can help me, and he must--for Nadine's sake!"

And as he bowed low before her in courteous acknowledgment of themaster's presentation, Alan Hawke caught the lambent gleam of the newlyawakened fires in Justine Delande's eyes. "She is another woman, " hemused. With one silent glance of veiled recognition, Alan Hawke returnedto his diplomatic fence with the wary old nabob who sat at the head ofthe glittering table. He was in no doubt now as to the second meeting atRam Lal Singh's shop, for Justine Delande's eyes promised him more thaneven his habitual hardihood would have dared to ask. "What the devil'sup now?" he mused, "Something about the girl, I warrant. I suppose thatthe old brute has exiled her here for safety. " And then and there, AlanHawke swore to reach the side of the Veiled Rose of Delhi, though thecold gray eyes of the host never caught him off his guard a moment inthe two hours of the pompously drawn-out feast. Both the men were keenlywatching each other now. 

It had been no mere accidental slip of the tongue which guided AlanHawke in his greeting of the old ex-Commissioner when Hugh Johnstoneentered the reception-room, a study in gray and white, with only thethree priceless pigeon-blood rubies lending a color to his snowy linen. "Upon my word, Sir Hugh, you are looking younger than I ever saw you, "said the visitor gracefully advancing. 

"You're a bit premature, are you not, Hawke?" dryly said the civilian, opening a silver cheroot box, once the property of a Royal Prince ofOude. Hugh Johnstone motioned his visitor to be seated, and keenlywatched the younger man. 

"I am on the inside of the matter, " soberly said Alan Hawke. "It was anopen secret when I left London, and I've heard more since. A brief delayonly, --a matter of a few months--no more. "

"Take a weed! They serve in half an hour!" abruptly said Hugh Johnstone, as if anxious to change the subject. The old man then strode forwardand closed the door. Then, turning sharply upon his visitor, franklydemanded, "Now, tell me why you are here?"

"That depends partly upon your affairs, " said Hawke, meeting hisquestioner's gaze unflinchingly. "I may have something to say to youabout the Baronetcy, by and bye. " He paused to notice the keen oldScotchman wince under the thrust, "but, in the mean time, I am merelywaiting orders here, and I want you to post me about the condition ofaffairs up there. " He vaguely indicated with his thumb the far-distantbattlement of the Roof of the World. Hugh Johnstone rang a silver bell, and muttered a few words in Hindostanee to an attendant. "I must knowmore from Calcutta before I can explain just where I stand, " said therenegade soldier, with caution. 

Before the silver tray loaded with ante-prandial beverages was produced, Hugh Johnstone quietly turned to his guest. "Did you see Anstruther inLondon?" he demanded, with a scarcely veiled eagerness. 

"We were together some days, " very neatly rejoined the now confidentMajor. "In fact, I'm to operate partly under his personal directions. Weare old friends. "

"I wonder when he will return?" dreamily said Johnstone, as if thesubject was growing annoying in its bold directness. 

"I believe that he has a long leave--a furlough of a year, " lightlyanswered the Major. "In fact, I am to carry on some official matters forhim in his absence, but he is wary and non-committal. "

"What is his English address?" abruptly said Johnstone, as they bowedformally over their glasses. 

"I do not know, " frankly returned Hawke. "I am to send all reports toheadquarters in Calcutta. "

"Are you going down there soon?" asked the old nabob, with a growinguneasiness. 

"Not unless I am sent for by the Viceroy, " quietly said the Major, witha listless air, gazing around admiringly on the magnificence of theapartment. 

"I will give you a letter to my nephew, Douglas Fraser, when you do go, "said Johnstone. "He is a fine youngster, and he will have charge of allmy Indian affairs, if I go home. He is in the P. And O. Office. I wouldlike you to know him. "

"I did not know that you had any family connection here, " replied theMajor with a start of innocent surprise. 

"Only this boy, " hastily replied the incipient baronet, "and mydaughter. She is, however, a mere child--a mere child. I have seen theleaves of the family tree wither and drop off one by one. " The host thenstiffly rose, and formally said, "Let us go in!"

"You are good for a score of years yet, " jovially remarked Major Hawke, as he gazed at the well-preserved outer man of his uneasy entertainer. "The harpoon is deeply fixed in the old whale, " mused Hawke, as hefollowed Hugh Johnstone. "He begins to flounder now. "

Conscious of the mental alarm which Hugh Johnstone could not altogetherconceal, Major Hawke had simply bowed, in his grand manner, when thehost presented his guest to Mademoiselle Delande. "I will let the oldbeggar lead out, " mused Hawke. "This royal spread is an excuse for anyamount of silence. " And the Anglo-Indian renegade gazed admiringly atthe thousand and one adjuncts of a blended English comfort and Indianluxury. 

"Ever been in Geneva?" suddenly demanded Hugh Johnstone, with a glanceat his two companions. 

"He's an uneasy old devil. He is trying to trap me now, " thought Hawke, who innocently replied: "Long years ago, when I was a mere lad. I'm toldthe town has been vastly improved by the Duke of Brunswick's legacy. I've not seen it in later years. "

"Miss Delande is a Genevese, " remarked the host. 

"I congratulate you, Mademoiselle, " politely said the Major. "It is afamous city to date from. "

It was evident that the spinster was held in reverent awe of heremployer, for she guarded a judicious silence, as with a formal bowshe at last left the table at the graciously permitting nod of HughJohnstone. There was a cold and brooding restraint, which had seemed tocast a chill even over the sultry Indian midday, but Justine's smilewas bright and winning as she faintly acknowledged with a blushing cheekMajor Hawke's gallantry as he sprang up and opened the door for theretiring lady. "She will come, she will come, " gayly throbbed theMajor's happy heart. 

Alan Hawke was now thoroughly on his guard. He had never lifted aneyebrow at the mention of Miss Johnstone. He had dropped JustineDelande like a plummet into the lake of forgetfulness, and watched HughJohnstone's listless trifling with the dainties of the superb collation. The raw-boned old Scotsman leaned heavily back in his chair. 

His bony hands were thin and claw-like, his bushy white beard andeyebrows gave him a "service" aspect, while his cold blue eye gleamedout pale and menacing as the Pole star on wintry arctic seas. His broadchest was sunken, his tall form was bent, and a visible air of dejectionand unrest had replaced the sturdy vigor of his early manhood. He wassipping a glass of pale ale in silence when Hawke neatly applied thelance once more. "It must be a great change for you to leave India, Johnstone, but you need rest, and a general shaking up. You have a gooddeal to leave here. I suppose your nephew--"

"He's a good lad, but a stranger to me, Hawke, " broke in the host. "Thefact is, I am as yet undecided. I go home for my daughter's sake; it'sno place for her out here, " he sternly said. "You know what Indian lifeis?"

Hawke bowed, and mutely cried, "Peccavi. " He had been a part of it. "I'mwaiting for the action of the Government. This Baronetcy. I must talkwith you about it. I might have had the Star of India. You see, it's anempty honor. And I hate to break away for good, after all. Do you knowanything from Anstruther? He was up here, you know. "

"I have him now!" secretly exulted Hawke, as he said gravely, "You knowwhat duty is, I cannot speak as yet, but you can depend on me as soon asmy honor will permit--"

"Yes, yes, I know, " said Hugh Johnstone, with a sigh, rising from thetable. "You must make yourself at home here. In fact, I am thinking ofsending my daughter back to Europe. Douglas Fraser can have them wellbestowed; that is, if I have to remain and fight out this Baronetcyaffair, then I could put you up here. " Alan Hawke bowed his thanks. 

They had wandered back to the reception-room. With an affected surprisethe Major consulted his watch. "By Jove! I've got a heavy officialmail to prepare, and I'm to dine to-day with Harry Hardwicke, of theEngineers. General Willoughby wants a private conference with me, andHardwicke is the only confidential man he has. He gets his Majoritysoon, and Willoughby will lose him on promotion. A fine fellow and arising man. "

"See here, Hawke! Come in to-morrow and dine with me at seven. I want tohave a long talk with you, " said the uneasy host. 

"You may absolutely depend on me, Sir Hugh, " heartily answered thevisitor, with a fine forgetfulness as to the title. When he rode away, Major Hawke caught sight of a womanly figure at a window above him, watching his retreat in due state, and there was the flutter of ahandkerchief as his carriage drove around the oval. "I wonder if RamLal knows about the jewels. I must buy him out and out, or make BertheLouison do it unconsciously for me, " so mused the victorious renegade. "He is afraid of me! Now to dispatch Ram Lal to Allahabad. I must onlysee Berthe Louison, at night, in her own bungalow, for my shy old birdwould take the alarm were we seen together. What the devil is her game?I know mine, and I swear that I will soon know hers. I have him guessingnow. I must hunt up Hardwicke and call on old Willoughby to keep up thedumb show. Johnstone may watch me--very likely he will. He is afraid ofsome coup de theatre. " He drove in a leisurely way back to the Club andsported the oak after giving Ram Lal his last orders. 

"I think I hear the jingle of gold 'in the near future, ' as the Yankeessay; and, Miss Justine, you shall open the way to the veiled Rose ofDelhi for me, while Berthe Louison tortures this old vetch. Place auxdames! Place aux dames!" he laughed. 

BOOK II. "A DEVIL FOR LUCK. "

CHAPTER VI. THE MYSTERIOUS BUNGALOW. 

If the fates favored Major Alan Hawke upon this eventful day, for as hewas contentedly awaiting the news of Ram Lal's departure for Allahabad, the card of Captain Harry Hardwicke, A. D. C. , and of the Engineers, wassent up to him. With a neat bit of Indian art, old Ram Lal had sent thecarriage around to report, as a mute signal of his own departure. It wasa flood tide of good fortune!

In ten minutes, the Major and his welcome guest were spinning along inthe cool of the evening, toward the deserted ruins of the old city ofDelhi! As they passed through the Lahore gate, Hardwicke's pith helmetwas doffed with a jerk, as a superb carriage passed them, proceeding ina stately swing. Major Alan Hawke bowed low as he caught the cold eye ofthe would-be Sir Hugh Johnstone. 

"Who are the ladies, Hardwicke?" laughed the Major, as he saw the youngofficer's face suddenly crimson. "For a man who won the V. C. In yourdashing style, you seem to be a bit beauty-shy!" They were hardlysettled yet for their cozy chat. Hardwicke lit a cheroot to cover hisevident confusion. 

"I know" he slowly answered, "that one of them is Miss or MadameDelande, old Fraser's house duenna--I will still call him Fraser, yousee--the other is the mystery of Delhi. Popularly supposed to be the oldboy's daughter, and his sole heiress, Miss Nadine, " concluded the youngaid-de-camp. "The old curmudgeon keeps her judiciously veiled frommortal ken. No man but General Willoughby has ever exchanged a word withher. The dear old boy--his memory does not go back beyond his last B. And S. --he can't even sketch her beauty in words. And she is as hazy, even to the Madam-General--our secret commanding officer. There is acontinuous affront to society in this old monomaniac's treatment of thatgirl. "

"You would like to storm the Castle Perilous, and awaken the SleepingBeauty?" archly said Hawke, as they rolled along under a huge alley ofbanyan trees. 

"Not at all, " gravely said Hardwicke. "She is only a girl, like othergirls, I presume; but, this old fool is only fit for the old days, when the kings of Oude flew kites and hunted with the cheetah; or, half drunken, dozed, lolling away their lives in these marble-screenedzenanas, with the automatic beauties of the seraglio. Our English cannonhave knocked all that nonsense silly. Here is a high-spirited, ChristianEnglish girl, shut up like a slave. It's only the unfairness of thething that strikes me. " Hawke eyed the blue-eyed, rosy young fellow oftwenty-six with an evident interest. Stalwart and symmetrical in figure, Hardwicke's frank, manly face glowed in indignation. 

"You've won your spurs quickly out here, " said Hawke. "You have notbeen long enough in India to case-harden into the cursed egotism of thishard-hearted land, and remember, age, crawling on, has indurated old'Fraser-Johnstone. ' He was never an amiable character. What do theladies of the city say of this strange social situation? I never knewthat the old beast had a daughter till to-day. "

Captain Hardwicke wearily replied: "They all hold aloof, of course, after some very rough rebuffs, as I believe the old boy will clear outfor good when he gets his baronetcy. It's possible that the girl ishalf a foreigner after all, " mused Hardwicke. "The duenna is surely acontinental. "

"Yes; but she seems to be a very nice person. I was there to-day attiffin, " finally said Major Hawke, "She had very little to say, and cleared out at once. I did not see MissJohnstone. " They fell into an easy, rattling chronicle of things pastand present, and before the two hours' ride was over, the astute Majorfelt that he had divined General Willoughby's object in sending his petaid-de-camp to reconnoitre Hawke's lines and pierce the mystery of hisrumored employment. 

"I suppose that you will come up and duly report to the Chief, " ratheruneasily said Captain Hardwicke, as they neared the Club on theirreturn. Hawke cast a glance at the superb domes of the Jumma Musjidtowering in the thin air above them, as he slowly answered:

"I am only here on a roving secret commission. I shall call, of course, and pay my personal respects to His Excellency, the General Commanding. I am an official will-o'-the-wisp, just now, but my blushing honorsare strictly civil, and, by the way, in expectancy. Where does yourpromotion carry you?"

"Oh, anywhere--everywhere, " laughed Hardwicke. "I may be sent home. I'mentitled to a long leave--there's my wound, you know. I've only stayedon here to oblige Willoughby. " It was easy to see that the frank, splendid young fellow was but awkwardly filling his role of politeinquisitor, for they talked shop a couple of hours over a bottle at theClub, and Hardwicke at last took his leave, no whit the wiser. 

"If he did not post me as to the heiress, at least, old Willoughby getsno valuable information, " laughed the Major, that night. "The boy seemsto be ambitious and heart-whole. Old Johnstone will soon clear outto the Highlands, I suppose, with this hidden pearl. " But Major Hawkelaughed softly when the morning brought to him a personal invitation todine "informally" with General Willoughby. "Wants to know, you know, "laughed the Major. "All I have to do is to keep cool and let him drinkhimself jolly, and so, answer his own questions. "

"That Hardwicke is an uncommonly fine young fellow. " So decided theMajor as he splashed into his morning tub. There was one man, however, in Delhi who now viewed Hawke's presence with a secret alarm, amountingto dismay. It was the stern old miserly Scotsman who had paced his floorhalf the night in a vain effort to reassure himself. "What does he know?I must have old Ram Lal watch him, " mused Hugh Johnstone. "I was a foolnot to have cleared out from here months ago, before these spies wereset upon me. First, Anstruther; now this fellow, Hawke, and, perhaps, even Hardwicke. If it were not for the old matter I would go to-morrow, and let the Baronetcy go hang--or find me in the Highlands. But, I mustmake one last attempt to get them out. I must--" and the old man sleptthe weary sleep of utter exhaustion. 

Before the nabob awoke, Captain Henry Hardwicke, swinging away on hismorning gallop, had reviewed the strange attitude of Major Hawke. "He isvery intimate with Hugh Johnstone, and he is a man of the world, too. Iwill yet see this charming child, when the ban of her prison seclusionis lifted. " He vaguely remembered the one timid and girlish glance ofthe beautiful dark eyes, when he had been presented, pro-forma, to theVeiled Rose upon that one memorable state visit. He then rode out of hisway to gaze at the exterior of the great marble house, and was rewardedby the sight of a graceful woman walking there under her governess'sescort in the dewy freshness of the early morn. 

He doffed his helmet as Miss Justine paused among the flowers, and thenMiss Nadine Johnstone looked up to see the graceful rider disappearbehind the fringing trees. 

"That was Captain Hardwicke, was it not?" asked the lonely girl. MissJustine was busied in dreaming of her meeting of the morrow. 

"Yes, it was, " she absently replied. 

"They tell me that he nobly risked his life to save his wounded friend, "dreamily continued Nadine. "He gave back to a father the life of an onlyson at the risk of his own. How brave--how noble. " And Justine gazed ather charge in surprise, as the beautiful Nadine bent her head to greether sister flowers. 

The resolute Major Hawke, at his cheerful breakfast, was busied withthoughts of the coming arrival of Hugh Johnstone's secret foe. "I musthave money from her at once to swing Ram Lal's Private Inquiry Bureauand to mystify these quid nuncs here. For I must entertain the clubmen abit. It's as well to begin, also, to pot down a bit of her money forthe future. She shall pay her way, as she goes. " And, with a view to thefurther cementing of his rising social pyramid, he planned a very neatlittle dinner of half a dozen of the most available men whom he hadselected as being "in the swim. " "The next thing is to discover what thedevil she really wants of old Johnstone! She must show her hand now, andthen soon call on me for help. "

He gazed at his little memorandum of "pressing engagements. " "A prettyfair book of events. First, old Johnstone's dinner--more of theboring process--then to welcome my strange employer, and, after that, Mademoiselle Justine! Later, I'll have my own little innings withGeneral Willoughby, and, finally play the gracious host while Ram Lalwatches Madame Louison's cat-like play upon her victim. Money I musthave, her money first, to pay the piper, " he laughed, which proposedliberality was destined to doubly bribe the wily old jewel merchant. Atthat very moment Ram Lal, securely hidden away in the native compartmentof the train, rushing on from Allahabad toward Delhi, was dreaming ofthe long-deferred triumph of a life!

"If he has them--if they can be traced--they shall be mine if everydiamond gleams red with his heart's blood! Perhaps these two strangepeople have brought them. Who knows? They are rich; it may be thejewels!" And Ram Lal dreamed of a tripartite watch upon the threeprincipal figures of the opening drama. "The jewels were a king'sransom. But I shall know all, " he softly smiled, for every attendant ofthe beautiful recluse now burning to meet her advance spy was a swornconfederate of Ram Lal in a dark brotherhood whose very name no maneven dared to lisp! And so the long, blazing day wore away, bringing thehunter and the hunted nearer together. The mysterious bungalow was nowalive with the slaves of luxury, while Alan Hawke secretly inspectedthe last finishing touches, for he, alone, was master of the privateentrance once used by a man whose glittering rank had lifted himpresumably above all human weaknesses!

Major Hawke departed for the Club in a very good humor, after his hourof inspection of the jewel box bungalow now ready for his fair employer. It was a perfect cachette d' amour, and its superb gardens, so longdeserted, were now only a tangled jungle of luxuriant loveliness!The light foot of the beauty for whom this Rosamond's Bower had beenprepared had wandered far away, for a substantial block of marble nowheld down the great man, who had in the old days found the welcome ofhis hidden Egeria so delicious in this long-deserted bungalow. Forthe dead Numa Pompilius slept now with his fathers, in far away MerrieEngland, and--as is the wont--the mortuary inscriptions on his tombrecorded only his virtues. But both his virtues and failings were ofno greater weight now to a forgetful generation, which knew not thedeparted Joseph, than the drifted leaves in the garden alleys where theromance of the old still lingered in ghostly guise! "There were nobirds in last year's nest, " but the mysterious bungalow had been hastilyarranged for the lovely successor to the vanished queen of a cobwebParadise. The bungalow, itself, was adroitly constructed with a specialreference to seclusion as well as comfort. An Indian Love's Labyrinth. 

"Just the very place!" murmured Alan Hawke, as he hastened away to dressfor the diner de famille, with his timorous secret foe, Hugh Johnstone. "I wonder if my canny friend, in his humble days as Hugh Fraser, everassisted at lespelits diners de Trianon here?

"Probably not, for friend Hugh was ever apter in squeezing the nimblerupee than in chanting sonnets to his mistress's eyebrow. How the devildid he ever catch a wife, such as Valerie Delavigne must have been?Either a case of purchase or starvation, I'll warrant!"

Ram Lal Singh was growing dubious as to the perfect sweep of his hungrytalons over Madame Louison's future expenditures. He had noted, withsome secret alarm, a grave-faced, sturdy Frenchman, still in theforties, who was cast in the role of either courier or butler for thebeautiful Mem-Sahib, whose loveliness in extenso he so far only divinedby guess-work. 

In the stranger lady's special car there was also, at her side, atruculent Parisienne-looking woman of thirty, whose bustling air, hawk-like visage, and perfect aplomb bespoke the confidential Frenchmaid. "I must tell Hawke Sahib of this at once, " mused Ram Lal. "Wemust, in some way, get rid of these foreign servants. " The man hada semi-military air, heightened by the sweeping scar--a slash from aneatly swung saber. This purple facial adornment was Jules Victor'sespecial pride. In these days of "ninety" he often recurred to thestroke which had made his fortune in the dark reign of the Commune. 

As a wild Communard soldier he had risked his life vainly to save theaged Colonel Delavigne from a furious mob, for the red rosette in theold officer's buttonhole had cost him his life in an awkward promenade, and this sent the orphans, Valerie and Alixe Delavigne, adrift uponthe mad maelstrom of Paris incendie. While Ram Lal glowered in hisdissatisfaction, Madame Berthe Louison complacently regarded her twosecret protectors on guard in the special car. For the strange turn ofFortune's wheel, which had left Alixe Delavigne alone in the world, and rich enough to effect her special vengeance upon her one enemy, had given to Jules Victor and his wife Marie a sinecure for life as thepersonal attendants of the soi-disant Madame Berthe Louison. 

Marie was but a wild-eyed child of ten when Jules had picked her up inthe flaming streets of Paris, and they had graduated together from thegutters of Montmartre into the later control of Madame Louison's prettylittle pied d' terre in Paris, hard by Auteuil, in that dreamylittle impasse, the Rue de Berlioz. Neither of these attendants werefaint-hearted, for their young hearts had been attuned early to thewolfish precocity of the Parisian waif. And they had followed theirresolute mistress in her weary quest of the past years. 

Berthe Louison smiled in a comforting sense of security, as she gazedlistlessly out upon the landscape flying by. 

The two servants, modestly voyaging out to Calcutta, on a telegraphicsummons, to embark at Marseilles, had preceded the Empress of India byten days. So, neither friendless, nor without untiring devotion, wasthe wary woman who had thus secretly armed herself against any "littlemistake" on the part of Major Alan Hawke. Certain private instructionsto the manager of Grindlay & Co. , at Calcutta, had caused thatrespectable party to open his eyes in wonder. 

"Of course, Madame, our local agent at Delhi will act in your behalf, with both secrecy and discretion. I have already written him a privatecipher letter in regard to your every wish being fulfilled. "

Such is the potent influence of a letter of credit, practicallyapproaching the "unlimited. "

"If I could only use Jules in the double capacity of gentleman andfactotum, I would dress him up a la mode and let him approach HughJohnstone, " mused the beautiful tourist, but I must be content to usethis cold-hearted adventurer Hawke, for he has at least a surface rankof gentleman, and, moreover, he knows my enemy! I must keep Jules andMarie every moment at my side, for some strange things happen in Indiaby day as well as by night. Sir Hugh may dream of some 'unusuallydistressing accident' as a means of safely ridding himself of a longslumbering specter. "

"Of course, this sly jeweler is Alan Hawke's spy! A few guineas extra, however, may buy his 'inner consciousness' for me, " she mused. And so itfell out that Ram Lal Singh was destined to drop into the secretservice of both Hawke and the fair invader! And, as yet, neither of hisintending employers could divine the dark purposes of the oily rascalwho had stealthily watched Hugh Fraser for long years to slake thehungry vengeance of a despoiled traitor to the last King of Oude. 

Major Hawke found the tete e tete dinner with Hugh Johnstone a mere dullsocial parade. There was no demure face at the feast slyly regardinghim, for while the two watchful secret foes exchanged old reminiscenceand newer gossip, Justine Delande was cheering the lonely girl, whosesilent mutiny as to her shining prison life now reached almost an openrevolt. It was a grateful relief to the Swiss woman, whose agitatedheart was softly beating the refrain: "To-morrow! to-morrow! I shall seehim again!" She feared a self-betrayal!

While the governess mused upon the extent of her proposed revelations tothe handsome Major, that rising social star had adroitly exploited hislong tete e tete with Captain Hardwicke to his host, and gracefullymagnified the warmth of General Willoughby's personal welcome. 

"You see, Johnstone, " patiently admitted the man who had dropped into agood thing, "They all want to delve into the secrets of my mission here. You, of all men, " he meaningly said, "cannot blame me for throwingthe dust into their eyes. I detest this intrusion, and so in sheerself-defense I am going to give a formal dinner to a lot of thesebores, and then cut the whole lot when I've once done the decent thing. "Circling and circling, and yet never daring to approach the subject, old Hugh Johnstone warily returned to the suspended baronetcy affair, atlast revealing his secret burning anxieties. But when Alan Hawke heardthe train whistles, announcing the arrival of his beautiful employer, hefled away from the smoking-room in a mock official unrest. 

"I am expecting dispatches from England, and also very importantdetailed secret instructions. I've had a warning wire from Calcutta. "

He had broken off the se'ance brusquely with a design of his own, andhe rejoiced as Hugh Johnstone brokenly said: "Let me see you very soonagain. I must have a plain talk with you. " The old nabob was in a closecorner now. There had been a few bitter queries from the half-distractedgirl which showed, even to her stern old father, that his position wasbecoming untenable. 

"Damn it! I must either talk or send her away, " he growled when leftalone. "I've half a mind to telegraph Douglas Fraser to come here andconvoy this foolish young minx home to Europe. She may grow to be asilent rebel like her mother. " His scowl darkened. "And yet, where tosend her? I ought to go with them. Can I trust the Delandes to finda safe place to keep her till I come?" He was all unaware that hisdaughter Nadine was now a woman like her bolder sisters of society, butit was true. The chrysalis was nearing the butterfly stage of life andbeating the bars with her wings. 

The secret exultation of Justine Delande in her shadowy hold on MajorAlan Hawke caused her to furtively lead Nadine Johnstone to the head ofthe great stairway, when Hawke made his adieux. 

"He is a handsome young officer, " timidly whispered the girl, shrinkingback out of sight. "What can he have in common with my father? I thoughthe was some old veteran. " And the awakened heart of Justine Delandebounded in delight. She would have joyed to tell Nadine of her ownromantic budding friendship, but a wholesome fear tied her tongue, andshe was only happy when caressing the diamond bracelet that night, whichencircled her arm, while with dry and aching eyes she waited for thedawn. 

While Hugh Johnstone paced the veranda of his lonely marble palace thatnight, a prey to vague fears, and unwilling to face the accusing eyes ofhis daughter, Major Alan Hawke, with a sudden astonishment, stood mutebefore the splendid woman who received him in the mysterious bungalow. There was scant ceremony of greeting between them, for Berthe Louisonimpatiently grasped his hands. 

"He is here, and the girl, too, " she said, with blazing eyes. She stoodrobed as a queen before her secret agent. "Where were you? You left mehere to wait in a torment of anxiety. "

"I have just come from his dinner table, " quietly said the startledMajor. "They are both here, and well. I am already intimate at thehouse, but I have not seen the girl. I feared being followed or I wouldhave met you at the train. " He marveled at her royal beauty. She wasconscious now of the power of wealth, and some hidden fire glowed in herveins. "What can I do for you? He watches me. I can only come at night. "

"Ah!" the lady sternly said, "we must then play at hide and seek!"

Ringing a silver bell twice, Madame Louison sank into a chair. AlanHawke started up, inquiringly, as Jules and Marie entered the room froman ante-room, whose door was left ajar. 

"Jules! Marie!" calmly said Madame Louison. "This gentleman is my secretbusiness agent. He will call here in the evenings very often. He haspass keys of his own, and you need not announce him. He is the onlyperson who has the right to be in my house--at all times. " The husbandand wife bowed in silence and, at a gesture from their mistress, departed silently, having mentally photographed the newcomer. 

Gazing in open-eyed astonishment, the surprised Major faltered, "Who arethese people? Why did you do this strange thing?"

"To assure myself of safety, " quietly smiled Berthe Louison. "They aremy personal servants, whom I brought on from Calcutta, and I have reasonto believe that Jules is both alert and courageous. He is a veteranof the Tonquin war, and that pretty scar was a present from the BlackFlags. They were selected by one who knows the wiles of my desperateenemy Johnstone. "

"Now, Major Hawke, let us to business" calmly continued Berthe, secretlyenjoying Alan Hawke's dismay. "Tell me your whole story. Only the eventssince your arrival here. The rest counts for nothing. We are all onthe ground here and I propose to act quickly. I learned some matters inCalcutta which have greatly enlightened me. " The facile tongue of therenegade was slow to do the bidding of his unready brain. "Damme! Butshe's a cool one!" the ex-officer concluded, as he caught his breath. But, conscious of her watchful eye, he related all his adventures, witha judicious reserve as to Justine Delande. The burning eyes of BertheLouison were steadily fixed upon the relator's face, and she was coldlynoncommittal when Hawke paused for breath and a mental recapitulation. The Major now gazed upon her immovable visage. There was neither joy norsorrow, neither the flush of anger nor the trembling of rage, awakenedby the businesslike presentment of the social facts. "She is a humanicicle, " he mused. "She has some deadly hold on him!"

"Can you trust this Ram Lal Singh?" the woman demanded in abusiness-like tone. Alan Hawke nodded decisively. 

"He knows Hugh Fraser Johnstone well?" queried Berthe. 

"They have been companions in the mixed line or Delhi since the mutiny, "earnestly replied Hawke, slowly concluding: "And Ram Lal has beenJohnstone's broker in selecting his almost unequaled Indian collection. Ram is a thief, like all Hindus, but he is square to me. I hold himin my hand. You can trust to him, but only through me!" Berthe Louisonraised her eyes and then fixed a searching glance upon Alan Hawke, as ifshe would read his very soul. 

"And, can I trust you?" she said, almost solemnly. 

"You remember our strange compact, Madame, " coldly said Alan Hawke. "Here, face to face with the enemy, I expect to know what is required ofme--and also what my future recompense will be. "

"Ah, I forgot, " mused the strange lady of the bungalow. "You have theright to teach me a lesson, in both manners and business. I forgot howsharply I had drawn the line, myself. Well, Sir, I will trust to youwithout any assurance on your part. " She rang the silver bell at herside, once, and the silent Jules appeared, as attentive as Rastighelloin the boudoir of the Duchess of Ferrara. "My traveling bag, Jules, "said the lady, in a careless tone. There was a silence punctuated onlyby Alan Hawke's heavy breathing, until the silent servitor returned, bowing and departing without a word, as he placed the bag at MadameLouison's side. With a businesslike air, the lady handed Alan Hawke asealed letter, addressed simply:

HUGH FRASER JOHNSTONE, ESQ. , DELHI. 

Near at hand, in the opened bag, the watchful Major saw the revolver anddagger once more which he had noted, at Lausanne. 

"Let Ram Lal deliver that personally to the would-be Baronet, to-morrowmorning at eight o'clock. He is to say nothing. There will be no reply, "measuredly remarked the strange woman whose life as Alixe Delavigne hadbrought to her the legacy of an undying hatred for the man whom she wasabout to face. "This will bring Hugh Johnstone to me at once!"

"That is all?" stammered Alan Hawke, as he received the document, respectfully standing "at attention. "

"No, not quite all!" laughed Berthe Louison. "Pray continue a career ofjudiciously liberal social splendor here, an external 'swelling port'just suited to a man whose feet are planted upon a financial rock. Butdo not overdo it! It might excite Hugh Johnstone's alarm. Here is fivehundred pounds in notes. There will be no accounts between us. "

"And, I am to do nothing else?" cried Hawke, in surprise. "I fear tohave you meet this man alone! He is rich, powerful, and crafty. Thenature of your business, I fear, is that of deadly quarrel. Remember, this man is at bay. He is unscrupulous. I fear for you!"

The renegade spoke only the truth. For dark memories of Hugh Fraser'sbitter deeds in days past now thronged upon his brain. 

"Fear not for me. " cried Berthe Louison, springing up like a tigress indefense of her cubs. "Do you know that his life would be the forfeit ofa lifted finger? Do you take me for a blind fool?" she raged. "Do youknow the power of gold? Ah, my friend, there are unseen eyes watching mypathway here, and may God have mercy upon any one who practices againstme, in secret! Any 'strange happening' to me would be fearfully avenged!As for this flinty-hearted brute, he would never even reach thatthreshold alive, if he dared to threaten! Go! Leave him to me. Come hereto-morrow night. I shall have need of your cool brain and your readywit! My only task was to find him and the girl together. "

"And if I am questioned about you? If anything occurs?" persisted AlanHawke. 

"Simply ignore my existence; if we meet we are strangers!" gaspedBerthe, who had thrown herself on a divan. "Obey me without questioningmy motive! Each night you will receive orders for the next day, should Ineed your secret hand! Go now! I am tired! I must be ready to meet thisman!"

Alan Hawke had reached the door, but he turned back. "And as to Ram Lal?What shall I do?" The woman's eyes flashed fire. 

"Leave him also to me! I will handle him! A few rupees--will serveas his bait. Stay! You say that this Swiss woman, Justine Delande, issympathetic, and seems to be a worthy person?" She was scanning hisimpassive face with steely glances now. 

"She is younger than her sister Euphrosyne, " gravely said Alan Hawke, "and not without some personal attractions. Her older sister adores her. Even this old brute, Johnstone, seems to treat her with great respectand deference. "

"There is the only danger to us! Watch that woman! Mingle freely in theJohnstone household, " said Berthe, wearily, "but never cast your eyestoward Nadine. Never even hint to this Swiss governess that you haveseen her sister. After they return to Europe it is another thing. Silence and discretion now. Good night. Come to-morrow night at teno'clock; all will be quiet, and you can steal away from the Club insafety. "

Major Alan Hawke stole away to the hidden entrance like a thief of thenight. He started as he saw the menacing figure of Jules Victor glideswiftly after him to the secret opening in the wall. The servitor spokenot a single word, but watched the business agent disappear. "I mustwatch this damned Frenchman, " he mused, feeling for his packet of notesand loosening his revolver. "He may be set on by this she devil to watchRam Lal. " And then Hawke gayly sought the jewel merchant, lingeringan hour in the very room where he was on the morrow to meet theheart-awakened Justine. Old Ram Lal grinned as he accepted the letter. He was happy, for he heard the jingling of golden guineas in the nearfuture. "You have nothing to do with me, Ram Lal, " laughed the Major. "The lady will give you your orders, only you are to tell me all forboth our sakes. I will see you rewarded, " and again Ram Lal grinned inhis quiet way. 

When Alan Hawke's head was resting on his pillow he suddenly becamepossessed with a strange new fear. "By God! I believe that she has beenhere before; she seems to be up to the whole game. "

Alan Hawke's steps hardly died away in the hallway before the beautifulNemesis made a careful inspection of her splendid reception-room. Thesplendors of its curtained arches, its fretted ceiling, and its frescoedwalls were idly passed over, for the woman only made an exhaustivesurvey of its geometrical arrangement. Marie Victor was in waiting ather side, and the mistress and maid were soon joined by Jules. Throwingopen the door of a little adjoining cabinet, Madame Louison whispered afew private directions to the ex-Communard. "Do this at once yourself;none of the blacks are to know. I trust none of them!" imperativelycommanded Berthe. "Marie will receive him. You are to be here at nineo'clock, and be sure to let no one of these yellow spies observe you. Now, both of you. Here is the rearrangement of the furniture. This willbe your first task in the morning. You can both use the whole householdfor these changes. They are to obey you in all. Let all be ready whenI have breakfasted. Now, Marie, I will try and rest. Jules, inspect andexamine the house; then you can take your post for the night at my door. Have you exhausted every possibility of any trickery in the sleepingroom?"

"There's but the one door, Madame. Trust to me. I have sounded everyinch of the walls, and even examined the floor. " Jules Victor's romanticnature thrilled with the possibilities of the little life drama to come. 

Berthe Louison departed to rest upon her arms the night before thebattle. Much marveled the swarming band of Ram Lal's creatures that nohuman being was suffered to approach the Lady of the Bungalow but hertwo white attendants. Berthe Louison had not reached the idle luxury ofemploying a dozen Hindus in infinitesimal labors near her person. Forshe fathomed easily Ram Lal's devotion to Major Alan Hawke. 

The presence of keen-eyed Marie Victor's brass camp-bed in My Lady'ssleeping-room was a source of wonder to the velvet-eyed spy who wasRam Lal's especial "Bureau of Intelligence. " "Strange ways has thisMem-Sahib, " murmured the Hindu when he craved to know if the Daughter ofthe Sun and Light of the World desired aught. "I will then have two towatch. The waiting woman has the eye of a tiger. "

A personal verification of the fact that Jules Victor was encamped forthe night, en zouave, on a divan drawn before the only door joining theboudoir and sleeping-room, caused the sly spy to greatly marvel, for thescarred face of the French social rebel was ominously truculent, and apair of Lefacheux revolvers and a heavy knife lay within the ready reachof this strange "outside guard. "

In the dim watches of the first night in Delhi, the same barefootedHindu spy learned by a visit of furtive inspection, that a night lightsteadily burned in the boudoir where Jules was toujours pret. Thesneaking rascal crept away, with a violently beating heart, fearing eventhe rustle of his bare feet upon the mosaic floor. 

And all this, and much more, did he deliver with abject humility toRam Lal Singh, when that worthy appeared the next day to crave hismysterious patron's orders. It seemed a tough nut to crack, thistripartite household arrangement. 

The dawn found Madame Berthe Louison as alertly awake as bird and beaststirring in the ruined splendors of old Shahjehanabad. Long before theanxious Justine Delande arose to deck herself furtively for her trystwith Alan Hawke, Berthe Louison knew that all her orders of the nightbefore were executed. 

"You are sure that you can see perfectly, Jules?" said the anxiouswoman. 

"I command the whole side of the room where you will be seated, " repliedthe Frenchman, "and the ornaments and carved tracery cover the aperture. Marie has tested it and I have also done the same, reversing ourpositions. Nothing can be seen. "

"Good! Remember! Nine o'clock sees you at your post! You are prepared?"The woman's voice trembled. 

"Thoroughly!" cried the alert servitor, "Only give me your signal! Imust make no mistake! There's no time to think in such cases!" He benthis head, while his mistress, in a low voice gave her last orders. Julessaluted, as if he were the leader of a forlorn hope. 

"And now for the first skirmish!" mused Berthe Louison, as shepersonally examined some matters, of more material interest to her, inthe reception-room. 

The rearrangement of the furniture seemed to be satisfactory, and MadameBerthe Louison composedly busied herself with the arrangement of awriting case, and a few womanly articles upon the table which she hadchosen as her own peculiar fortification. A few moments were wasted upontrifling with a well-worn envelope, now carefully hidden in her bosom. This maneuver passed the time needed for a stately carriage to sweep upfrom the opened grand gate of the bungalow to the raised veranda steps. "There he is!" she grimly said. "Now, for the first blood!"

A man who was shaking with mingled rage and fear hastily strode acrossthe broad portico, as Berthe Louison glided away from the curtainedwindow and confidently resumed her own chosen chair. Her bosom washeaving, her eye was fixed and stern, and she steadily awaited her foe, for one last warning whisper had reached her hidden servitor. 

When Marie Victor threw open the double doors of the reception room, onits threshold stood the towering form of the man whom Alixe Delavignehad known in other years as Hugh Fraser, the man whose pallid face toldher that he knew at last that he was under the sword of Damocles! Cladin white linen, his sun helmet in his hand, steadying himself with ajeweled bamboo crutch-handled stick, the old Anglo-Indian waited untilBerthe Louison's voice rang out, as clear as a silver bell: "Marie! Iam not to be interrupted. " she calmly said. "You may wait beyond, in theante-room!"

The woman who had emerged from the dark penumbra of a dead Past, to torture the embryo Baronet, gazed silently at the stern old manglowering there. 

Striding up to her, the insolent habit of years was, strong upon him, ashe hoarsely said: "What juggling fiend of hell brings you here?"

Without a tremor in her voice, the lady of Jitomir replied:

"I came here to undo the work of years! To teach an orphaned girl toknow that a love which hallows and which blesses, can reach her from thegrave in which your cold brutality buried the only being I ever loved!She shall know her mother, from my lips, and not wither in the gray hellof your egoism. I have searched the world over, and found you, at last, together!"

"By God! You shall never even see her face, you she-devil!" cried theinfuriated old man, nearing the defiant woman. "You were the go-betweenfor your worthless sister and that Russian cur, Troubetskoi!"

"You lie! Hugh Fraser, you lie!" cried Berthe, in a ringing voice. "Youcrushed the flower that Fate had drifted within your reach! You turnedher into the streets of London to starve! You robbed her of her child, all this to feed your own flinty-hearted tyrant vanity! She was divorcedfrom you by a Royal Russian Decree, before she married the man whoseheart broke when she was laid in the tomb. She rests with the princes ofhis line, and her tomb bears the name of wife!"

The old nabob crept nearer, growling:

"You shall never see the child's face!"

Then, Alixe Delavigne sprang up and faced him: "There she is! on myheart! Just what her mother was, before you sent her to an early grave. Valerie died hungering for one sight of that child's face!" Throwingthe picture of Nadine Johnstone on the table, the lady of Jitomir said:"Pierre Troubetskoi left to me the wealth which makes me your equal. Ifear you not! I shall see Nadine to-morrow!"

"Never!" roared Hugh Johnstone, now beyond all control. "I defy you!Beware how you approach my threshold!" His eyes were murderous in theirsteely blue gleam, and, yet, he met a glance as steady as his own. 

"Listen, " said Berthe Louison, sinking back into her chair, "I will tellyou a little story. " Hugh Johnstone was now gazing at the photograph, which trembled in his hand. "Once upon a time a man secreted a vastdeposit of jewels, really the spoil of a deposed king, and, rightly, theproperty of the victorious British Government!" The photograph fell tothe floor as the old man sprang up from the chair, into which he haddropped. "This paper, the receipt for the deposit, once delivered to theViceroy of India--and the Baronetcy which is to be your life crown islost for ever. " The old man's hands knotted themselves in anger. "Thelying story that the deposit was stolen by an underling will bringyou, Hugh Johnstone, to the felon's cell! You shall live to wear theconvict's chain! The Government is partly aware of the facts. It restsfor me to give the Viceroy the receipt for your private deposit. Theprivate bank vault in Calcutta has hidden your shame for twenty years. You know the condition of your settlement with the Government. Now, shall I see my sister's child? I hold your very existence here--in thehollow of my hand!" The dauntless woman drew forth a yellowed envelopefrom her breast. There was a smothered shriek, a crash and a groan, asJules Victor, springing from his concealment, hurled the infuriated manto the floor!

With a knee on the panting nabob's breast, he hissed:

"Move, and you are a dead man!"

"Take the paper, Madame, " calmly said the victorious Jules. Then AlixeDelavigne laughed scornfully. 

"Let the fool arise. The contents are only blank paper. The documentis where I can find it for use. Remain here, Jules, " concluded thetriumphant woman, as she replaced the photograph in her bosom. "Take theenvelope--you know it, Hugh Fraser. I stole it the night you drovethe sister I loved from our miserly lodgings in London. " The furiousonslaught had failed, and the old nabob was only a cowering, cringingprisoner at will. He dared not even cry out. 

Hugh Johnstone groaned as his eyes turned from the woman, now laughinghim to scorn, to the stern-faced Frenchman, who was covering the baffledassailant with the grim Lefacheux revolver. 

"Send this man away. Let us talk, Alixe, " muttered the astoundedJohnstone. Then a mocking laugh rang out in the room. 

"I am in no hurry now. I can wait. I like Delhi, and I shall find my wayto Nadine's side, and she shall know the story of a mother's love. Onesignal from me, by telegraph, and the document goes to the Viceroy. So, I fear you not, my would-be strangler! It is for me to make conditions!Listen! I will send my carriage and my man to your house to-morrowmorning at ten. You will have made up your mind then. I have friendsall around me, here, at Allahabad, and in Calcutta. If you practice anytreachery on me you die the death of a dog, even here, in your robbernest!"

"I will come! I will come!" faltered Johnstone. 

"Ah!" smiled the lady. "Jules, show Sir Hugh Johnstone to his carriage. "And then turning her back in disdain, she vanished without a word. 

CHAPTER VII. THE PRICE OF SAFETY. 

When nabob Hugh Johnstone's carriage dashed swiftly down the crowdedChandnee Chouk, on its return to the marble house, the driver andfootman, as well as the slim syce runners, were alarmed at the oldman's appearance when he was half led, half carried out of his luxuriousvehicle. The staggering sufferer reached his rooms and was surrounded bya bevy of frightened menials, while the equippage dashed away in searchof old Doctor McMorris, the surgeon par excellence of Delhi. A secondbutler had hastily darted away to the Delhi Club with an imperativesummons for Major Alan Hawke, who had, unfortunately, left for the day. 

With a shudder of affright Mademoiselle Justine Delande had slipped intoa booth on the great thoroughfare, only to feel safe when she glidedinto Ram Lal Singh's jewel shop, to be swiftly hurried into the rearreception room by the argus-eyed merchant, who had noted the swiftlypassing carriage. Her womanly conscience was as tender as her heart. 

"Lock the door, Ram Lal!" cried Alan Hawke, "We will be in the pagodain the garden. Let no one pass this door, on your life!" When they werealone, Major Alan Hawke led the trembling woman away to to the hiddenbower, where Ram Lal had hospitably spread a feast of India's choicestcakes and dainties. 

Only there, in that haven of safety, dared the excited Justine tofalter. "If you knew what I have suffered! He drove almost over me as Icrossed the Chandnee Chouk, and I had a struggle to leave Nadine. Thereis the curse of an old family sorrow there. The father and daughter arearrayed against each other. "

"Forget it all, my dear Justine, " murmured Alan Hawke. "Here you arehidden now and perfectly safe with me. Never mind those people now. Letus only think of each other. You were simply matchless in your behaviorat the house. "

"Oh, I fear him so! I fear that hard old man!" whispered the timidwoman, as she dropped her eyes before Alan Hawke's ardent glances. Hehad noted the growing touch of coquetry in her dress; he measured thetell-tale quiver of her voice, and he smiled tenderly when she shylyshowed him the diamond bracelet, securely hidden upon her left arm. 

"I put this on to show you that I do trust you, " she murmured. "AndI wear it every night. It seems to give me courage. " The happy Majorpressed her hand warmly. 

"Let it be a secret sign between us, an omen of brighter days for allof us. Stand by me and I will stand by you to the last. We will all meethappily yet by the beautiful shores of Lake Leman!"

In half an hour, Justine Delande was completely at her ease, for wellthe artful renegade knew how to circle around the dangerous subjectnearest his heart--the secret history of Nadine Johnstone's mother. He had dropped easily into the wooing and confidential intimacy whichlulled Justine Delande into a fool's paradise of happy content. 

She was sinking away and now losing her will and identity in his own, without one warning qualm of conscience. For Alan Hawke's dearly boughtknowledge of womankind now stood him in great stead. 

"One single familiarity, one questionable liberty, and this cold-pulsedHeloise would fly forever. She must be left to her day dreams and tothe work of a sweet self-deception, " he artfully mused. They wereinterrupted but a moment, when Ram Lal Singh glided to the door of thepagoda. 

"I must now go to the bungalow to see Madame Louison and have herapprove her horses and carriage. She has sent word that she will drivethis afternoon. And, " he whispered breathlessly, "Old Johnstone is verysick. He has sent all over the city to find you, and now his own privateman bids me go there at once. He must have me, if he can't find you. "

Major Hawke mused a moment. "Give me the keys! Put your best man onguard to watch for any intruders! Go first to the Mem-Sahib! Keep yourmouth shut! Remember about me and--" He pointed to the governess, nowtimidly cowering in a shadowy corner. "Let the old devil wait till youare done with her! Pump the old wretch! Find out what he wants! Say thatI went off for a day's jaunt!" Alan Hawke smiled grimly as he seatedhimself tenderly at Justine Delande's side. "Old Hugh did not last long!They must have had their first skirmish. If he is a coward at heart, shewill rule him with a rod of iron. What is her hold over him? I warrantthat the jade will never tell me. She will fight him to the death insilence, and try to hoodwink me. We will see, my lady! We will see!"

"Now, Justine, " softly said the renegade, "tell me all of the storyof this strange father and daughter! Ram Lal has reconnoitered! We aresafe! Both Hugh and his daughter are at home!"

The reassured governess frankly opened her heart to her wary listener. It was an hour before the recital was finished, and Miss Justine wasgayly chatting over the impromptu breakfast, when the details of theselast stormy days at Delhi were described. "I cannot make it all out. Sheis certainly his legitimate daughter. He is crafty, covetous, miserly, and yet he lives in a scornful splendor here. Both my sister and myselflook forward to learning the whole story through my visit here. Ofcourse, on our arrival, Nadine and myself wondered not at the gloomysolitude of the marble house. But the affronts to society, the practicalimprisonment of this girl, this chilling silence as to her mother, haveroused her brave young heart. Not a picture, not a single memento, noteven a jewel, not a tress of hair, not even a passing mention of wherethat shadowy mother lies buried!" the Swiss woman sighed. "He is a bruteand tyrant--a man of a stony heart and an iron hand!"

"You have never been made his confidante?" earnestly asked the Major. 

"Never!" promptly replied Justine. "Beyond a grave courtesy and the curtanswers to our reports, with liberal payment, we know no more now thanwhen the prattling child of four was brought to us. 

"She has no childish memories of her own. I have overheard all theunhappy scenes of the last month. There are the tearful prayers ofNadine, then the old man's harsh threats, and then only his coldavoidance follows. Strange to say--gentle and warm-hearted, formedfor love, and yearning to know of the dear mother whom she has fondlypictured in her dreams, Nadine Johnstone has all the courage of asoldier's daughter, and her fearless bravery of soul is as inflexibleas steel. She returns frankly to the contest, and his only refuge is thewall of cold silence that he has built up between them!"

"Has he tried to punish her in any way--to intimidate her?" eagerlycried the Major. 

"Not yet, " answered Justine. "She tells me all, and he knows it. I cansee that his eyes are fixed on me now with a growing hatred. He fearsthat I uphold her in this duel of words, of answerless questions. 

"He has threatened her roughly with sending her away to some place, to'come to her senses, ' alone, and--" the frightened woman said, "Thatis what I fear--some sudden, rough brutality. He despairs of making herlove him. If she were suddenly removed--and I cast adrift on the world, alone, here, he would, I suppose, send me back to Switzerland. He cando no less, but I would lose her forever from my sight. I know thathe hates me, and we have always hoped that he would make us a handsomepresent, on her marriage. Euphrosyne and I have been as mothers to her. "There were tears in the woman's anxious eyes now. She was startled asHawke bounded to his feet. 

"By God!" he cried, forgetting himself. "That's just his little game!It must never be! See here, Justine! I have reason to think that you areright. He may try to spirit her away and separate her forever from youand Euphrosyne. He would cut off the only two friends who could connecther with this strange past. Yes, that's his little game! And--" heslowly concluded, controlling himself, "I have reason to think he maygo about it at once. He is afraid of me, also, about some old officialbusiness. Now, I will watch over your interests. The least this oldmiser can do is to give you a neat little home in Geneva, as a finalrecompense. "

Justine Delande's eyes sparkled in gratitude. The acute Major had easilylearned from the garrulous Francois that the "Institut Pour les JeunesDames" was an intellectual property only; the fine old mansion belongingto a rich Genevese banker. Major Alan Hawke was now busied in writingupon a few leaves torn from his betting book. 

"Listen to me!" he gravely said. "Promise me that you will never letthese papers leave you a moment. "

"I will carry them in my passport case, around my neck, " murmuredJustine. "My money in notes, and a few articles. "

"Good!" energetically cried Hawke. "I will write the same to Euphrosyne, and send it by 'registered post' to-day. "

"Here!" he suddenly cried, "Just pencil a few words to her to say thatyou are with me, and that we understand each other; that our interestsare to be one; and that she must keep the faith and help us both, forboth our sakes. I will mail it so that old Johnstone will be powerlessto injure any of us three. " He gave her another leaflet from his book, and detached a golden pencil from his watch chain. 

There was a crimson flush upon her cheek, as she vainly essayed towrite. Her hand trembled, and then with a sob, her head fell uponher breast; with an infinite art, the triumphant renegade soothed theexcited woman, and, it was only through her happy tears that she sawhim, before her there, duplicating the secret addresses. 

"Now, Justine; my Justine!" softly said Alan Hawke. "Here is a secretaddress in Allahabad, and a secret address in London. If this mandecides to send Nadine away, he will do it secretly in some way. Thereare several seaports open to leave India. You will be, of course, sentout of Hindostan with her. It would be just his little game, however, to separate you at the first foreign port, to pay you off royally, andthen--neither you nor Euphrosyne would ever see Nadine again. There issomething hanging over him that he would hide from her. He fears me, also, for my official power. Remember, now! No matter whatever happensyou can always find a way to telegraph to me. If I am in India, hereto Allahabad; if in Europe, to London. Now, Euphrosyne will know alwayswhere I am. Telegraph me the whereabouts of Nadine Johnstone, or, whereyou are forced to leave her, telegraph the vessel you are on, and herdestination, and, I swear to you, by the God who made me, I will trackher down, and we three shall find a way to reach her later. He wouldlike to lock her up in a living tomb, if he found it to be to hisinterest. A cheap private asylum in Germany, or some low haunt inFrance, perhaps hide her away in Italy as a pretended invalid. The manis mad--simply mad--about this baronetcy, and in some strange way thegirl stands between him and it. Do you promise?"

"I promise you all!" faltered the excited woman. "Let me go now. Let mego home, Alan, " she murmured, and there were no heart secrets betweenthem any more, as the blushing woman, still trembling with the audacityof her own burning emotions, was led safely to the door of the jewelmart. 

"Be brave, be brave, dear Justine, " he whispered. "Old Johnstone hassent for me. You shall have your home yet; I guarantee it. I shallbe frequently at the house in the next few days. Remember to controlyourself, and to watch the sly game of this old brute. I will stay hereand send off at once our first letter to Euphrosyne. This girl willhave a million pounds. You and your sister must not be robbed of therecompense of nearly twenty years of tenderness. Cleave to her, heart toheart, and tell me all. I will make you both rich!"

"Trust me to the death! I understand all now, " whispered Justine, herbreast heaving in a new and strange emotion, flooding her chilly veinsas with a subtle fiery elixir. 

"Then go, but, dear one, be here two days from now at the same time. Should any accident happen, Ram Lal will then come and bear to you mymessage. You can trust him. I will stay here and send this registeredletter from here at once. Then, Hugh Johnstone has three lovingguardians to outwit before he can hide away your beautiful nursling!"

"For you. " he softly whispered, as he slipped a little packet into herhand, when she stole out of the shop, after Alan Hawke had judiciouslyreconnoitered. 

"Dear, simple soul!" contentedly reflected Major Hawke, as he busiedhimself with the important letter to the staid Euphrosyne. "She hasgiven me her heart, in her loving eagerness to defend that child, andthe key to the whole situation. It would be just like this old bruteto spirit the girl away to baffle Madame Berthe Louison. That is, if hedare not kill or intimidate her. And that I must look to. I think thatI see my way to that girl's side now. God, what a pot of money she willhave!"

When Alan Hawke had finished his boldly warm letter to Euphrosyne, hesealed it and sent it to the post by Ram Lal's footman. The world lookedvery bright to him as, enjoying a capital cheroot, he studied for a halfhour a wall map of India. "There's a half dozen ways to spirit herout of the Land of the Pagoda Tree. I must watch and trust to Justine. To-night I may or may not know what this devil of a Berthe Louison is upto. Will she try to take the girl away? That would be fatal. "

"Hardly--hardly, " he decided, as he mixed a brandy pawnee. He gazedaround at Ram Lal's sanctum, in which the old usurer received theEuropeans whom he fleeced in his nipoy-lending operations. "A prettysnug joint. Many a hundred pounds have I dropped here. " It was neatlyfurnished forth with service magazines, London papers, army lists, andall the accessories of a London money-lender's den. When the receiptfor his registered letter was laid away in his pocket-book, Alan Hawkecalmly ordered his carriage. "I'll take a brush around town and showthem that I am out of all these intrigues, " he decided. It was six hourslater when he drew up at the Club, having passed Madame Berthe Louison'ssplendid turnout swinging down the Chandnee Chouk. On the box the alertJules, in a yager's uniform, sat beside the dusky driver, and, even inthe dusk, he could see the neat French maid seated, facing her mistress. "By God! She has the nerve of a Field Marshal! She will never hide herlight under a bushel!" he had gasped when Madame Louison, at ten feetdistant, gazed at him impassively through her longue vue, and thencalmly cut him. He was soon besieged by a crowd of gay gossips at theClub upon dismounting from his trap. 

"Tell us, Hawke, who is the wonderful beauty who has taken the SilverBungalow, " was the excited chorus. 

"How the devil should I know, when you fellows do not, " good-humoredlycried Alan Hawke, as the Club steward edged his way through the throng. 

"There's a message for you, Major, " said the functionary. "Mr. HughJohnstone is quite ill at his house, and has been sending all over foryou. "

"Ah! This is grave news" ostentatiously cried Hawke. "I'll drive over atonce. " And then he fled away, leaving the gay loiterers still discussingthe lovely anonyma whose advent was now the one sensation of the hour. "Who the devil can her friends be?"

"She plays a bold game, " mused the startled Major. 

On her return to the marble house, Justine Delande had been welcomed bythe anxious-eyed apparition of Nadine Johnstone, who burst into herroom in a storm of tears. "I have been so frightened, " she cried as sheclasped her returning governess in her trembling grasp. 

"My father has just had a terrible seizure--an attack while riding outon business. He will see no one but Doctor McMorris, and besides, hehas the old jewel merchant searching all over Delhi for Major Hawke. Youmust not leave me a moment, Justine. "

"Is he better?" demanded Justine, with guilty qualms. 

"He is resting now, but he will not be quieted till he sees this strangeman, " answered the disconsolate girl. 

"How beautiful she is, " mused the Swiss woman, as Nadine Johnstone satwith parted lips relating the excitements of the morning. The wooingIndian climate was fast ripening the exquisite loveliness of eighteen. Her dark eyes gleamed with earnestness, and the rich brown locks crownedher stately head as with a coronal of golden bronze. The roses on hercheeks were not yet faded by the insidious climate of burning India, anda thrilling earnestness accented the music of her voice. 

"What can we do, Nadine?" murmured Justine Delande. 

"Nothing, " sighed the motherless girl. "But when this Major Hawkecomes, you must, for my sake, find out all you can. Ah! To leave Indiaforever!" she sighed. Her marble prison was only a place of sorrow andlamentation. 

Major Hawke's flying steeds reached the marble house, after a circuitto Ram Lal's jewel mart. Without leaving his carriage, he called out theobsequious old Hindu. The dusk of evening favored Ram Lal in his adroitlying. 

He gave a brief account of Hugh Johnstone's strange morning seizure, forgetting to divulge to Hawke that the old nabob had already bribed himheavily to watch the inmate of the Silver Bungalow, and report to himher every movement. Nor, did the Hindu divulge his secret report toMadame Berthe Louison, after her ostentatious public carriage promenade. He further hid the fact that Madame Louison had deftly pressed a hundredpounds upon him, in return for a daily report of the secret life of themarble house. But he smiled blandly, when Major Hawke hastily said "Willhe die?"

"No; he is all right! He was over there with the Mem-Sahib this morning, and something must have happened. "

"What happened?" imperiously demanded Hawke. 

"I don't know, " slowly answered Ram Lal. 

"Don't lie to me, Ram Lal, " fiercely said the Major. "I have afifty-pound note if you will find out. "

"He is going there to-morrow, " slowly said Ram. 

"All right, watch them both. I'll be back here. Wait for me. " And thenat a nod the horses sprang away. 

"Fools! Fools all!" glowered Ram Lal, as he straightened up from his lowsalaam. "I'll have those stolen jewels yet. Now is the time to gain hisconfidence. He is an old man, and weak, and, cowardly. "

When Major Hawke entered the great doors of the marble house, he wasgravely received by Mademoiselle Justine Delande. "He has been askingevery ten minutes for you, " she said. "I am to show you at once to hisrooms. "

"Now, what's this? what's all this?" cheerfully cried the Major as heentered the vast sleeping-room of the Anglo-Indian. Old Johnstone feeblypointed to the door, and motioned to his attendants to leave the room. He was worn and gaunt, and his ashen cheeks and sunken eyes told of somegreat inward convulsion. He had aged ten years since the pompous tiffin. "I'm not well, Hawke! Come here! Near to me!" he huskily cried. Andthen, the hunter and the hunted gazed mutely into each other's eyes. 

"What's gone wrong?" frankly demanded the Major. The old man scowled insilence for a moment. 

"I have no one I dare trust but you, " he unwillingly said. "You knowsomething of my position, my future. I want to know if you have ever metthis woman who has taken the Silver Bungalow--a kind of a French woman. There's her card. " Old Johnstone's haggard eyes followed Hawke, as hesilently studied the bit of pasteboard. 

"Madams Berthe Louison, " he gravely read. And, then, with a magnificentaudacity, he lied successfully. "Never even heard the name, " hemurmured. 

"Fellows at the Club speaking of some such woman today. Pretty woman, Isupppose a declasste. " Hawke, lifted his eyebrows. 

"No, a she-devil!" almost shouted old Hugh. "Now, I want you to watchher and find out who her backers are. She is trying to annoy me. Beprudent, and I'll make it a year's pay to you. " Hawke's greedy eyeslightened as he bowed. "But never mention my name. Come here as oftenas you will. Go now and look up what you can. I'll see you to-morrow, inthe afternoon. Don't scrape acquaintance with her. Just watch her. I'mgoing there to-morrow morning myself. "

"You?" said Hawke. 

"Yes, " half groaned the old man, turning his face to the wall. "Cometo-morrow afternoon. Spare no money. I'll make it right. Don't linger aminute now. "

Major Alan Hawke was gayly buoyant as the horses trotted back to Ram LalSingh's, where he proposed to await the hour of ten o'clock. "I fancy, my lady, that you, too, will pay toll, as well as Hugh Johnstone, "he murmured. "You shall pay for all you get, and pay as you go. "He cheerfully dined alone in Ram Lal's little business sanctum, andlistened to the measured disclosures of the Hindu in return for thefifty-pound note. 

"It's to-morrow's interview that I want to know about, " quietly directedthe major, whereat Ram Lal modestly said:

"I'll find a way to let you know all. "

"That's more than she will, the sly devil, " said Hawke, in his heart, ashe leaned back in the consciousness of "duty well done. "

In the Silver Bungalow, Alixe Delavigne sat in her splendid dining-room, under the ministrations of her Gallic body-guard. Her eyes were verydreamy as she recalled all the fearful incidents of the annee terrible. The flight from Paris after their father's death, the escape to England, the refuge at a Brighton hotel--the sudden projecture of Hugh Fraserathwart their humble lives. When the returned Indian functionaryabandoned all other pursuits and plainly showed his mad craving tofollow Valerie Delavigne everywhere, then the younger sister had learnedof his rank, of his long leave and wealth and future prospects. The manwas most personable then. He was of a solid rank and a brilliant civilposition, and the penniless daughters of the dead Colonel Delavigne werenow reduced to a few hundred francs. The hand of Misery was upon them, poor and friendless. Alixe, with a shudder, recalled the two years ofsilence, since the ardent Pierre Troubetskoi had whispered to beautifulValerie Delavigne in Paris: "I go to Russia, but I will soon return andyou must wait for me!"

Day by day, when the skies grew darker, Valerie Delavigne had gazedwith a haunting sorrow in her eyes, at her helpless sister. Some strangepossessing desire had urged Hugh Fraser on to woo and win the helplessFrench beauty, whom an adverse fate had stranded in England. The mutesacrifice of the wedding was followed by the two years of Valerie'sloveless marriage. It was an existence for the two sisters, bought bythe sacrifice of one and Troubetskoi never had written!

Sitting alone, waiting for the morrow, to face Hugh Fraser once more, Alixe Delavigne recalled, with a vow of vengeance, that sad past, theslow breaking of the butterfly, the revelation of all Hugh Fraser'scold-hearted tyranny, the sway of his demoniac jealousy--jealous, even, of a sister's innocent love. And that last miserable scene, on the eveof their projected voyage to India, when the maddened tyrant discoveredPierre Troubetskoi's long-belated letter, returned once more to maddenher. Fraser had simply raged in a demoniac passion. 

For the mistake of a life was at last revealed when that one lettercame! The letter addressed to the wife as Valerie Delavigne, which hadfollowed them slowly upon their travels, and, by a devil's decree, hadfallen, by a spy-servant's trick, into Hugh Fraser's hands. It matterednot that the coming lover was even yet ignorant of the miserablemarriage. The envelope, with its address, was missing, when the longpages of burning tenderness were read by the infuriated husband. "I havebeen buried a year in the snows of Siberia, " wrote Pierre, "upon thesecret service of the Czar. I was ill of a fever for long months upon myreturn, and now I am coming to take you to my heart, never to be partedany more. " The address of his banker in Paris, all the plans fortheir voyage to Russia, even the tender messages to the sister of hislove--all these were the last goad to a maddened man, whose raginginvective and brutal violence drove a weeping woman out into thecheerless night. He deemed her the Russian's cherished mistress. With ashudder Alixe Delavigne recalled the white face of the discarded mother, whose babe slumbered in peace, while the half-demented woman fled awayto the shelter of the house of an old French nurse. 

The morrow, when Hugh Fraser bade her also leave his house forever, waspictured again in her mind, and the insolent gift of the hundred-poundnote, with the words, "Go and find your sister! Never darken my dooragain!" She had taken that money and used it to save her sister's life. 

The darkened sick-chamber, the flight across the channel, and the ruggedpath which led Valerie, at last, to die in peace in Pierre Troubetskoi'sarms--all this returned to the resolute avenger of a sister who haddied, dreaming of the little childish face hidden from her forever, "Heshall pay the price of his safety to the uttermost farthing, to the lastlittle humiliation, " she cried, starting up as Alan Hawke stood beforeher, for the hour of ten had stolen upon her. "Nadine shall love hermother, and that love shall bridge the silent gulf of Death!"

"You have been agitated?" he gently said, for there were tell-tale tearsupon her lashes. "Tell me, is it victory or defeat?"

"I shall see my sister's child, to-morrow, " the Lady of Jitomir bravelysaid. "And he--the man of the iron heart--shall conduct me to his housein honor. " There was that shining on her transfigured face which madeAlan Hawke murmur:

"There is a great love here--greater than the hate which demands an eyefor an eye and a tooth for a tooth. "

He waited, abashed and silent, for his strange employer's orders of theday. 

"Is there anything I can do for you to-morrow?" said Alan Hawke. "Doyou find your arrangements convenient for you here in every way?" Therespectful tone of his manner touched Berthe Louison's heart. He wasbeginning to win his way to her regard by judiciously effacing himself. 

"I am entirely at home, thanks to your thoughtful provision, " shesmiled. "There is nothing to-night. Have you seen Johnstone?" Her darkeyes were steadfastly fixed upon him now. 

"Yes; he sent for me. He is very much agitated and, I should say, he isalmost at your mercy. But beware of an apparent surrender on his part. He is--capable of anything!"

"I know it. I am on my guard, " slowly replied Berthe Louison. She sawthat Alan Hawke had spoken the truth to her--even with some mentalreservations. "To-morrow morning will determine my public relations withHugh Johnstone. Come to me to-morrow night, and do not be surprised ifwe meet as guests at Hugh Johnstone's table. You must only meet me as astranger. I may leave here for a few days, and then I will place you incharge of my interests in my absence. "

The Major gravely replied:

"You may depend upon me wherever you may wish to call upon me. "

"Strange mutability of womanhood, " he mused a half hour later as heleft the lady's side. "There is a woman whom I should not care toface tomorrow morning if I were in Hugh Johnstone's shoes. " It was therenegade's last verdict as he slept the sleep of the prosperous. TheWilloughby dinner and his own feast now occupied his attention, for hismysterious employer had bade him to eat, drink, and be merry. 

At ten o'clock the next day the "gilded youth" of the Delhi Club allknew that Hugh Johnstone had betaken himself to the Silver Bungalow, inthe carriage of the woman whose beauty was now an accepted fact. Hugelydelighted, these ungodly youth winked in merry surmises as to therelationship between the budding Baronet and the hidden Venus. Even betsas to discreetly "distant relationship, " or a forthcoming crop of lateorange blossoms were the order of the day. But silent among the merrythrong, the handsome Major, making his due call of ceremony upon GeneralWilloughby, denied all knowledge of the designs of either of the highcontracting parties. 

In due state, escorted by the alert Jules Victor, Hugh Johnstone enteredthe Silver Bungalow, to find his Cassandra silently awaiting him. Therewas no memory of the happenings of the day before in her unconstrainedgreeting. The door of the strategic cabinet was ajar, but the totteringvisitor had no fears of an ambush. For Madame Alixe Delavigne calmlysaid: "Jules, you may remain within call, in the hall. "

The old nabob's heart leaped up in a welcome relief at this command. Hiswrinkled face was of the hue of yellowed ivory, and his cold blue eyeswere weak and watery, as he heavily lurched into a chair facing hishostess. Courage and craft had not failed him, for already DouglasFraser was speeding on to Delhi from Calcutta, the sole occupant ofa special train. In the long vigil of the night, Hugh Johnstone hadevolved a plan to ward off the blow of the sword of Fate! But watchfullysilent he awaited his enemy's conversational attack. 

"Damn her! I will outwit her yet!" he silently swore. 

"Before you give me your answer, Hugh Fraser, " said the calm-voicedwoman, "I wish to tell you again what, in your mad jealousy, you wouldnot believe. I swear to you that Pierre Troubetskoi's letter, written tomy dead sister, was written in ignorance of her marriage with you. Thefrightful scenes of the carnage of Paris had tossed us to and fro, andthe careless destruction of the envelope, addressed to my sister underher maiden name, prevented me from proving her innocence as a wife. Pierre Troubetskoi had long known my father, who had been an attache inRussia. He was Valerie's knightly suitor. And he fell into the estateswhich now burden me with wealth, while absent upon the Czar's secretaffairs. My gallant old father was sacrificed to the frenzy of the time;his soldier's face betrayed him, his rosette of the Legion doomed him, Troubetskoi's letter to our father demanding Valerie's hand was returnedto the writer, through the Russian Legation, a year later, after thereorganization of the Paris Post-office. I do not ask you to believethis, but by the God of Heaven, it is my warrant for forcing myself tothe side of my dead sister's child. She shall yet have every acre andevery rouble that Pierre Troubetskoi would have given to this childwhom you hide. My sister died with her empty arms stretched to Heaven, imploring God for her child. And now, what terms will you make with me. In the one case, an armed peace; in the other, 'war to the knife!'"

"What would you have?" he stubbornly muttered. "You seek my ruin. "

"I do not!" solemnly answered Berthe Louison. "God has blasted your lifein denying you the love of your own child. You rule her by fear. You, inyour selfish passion, once reached out your strong hand and crushed thisgirl's mother, a poor, fragile flower, in her girlhood. Valerie believedPierre to be dead or false when she timidly crossed the threshold ofthe wedded home which you made a prison for her! You only care forthis bubble Baronetcy and for your heaped-up hoards. The tribute ofthe shrieking ryot! Now, here are my terms: I will go down with you toCalcutta, and deliver over to you there the receipt for the deposit ofjewels which holds back your coveted honor. You may do with them as youwill! A visit to the Viceroy will at once clear the path. Tell any storyyou will of their recovery. An underling's unfaithfulness or the loss ofthe paper. You may remove them and surrender them as you will. Perhaps afanciful discovery of their hiding-place here, their surrender by Hinduthieves, frightened at last; any of these conventional lies will clearyour official record of the olden stain. Long years ago I would havetreated with you, but I wanted to find the child. You hid her away fromme. I found you out by chance in your changed name and new officialresidence. "

"And your terms?" demanded Johnstone. He saw, with lightning cunning, apathway leading him out of his troubles. The vigil of the night beforehad borne its fruit already. 

"That I have free access to your house and home. That I shall be thehonored guest at your table. That I shall be left in no dubious socialstanding here. That I may see your daughter, learn to know her, and youmay prudently arrange the story I am to tell her later. As Madame BertheLouison, a tourist of wealth, an art dilettante, a French woman of rankand position, your social guaranty will keep the pack of human wolvesaway from my retreat here. I have my papers to prove all this. "

"When must this be? Before I receive the jewels? Before my title to thebaronetcy is perfected? What guaranty have I?" he replied. 

"My honor alone! I pledge you now that I will not make myself known toNadine until you have received the jewels and the Crown has obtained itslong sequestered property. We are to come back here together. Thefuture relations can be decided upon when I have satisfied my naturalaffection; when your innocently besmirched record has been righted. "Hugh Johnstone's silvered head was bowed for a long interval in histrembling hands. "You will not betray me to the authorities, when all isdone? Your lips shall be sealed as to the past?" Alixe Delavigne bowedin silence. "Then I accept your terms upon one condition only: Thatuntil we return from Calcutta, you will only see Nadine in my presenceor in that of Mademoiselle Delande, her governess. It is only fair. Whenyou have restored to me the jewels, you can then concert with me upon aplan to enlighten Nadine, with no scandal to me, no heart-break to her. The slightest gossip as to a family skeleton reaching the Viceroy or thehome authorities would lead to my public disgrace. "

Alixe Delavigne paced the room in silence for a few moments, while HughJohnstone's eyes were fixed upon the opened cabinet whence Jules Victorhad so fiercely sprung forth as a champion. 

"Be it so!" sternly replied Alixe Delavigne. "And may God confound andpunish the one who breaks the pact. "

"When do you wish to come? When can you go to Calcutta? I would liketo hasten matters, " demanded the old nabob, with his eyes averted. Thebeautiful woman paused, and after a moment replied:

"To-morrow, come here and bring me to your house to dine. This afternoonyou may call here and drive me over Delhi in your carriage. This willset a public seal upon our acquaintance. My maid can accompany us. Thisdone, I will go to Calcutta with my two European servants, as you wish. You can take the train on either the preceding or the following day. Itwill avoid both spies and gossip. "

"I will go before you and await you!" eagerly said Hugh Johnstone, rising. "I will ask another person to dine with us to-morrow, and thisevening I will prepare my daughter for the dinner, so that your comingwill be no surprise to her. Shall I bring my carriage here at fourto-day?"

"I will await you, " gravely said Alixe Delavigne, as she bowed in answerto her guest's formal signal of departure. 

An hour later Jules Victor reported to his mistress: "We drove to thetelegraph office, where I awaited the gentleman for some time, and thenwe repaired to his home. "

There was a disgruntled man whose curses upon his kinsman's changingmoods were both loud and deep when Douglas Fraser received a telegramthat night at Allahabad. "Is the old man crazy?" he demanded, as heread the words: "Wait at Allahabad for me. Keep shady. With you in threedays. Telegraph your address. " The canny young Scot thought of a cominglegacy and obeyed the head of his clan. 

Madame Berthe Louison, as Delhi was destined to know her, lingered longover her afternoon driving toilet. There was a recurring fear which madeher tremble. "Would Hugh Johnstone divulge the facts as to the jewelsto the Viceroy, and so gain his free rehabilitation-and then defy her?No-no! He never would dare!" she answered. "My agents are even nowwatching that bank. The bank would never give up the sealed packagescontents unknown, save on surrender of the carefully drawn receipts. "And then Berthe remembered her own secret work at Calcutta. TheGrindlays knew of the surreptitious attempts made by the plausible HughFraser to withdraw the deposit long before the baronetcy episode. AndBerthe laughed, in memory of her capture of the receipts in the old daysat Brighton, while looking for the stolen letter. 

Long before that rising star of fashion, Major Alan Hawke, returned fromGeneral Willoughby's delightful dinner upon the day of Hugh Johnstone'scrafty surrender, he knew that Hugh Johnstone had astounded Delhi by apersonal exploitation of the Lady of the Silver Bungalow. 

"By Gad! Hawke!" roared old Brigadier Willoughby, with his mouth full ofchutney, "Johnstone is going the pace! First he produces a daughter, ahidden treasure, and now this wonderfully beautiful French countess. "

"I suppose, General, " lightly said the Major, "the old nabob will marryand retire to Europe on his coming baronetcy. "

"Likely enough!" sputtered Willoughby. "You lucky young dog. I supposeyou are in the secret?"

But neither that night, nor two days later, at Major Hawke's superbdinner at the Delhi Club, did the jeunesse doree of the old capitalextract an admission from that mysterious "secret service" man, MajorAlan Hawke. "You cannot deny, Hawke, that you dined at the marble housewith the beauty whom we are all toasting, " said a rallying roisterer. "And--with the Veiled Rose of Delhi!" said another, still more eagerly. 

"It is true, gentlemen" gravely said Major Hawke, "that I was invited todinner at the marble house, but Madame Louison is a stranger to me, and I believe a tourist of some rank. It was merely a formal affair. I believe that she brought letters from Paris to Hugh Johnstone. " Latethat night Alan Hawke laughed, as he pocketed his winnings at baccarat. "Three hundred pounds to the good! I'm a devil for luck!" And he satdown in his room to think over all the events of a day which had halfturned his head. Warned by Justine Delande that Madame Louison wasbidden to dine with Hugh Johnstone, Alan Hawke closely interrogated her. She evidently knew and suspected nothing. "Ah! Berthe plays a lone handagainst the world, " he smiled. 

His mysterious employer had merely bidden him be ready to meet herthere, without surprise. There was as yet no lightning move up on thechess board, and in vain he studied her resolute, smiling face. "All Ican tell you, " murmured Justine to her handsome Mentor, in the seclusionof Ram Lal's back room, "is that this Madame Berthe Louison comes tospend the day in looking over Hugh Johnstone's art treasures. Nadine andI are to meet her, with the master. Do you know aught of her?"

"Nothing, dear Justine, " unhesitatingly lied Alan Hawke. "Watch her andtell me all. "

"I will, " smilingly replied the Swiss. "I have a strange fear that HughJohnstone has known her before, that he intends to marry her, and thento send us two, Nadine and I, away to a quiet life in Europe. " WhereuponAlan Hawke laughed loud and long. 

"She is only a bird of passage, some wealthy globe wanderer, perhapseven a sly adventuress. No, old Johnstone will not tempt Fortune. "

"He has been so unusually amiable, " agnostically said Justine. "Ofcourse he could hide such a design easily from Nadine, who knows nothingof love. "

"She will learn! She will learn--in due time, " laughed Hawke. "There isbut one thing possible. This whole pretended visit may be a sham--shemay even be the belle amie of this old curmudgeon. "

"I will watch all three of them! You shall know all!" murmured Justine, as she stole away, not without the kisses of her secret knight burningupon her lips. 

"What a consummate actress!" mused Alan Hawke, when, for the first time, since Nadine Johnstone's arrival, a formal dinner party enlivened thedull monotony of the marble house. The round table, set for five, gaveHugh Johnstone the strategic advantage of separating his secret enemyfrom his blushing daughter. Hawke demurely paid his devoirs to MadameJustine Delande, with a finely studied inattention to either the guestof the evening or the beautiful girl who only murmured a few words whenpresented to her father's only visitor. "I wonder if Justine, poor soul, will see the resemblance?" It had been a triumph of art, Madame BertheLouison's magnificent dinner toilette, those rich robes which effacedthe opening-rose beauty of the slim girl in the simplicity of her rareIndian lawn frock. Rich color and flowers and diamonds heightened thesplendid loveliness of the woman who "looked like a queen in a play thatnight. "

Alas, for Justine Delande, she was so busied with her mute telegraphy toAlan Hawke that she never saw the startling family likeness of the twowomen so eagerly watched by Hugh Johnstone. But the keen-eyed Alan Hawkesaw the girl's fascinated gaze. He noted her virginal bosom heaving ina new and strange emotion. He marked the tender challenge of her dreamyeyes as Berthe Louison's loving soul spoke out to the radiant youngbeauty only held away from her heart by the stern old skeleton at thefeast. 

The long-drawn-out splendors of the feast were over, and the ladies had, at last, retired. Hawke observed the stony glare with which Johnstonewhispered a few words of command to Justine Delande, when the two mensought the smoking-room. 

The door was hardly closed upon them when the coffee and cigars wereserved, when Johnstone, striding forward, locked the door. 

"See here, Hawke!" abruptly said the host "I want you to serve meto-night, and to stand by me while this she-devil is in Delhi. I'vegot to run down to Calcutta on business for a few days. She will not behere. She has some business of her own down there, also. First, findout for me, for God's sake, all about her. How she came here; whereshe hides in Europe; who her friends are. When you are able to, you canfollow her over the world. I'll foot the bill, as the Yankees say. 

"Now, to-night, I wish you to take your leave conventionally. Get awayat once, and go immediately and telegraph to Anstruther in London. No, don't deny you are intimate with him. I know it. Telegraph him that I amin a position, now, to trace out and restore those missing jewels. Thesecret of their hiding is mine at last. Here's a hundred pounds. Don'tspare your words. Within a month they will be in the hands of theViceroy. I have to play a part to get them--a dangerous part. I pledgemy whole estate to back this. But I must have my Baronetcy so that Ican leave India, for I fear the vengeance of the devils who robbed thecaptured Princes of Oude. 

"Once in England, I am safe. I'll not leave till I get the Baronetcy, and the jewels will not be delivered up until I get it. I am closelywatched here. "

Hawke's eyes burned fiercely. "And if I was to take the train and tellthe Viceroy this?" he boldly said. 

"Then I would say that you had lied--that is all. "

"What do I get?" coolly demanded Hawke. 

"Five thousand pounds the day that I get my Baronetcy, " quietly repliedJohnstone. 

"I'll not do it, " hotly cried Hawke. "You might say I lied, " he sneered. "I want it now!"

The two men glared at each other in a mutual distrust. Hugh Johnstonepondered a moment, and said deliberately:

"I'll give you five accepted drafts for a thousand pounds each, whenI return from Calcutta, on Glyn, Carr & Glyn, my London bankers, datedthirty days apart. That will make you sure of your money, and me, sureof my Baronetcy. Will you act?" Hawke knocked the ash off his Havanalightly. 

"Yes, if you give me a thousand pounds cash bonus now! I am deliberatelymisleading Anstruther to help you. And I risk my own place to do it. "

"All right, " said Johnstone as he left the room, and in a few momentsreturned with a check-book. "There's your thousand pounds. Now listen. Not a word to old General Willoughby. He is a meddlesome old sot. Ishall slip away quietly. To deceive the Delhi scandal-mongers you mustcall here every day in my absence. Mademoiselle Delande will receiveyou. My daughter, of course, sees no one in my absence. And you caninform Delhi secretly, guardedly, that Madame Berthe Louison is an artenthusiast, a Frenchwoman of rank and fortune, and one who, in her shortstay, only studies the wonders of old Oude. I don't want this damnedpack of local lady-killers--the lobster-backs--to get after her. Do youunderstand? I'll have further use for you. I may retire to Europe. Youcan trust the Swiss woman. I will give her my orders. "

"All right! I will go and telegraph as soon as I can make my adieux. When do you start for Calcutta?" Hawke asked warily. 

"The moment you get Anstruther's reply, " decisively replied Johnstone. "I'll be away for a couple of weeks in all!" Hawke turned paler thanhis wont, but he mused in silence and cheerfully finished his coffeeand cognac. In half an hour, he left an aching void in Justine Delande'sbosom, but some subtle magnetism had so drawn Berthe Louison and theheart-stirred Justine together that Hugh Johnstone was happy, when, withcourtly gallantry, he escorted the beauty, who had set Delhi all agog, to her garden-bowered nest. 

"Have I kept my compact?" said Berthe, as they stood once more in her"tiger's den. "

"You have, madame!" said Hugh Johnstone. "I have been considering all. I will leave secretly for Calcutta in two or three days. You had betterfollow me in a week. I have some private business there. I will askmy friend, Major Hawke, to show you the environs. You can trust him. Telegraph me to Grindlay's Bank, Calcutta, of your arrival. I will meetyou. Our business transacted, we can return together on the same train. All will then be safe. " His own secret preparations were all made. 

"I agree to all, " said Berthe. "And, as to Nadine?"

Johnstone turned with blazing eyes, "You are to see her each day, at herown home, in the presence of Justine Delande. She will have my orders. Remember our compact! All your future association with her depends onyour prudence. I will not be betrayed or openly disgraced!" His face wasas black as a murderer caught in the act. 

"I remember!" said the beauty of the Bungalow. 

"To mystify the fools here, if I will bring my daughter and take you fora drive, each day at four, till I go, " said Johnstone. "And, then, I'll have Hawke show you the city. " He bowed, and at once disappeared, leaving his enemy laughing. But he grinned. 

"If she knew that I go to meet Douglas Fraser, my lady would pass anuneasy night! I hold the trump cards now!"

Major Alan Hawke smiled grimly the next day, when he presented to HughJohnstone a neatly got up cipher, answering dispatch in code words whichhad cost Ram Lal just half of the bribe which Hawke gave him for the slyHindu telegraph clerk. 

"Ah! Anstruther was prompt!" said the neatly tricked nabob, when Hawketranslated:

"Intelligence gratifying. Name approved and on list. Appointment sure!"Three days later, Delhi missed Hugh Johnstone from the afternoon drives, which showed Madame Louison and Nadine to an eager bevy of MadameGrundys. But the envied of all men was Major Alan Hawke, escortingMadame Louison for a week over the storied plains of the Jumna. 

When Madame Berthe Louison and her two body servants took the Calcuttatrain, local society jumped to its sage conclusion. 

"Old Hugh will lead the beautiful Countess to the altar, while MajorAlan Hawke will bear off the Rosebud of Delhi, and so become therichest son-in-law in India. " But the handsome Alan Hawke, each morninglingering with Justine Delande in the grounds of the marble house, never saw the face of Nadine Johnstone. The beautiful girl breathlesslyawaited her new-made friend's return. But stern old Hugh Johnstone, atCalcutta, laughed as he thought of his own secret coup de main. 

"Wait! Wait till I return!" he gloated. "She is powerless now!"

CHAPTER VIII. HARRY HARDWICKE TAKES THE GATE NEATLY. 

In the few days succeeding Hugh Johnstone's still unsuspected departure, the dull fires of a growing jealousy burned and smouldered in CaptainHarry Hardwicke's agitated heart. The old nabob had neatly slipped awayin the night, on a special engine, and the Captain heard all the growingtattle of Delhi, as to the social activity at the marble house. Theopen hospitable board of General Willoughby rang with the very wildestrumors. Alan Hawke seemed to be the "Prince Charming" of the hiddenfestivities. 

Hardwicke, on the eve of his Majority, now darkly moped in his rooms, undecided to apply for a long home leave, unwilling to leave Delhi, andeven afraid to ask his general for any positive favor as to a futurestation. Club and mess bandied the freest tattle as to old HughJohnstone's lovely "importation. " Men eyed the prosperous Major AlanHawke on his rising pathway with a growing envy. There was a smartcoterie who now firmly believed that the Major's only "secret business"was to marry the Rose of Delhi, and then, departing on an extendedhoneymoon, leave the "Diamond Nabob, " as the ci-devant Hugh Fraser wascalled, free to proclaim Madame Berthe Louison, queen of the marblehouse, and sharer of his expected dignity, the crown of his life, thelong-coveted Baronetcy. When old Major Verner growled:

"That's the scheme, Hardwicke! My Lady of France makes the conditionthat the young heiress shall be settled first. Gad! What a lucky dogHawke is!" Then, Harry Hardwicke suddenly discovered that he loved themoonlight beauty of his dreams--the fair veiled Rose of Delhi. Hawkerose up as a darkly menacing cloud on his future. 

His morning rides were now but keen inspections of the Commissioner'sgarden, and, lingering on the Chandnee Chouk, he knew, by experiments, conducted with a beating heart, just where Justine Delande was wontto wander in the lonely labyrinth, with her lovely young charge. A lowdouble gate, a break in the high stone wall, often gave him glimpsesof the two women in their morning rambles and, with a softened feeling, born of her own secret passion for Hawke, Justine Delande watched afluttering handkerchief often answer Captain Hardwicke's morning salute. 

"Tell me, Justine, " said Nadine, the morning after Hugh Johnstone hadstolen away, "Why does my father not ask Major Hardwicke to visit us? Heis to be promoted for his superb gallantry, he is so brave--so noble! Hecertainly has as many claims to honor as this--this Major Hawke--whom myfather has made his confidant. I don't know why, but I don't like thatman!"

"What do you know of Major Hardwicke, as you call him?" cried Justine inwonder at Miss Nadine's growing interest. 

"Ah!" the agitated girl cried with blushing cheeks, "Mrs. Willoughbytold me how he dragged his wounded friend out of a storm of Afghanballs, and gave her back the child of her heart. It was GeneralWilloughby who got him his Victoria Cross. And, she says that he isa hero, he is so gentle and manly--so gifted--a man destined to be acommanding general yet. " The guilty Swiss woman dared not raise her eyesto watch the fleeting blushes on Nadine's cheeks. 

"It is time, high time we leave India, " she mused, and then, the thoughtof separation from Alan Hawke chilled her blood. "Let us go in, " shesaid. "The grass is damp yet. " Captain Hardwicke's argus eyes, loveinspired, were now daily fixed on the marble house. He scoured Delhi andamassed a pyramid of detached fragmentary gossip in all his alarm, butone star of hope cheered him. Though Major Hawke was known as the onlycavalier of Madame Louison, save the old nabob, now supposed to be illat home; though Hawke drove out for a week with the lovely countess--tothe great surprise of the local society, the handsome renegade had neveronce been seen in public with Miss Nadine Johnstone. Stranger still, thestar-eyed Madame Berthe Louison had never accompanied the young heiressin the regular afternoon parade en voiture. "There's a mysteryhere, " mused the lover. "Old Hugh and the Major appear daily with theFrenchwoman, but Nadine Johnstone has never been seen alone with anyonesave her father, or this Swiss duenna. Hawke is making slow progressthere, if any. " Meeting old Simpson, the nabob's butler, CaptainHardwicke tipped him with a five-pound note. The old retired soldiergrinned and opened his confidence. 

"The Major! Bless your stars!" gabbled Simpson, "She's a straightawayangel, and not for the likes of him! Major Hawke has a dark spot or twoin his record--away back!" grumbled Simpson, "No, Captain! Major Hawkehas never set eyes on her for a single moment, but the one night of thatdinner. By the way, it is the only one we ever gave!" The butler swelledup proudly. 

"That night she never lifted her eyes, nor spoke even a word to him. Hecomes to see the Guv'nor on business, an' mighty private business it is. They're locked up together often. "

"And, this marrying? The stories are now told everywhere?" queriedHardwicke, blushing, but desperately remembering that "all is fair inlove and war. " He, an incipient Major, a V. C. --"pumping" an old privatesoldier. 

"Rank rot!" frankly said the butler, "They're all strangers. The Frenchcountess is only sight-seeing here and buying out old Ram Lal's shop. The old thief! She brought letters to the Guv'nor! That's all! He's nospecial fancy to her, and he set Major Hawke on just to do the amiable. The Guv'nor's far too old to beau the lady around. Marry?--not him! AndMiss Nadine's just as silent as a flower in one of them gold vases. Allshe does is to look pretty and keep still, poor lamb. Her music, herbooks, her flowers, her birds. And as to Major Hawke and this MadameLouison--I've the Guv'nor's own orders they are never to see MissNadine. That is, Hawke not at all, and the lady only when Miss Delandeis present! Them's my solid orders, and the old Guv'nor put my eyeout with a ten-pound note--the first I ever got from him. No, Captain!You've done the handsome by me, and I give you the straight tip--wasn'tI in the old Eighth Hussars with your father when we charged the rebelcamp at Lucknow? I've got a tulwar yet that I cut out of the hand of a'pandy' who was hacking away at Colonel Hardwicke. "

"How did you get it, Simpson?" cried the young Captain. 

"I got arm and all! Took it off with a right cut! You may know, Cap'n, that we ground our sabers in those old days! No, sir! Miss Nadine's fornone of them people, and Hawke is only in the house for business. He's adeep one--is that same Hawke, " concluded Simpson, pocketing his note. 

Captain Hardwicke began to see the light dawning. "Alan Hawke has thensome secret business scheme with the old money grubber that's all, "mused the young engineer officer, happy at heart. "I'll fight a bit shyof him. His scheme may take the girl in. So, old Johnstone's away a fewdays. Perhaps settling his affairs before his departure. I think, " thelover mused, "I will follow them to Europe, if they go, and, if theystay, Willoughby will ask for my retention, and, after all, 'faint heartnever won fair lady. ' Hawke is not an open suitor. If the old man shouldever marry this French beauty, I may find the pathway open to NadineJohnstone's side!"

So, with a "fighting chance, " Captain Hardwicke determined that MissNadine should know his heart before long, and have also a chance to knowher own mind. "The fact is, the old boy has lived the life of a recluse, that's all, but I'll find a way to pierce the shell of his moroseness. There's one comfort, " he smiled, "No other fellow is making anyrunning. "

In these swiftly gliding days of absence, Ram Lal Singh and the watchfulMajor Alan Hawke conferred at length over narghileh and glass. A sullendiscontent had settled down on Hawke's brow when Berthe Louison publiclydeparted upon her business trip with not even a fragmentary confidence. 

"Wait for my return, and only watch the marble house, " said the Madame. "Do not be foolish enough to attempt to call on Miss Nadine. I heardJohnstone tell the Swiss woman not to allow you to follow up any socialacquaintance with his daughter. 'I want Nadine to remain a girl as yet, 'growled the old brute. Now, the Swiss woman may be able to give you someinformation. "

"I'll do what I can, " carelessly replied Alan Hawke, but his eyesgleamed when she said:

"Do not sulk in your tent. On my return I shall have need of you. Youcan prepare to go into action then. "

"Where shall I address you at Calcutta?" demanded Hawke. "Somethingmight happen. "

"Ah, " smiled Berthe Louison. "Nothing will happen. Not a line, nota telegram; send nothing, come what will! I return here soon, and, besides, Old Johnstone might watch and intercept it. Remember, we do notknow each other. It would be a fatal mistake to write. " And so she wentquietly on her way. The house was locked, the Indian servants having theMadame's orders to admit no one, on any pretense. "Damn her!" growledAlan Hawke, when the door was shut in his face. "She feared I wouldgive her away to Johnstone. No address! Not a line or a telegram! Onlywait--only wait!"

Ram Lal infuriated him later with the news that nothing could be learnedfrom the baffled spies of the household in the Silver Bungalow as to thefirst or second interwiew of Johnstone and the resolute Alixe Delavigne. "Money will not do it! Not a lac of rupees. The Frenchman and womannever leave her day or night. He is on guard with weapons and a nightlight at her door, and the maid sleeps in the room. 

"And she has other secret helpers!" groaned the baffled Ram Lal. "She iswriting and receiving letters all the time. And yet none of thesecome or go by the post. She does not trust you, Major, " said the jewelmerchant, with a cruel gleam of his dark eyes. "I believe that sheis some old love of Sahib Johnstone. They have deep dealings. She hasbought a great store of jewels and trinkets from me. "

"Hell and fury! I've been duped!" cried Hawke. "I see it. That damnedFrenchman takes and brings the letters! But who is her local go-between?Perhaps the French Consul at Calcutta, or some banker here! I can't buythem all. She only needs me in case of a violent rupture with Johnstone. Damn her stony-hearted impertinence!"

And he mentally resolved to sell her out and out to the liberal oldnabob. "He might then give his daughter to me for peace and safety. ButI've got to do the trick before he finds out the falsity of Anstruther'sso-called telegram. And, first, I must have something to sell. She isthe devil's own for sly nerve, is my lady. "

"She is too smart for us, as yet, " soothingly said Ram Lal. "But wait;wait till they return! Pay me well and I will find out all that goes on. I can always get into the marble house at night. At any time, I may spyon old Johnstone and get the secret there. I have a couple of men of myown in his house. They know where to leave a door, a window, an openedsash for me. And at the Silver Bungalow, I can go in and out secretly byday and night. She would not know. You would not wish anything to happento her?" The old jewel merchant's voice was darkly suggestive. 

"No! Devil take her!" cried Hawke. "What I want to know is hidden in hercrafty head and stony heart. Death would bury it forever. Nothing musthappen either to her or to him. It would spoil the whole game. Don't yousee, Ram Lal, there's money in this for you and me just as long as wekeep them all here under our hands. If they separate--even if one goesto Europe--you can watch one and I the other. You can always frightenmoney out of old Johnstone if we tell each other all, and I can followthat woman over Europe and dog her till she is driven crazy. She willfear me just as long as old Hugh Johnstone is alive, for I couldsell her out to him. No one else cares. They must both live to beour bankers. Now tell me, why did either or both of them go toCalcutta--what for?" Ram Lal figuratively washed his hands in invisiblewater. 

"Running water, passing silently, leaves no story behind, Sahib, " hesaid, simply. "We have not caught our eels yet. But they are both comingback into our eel pot. " And as the days dragged on Alan Hawke beguiledthe time with the most energetic inroads into Justine Delande's heart. 

"Some one must break the line of the enemy, " darkly mused Alan Hawke, asin the unrestrained intimacy of their long, morning rides, he influencedthe Swiss woman's heart, love-tortured, to a greater passionatesurrender. 

"It maybe all in all to me, in my secret career, your future fidelity, "he pleaded. '"It will be all in all to you, and to your sister. Therewill be your home, the friendship of an enormously rich woman! The girlwill have a million pounds! And you and I, Justine, shall not be castoff, as one throws away an old sandal. " The cowering woman clung closerdaily to the man who now molded her will to his own. 

The absence of Johnstone and Madame Louison seemed confirmation of therumors of coming bridals. 

"They will come back, as man and wife!" growled old Verner, to CaptainHardwicke, "and then, look out for a second bridal! Hawke and theheiress!" But Harry Hardwicke only smiled and bided his time. His dailymorning ride led him to the double gateway, to at least nearby theisolation of the lovely Rose who was filling his heart with all beautyand brightness. 

Major Alan Hawke had withdrawn himself into a stately solitude at theClub. His evenings were spent with Ram Lal, and his mornings with thedeluded Justine, who dared not now write to the calm-faced preceptressin Geneva how far the tide of love had swept her on. In the longafternoons, Major Hawke was apparently busied with the "dispatches"which duly mystified the Club quid mines, as they were ostentatiouslydisplayed in the letter-box. No one but Ram Lal knew of the abstractionfrom the mail, and destruction of these carefully sealed envelopes ofblank paper. But the thieving mail clerk in their secret pay, laughed ashe consigned them later to the flames. 

The astute Major was not aware that he was being daily watched by secretagents representing both the absent ones whom he desired to dupe. But adaily letter was dispatched by a local banker to a well-known Calcuttafirm, which reached Madame Louison, and old Hugh Johnstone, busied athis lawyers, or sitting alone at night with Douglas Fraser in Calcutta, smiled grimly, when he, too, received his data as to Hawke's progress. A growing coldness which had cut off Hardwicke's friendship seemed tointerest Hugh Johnstone. "I suppose that old Willonghby thinks Hawke isspying upon him. Just as well!"

There had been a lightning activity in the old man's movements beforeMadame Louison arrived in Calcutta. He was fighting for his future peaceand his coveted honors. The lawyer with whom he spent his first day wasastounded at the peculiar nature of the last will and testament whichthe old nabob ordered him to draft at once. "The steamer, Lord Roberts, goes to-morrow, and I wish a duplicate to be deposited here in the bank, under your care, as I shall write to my senior executor regarding it. "

The nabob's remark, "Make your fees what you will. I give you carteblanche!" had silenced the remonstrances which rose to the lawyer'slips. "I know what I am doing, Hodgkinson, " said Hugh Johnstone. "Bloodis thicker than water! I can trust nothing else. These two men asexecutors will exactly carry out my wishes. In naming a guardian bywill, for my daughter, I do not forget that she is yet a child ateighteen, and, at twenty-one, she may be the destined prey of many afortune hunter! As for my directions and restrictions, I know my ownmind!"

When Hugh Johnstone, Esq. , of Delhi and Calcutta, had seen the fleetsteamer, Lord Roberts, sail away for London, bearing a carefullyregistered document addressed to "Professor Andrew Fraser, St. AgnesRoad, St. Heliers, Jersey, Channel Islands, England, " he could notremember a detail forgotten in the voluminous letters of positive ordersnow also on their way to his distant brother. He smiled grimly as heentered the P. And O. Office, and, after a private interview with themanager, called his nephew, Douglas Fraser, away to a private luncheon. They had first visited the one bank, which Johnstone trusted, and theredeposited a sealed document to the order of "Douglas Fraser, executor. "The young man had been alarmed at his stern old uncle's curtness, on thereturn trip from Allahabad, his strange manner and his grim silence. Buthe was simply astounded when his nabob relative quietly said:

"I have obtained a six months' leave of absence for you! Let no one knowof your movements. Leave your rooms and baggage just as they are. I willnow move in there, and put one of my servants in charge while you aregone. I have made my will and named your father as my executor and theguardian of my daughter, and you are to succeed, in case of his death!There will be a small fortune for you both in the fees, and neither ofyou are forgotten in the will! I have drawn two thousand pounds in notesfor you, and here is a bank draft on London for three thousand more!"The young man was sitting in open-mouthed wonder, when the nabob sharplysaid: "Now! Have your wits about you! I bear all the expenses here, and your office pay goes on. You will be promoted on your return. Themanager of the P. And O. Is my lifelong friend. "

"What am I to do?" gasped the young man, fearing his uncle was losinghis wits. 

"You are to disappear from Calcutta to-night. Go without a word to aliving soul! You are neither to write to a soul in India, nor open yourmouth to a human being, in transit. You are to go by Madras, takethe first steamer to Brindisi, and then hurry by rail to Paris andGranville, and to St. Heliers. You will find your detailed ordersthere with your father. Then stay there, await my orders from here, notleaving your father's side, a moment. Now, I tell you again, your futurefortunes depend upon your exact obedience! I will give you my privatewishes after we have had luncheon. The only thing that you will have inwriting is an address to which I wish you to cable each day after youland at Brindisi, until you turn over your business to your father. Youmay cable also from Aden and Port Said. "

The luncheon was "a short horse and soon curried. " For a half an hourHugh Johnstone earnestly whispered to his nephew, whose face was graveand ashen. At last the old man concluded, "Here is a letter to use atDelhi. There will be a telegram already in the hands of the two partiesintended. 

"'Remember! You are to go, but once, from here to your lodgings. Thensimply disappear! Take nothing but a mackintosh, an umbrella, and yourtraveling bag. Buy at Madras what you want. Here's a couple of hundredpounds. You will find the engine at the station now in waiting for you. The whole line is open for you. Do your Delhi work at night. The trainwill be made up for you the very moment you arrive at Delhi. I give youjust one day to connect with the Rangoon at Madras. You are not for onesingle moment to lose your charge from sight till on the steamer. FromBrindisi, the directions I have given cover all. Here is an envelope forthe Swiss woman which will make her your friend. Now go, Douglas! Thisis the foundation of your fortune. If you succeed, you will have allI leave behind in India. In case of any trouble in India, telegraphinstantly to this address, and I will join you at once. Memorize thisaddress, and destroy it then! Telegraph to me from Delhi, but only whenyou start. And, when you sail from Madras, only the name of the steamer. The trainmen will do the rest. They have their orders already. Is thereanything else?"

The young man pulled himself together. "It's like the Arabian Nights!"

"Go ahead, now, and show yourself a man!" cried Hugh Johnstone, almostin anguish. "I do not wish to see you again until you have earned yourfortune! One last word: You are to make no explanations whatever!"

The young envoy grasped his kinsman's hands, crying: "You may count onme in life and death! I'll do your bidding. "

Old Johnstone drank a bottle of pale ale and composedly smoked acheroot, after he had watched the stalwart, rosy young Briton strideaway on his strange journey. A robust, frank-faced, fine young fellowof twenty-six, with the fair brow and clear blue eyes of the "northcountree, " was manly Douglas Fraser. 

Toiling resolutely to rise, step by step, in the service of thePeninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, he had never dreamed of thesudden favor of his rich kinsman, and yet, loyal as the good Sir JamesDouglas, he silently took up his quest. 

"I can't understand the old gentleman. " he mused as he hurried a halfan hour later into the station, though prudently selected by-streets. "There may be some old official entanglement hanging over him yet. Somereason why he would quit India quietly, or perhaps some one who owes hima grudge. At any rate I'll do my duty to him like a man--to him and tothe others--like a gentleman. "

Hugh Johnstone measuredly betook his way to Douglas Fraser's lodgings. 

Before the old man was settled on Douglas's cozy wicker lounge, thepilot engine was tearing away with the young voyager, who had simplystepped out of his own life to make a sudden fortune. 

"Now, damn you, Alixe Delavigne, " hoarsely muttered the old man, whenalone, "I will see you to-morrow! You shall rule me until I get thesetwo coffers out of the bank, and until our home-coming at Delhi. Then, you jade, " he growled, "Ram Lal shall do the business for you, even ifit costs me ten thousand pounds!" which proves that an old tiger may betoothless and yet have left to him strong claws to drag his prey down. "Money will do anything in India or anywhere else!" the old nabobgrowled, forgetting that even all the yellow gold of the Rand or thegleaming diamonds of the Transvaal will not avail to fill the burned-outlamp of life!

The prolonged absence of the embryo Sir Hugh Johnstone was a matter ofpublic comment in Delhi, while the knowing ones winked significantly atthe almost triumphal departure of Madame Berthe Louison, whose specialcar and ample retinue made her a modern European Queen of Sheba. "Tellyou what, fellows, " said "Rattler" Murray, otherwise known as "RedEric, of the Eighth Lancers, " "the old Commissioner will return superbly'improved and illustrated' with her, a new edition of the standard oldwork. You see, there's a French Consul-General at Calcutta, and thenand there the matrimonial obsequies will be performed. But I'll give himjust a year's life, " and the gay lieutenant struck an attitude, quotingthe menacing jargon in "Hamlet":

"In second husband, let me be accurst; None wed the second, but whokilled the first. "

"What infernal rot you do gabble, Murray!" suddenly cried Alan Hawke, dropping a double barrier of the newest Times, as he prepared toleave the clubroom in disgust. "Hugh Johnstone was only called down toCalcutta on some important financial business some days ago, and he wentthere simply to rearrange some of his large investments. Madame Louisonis only a stranger here, a tourist traveling incognito, and connectedwith some of the best noble families of France. " With great dignityMajor Hawke stalked away to his rooms, leaving the club for a long drivein disgust. 

By the next evening Madame Berthe Louison had been discovered to be anoble relative of the Comte de Chambord, "traveling incognito, " and thenthe clacking tongues of gossip rose up in a shrill chorus of greaterintensity. Immense investments of the Orleans fortunes in Indianproperties to be managed by Major Alan Hawke were discovered to be theobject of her Indian tour, with wise old Hugh Johnstone as an infalliblefinancial adviser. But Alan Hawke smiled his superior smile and saidnothing. 

All this and more soon reached the ears of Capt. Harry Hardwicke, whosefever of gnawing curiosity and romantically born love was now strongupon him. A second conference with his old friend Simpson enlightenedthe engineer officer upon many things, as yet "seen in a glass darkly. "He began to fear that Alan Hawke was growing dangerous as the secretjuggler in the strange social situation at the marble house. Withthe vise-like memory of an old soldier, Simpson had retained variousanecdotes not entirely to the credit of the self-promoted MajorAlan Hawke, and had partly supplied the hiatus between the suddendisappearance of the desperate lieutenant, a rake gambler andprofligate, and the return of the prosperous and debonnaire Majoren re'traite. "Don't let him work too long around Miss Nadine, MajorHardwicke, " said the wary Simpson. "Sly and quiet as he seems, he'ssurely here for no good. I know him of old. He's forgotten me, though. "

That night, the night when Berthe Louison, in her special car wasnearing Calcutta, at last, Captain Hardwicke was haunted in his dreamsby the sweet apparition of Nadine Johnstone, and her lovely arms werestretched appealingly to him. It was the early dawn when he awoke, andsprang blithely from his couch. "If that graceful shade crosses mypath to-day, I'll speak to it in the flesh--though a dozen Hawkes and ahundred crusty fathers forbid, " he gayly cried, for his entrancing dreamhad given him a strangely prophetic courage. 

In the ambrosial freshness of the morning, a long gallop upon his petcharger, "Garibaldi, " restored the equilibrium of the young officer'snerves. He had neatly taken the strong-limbed cross-country horse over adozen of the old walls out by the Kootab Minar, and with the reins lyingloosely on Garibaldi's neck, he rode back to the live city by the sideof its two dead progenitors. 

The bustle and hum of awaking Delhi interested him not, for a fondunrest led him down to the great walled inclosure of the marble house. 

"Shall I see her to-day? Will she be in the garden?" he murmured in hisloving day-dream. 

The springy feet of the charger dropped noiselessly on the lonelyavenue and already the double carriage gate was in sight. An instinctof martial coquetry caused Harry Hardwicke to gather up his reins andstraighten lightly into the military position of eyes right. He waswatching the gate of Paradise, a Paradise as yet forbidden to him. 

Yes. There was the gleam of white robes shining out across the friendlygate. 

Standing under a huge spreading camphor tree, a graceful form was there, clear cut against the dark foliage, and seeming to float upon the tendergreen of the dewy grass. A nymph--a goddess, shyly standing there, wasshading her eyes with one slender hand and gazing down the path towardthe golden East which was bringing to the Lady of his dreams, a flood ofgolden sunlight and her secret adorer, the man whose lonely young hearthad throned her as its queen. Hardwicke raised his head quickly as awild shriek sounded out upon the still morning air. 

The lover with one agonized glance saw the outspread arms of JustineDelande, and heard again a voice which had thrilled his soul in lovingmemory. It appealed for aid. Nadine was shrieking for help. 

With one glance, the young soldier gathered his noble steed. Therewas but twenty yards for the rally and the raise, but the game old"Garibaldi" dropped as lightly on the other side of the closed carriagegate as any "blue ribbon" of the Galway "Blazers. "

There was a moment, but one fleeting moment, given to the lover to seethe danger menacing the woman whom he loved. His heart was icy, buthis hand was quick. There, a few feet only from the horribly fascinatedgirl, a cobra di capdlo rising and swaying in angry undulations. The huge snake was angrily hissing with a huge distended puffed hoodswelling menacingly over the dirty brown body. "Standfast!" yelledHardwicke in agony. 

There was a gleam of steel, the rush of a charger's feet, and as man andhorse swept by the fainting girl--the swing of a saber, and the heavytrampling of iron-clad hoofs! Only Justine Delande saw the flashingsaber cleaving the air again and again, as Hardwicke gracefullyleaned to his saddle bow, in the right and left cut on the ground. AndGaribaldi's beating hoofs soon completed the work of the circling sword. 

And then as the Swiss woman broke her trance and turned to run towardthe house, the young horseman leaped lightly to the ground. "Go on, goon!" he cried. "The other snake is not far off!" When Simpson and thefrightened domestics rushed out to the veranda in a panic, they onlysaw before them a graceful youth with his strong arms burdened with thesenseless form of the woman he loved--the woman whose life he had saved!

And, dangling from his right wrist, by the leather sword-knot, hungthe saber which Colonel Hardwicke had swung in the mad onslaught on themutineers' camp at Lucknow. 

"Here, Simpson! Send for Doctor McMorris!" cried Hardwicke, as a dozenwilling hands sprang to aid him. "Bring brandy, ammonia, and oil!" Therewas a bamboo settee on the veranda. It received the precious burdenwhich the soldier had held against his heart. "Carry her to her rooms!Gently, now!" commanded the captain. Seizing Justine by the arm, hesaid: "I think that I arrived in time. Go! Go! You will find me waitingfor you here! Examine her at once! The hot iron and artery ligaturesalone will save her if she was bitten!" His brow was knotted in agony. 

"You came between them!" gasped Justine. "The thing never reached herside!"

"God be thanked! Go! Go!" cried Hardwicke. "I have my work to do here!"A black servant had already led the dancing Garibaldi out to theopen safety of the graveled carriage drive. "Look to my horse!" criedHardwicke. "See that he is not bitten!" and then he slowly walked overto where a dozen menials, with heavy clubs, had beaten the writhingcobra into a shapeless mass. 

"Come away, all of you!" cried the captain, in Hindustanee. "Run, someof you, and get the snake catcher!" Doctor McMorris, arriving on thegallop, had reported the absolute safety of the frightened girl, when Harry Hardwicke, leaning on his sheathed sword, watched a slim, glittering-eyed Hindu, followed by a boy bearing an earthen pot, who hadnoiselessly reconnoitered the vicinity of the great tree. The boy mostkeenly watched all the movements of his white-robed master, who, drawinga little fife from his red cummerbund sash, began to play a shrill, weird tune. A frightened household coterie watched from a safe distancethe thirty-foot circle of herbage around the shade of the giant treetrunk. A shudder crept over the watchers as a huge brown head, with twowhite circles on the back of the neck, rose slowly out of the grass, andtwo red-hot gleaming eyes blazed out, as an immense cobra swelled outits fearfully disgusting hood, and, rising halfway, bloated out itsloathsome head, swaying to and fro, to the strange music. "There's themate!" quietly whispered Hardwicke to Simpson. The snake now showed itsgreasy belly, like dirty stained marble, and the lithe boy, circlingbehind it, warily essayed to drop the red earthen pot over its head. But one of the excited servants, stealing up, had released a littlemongoose, which now bravely darted upon its deadly enemy. 

Seven times did the active little animal dart upon the huge reptile, ina confusedly vicious series of attacks and close in a deadly conflict, and, when, at last, the snake charmer walked disgustedly away, thelittle ferret's sharp teeth were transfixed in the throat of its deadenemy. 

A handful of silver to the snake catcher and his boy sent them awaydelighted, while the wounded mongoose, having greedily sucked the bloodof the dead cobra, wandered away in triumph, creeping on its belly intothe rank grass in search of the life-saving herb which it alone canfind, to cure the venom-inflamed wounds of the deadly "naja. " Thesilent duel was over, and the bodies of the dreadful vipers were hastilyburied. 

"I shall call this afternoon, at five, to ask Miss Johnstone if shehas entirely recovered, " gravely said Captain Hardwicke to MademoiselleJustine Delande, when the still excited Swiss woman poured forth hercongratulations to the young hero of this morning's episode. Hardwickewas standing with his gloved hand grasping the mettlesome "Garibaldi's"bridle. Justine Delande threw her arms around the neck of the noblehorse and kissed his sleek brown cheek. Then she whispered a few wordsto Captain Hardwicke, which made that young warrior's heart leap up in awild joy. 

He laughed lightly as he said: "Keep this quiet. Pray do not allow MissJohnstone to walk any more in the dewy grass. These deadly reptilesaffect moisture, and, strange to say, they love the vicinity of humanhabitations. As for 'Garibaldi, ' good old fellow, I'll bring him thisafternoon, but I'll not take him again over the gate. It was a prettystiff jump for the old boy. " When Simpson escorted the happy Captain tothe opened carriage gate, he threw up his wrinkled hand in salute. 

"You're your father's own son, Captain, and God bless you and good luckto you and the young mistress. "

There was no answer as Harry spurred the charger down the road, butSimpson pocketed a sovereign, with the sage prophecy that things were atlast, going the right way. 

The watchful Hugh Johnstone was already in waiting, on this verymorning, at the East Indian station in Calcutta, with a sumptuouscarriage; for a telegram had warned him that the woman whom he dreaded, and had secretly doomed, was fast approaching. His heart was resolutelyset upon the master stroke of his life, for a private audience with theViceroy of India had been graciously granted him at two o'clock. "I amsaved--if nothing goes wrong, " he murmured, as the Delhi train trundledinto the station. 

A steely glare lit up his eyes as he advanced with raised sun helmet tomeet the Lady of the Silver Bungalow. 

In the train were one or two of the curious Delhi quid nuncs, whosmiled and exchanged glances as the embryo Sir Hugh led the lady to thecarriage. 

On the box Jules Victor sat bolt upright clasping a traveling bag, whileMarie gazed at the swarming streets of Calcutta from her mistress'sside. "She is on the defensive. I'll show her a trick, " old Hughmurmured, as he noted the servants' presence. 

A few murmured words exchanged between the secret foes caused HughJohnstone to sternly cry, "To Grindlay and Company's Bank. "

The dark goddess Kali, patron demon of Kali Ghatta, was hovering abovethem in the pestilential air as the carriage swiftly rolled along thesuperb streets of the metropolis born of Governor Charnock's settlementin sixteen eighty-six. The gift of an Emperor of Delhi to the ambitiousEnglish, Fort William had grown to be an octopus of modern splendor. Down the circular road, past the splendid Government House, theysilently sped through the "City of Palaces. " Berthe Louison never notedthe varied delights of the Maiden Esplanade, nor, even with a glancehonored Wellesley and Ochterlony, raised up there in marble effigy. Her face was as fixed as bronze, while Hugh Johnstone, right and left, saluted his countless friends. 

Men of the Bengal Asiatic, the Bethune, the Dai-housie, plumed generals, native princelings, gay aides-de-camp, grave judges, and universityDons eagerly bowed to the richest civilian in Bengal--the homage oftriumphant wealth. 

Stared at from club windows, Johnstone, with proudly erect head, noddedto fashion's fools, crowding there all eager to catch a glimpse of thelovely Lady Johnstone in posse. 

For these last days of waiting had been only a mental torture to thenabob assailed by rallying gossipers. He was now counting grimly themoments till a telegram from Delhi should seal his safety for life. Andthen, his dark and silent revenge!

At Grindlay's Bank, Madame Louison quietly descended, leaning on the armof Hugh Johnstone. There was hurrying to and fro on their appearance, and in ten minutes a second carriage received the disguised AlixeDelavigne, while the Manager of Grindlay's escorted her, under the eyesof her two guardians. The Golden Calf was the reigning god, even inthese later days. 

With a dignified pace, the carriage of Hugh Johnstone led the way tothe Bank of Bengal, where a private room soon hid the three principalparties from the gaze of the multi-colored throng of clerks andaccountants. A conference of the gravest nature ensued, as both the BankManagers jealously watched each other. 

Hugh Johnstone was as pale as a man wrestling with the dark angel whenMadame Louison produced a faded document and a receipt of extended legalverbiage. The Manager of Grindlay's gazed, in mute surprise, when thehighest dignitary of the Bengal Bank at last entered the room, followedby two porters bearing two brass-bound mahogany boxes of antiquemanufacture. Hugh Fraser Johnstone's stony face was carelesslyimpassive. 

"Pray examine these seals!" the newcomer said, "and, remember, Mr. Johnstone, that we exact your absolute release for the long-continuedresponsibility. Here is a memorandum of the storage and charges. Youmust sign, also, as Hugh Fraser--now Hugh Fraser Johnstone. "

Old Hugh Johnstone's voice never trembled, as he said, after a minuteinspection:

"I will give you a cheque. " Then, dashing off his signature upon thereceipt tendered by Madame Louison, he calmly said: "These thingsare only of a trifling value--some long-treasured trinkets of my deadwife's. May I be left alone for a moment?"

The three silent witnesses retired into an adjoining room. In fiveminutes, Hugh Johnstone called the Bank Governor to his side. "There isyour receipt, duly signed, and your cheque to balance, Mr. Governor. Weare now both relieved of a tiresome controversy. Will you please bringin the others?"

With a pleasant smile, the flush of a great happiness upon his face, Hugh Fraser Johnstone remarked: "I desire to state publicly that MadameLouison and my self have, in this little transaction, closed all ouraffairs. I have given to her a quit-claim release of all and everydemand whatsoever. " With kindly eyes, Berthe Louison listened to a fewmurmured words from Hugh Johnstone. Bowing her stately head, she sweptfrom the room upon the arm of the polite manager of Grindlay's. 

"Home, " said the genial banker, as he deferentially questioned the Ladyof the Silver Bungalow. "Do you honor us with a long visit?" he eagerlyasked. 

"I return to-morrow evening, on the same train with the soon-to-beSir Hugh. I only came here to attend to some business at the FrenchConsulate and to adjust this trifling matter. " Hugh Johnstone writhedin rage, as he saw the cool way in which Berthe Louison fortified hersafety lines. 

Before they were in the shelter of the banker's superb mansion, HughJohnstone was double locked within the walls of Douglas Fraser'sapartment. 

"I have two hours to work in" he gasped, after a nervous examinationof the contents of the cases which had been placed at his feet in hiscarriage. "And, then, for the Viceroy! But first to the steamer and theInsurance Office!'"

Not a human being in Calcutta ever knew the contents of the small steelstrongbox which occupied the place of honor in the treasure room of theEmpress of India on her speeding down the Hooghly. But a Director ofthe Anglo-Indian Assurance Company opened his eyes widely when HughJohnstone, his fellow director, cheerfully paid the marine insurancefees on a policy of fifty thousand pounds sterling. "I am sending someof my securities home, Mainwaring, " the great financier said. "I intendto remove my property, bit by bit, to London. I do not dare to trustthem on one ship. " The director sighed in a hopeless envy of hismillionaire friend. 

Hugh Johnstone's Calcutta agent was also solemnly stirred up when hisprincipal gave him some private directions as to the custody of hisprivate papers and a substantial Gladstone bag, consigned to therecesses of the steel vaults. "I go back with these papers to Delhito-morrow night. Give me the keys of my private compartment till then. In a few months I may be called to London. Douglas Fraser will have mypower of attorney. "

With a sunny gleam in his face, Hugh Johnstone then alertly spranginto his carriage, when he had finished his careful toilet, to meet theViceroy of India. The two brass-bound mahogany cases were left standingcarelessly open upon his table in Douglas Fraser's rooms, neatly packedwith an assortment of toilet articles and all the multitudinous personalmedical stores of a refined Anglo-Indian "in the sere and yellow. "

"Five pounds worth!" laughed Hugh Johnstone, as he closed the door. "Now, in one hour, my Lady Disdain, I can say 'Checkmate. ' Ram Lal shallattend to you later--behind all your bolts and bars. He will find a wayto reach you. "

It was a matter of profound speculation to the gilded youth of theGovernment House what strangely sudden friendship had blossomed to bringthe august representative of the great Victoria, Kaisar-I-Hind, andQueen of England, as far as the middle of the audience room, in closecolloquy with, and manifesting an almost affectionate leave-taking of, the silver-haired millionaire of Delhi. 

But that night the most confidential General "at disposal" received fromthe Viceroy some secret orders which caused the experienced soldier'seyes to open widely. 

"Remember! The personal interests of the Crown are involved here!" saidthe Viceroy. "Any mistake might cost me my Sovereign's confidence andyou your commission, perhaps a Star of India!" he laughed, with anaffected lightness. 

In far-away Delhi, as the sun faded away into the soft summer twilight, Harry Hardwicke was sitting at the side of Nadine Johnstone, while herstern father secretly exulted in distant Calcutta. He had already mailedby registered post a set of duplicated receipts and insurance policiesfor his last shipment addressed to "Professor Andrew Fraser" and hismind was centered upon some peculiarly pleasurable coming events to takeplace in the Marble House. But the dreamy-eyed girl watching the man whohad so gallantly saved her life, thought only of a love which had stoleninto her heart to wake all its slumbering chords to life, and to loosenthe sweet music of her singing soul! They were alone, save for the bentfigure of Justine Delande at a distant window, and the spirit of Lovebreathed upon them silently drew them heart to heart. 

Here now, before the divinity so fondly worshiped, Harry Hardwicke losthis soldier's ready voice. "Say no more! You need rest, Miss Nadine!I shall only call to-morrow to assure myself of your perfect recovery. When your father returns I shall do myself the honor to ask his formalpermission to visit you later. " There was a sigh and a sob as NadineJohnstone took her silent lover's hands and pressed them in her own, bursting into happy tears. 

"I owe you my life--my father shall speak, but in my own heart I shalltreasure your splendid bravery forever!" Her tall young knight stoopedover the little hands, kissed them, and was turning to go, when themaiden slipped off a sparkling ring. "Wear this always for my sake; Ican say no more till we meet again!" And, bending low, Captain Hardwickestepped backward, as from a queen's presence, leaving her there, weak, loving, and trembling in a strange delight. 

As he rode slowly homeward in the evening's glow, he passed Major AlanHawke dashing away to the railway station in a carriage. Travelingluggage told the story of a sudden jaunt. A wave of the hand and thesecret-service man was gone. Hawke growled: "Damned young jackanapes, I'll fool you, too; but what does old Johnstone want?" He was reading atelegram just received: "Come to meet me at Allahabad. Have brought thedrafts. Want you for a few days down here. "

At ten o'clock next morning, Simpson, his voice all broken, his old eyesfilled with tears, dashed into Captain Hardwicke's office. "Dead?"cried the young soldier, springing up in a sudden horror. "No. Gone overnight--both the women--God knows where, but they left secretly, by theMaster's orders!" And then Hardwicke sank back into his chair witha groan. But, at Allahabad, Major Alan Hawke was raving alone in ahelpless rage. There was no Johnstone there, and Ram Lal Singh hadtelegraphed him: "The daughter and governess went away in the night bythe railroad--special train. A man from Calcutta took them away. "

"You shall pay for this, you old hound!" he yelled, "Yes, with yourheart's blood. '"

CHAPTER IX. ALAN HAWKE PLAYS HIS TRUMP CARD. 

When the Calcutta train rolled into Allahabad, two days after HarryHardwicke's crushing surprise, Major Alan Hawke, the very pink ofAnglo-Indian elegance, awaited the dismounting of the returningvoyagers. He had passed a whole sleepless night in revolving the variousmethods to play oft each of his wary employers against each other, andhad decided to let Fate make the game. 

"The devil of it is, I'm not supposed to know anything of the flitting!"he mused, after digesting Ram Lal Singh's carefully worded telegrams. All the light in his shadowy mental eclipse was the positive informationthat a special train had been made up for Bombay at the station, "ongovernment secret service. "

"The old man is preparing to fight, now, " he decided. "His 'woodenhorse' is within Berthe Loiuson's camp. If she is not wary, she maynever leave India, Johnstone can be very ugly. But what must I do? ShallI warn Berthe, now? If I do, she will both doubt me and make a scene. Old Johnstone will then know at once that I have betrayed him. " Anhour's cogitation led Alan Hawke to decide to let the "high contractingparties" fight it out themselves at Delhi. 

"I'll secretly join the winner and then bleed them both. I must beunconscious of all. Johnstone's money I want first, then, Berthe mustpay me well for my aid. " With an exquisite nosegay of flowers, heawaited the slow descent of the social magnates. A second telegram fromJohnstone had warned him that the wanderers were on the same train. "Heis a cool devil!" mused Hawke. 

Radiant in beauty, pleasantly smiling, and watched by her Frenchbodyguard, Madame Louison swept into the grand cafe room upon the arm ofHugh Johnstone, who deftly exchanged a silent glance of warning withthe artful Major. The first intimation of Johnstone's craft was the factthat Alan Hawke found he could not manage to see Madame Louison alone, even for a single moment. There was a veiled surprise in her beautifulbrown eyes, when the nabob led Hawke a few tables away for a conferencein full view of the beauty, who was surrounded with a cloud ofobsequious attendants. "As we have but one hour, Madame, pray atonce, order a repast for us all. I must have a few words with Hawke. "Johnstone was as smiling as a summer sea. 

"We were delayed a day by my own private business, " genially cried thenabob. "What's new in Delhi?"

It was the crowning lie of Hawke's splendidly mendacious career whenhe carelessly said, "Nothing. I supposed, of course, that you had graveneed of me here. "

"So I have, " earnestly replied Johnstone, as the station master bustledup, scraping and bowing, with a bundle of letters and several telegrams. "Just look over these five drafts on Glyn, Carr & Glyn's, while I lookat the letters, " whispered Johnstone, handing Hawke an official lookingenvelope. Even while the adventurer carefully scanned the bills ofexchange, he saw a gleam of devilish triumph in the old man's eyes as heopened the telegrams, and with affected carelessness shoved his lettersin his pocket. "See here, Hawke! You can even earn a neat 'furtherdonation' if you will play your part rightly. General Abercromby, aspersonally representing the Viceroy, arrives here to-morrow night toadjust my accounts finally. He will be a week or so at Delhi. I wantyou to represent me and receive him here. I've telegraphed back toAbercromby that you will bring him up in a special car. He does not wantold Willoughby to think he is nosing around Delhi. Now, do thehandsome thing. Abercromby knows you. Here is a pocket-book. Lose a fewfifty-pound notes to the old boy on the train. Amuse him, mind you, andset him up well! The car will be well stocked. I leave my two men hereto wait on you and him. That's all. I want to go off 'in a blaze ofglory, ' as the Yankees would say. I will meet you at Delhi. Abercrombycomes to my house. Can I depend on you? And, not a single word aboutthe Baronetcy. The Viceroy has graciously sent a special dispatch toEngland. "

"All right. Let us join the Madame, " said Hawke, with an uneasy feelingof a coming tropical storm, "I'm glad to be out of it, " mused Hawke. "IfAbercromby stays a week, both parties will defer hostilities until hegoes. If that soft-hearted Swiss fool only telegraphs! By God, I wouldhave liked to have had one final tete-a-tete. She can make my fortuneyet. "

The flying minutes glided easily away, with Hugh Johnstone's old-timegallantry artfully separating the two secret conspirators against hispeace. Alan Hawke lunched gayly, with but one lurking regret--a futilesorrow that he had not bent Justine Delande to his will. There was nodark pledge between them, no secret bond of a man's perfidious victory, no soft surrender, the seal of a woman's dishonor. 

"Will she telegraph?" the adventurer asked himself with a beating heartand a burning brain. "If so, then I hold them both in my hands, andthe game is mine. " When the train drew out, the Major watched thedisappearing forms of the mortal enemies in a secret wonder. "Have theymade it up? Will they marry after all?" he growled, and yet he laughedthe idea to scorn. "And yet fear, as well as love, has tied the nuptialknot before, " he mused. 

A new proof of Johnstone's craft was afforded him after he had, in aleisurely way, verified the regularity of his windfall in good Londonexchange, signed by the millionaire upon his home bankers, and dulystamped. A mental flash of lightning showed him how he was "sewed up, "for Johnstone's all too polite servants shadowed him, alternately, in his every movement. He even dared not visit the secret telegraphaddress. "Old scoundrel!" raged Alan Hawke. "I will only get the firstnews after the fair and probably in a storm from Berthe. The denouementmay occur with me languishing here in Capua. Suppose that this she-devilwould bolt? Where would I land then?" He was most sadly rattled. 

In the Delhi train, Hugh Johnstone busied with his late London papers, slyly smiled as he studied a route map and railway time table. Hehad received a single telegraphed word, dated Madras, and wiselyleft unsigned, but that one word was the keynote of his covetedvictory--"Arrived. "

"Ah! my lady, " he mused, casting his eyes in the direction of MadameLouison's cozy private compartment. "To-morrow at Delhi, if DouglasFraser is true to his trust, there will be the message which tells of a'bark upon the sea, ' which bears away forever all the brightness ofyour life--away from you, yes, forever! And Hawke, this smart cad, ispowerless now, and both of them are outwitted. The Baronetcy is safe thevery moment that Abercromby's work is done. I've paid Hawke now, andhe has been very naturally brought down here, out of the way. Madame!Madame! Now to settle accounts with you the very moment that Abercrombyhas reported back from Calcutta. I think I will just have a goodold-fashioned talk with Ram Lal Singh. I need his evidence to hoodwinkthis old cask of grog, Abercromby. I must blow off' his vanity in greatstyle. "

While Berthe Louison slept, while old Hugh Johnstone plotted, while RamLal Singh fumed at Delhi, and Harry Hardwicke "mourned the hopes thatleft him, " Major Alan Hawke retired to the Nirvana of a long afternoonsiesta. There was a little departing detachment on this golden afternoonat Madras--two frightened women, now gladly seeking the shelter of theircabins, as the fleet steamer Coomassie Castle turned her prow towardPalk Strait. The terrible ordeal of "passing the surf" had appalledthem, and the exhausted Nadine Johnstone at last fell asleep with herarms clasped around her sad-hearted governess. A hundred times had theyread over together the old nabob's telegram: "Going home from Calcuttato settle the Baronetcy appointment. Will meet you in Europe. " Nadine'sletter from her stern father bade her implicitly trust to her new-foundkinsman, Douglas Fraser. The old nabob's judiciously private letter hadfilled Justine Delande's sad heart with one twilight glow of happiness. A comforting cheque for one thousand pounds was contained therein. 

The words: "Your salary and expenses will be paid by me in Europe. Thisis only a little present. Another may await you and your sister, ifyou fulfill your trust, that no man, not even Douglas Fraser, meets mydaughter alone until you give her back to me. He is but my travelingagent. Nadine is in your hands alone. I have so written to her. " Witha breaking heart Justine Delande kissed her beloved gage d'amour, thediamond bracelet, murmuring: "Alan! Alan! To part without even a word!"She lay with tear-stained eyes, watching the low shores of Madras fadeaway, and listened to the sleeping girl's murmur: "Harry! Harry! I oweyou my life!" Even the maid mourned a dashing Sergeant-Major! With adesperate courage, trying to fan the spark of love, which had slowlycrept into her lonely heart, Justine Delande had timidly bribed astewardess, going on shore for some last commissions, to telegraph tothe secret address at Allahabad the words: "Madras steamer CoomassieCastle, Brindisi. "

The signature, "Your Justine, " brought a grim smile to Alan Hawke'sface, the next night, when on the arrival of General Abercromby, hestationed Hugh Johnstone's secret spies on duty with the redoubtableCalcutta warrior. "By God! She is both game and true!" cried Hawke. "Here is my fortune, and Justine shall share my spoils yet!" As thespecial train rolled out into the starlit night the old nabob, in aparoxysm of delight, read in the marble house words telegraphed by thehappy-hearted Douglas Fraser, now taking up his endless deck trampon the Brindisi bound steamer. The young Scotsman, ignorant of allintrigue, was relieved to know that he had laid the firm foundation ofhis future fortunes. His last shore duty was done when he had wired tohis urgent relative in Delhi the glad tidings: "All right. CoomassieCastle. Orders strictly obeyed. "

Even the astute Alan Hawke failed, after many days of futile privateresearch, to trace the route of the train which had pulled out of Delhiin the dead of night, beat the record to Allahabad, and then, turningoff apparently for Bombay, had curved, on a loop, to the Madras line, and surpassed all speed records on the Indian Peninsula. Even when hetelegraphed to Ram Lal's friends at Madras, he could obtain no definitetrace, the railway officials were silent, and the travelers had soughtno hotel in Madras. Hugh Johnstone's well applied money had smotheredall inquiry. Even the driver and stokers of the special train never knewwho so generously presented them with a ten pound note apiece. "Somesecret service racket, " they laughed over their ale. Not a tremor ofa single muscle betrayed Major Alan Hawke when he delivered over hisofficial charge, Major General Abercromby, to Hugh Johnstone in thegolden glow of Delhi's morning. "I've kept your interests in view, " hewhispered. "The old boy's just two hundred pounds richer. And, you maybe sure, he wanted for nothing. I know all his damned old tiger andmutiny stories by heart. I'm going up to the Club for a good long sleep. My compliments to the ladies, " lightly said Alan Hawke, as he gracefullydeclined Hugh Johnstone's invitation to breakfast. Then Johnstone boreoff his purple prize, set in red and gold. 

The wide ripple of excitement caused by General Abercromby's reportedarrival had crowded the railway station. Hugh Johnstone chuckled, "Evidently Hawke knows nothing, " as the two old friends drove awayin splendid state. But Major Hawke, an hour later, at his Club, wassuddenly interrupted in a cozy breakfast by the most unceremoniousentrance of Major Harry Hardwicke, whose promotion was at last gazetted. "Hello! I see you're a Major now. Lucky devil! What can I do for you, Hardwicke?" cried Alan Hawke, eyeing the haggard and worn-looking youngofficer with a strange dawning suspicion of the truth. "Did he know, too, of the Hegira?"

Major Hardwicke threw himself down in a chair, curtly saying: "Youcan tell me who effectuated this lightning disappearance act of MadameDelande and young Miss Johnstone. "

"You speak in riddles to me, Hardwicke, " coolly said the wary Major. "I've just come in from Allahabad with General Abercromby, who is hereto settle old Johnstone's accounts. I know nothing of what you refer to. I expected to meet both the ladies at dinner to-day. "

"Then I will not uselessly take up your time, Major Hawke, " gloomilyrejoined Hardwicke, as he picked up his sword, and, with a cold formalbow, quitted the room. 

"I must watch this young fool, " growled Alan Hawke. "Thank my luckystars, the woman is far away! But, he's well connected, has a brilliantrecord, and is a V. C. Now for Berthe Louison and the fireworks! But, first, old Ram Lal! They bowled the old boy out! I suppose that he hasalready told Alixe Delavigne that she has been outwitted. I hold thetrump cards now! No single word without its golden price! I must notmake one false step! As to the club men, I only join in the generalwonder. " He made a careful and very studied toilet and sauntered out ofthe club en flaneur, and then stealthily betook himself to the pagodain Ram Lal's garden, where his innocent dupe had so often waited for himwith a softly beating heart. 

"I'm glad the girl is gone, " mused Alan Hawke. "If she were here, thechorus hymning Hardwicke's perfections might set her young heart onfire. " He was, as yet, ignorant of the tender bond of gratitude fastripening into Love. For, Love, that strange plant, rooted in the humanheart, thrives in absence, and, watered by the tears of sorrow andadversity, fills the longing and faithful heart, in days of absence, with its flowers of rarest fragrance and blossoms of unfading beauty. Nadine Johnstone, speeding on over sapphire seas, had already conqueredthe tender secret of the simple Justine Delande's heart; and in her ownloving day-dreams:

"Aye she loot the tears down fa' for Jock o' Hazeldean!"

"I must see him again! I must see him!" she fondly pledged her waitingheart. With the serpent cunning of a loving maiden, she brooded like adove with tender eyes, and so in her heart of hearts, determined todraw forth from her stalwart cousin, Douglas Fraser, the secret of theirfuture destination. And the honest fellow became even as wax inher hands; while the gloomy Hardwicke, in far-away Delhi, eyed theparchment-faced Hugh Johnstone in mute wonder, at the long officialreception in the Marble House. "Will he not vouchsafe to me even oneword of thanks?" thought the young man, in an increasing wonder. 

But, Ram Lal Singh, when Major Alan Hawke drew him into the sanctumbehind the shop, showed a dark face, seamed with lines of care. "Therewill be some terrible happening!" muttered the smooth old Mohammedan. 

He had good gift of the world's gear, and now preferred the role of foxto lion. "She knows nothing as yet. I waited till I could see you. Idared not to tell her. She only fancies that this official visit of theGeneral-Sahib from Calcutta will, of course, take up all their time atthe marble house. But she begs me to watch them all, and she has givenme some little presents--money presents. " Hawke winced, but in silence. His employer trusted him not. Here was proof positive. 

"How in the devil's name did they get away without you knowing of it?"demanded Hawke. "If you are lying to me, Ram Lal, we may lose both ourpickings from this fat pagoda tree. You see old Johnstone may slip awayafter the girl. He may leave here with Abercromby. "

The jewel merchant's eyes gleamed with a smoldering fire. "JohnstoneSahib will not leave Delhi. It is in the stars! He has too much hereto leave. There are many old ties which bind. No, he will not go likea thief in the night. " Hawke was surprised at the old rascal's evidentemotion. 

"Then tell me what you think about the disappearance of these women, "said Hawke, watching him keenly. 

"I have seen all my friends in the station, even the mail clerks, telegraph men, and all, " began Ram Lal. "A train 'on governmentservice'--a special--came in that night from Allahabad at ten o'clock. Then two small trains were kept in waiting for some hours; one left forSimla before daylight, and the other drew out for Allahabad. There was acrowd of ladies, officers' ladies, and some children and servants inthe waiting-room. They like to travel at night in the cool shade. Noone knew them. Now, at Allahabad, the east-bound train could branch offeither for Calcutta, Madras, or Bombay. "

"So you know not which way these women fled?" The old merchant seemedabsolutely at sea. As Hawke shook his head the story was soon finished. 

"My men at the marble house tell me that a strange young man arrived atten o'clock. He was admitted by Simpson, the private man of JohnstoneSahib. The Swiss woman talked with him alone a half hour in the library, and then Johnstone's daughter came down there, but only for a fewmoments. My men watched him writing and reading papers in the library;then they all went away. "

"That is all. I slipped into the house when Simpson went away next day. He often goes out to drink secretly, and he has a pretty Eurasian friendor two, besides, down in the quarter. " Ram Lal winked significantly. "Iwent all over the upper part of the house myself. The women's rooms wereleft just as if they had gone out for a drive along the Jumna. If theytook anything it was only a few hand parcels. Now you know all that Iknow. No one ever saw the strange man before. And these people are gonefor good, that is all. Go now to the Mem-Sahib at the Silver Bungalow. Ifear her. But tell me what I must say to her. " The old man was evidentlyin a mortal fear. "There is that French devil--that old soldier. He isa fighting devil, that one, and the woman a tiger. The lady herself is atiger of tigers!"

"Say nothing, Ram Lal, " soothingly said Hawke. "Leave it all to me. Isee it. Old Johnstone has sent the girl to the hills to keep her awayfrom the young fellows who will crowd the house, while this GeneralAbercromby is here. There'll be drink and cards, and God knows whatelse. "

"I know, " grinned Ram Lal. "I knew old Johnstone in the old days, aman-eater, a woman-killer, a cold-hearted devil, too! What does he dowith this General?" The jewel merchant's eyes blazed. 

"Oh! Buying his new title with some official humbug or another. I don'tknow. Perhaps he is really settling his accounts, " laughed Hawke. 

"I have a little account of my own to settle with him! I will see him atonce! He, too, may slip away and follow his girl to the hills, " quietlysaid Ram Lal. "I know his past. He is never to be trusted--not for amoment--as long as he is alive!" Alan Hawke stared in wonder at Ram Lal, who humbly salaamed, when he closed:

"See the woman over there--come back, and tell me what I must do or say. You and I are comrades, " the jewel seller leeringly said, "and we mustlie together! All the world are liars-and half of the world lives bylying. " with which sage remark the old curio seller betook himself tohis narghileh. 

In a half an hour, Major Alan Hawke was wandering through the garden ofthe Silver Bungalow with Alixe Delavigne at his side. Behind them, at adiscreet distance, sauntered Jules Victor, his dark eyes most intentlyfixed upon the promenaders. Madame Delavigne was pleased to becheerfully buoyant. She had silently listened to Hawke's recital ofthe probable causes of General Abercromby's visit. "I could see thatJohnstone evidently wished to occupy us both at Allahabad. Your conductwas discretion itself! Have you seen him yet? Or the ladies?" She eyedher listener keenly. 

"No, Madame, " frankly said Hawke. "There is all manner of officialjunketing on here now. I am not, of course, to be officially included, as I am not on the staff of either the visiting or commanding general. Imust wait until I am invited--if I am!" he hesitatingly said. "You knowthat my rank is--to say the least--shadowy!" The lady passed over thissemi-confession in silence. 

"It is not like Johnstone to let Nadine meet all the gay coterie whichwill fill the great halls, " mused Madame Delavigne. "I suppose that thedear child will have a week of 'marble prison' in her rooms, with onlythe governess. I think I shall let General Abercrornby leave before Icall. What do you advise? Johnstone has always ignored the ladies ofDelhi!"

"I really am powerless to counsel you, " said Major Hawke gravely, "as Iam outside of the circle. I would watch this man keenly. He bears you nogood will. And now--what shall I do? Did your business at Calcutta bringme the summons to action?" There was no undue eagerness in his voice. Hewas gliding into a safe position for the future eclaircissement. 

"Not yet. But it will come! It will come--as soon as this General goes. For I now will demand the right to drop Berthe Louison, and to be my ownself. To be Alixe Delavigne to one bright, loving human soul only, inthis land of arid solitudes, of peopled wastes. The land of the worn, scarred human nature, which, blind, creedless, and hopeless, staggersalong under the burden of misery under the menace of the Britishbayonet. "

"When do you leave it?" quietly asked the cautious Major. 

"When my work is done!" the resolute woman replied. "I am here for peaceor war! We have only crossed swords! I do not trust this man a moment!He is capable of any foul deed! Now, you must keenly watch the clubs, the social life. Find out all you can! Come to me here every night atten. If I suddenly need you, then I will send Ram Lal!"

"By day or night I am ready!" gravely said Major Hawke. "I do not liketo intrude upon you, " he hesitatingly said. 

"You will win your spurs yet in my service!" said Alixe. "The realstruggle is to come yet. I am only knocking at the door of Nadine'sheart. And the old nabob is but half conquered. "

Major Hawke, with a bow, retired and wended his way to the Club, wherehe spent an hour in preparing a careful letter to Euphrosyne Delande. It was a careful document, intended to prudently open communication withJustine through the Halls of Learning on the Rue du Rhone, Geneva, buta little sealed inclosure to Justine was the grain of gold in all thecomplimentary chaff. "Her own heart, poor girl, will tell her what todo, " said Hawke, as he departed and registered the letter himself. 

The passing cortege of General Abercromby, returning the visit of thelocal chief, excited Hawke's attention. He caught a glimpse of thesilver-haired millionaire whom two widely different natures haddenounced that day as "being capable of anything. "

"And so old Ram Lal has it 'in for him, ' too! What can he mean?"

With a sudden impulse Major Hawke drove back and made a formal call uponthe ladies at the Marble House. He was astounded when old Simpson, witha grudging welcome, openly announced that the ladies were permanentlynot at home. "Gone to the hills for a month or two, " curtly repliedthe veteran servant, and then, on a silver tray, the butler decorouslyhanded to Major Alan Hawke a sealed letter. "I was to seek you out atthe Club, sir, as this letter is important. I take the liberty to giveit to you now. It was the master's orders: 'That I give it into your ownhands!'"

Major Alan Hawke's face darkened as he read the curt lines penned byHugh Johnstone himself. With a smothered curse he thrust the letter inhis pocket. "Both of them are trying to keep me in the dark, I'll letMadame Berthe Louison run her own head into the trap. Then, when shepays, I will talk, but not till then. " The careful lines stated that fora week the writer would be greatly engrossed with private matters, andat home to no one. "I will send for you as soon as I am able to see you, upon some new business matters. "

The last clause was significant enough. "He prepared this to give mea social knockout!" coolly said the renegade. "All right! But wait!By Gad! I fancy I'll take a cool revenge in joining Ram Lal and BertheLouison. Suppose that the old duffer were put out of the way? Could Ithen count on Justine, and my wary employer? There is a storm brewing, and breakers ahead. I must soon get my 'retaining fee' from the lady ofthe Silver Bungalow or I may lose it forever! And I will let her uncoverthe empty bird's nest herself! She must not suspect me!" And yet thecurt letter of the old civilian wounded him to the quick. "What doesthis jugglery mean? He ought to fear me, by this time, just a little! Heintends to crush Berthe Louison by some foul blow, and then will hedare to begin on me? I will double forces with Ram Lal. That's my onlyalliance!" The Major's soul was up in arms. 

When the splendid reception at General Willoughby's was over, HughJohnstone cautiously approached Major Hardwicke. "I am just told thatGeneral Abercromby will remain and dine 'en famille' with his oldbrother in arms. Will you drive with me to my house? I have something ofa private nature to say to you. I can give you a seat in my carriage. "Major Hardwicke bowed and, obtaining his conge, sat in expectant waitinguntil the two men were comfortably seated in Johnstone's snuggery in thedeserted mansion. They talked indifferently over Abercromby's arrivaltill Simpson announced dinner. 

"I would like you to dine with me, Major Hardwicke, " said the oldCommissioner, "for I have something now to say to you. " He rang a silverbell, and, whispering to Simpson, faced his young visitor, who had bowedin acceptance. The butler returned in a few moments with a superb Indiansaber, sheathed in gold, and shimmering with splendid jewels. He stood, mute, as Johnstone gravely said: "I learned from Simpson, on my returnfrom Calcutta, of your prompt gallantry in aiding my daughter in herhour of peril. " He continued, "Simpson alone, was left to tell me, asI have sent the child away to the hills for a couple of months. Forreasons of my own, I do not care to have a motherless girl exposed tothe indiscriminate hubbub of merely official society. The young ladywill probably not remain in India. I therefore sent them all away beforethis official visit, which would have forced a child, almost yet aschool girl, out into the glare of this local junketing, " he said withfeeling. 

"Take this saber, Major. It was given up by Mir-zah Shah, a WarriorPrince, in old days, so the legend goes. It is the sword of a king'sson. It will recall your own saber play so neatly conceived, and, as apersonal reminder, wear this for me! It is a rare diamond, which I havetreasured for many years. And its old Hindustanee name was 'Bringer ofProsperity. '" Hardwicke bowed, and murmured his thanks. 

The nabob slipped a superb ring from his finger, and then, as if hehad relieved his mind forever of a painful duty, dismissed the subject, almost feverishly entertaining his solitary guest at the splendid feastwhich had been prepared for General Abercromby. It was late when thestrangely assorted convives separated. "I will now send Simpson homewith you, in my carriage, " solicitously remarked Johnstone, as the hourgrew late. "There is a prince's ransom on that sword--and, you did notbring your noble charger! You must treat him well for my sake--for mydaughter's sake!"

"Will Miss Johnstone return soon?" said the heart-hungry lover, catchingat this last straw. 

"It is undetermined! I may send them home in a few months. But, if Ihave any little influence left, 'at Headquarters, ' that shall always beexerted for you. I am always glad to meet you, your father's son, forColonel Hardwicke was a true soldier of the olden days--brave, loyal, and beyond reproach. "

The lover's beating heart was smothered in this flowing honey. "Ah! Imust trust to Simpson!" he mused. "The old man is a sly one!"

Politely bowed out by the stern, lonely old man, Major Hardwickedeparted, his conversational guns spiked with the deft compliments, asthe mighty clatter of the returning General filled the courtyard of theMarble House. 

In the soft, wooing stillness of the night, Simpson, at the youngMajor's side, found time to whisper: "Never let the Guv'nor see ustogether! He's a sly one! There's a honey-baited trap in this! Thegirl's been spirited off to Europe! I only know that--but, as yet, nomore. "

"What do you mean? Is he lying to me?" gasped Hardwicke, with a sinkingheart. 

"Rightly said!" huskily whispered Simpson. "Seek for her--Londonways--I'll find it out soon where she is, and I'm just scholar enough towrite! Give me your own safe London address! I heard ye would soon takeyer long leave. Bless her sweet soul! I'll tell ye now! She whispered tome: 'Tell him--tell Major Hardwicke--he'll hear from me himself, even ifI was at the very end of the earth! and give him this!'" The frightenedservant thrust a little packet into the officer's hand. "It was the onlychance she had. "

"That Swiss woman watched her every moment, and the man--the one thefather sent from Calcutta. There was a telegram to her. I gave it to hermyself! Major, my oath--they're on the blue water, now! I'll watch andcome to you! Don't leave Delhi till I post you!"

"You're a brave fellow, Simpson. Keep this all quiet, " softly said MajorHardwicke. "I'll follow your advice, and I'll not leave here till I knowmore from you. I'll follow her to Japan, but I'll see her again. "

"That's the talk, Major!" cried the happy old soldier, who feltsomething crisp in his hand now. "Distrust old Hugh! He'll lie to ye andtrap ye! Watch him! He's capable of anything. " The carriage then stoppedwith a crash and Hardwicke sprang out lightly. "Make no sign! Trust tome! I'll come to ye!" was Simpson's last word. 

Before Simpson had discovered in the marble house the pleasing figureson a ten-pound note, Harry Hardwicke, striding up and down his room, inall the ecstasy of a happy lover, had kissed a hundred times a littlesilver card case--a mere school girl's poor treasure, but pricelessnow--for within it was a hastily severed tress of gold-brown hair, tiedwith a bit of blue ribbon. A scrap of paper in penciled words brought tohim "Confirmation stronger than Holy Writ. " "I will write or telegraphwhen not watched. Do not forget. --Nadine. "

The words of the old servitor returned to the soldier in a grim warning. "He is capable of anything. "

"So am I, " cried Harry as his heart leaped up. "I will find her wereshe at the North Pole. He cannot hide her from me. Love laughs atlocksmiths!"

If the would-be Sir Hugh Johnstone had heard the three verdicts ofthe hostile critics of his being "capable of anything, " he might havelaughed in defiance, but after several friendly "night caps" with theslightly jovial General Abercromby, it might have seriously disturbedthe host to know what hidden suspicions the Viceroy's envoy had broughtback from a very secret conference with that acute old local commander, Willoughby. 

"It sounds all very well, Abercromby, my old friend, " said Willoughby, "but Johnstone, or old Fraser, as we call him, is a hitman shark!Without a list or some general details, he will surely rob the crown ofone-half the jewels, you may be sure. His cock and bull story of theirrecovery is too pellucid. It's Hobson's choice, though. That or nothing. He, of course, slyly claims to have only lately made this bunglingaccidental recovery. If the return is a really valuable one, then allyou can officially do is to accept it. But be wary! I can give you somefriendly aid here, when you get all the returned treasure. I'll giveyou a captain's guard here. Bring all here at once. We, you, and I, willseal it up, and I'll have old Ram Lal Singh secretly come here and valuethem. He's the best judge of gems in India, and he was once an officialin the Royal Treasure Chamber of the old King of Oude. Less than fiftythousand pounds worth as a return would be a transparent humbug, andbesides you can delay your signature for a day or so, till you and I, after listing the gems, see this old expert and have him examine them inour presence. No one need know of it but you and I, and His excellency, the Viceroy. As for Hugh Johnstone, he is simply capable of anything. Itold the Viceroy's aid, Anstruther, so. And I'll be damned glad to getJohnstone out of my bailiwick, that I will. "

With which vigorous "flea in the ear, " General Willoughby dismissed hisstartled comrade to the society of his crafty old host. And, that night, strange dreams of unrest haunted the "modern Major General" in themarble house, while singularly gloomy misgivings weighed down thebrave-hearted Berthe Louison, now heart-hungry for a sight of the doublybeloved child of the dead lady of Jitomir. She woke in the hot andclammy night to cry "No, no! He would never dare to! She is here! Ishall go boldly and demand to see her to-morrow!" Her womanly intuitiontold her the lines were broken. 

And so, robed in fashion's shining armor, Alixe Delavigne counted themoments, until at four o'clock of the next afternoon her carriage waitedin the bower-decked oval of the marble house. A gloomy frown settledupon her face, as the impassive Hugh Johnstone approached her carriage, sun helmet in hand. She scented treachery now! There were a dozenbrilliant young officers longingly gazing at this sweet apparition inthe gloomy gardens. Even General Abercromby strutted out and displayedhimself in the foreground, as Johnstone leaned over and gravelywhispered to the pale-faced beauty:

"My daughter has been sent away from the city for her health! Herabsence is indefinite. I will see you when General Abercromby leaveshere in a week, and explain all. No, not before. It is impossible. "

With a sudden motion of her hand to Jules, Alixe Delavigne leaned back, half fainting, upon her cushions. Her agitated heart was now beating ina wild tumult of rage and baffled hatred! "Home!" she cried, and then, as the marble house was lost to view, she harshly cried: "To Ram Lal'sfirst! To the jewel store!"

There was a brooding death in her eyes when she sternly said to themerchant: "Send him to me at once! Send Hawke! Go! Waste not a moment!"

And then she swore an oath of vengeance, which would have made HughFraser Johnstone shudder, as he sat drinking champagne cup with hisguest. "One for you, my lady!" he had laughed, grimly, as the womanwhom he had tricked drove swiftly away. And the grim fates laughed too, spinning at a shortening life web. 

Major Alan Hawke was interrupted in his cosy nest at the Club by thehasty advent of Ram Lal. The old jeweler had for once abandoned all hisOriental calm, and he trembled as he muttered. "She demands you at once. I brought my own carriage. Go to her quickly. There will be a greatmonsoon of quarrel now. But her face looks as if she was stricken tothe death, and something will come of all this. You must watch like thecrouching cheetah!"

"What has happened?" anxiously cried Hawke. 

"She has just found out the women are gone! She went up to the marblehouse this afternoon, and saw the old Sahib Johnstone. He did not evenbid her to leave her carriage. One of my men ran over at once and toldme. She drove to the shop on her way homeward and sent me here. " Theblack Son of Plutus scuttled away, as if in a mortal fear. "I do notdare to face her--in her angry mood, " was Ram's last word. He was onlyaccustomed to baby-faced Hindu women of the "langorous lily" type, whohung on his every word--the mute slaves of his jaded passions. "This oneis a tigress!" he sighed, as he fled from the Club. 

"Ah! My lady is a bit rattled, " mused Hawke as the carriage sped along. "Now is the time to catch her off her guard. " And so he made himselfsleek and patient, with the surface varnish of his "society manner, "when Jules Victor, with semi-hostile eyes, ushered him into the presenceof Alixe Delavigne, still in her robes of "visitation splendor. "

"What is this devil's work done in my absence? This spiriting away ofNadine!" cried Alixe, grasping Hawke's wrist with a nervous clasp, whichmade the strong man wince. "This juggling in my absence?" Her eyes weresternly fixed on him in dawning suspicions. 

"Madame, " calmly said Alan Hawke, "if you had trusted to me, this wouldnot have happened. But you have chosen to make an enigma of yourself, from the first. I am not tired of your moods, but I am of your colddisdain, your contemptuous slighting of my useful mental powers. Youleft me with no orders. I warned you that he was capable of anything. See how he has treated me, " he continued, with a well-dissembledindignation. "He called me away to Allahabad to be bear-leader toAbercromby, and the brute has just shown me the door, to-day, openlysaying that his daughter has gone to the Hills. I believe that helies! I know that he does! If you had deigned to trust me, I wouldhave followed on her track to hell itself, but you chose to play thewoman--the catlike toying with men! Damn him! I owe him one now! Ifhe had openly entertained me in this brilliant visit, I might havere-entered the staff service--in a week. And, you threw all myexperience away in not trusting to me. "

Alixe Delavigne looked up, with one piercing glance, as she sealed anote. "Go openly to him--to Johnstone! Bring him back at once with you!He dare not disobey this! I will denounce him, now, to-day! to both thegenerals, and go to the Viceroy myself! I care not what excuse he makes!BRING HIM!"

"And so I cut the last tie that binds me to a future reinstatement foryou, a callous employer, and am left adrift without an anchor out forthe future! You know that this man is a director of the Bank of Bengal!A multi-millionaire! He will chase me from India! I might trace thegirl to her hiding-place for you! She has surely been sent home by sea!"Alixe Delavigne was gliding up and down the room as noiselessly as aserpent. She abruptly stopped her march. 

"I will find her in Europe! What do you require to follow my orders forthree months? To wait here and then to take the road or to join mein Europe! I pay all expenses and incidentals. What will make youreasonably sure against fate--in advance?"

Alan Hawke dropped his eyes. Gentleman once, he was ashamed of thesordid implied threat of abandonment. 

"Five thousand pounds!" he whispered. The stony-faced woman dashed off acheck. 

"Bring that man to me at once!" she cried, "and then go down toGrindlay's agency here, and get your money! Go openly!"

"Shall I come back with him?" demanded Hawke. 

"No, bring him here, and then excuse yourself. "

Alixe Delavigne watched the carriage dash away. Hawke was on his mettleat last, and he brutally enjoyed the little tableau, when Hugh FraserJohnstone impatiently tore open "Madame Berthe Louison's" note. Hawkeobserved significantly that he had been shown into a small room, suitedto semi-menial interviews. The additional slight maddened him. The clashof glasses and shouts of a gay crowd of military convives rose up in amerry chorus within. Across that banquet hall's draped doors the thin, invisible barrier of "Coventry" shut out the bold social renegade. "She'll have to wait, Hawke!" roughly said Hugh Johnstone, moving towardthe door. 

"By God! she shall not wait a minute, you damned old moneybags!" criedthe ruined soldier, who had long forfeited his caste--his cherishedrank. "You treated her like a brute to-day! She is a lady, and you can'tplay fast and loose with her! You insulted me by closing your damneddoor and sending me your offensive letter. Go to her now! If you do not, I'll send my seconds to you, and if you don't fight, by Heaven, I'llhorsewhip you like a drunken pandy!" and the fearless renegade barredthe door. 

"Don't be a fool, Hawke, " faltered Johnstone. "She has taken the wholething the wrong way. I'll join you in a moment. I've got these men on myhands. What did she tell you?"

"Nothing!" harshly cried Hawke, "and I wash my hands of you and her. Settle your intrigues as you will!"

Not a word was spoken, as Alan Hawke gravely opened the door to MadameBerthe Louison's reception room. Hugh Johnstone's yellow face paled asthe Major breaking the silence, coldly said: "Madame! I have broken afriendship of fifteen years to-day! Please do consider me a stranger toyou both after today!" And then he walked firmly out of the house with awarning glance to Jules Victor, lingering in the long hall. 

The quick Frenchman saw in Hawke's gesture the secret sign of a hiddenfriend, and he threw up his hand in a Parisian gesture of gratitude andcomprehension, and failed not to report to his mistress, who saw Hawke'sfine method with a secret delight. 

Hawke drove to Grindlay's agency, where, in a private room, he promptlycashed his check. 

"I'll take it in Bank of England notes!" he quietly said as the clerklifted inquiring eyes. "I am going to transact some business for thelady. "

"Now, I can defy Fate!" he exulted, when he was safe out of the bank. "She will trust me now, and old Johnstone will fear me. A case of viceversa!" And, as he drove to the Club, he murmured, "I will never leavethis fight now! Damme! I'll just go in and get the girl! Just to spitethe old coward!"

Within the dreaming shades of the gardens hiding the Silver Bungalow, there was no sign of clamor. The beautiful little jewel-box of a mansionwas apparently deserted, but a duel to the death was going on within thegreat white parlor where Hugh Johnstone stood raging at bay. He leapedup in a mad outburst of passion, when Alixe Delavigne cuttingly brokethe silence. The old nabob knew that the desperate woman in her recklessmood feared nothing. --

"You have lied to me! You have tricked me! You have sent that girlaway to Europe to hide her forever from me! I kept my pact, and, you deliberately lied!" She stood before him like an avenging fury, quivering in a passion which appalled him. But secure in his skillfulyexecuted maneuver, he reached for his hat and stick. 

"I defy you! I have no answer to your abuse! Draw off your fighting cur, Major Hawke, or I'll grind you and him in the dust!" The old man wasfrantic under the insult. He moved toward the door. 

"Stop! You go to your ruin!" cried the irate woman. "Will you give mefull access to your daughter?"

"Never! My Lady! Go and lord it over your whipped hounds in Poland--hidein your estates the price of the double shame of two most accommodatingFrenchwomen!"

"By the God who made me" she hissed, "I will bar your Baronetcy forever!I will find out that girl, and she shall learn to love me and despiseyour hated name and memory! It is open war now! and, --mark you--liar andhound, these two generals, the Viceroy, and, all India shall soon knowwhat I know!" Then, with a clang of her silver bell, she called JulesVictor to her side. "Jules, " she said, "If this person ever crosses thethreshold of my door again, shoot him like the dog he is!"

And then the black-browed Frenchman, holding open the door, hissed"ALLEZ!" as Hugh Johnstone saw for the last time the marble face of thewoman who had doomed him to shame. 

"Go and send Ram Lal to me at once!" sternly said Berthe Louison. "Thento Major Hawke. Tell him that I want him to dine with me, and I shallneed him all the evening. Order my carriage for five o'clock!"

Alan Hawke had played his best trump card, and played it well, for thewoman who had doubted him, gloried in his courage and hardihood. "Ican trust him now!" she murmured when she drove to the Delhi agencyof Grindlays and, two hours later, astounded the local manager by theexecutive rapidity of her varied business actions. 

"What's in the wind?" murmured the bank manager. "A sudden flitting!"He had been ordered to detail two of his best men to accompany MadameLouison to Calcutta, in a special car leaving at midnight. "Telegraphto your head office in Calcutta of my arrival. Major Alan Hawke willrepresent me here, under written orders to be left with your Calcuttamanager. Send this on in cipher. " She handed him a long dispatch to hischief. 

Madame Berthe Louison was seen in Delhi, in public, for the last time, as she gazed steadily at the brilliant throng on the lawns of the marblehouse. A fete Champetre had brought "all of Delhi" together, and theconspicuous absence of "the French Countess" was the reigning sensation. The tall, bent form of Hugh Fraser Johnstone was prominent reigning ashost, under a great marquee. Neither of the great generals were there, however, for Simpson had drawn Major Hardwicke aside to whisper: "Acaptain's guard came here to-day and took an enormous treasure inprecious stones up to Willoughby's Headquarters!" and the two commanderswere even then busied in listing the recovered loot, with a dozenyellow-faced Hindus and several confidential staff officers. "It's thelast act, Captain darlin', " said Simpson. "Old Hugh has given me secretorders to get ready to go on to London. He only takes his personalarticles. Young Douglas Fraser will come here and manage the Indianestates. "

"Who's he?" eagerly cried Hardwicke. 

"The fellow who carried the women away--the old man's only nephew. "

"Ah! now I see!" heavily breathed Hardwicke. "I will take the previousboat, and wait for the old man at Brindisi! Post me! I'll keep mum!"

"Depend on me for my life itself, " said Simpson; "but be prudent! Idon't want to lose my life pension. He's been a good master to me. We'vegrown old together!" sighed the gray-headed soldier. 

The frightened Ram Lal Singh was driven around Delhi this eventful daylike a hunted rat. Suddenly summoned to General Willoughby's privaterooms, escorted by a sergeant, who never left him a moment, the oldMohammedan was ushered into the presence of the two generals, whopounced upon him and showed him a great, assorted treasure in diamonds, pearls, pigeon rubies, sapphires, and emeralds of great size andrichness. They were all duly weighed and listed, and duplicate officialinvoices lay signed upon the table. 

"You were Mirzah Shah's Royal Treasure Keeper? Tell me. Are all hisjewels here? The treasure that disappeared at Humayoon's Tomb beforeHodson slew the princes in the melee?"

Ram Lal saw the frowns of men who had blown better men than himselffrom the guns in the old days, and he had a vivid memory of those samehideous scenes. 

"They are about half here in weight and number; about a quarter of thevalue. There is a hundred thousand pounds worth missing!" said thejewel dealer, gazing on the totals of numbers and weights. "The historicdiamonds, the matchless pearls, the never-equaled rubies--all thechoicest have been abstracted, and by a skillful hand!"

"Go, then!" cried Willoughby. "Seal this in your breast! Speak to no oneor you'll die in jail, wearing irons! Here!" A hundred-pound note wasthrust into his hand, and he was whirled away to his shop. 

"Ah! The gray devil! he has stolen and hidden the best! I will watch himlike a ghoul of Bowanee, and they shall be mine! He would turn tailnow and steal away!" Ram Lal laughed an oily laugh, and going to an oldcabinet, took out a heavy kreese. "The poisoned dagger of Mirzah Shah!"he smiled. "After many years!" It was Hugh Johnstone himself who soughtRam Lal in his pagoda that afternoon, and, after making some heavypurchases, finally drew out a list of jewels. 

"I wish you to certify, Ram Lal, " he cautiously said, "that theseare all the jewels of Mirzah Shah, that you handled as 'Keeper of thePrince's Treasure, ' before the Meerut mutineers rushed down upon us. "Slowly peering over the paper, the crafty Ram Lal said:

"You forget, Sahib, that I was sent away to Lucknow and Cawnpore, byMirzah Shah, with letters to Nana Sahib and Tantia Topee. I was shut outof Delhi till after the British were camped on the Windmill Ridge, andfor months I never saw the royal jewels! Every moon the list was madeanew. The mollahs and moonshees and treasurers took jewels for theZenana every moon, and for the gifts of the princes. I could not testifyto this!" The old man was on his guard. 

"I will pay you well, Ram Lal. It is my last little matter to settlewith the authorities! Then my accounts are closed forever! As Treasureryou could do this!" Old Hugh Fraser Johnstone was ignorant of the veiledscrutiny of his stewardship. 

Ram Lal raised his head, at last, with something like defiance. "Thebetter half is gone--the rarest--the richest! True, the princes may havedivided them, they may have bribed their mutineer officers with some, but, a true list may be in the hands of these Crown officers here. Theycaptured all the Palace papers. Now, I did not open them at Humayoon'sTomb. You know, " he faltered, "how they passed through your hands!"

Hugh Johnstone, for the last time tried to threaten and bully. "I willhave you punished. I paid you well--you must lie for me! We both liedthen. "

"Then the curse of Allah be upon the liar who lies now, " solemnly saidRam Lal Singh. "I will not sign! I have the savings of years to guard. You will go away and the Crown will come upon me for the missing gems. I was absent five months from the Palace when you were in BrigadierWilson's Camp! I will offer my head to these generals, but I will notsign! The Kaisar-I-Hind is just, and I will tell all!" With an oath ofsmothered rage, Hugh Johnstone strode away. 

"I must try and make a royal present to Willoughby's wife, --a timelyone--and lose a half a lac of rupees to Abercromby. They may find away to pass the matter over. " He dared not press Ram Lal to a publicexposition of all the wanderings of Mirzah Shah's jewels. "If I had nottold them that fairy tale, I might hedge; but it's too late now. I willgo down to Calcutta, see the Viceroy, and then clear out for good. AndI must placate Alan Hawke. I was a fool to ignore him. But, to make anenemy of him, on account of that damned woman, would be ruin. He chumswith Ram Lal. He might cable to Anstruther. "

In fact Alan Hawke's bold social revolt had imposed on Johnstone. "Hemight help to cover all up if I induced Abercromby to get him back onthe staff once more. I was a fool to slight him. " Hugh Fraser Johnstonewas dimly conscious that his own line of battle was wavering, and thathis flanks were unguarded--his rear unprotected. "I will only trust myhomeward pathway to Simpson, and my health is a good excuse for clearingout for good. I can easily locate on the Continent--in Belgium, orSwitzerland--and out of reach of any little trouble to come. They've noproof. This fellow has no list, thank Heaven. I'll slip down to Ceylonand catch the first boat there to Suez. Then ho for Geneva!"

But Ram Lal Singh's slight defenses fell instantly before the goldenbattering-ram of Madame Berthe Louison's direct onslaught. "I was busiedin the bazaars, buying jewels, " he expostulated, when Jules Victor ledhim into Madame Louison's boudoir. Even then Major Hawke was curiouslynoting the dismantled condition of the reception-room, where Johnstonehad at last thrown off the mask. 

"I leave Major Hawke here to close all my business, Ram Lal, " she said. "I go to Calcutta. I may be gone for some months. But I have watched youand him. You are close friends--very close friends. Now, remember thatI pay him and I pay you. I wish you to give me--to sell me--the list ofthe jewels which Johnstone took away from you and hid, when he was HughFraser. " The old scoundrel began to protest. Berthe Louison rang hersilver bell. "Jules!" she said, "I wish you to go to General Willoughbywith this letter, and tell him to send a guard here to arrest a thiefwho has government jewels. "

Ram Lal was on the floor at her feet, groveling, before she grimlysmiled, as he held out a paper, quickly extracted from his red sash. "That will do, Jules. " The Frenchman stood without the door. "You willnot run away. You are far too rich, Ram Lal. And you will be watchedevery moment. Sign and seal the list, and date it to-day. " The oldcraven begged hard for mercy. "Here is a hundred pounds. Hawke will payyou four hundred more when I am safely on the sea, but only then! Hewill close all my bills. Remember, I shall come back again. And, " shewhispered a word, "he will watch you closely. " The jeweler sealed thedocument, and scribbled his certificate. "Not one word of my business, not even to Hawke, on your life, " she said. "I shall come again! AndGeneral Willoughby will throw you in prison on a word from me. "

Major Alan Hawke was astounded, after an hour's yielding to the socialcharm of Madame Alixe Delavigne, when the happy woman led him away fromthe dinner table. "Now for a half-hour's business chat, " she gayly said. "No, no notes. We shall next meet at No. 9 Rue Berlioz, Paris. You willreceive my sealed directions from Grindlay's agent here, with funds tosettle my affairs. I go to-night to Calcutta, and thence to Europe. Obeymy orders. You will get them, sealed, from the agent here. You cancome on, by Bombay, when I cable to you. I will cable direct here toGrindlay's. They'll not lose sight of you, " she smiled. 

"And my relations with old Hugh?" he gasped in surprise. 

"Just watch him and follow him on to Europe. Neither you nor he can dome any harm, but your reward for your manly stand to-day will reach youin Paris. I knew of it. "

"Shall I not see you to the train?" Hawke stammered. 

"Ah!" she smiled, extending her hand warmly, "I have a double guard andmy servants. I will be met at Calcutta, and I go on my way safely now towork a slow vengeance!"

CHAPTER X. A CAPTIVATED VICEROY. 

There were several "late parties" in sumptuous Delhi, on the eveningwhen Madame Berthe Louison drove quietly to the railway station at twoo'clock. A little knot of tired officials were still on duty, and whensome forerunner had given a private signal, a single car, drawn by apowerful locomotive, glided out of the darkness. 

In a few moments a dozen trunks and a score of bags and bundles weretossed aboard the baggage van. Five persons stepped nimbly aboard, andthen with no warning signal, the Lady of the Silver Bungalow was borneout into the darkness, racing on toward Calcutta with the swiftness ofthe wind. 

Jules Victor, vigorous and alert, after several cups of cafe noir, welldashed with cognac, disposed his two Lefacheux revolvers in readiness, and then betook himself to a nap. His bright-eyed wife was in thecompartment with her beautiful mistress, and ready to sound a shrillGallic alarm at any moment. She gravely eyed the two escorting officialsof the bank. Marie said in her heart that "all men were liars, " and shebelieved most of them to be voleurs, in addition. Jules, when the littletrain was whirling along a-metals a score of miles away from Delhi, relaxed his Zouave vigilance, and bade a long adieu to Delhi, in avigorous grunt. "Va bane! Sacre Canaille!"

There was silence at the railway station when the head agent wearilysaid, "I suppose the Bank is moving a lot of notes back to Calcutta!They are a rum slick lot, these money changers!" When all was left indarkness, save where a blinking red and white line signal still showed, Ram Lal Singh crept away from the line of the rails. The rich jewelvender clutched in his bosom the handle of Mirzah Shah's poisoneddagger, the deadly dagger of a merciless prince. 

He had long pondered over the sudden demand made upon him by the Lady ofthe Silver Bungalow. And he greatly desired to re-adjust his relationswith Hugh Johnstone and Major Alan Hawke. The daily usefulness of "Lyingas a Fine Art" was never before so apparent to Ram Lal. He slunk away onfoot to his own bit of a zenana. 

"I must try to deceive them both! Fool that I was not to see it before!These two Generals are her friends, of old! The secret protector of thewonderful moon-eyed beauty here is General Willoughby, and the otherGeneral will secretly help her down at Calcutta. She came up here, secretly, to see her old lover Willoughby, and that is why she would beable to have a guard arrest me. For she said just what they said aboutthe prison. Willoughby goes down often to Calcutta! Ah! Yes! They areall the same, these English! Fools! Not to lock their women up, whenthey have once bought them, with a secret price! And now, Hawke mustnever know of this paper I gave her. She would find out, and then havethe General punish me. Now I know why she went not to the great EnglishMem-Sahibs here! And these two great General Sahibs have had her spyupon this old man, Hugh Fraser--the man who would steal away with theQueen's jewels. They would have them. By Bowanee! I will have themfirst! For I can hide them where they never will find them! I will tradethem off to the Princes, who know the old jewels of Oude. They willgive me double weight, treble value. " Ram Lal crept into his hiddenlove nest, his skinny hand clutching the golden shaft of Mirzah Shah'sdagger. "I might surrender them later and get an enormous reward fromthe Crown, " he mused. 

At the Delhi Club, Major Alan Hawke, in a strange unrest, paced hisfloor half the night. "I stand now nearly eleven thousand pounds tothe good, with outlying counties to hear from, as the Yankees say. " Hesmiled, "that is, if the old fox does not stop these drafts. If he does, I'll stop him!" he swore. And yet, he was troubled at heart. "I knowAlixe Delavigne will call me back and pay me well. How did she find outabout my bold bluff to Johnstone? Some servant may have overheard, andshe is a deep one. She may even have her own spies there!"

"Justine, I can count on you to help me later. But, how to treat oldHugh?" His dreams of an army reinstatement came back to worry him. "Imight go to Abercromby and warn him about Johnstone. Damn it! I'veno proof as yet! Berthe Louison will fire the great gun herself. " Therenegade fell asleep, torturing himself about the needless breach withJohnstone. "All violence is a mistake!" he muttered, half asleep. "Theangry old man will keep me away from the girl forever, and the old bruteis going to Europe. I have spoiled one game in taking one trick tooroughly. "

Another "late party" was at Major Hardwicke's quarters, where the loyalSimpson related to the lover all the gossip of Johnstone and GeneralAbercromby, over their brandy pawnee and cheroots. Simpson was the eagerservitor of the young engineer, whom he loved. 

General Willoughby had a little fit of "work" which seized upon him, andso he toiled till late at night, sending some cipher dispatches to theViceroy. "I may make a point in this, perhaps a C. B. , " said the oldveteran, who was sharper when drunk than sober. "I'll put a pin inJohnstone's game, and get ahead of Abercromby. " This last old warriorhad secretly vowed to force Hugh Fraser Johnstone to present him to the"little party in the Silver Bungalow. " The Calcutta general was a Knightof Venus, as well as a Son of Mars, and had guarded memories ofsome wild episodes of his own there in the halcyon days of the greatchieftain who had builded it. A gay young staff officer whispered:

"Alan Hawke is the only one who really has the 'open sesame. ' He knowsthat 'little party. ' Didn't you see Johnstone hurry her away? The oldnabob, too, is sly. "

"Ah!" mused the General. "I'll make Johnstone have Hawke here tobreakfast. Devilish clever fellow--and he'll take me there!" Alas! forthese rosy anticipations. The "little party" was already at Allahabadbefore the gouty general awoke from his love dream. 

And, last of all the "late parties" on this eventful night was HughFraser Johnstone's little solitary council of war. He had, with aprescience of coming trouble, detailed two of his own keenest personalservants to watch the Silver Bungalow, from daylight, relieving eachother, and never losing sight a moment of the hidden tiger's den. "I'llfind out who goes and comes there! By God! I will!" he raged. After along cogitation, he evolved a "way out" of his quarrel with Hawke. "Damnthe fellow! I must not drive him over into the enemy's camp. I'll havehim here--to breakfast, to-morrow. The jewels are safely out of theway now. For a few pounds he will watch this she-devil, and that yellowthief, Ram Lal, for me. My only danger is in their coming together. I'll get a note to him early. " Seizing his chit-book, he dashed off ina frankly apologetic way a few lines. "There! That'll do! Not too much!"He read his lines with a final approval. 

"Dear Hawke: I've been worried to death with a lot of people thrust onme. Mere figure-heads. You must excuse an old friend--an old man--andMadame Louison is like all women--only a bundle of nerves. Come over tothe house to-day at noon and breakfast with Abercromby and myself alone. I'll send you back to Calcutta with him on a little run. I appreciateyour manliness in keeping out of my little misunderstanding with theMadame. By the way, a few words from Abercromby to the Viceroy wouldput you back on the Army Staff, where you rightly belong. Let bygones bebygones, and you can make your play on the General, It's the one chanceof a life. Come and see me. J. "

"There! He will never show that!" mused Hugh Johnstone. "It touches hisone little raw spot!" And calling a boy the old Commissioner dispatchedthe note, carefully sealed, to the Club. The last one to seek his restin the marble house, old Johnstone was strangely shaken by the events ofthe day. 

Berthe Louison's threats, Ram Lal's stubborn refusal, and the uselessquarrel with Hawke had unmanned him. He drank a strong glass of grog andthen sought his room. "All things settle themselves at last! This thingwill blow over! I wish to God that she was out of the way! I could thenhandle the rest!" For in his heart he feared the defiant woman. 

There were two men equally surprised when gunfire brought the "day'sdoings" on again in lazy, luxurious Delhi. Over his morning coffee, Major Alan Hawke thankfully cried: "I am a very devil for luck! This oldskinflint is opening his bosom and handing me a knife. By God! I'll havemy pound of flesh!" He leaped from his couch as blithe as a midshipmanreceiving his first love letter from a fullgrown dame. There was greatjoy in the house of Hawke. 

But when Simpson entered his master's room he was followed by awild-eyed returning emissary, who waited till the old soldier had leftthe room. Hugh Johnstone suddenly lost all interest in the breakfasttray, the letters and his morning toilet, when the Hindu fearfully said:"They are all gone--the Mem-Sahib, the two foreign devils, and all theirbelongings!"

Johnstone was on his feet with a single bound. "Gone! What do you tellme, you fool?" He was shaking the slim-boned native as if he were a manof straw. 

"They went to the railroad at two o'clock at night, the coachman toldme. We only began our watch by your orders at daybreak. She had beenthen gone four hours. " Johnstone foamed in an impotent rage. 

"Who is left in the house?" he roared. 

"Nobody, Sahib. " tersely said the Hindu. 

"Get out and send me Simpson!" the old man sternly said. "Go back andwatch that house till I have you relieved. Tell me everyone who goes inor out!"

And then the horrible fear that Willoughby or Abercromby had deceivedhim, began to dawn upon his excited mind. "Simpson, " he cried, "there'sa good fellow! Take the first trap and get over to Major Hawke. Tell himthat I must see him here, at once, on the most important business. Hemust come. Then get to Ram Lal, and bring him yourself to your own room. Let me know, privately, when he is there. Never mind my dressing. Sendme a couple of the others. Is the General awake?"

"Just coming down for his ride! Horses ordered in half an hour!"

Simpson fled away, muttering, "Hardwicke must know of this!"

Hugh Johnstone fancied that he was dreaming when he met his officialguest, refreshed and jovial, but still under the spell of Venus. 

"See here, Hugh!" said the gallant Abercromby. "I want you to presentme to that stunning woman over there, at the Silver Bungalow, you know. They tell me she's the Queen of Delhi. You old rascal, I'm bound to knowher! Can't we have a little breakfast there, under the rose?" A lastdesperate expedient occurred to Johnstone. His baronetcy was in dangernow. 

"There's but one man in Delhi can bring you within the fairy circle. That's Hawke--a devilish good officer too, by the way! Ought to be backon the 'Temporary Staff, ' at least! He comes here to breakfast! I'llturn you over to him. He manages all the lady's private affairs. He isyour man. "

General Abercromby turned a stony eye upon his host. "Does Willoughby gothere?" he huskily whispered. 

"Never crossed the line! Hawke is far too shy. You see, Willoughby hasnot recognized Major Hawke's rank and past services!"

"Ah!" said the jealous warrior. "If Hawke is the man you say he is, Ican get the Viceroy to give him a local rank, in two weeks! Send himdown with me to Calcutta!" and the gay old would-be lover jingled awayon his morning ride. 

"This may be my one anchor of safety!" gasped the wondering Johnstone, as Alan Hawke came dashing into the grounds. In half an hour, thebroken entente cordiale was restored, and Johnstone had slipped away andquestioned the wary Ram Lal. 

"All I know is that the lady hired the house temporarily from me, I amagent for Runjeet Hoy, who owns it now. She went without a word, andgave me three hundred pounds yesternight, for her rent and supplies. Iasked the Mem-Sahib no questions. She went away all by herself, in themiddle of the night. "

"Ah! You know nothing more?" sharply queried Johnstone. 

"Of course not! I thought you, or Hawke Sahib, or General Wilhoughby, was a secret friend. " Slyly said Ram Lal. 

"She owes you nothing? You do not expect her to return?" the nabobcried. 

"I think she has gone to Calcutta! She came from there. "

"Come to-night, privately, Ram Lal. I'll show you how to get in. Justtap at my bedroom window three times. Come secretly, at eleven o'clock, and find out all you can. Wait in the garden till the house is dark. I'll pay you well, " continued Johnstone, leading the old jeweler to hisbedroom. "I will leave this one window unfastened. So you can come in!The room will be dark!"

"The Sahib shall be obeyed!" said Ram Lal, salaaming to the ground, andhe was happy at heart as he glided out of the garden. A ferocious smileof coming triumph gleamed in his dark face. "I have him now! He willnever slip away in the night! But I must please him, and lie to him!" Itwas the chance for which he had vainly waited there many years, and RamLal prayed to great Bowaaee to aid him. 

"Hawke!" said Johnstone, when his astounded listener heard all ofJohnstone's proposed infamy. "I have telegraphed to Allahabad andCalcutta. This strange woman has gone down there. Now, I want you tofall in with Abercromby. He will go down in a few days. Bring themtogether in any way you can. The General and the beauty. No fool likean old fool!" he grinned. "Watch them and post me! Abercromby is alreadywell disposed to you. Make a play on him. He will get you a temporaryrank from the Viceroy. 

"Your matchless knowledge of the Himalayas and the whole northernfrontier will earn you a regular rank. Coddle Anstruther, too, and clingto the Vice-roy! I'll back you with any money you need. It's the onechance of a life!"

"And what am I to do for you, Johnstone?" quietly said the delightedHawke. 

"Just stand by me about this baronetcy, and bamboozle this damnedfoolish woman, while I slip quietly away to Europe! She is mercurialand vain. Abercromby will get her into the fast Calcutta set, after onenecessary appearance at the Viceroy's! She is, after all, only a woman. You can catch them with a feather, if you can catch them at all! Onceproperly launched by Abercromby, you are a made man for life! He willnot dare to 'go back on you!' as our Yankee cousins have it. The Viceroywill do anything for him!"

"By God! Johnstone! I'm your man! Count on me in life and death!" warmlycried Hawke. The two men clasped hands. 

There was a clatter and a jingle. The old warrior was on his return. "Here he comes now! Fall in with his humor, and success to you atCalcutta, " whispered Johnstone. There was the very jolliest breakfastimaginable at the marble house that day, and that same afternoon Major. Alan Hawke rode all over Delhi as volunteer aide to General Abercromby. 

Two nights later General Abercromby whispered to Hugh Johnstone, at aGrand Ball at Willoughby's Headquarters: "I've just had a telegram fromthe Viceroy to return at once. Your matter is now all right. I leave theproperty with Willoughby here. I'll go down in the morning, if you'llfix me up. " And then, Johnstone signing to Major Alan Hawke, who hadbeen the cynosure of all eyes, as he gracefully led Madame la GenerateWilloughby through a lanciers, took the favorite of fortune aside. 

"Make your adieux! Get out of here! Settle all your little affairs! Sendall your traps over to my house! General Abercromby wants to slip awayquietly in the morning! No one is to know! And you go with him, at hisurgent request. "

And that very evening at Calcutta, Alixe Delavigne would have laughedin triumph to know of Hugh Johnstone's strange eagerness to dispatchhis amorous guest. For the lady--in the safe haven of the great banker'shome--had just returned from a captivated Viceroy, who had instantlyrecalled Abercrornby by a dispatch to be "obeyed forthwith. "

"You, Madame, have laid me under an obligation which I can neverforget, " said the graceful statesman. The list of Ram Lal was in hishands now! And so Hugh Johnstone was highly pleased, and MadameBerthe Louison, still in her masquerade, was happy, and the watchfulCommanding-General Willoughby was more than pleased; and the now doublyhopeful Major Alan Hawke rejoiced, while General Abercromby knew thatthe "little party" was waiting him in Calcutta. But most of all pleasedwas Ram Lal Singh, clutching in his dreams at the dagger of Mirzah Shah, lying there by his bedside. "He will be left alone, and he knows mysignal--his own device--THREE TAPS AT HIS WINDOW! In Delhi there onlylingered, sad and lonely, Major Harry Hardwicke, whose sighs were echoedback from afar by a starry-eyed girl watching the sandy shores of theSuez Canal. 

"I dare not telegraph to him till we reach Brindisi, " mused the lovinggirl. "After that our path will be plain, and Justine MUST help me! Thenhe can follow me--if he loves me!" She faltered, hiding her blushingface. The only comforter of the lonely Hardwicke was "Rattler Murray. "Red Eric, of the Eighth Lancers, had just fallen into a pot of money. 

"Take your long leave, my boy!" he cried. "I've been nine long yearsa Lieutenant! I'll have my troop before my leave is out! And there'sa loving lass awaiting me! One I love--one who loves me--one you mustknow, for you must be the 'best man'!"

"Wait, only wait a couple of weeks, Eric!" said the Major, whose eyeswere now turned daily to Simpson. "Then I'll put in my own application, and we'll go home together. "

This bright hope was duly pledged in many a loving cup. 

General Abercromby was far away on the road to Calcutta whenMajor-General Willoughby sent, posthaste, for Major Harry Hardwicke ofthe Corps of Engineers. The puzzled Commanding General was racking hisbrains to find out if his old friend Abercromby had committed any fatalerror during his somewhat bacchanalian visit on "special duty. "

"I'm glad he is gone" mused the stout-hearted, thick-headed oldCommander, as he read, over and over, the Viceroy's cipher dispatch tothe departed General. 

"Do nothing further! Turn over all property, on invoice, to GeneralWilloughby, and report here forthwith. Hold no communication withJohnstone, and guard an absolute silence. Report in person, instantly onyour arrival. "

"Something has surely gone wrong!" at last decided Willoughby. "Old HughFraser Johnstone may have been too much for him. Strange, the Viceroysays nothing of him!" And then he read a second dispatch, with theViceroy's orders to himself. "Notify Major Harry Hardwicke, RoyalEngineers, to report in person, to the Viceroy for special duty, prepared to go in a week to England on duty. Absolute secrecy required. His leave application will be approved for any period, to take effect onhis completion of duties assigned, in London. Special cipher orders willbe sent to him this A. M. Deliver them and furnish him the code No. 2. No copies to be retained. Furnish Major Hardwicke with a captain andten picked men to escort the property received by General Abercromby toCalcutta. Invoices to you to be signed by him. Property to be sentdown in sealed pay-chests, with your seal and Major Hardwicke's. Reportcompliance, and telegraph in cipher No. 2 Hardwicke's departure forCalcutta. Special transportation has been ordered. "

"There, my boy, you have your orders!" an hour later said GeneralWilloughby when Major Hardwicke reported. "I am glad to have thewhole thing off my hands. Here is the double-ciphered code. You are totranslate for yourself, and, remember, then destroy your translation. Remember, also, one single whisper of your destination, and you area ruined man! Evidently the Viceroy is bent on trapping old HughJohnstone. Damn him, for a sneaking civilian! I never trusted him!" Andthe old General rolled away for his family tiffin. "I'll see you whenyou have translated the private orders. Thank God, the Viceroy keeps meout of this dirty muddle! You see, I have no power over Johnstone--heis a blasted civilian. " Two hours later, the grateful old General foundHardwicke pacing up and down impatiently. "I ought only to tell Murray, "he murmured, "if I could! He is going home to be married, and I am tostand up with him. "

"Just the thing!" gayly cried Willoughby. "Murray's captaincy is in theGazette of to-day's mail. I will order him down with you, in commandof the guard, and, at Calcutta, the Viceroy will release you from yourpromise, so as to let him know that you can meet him in London. HisExcellency evidently wants to hoodwink all the gossips here, and, aboveall, to blind old Johnstone. Now, Harry, I feel like a brute to let yougo without a poor send-off, but, by Heaven, the whole Willoughby clanwill follow you in London, and pay off a part of our debt for that'run-under fire' with my wounded boy. Name anything you want. Do youwant any help to watch Johnstone?" The old General was eager. 

"Ah! I fear that I must attend to him, alone!" sadly said MajorHardwicke, whose heart was racked, for a fair, dear face now afar mustsoon be clouded with sorrow and those dear eyes weep a father's shame. 

"Call, day and night, for anything you want!" heartily said the loyalold father of the rescued officer. "The day before you go you must dinewith us, alone, and Harriet will give you her last greeting. "

As the day wore away, there was a jovial rapprochement in the specialcar where General Abercromby and Major Hawke were gayly extolling MadameBerthe Louison's perfections. "Mind you, General, I am no squire ofdames, " said the Major. "You must make your own running. "

"Ah! my boy, you have earned your temporary rank as a Major of Staff, when you've introduced me. I flatter myself that I know women!" criedAbercromby as they cracked t'other bottle of Johnstone's champagne. 

"Take me to her, and then, I'll take you to the Viceroy. I guaranteeyour rank!"

"It's a bargain!" cried the delighted Hawke. While Abercromby dreamedof the lovely lady of the Silver Bungalow, Major Alan Hawke leisurelyexamined a sheaf of letters from Europe which had been thrust in hispocket by Ram Lal at parting. 

"Victory!" he cried, as he read a tender letter from Euphrosyne Delande, in which she promised her absolute compliance with his every wish. "Justine has written to me herself, " was the underscored hint that thethree might join fortunes. "It's about time for that Madras boat toget to Brindisi, " mused Hawke, as they ran into Allahabad, "There maybetelegrams here now. " And, while General Abercromby jovially feasted, Hawke ran over to his secret haunt to which he had ordered Ram Lal tosend any telegrams, for one day only, and then, the rest would be safewith Ram's secret agent in Calcutta. "My God! This is my fortune! Bravo, Justine!" cried Hawke, "True and quickwitted. I now hold Berthe Louisonin my hand. "

He read the words--"Andrew Fraser, St. Agnes' Road, St. Heliers, Jersey. " The dispatch was headed Brindisi, and signed "Justine. " "Aman might do worse than marry a woman as true and keen as that, " smiledHawke. "I am a devil for luck!" And then he gayly drank Justine'shealth, in silence, when he joined the amorous Abercromby at the table. 

But the "devil for luck" did not know of a little scene at Brindisi, where the blushing Nadine Johnstone hid her face in her friend's bosom. "It is my life, my very existence, Justine!" she pleaded. "I will neverforget you; we are both women, and my heart will break if you refuse!"And thus Justine Delande had learned at last of Nadine's easy victoryover the frank-hearted cousin's prudence. 

"What's the wrong--to tell her?" he had mused, under the spell of theloving eyes. "We go straight through, and I am in charge till my fathertakes her out of my hands! Poor girl, it will be a grim enough life withhim. Not a man will ever set eyes on her face without old Hugh's writtenorder!" And it was thus that Justine was enabled to warn her own loverwhen she had slipped away and cabled by her mistress's orders to theyoung Lochinvar at Delhi:

"Captain Harry Hardwicke, Royal Engineers, Delhi: Letters for you atAndrew Fraser's, St Agnes Road, St. Heliers, Jersey. Come. "

The Swiss woman shuddered as she boldly signed Nadine! And this samedispatch when received by the young officer, now busied with theViceroy's mandate, brought the sunlight of Love back into his darkenedsoul! The minutes seemed to lengthen into hours until the special trainwas ready. At the risk of his military future, the Major gave to thefaithful Simpson his London Club address. "If anything happens here, you must go to General Willoughby. Tell him what you want me to know. He will send it on, and give you a five-pound note. Remember! Simpson, you'll die in my service if you stand true!"

"That I will, for your brave father's sake, and for the young lady'sbright eyes! Bless her dear, sunny face! Tell her that I will work forher in life and death!" And when, in a few days the lengthened absenceof Major Harry Hardwicke and Red Eric Murray was noted, the groups onlyconjectured a little junket to some near-by station, or a long shikareetrip. But Simpson and General Willoughby knew better. Simpson was a"lord" in these days, in the quarter, for Hardwicke had not left Delhiwith a closed hand. 

And old Hugh Johnstone, greatly relieved at heart, was now busied insecretly arranging for his own flitting. "I'll run down to Calcutta, seethe Viceroy, give Abercromby a splendid dinner, and then slip off home, on the quiet, via Ceylon. I'll send Douglas back when I get to Jersey, and then I can put those jewels where no human being can ever tracethem! Once that brother Andrew has my full orders as to Nadine, I willbar this she-devil forever from her side! On the excuse of a leisurelycontemplated tour, I can have the rich Jew brokers of Amsterdam andFrankfort, with their agents in Cairo and Constantinople, divide up thejewels among the foreign crown-heads. I am then safe! safe! No humanhand can ever touch me now, " he gloated. 

There was a clattering of aides-de-camp and great official bustle atthe Government House in Calcutta when General Abercromby reported tothe great statesman Viceroy, dwelling in the vast palace, builded by theMarquis of Wellesley. 

General Abercromby, marveling at the abruptness of the Viceroy, wasrelieved to know that his "secret service" had been transferred to MajorHardwicke under the orders of Major-General Willoughby. His mind wasintently occupied with the promised introduction to Madame BertheLouison--"that little party"--and so he failed not to refer to thefuture value to the crown of Alan Hawke's services. 

"He is here with me, Your Excellency!" respectfully said Abercromby, whohad already posted off his leporello to call in due form at the banker'smansion, where the disguised Alixe Delavigne had taken refuge. "Send himto me at once, General. I need him! I will give him the local staff rankof Major and immediate employment. Willoughby has also written to meespecially about his wonderful knowledge of our northern lines. Stay!Bring him yourself, to-morrow, at ten o'clock. "

"Splendid! Splendid!" cried the love-lorn General, rubbing his hands, as he hastened away in his carriage to meet Alan Hawke! "I am ready forhim, if he is ready for me! I wish she were at some one of the greathotels instead of being buried in the silver-gray respectability of theManager's family circle. But--but--I will take her to the Viceroy. The bird shall then learn to test its wings. I will bring her out as asocial star!"

Major Alan Hawke, with a beating heart, recounted to Madame BertheLouison all the occurrences in Delhi, when they were left alone in thegreat banker's vast parlors. "She is a puzzle, this strange woman!"mused Hawke, for a serene and stately triumph shone in her splendideyes. 

Berthe Louison listened to all! "You will get your staff appointment, "she smiled, "and I will help you! Bring your friend General Abercrombyto see me here to-morrow evening! I will be amiable to him, for yoursake, and for the sake of my future interests!"

The grateful young man, now on the threshold of reinstatement, in asudden impulse cried, "I can, now, give you Nadine Johnstone's hidingplace! You can trust to me and I will prove it, now! It is--"

"With Andrew Fraser, retired Professor of Edinburgh University, historian and philologist, ethnologist, etc. ; St. Agnes Road, St. Heliers, Jersey, " laughingly rejoined Berthe Louison. 

"You are a--witch, woman! A wonder!" cried the astounded adventurer. 

"Ah! You see that I have trusted you!" she smiled. "Now, do as I bidyou, and you will rise in the service! Remember! You are to do just whatI say! The bank here, or in Delhi, will give you always my directions. Remember! I shall not lose sight of you for a moment, though near orfar! And money and promotion will reward your good faith! Go now! myfriend, " she kindly said, extending her hand. "Bring the General, here, tomorrow evening, at eight! I will be busied till then! There is nothingfor you to do now!"

The astonished schemer was in a maze as he dashed away to the CalcuttaClub to meet General Abercromby. "She is a very devil and a mistress ofthe Black Art!" he mused. "I will stand by her, " he admiringly cried, "as long as it pays me. " It was the honest tribute of a gratefulscoundrel's heart!

While the happy Abercromby dallied with Major Hawke over a claret cup, an official messenger sought him out, at the Club. "There, my boy! Yousee that I am a man of my word!" cried the would-be lover. Alan Hawke'slip trembled as he tore open an envelope directed to him and marked: "OnHer Majesty's Service. " The first in many years. The walls spun aroundbefore his eyes when he read his provisional appointment, with an orderto report forthwith, to the Chief of Staff, for private instructions. "Ah! I congratulate you, my boy!" heartily cried the happy General. "Youare a very devil for luck! One toast to the Viceroy! I'll meet you hereto-night!"

The happiest man in India sped away to his newly opened gate of ParadiseRegained, while afar in the sweltering September sun, the gleam ofrifles and red coats told of an armed escort on the train, bearing MajorHardwicke and Captain Eric Murray, on to Calcutta, with the swiftnessof the wind. Neither of the officers for a moment quitted theircompartment, and two chosen sergeants, revolver in hand, watchedcertain sealed packages lying beside them all there in plain view. MajorHardwicke's soul was now in his quest!

There was a gleam of romance in the great Viceroy's morning duties, while Major Hawke had hastened to the Chief of Staff's office. 

Madame Berthe Louison, escorted by her guardian, the bank manager, hadplaced upon the Viceroy's table a little document which he studied withgreat care. "You are sure that there is no mistake?" the statesman said, gravely interrogating the banker. "I will guarantee it, Your Excellency, with its face value, fifty thousand pounds. " answered the financier. Itwas the memorandum of a policy of assurance for a sealed package, onthe steamer Lord Roberts, sent by Hugh Fraser Johnstone to Prof. AndrewFraser, St. Agnes Road, St. Heliers, Jersey and now half way to England. 

"I will act, Madame, at once!" said the holder of a scepter by proxy. "You are to guard this secret, both, upon your honor. Send the dispatch, as you have proposed. My official action is to follow this up. I willlet the game go on in silence just a little longer. And now--" theViceroy led the lady aside, whispering a few private words, which lefther a proud and happy woman. "My special aid will call at your residenceas soon as it is dark. The consular officials at Aden, Suez, Port Said, and Brindisi will all have orders regarding you. I am ashamed that theprudence needed in the official side of this affair prevents me sociallyhonoring you as I would. The French Consul-General has given to me hisofficial guaranty for you, which, " he smiled, "was not needed. We shallmeet again, and your conduct will not be forgotten. "

Alixe Delavigne bowed with the grace of a queen and never lifted hereyes until her sober mentor had brought her to the shelter of his home. Before they were seated at tiffin the wires bore away this dispatch, which astounded its recipient:

"CAP. ANSON ANSTRUTHER, JUNIOR UNITED SERVICE CLUB, LONDON. 

Meet me at Morley's Hotel, London. Will telegraph you from Brindisi. Official dispatches to you explain. 

BERTHE LOUISON. "

When the stars lit up the broad Hooghly that night, a swift Peninsularand Oriental Liner drew away down the river, with a smart steam-launchtowing at her companionway. The woman who said adieu to the Viceroy'said and her grave-faced banker in her splendid rooms had read the briefwords of Captain Anstruther, telling her that the electric Ariel wastrue to his trust. "All right. Both dispatches received. Welcome. Anstruther. " The official staterooms were a bower of floral beauty, andthe gallant aid murmured: "I hope that nothing has been forgotten. Thewhole ship is at your disposal. The Commander has the Viceroy's personalorders. And, I was to give you the letter and this package!" When thebanker had exchanged the last words of counsel and advice, he said:"Trust me! I know Hawke of old! We will let him go up the ladder of lifea little, while the other fellow comes down!"

When the little steam-launch was a black blur on the blue waters, thenAlixe Delavigne, standing alone at the rail, smiled as she saw the lean, straggling shores sweep by. "I fear that General Abercromby will deemme discourteous! But time, tide, and the P. And O. Steamers wait for noelderly beau, however fascinating!"

It is a matter of local history in Calcutta that General Abercromby'sremark: "Hawke! we have been a pair of damned fools! We are outwitted!"found its way at last into the clubs, and the attack of jaundice, followed up by a severe gout, which "laid out" the sighing lover forlong months, proves, as of old, that stern Mars cannot cope withthe bright and all-compelling Venus! But Major Alan Hawke, of theProvisional Staff, hearkened wisely to the banker's words: "Don'tbe fool enough to think that you can trifle with Madame Louison'sinterests. The noble Viceroy has placed you on duty, at her own personalrequest, to give you a last chance to regain all the promise of youryouth. One word from her, and--and you will be suspended or, dropped!You will get your military orders from the Viceroy and her wishes fromme. "

Alan Hawke was paralyzed with astonishment the next day, when theViceroy ordered him to proceed at once to Delhi, to report to GeneralWilloughby, and to hasten to London, via Bombay, on completion of hissecret service at Delhi. "

"I am a devil for luck!" muttered Hawke. "But even the tide of Fortunecan drive along too fast!" He had lost his head, and forgotten allhis pigmy plans. A stronger hand than his own was secretly guiding hisonward path, upward to the old status of the "British officer!" "Whatthe devil do they want of me in London?" he mused. 

And, chuckling over how easily he had made the lovesick Abercrombyhelp him into his "military seat" once more, Alan Hawke betook himselfforthwith to Delhi, to report to General Willoughby for instant service. When he descended at Allahabad, his undress uniform of a major of theStaff Corps brought down on him a storm of congratulations from oldfriends gathered there. "Sly old boy you were!" the service men laughed, over their glasses, while wetting his new uniform. "A man must not tellall he knows!" patiently replied Major Hawke, with the sad, sweet smileof a man who had dropped into a good thing. 

As he rolled along toward Delhi, he seriously cogitated "playing fair"in his new capacity. "Perhaps it will pay!" he mused. "But I will evenup with that old hog, Johnstone!" He dared not contemplate now anysubstantial treason to Madame Alixe Delavigne. "She is a witch woman!She seems to have an untold backing! The Bankers, even, the Viceroy, andthe French Consul-General, too. She could crush me! I must serve My LadyDisdain, and I will fight and die in her army!" Arriving at Delhi, MajorAlan Hawke's first visit was to Ram Lal Singh, as he prepared to "reportforthwith, " in "full rig, " to the local Commander. There was a strangepreoccupation in the old jeweler which baffled Hawke. Ram Lal onlyhumbly begged to have all his lengthened accounts with Madame BertheLouison arranged, and Alan Hawke, with a few words, calmed theMussulman's fears. 

"I'll have it all attended to, to-morrow, when I look it over, " saidthe Major, hastening away to the Club. "Ram has been at the hashish, orbhang, or the betel nut, or some of his recondite dissipations--perhapshe has enjoyed an opium bout in the Zenana, " mused the new appointee, ashe gayly "begged off" from a cloud of eager congratulations bypromising to "blow off" the whole Delhi Club. "Business first, pleasureafterwards" said the resplendent Major Hawke, as he clattered away, ahandsome son of Mars, to report to General Willoughby. 

Major Hawke was secretly delighted with his cordial reception. "Come tome to-morrow at ten, Major, " said the Commander, "I will have your firstinstructions, but remember absolute secrecy. This is a very grave affairto both of us--your coming employment. "

"The tide of life is bearing me on, with a devilish rapidity, withfavoring gales, " the Major reflected. But beyond the clouds veiling thefuture he saw no farther shore. 

In the dim watches of the night for a week past, Simpson, secretlybusied with preparing Hugh Johnstone's flitting, was perplexed at thesound of shuffling feet and whispered voices in the master's roomsopening into the splendid gardens. "Who the devil has he there? Somewoman!" mused the old veteran servant. Simpson had his own little"private life" to wind up, and so he was charitably inclined. It washis custom when all was still to slip away "to the quarter" where somelingering cords were now slowly snapping one by one. The old servantnoted with surprise a dark form gliding on his trail in several of thesegoings and comings. Being of a practical nature, the man who had facedthe mad rebels at Lucknow only belted on a heavy Adams revolver, andconcluded at last that some others of the household were busiedin secret dissipation or nocturnal lovemaking. "No one man has acontrolling patent on being a fool, " mused Simpson. "Black and white, we're all of a muchness. " And as he knew they might now leave at anymoment he sped away to his last delightful nights in Delhi. 

On the night when Alan Hawke returned from Calcutta, the inky blacknessof an approaching storm wrapped dreaming Delhi in an impenetrablemantle. Under the huge camphor tree where the cobra had risen in itshorrid menace before the frightened girl, a dark figure waited till aman glided to his side. His head was bent as the spy reported "Simpsonis gone to the quarter. Two of our men have followed him, and, ifhe returns, he will be stopped on the way. " The only answer was anoutstretched arm, and the whispered words, "Go, then, and watch. "

"It is the very night--the night of all nights!" muttered the watcherunder the tree, and then, stealing forward, he tapped three times at thewindow where Hugh Johnstone stood with his heart beating high in allthe pride of a coming triumph ready to open to the man who was settlinghisprivate affairs. 

"No one shall know that I have stolen away, " he mused. "Forever and inthe night. "

A light foot pressed the floor as the expected one glided over the lowwindow sill. There was a night lamp burning dimly in a shaded corner. "Put out the light. I must tell you something. We are both watched andspied on!" whispered a well-known voice. 

As Hugh Johnstone turned from the corner, in the darkness, there was agurgling cry--a half-smothered groan--as Mirzah Shah's poisoned daggerwas driven to the hilt between his shoulders. His accounts were settled, at last!

An hour later, a dark form crept through the gardens toward the gatewhere Harry Hardwicke had rode in to the rescue. There was a silentstruggle as two men wrestled in the darkness, and one fled away into theshadows of the night. It was the chance meeting of a spy and a murderer. 

And then Major Alan Hawke stooped and picked up a heavy dagger lying athis feet. "I have the beggar's knife, " he growled. And, with a suddenintention, he vanished toward the Club, for the knife of Mirzah Shah wasreeking, and Hugh Johnstone had gone out on his darkened path alone. Hehad left Delhi--forever. 

BOOK III. PRINCE DJIDDIN'S VISIT TO ENGLAND. 

CHAPTER XI. "DO YOU SEE THIS DAGGER?"

Morning in Delhi! The fiery sun leaped up, gilding once more the farHimalayas and lighting the bloodstained plains of Oude. The goldenshafts twinkled on the huge colonnade, the vast ruined arch, thecrumbling walls, and the huge castled oval of Humayoon's tomb. In thedark night, the monsoon winds wailed over the wreck of Hindu, Pathan, and Mogul magnificence. The dark demons of Bowanee rejoiced at a newsacrifice to the gloomy goddess; and the straggling jungle was aliveagain. 

In the vacant caverns, whence the sons of Mohammed Bahadur wereonce dragged forth to die by daring Hodson's smoking pistols, theirslaughtered shades grinned over the ghastly vengeance of the barrenyears. 

The huge dome of the mosque hung in air over the vacant palaces of thegreat Moguls, and the far windmill ridge, and the bastioned walls ofDelhi were bathed in golden light, while Alan Hawke slept the sleepof exhaustion. And while Ram Lal Singh, secure in his zenana, calmlygreeted the cool morning hour with a smiling face and a happy heart, inthe lonely marble house, stern old Hugh Fraser Johnstone slept the sleepthat knows no waking. 

The Chandnee Chouk awoke to its busy daily chatter, and oldShahjehanabad sought its pleasures languidly again, or bowed itsshoulders once more under the yoke of toil. 

The faithful sought the Jumna Musjid for morning prayer, and thenonchalant British officials began to straggle into the vacant Hall ofthe Peacock Throne. 

Far away, the Kootab Minar, rising three hundred feet in air, boreits mute witness to the splendor of the vanished rulers of Delhi, thepeerless Ghori swordsmen of Khorassan. But, even as the soldiers of theold Pathan fort had marched out into the shadowless night of death tojoin Ghori and Baber and Nadir Shah, so the spirit of the lonely oldmiser nabob had sought the echoless shore. 

When Simpson had unavailingly endeavored to awaken his master, thelocked doors were burst in at last by the anxious servants, and theyfound only the tenantless shell of the mighty millionaire, as cold andrigid as the iron pillar which veils to-day its mystery of a forgottenpast, when the jackals howl in the ruins of old Delhi. 

Then rose up a wild outcry, and the sound of hurrying feet. The alertold veteran servitor, with instinctive military obedience, dispatchedtwo messengers, on the run, to notify General Willoughby and Major AlanHawke. And then, with quick wit, he forbade the gaping crowd to toucheven a single article. 

Not even the stiffened body, as it lay prone upon its face, wasdisturbed. Simpson stood there, pistol in hand, on guard until properlyrelieved, and as silent as a crouching rifleman on picket. The wholeroom bore the evidence of a thorough ransacking, and the disorderedclothing of the nabob proved, too, that the body had been rifled. Themysterious nocturnal visits returned to Simpson's mind. "Could it havebeen some once-wronged woman?" he mused while waiting for his "militarysuperiors. " For the simple old soldier scorned all civilian control. His keen eye had caught the strange facts of the fastened windows, thedisappearance of the two mahogany boxes, and the startling absence ofthe key of the chamber door. 

"Whoever did this job knew what they came for and when to come!" musedSimpson. He gazed at the window sill. There was the mark of damp earthstill upon it. "Just as I fancied!" growled Simp-son. "They came in atthe window, and when their work was done, left by the door. There wasmore than one murderer in this job!" And, then, certain old stories ofa mysterious Eurasian beauty returned to cloud the old man's judgment. "Was it robbery, or vengeance?" he grumbled. "The black gang arein this, but their secrets are safe forever! They are a closecorporation--these devils!"

With certain ideas of an endangered life pension, and a sudden yearningfor the absent Hardwicke's counsel, stern old Simpson awaited the comingof his betters. And, the ghastly news of Johnstone's "taking-off" flewover Delhi to furnish a nine days' wonder. 

There was a great crowd gathered around the garden walls of the MarbleHouse, as an officer of the guard galloped up with a platoon of cavalry. "The General will be here himself, soon! What's all this terriblehappening?" said the young officer, as he took post beside Simpson. "Youhave done well!" the soldier said, on a brief report. "Let nothing betouched. My guard will prevent any one leaving the grounds!" There was asullen apathy as regarded the unloved old egoist. 

Major Alan Hawke sprang to his feet, hastily, as the excited ClubSteward, forgetting all his decorum, banged loudly upon the staffofficer's bedroom door. The young man was still in the dress of night, as the Steward excitedly exclaimed: "Here's a fearful deed! HughJohnstone has been murdered in his bed, and--they've sent for you!"

Alan Hawke was staggered. "Get me a horse, at once! I must report to theGeneral! When, where, how? Tell me all! Send off a man for the horse!"And, as Hawke hastily donned his uniform, he heard the Hindu servant'sstory. 

"Be off! Tell Simpson I go first to the General, and, then, I will comeover to the house!"

As Major Hawke strode through the clubroom, a half-dozen half-dressedclubmen seized upon him. He waved off their inquiries, as an orderlydashed up to the door. 

"General Willoughby's compliments, Sir. You are to report to himinstantly at the Marble House! You can take my horse, Major! I'll bringyours on. " And so, lightly leaping into the saddle, the Major gallopedaway, with an approving nod. "There'll be a devil of a racket over thisthing!" he reflected, as he dashed along. And he chuckled with glee athis prudence in hiding away the dagger which he had picked up in thegarden. For, a moonlight-eyed Eurasian girl, hidden in a little cottage, was the only human being in Delhi who knew of the hasty visit her secretlover had made in the night. The jeweled dagger of Mirzah Shah was nowsecurely locked in a little chest where Alan Hawke kept a few articleshidden away in the humble home of the passive plaything of his idlehours. As he caught sight of the Marble House, with its gathered crowds, he saw the gleam of musket barrels, as a company of foot were picketingthe vast garden inclosure, and forcing back the excited crowd. 

A non-commissioned officer swung open the heavy gates which would onlyturn on their hinges once more for Hugh Johnstone going out on his lastjourney. "The General awaits you, Major, " said the sergeant, touchinghis cap. "He has already asked for you. " And as Hawke rode up to thefront door he was suddenly reminded of his imperiled interests. "Thedrafts! They may be stopped now! By God! I must see Ram Lal! I need himnow and he needs me. "

With an unruffled professional calm, however, Major Hawke reported tothe visibly disturbed General commanding. 

With a single warning gesture of silence, General Willoughby drew theMajor aside. "I shall put you in entire charge here. I have seen allthe civil authorities. This is your affair. It touches your mission. TheViceroy has been telegraphed, and you are to guard the whole propertyhere till we have his pleasure. Now come with me and let us questionSimpson. The rest are merely a lot of apes. "

And so Major Alan Hawke had ample time to arrange his private planof campaign as he guarded a respectful silence during Simpson's longrelation, for his thoughts were now far away with Berthe Louison, andthe lovely orphan, whose only confidante was his tender-hearted dupeJustine Delande. But the acute adventurer's mind returned to fix itselfupon Ram Lal Singh, now blandly smiling in his jewel shop, where themorning gossips babbled over Johnstone Sahib's tragic death. "I musttelegraph to Euphrosyne, " thought the Major, "and to 9 Rue Berlioz, Paris, for my will-o-the-wisp employer. But, Mr. Ram Lal Singh, youshall pay me for what ruin Mirzah Shah's dagger has wrought!"

The mantle of silence had fallen forever over the last night's rencontrein the garden. With dreaming eyes Hawke mused: "It would never do totell any part of that story. What business had I there?" And, withouta tremor, he stood by the General's side as they gazed on the deadmillionaire's body still lying on the floor. 

"I will now send for the civil authorities, and you, Major Hawke, willrepresent me in the investigation. Your military future hangs on this. Remember, now, that the Viceroy looks to you alone! I will return hereafter tiffin. I will have some personal instructions for you. " And AlanHawke now saw the farther shore of his voyage of life gleaming out asGeneral Willoughby left him to confer with the arriving magistrates andcivil police. "I shall marry you, my veiled Rose of Delhi, and be masterhere yet, in this Marble House, and, by God, I'll die a general, too!"he swore, with which pleasing prophecy Major Alan Hawke calmly took upthe varied secret duties which joined a Viceroy's secret orders to thewill of the General commanding. 

"I am a devil for luck!" he mused as he gazed down on the old man'sshrunken and withered dead face. "I will do the honors alone for you, my departed friend, " he sneered, "for I am the master here now. " Theabsence of all articles of value, the disappearance of Johnstone'sthree superb ruby shirt-studs, and his magnificent single diamondcuff-buttons, told of the greed of the robbers, presumably familiar withhis personal ornaments, while the terrific stab in the back showed thatthe heavy knife had been driven through the back up to its very hilt. 

"We must find the dagger!" pompously said the civil magistrate. "Major Hawke, will you give orders to have the whole house and groundssearched?" And with a faint smile the Major politely rose and set allhis myrmidons in motion. 

Even then the telegraph was clicking away a message to Johnstone'slawyer and bankers in Calcutta, and to his young relative, DouglasFraser, of the great P. And O. Steamship service. Before night thecrafty Calcutta lawyer had notified Professor Andrew Fraser, in thefar-away island of Jersey, and before Major Hawke himself received theViceroy's orders, through General Willoughby, Mademoiselle EuphrosyneDelande, of Geneva, and the household at No. 9 Rue Berlioz, Paris, bothknew that the defiant old nabob had sailed the dark sea without a shore. 

Most of all surprised was Captain Anson Anstruther in London, whopondered long at the United Service Club over an official message fromthe Viceroy, telling him of the startling murder. The young gallant'sheart beat in a strange agitation as he examined the previous dispatchesof both Berthe Louison and the Viceroy. 

"She had no hand in it, thank God!" mused the young aide-de-camp. "Perhaps he was paid off for some of his old Shylock transactions--somelocal intrigue, or the jealous lover of some Eurasian beauty, dragged tohis lair, has finished all, and revenged the accumulated brutalities ofthirty years. "

There was a loud outcry of horror and surprise sweeping on now from thesocial circles of Delhi to the clubs of Lucknow, Cawnpore, Allahabad, Benares, and Patna to Calcutta. 

In a day or two, men from Lahore to Hyderabad, from Bombay to Nagporeand Madras, and in all the clubs from Calcutta to Simla, had paused overtheir brandy pawnee to murmur, "Well! The poor old beggar is gone, andnow he'll never get his Baronetcy! Some of the niggers did the trickneatly for him at last. They must have got a jolly lot of loot!"

In which general verdict the glittering-eyed Ram Lal, hidden in hiszenana, did not share. For, when he had rifled and destroyed the twomahogany boxes he summed all up his pickings with baffled rage. "Acouple of thousand pounds of notes, a few scattered jewels, the sly olddog has spirited away his vast stealings! My work was all in vain, savethe vengeance!" And the oily Ram Lal, in the zenana, drew a willingbeauty of Cashmere to his bosom, and hid his face from the chatterers ofstreet and shop. He was safe from all prying eyes in the Harem. 

But, while the triumphant English Mem-Sahibs, of Delhi, shuddered at thebloody details of old Hugh Johnstone's taking off, they found abundantreason to point a moral and adorn a tale. 

While the anxious Viceroy was busied at Calcutta, and General Willoughbyand Hawke were engrossed with the pompous funeral preparations at Delhi, the ladies of the whole station unanimously condemned the departed. Fora cold and brutal foe of womanhood had died unhonored in their midst, and none were left to mourn. 

With much pretentious wagging of shapely heads, and much mysteriousinnuendo, they spoke lightly of the departed one, and failed not tomentally unroof the Silver Bungalow. The baffled ladies scented a socialmystery!

Wild rumors of splendid orgies, strange tales of a wronged woman'svengeance, lurid romances of the flight of the French Countess with ayounger lover, after despoiling her aged admirer; all these things were"put in commission" and vigorously circulated. 

The principal party interested in these slanders, was, however, nowcalmly gliding on toward Aden, while the dead millionaire was alikeoblivious to the lovely daughter whom he had crushed as a bruisedflower, the haughty woman who had defied him in his wrath, and theadministration of the million sterling which was the golden monumentover his yawning grave! The silk-petticoat Council of Notables in Delhidecided by a tidal-wave of womanly intuition, that the gallant anddebonnair Major Alan Hawke would marry "the lovely and accomplishedheiress, " and so the white-bosomed beauties of the capital of Oudeturned again lazily to their respective sins of omission and commission, and to the glitter of their respective booths in Vanity Fair!

The club gossips waited in vain for the reappearance of Major AlanHawke, whose entire personal effects were bundled hastily away to themarble house, where the adventurer now ruled pro tempore. It was latein the night when Major Hawke had achieved all the preparations for thefuneral of the murdered man, upon the following day. Simpson and a squadof non-commissioned officers watched where the flickering lights gleameddown upon the dead nabob. 

Making his last rounds for the night, Major Hawke, with a soldier'scynical calmness, enjoyed a cheroot upon the veranda, as he bade hiscaptain of the guard take charge until his return. The Major had mostcarefully examined the five bills of exchange which now occupied hisattention, and his mind was now busied with the dead man's golden store. He now contemplated a visit to a man whose conscience bothered him not, but whose bosom quaked in fear when Hawke's letter, sent by a messenger, bade Ram Lal await him at midnight. 

"Does he know?" gasped Ram Lal, with chattering teeth, and yet he darednot fly. 

An early evening interview with General Willoughby had disclosed to theMajor the inconvenient fact that the dead nabob had left a carefullydrawn will, whereof Andrew Fraser, of St. Heliers, Jersey, and DouglasFraser, of Calcutta, were executors. "There is a duplicate will here inthe Bengal Bank, " so telegraphed the solicitor, "and I have now notifiedboth the executors. I presume that Mr. Douglas Fraser will return hereat once, as he is absent in Europe on leave. It may be a week or moreuntil he receives the sad intelligence. "

Alan Hawke softly smiled at those touching words, "Sad intelligence. "It was only the perfunctory regret of the shark-like lawyer, and thesecretly rejoicing heirs. "This is not a case where the one who goes ishappier than the one that's left behind, " mused Hawke. "I must settlematters rapidly with Ram Lal, for if the will leaves the property toNadine, she must be mine at all costs!

"Shall I not send a well-armed man with you, Major?" asked the Captain. "It is very late!"

"Thanks, Jordan, " lightly said the Major. "I've a good revolver and myservice sword--a priceless old wootz steel tulwar. I'm good for a dozenPandies! I'm used to Thug--and Dacoit, to bandit and ruffian. I have alittle private business to attend to, and I'll come home in a trap!"

By a strange chance, Major Alan Hawke, the distinguished favorite offortune, slunk along in byway and shadow till he reached the cottage, where a lovely woman, flower wreathed, with child-like face and timid, mournful eyes, anxiously awaited him. "I'll be back in two or threehours, " he carelessly said, as he tossed her a roll of rupees. Then, with a long, slender package hidden in his bosom, he stole out after along circuit and entered Ram Lal's compound by the rear entrance, alwaysat his use. 

"It is just as well not to make any little mistake just now, " musedHawke, as with cat-like tread he sped through the old jeweler's garden. And the "prevention of mistakes" consisted in the heavy Adams revolverwhich he carried slung around his neck and shoulder by a heavy cord, inthe handy Russian fashion. 

His left hand steadied the peculiar parcel which he had so carefullyhidden. An amused smile flitted over his face when old Ram Lal openedthe door of the snuggery, where Justine had first listened to a lover'ssighs. "Poor girl! I wish she were here to-night!" tenderly mused thesentimental rascal, as he waved away Ram Lal's bidding to a splendidlittle supper. 

"I came here to talk business, Ram, to-night" sternly said Hawke, whohad inwardly decided not to taste food or drink with the past masterof villainy. "He might give me a gentle push into the Styx, " acutelyreflected the Major. "Sit down right there where I can see you, " saidHawke, his hand firmly grasping the revolver, as he indicated a cornerof the table, after satisfying himself that the shop door was locked. Hethen quickly locked the garden door and pocketed both the keys. 

"What do you want of me?" murmured Ram Lal, who had noted thesemi-hostile tone, and who clearly saw the butt of the revolver. 

"I want to talk to you of this Johnstone matter, " said the soldier, ignoring all other reference to the "dear departed. " This coolnessunsettled the wily jeweler, who trembled as Hawke laid a long redpocketbook down on the table before him. 

The wily scoundrel shivered when the Major, with his left hand, pushedover to him five sets of Bills of Exchange for a thousand pounds each. Ram Lal's eyes dropped under the brave villain's steady gaze, and heslowly read the first paper. He well knew the drawer's writing:

DELHI, August 15, 1890. 

L 1, 000. 

Thirty days after sight of this first of exchange (second and thirdunpaid), pay to the order of Alan Hawke one thousand pounds sterling, value received. 

HUGH FRASER JOHNSTONE. 

To Messrs. Glyn, Carr and Glyn, London. 

"What do you wish me to do, Sahib?" tremblingly faltered the old usurer, as he carefully noted the fifteen papers. A sinking at the heart toldhim that he was in the power of the one man in India whom he knew to beas merciless as himself, for a kindred spirit had fled when the drawerof the Bills of Exchange died alone in the dark, his bubbling shriekstopped by his heart's blood. The Major sternly said in an icy voice, ashe fixed his eyes full on his victim:

"I wish you to indorse, every one of those papers. I wish you to makeeach one of them read five thousand pounds. You have done that trickvery neatly before, and to put the additional Crown duty stamps uponthem. " Ram Lal had started up, but he sank back appalled as he lookeddown the barrel of Hawke's revolver. 

"Keep silence or I'll put a ball through your shoulder, and then dragyou up to General Willoughby. He will hang you in chains if I say theword. " Alan Hawke was tiger-like now in his rapacity. 

"I will leave the first set with you, and you will now give me yourcheck on the Oriental Bank for five thousand pounds. The other draftsyou will have all ready for me to-morrow and bring them to me at theMarble House. "

The jeweler groaned and swayed to and fro upon his seat in a mute agony. "I cannot do it. I have not the money, " he babbled. 

"You old lying wretch. You have screwed a quarter of a million poundsout of Christian, Hindu, and Mohammedan here, " mercilessly said thetorturer. 

"I will not! I cannot! I dare not!" cried Ram Lal, dropping on the floorand trying to bow his head at Hawke's feet. 

"Get up! You old beast!" commanded Hawke. "By God! I'll shoot anddisable you now and then arrest you! Tell me! Do you know that dagger?"With a quick motion, still covering the cowering wretch with his pistol, Hawke drew out the package from his bosom, clumsily tearing off a silkneck scarf-wrapper with his left hand. He laid down on the table theblood-incrusted dagger of Mirzah Shah. The golden haft, the jeweledfretwork and the broad blade were all covered with the life tide of thegreat man whom no one mourned in Delhi. 

"Mercy! Mercy!" hoarsely whispered Ram Lal, with his hands clasped, asin prayer. 

"I know whose it is!" pitilessly continued the tormentor. "You droppedit, you fool, when you ran against me in the garden in your mad haste toget away! One single rebellious word and I will march you to the nearestguard post! Now, will you do what I wish?"

"Anything, anything, Sahib!" begged the cowering wretch. "Put it away, put it away!"

"Now, quick!" said the Major. "First, give me the check! Then indorseall these drafts right here in my presence. I will negotiate the othersmyself. You can send on the first one through your bankers. Your nameon all of them will make them go without question. " The alert adventurerwatched Ram's trembling fingers achieve the work. "Do not dare to leaveyour own inclosure till you come directly to me to-morrow, when youhave altered all those drafts to read five thousand pounds each. I havecharge of the estate of the man whom you butchered like a dog. I havea guard of two companies of soldiers, and you will be arrested as amurderer if you attempt to leave, save to come directly to me with thesepapers. "

Alan Hawke lit a cigar and then took a refreshing draught from a pocketflask. 

"Now open your strong box and show me your jewels! I want some of them!"The sobbing wretch at his feet demurred until the cold nozzle of thepistol was pressed against his forehead. "I will make the Englishbankers pay the other four bills; but, you brute, did you think thatI would let you off with a poor five thousand pounds? Harken! I go toEngland in a week! Then you are safe forever! Bring out all your jewels!You got fifty thousand pounds from the old man! I know it!"

Begging and beseeching in vain, Ram Lal crawled to his great iron strongbox studded over with huge knobs, and, after a half an hour's criticalselection, Alan Hawke had concealed on his person four little bags, in which he had made the shivering wretch place the choicest of histreasures. 

"Call up your man now. Do not stir for an instant from my side! If thedrafts are not with me before sundown to-morrow, you will be hung inchains, and the ravens will finish what the hangman leaves! Remember--myboy! The rail and telegraph will cut off any little tricks of yours!And, " he laughed, "you will not run away; you have too much here toleave. It would be a fat haul for the Crown authorities. I will keepmy eye on you, near or far. I will be with you always. We have our ownlittle secret, now!"

"I will obey--only save me! Save me, Hawke Sahib. I will do all uponmy head, I will!" pleaded Ram Lal, whose vast fortune was indeed at themercy of the law. 

"Call up your servants. Get out the carriage. Go back to your women. Make merry. You are perfectly safe, but only if you obey me!" was thelast mandate of the triumphant bravo. When he stepped out of the house, attended by the frightened murderer, Alan Hawke whispered from thecarriage: "Your house is under a close watch--even now. Remember--I giveyou till sundown, and if you fail, I will come with the guard! I shallseal up the dagger and leave it here with a message to the GeneralWilloughby Sahib to be given to him, at once, by one who knows you! So, I can trust you. Nothing must happen to your dear friend, you know!" hesmilingly said in adieu, as Ram Lal groaned in anguish. 

Alan Hawke had closely examined the vehicle, and he sat with his drawnrevolver ready as he drove down the still lit-up Chandnee Chouk. In astorm of remorse and agony, the plundered jeweler was now doubly lockedup in his room. "I must do this devil's bidding!" he murmured. "Bowanee!Bowanee! You have betrayed your servant!" was his cry as he sought thesafety of the Zenana. 

Major Hawke tasted all the sweets of a great secret triumph as he castup his accounts. "The five thousand pounds frightened from thisold wretch, Ram Lal, really squares me with the estate of the 'deardeparted. ' The jewels are worth twice as much more, and, with Ram Lal'sindorsement all the other drafts on Glyn's bank are as good as gold. There is twenty thousand clear profit. I will send them on now foracceptance, openly, through the Credit Lyonnaise when I get to Paris. For Berthe Louison will give me, also, a good character. Old Ram'sindorsements make them perfectly good anywhere. I had better hide thedetails of this windfall, out here. And, now, thank Heaven, I am 'fixedfor life, ' and I can go in boldly and play the Prince Charming to MissMoneybags, the fair Nadine. " He tossed a double rupee to the driver, as the sentry swung the gate, but, hastily called him back as CaptainJordan said, hastening from the house:

"Orders are waiting for you now, with the General. Let me give you atrusty Sergeant. Drive right up there, Major. The General sent word thathe awaits you. " And so the Major sped away to his chief. 

No human being in Delhi ever knew the purport of the orders whichGeneral Willoughby handed to Major Hawke, on this eventful evening, butmuch marveled all Delhi that the favorite of fortune was absent from thefuneral of the late Hugh Fraser Johnstone, Esq. , of Delhi and Calcutta. He had vanished, with no P. P. C. Calls, and a hundred-pound note tossedto the poor little Eurasian girl in the cottage was her whole fortune inlife now. 

But a grave-faced civilian public official, with Major Williamson, ofthe Viceroy's general staff (a late arrival from Calcutta), ruled overthe marble house in place of Major Alan Hawke "absent upon specialduty. " Only Ram Lal knew of the real destination of the lucky man, who was only free from care when he had sailed from Bombay direct forBrindisi, on the fleet steamer Ramchunder. 

"I am safe now, " laughed Alan Hawke, who rejoiced in the easy tour ofduty before him. "To repair to London and to report to Captain AnsonAnstruther, A. D. C. , for special duty. " Such were the Viceroy's secretorders. It was General Willoughby who had absolutely invoked secrecy. "Wear a plain military undress, and you must avoid most men, and allwomen. Keep your mouth shut and you may find your provisional rankconfirmed. "

To Berthe Louison's secret agents, the Grindlay Bank at Delhi, MajorHawke had delivered a sealed envelope. "Use this only at your sorestneed. I will see Madame Louison probably before she has any orders forme, as to her private affairs. " When the envelope was opened the words"Major Alan Hawke, Hotel Faucon, Lausanne, Switzerland, " gave the onlyaddress which the adventurer dared to leave. And it was that which thecowering Ram Lal Singh copied when he brought to Alan Hawke the foursets of altered Bills of Exchange, and the Bank of England notes for thecheck of five thousand pounds. 

Major Hawke surveyed the skillfully raised Bills of Exchange andcarefully examined them in a dark room with a light, and also before theglaring sun rays. "A splendid job, Ram Lal, " he gayly said. "You musthave given them a coat of size and then moistened and ironed them. " Theold rascal gloomily accepted the professional compliment. "I observethat you have labored to protect your own indorsement, " sportivelyremarked the Major. 

"And now you will return to me my jewels?" timidly demanded Ram Lal. 

"Do you wish me to send the dagger of Mirzah Shah to General Willoughby?It is deposited here, with a sealed letter, " coldly sneered Hawke. "Should anything happen to me or, to these drafts, it would be sent tothe General, and you would hang. No, I will keep the jewels. "

And then Major Hawke thrust the shivering wretch out, having liberallypaid to him, through Grindlay, the balance due by Berthe Louison. 

"I swear that I did not get a single jewel from--from him. He has hiddenthem, " pleaded Ram Lal. 

"Ah! I must look to this" mused Hawke, when Ram Lal had been frightenedaway with a last stern injunction:

"Obey my slightest wishes or you will hang! I will have you watched tillI return! There are eyes upon your path that never close in sleep!" RamLal shuddered in silence. 

Delhi soon forgot the man whom the great stone now covered in theEnglish cemetery, and only General Willoughby and the easy-going civilauthorities knew of the cablegram: "Coming on with full power fromSenior Executor. --Douglas Fraser, Junior Executor. " The cablegram wasdated from Milan, for two keen Scottish brains were now busied withplans to save and care for the worldly gear so suddenly abandoned totheir care by Hugh Johnstone. Though Delhi was swept as with a besom, no trace of the cowardly assassins was ever found, and only old Simpson, waiting, in final charge as household major domo for Douglas Fraser'sarrival, could enlighten the perturbed commanding General with certainvague suspicions. But Ram Lal slept now in a growing security. 

"It is clear that the master was watched in his secret preparations forthe voyage home, " said Simpson, "and some outsiders, with the help ofsome traitor among the blacks, paid off an old score. I could tell ofmany an old enemy which he gained in these twenty years. " sadly saidSimpson. "I feel they only mussed up the room to give an appearance ofrobbery. The mahogany boxes were merely part of master's old weddingoutfit in London, and I know that they were only filled with toiletarticles and little medical stores. They only lugged them off to make ashow. "

And General Willoughby, following up Simpson's clues, easily discovereda shady side of Johnstone's past life, not compatible with the pompouspanegyrics of the Indian press, the resolutions of a dozen clubsand societies, the minutes of the Bank of Bengal, and other mortuaryliterature of a complimentary nature. It was some old curse come downupon the defenseless man in his old age! And so no one ever sought forthe solution of the mystery in the deep dejection of Ram Lal Singh, whovainly mourned for his lost jewels and money. Fear tied his hands, andhis tongue was palsied by guilt. He vindictively, however, raised hiscustomary "rate of usance, " and swore in his own hardened heart that theneedy borrowers of Delhi should recoup him fully before a year. The oneStar gleaming in the dark night of financial blackness was the vengeanceupon the man who had tricked and despoiled a fellow-robber thirty yearsbefore. 

Major Hawke on his homeward way counted up a goodly store of twelvethousand pounds in money, jewels of nearly the same value, and theskillfully raised and properly indorsed drafts on London for twentythousand more. "If I can only get these passed by the executors I am amade man for life, " mused the Major as the Ramchunder sped over the blueArabian sea. "If I discover the secret of the stolen jewels, they mustyield, to save both family honor and money; if I don't, then, Ram Lalmust save his life and protect the drafts. I will negotiate them withthe Credit Lyonnais, in Paris, and force Berthe to help me. No one shallrob me now, " somewhat illogically mused the brilliant adventurer, proudof his life-work. 

At Calcutta, the noble Viceroy had already given to Major HarryHardwicke and Capt. Eric Murray his orders for their performance of adelicate duty. 

"You will find Captain Anstruther to be my personal as well as officialrepresentative in London, and Her Majesty's service demands prudence inthis grave affair. So but one set of confidential cipher dispatcheshave been sent on, and Captain Anstruther will have charge of the wholedelicate affair. Should either of you meet Major Alan Hawke in London, or out of India, your commissions will depend on guarding an absolutesilence as to the whole Johnstone affair. You are trusted, and notwatched, gentlemen, " said the great noble, "and he is watched, and nottrusted. Now, I have done all I can for you, as this duty takes you homeand brings you back at the expense of her Majesty's government. You willnot fail to communicate with me from Aden, Suez, and Port Said, as wellas Brindisi, and to report if Madame Louison has received at each placeher telegrams and proceeded on her journey in safety. Her Majesty'sconsuls will, in each place, aid you in every way. Should I decide todrop or quash the whole affair, my young kinsman, Anstruther, representsme, personally as well as officially. "

And so the gay young bridegroom-to-be sailed from Calcuttalight-hearted, while Harry Hardwicke counted each day's reckoning asbringing him, by leaps and bounds, nearer to the dark-eyed girl now leftalone in the world. "There shall nothing come between us now, my darlingone!" was the young Major's fond vow confided to the evening star, glowing in its trembling silver radiance over the spicy Indian Ocean. 

Alixe Delavigne was still "Madame Berthe Louison" to the glitteringcircle of passengers who envied her the state in which she traveled, theslavish obeisance of the ship's officers, and the deft ministrationsof those admirable servants, Jules Victor and Marie. "A great personageincognito, " was the general verdict, and so the luckless swains hoveringaround fell off one by one, as the beautiful woman seemed to be alwayswrapped in an unbroken reverie. There was an anxious gleam in the lady'seyes, for she felt that she was going home to the sternest battle of herlife, and she brooded now only upon the trials of the future. She neverknew how near the dark angel's wing had swooped over her own defenselesshead. 

For the gray head now lying low had been secretly busied with plans fora huge bribe to Ram Lal which should buy him to the doing of a dark deedwithout a name. Only Berthe's determined attack on the granting of thebaronetcy in London, and her own "lightning disappearance" had savedher from Ram Lal's cupidity. Master of the secrets of a dozen Easternpoisons, the artful confederate of her dark retinue in the silverbungalow, Ram Lal would have gladly worked Hugh Johnstone's will for hisred gold. But the fierce quarrel and the precipitate flight of BertheLouison had balked Johnstone, who fell by the very hand of the slywretch whom he had designed to buy, as the murderer of another. Theengineer hoist by his own petard. But, steadfastly looking to Valerie'schild alone, she knew not the dangers which she had escaped. 

"I was afraid they would kill you, Madame. Thank God, we are now safe atsea!" said Jules Victor. 

"Who?" cried the startled woman. 

"Why, that old wretch; he had money, and his spies were all around you, "said Jules. 

"Yes! Thank God! We are safe now!" mused Berthe Louison, and she bade along adieu to the strange scenes of her pilgrimage. "I shall neversee India again!" she reflected, when she passed, in a mental review, Calcutta, holy Benares, smoky Patna, brisk Allahabad, Cawnpore, wherethe white-winged angel broods over the innocent dead, heroic Lucknow, and crime-haunted Delhi--all these rose up in a weird panorama of themind. Strange tales of wild adventure told by Alan Hawke returned to hernow--the mysteries of Thibet, the weird ferocity of Bhotan, the quainttales of the polyandrous Todas, and the strange story of Vijaynagar, thedesecrated city whose streets are peopled but ten days in the year! Alotos land where crime broods, where the cobra hides under the paintedblossoms of Death!

Glittering palaces of Agra, gloomy caves of Elephanta, the light andlovely Mohammedan architecture, the dark haunts of Kali and Bowanee, the thronged Ghats of the sacred rivers, the color medleys of the vastcities, all these busied her as she passed her days alone in study overthe secretly gathered up collection of polychrome views which had takenher from the Neilgherries to Cape Comorin. Her dreams of all her subtleplans to counteract all of Johnstone's schemes, her tender intrigues tosilently entrap Nadine Johnstone's girlish heart, her carefully plottedline of future action, all of these things vanished in a moment, atAden, when a government launch steamed out, and an officer of the vesselled up Her Majesty's Consul to address the mysterious lady passenger. 

There was a rush of volunteers when the woman, always brave in sorrowand ever fate defying, fainted away in a deathly trance as her eyeseagerly scanned the brief dispatch of the Viceroy. They were underwayagain when she realized the fearful decrees of a merciless fate! Sheread with a shudder, the lines again and again, whispering: "Can it be?"

"Hugh Johnstone murdered by persons--unknown at Delhi? Hasten on toLondon. Anstruther will have full details. Please acknowledge!"

And it was half an hour before the beautiful Nemesis who had cloudedHugh Johnstone's life had penned her simple answer. Only at night, onthe voyage afterward, did she ever leave her splendid staterooms, and when Brindisi was reached she vanished with her loyal servants soquickly that even the veriest fortune hunter could not follow on hertrail. "Some terrible row--some sad family happening, " was the generalsmoking-room verdict! But, with a heart strangely yearning to theorphaned child, Berthe Louison hastened, without stopping, by Venice tolovely Munich and on to gay Paris. "She shall be mine now--mine to love, to cherish, my poor darling!" vowed the woman whose eyes shown out in aninfinite pity! The cup of vengeance was dashed away from her lips for, behind the arras, the waiting headsman of Fate had struck in the nightand laid low the man who would have compassed her death!

Madame Alixe Delavigne was only a gracious memory to the sympathetic menpassengers who hastened on to London via Mont Cenis, but the chatteringgossips of the Rue Berlioz noted, with an eager Gallic curiosity, thereturn of the mysterious occupant of No. 9. Jules Victor and his wifewere seen, however, for only one day, busied about their usual householdavocations, and then the returning travelers vanished once more tobaffle the chatterers. "Diantre! Comme ils sont des voyageurs!" criedthe coachman who took the wanderers to the Gare St. Lazare. Therewas need of haste now, for Madame Louison had received three foreigndispatches, besides a letter from Captain Anstruther, now waitingimpatiently at London, and chafing over his unsuccessful queriesat Morley's Hotel. The gallant Captain's letter was pregnant withgovernmental mysteries, and yet the beautiful woman sighed as shesaw the vein of personal interest but too clearly evident in the longcommunication. A single glance at her tell-tale mirror reassured her, and she blushed, as she murmured:

"He believes me younger than I am!" But her brow was grave as sherevolved the situation. "There will be a long struggle, a fight of loveagainst craft and and greed! Who will win?" The fact that the GovernmentSecret Service had already traced the delivery of the heavily insuredshipment, "ex. Str. Lord Roberts, " to Professor Andrew Fraser, wasa first victory for the enemy! "If the old nabob wrote directly viaBrindisi to his brother, then the acute old Scotch Professor may beon his guard now! And--the will?--the will? What does it provide forNadine's future? If he had already taken the alarm-then I may have yetto fight my way to my darling's side! The black curtain of the pastshall never be lifted by my hand unless--unless Andrew Fraser forcesme to strike hard at his dead brother's paper card house of honorabledeeds!"

As Madame Louison watched the rich moonlight silvering the brokenwake of the channel steamer, she pondered over the telegrams. "MajorHardwicke and Alan Hawke are both en route to London, charged withdifferent missions. And I am to beware of Hawke. They have only sent himaway, perhaps, to veil the official game of the Indian authorities. AndAlan Hawke truthfully warns me of his coming by private dispatch. Is hetrying to regain his lost status? Douglas Fraser, the second executor, on his way back to India. He has passed Brindisi already. Ah! Thesorrows for the dead are quickly assuaged when the 'property interests'furnish a fat picking to solicitors and the holders of dead men's gear. 

"Nadine is only eighteen--she has three years to remain under legaltutelage. Perhaps Andrew Fraser may have been already coached upon hiscourse by his unrelenting kinsman. And there is a fortune waiting forfather and son in the perquisites. " Madame Louison fell asleep in a vainquandary as to the precise age when men ceased to value wealth and tosell their souls for gold. That question was still undecided when thesteamer Sparrow Hawk sped into Dover harbor. 

The beautiful wanderer was now clearly resolved as to her futuretreatment of Alan Hawke. "My foe dead, the theater of war is transferredto Great Britain. He is not necessary to my own campaign, but, inwatching him, I may be able to shield Nadine from his crafty plots. Ifhe should try to secretly make friends with the Frasers, and to returnto India, to aid the nephew, he might assist in robbing Valerie's childof this mountain of miserably gotten wealth. 

"Thank God, I can make her rich. But Captain Anstruther will know theViceroy's whole mind, and I can trust to him. " But her cheeks were rosyred and her dancing dark eyes dropped in a sudden confusion, as thehandsome aid-de-camp leaped aboard the steamer at Dover Pier. 

"I did not expect you!" she murmured. 

"I knew, of course, from your dispatch when you would arrive, and soI came down to further the Viceroy's business!" the soldier said in asudden confusion. In an hour, the two who had met in such strange mannerat Geneva were seated alone in a first-class compartment, and weremerrily whirling on to Lud's town. Captain Anstruther's ten shillings tothe guard secured them from annoying intrusion. In another compartment, Jules and Marie Victor sagely exchanged their lightning glances ofParisian acuteness. 

"C'est un homme magnifique!" murmured Marie, and Jules gravely nodded, "Peut-etre, notre maitresse l'a connu longtemps. II est tres tendre!"The staff-officer "furthered the Viceroy's business" by clasping bothof Alixe Delavigne's prettily-gloved hands. Her bosom heaved in a softalarm, but she repulsed him not. 

"Why did you deceive me at Geneva?" he eagerly demanded, with atrembling voice. And Alixe Delavigne's eyes were downcast and dreamy, asshe whispered:

"Because I was only a poor pilgrim of Love--a lonely woman, heart hungryfor the tidings of the girl whom you have brought back to me!" The youngofficer gazed out of the window, and in his heart, he already pardonedher. 

"To those who love much, much shall be forgiven!" he reflected, with acompassion growing momentarily, for he saw the shadow of tears in thebeautiful dark brown eyes. And he forbore to question her as he gazed ather glowing face. 

With a sudden lifting of her stately head, the woman sitting there, herheart throbbing in a strange unrest, laid her hand lightly upon his arm. 

"Listen to the strange story of a woman's life!" she said slowly. "Ipromised His Excellency, the Viceroy, that you should know why I leftthe defensive lines of my sex at Geneva! For he has trusted to me, andI wish you to know--to know that--" and the sentence was never finished, for Captain Anstruther bent over her trembling hands. 

"I know that you are what I would have you ever be!" he simply said. And, with softly shining eyes, she told the soldier of her strange lifepath. 

It was strange that they had neared London before the whole story wasconcluded, and their voices had sunk into softened whispers. "You mayrely upon me to the death! You may depend upon me whenever you maywish to call upon me!" he said, as the train rolled into Charing Crossstation. "Major Hardwicke, of the Engineers, will be my chosen ally, andI alone am to trace out this mystery of the vanished jewels. You shallconquer! I will aid you! Amor omnia vincit! You are the only heart inthe world now throbbing for that sweet girl. "

But when they drove to Morley's Hotel, far away on the sea, HarryHardwicke's heart was beating fondly in all a lover's expectancy for thesame friendless Rose of Delhi, and the debonnair Alan Hawke, in sight ofBrindisi, mused in his deck-pacings: "I will placate Euphrosyne Delande. Justine, too, shall do my bidding, and my employer shall give me the keyto this girl's heart. For I will marry Nadme Johnstone! I am a devil forluck. "

CHAPTER XII. ON THE CLIFFS OF JERSEY. 

Captain Anson Anstruther, A. D. C. , was the very happiest of men threedays later, when he watched Madame Alixe Delavigne gracefully presidingover a pretty tea table, a la fusse, in the quaint old mansion, boweredin a garden sloping down to the Thames, where Miss Mildred Anstruther, avenerable maiden aunt, had her "local habitation and, a name!" A lonelywoman of colossal wealth and blue blood, high in rank, and decidedly ofriper years. 

"By Jove! Dear old Aunt Mildred is a tower of strength to me, just now, "reflected the gallant Captain, when, as the soft shadows deepenedon lawn and river, he lingered tenderly there in explanation of hisofficial business. It was hardly "official" that Anson Anstruther hadfallen into the habit of furtively addressing the now unveiled MadameBerthe Louison, as "Alixe", but it was even so. Acquaintance can ripenas rapidly on the Thames as by the Arno, given a certain impetus. Andthe Pilgrim of Love, though still Madame Berthe Louison in France, wasAlixe Delavigne in the retreat chosen by the Viceroy. 

"Pazienza! Pazienza!" smiled the young soldier, as the impassioned Alixeeagerly demanded to be allowed to approach the orphaned Nadine, atSt. Heliers. "You have been so noble, so untiring, do not ruin all byprecipitancy now! You see I am already secretly watching over her. I nowrepresent the whole interests of Her Majesty's Service! And you--onlyyour own loving heart! I must first meet Major Alan Hawke, and send himaway to be busied on some apparently important duty, which will keephim away from old Andrew Fraser. We know the old professor's cunningcharacter. Miser and pedant, he is but a shriveled parchment editionof his heartless, dead brother. We must not alarm him. We have alreadytraced the insured packet to his hands. Now, he properly has the custodyof the dead nabob's will. He may soon have to bring the girl on toLondon, for the legal formalities of proving it. We do not wish him tosend the stolen jewels away in a sudden fright, and so hide them from usforever. If he qualifies duly as executor, and then files the will, thenthe estate is responsible, through him. 

"We will soon know who controls your niece for the three years of herlong minority. Hawke must be got out of the way. I will hoodwink him, and every British Consul in the continental towns which he visits willsecretly watch him for me. Besides, Major Hardwicke and Murray willbe here very scon, to aid me, and to watch Hawke. I wish Alan Hawketo blunder around, hunting for Major Hardwicke, and so give me anopportunity to do my duty secretly, and to aid you in your own laborof love. In the mean time--you must be content to rest tranquilly here;cultivate my dear old aunt, and I will come to you daily so that yourquiet life in this 'moated grange' will be brightened up a bit. Yousee, " thoughtfully said Anstruther, "whoever sent old Johnstone to hisgrave, he had previously spirited the heiress away--all his plans forthe future were perfectly matured with all the craft of a man wellversed in intrigue for forty years. His bitter hatred of you did not diewith him. You may be assured that he has laid out a plan, both in hisprivate letters and in the will to fence you forever out of this girl'slife. So your work must be done in secret. If I can ever effectivelyhelp you, I must work on Andrew Fraser and not needlessly alarm both hisgreed and fear. As soon as it is safe, you shall take up your post nearto her; but Hawke must come and go first. He must find no sign ofyour presence here. " There was cogency in the sentimental soldier'sreasoning. 

"He will surely come to my Paris home at No. 9 Rue Berlioz. He knowsthat address!" murmured Alixe Delavigne, her eyes dropping in a suddenconfusion, as a flame of jealousy lit up the young soldier's fieryglances. For Anson Anstruther had posted there on his first voyage fromGeneva to find the bird flown. 

"Then you may keep Marie, your maid, here, " slowly replied Anstruther, "and send Jules over to Paris. Alan Hawke will surely seek for youthere. Let Jules inform him that you have gone to Jitomir to attend toyour Russian interests. "

Alixe Delavigne bowed her head in a mute assent. Day by day the proudself-reliant woman was yielding to the imperious will of the youngsoldier. It was a soft, self-deception that reassured her on the veryevening when he left her. 

But there was one now weaving his webs at Lausanne whose fertilebrain was busied with sly schemes of his own. Alan Hawke always firstconsidered "his duty to himself" and so the acute Major decided to spyout the land before he precipitately appeared at London, or dared torisk himself at St. Agnes Road, St. Heliers. 

"It is just as well to know all that Justine can tell me before I seethis young dandy Anstruther, and to find out what Euphrosyne knowsbefore I interrogate her sister, " he murmured; "I must make no mistakewith the Viceroy's kinsman!"

With much prevision he had telegraphed the date of his probable arrivalin London to Captain Anstruther from Munich, adding that convenientfairy tale, "Delayed by illness" and he had also left this telegrambehind, so as to be sent on to allow him four days leeway near Geneva. 

The signature bore also an injunction to answer to Hotel Binda, Paris. "This is no little card game, " muttered Hawke. "It is for rank, wealth, and the hand of Miss Million, the rose of Delhi. "

Alan Hawke was practically received with open arms by thefluttering-hearted Euphrosyne, who nobly resigned herself to Justine'svictory over Alan Hawke's heart. For the younger sister's letters hadfilled the elder's mind with rosy dreams of enhanced family prosperity. 

"Only this telegram. That is all!" murmured the preceptress, as shehanded the Major a dispatch dated at St. Heliers, stating, "Arrived, well, news of Mr. Johnstone's assassination just received. Will write!"

"This is all I know of this strange homecoming, as yet!" summed up thechild of Minerva. 

Hawke softly delved into Mademoiselle Euphrosyne's inner consciousnessuntil he knew all the corners of the simple woman's heart. 

"I am quite sure that she speaks the simple truth!" he decided, afterhe had informed the Swiss woman of his address, "Hotel Binda, Paris. ""I must go on there by the night train, " he at once resolved. "Here isa juncture where all our various interests are deeply involved. Youand Justine may lose the well-earned reward of years. I must be nearJustine, now, to protect you both. I fear this old mummy Fraser! If hecontrols the fortune, then he and his hopeful son will probably stealhalf of it. Thats a fair allowance for an ordinary executor! It is allfor one, and, one for all, now! Write under seal to Justine that I amnear--only do not mention names!" With an affected tenderness, Hawkekissed the pallid lips of the daughter of Minerva, and slipped away toLausanne, whence he took the midnight train for Paris. 

"I might look around and dispose of my jewels in Paris, " he thought ashe neared that "gay and festive city. " But his serious business withthe Credit Lyonnais as to the negotiation of the four "raised" billsof exchange, and his desire to at once come to terms with Madame BertheLouison, caused him to postpone the vending of the jewels so neatlyextorted from Ram Lal. 

"I have lots of ready money now--too much, even, for safety in travel, and the jewels will keep. " With a strange anxious craving to see hisfair employer he drove directly to No. 9 Rue Berlioz on his arrival inParis. The impassive face of Jules Victor met his gaze at the door. 

"Madame, suddenly summoned to Poland, had begged Monsieur le Major toaddress her by letter, as telegrams were most unreliable in RussianPoland. Monsieur would, however, surely find letters at his Londonaddress, and it was true that Madame had not expected Monsieur's arrivalfor a fortnight. "

"I don't believe a damned word of this fellow's yarn. There is somesly juggling here!" ejaculated the Major as he drove back to the HotelBinda. His brow was black as he descended, and it grew blacker stillwhen he read a telegram from Euphrosyne Delande. He studied over theunwelcome news while he made a careful business toilet to visit theCredit Lyonnais. And a white rage shone out upon his handsome face as helearned that Justine was useless to him now. "Discharged without even areward! Thrust out like a beggar without a word of warning. " "Justine onher way home. Passed through Paris last night. Can you not return?"The signature "Euphrosyne" was a guaranty of the unwelcome truth. MajorHawke swore a deep and bitter oath as he penned a telegram to the Swisspreceptress: "Coming to-night. Arrive to-morrow at ten o'clock. Keepall secret. " And he boldly signed the name "Alan Hawke" to that and to amessage to Captain Anson Anstruther: "Delayed four days here by privatebusiness. "

He raged as he hastily soliloquized: "I will at once present thesedrafts regularly through the Credit Lyonnais. I will go and get thewhole story from Justine. I will pay off that tiger cat, Madame Louison, for her sneaking away. She fancies she has done with me now! Ah! By God!She thinks so? Wait! And this old Scotch saw-file! I'll break him up! IfI can only trace those stolen jewels to him, I'll have them or sendthe old miser off in irons to a life transportation! I begin to see thewhole game at last! And I swear that I'll get to the girl if I have tocarry her off!"

He went down to the Credit Lyonnais in an elegant "mufti" garb, anddepositing a thousand pounds sterling to his credit, left the fourdrafts for five thousand pounds each for collection, carelesslyreferring to Messrs. Grindlay & Co. , of Delhi, London, and many otherplaces, and mentioning the name of that eminent private native banker, money-lender, and jeweler, the well-known Ram Lal Singh. "He shall backhis indorsement!" laughed Alan Hawke. 

With a lordly insouciance, Major Alan Hawke then strolled out of thegreat bank and deliberately arranged his line of future action while hewas taking his ease at his inn. 

"First, to pick up all the threads of this queer intrigue throughJustine. I must go back to her at Geneva. Then, to be sure that BertheLouison is not repeating her cunning Delhi tricks with the dead man'sbrother. She might frighten him. Then, armed at all points, I musthasten on to report to Anstruther. I must have him give me a short leaveas soon as I can get it, but before I open my siege trenches I mustdevelop all the enemy's strength. What the devil is Berthe Louison up tonow?"

In the night train, speeding back to Geneva, Major Hawke rememberedsome old desperate associates of an enforced "social eclipse" atGranville-sur-Mer. "With a half a dozen resolute fellows I might hangaround Jersey and, perhaps, force my way into the stronghold. It dependson where the mansion is located. If the jewels are there, I will eitherhave them or else bend the old man to my will by threatened disclosures. But I must first fool Anstruther and my pretty employer. If Justine hadonly remained at Jersey I might have easily won my way to the girl'sside. And yet she will be under a long three years guardianship. " Somebusy devil at his side whispered: "She would be helpless if she werecarried off. " And as the enraged schemer finished the last of a dozencigars and took a pull at his pocket flask, he disposed himself tosleep, grumbling. 

"They have upset all the chessmen. Old Fraser and the Louison, too, areplaying at cross purposes--evidently. They have, however, spoiled mylittle game. I will spoil theirs!" He grinned as he decided "I will doa bit of the Romeo act with Justine, and come back by Granville toBoulogne. If the old gang is to be found there, I may get one of themto spy the whole thing out. All these Jersey people are half French intheir birth and ways. I can sneak some fellow in from Granville. Theremight be a chance. I'll get to the old fellow, or the girl, or thejewels--by God! I will! For I hold the trump cards. "

And yet his flattering hopes of gaining a permanent rank returned toaffright him in planning such a bold deed. "Ah! I must get some trustyfellow--perhaps, in London, " he muttered as his head dropped, and thetrain bore him on to the halls of learning, where poor Justine was nowweeping on her sister's bosom, and unveiling all the secrets of a hungryheart to the sympathetic Euphrosyne. 

But, saddest of all the coterie who had trodden the tessellated floorsof the marble house at Delhi, was a lonely girl sobbing herself tosleep, that very night, in a gray castellated mansion house perched upona sunny cliff of Jersey. 

The fair gardens and splendid halls of the luxurious home seemed butthe limits of a cheerless prison to the broken-hearted girl who hadbeen astounded when her one friend, Douglas Fraser, the companion of athirty-five days' journey, left her without a word. Nadine Johnstone hadopened her heart, shyly, to her manly young kinsman, Douglas Fraser. And yet she guarded, as only a maiden's heart can, the secret of theblossoming love for Hardwicke--the man who had saved her life. She askedher hungry heart if he would follow on her way, led by the appeal of hershining eyes. 

Worn, harassed, and wearied out by travel, she had sought a refuge inJustine Delande's clinging arms, on the night of their arrival fromBoulogne, for the path from India had been but a series of shadow-danceglimpses of strange scenes. The ashen face of the tottering old pedanthad offered her no welcome to a happy home. 

"How hideously like my father, this old bookworm, " murmured thefrightened girl in a strange repulsion, as she fled away to her room. Itwas a grateful relief when the servant maid announced that the travelerswould be served in their rooms. 

"The Master lives entirely alone, " the girl said shortly. Late thatfirst night the lonely girl sat gazing at the windows rattling underthe flying wrack, while Douglas Fraser and his father communed below heruntil the midnight hour. Suddenly Justine Delande was summoned to jointhem "on urgent business, " and the heiress of a million sat with claspedhands, murmuring:

"Will he ever find me out here? This is only a cheerless prison. I am, forever, lost to the world. " There was that in Justine Delande's face onher return which startled the heart-sick wanderer. 

"Ask me nothing--nothing to-night. Only sleep, my darling, " murmured thedevoted Swiss. The shadows deepened over Nadine Johnstone as she fellasleep dreaming of her mother, the gentle vision, and, the absent loverof her girlish heart. 

Sunny gleams came with the dawn, and Nadine was already wandering in thebeautiful gardens of "The Banker's Folly, " as the home perched on thehill was termed. It was there that Douglas Fraser suddenly came uponher, walking with the white-faced Justine. Both women could see thathe bore tidings of grave import, and another shadow settled on Nadine'sheart, as she clasped Justine's hand. 

Her cousin's face was grave as he said, in a broken voice: "Imust hasten away instantly to catch the boat, and I have to returnimmediately to India. There's no time for a word. My father will tellyou all! It is a matter of life and death to our whole family interests. May God keep you, Nadine!" the young man kindly said, as he bent andkissed her hand. "I have tried to make your long journey bearable!" Andthen, a wrinkled face at a window appeared to end the coming disclosure, for Douglas was softening. A harsh voice rose up in a half shriek:

"Douglas! Douglas!" and the young man turned back, without another word, springing away, over the graveled walks. Nadine's face grew ashen white, as the presage of coming disaster chilled her heart. 

Without a word, Justine Delande led the startled girl into the house. "You are to see your uncle at once! After our breakfast! And I will bewith you. " faltered Justine, with an averted face. 

The orphaned girl was now dimly conscious of some impending blow. Shehad been frightened at the solemnity of Douglas Fraser's hasty farewell, and, while Justine Delande affected to touch the breakfast spreadin their rooms by the Swiss lady's maid, now gloomy in an attack ofheimweh, Nadine saw a four-wheeler rattle away over the lawn, whileold Andrew Fraser grimly watched it until the gates clanged behind thedeparting Anglo-Indian. Over the low wall, on the road, Douglas Frasercaught a last glimpse of the graceful girl standing there. He sadlywaved an adieu, and Nadine Johnstone was left with but one friend inthe world, save the silent Swiss governess. Though the two women weresumptuously lodged "in fair upper chambers, " opening east and south, with their maid near at hand, the gloomy chill of the silent householdhad already penetrated the lonely girl's heart. No single sign of thewarmer amenities. Only books, books, dusty books, by the thousand, piledhelter-skelter in every available nook and cranny. 

The servants were slouching and sullen, and they moved about theirduties with gloomy brows. Even the gardener and his two stout boysstruck sadly away with mattock and spade as if digging graves. No chirpof bird, no baying of a friendly dog, no burst of childish merrimentbroke the droning silence. And this was the home to which a father haddoomed his only child. 

When the frightened maid tapped at the door to summon her mistress, herfeeble rapping sounded like a hammer falling sadly on the hollow coffinlid. The girl stammered, "The master would like to see you both in thelibrary. " And with a sinking heart Nadine Fraser Johnstone descended thestair. 

She had only cast a frightened glimpse at the yellowed, bony face, the cavernous eye sockets, the bushy eyebrows, beneath which a coldintellectual gleam still feebly flickered. Andrew Fraser had bent histall form over her, and peering down at her had whispered after theirfew words of greeting:

"Did ye gain aught in knowledge of Thibet in your Indian life? My lifework lies there, and Hugh has sorely disappointed me. He was to send mebooks and maps and papers for my 'History of Thibet and the Wanderingsof the Ten Tribes. '" With a confused negation the girl had fled awayto the cheerless shelter of the great rooms whose drab and grayarrangements bespoke the Reformatory or a Refuge for the Friendless. 

And the stern old scholar waited for the fluttering bird whom adverseFate had driven into his dismal lair with all the pompous severity of aguardian and trustee. 

Seated at a long desk littered with a multitude of papers, ProfessorAndrew Fraser coldly bowed the two women to convenient seats. Theparvenu banker who had fled away after a bankruptcy due to the erectionand embellishment of "The Folly, " had approved a semi-medieval plan ofconstruction which suggested a Norman stronghold or a Corsican mansionarranged for a stubborn defense. Books, globes, maps, and paperslittered the floors, and were piled nearby in convenient heaps withtell-tale flying signals of copious note taking. It was a bristlingRedoubt of Learning. 

But on this sunny morning the retired Professor of Edinburg Universityheld sundry letters, dispatches, and legal papers clutched in hisclaw-like hands. His eye rested upon Justine Delande, in a semi-hostileglare, as he slowly said:

"I've sent for ye, as in the place of your father's daughter, ye mustknow of the changes that come to us, with the chances of Life and thesair ways o' the world. " He was nervously fumbling with a selection ofthe papers and he paused and coughed ominously. "There has come to usnews which has posted my son Douglas hastily back to India, to do yourfather's last bidding. "

Nadine Johnstone's trembling hand clutched Justine Delande's stillrounded arm. 

"Her father the double of this grim ogre?" There was horror in herconjecture, but no pang of affection at the easily divined disclosure. "The news came to us suddenly, yesterday, and Douglas and I are left nowto screen ye from the robbers and cormorants of the world! Ye're one ofthe richest women in Britain now--Hugh Fraser's daughter--for yere guidfather is no more! A sudden death--a sudden death! and his will leavesyou to me as a legal charge, for yere body and yere estate, till ye comeo' the legal age. T'hafs the next three years!"

With a single glance of stern deprecation, Andrew Fraser saw the girltotter and her head fall upon the bosom of the woman who had "sorrowedof her sorrows" in all the years of the lonely colorless infancy, childhood, and budding womanhood! The old bookworm clung to the papersas if that "documentary evidence" was an absolute guaranty, and heheld it ready to proffer in support of his theorem. His toughenedheart-strings were silent at natural affection's touch, and only twangedto the never-dying greed for gold--useless gold!

In an unmoved wonder, the senile scholar listened to the broken sobsof the child of Valerie Delavigne. He was astounded at her financialcarelessness, when she moaned:

"Let me go away! Let me go!" and then she cried, "What care I for allthis money--this useless wealth. He is gone! I am now alone in theworld! And--and, now I never will know the story of the past!" There wasa stony gleam on the old Scotchman's face as the girl sobbed, "Mother!Mother! Lost to me forever, now. " The cunning old Scotchman's facedarkened at the mention of that long-forbidden name. The woman who haddeserted the rich nabob. 

With uneasy, tottering steps the old scholar paced the room, watchingthe two women in a grim silence, until Justine Delande, with a woman'squestioning eyes, pointed to the rooms above. 

"Before ye go, and I'll now give ye these whole papers and documents, Iwould say that my dead brother Hugh has here in his will laid out yerewhole life for the three years of the minority. He has put on me thethankless labor and care of watching over yere worldly gear, and ofkeeping ye safely to the lines of prudence and of a just economy. Andmy duty to my dead brother, I will do just as his own words and hand andseal lay it down! To-morrow I will have much to say to you. If ye willcome back to me here, Madame Delande, when my ward goes to her own room, I'll see ye at once on a brief matter o' business. And now I'll waittill ye take her away!" It was a half hour before Justine Delandedescended to the rooms where the old egoist chafed at the loss of timestolen from the maundering researches on Thibet and the Ten Tribes. 

"Woman! woman! I sent up for ye twice!" he barked, as the half-defiantSwiss governess at length joined him. 

"I know my duty to my dear child, Nadine!" said the stout-heartedgoverness, with a crimsoning cheek. The old man opened a check-book, andsternly said:

"Sit ye there! I'll arrange yere business in a few minutes! And, then, ye can find other duties, and know them as ye care to. I'll have none ofyere hoity-toity airs here!" Regardless of the look of horror stealingover the face of Justine, the old man coldly proceeded as if recedingfrom the pulpit. "My late brother, Hugh Fraser Johnstone, of Delhi andCalcutta, has sent me his own last instructions and orders. I have herethe last receipt for the stipend which ye have been allowed--and, I'mduly following his orders, when I give ye this check for the six monthsthat has yet too to run. 

"And-look ye here! A twenty-pound note to take ye back to Geneva! Whenye sign this receipt for the stipend, ye are free to leave my house atonce. There's some letters and a couple of telegrams for ye! Bring methe maid, now, and I'll pay her in the same way; and, moreover, I willgive her ten pounds to take her home. Then, ye'll both remember yeare not to sleep another night here! I'll give ye the whole day to saygood-bye and to make up yere boxes. There will be two four-wheelers hereafter yere dinner, and ye'll find the Royal Victoria Hotel suited to yeboth, at St. Heliers. If ye choose to go, the morning boat takes ye toGranville. Bring the maid here now! Do you linger, woman? I'll be obeyedand forthwith!"

With flashing eyes, Justine Delande sprang up, facing the flinty-heartedold Scotsman. "I will never abandon Nadine here! She will die in yourcheerless prison!" she cried. But the old pedant glowered pitilessly atthe startled woman, who cried: "To turn me away like a dog--after thesemany years!" And her sobs woke the echoes of the vaulted room. 

"Hearken, my leddy!" barked old Fraser, "One more word, and I'll havethe gardener put ye off the premises! The girl ye speak of is young andstrong. She'll have just what the Court gives her, and what her fatherlaid out for her, and I'll work my will, and I'll do his will. Ye'respeaking to no fule, here now! Take yere money and yere letters, andbring me the maid, or I'll bundle ye both in a jiffey into the Queen'shighway. I'll have none but my own servants here--now!"

Then Justine Delande, without another word, stepped forward, and, seizing the pen, signed her receipt for wages due, in silence. Shedefiantly gathered up her withheld letters and papers. She returned ina few moments with the maid, whose ox-like eyes glowed in the sudden joyof a return to Switzerland. For the ranz des vaches was now ringing inthe stout peasant girl's ears. "There, that's all, now!" rasped the oldman, when the maid had gathered up her dole. "The butler will go down totown with ye and see ye safe, and he will leave word at the bank to payyere checks. I keep no siller here. It's a lonely house. " And the deadtyrant worked his will through the living one, as his stony heart hadlaid out the future. 

Justine Delande faced the old miser pedant as she indignantly cried:"God protect and keep the poor orphan who has drifted out of one hell onearth into another! Your dead brother robbed her of a mother's love, andyou--you old vampire--you would bury her alive! She shall know yet herdead mother's love, and--her brutal father's shame!"

Before the excited woman could select another period of flowinginvective from her thronging emotions, the gaunt old scholar had pushedher out into the hall and slid a bolt upon his door, with a viciousclick. There were certain qualms of fear already unsettling histriumphant calmness. 

While Justine Delande, with flaming cheeks, sprang up the stair, andbarricaded herself with the sobbing heiress, the old man, his eyesgleaming with all the conscious pride of tyranny, seated himself andindited a note directed to

PROFESSOR ALARIC HOBBS, (of Waukesha University, U. S. A. ), ROYALVICTORIA HOTEL, ST. HELIERS, JERSEY. 

He had already dismissed from his mind the sorrows of the orphanedniece--he cared not for the spirited onslaught of the Swiss woman--andhe rejoiced in his heart at the fact of Douglas Fraser's departure togather up the loose ends of his dead brother's great fortune. "It's avixenish baggage--this Swiss teacher! Hugh was right to bid me cut thosecords at once and forever between them! The girl shall have discipline, and, that baggage, her mother, is well out of the world! I'll workHugh's will! She shall come under!" With a secret glee he ran over aschedule of chapter headings upon Thibet, Tibet, Tubet--the land ofBod--Bodyul or Alassa. He was drifting back into the dreamland of thepedant, but a few hours deserted. 

"This Yankee fellow has a keen wit! His ideas on the Ten Tribes arewonderful! His life has been a study of the Mongolians, the Tartars, and the history of the American Indians! I will be a bit decent to thefellow, and I'll get at the meat of his knowledge! He's young and agreat chatterer, maybe, but a help to me. Body o' me! But to get theremyself--to Thibet. 

"Ah!" sighed the old misanthrope, "I'm too old now! And Hugh has failedme! Nothing from him. This sair blow cuts off the last hope! And noeducated men of Thibet ever travel! Blindness--blindness everywhere!"he babbled on, while above him, two women, in an agonized leave-taking, were silently sobbing in each other's arms, while the happy Swissservant made her boxes. Nadine Johnstone's utter wretchedness gave herno sense of a loss by the hand of Death. For a father's love she hadnever known, and her mother--a mystery!

The two women cowering together above the old pedant's den withsorrowing hearts communed while Justine Delande directed the packingof her slender belongings. There was a new spirit of revolt stirring inNadine Johnstone's breast, and her face glowed with the resentment of anoutraged heart. When all was ready for Justine's flitting, the heiressof a million pounds finished a little memorandum, which she calmlyexplained to the Swiss preceptress. The sense of her future rightsstirred her like a bugle blast, and with clear eyes, she looked beyondthe three years toward Freedom. 

"It rests with you, Justine, as to whether I am left friendless forthree years of a gloomy captivity. First you are to telegraph to MajorHarry Hardwicke, Royal Engineers, Delhi, and if you receive no reply, then telegraph to General Willoughby for the Major's address. When atGranville, and, not before, send this letter to Major Hardwicke at the'Junior United Service Club, London'. " The beautiful girl was blushingrosy red as the sympathetic Swiss folded her to her breast. "Then, whenyou get to Paris, go to No. 9 Rue Berlioz, and leave this letter therefor Madame Berthe Louison. Go yourself. Trust no one. When you haveconferred with dear Euphrosyne, you can send all your letters to MadameLouison at Paris under cover. She will find out a safe way to getthem to me--even if she has to send her man, Jules, over here. He isquick-witted, and he will find a way to reach me. "

There was a dawning wonder in Justine's eyes. 

"Who is this strange Madame Louison? Can you trust her?"

"Ah! Justine!" murmured Nadine, "She is only one who loves me, forlove's own sake, but I know I can trust her. She knows something of mymother's past life--something that I do not know. This old tyrantwill now try to cut me off from all the outside world. He has had somestrange power given to him by the father who was only my father in name. 

"I will obey you. I swear it!" cried Justine. "And old Simpson willprobably be coming on soon. He loves you. He will serve you. "

"Yes, " joyously exclaimed Nadine, with a glowing face. "And he adoresMajor Hardwicke, whose father saved his life at Lucknow. There is onedawning hope. You are not to write one word till you hear from me. Iknow that Madame Louison will manage to send Jules to me in some safedisguise, " she proudly cried, "and remember--I shall not be always apoor prisoner with her hands tied. The day of my deliverance comes. WhenI am twenty-one, I can reward both you and Euphrosyne. She shall have ahome to live in ease. And you, --you shall go out into the world with me, and aid me to find my mother. Even in the tomb I shall find her. Ishall know of her love. For I shall see her loving face, even only in apicture. The face that has blessed me in my dreams. "

Justine Delande saw a future reward awaiting the two faithful guardiansof the childhood of Miss Million. With a sudden impulse, she cried:"There is one to aid even nearer to us now than Major Hardwicke. For Ihave a telegram from Euphrosyne, that Major Haivke is at Geneva. "

Nadine Johnstone rose and seized both of Justine's hands: "Promiseme now, by my dead mother's grave, that you will never tell that mananything of our secret compact of to-day! I fear him! I disliked himfrom the first! He had strange dealings with the dead. " The girl's facewas stern. "If I am approached by him in any way, I will cease everycommunication with you forever! I will have no aid of Alan Hawke. "

And when the parting hour came, Justine Delande was amazed at the colddignity with which Nadine Johnstone faced the grim old uncle. It wasonly at the gate of the "Banker's Folly, " that the heiress for the lasttime kissed her friend in adieu. "Fear not for me. I have learned thelesson of Life. Remember!" she whispered. "Keep the faith! Guard mytrusts!" and then, Justine sobbed: "Loyal a la, mort!"

The evening shades were darkening the sculptured shores of Rozel Bay, where clumsy luggers lay far below, high and dry on the beach, behindthe great masonry pier. Skiffs and fishing-boats lined the shores, andthe soft breeze moved the foliage of the luxuriant garden. The whitestars were peeping out and twinkling in the gray and lonely sea, asNadine shivered and walked firmly back to the portico, where the oldrecluse awaited her. 

With a stiff motion of perfunctory courtesy, he motioned the heiressinto the frosty-looking drawing-room, now lit up with spectral gleams ofwax candles. For he would treat his ward with a frozen dignity. 

Andrew Fraser coughed in a hollow warning and wasted no words in hisfirst bulletin of "General Orders. " "I have here a certified copy ofyour late father's will, " he said, "for your perusal. You will see allthe conditions of life which he has wisely laid down for you. I havetelegraphed on to London for his solicitor to send a representativehere, and the original testament will be duly filed at Doctors' Commons, at once. I shall at once provide you with suitable women attendants. I have already engaged a proper housekeeper, to whom you can state allyour wishes. With regard to money matters and your correspondence, youmust consult me! For the present, you will readily see that I deem itimprudent for you to leave these spacious and splendid grounds! But, ye'll find ways to busy yourself. Women always do!"

The old pedant marveled at the young woman's composure, for she simplybowed and awaited a termination of the interview. Slightly disconcerted, he abruptly demanded: "Have you anything to say?"

"Only this, Andrew Fraser, " coldly replied the heiress. "Your sendingaway the only woman whom I know in the world has marked you as a tyrantand a jailer. " Her spirit was as unyielding as his own, and he winced. 

"Ye'll find I had your father's warrant. I'll go on to the end and obeyhim! There are to be no old associations kept up, and when ye come toyour own ye can do all ye will! I'll go my way in my duty and do itas it seems right!" When he finished he was alone, for the daughter ofValerie Delavigne had passed him with a glance of unutterable contempt. 

There was fire in the eye of the rebellious girl, and the elasticfirmness of youth in her tread, but above stairs, in her own lonelyrooms, her courage faded away quickly. But she wrapped her sorrows inher own proud young heart and turned her eyes to the far East. "Will hecome?" she murmured. 

When the clumsy island serving girl had trimmed the fire and drawn theheavy curtains, Nadine Johnstone locked her doors. She sat spellbound, with a wildly beating heart, until she had read the last of the sixteenprovisions of her father's vindictive will. Though the whole fortunewas left absolutely to her, with the exception of twenty-fivethousand pounds each to Andrew Fraser and his son, she was tied up byrestrictions so infamously brutal, that her three years of minoritystretched out before her as a death in life. Five hundred pounds a yearof pin money were allowed to her until her majority, "to be expendedwith the approval of her guardian. "

In an agony of lonely sorrow she threw herself, dressed, upon her bedand sobbed herself into forgetfulness, her last cry for help minglingthe names of Berthe Louison and Harry Hardwicke. "Will Justine be trueto her oath?" she faltered, as she drifted into the blessed release ofdreamland. 

As the night wore on, Justine Delande, tossing on her bed in the RoyalVictoria Hotel, waited for the dawn, to sail for Granville. She hadtelegraphed in curt words her dismissal, and she burned to reach Geneva, for to her the sight of Alan Hawke's face was the one oasis in herdesert of sorrow. 

Long after Nadine Johnstone had closed her tired eyelids, stern oldAndrew Fraser cowered below, glowering over his library fire, clad ina huge plaid dressing gown. His greedy eyes watched the dancing flames, and he rubbed the thin palms in triumph, while he sipped his nightlyglass of Highland whisky grog. It had been a famous secret campaign forthe surviving brother. 

"If all goes on well; all goes well!" he crooned. "There's Douglas, gonefor good! The boy is young and soft-like. He might fall into this pertminx's hands as young Douglas with Queen Mary of old. And, thank God, he knows nothing of the packet of jewels! Not a soul knows in the wideworld! Why should I not save them for myself and turn them into gold?Yes, save them for myself. For the boy? But he never must know! Ah! Imust hide them well! This stubborn girl knows nothing! That is right!Janet Fairbarn will be here in two days, and I'll have another man tokeep watch; yes, and a good dog, too! For the gallants must never crossmy wall!"

"He! He! She'll no fule with Janet Fairbarn, " he gloated, "and the willgives me every power. I must find a place of safety for the jewels, " hemused. "I'm glad that I burned Hughie's letter, as he told me. There'snothing now to show for them. The bank would not be safe. Never mustthey go out of my hands. And, I can write a sealed letter for Douglas, to be opened by him alone, if I should be called away. I can put it inthe bank, and take a receipt and send the boy the receipt. But, nohuman being must know that I have them. " He tottered away to his sleepmurmuring, "But safer still, to turn them into yellow gold. There's adeal of them. I must find out in time how to dispose of them, but nevertill the lass above is gone and my accounts all discharged. " And theold miser, who had already robbed his dead brother, slept softly in lovewith his own exceeding cunning. 

Of all the loungers on the wind-swept wharf at Granville-sur-Mer nextday, decidedly the most natty was Jules Victor, who was now awaiting thereturn of the little St. Helier's packet, to engage a special cabinfor himself, with all a Gaul's horror of the stormy passage. He sprangforward, in a genuine surprise, as Mademoiselle Justine Delande, aidedby the stout Swiss maid, tottered over the gangplank. "Madame is ill, ala bonne heure! Let me conduct you to the Hotel Croix d'Or, where MadameLouison is even now awaiting the Paris train. " The ex-zouave was amiracle of politeness and, he proudly conducted Justine to a waitingfiacre, having deftly reserved himself the choice of staterooms. Withthe skill of his artful kind, Jules hastened upstairs at the Hotel Croixd'Or, to announce to his mistress the lucky find of a windy afternoon onGranville quay. 

That night, when Justine Delande reached Paris, she was assured in herheart that her own future fortunes were safe, and that her sister wouldsurely be the recipient of Nadine Johnstone's future bounty. For MadameBerthe Louison, ever armed against possible treachery, announced her owninstant departure for Poland. "But, I leave Jules in charge in Paris, and he will find the way to deliver your letters to your young friend. "

When Justine Delande was safely escorted to the train by the smilingMadame Berthe Louison, she proceeded to register a packet for London, addressed to "Major Harry Hardwicke. "

That young officer's heart was light, three days later, when he receivedthe letter of Nadine which Madame Louison had cajoled easily from theSwiss woman. And the happy Major's heart was no lighter than Nadine'sfor the watchful Janet Fairbarn, now on duty, with her selectedsubordinates, wondered to see the pale-faced girl laugh merrily as shechatted over the garden wall with a strolling French peddler. "I maytrade at the gate, may I not, Miss Janet, " said Nadine, "or is thatone of the crimes?" But Jules Victor had brought her a new life. Shewhispered, "He will come!"

CHAPTER XIII. AN ASIATIC LION IN HIDING. 

Madame Alixe Delavigne sat alone in her snug apartment of the HotelCroix d'Or, at Granville-sur-Mer, four days after Justine Delande hadbeen driven forth from the Banker's Folly! The perusal of a long letterfrom Jules Victor was interrupted by the arrival of a telegram from thatrising young soldier, Captain Anson Anstruther. It needed but a singleglance to call the resolute woman to action. 

Smartly ringing the bell, she ordered the maid, her bill, and a voitureto convey her to the Boulogne station. "So, Hardwicke and Captain Murrayare safely in London! Major Hawke is at Geneva, and I am to hideat Rosebank Villa until he has reported and been sent away on hiscontinental tour of the great jewel dealers!"

With flying fingers the lady soon penned a letter addressed to "MonsieurAlois Vautier, Marchand-en-petit, Hotel Bellevue, St. Aubin, Jersey. ""He can telegraph to me at Richmond, and one of us will soon be onthe ground to aid him! Now, 'the longest way round is the nearestway home!'" laughed the ci-devant Madame Louison, as she departed forBoulogne, an hour later, having carefully mailed her letter personally, and sent a brief telegram to the active Jules Victor. 

The ex-Zouave had easily made the rounds of the pretty islet of Jersey, in his capacity of merchant of small wares, long before Alixe Delavigne, braving the stormy channel, had proceeded from Folkestone directly toRichmond, and hidden herself in the leafy bowers of Rosebank Villa. Smiling, gay and debonnair with all the women servants, he had a pinchof snuff, a cigar of fair quality, or a pipe full of tabac for coachmanand groom, supplemented with many a petit verre from his capaciousflask. His Gallic gallantry, with the gift of a trinket or ribbon, madehim welcome with simple milk-maid or pert house "slavey, " and the dapperlittle Frenchman was already an established favorite in the wine-room ofthe Hotel Bellevue. 

His greatest triumph, however, was the secret demonstration of thecheapness of Jersey prices to the London sewing woman and smart lady'smaid, now chafing under Janet Fairbarn's iron rule at the "Banker'sFolly. " "Norn d'un pipe! But I have to make shameful rabaissements deprix, " muttered Jules, as he adroitly worked upon the susceptibilitiesof the two new maid servants. While one or the other of these womenalways accompanied Miss Nadine Johnstone in her daily wanderings throughthe splendid gardens of the Folly, the merry voice of Jules Victor wasoften heard by them singing on his way down the road. The gift of afamous brule guenle had propitiated the simple Jersey gardener, whosestout boy rejoiced in a new leather jacket, almost a gift, and thesecond man, Andrew Fraser's reinforcement, a famous drinker, was soona nightly companion of "Alois Vautier" at the one little "public, " downunder the scarped hill at Rizel Bay. 

Andrew Fraser, closeted with the London lawyer, had almost forgotten theexistence of Nadine Johnstone. 

A formal interview as to the filing of her father's will, a mere muteexhibition of perfunctory courtesy, released Nadine to her own devices, while Professor Andrew Fraser returned to his afternoon studies withthat famous young Yankee savant, Professor Alaric Hobbs, of WaukeshaUniversity. 

The beautiful captive was now happy in dissembling her contentment, for, though the sharp-featured Scotch housekeeper, Janet Fairbarn, keenlywatched all her outgoings, sending always one of the women as an"outside guard, " the heiress had learned some of woman's secret artsquickly. The peddler, Alois Vautier, brought to her letters and messageswhich made her lonely heart light, even in her stately semi-durance. Andthe epistles of Major Harry Hardwicke left her with a heart trembling indelight after their perusal. 

And so it fell out that four days after Alixe Delavigne had returned toRosebank Villa, that a packet of important letters was smuggled past thedroning Professor's picket line, one of which caused Nadine Johnstone tohide her tell-tale blushes in her room. 

"To-morrow I will come by, to deliver some little purchases of themaids! Have your answers all ready. I will be here at ten, at the gardengate!" Long after the Yankee Professor had left the "Folly" for St. Heliers that night, the lonely girl bent her beautiful head over thepages, destined to safely reach her lover's eyes in fair London town. And to Berthe Louison, she now poured out her loving heart, for she knewthat her protecting friends would soon be near her. 

"We are waiting, watching, and planning, " wrote Alixe Delavigne. "Becheerful--silent--watchful! I must be near you, I must see you, face toface, to tell you all the story of the past! I will then tell you, myown darling child, of the mother whom you have never known. But, first, Major Hardwicke must open a way to your side! Beware of the schemes ofAlan Hawke! He will be here to-morrow, and he may steal over to Jersey, though his duty takes him for a month to the Continent! You will surelysee Major Hardwicke before you see me for Andrew Fraser might take alarmat a sight of my face and so hide you away from us all!"

Miss Mildred Anstruther was a delicate symphony in gray, as shegracefully presided the next evening over the dinner table at whichAlixe Delavigne, Captain Anstruther, Major Hardwicke, and CaptainMurray merrily discussed the sudden hastening of Captain Eric Murray'snuptials. Hardwicke's duty as "best man" was now the only bar to thebeginning of a campaign destined to foil Andrew Fraser's Loch Leventactics of imprisoning his niece and ward. 

"You will have but a brief honeymoon, Eric!" laughed Hardwicke. 

"You have promised to stand by me, Harry, " replied his friend. "See memarried to-morrow, then a week's honeymoon at Jersey is all that I ask!I can bestow my wife there with a dear friend, who has the prettiest oldNorman chateau-maison on the island, and after that be near you there atRozel Bay to work up the final discomfiture of this old vampire. Ionly claim the attendance of the whole party at my wedding, then I willdisappear and spy out the ground for you long before you are ready toastonish the dreamy old bookworm. I have made my own plans, and Flossiehas agreed to our runaway trip 'in the interests of the service'! Sheis a soldier's daughter, remember!" Miss Mildred, wreathed in her softlaces, shimmering in her gray poplin, and bending her stately head insalutation, extended a delicate hand, loaded down with quaint old Indianrings, to each, when the coffee was served. 

"I will leave you now to the hatching of your famous conspiracy for theinvasion of the Island of Jersey. " The old gentlewoman passed smilinglythrough the door where the three knightly soldiers stood bowing low, andthen the four conspirators sat down to arrange the dramatis persona of alittle society play in "High Life, " in which Professor Andrew Fraser wasdestined to be the central figure, and act without "lines" or rehearsal. 

The "leading lady" was at the present moment dreaming of a golden futurein her own rooms at the "Banker's Folly. " Nadine Johnstone had beenallowed to make her apartments as bright and cheery as her buoyantnature suggested. 

For Andrew Fraser, after much discussion with Janet Fairbarn, hadconvoyed the heiress to St. Heliers for a day. The resources of all thelocal furnishers were taxed by the young prisoner's taste, and, the oldexecutor, unbending a little, grimly vaunted his "dangerous liberality. ""I'll be bail for the expenditure of five hundred pounds, as an extraallowance, " he said. "Now make yourself snug here, for ye'll bide herethe whole three years! As to the bookmen, music, and libraries, I'llgive ye a free hand. 

"The yearly allowance of yere lamented father will cover all yeredealings with mantua-makers and milliners. That is yere own affair--allthat sort of womanly gear. We will make one day of it, and if ye arelacking aught, then Miss Janet can bring ye to town, or the dealers cancome. " It was, thus self-deluded, that Andrew Fraser noted the comingcheerfulness of his defiant young charge. He fancied he had providedevery wish of her lonely heart. But the trailing lines of smoke ofthe daily Southampton packets only spoke to Nadine of a growingcorrespondence with Major Harry Hardwicke, Royal Engineers. She waitednow for Simpson's arrival for news of the Delhi mystery--the death ofthe unloving parent, who had been only her jailer. 

At Rosebank Villa, Major Hardwicke was busied with Captain Murray, whileAnstruther drew Alixe Delavigne aside. "Listen to all Murray proposes, and agree to it. You may be astonished at our plans, but between you andI, alone, lies the deeper secret. My secret orders from the Viceroyare for your ear alone. Your life-quest to reach Nadine's side canonly betaken up after Murray and Hardwicke have finished their littlemasquerade at the 'Banker's Folly. ' Let this secret be ours, alone! Doyou promise me, Alixe? I will aid you, heart, life, and soul!" And, with her eyes softly shining in a growing tenderness, Alixe Delavignemurmured: "I trust you in all things! It shall be as you wish. "

Captain Anstruther then led the way to the library, and closing thedoors with the minute attention of a true conspirator, cried: "Murray, we will hear from you first!" Seated, with her lips parted in anexpectant smile, Alixe Delavigne listened in amazement as "Red Eric"proceeded. 

"I got the little idea from Frank Halton, of the Globe. You mayknow that he was out at the Khyber Pass seven years ago, as the warcorrespondent of the Telegraph, and he ran over Cabul at the time of thePenj-Deh incident. He has prepared a series of varied skits and personalitems covering the visit incognito of Prince Djiddin, a Thibetan nobleof ancient and shadowy lineage. This 'Asiatic Lion' will be duly keptin the shadows of a mysterious seclusion in the Four Kingdoms until weintroduce him to a small section of the British public. 

"The Globe, the Indian Mail, the Mirror, the Colonial Gazette, and otherperiodicals will darkly hint at his itinerary, and he will be paradedjudiciously, and no vulgar eye must ever rest upon him. These items willbe widely copied. A graceful, social phantom, a Veiled, mysterious youngpotentate is Prince Djiddin!" "The humbug will be easily discovered!"said Anstruther, still at sea. 

"Not if you flung your protecting mantle over him!" cried Murray. "Wewill shield him by a protecting Moonshee, who alone speaks his augustmaster's language, a tongue not to be easily translated; in fact, perfectly proof against all prying outsiders. The one way to hoodwinkold Fraser is to humbug him about the great work on Thibet. That is theone soft spot in the hide of this old alligator. We have gone carefullyover the reports of your secret agent at St. Heliers. Make us squarewith him, Captain, let him have your orders to aid us, and he can get usfirst hooked on to this Yankee Professor Alaric Hobbs! We will jolly hima bit, and so, get an interview with old Fraser, and then fool the oldchap to the top of his bent. We will supply him with theories enough toset every bee in his bonnet buzzing. Your man is already 'solid'with Professor Alaric Hobbs, who is a quaint genius, and withal, ahard-headed Yankee, but full of cranks and 'isms. '"

Anson Anstruther exchanged doubtful glances with Alixe Delavigne, whowas still very agnostic. "The real object is to spy out the interiorof Fraser's household without alarming him, and to locate his hiddentreasure, and, moreover, to open a safe, personal communication withNadine Johnstone. Letters and messages finally go astray. And, at thevery first sign of danger, old Andrew would clear out to the Continent, shut up the girl, get rid of that insured package, and cut all futurecommunications! In the long three years, the girl might die, beestranged from you, or perhaps fall into the hands of some foreignfortune hunter. Human nature--woman nature--is a mutable quantity. Butonce we are in communication we can provide for future correspondence inany event. 

"And you, Anstruther, would be defeated in recovering the hiddenproperty of the Crown. Moreover, these two Frasers are the onlyheirs-at-law. 

"Who knows what might not be done for a million, when a beggarly fiftypounds will buy a death certificate in many a little continental town?"They were all gravely silent as Murray soberly clinched his argument. "It is idle not to believe that old Hugh Fraser Johnstone laid out hisbrother's whole future course! He certainly has trusted him with hisstealings, the lost crown jewels! He trusts his child's whole future tothe care of these two cold Scotsmen, and gives the heiress over to oldAndrew, to keep her safe from Madame, " Murray bowed, "his only livingenemy, and from all the other relatives of his long-hated dead wife. From your own disclosures and Madame's own words, we must all fearthat her first appearance would be the signal for the spiriting away ofNadine until the minority is at an end. And it might invite some secretcrime. She bears the hated face of her dead mother, you say!"

"True, " murmured Anstruther. "My solicitor tells me, too, that aguardianship by will is the very strongest tying-up of a rich youngward. We can follow on later, perhaps, if this opening could bemade, but where have we a 'Prince Djiddin, ' and where, the wonderful'Moonshee?'"

"There is Prince Djiddin, " laughed Captain Murray, pointing to MajorHarry Hardwicke, "and here is the Moonshee, " he tapped his own broadbreast. 

"I fail to understand you, " slowly replied Anstruther, now blanklygazing at the two men in a growing wonderment. 

"Nothing easier, " briskly answered Murray. "I go quietly over to Jerseyand spend a honeymoon week with Flossie. She is soldier enough toknow that my little masquerade means full 'duty pay and travelingallowances. ' I will hide her safely with my Jersey friends, and whileFrank Halton works his secret Literary Bureau, I will steal over toSouthampton and bring 'Prince Djiddin' over to St. Heliers. I will seethat he naturally falls in with Prof. Alaric Hobbs, and then, 'fondof seclusion, ' I will embower my 'Asiatic Lion' not a league from the'Banker's Folly. ' I will be near my Flossie, and I propose to bring'Prince Djiddin' soon face to face with the heiress. 

"As the Prince speaks not a word of English, even old Fraser will bedisarmed. Neither Hobbs, Alaric of that ilk, nor Fraser have ever beenin India, and we can easily fool them. Neither of us have ever been beenin Jersey, and fortunately our figures, age, and complexions aid themakeup. I can do the Moonshee. It was my 'star' cast in many a garrisontheatrical show. Remember, none of them have ever seen Hardwicke ormyself--only Miss Nadine will know us. "

"But, " faltered Alixe Delavigne, "Captain Murray makes no provisionfor me. Must I be hidden here always?" Her voice was trembling with thesurging love of her longing heart. 

"Ah! dear Madame!" replied Murray. "Place aux dames. You can be laterquietly escorted to St. Heliers. Old bookworm Fraser does not leave the'Folly' once in six months. You shall, on to-morrow, arrange with Mrs. Flossie Murray to share 'those days of absence' with her, while I amplaying the 'Moonshee' to 'Prince Djiddin's' leading part. With your ownsly man-of-all-work, then how easy for the acute Jules Victor tolead you into the extensive grounds, where you may often meet NadineJohnstone when all is safe. He has the friendly entree, and can hoodwinkthe attendants of the garden, while your own ingenuity will enableyou to have stolen interviews in the splendid rambles of the 'Banker'sFolly. ' Old Andrew never quits his study, and all we have to do is towatch Miss Janet Fairbarn. Jules Victor can guard against a surprise byher. "

"It is an ingenious plan, but, a dangerous one, " mused Anstruther. 

"Not so, " boldly replied Murray. "Remember that old Fraser is crazy onhis bookwork. Hobbs is his only male visitor. He has not a relative, a friend--no one to watch on the outside while we hold the old chap atbay. Miss Janet watches in the house. " Anstruther had been carefullystudying the two men's faces. "'Prince Djiddin' will be all right, witha little makeup, using walnut juice and a proper costume. His Indianbrown is quite the thing. But you, my boy, must be an Eurasian, the sonof a high English official and a native woman of rank. You were carriedaway to Thibet by your beautiful Cashmere mother when she was abandoned. The usual sad story will go. She, driven out by her family, refugesfinally in Hlassa, and your English was, of course, learned beforethe death of your father, when you were eighteen. Your usefulness asinterpreter caused you to attach yourself to 'Prince Djiddin's' noblefamily. 

"Yes, " said Hardwicke. "A couple of days spent in the British Museum, and with your fertile imagination, Eric, you will be enabled to describethe mysterious, lonely city on the Dzangstu, and even the gilded templesof Mount Botala. You can easily book up all about the Dalai Lama. Make avoyage a la Tom Moore to Cashmere!"

"Right you are!" laughed Eric Murray. "Frank Halton stole into the townof Hlassa and he now offers to me his sketchbooks and private notebooks. Foreigners from the south have occasionally been allowed to go intoThibet since the Nepauese were driven out, but only very rarely. I willhave all the rig and quaint outlandish gear that Halton brought away. Soyou see we are the 'Ever Victorious Army. ' Yes. Prince Djiddin will bea go. " And the others were fain to agree in the plausibility of thescheme. 

It was midnight when the quartette separated to meet at the quietwedding of the morrow. Alixe Delavigne had finally approved the plan, when Anson Anstruther drew her away to confer upon the risk. "You see, "he pleaded, "Murray will never even speak to Miss Johnstone. All thatpleasing task is left to Prince Djiddin, who can and will, of course, choose any unguarded moment. Captain Murray will hold old Fraserpersonally in limbo, while you and Prince Djiddin can meet the prettycaptive in alternation. At any danger signal, the Prince and Moonsheecan quit Jersey at once. " Then the lightning thought came to the lady:"She already loves him! It must be so! He is the only young officer whowas ever allowed to enter the Marble House in that long year of goldenbondage. It shall be so! I can trust to him for her sake, if he lovesher for Love's own sake. I can remain near Nadine then, even if theyhave to disappear, for Jules will keep the pathway open. " And yet, shamefaced in her own growing tenderness for her mentor, Anstruther, shetook these wise counsels away to hide them in her own happy heart. "Itwill make us then, Captain Murray, " she said, as she extended her handin good night, "a little circle of five, gathered around this motherlessand fatherless girl to save her from the secret schemes of tyrant andfortune hunter. "

"Precisely so, Madame, " laughed Murray, "when I have sworn in mybeautiful recruit to-morrow. Then we will be five in very truth. " Therewas a flying early morning visit to Hunt and Roskell's on the morrow, which greatly astonished Captain Anstruther, who had escorted MadameAlixe Delavigne down on her way to the pretty chapel at Kew, whereCaptain Murray duly "swore in his beautiful recruit, " with bell, book, and candle. The parure of diamonds which the lady of Jitomir gave toMrs. Flossie Murray caused even the eyes of "The Moonshee" to open inwonder at the little campaign breakfast of the leaders of this Crusadeof Love. "Only suited to the wife of Prince Djiddin's High Chamberlain, "laughed Alixe Delavigne, as the happy Captain departed on his honeymoontour, escaping showers of rice, to "move upon the enemy's works inJersey. "

"Thank God that I have got that sharp-eyed Hawke safely out of town, "cried Captain Anstruther to his beautiful confidante, as they escortedMiss Mildred back to beautiful Rosebank. The "lass o' Richmond Hill" wasno fairer than the happy woman who had seen Major Hardwicke depart fora long conference with that all powerful sprite of the magic pen, FrankHalton, who was now busied in launching his creation, Prince Djiddin. "A single word at the 'F. O. ' will legalize our useful myth, 'PrinceDjiddin, ' and I hope that Hardwicke and Murray will succeed. They cansurely lose nothing by the attempt. I am known to be the Viceroy'saide-de-camp 'on leave, ' a near kinsman, and I am sure that old Fraserwould take alarm at the first visit or written communication from me. Once startled, he would soon be off to hide the jewels on the Continent, and then only laugh at our efforts. Of course he will swear that theinsured packet only contained family papers or some of the estate'ssecurities. Yes! Alan Hawke is the only man whom I fear now as to thesafety of either the girl or the jewels. He seems to have had many olddealings with Hugh Johnstone, too!" They were silent as they threadedthe beautiful Surrey garden lanes of the old burgh of Sheen. Loved bythe bluff Harrys of the English throne, its beauties sung by poet anddeputed by artist, the charming declivities of Richmond gained a newname from Henry VII, and its bosky shades once saw a kingly Edward, aHenry, and a mighty Elizabeth drop the scepter of Great Britain from thepalsied hand of Death. Its little parish church to-day hides the ashesof the pensive pastoral poet Thomson, and the bones of the great actorKean. But, Anstruther's active mind was only dwelling in the present, asMiss Mildred nodded in the carriage. He saw again the simple weddingof the morning, and heard once more those touching words "I, Eric, takethee, Florence. " Then his eyes sought the face of Alixe Delavigne in aburning glance, which caused that lady to seek her own bower in Rosebankvilla, and hide her blushes from "Him Who Would Not Be Denied. " MissMildred smiled and nodded behind her fan, for she heard the Bells of theFuture sounding afar off. 

The graceful woman escorted Captain Anstruther to the river's edge thatnight, when he departed to a conference of moment with Hardwicke andHalton. She fled back, like the swift Camilla, to her own nest, as theCaptain went forth upon the river. Only the listening flowers heard herstartled answer when Anstruther had found a voice to tell the Pilgrimof Love his own story in a soldier's frank way. "Wait, Anson! Wait, tillyou know me better, till our quest is done; wait till the roses bloomhere once more, " she had whispered. 

"And if I do wait, Alixe--if I ask you again?" Anstruther cried as hekissed her slender hand. 

"Then you shall have my answer, " she faltered, but her eyes shone likestars as she lightly fled away. 

Captain Anson Anstruther had reckoned without his host when he rejoicedover Alan Hawke's departure. As the aide-de-camp sped down the darkenedriver, he still saw Alixe Delavigne's eyes gleaming down on him in everytender twinkling star, but the wily agent whom he had dispatched to theContinent four days before, was near him yet, and comfortably dining ina little snug public in the Tower Hamlets, on this very night. He waslooking for tools suited to a dark game which busied his reckless heart. 

Major Alan Hawke (temporary rank) had passed two days at Geneva in aserious conference with the sorrowing sisters Delande. His meeting withthe softhearted Justine had brought the color back to the poor woman'sface, and she shyly held up the diamond bracelet to his view, murmuring, "I have thought of you and kissed it every night and morning, for yoursake, Alan!"

With a glance of veiled tenderness, the acute schemer took his fair dupeout upon the lake, while Euphrosyne directed the slow grinding of themills of the gods. "I must lose no time, " Hawke pleaded, "as I have toreport for duty in London. " And so, he gleaned the story of the hegiraand the situation at the Banker's Folly. He heard all, and yet felt thatthere was a gap in the story. Justine was true to her plighted word. 

He instinctively felt that Justine was holding back something of moment, and yet in his heart he felt that the price of that disclosure wouldbe his formal betrothal to the loving Justine. But he dared not vow tomarry, and the Swiss woman was loyally true to her oath. He remained"their loving brother" as yet, and when two days later, Alan Hawkedeparted for London direct, he mused vainly over the tangled problemuntil he reported to Captain Anson Anstruther. "If this greenhorn girlhas any designs of her own she has not told them yet to Justine. I mustget a man to help me to work my scheme, or go over to Jersey myself, "he at last decided. He was secretly happy at Captain Anstruther's promptinjunctions to make ready for a tour of two months upon the Continent. "I shall have all your detailed instructions prepared tomorrow, MajorHawke, " said the young aide-de-camp. "Meet me, therefore, at the JuniorUnited Service at ten o'clock; you can take a couple of days to lookover London, and then proceed at once to the delicate duty which I willgive to you. And, remember, the Viceroy's orders are that you are toreport to me alone, and also to preserve an absolute secrecy. Yourfuture rank will depend upon your discretion. " Major Alan Hawke was notas cheerful, however, when he opened his private mail at Morley's Hotel, as when he had bade adieu to Captain Anstruther. A formal communicationfrom the Credit Lyonnais informed him that Monsieur le Professeur AndrewFraser had formally forbidden Messrs. Glyn, Carr & Glyn to pay the fourbills of exchange, acting in his capacity of executor of a will dulyfiled at Doctor's Commons, and that the four drafts must be proved asdebts against the estate, and so paid later, in due process of lawon proof of the claim. The refusal was due to the death of the drawerbefore presentment. 

"Damn it! I must play a fine game now!" he glowered. "Anstruther I mustobey in all! Once back in India with rank, however, I can force old RamLal to pay these drafts. He dare not resist--there's the rope for him!

"And I must find a fellow to spy out the situation in Jersey. Icertainly dare not linger here!" He be-took himself to an old haunt inTower Hamlets, where the first stars of the "swell mob" were wont tolinger, a haunt where he had once taken refuge in his changeling days, years before. 

A glance at a man seated enjoying a good cigar at a table caused hisheart to leap up in joy. "Jack Blunt--of all men! By God! this is luck!"he cried. When the happy Alan Hawke tapped the smoker smartly on theshoulder he first laid a finger on his own lip and then hastily said:"Get a private room, Jack, I want you at once. I've a special bit ofbusiness in your line. " Major Alan Hawke, Temporary Rank, unattached, hastily bade the boni-face serve the best supper available for two. "Mind you, no poison in the wine!" he sharply said. 

"We've the best vintages of London Docks, " grinned the happy host, as hesped away and left the two scoundrels alone. 

"What are you doing now, Jack?" queried Hawke. 

"Nothing, " sullenly replied the middle-aged star of the swell mob. "Myeyes! you are in great form, " he admiringly commented. 

"Can you leave town for a week or so, on a little job for me?" brisklycontinued the Major. 

"Ready money?" said "Gentleman Jack" Blunt, stroking out a pair ofglossy side whiskers. 

"Yes, cash in plenty on hand, and lots more in sight, " imperativelyreplied the Major. 

"Do I work with you, or alone?" asked Blunt. 

"It's a little private investigation, " replied Hawke, "and as I have toleave town to-night, and spend a couple of months on the Continent, youare the very man. I am afraid to appear in the thing myself, as I amwell known to the other parties, and so I fear being followed overthe Channel. I'm back again in the army. " Jack's eyes grew larger in atrice. 

"Here comes the grub, " gayly said Blunt. "You can trust the wine here. The crib is square, too. Now, my boy, fire away. We are alone, andno listeners here. " Before Jack Blunt had put away a pint of best"beeswing" sherry, he was aware of all Alan Hawke's intentions. His keenbrain was working all its "cylinders. "

"Give me just five minutes to think it over, Governor, " said thesparkling-eyed, dark-faced, swell cracksman. "I know Jersey like abook. I worked the 'summer racket' there once. The excursion boats, thefarmers' races, the Casino balls, the Military games, and the whole lay. I think I can cook up a plan. You don't show up just yet. I am to do the'downy cove. '"

"Not till I can double on my track, and you have piped the wholesituation off, " said Hawke. "The game is a queer one. I may want to comeover later and show up and make a little society play on the girl. Imay, however, join you and help you secretly, or I may have to stay awayaltogether. But I must act at once. There's money in it. If you have tomake the running yourself, you can get your own help. "

"And, you have the real stuff?" agnostically demanded Jack Blunt. 

"What do you want for a starter as your pay for the report to be sentto me at the Hotel Faucon, Lausanne, Switzerland?" Hawke was eager anddisposed to be liberal. 

"Oh! A hundred sovs for the job, as you lay it out--and fifty for mylittle incidentals, " laughed Jack Blunt. "Of course, if it goes on toanything serious, you'll have to put away the real 'boodle, ' whereI have something to run with, if I have to cut it. I might run up adangerous plant!"

"Bah!" decisively said Hawke. "Only an old fool to dodge, who isover seventy--a dotard--and a foolish girl of eighteen--a simpleboarding-school miss!"

"Yes, but she has a million, you say. There's always some one to lovea girl with that money! Love comes in by the door, and the window, too, you know!"

"She has never been five minutes alone with a man in her life!" criedHawke. "You are safe--dead sure safe!" Blunt's roving black eyes restedon Hawke's eager face as he laughed. 

"And you want to marry her, to keep others from her, or run her off atthe worst, you say? That's your little game. "

"I will have either the girl, or those jewels! By God! I will! I've gotmoney to work with, plenty of it--not here, " cautiously said Hawke, "butthere's your hundred and fifty. Do you stand in?"

"To the death--if you do the handsome thing, my boy!" said the handsomeruffian, pocketing the notes. "When do I start?"

"Take the midnight train to Southampton, and go at work at once. I fearthey may send some damned spies over there! Now, what's your plan?"Major Hawke watched his old pal in a brown study. 

Jack Blunt had smoked half his cigar, when he brought his white handdown with a whack. "I have it! A combination of gentleman artist andliterary gent! 'The Mansion Homes of Jersey, ' to illustrate a volume forthe use of tourists--London and Southwestern Railway's enterprise. I'llsneak in and do the grand. You want a correct sketch and map of houseand grounds, and the whole lay out?" Artist Blunt was delightfullyinterested in his Jersey tour now. 

"Yes!" cried Alan Hawke, his eyes growing wolfish, and he leaned overto his companion and whispered for a few moments. "That's the trick, Governor, " nodded Jack Blunt, "You work on the double event. And--I getmy money--play or pay?"

"Yes. Put up in good notes--only you are not to bungle!"

"Do you think I would fool around with a 'previous conviction' againstme? The next is a lifer, and I've got to use the knife or a barker, ifI run up against trouble, for I'll never wear the Queen's jewelry again!I've sworn it!" The man's eyes were gleaming now like burning coals, "I'll do the grand, and then, take off my beard and change my garb! Ilook twenty years older in a stubble chin. I can watch them from thepublic at Rozel Pier. I used to do a neat little bit of cognac, silk, and cigar smuggling. I know every crag of Corbiere Rocks, every shadyjoint in St. Heliers, every nook of St. Aubin's Bay. Oh! I'm fly to thewhole game!"

"Could you not get a good boat's crew there?" anxiously demanded MajorHawke. 

"Ah! My boy! I am 'king high' with a set of daring fishermen, who cansmell out every rock from Dover to Land's End; and, from Calais toBrest, in the blackest night of the channel, if it pays. "

"Then, Jack, your fortune is made, if you stand in. We'll pull itoff, in one way or the other. You've got an easy job for a man of yourability. I'll meet you at Granville! Now, get over to St. Heliers, andwork the whole trick in your own way! Send me your secret address inJersey at once to Hotel Faucon, Lausanne, and run over to the Frenchcoast at Granville and find a safe nest there for us. There we arewithin seventeen miles of each other, with two mails a day, and thetelegraph. It's a wonderful plant, so it is. "

"Yes, Governor! And old Etienne Garcia, at the 'Cor d'Abondance' inGranville, is the very slyest rogue in France. When you find a Crapaudwho is dead to rights, he is always an out and outer. I'll square youwith my old pal, Etienne, who slyly makes 'floaters' and then gets thegovernment cash reward for towing them in. He has always a half dozenpretty girls hanging around there, and many a good looking stranger hasended his 'tour' by a sudden drop through the flow of the drinking roomover the wharf where Etienne keeps his 'boats to let. '"

"How does he do it?" mused Alan Hawke. "It's a risky game in France. "

Jack Blunt laughed. 

"A few puffs of smoke in a cognac glass, and the subject is knocked outfor an hour after drinking from the nicotine-filmed crystal, bless you, "laughed Blunt, "there's never a mark on Etienne's victims. He is toofine for that, only cases of plain, simple, 'accidental drowning. '

"You may as well address me as 'Joseph Smith, Jersey Arms, Rozel Pier, Jersey. ' I am solid with Mrs. Floyd, the landlady there, " said thescoundrel mobsman, anxious to spend some of his cash. 

"All right, then, Jack! Go ahead!" cheerfully cried Major Hawke. "Don'tovergo my instructions a single hair! I'll either join you in the grandstroke, or else meet you at Granville and there tell you what to do. Remember that I'll settle all your Jersey bills, and I will send a postorder for ten pounds extra to you at the 'Jersey Arms, ' to give you alocal standing with the postman. 

"That you can spend on the underlings around the Banker's Folly, butbeware of an old body servant named Simpson--an old red-coat who mayturn up any day now from India! He was Johnstone's own man, and he hatesme, at heart, I know! Now, if you can do the 'artist act, ' you must findout where the old man keeps his stuff! I don't know yet whether we wanthim first or the girl; or to crack the whole crib! If we ever do, then, Simpson must get the--" Hawke grimly smiled, as he drew his hand acrosshis throat! "I must be off!" he hastily said as he noted the time. 

On his way over to Folkestone, Major Alan Hawke mused over his greatcoup, as he lay at ease, wrapped up in a traveling rug, and nowresplendent in a fur-trimmed top coat, befrogged and laced, whichindicated the officer en retraite. 

"I will first do up Holland, Belgium, and Denmark, and take a littlepreliminary look around Paris, " mused the Major, studying a list of themissing jewels which Captain Anstruther had artfully arranged. Sundrydeductions and additions, with an admirable disorder in the items(judiciously divided and reclassified) served to guard against any oldconfidences exchanged between Ram Lal and his secret friend Hawke. Thereal list in the original was now in the private pocket-book of theViceroy. 

"Each of our Consuls at the cities you are to visit has this list, " saidAnstruther to the Major, "and you can vary your travel as you choose, but visit all these jewel marts, and report to the local Consuls. Ifthey have further orders for you, you will get them there, at firsthands. Should you find that any of the jewels have been offered forsale, simply report the facts to the local Consul, and write under sealto me at the Junior United Service, then go on and examine further atonce! You are to take no steps whatever to recover them, or to alarmthe thieves! All your expenses and your pay will be advanced by me!" Theacute schemer decided not to risk any suspicions by marketing his ownjewels. "They might bounce me for the murder, " fearfully mused theMajor. "I could show no honest title through Ram Lal. They might arresthim, and I need him to pay the protested drafts--later, when I go backon the Viceroy's staff!" He smiled and wove his webs like a spider inhis den. 

On his arrival in Paris, from a run to the Low Countries, a week later, Major Alan Hawke betook himself at once to No. 9 Rue Berlioz. And thereMarie Victor greeted him, handing him a letter which was dated fromJitomir, Volhynia. "How is your mistress?" he affably demanded. 

"She is well, and will remain for several months longer in Russia!"politely answered Marie, bowing him out. 

"By God, then, she has given up the chase! I see it all!" mused Hawke, as he pored over the letter on his way to the Hotel Binda. "The trumpcard she wished to play was to blast the old fellow's hopes of abaronetcy. Death has struck down her prey, and, she will now wait tillthe girl is free! She is too sly to face old Fraser; his brother haswarned him. But she says she will need me in the winter, on her return. "

The deceived scoundrel laughed. "The coast is left clear for me now!I'll telegraph to Joseph Smith, run on to Geneva, deposit my ownjewels there, in the agency of the Credit Lyonnais, and then return thenotifications of protest of the Bills of Exchange to Ram Lal. 

"I wonder if I can steal those jewels, get my Major's rank as a rewardfrom the Viceroy, and marry the girl? It would be the luck of a life!"he dreamed. 

Two days later, on the terraces of Lausanne, he laughed over JackBlunt's cheeky campaign. 

"The 'artist dodge' worked to a charm, " wrote Jack. "I used the Kodak, and I have a dozen good views of the house, and as many more of thegrounds. My chapter on the 'Artistic Homes of Jersey, ' will be afull one! I soon jollied a couple of the London maid servants into myconfidence. By the way, send me, at once, another 'tenner' for expense, and some money for my own regular bills. I can make great play on thetwo frolicsome maids. They are up for a lark. The shy bird keeps herrooms; and there really seems to be no young man around. Devilishstrange! A room is being got ready for the old body servant who is nowon his way from India. He might fall over Rozel cliff some night, whenhalf seas over! That's a natural ending for him! Maps, sketches, and allwill be ready for you at the place we agreed. It's all lying ready toour hand, and ten minutes of a dark night is all I want. The old chapis always mooning alone in his study, till the midnight hours, over hisbooks, and he has the whole ground floor to himself. The men are in thegardener's house, ten rods away, and all the women sleep upstairs. He sees no one but a half crazy Yankee professor, who drops in of amorning. But, the shy bird keeps in her cage, and lives in great state, upstairs. More when you send the money. "

On his way to say adieu to Justine, before departing to Vienna, AlanHawke smiled grimly. "I can strike now, when I will, and as I will! But, first to race around a little, and then, having fulfilled my mission, toget a couple of weeks' furlough, to go about my own affairs. The coastis clear. Jack Blunt's plan is right. Simpson must be first put out ofthe way. He would fight like a rat on general principles. "

At Rosebank Villa, Madame Alixe Delavigne was nightly busied now inofficial conferences with Major Harry Hardwicke, who had lingered inthe concealment of Anstruther's home. The Captain found abundant timeto prosecute his "official business" with his lovely aid in the secretservice. And he had learned all of Alixe Delavigne's lessons now, save to acquire the patience to wait. But a growing album of newspaperclippings was daily augmented by Frank Hatton's artfully disseminateditems regarding "Prince Djiddin of Thibet, " the first visitor of rankfrom that land of shadows. The warring journals who wrangled overthe rich young visitor's "stern retirement" from all public intrusionreferred to the political coup de main to be looked for in "the nearfuture. " From various parts of the United Kingdom, the mysteriousprincely visitor's trail was daily telegraphed, and a hearty laughfrom all three of the conspirators of Rosebank Villa greeted the finalarticle in the St. Heliers Messenger, stating that a learned Moonsheeor Pundit, "the only Asiatic attendant of Prince Djiddin of Thibet" wasarranging for a brief visit of a descendant of the Dalai-Lamas. 

Anstruther and Hardwicke laughed merrily at Frank Halton's last gracefultouches. "A romantic gratitude to a retired British officer, who hadonce befriended the Prince's august father, was the one impelling causeof a visit, in which the strictest retirement would be guarded bythe dweller on the Roof of the World, " etc. , etc. So read out MadameDelavigne, closing with the remark that the "Moonshee had alreadyvisited the Royal Victoria Hotel at St. Heliers to arrange for thecoming of his friend, and to the regret of the authorities, the Princewould decline all the hospitality due to his exalted rank. "

"Captain Murray must be even now at work, " anxiously said the fairreader. 

"We will hear at once, " said Anstruther. "Prince Djiddin, you must nowmaterialize! For Murray's letter tells me that he is already in fullcommunication with Jules Victor at the Hotel Bellevue. So the 'Moonshee'has one faithful friend near at hand. If there is any shadowing ofeither of you, Jules Victor is an invincible avant garde. He knows thefaces of all the dramatis persona. You see, Douglas Fraser is gone toIndia and old Andrew has never seen any of our 'star actors. ' We areabsolutely safe!"

"It seems that fortune favors us, " tremblingly said Alixe Delavigne. "This prying and curious Yankee, Professor Hobbs, also seems to havefallen at once into the trap! Captain Murray's description of his'interview, ' at the Royal Victoria, with Alaric Hobbs, is a crystallizedwork of humorous art!"

"Of course the Yankee savant will write columns to the Waukesha Clarion, describing this Asiatic lion, Prince Djiddin, and exploit him in theStates as an 'original discovery' of his own. His eagerness to arrangean interview between the Prince and Professor Fraser is most ludicrouslyfortunate for us, " said Captain Anstruther. 

The entrance of the butler with a telegram disturbed "Prince Djiddin"and his lovely confidential staff officer. "An answer, please, Captain, "formally continued the household factotum. 

"Hurrah!" cried Hardwicke, when the little conclave gathered around thered light. "Simpson has arrived, and now Nadine and I have some one whomwe can both trust!" The further information that the "Moonshee" wouldarrive forthwith to conduct "Prince Djiddin" to the safe haven wherethat fascinating bride, Mrs. Flossie Murray, awaited her belovedtruant, was a call to prompt action. "I am ready! I shall drop the RoyalEngineers and live up to my 'blue china' as a Prince!" cried Hardwicke. 

CHAPTER XIV. THE COUNCIL AT GRANVILLE. 

When Major Alan Hawke returned, three weeks later, to the Hotel GrandNational, at Geneva, he was sorely wearied and dispirited. A round ofinspection of all the principal jewel marts of the continent had beenonly a fruitless, solitary tourist promenade. And the ominous silence ofCaptain Anson Anstruther, A. D. C. , boded no good to the militaryfuture of the adventurer. "Damn me, if I don't think that I have beenhoodwinked!" growled Major Hawke, on his re-turn from Moscow and St. Petersburg, whither he had been ordered, as a last resort, to see theCourt jewelers. 

From Warsaw, he wrote to the Hotel Faucon, at Lausanne, to send allhis letters to meet him at Berlin, where Jack Blunt had given him theaddress of the safest "fence" in all Kaiser Wilhelm's broad domain. Hehad his own jewels valued there in Russia, but dared not sell them. 

With a sudden inspiration, born of a growing fear for the stability ofhis house of cards, so flimsy in construction, he ran down to Jitomir, and the half-crazed adventurer only lingered an hour with the Intendantof Madame Alixe Delavigne's grand old domain. He found the bird flown. Had he been duped? A permission to view the old chateau was courteouslyaccorded, and then Alan Hawke soon realized that he was betrayed. Forthe fact that Madame was still absent, "traveling around the world, " andhad not visited her Volhynian estate for a year, proved to him now thathe had been doubly tricked. "Ah! By God! I have it!" he cried, as he sethis teeth in a white rage. "That fool, Anstruther, is bewitched by herPolish wiles, the mongrel inheritance of La Grande Armee's visit toRussia!" Straight as the crow flies, Alan Hawke then pressed on toLemberg, and hastened to Berlin, having sent on his last official reportto Captain Anstruther, at London. In Berlin, a letter from Jack Bluntdecided his whole career. There was news of moment, which set his hotblood boiling in his veins. 

"Simpson, the old body servant, has arrived from India, " wrote thedisguised ex-convict. "And he's mighty thick with your shy bird, too. There is some strange game going on here, which I can't make out. Thecute Yankee professor is furious, for old Fraser has temporarily givenhim the 'dead cut. ' The American is totally neglected, for the old idiotspends half his time, now, shut up in his study with a visiting niggerprince from India, and the yellow fellow's half-breed interpreter. Isend you a dozen cuttings from the papers. The Prince, however, seemsto be all O. K. He never even notices the shy bird. He probably buys hiswomen at home. How could he, for he does not speak a single damned wordof English. But I've caught sight of this Moonshee fellow trying to dothe polite to the heiress. Old Simpson keenly watches the whole goingson, and I've tried to pull him on! No go! But he sneaks off himself, gets roaring full, down at Rozel Pier, with a little French peddlerfellow, that he has picked up. And, I don't like this French chap'slooks. Too fly, and far too free with his money. There's no one elsewho has, as yet, showed up here. Not a woman, no other human being buta London lawyer. And I'm told now the guardian and niece are soon goingover to London to deposit all the papers that Simpson brought home andto do 'a turn' at Doctor's Commons. Now's your very time--the dark ofthe moon. Better cut your job and come over to me at Granville; and whycan we not turn the place up-while they are away? To do that, we must doSimpson 'for fair, ' and I now know his nightly trail. Send money, plentyof it, and come on. I am 'on the beachcomber's lay, ' now, down atthe Jersey Arms, Rozel Pier. Write or telegraph me a line, and I'llinstantly meet you at Granville, at the Cor d'Abondance. "

A loving letter from Justine Delande inclosed a notice of a registeredletter waiting at the Agence du Credit Lyonnais, Geneva. It is marked"Tres Important, " she wrote, and then added: "I have received aletter from Nadine, who says that her guardian is now half crazy withexcitement over the finishing of his 'History of Thibet, and Memoir Uponthe Lost Ten Tribes, ' for he has an Indian visitor of princely rank, andhe even proposes to take this Prince Djiddin and his 'Moonshee' into thehouse, so as to shut the world out from the wonderful disclosures of theonly visitor of rank who ever left Thibet. "

Alan Hawke's brow was gloomy when he read the last letter, which wasa brief note from Captain Anstruther, informing him that his finalinstructions would be forwarded "in a week. " The ominous silence of"Madame Berthe Louison, " the living lie of her pretended visit toRussia, the trick of the letters sent on from Jitomir to his Parisianaddress, now only confirmed his jealous rage. 

"They are living in a fool's paradise together, this dapper aide and thewily woman, hiding in England! One has betrayed me, and the other willnow coldly abandon me! I'll soon raise a hornets' nest about theirears!" So, with a simple telegraphed word "coming, " dispatched to"Joseph Smith, " he sped on to Geneva from his "Leipsic defeat" atBerlin, but only to meet a ghastly "Waterloo" at the Grand HotelNational. He had ordered the letters from the Hotel Faucon to be sent onthere to Miss Justine, and when he had freed himself from her claspingarms he read a curt official note from the Viceroy's aid-de-camp whichleft him livid in a paroxysm of fury. On his way from the station he hadonly stopped long enough at the Agence du Credit Lyonnais to receive anofficial-looking document. "My accounts, I presume, " he had muttered, thrusting them in his pocket. But, when he had read Captain Anstruther'sformal note, he tore open the letter of the great French BankingCompany. The two letters curtly illustrated the old saw, that "it neverrains, but it pours!" With a fluttering heart poor Justine Delandewatched her undeclared lover's blackening face. 

"Hell and furies!" he cried, "the whole world is leagued against me. I've got to go back to India now, Justine, and go alone. Luck is deadagainst me now. " And the whitening face of the woman who hung on hisevery glance made the infuriated man even more reckless. "Damn them, I'll grind them all to powder!" he growled. For the tide was on theturn, and it was dead water again at Geneva, the tide fast receding, and the man who was "a devil for luck" was soon left on the rocks of asilent despair. 

Alan Hawke's eyes gleamed out with a murderous sheen as he scanned bothletters carefully. "It is his work--the low dog--and he shall die. Wait till Jack Blunt and I get a hack at him, " he mused, with a suddenconviction that he dared not now show himself at St. Heliers, nor openlyapproach the Banker's Folly. "I stand to lose all and win nothing. Imust work in the dark. I cannot dare to brave this Anstruther. Theywould simply drive me from India. But, Simpson and Ram Lal shall pay!And, Berthe Louison--Ah! By God! I will strike her to the heart now! Isee the way!"

The official words of Captain Anstruther were few but crushing in therestern brevity. And Alan Hawke's heart sank as he read them over again. "By the orders of His Excellency, the Viceroy, I have the honor toinform you that he has withdrawn your temporary rank, and all powersheretofore delegated to you will cease on the receipt of this letter, which please acknowledge. On reporting to me in London in person, youwill receive the payment of all your accounts with your back payand transportation back to Calcutta, the place of your temporaryappointment. All the Consuls in continental Europe have now beennotified of the cessation of your powers, and you will therefore, inno way act in the future in regard to the confidential business once inyour hands. The inquiry has been finally abandoned by the order of theIndian Government. 

"Please do report as soon as possible, and deliver over all papersand vouchers now remaining in your hands. With assurance of myconsideration, Yours, "ANSON ANSTRUTHER, Captain and A. D. C. "

"Official, "Confidential. "

The letter of the Credit Lyonnais was even more menacing in its tone. The Direction G'entrale referred to a formal letter of the solicitors ofthe estate of Hugh Fraser Johnstone, deceased, totally repudiatingthe four unaccepted drafts of five thousand pounds sterling each, andlegally notifying the Direction of an intended suit to recover from thepayee and the in-dorser, the first draft for five thousand pounds paidbefore Executor Andrew Fraser had filed his objections with Messrs. Glyn, Carr & Glyn. "The arrival from India of the papers of thedeceased, and the testimony of his body servant Simpson, as well asthe Calcutta Banker and solicitors, proves that no such considerablewithdrawals as twenty-five thousand pounds were ever contemplated bythe deceased, who had sent the most minute business instructions to hisagent and later executor. "

"I shall have to throw this all back on Ram Lal. " mused Alan Hawke, whohastily bade Justine an adieu, until he could conjure up an explanationfor the Geneva agents of the Credit Lyonnais. The closing words of theParis Derection were semi-hostile. "Be pleased. Monsieur, to call atonce upon our Geneva branch and explain these imputations. We are forcedto withhold your present deposits to cover any reclamation and legalexpenses, and we therefore beg you to discontinue the drawing of anydrafts upon us until the solicitors of Messrs. Glyn, Carr & Glyn and theExecutor notify us of the settlement of this distressing imputation uponthe regularity of our actions as your business agents. "

"That leaves me only the jewels, and about a thousand pounds ready cashon hand, and that is due from Anstruther, " gloomily decided Alan Hawke, when he was safely locked in his rooms at the National. 

"Tricked by this double-faced devil Louison-Delavigne, thrown out of myfuture rank, held for the five thousand pounds already advanced, and, with eleven thousand embargoed in that Paris pawnbroker shop of a CreditLyonnais, I've but one course left to me now. "

He took counsel of the brandy bottle, and then, ignoring all else, hesent off a careful letter to Joseph Smith. "I'll jolly poor Justine abit, so as to leave one faithful friend to watch and get all my lettershere. Jack can raise money on the jewels now for us both. I must tellthese fellows of the French Bank here that I go to London to see my ownlawyers. I'll go over, settle with Anstruther, and then just quietlydisappear. The next blow shall come out of the blackness of night, andI'll strike them all at once!"

In the evening, Major Alan Hawke drove with Justine Delande to therestaurant garden, where, long months before, he had first learned thedaring hardihood of his fair employer--the acute woman who had fooledhim at every turn. His heart was saddened with all the fresh hopes whichhad failed him. He had frankly told Euphrosyne Delande that a returnjourney to India, and a long and bitter struggle now lay between him andthe rank and competence which he would need to make her loving sisterhis wife. 

Three hours later Justine Delande's arms clung desparingly around thehandsome outcast, as he was leaving her to be escorted home by theadroit Francois, already in waiting without the restaurant with a closedcarriage. The presage of sorrow weighed upon her loving heart. 

"Alan, My God, I can not let you go. You are the one brightness of mylife. My heart of hearts. My very soul, " sobbed the wretched woman. "Ihave fears for you. They will kill you in that far land, these powerfulenemies. That mysterious devil woman who bends all to her will will ruinyou. " And then, really touched at heart, the desperate trickster drewoff his finger a superb diamond, the nonpareil, the choicest stoneof Ram Lal's unwilling tribute. "Wear this always, and think of me, Justine, " he said. "You are the only woman who ever loved me, and, if Isucceed, I swear you shall share my better fortunes--if not, then--" hecrushed her to his breast and ran out of the room, before she coulddrag him back. "Go in, Francois, quickly to Miss Justine, " cried Hawke, thrusting a hundred-franc note in the butler's open hand. The rattle ofdeparting wheels was heard as Francois supported the half-fainting womanto her carriage. 

"Now for London, " growled Major Hawke as the train dashed down the Rhonevalley. "I've got a clear alibi here. All my letters sent to Justinewill be forwarded to the Delhi Club. One day in London, then toGranville, and Jack Blunt. They will only get Justine's story if theyshadow me, and if I can only hit it off right, at Calcutta. Yes! thereis the king luck of all. To give the whole thing away to the baffledViceroy. Then denounce Ram Lal to him as the early confederate and laterassassin of Hugh Fraser Johnstone! These jewels that I have 'innocentlyreceived' will connect old Ram Lal with Hugh Fraser's betrayed trust. Iwill hold the murder business back at first. 

"Ram Lal or his estate will be finally forced to cash my drafts. Itis clear that Johnstone and Ram Lal have either divided or hidden thejewels. Yes! By God! I have it. If I can wring them out of the oldprofessor, or find them, I will then hide them away and secretly reportthe whole affair to the Viceroy, in my chosen colors as a friend of theCrown, and they'll give me a huge reward; my permanent army rank willsoon follow. So, if Justine only holds to my alibi, by God! I willmarry her, for she would be a badge of respectability. I'll take no morechances after this--not another single chance! I've got money enough tosatisfy Jack Blunt. He shall secretly sell the jewels for me--a smalllot, here and there, a few at a time. "

"There is just one frightful risk to run, " he muttered, as he reachedout for his brandy flask. "Ram Lal might go in to save his twenty-fivethousand pounds, for the Johnstone estate will never pay these disputedclaims which I cannot prove in law. Good in honor, but bad in law! Andif he should denounce me privately to the Viceroy, as the real murdererof Hugh Fraser? He is there on the ground. I did not denounce him. I didnot produce the dagger. I dare not to explain why I concealed the crime. An accessory! He might seek to turn Queen's evidence, and even try tohang me. He is rich, sly, smart. By God! they may even now be shadowingme. Once on English soil, I am at Anstruther's mercy. " He was stillwhite-faced and unmanned as he took the Boulogne boat the next evening. "I must face Anstruther, get my money, and then telegraph to Justine mydeparture for India from London. I'll wire the poor woman from here now. A few loving words will cheer her. Her true heart is the only jewel Ihave that I have not stolen. Poor girl! she will miss me sorely!" Andthe handsome blackguard sighed over the ruin he had wrought--an honestwoman's shattered peace of mind. It weighed heavily upon him now. 

For there came back to him now strange shadowy glimpses of his ownstormy past! Dashing on, to face unknown dangers, the dauntlessadventurer, with a softened heart, recalled the days when he could gaze, without a secret shudder, upon the battle-torn colors of the regimentfrom which he had been chased by that suddenly discovered sin, once sosweet!

He "looked along life's columned years, to see its riven fane--justwhere it fell. " And, sadly alone in life now, his heart gnawed with agrowing remorse, he saw in the mirror of memory, once more, the brightfaced boy who had "filled the cup, to toast his flag and land. " AlanHawke, in all the bright promise of his youth, the darling of women, theenvy of men!

Under the swiftly gliding current of his tortuous past, he plainly sawnow the fanged reefs which had wrecked him! With a smothered groan, herecalled all that he had lost, and this bitter introspection broughtup to him, among his deeds of passion, the one needless cruelty of hisreckless life! "Poor Justine! There is such a thing as woman's loveafter all!" he sighed, for he knew that the steadfast woman had pouredout the wine of her life all in vain. "She loves me!" he cried!

Woman, born to be man's sport and plaything, is doomed to be theunconscious avenger of her sex in every tragedy of the heart! Thetreason of some callous lover is repaid with vengeance meted out tosome defenseless man who comes all unguarded "into the arid desertof Phryne's life, where all is parched and hot. " And, Alan Hawke, theinnocent Lancelot, had suffered for some recreant's past crime!

Among the visions of the burning Lotos Land, the bright phantasmagoriaof his unstained youth, there came back now to Alan Hawke all theglories of his first Durbar, the unforgotten day when he had fallenunder the spell of the woman whose fatal touch had withered the "veryrose and expectancy" of his brilliant promise. His mind strayed backwardthrough all the misty years to that gorgeous scene of Oriental pomp. Heclosed his eyes and pictured again the brilliant pageant. 

The huge masses of serried troops, the lines of stately elephants, thecastled background of the temples of Aurungzebe. The blare of trumpetssmote once more upon his ear, and hordes of jewel-decked Asiatics sweptalong before the pompous military representatives of the Empress, whowears the Crown of the Seas. 

There was a quickening of "Love's extinguished embers" as he lived overagain the moment, when "side by side, with England's pride, " he rodewith his sword lowered in knightly salute before the clustered bannersof the Imperial military throne. And the hour of his fate sounded whenthe eyes of a woman rested upon him in a mute appeal! Their glances toldhim all. 

For, then and there, the young officer had seen the wonderful beautyof the woman who had lured him on and then, in after days, sold hisunstained soul to shame! A fair-faced Lilith, her glowing beautyenshrined in all the borrowed splendor of majesty, a woman of gleaminggolden hair, a later, all too willing, Guenevere! The soft subtleinvitation of her eyes of sapphire blue had called him to her side, inthat unspoken pact which needs no words! He was her slave from the firstmoment! With a last pang of his quivering heart, Hawke recalled the slyskill of the faithless wife who had drawn the young officer into hernet, for the passing amusement of her idle hours! Too late he knew allthe artful craft of his being bidden to the Grand Ball, of the"veiled interest" which had "detailed him, for special duty, " of theself-protecting maneuvers which had placed him on the staff of the fadedvaletudinarian general who had given his spotless name to the womanwhose lava heart glowed under a snowy bosom. It was the wreck of a soul!

And then, with a gasp, he recalled his mad fever to win every honorunder her glowing eyes. The forgotten deeds of desperate valor--alluseless now, and stained forever with the bar sinister of his treason. He shuddered at the unforgotten delights of the hour when they had metin her seraglio bower of shaded luxury, and "the fairest of Laocoons"had answered his passionate whisper, "Stoop down and seem to kiss me ereI die, " with the faltered words: "Alan, you are all the world to me!"

Fondly blind, he had drifted along in a Fool's Paradise, at her bidding, until the crash came! He never knew the military Sir Modred, who hadbetrayed the open secret, but his blood boiled when he recalled thecruel abandonment to the rage of a jealous and awakened spouse!

All in vain had been his manly sacrifice to save the woman whom he hadloved more than life. He had cast away every protection for himself. Duped and tricked, he had remained mute before the storm of abuse heapedon him by the General, and his papers sent in, at a momentary summons, had carried him in dishonor out of the band of laureled soldier knights, to dream no more "the dream that martial music weaves!" And the smilingwoman Judas tricked him to the very last!

How hollow her faith, how lying the mute pleading of her eyes, he knewnow, for had he not paused at the door for one despairing glance offarewell, to hear her murmur to her placated lord: "After all yourgoodness to him, to dare to offer me insult! You have punished himrightly, but, he is a fascinating traitor, after all!" Deprived of hissword, shunned by his associates, and lingering near her in hopes ofthe last interview pledged him by her lying eyes, he had only beenundeceived when he vainly tried to reach her carriage for a lastfarewell on a star-lit lonely drive. 

The cold cutting accent of her voice smote him as the edge of a sword. "Drive on, Johnson!" she sharply cried. "These vagabond people mustface the General himself. " Then came the insane self-sacrifice of hisreckless downfall, but he had spared her to the very last. 

He bowed his head in his hands, and a storm of agony swept over himas he recalled the word "traitor, " branded upon his brow as a badge ofshame, and again he wandered along that devious path which had led himyear by year downward. Too bitterly self-accusing to palliate his past, he only knew that in all the long years of social pariahhood he hadlearned to despise all men and to trust no woman! For had not Friendshipbeen a lie to him, Love only a hollow cheat, and woman's vows ofdeathless loyalty but writ in sand to be washed out by the next wave ofpassion?

And yet, stained with crime, there was one breath of truth which sweptover his soul as fresh as the voice of the "pines of Ramoth Hill!"His eyes were misty and his breath choked in a sorrowing gasp of manlyremorse, as the winsome face of the true-hearted Justine rose up beforehim in this hour of lonely agony! Her devotion had touched the waywornwanderer, and, pure and unselfish, her love had been the one bright starof all these darkened years!

"By Jove! She is a royal soul! If I could only save her the shock of theawakening, " he murmured. His heart beat generously in a thrill of priderecalling Justine's steadfast devotion to the motherless girl whom hehad sought to entangle. "Far above rubies!" he cried, and the memoryof the fond woman who was watching for him at Lausanne, swept over hisstormy soul to bring unbidden tears to eyes which had never flinchedbefore the red flash of the grim cannon. 

"There are still good women in the world!" he muttered, "and, God blessyou, you have taught me this, Justine!" Drawing her picture from hisbosom, he gazed fondly at the face of the gentle-hearted daughter of theAlps. A vain and passionate regret racked his bosom--the last struggleof his wavering soul! "Shall I turn back?" he doubtfully cried. And thenin the rush of his onward course, a dull hopeless feeling came over him. "Kismet!" he cried. "It is too late now. If they had only trusted me! Ifthey had told me all and given my fighting soul a chance to redeem thelost promise once written on my brow. I have played a man's part before!I might, perhaps, have won this girl's gratitude and earned Justine'slove to be a shield and a buckler to me. But--" his head, overweanedwith care, drooped down, and in the company of strange visions and anddreams of ominous import, the hunted soldier of fortune forgot alike theechoing voice of his better angel, and lost from view, the shadowyfaces of both the woman who had lured him to a living death, and thetender-hearted one whose heart was glowing at Lausanne in all the fervorof her unrequited devotion. Over Alan Hawke, sleeping there, as hewas swiftly borne away, hovered, in sad regret, his good angel, withsorrowing eyes, for the stern, self-accusing man had not sought, in thelast hours of this sorrow, even the poor consolation that his life hadbeen wrecked to feed the fires of vanity burning in the jaded heartof the beautiful Faustine, whose cold desertion had sold his youth toshame!

Twenty-four hours later Major Alan Hawke was again a stormy petrel onLife's trackless ocean. The cold politeness of Captain Anson Anstrutherat the brief interview at the Junior United Service Club in London atonce decided the wanderer to make for India as soon as his "pressingengagements" would allow. There was no seeming menace, however, inAnstruther's wearied air of perfunctory courtesy. 

"The whole affair being officially dropped, Major Hawke, " saidAnstruther, "I only ask for your personal receipt for my individualcheck. You will observe that this eleven hundred pounds is not in anyway government funds. And, on behalf of the Viceroy himself, I thankyou for your energy shown in the inquiry, which is now permanentlyabandoned. " To Major Hawke's murmured request, Anstruther replied:

"Certainly! Drive around to Grindlay's in Parliament Street with me andthey will at once give you notes or their own circular check for thismoney. " In ten minutes, when Hawke had lightly announced his intentionto return to India, the Captain observed: "I may not meet you for someyears. If the Viceroy returns to England, my promotion will probablycarry me with his Embassy to Paris as Major and Military Attache. " Andthen they parted as mere casual acquaintances. 

"Damn his cool impertinence, " mused Alan Hawke, as he caught a passingcab, after telegraphing his greetings and intended departure to JustineDelande. 

"Write one letter to Hotel Binda, Paris, then all to the P. & O. Agency, Brindisi; after that, to Delhi, " were the lying words which reachedthe Swiss woman, whose loving breast was now given over to a tumult ofsighs. 

Major Hawke was not free from secret apprehensions until he landed atCalais, upon the next morning. "Now for a last 'throw off' at Paris!"he exclaimed. "Damn England! I hope I shall never see it again!" hegrowled, unmindful of the pitiless Fates ever spinning the mysteriousweb of Destiny. "I'll first show up at Berthe Louison's, at No. 9 RueBerlioz. They shall have my next address given to them as Delhi. Thereal Major Hawke dives under the troubled sea of Life at Paris, only toemerge at Calcutta! Ram Lal is like all his kind, a coward at heart!He has not denounced me, for, if he had, Captain Anstruther would havenabbed me in England. He acts by the Viceroy's private cabled orders. No! The coast is all clear for my dash at the enemy's works!"

Before the morning dawned on the sea-girt coast of La Manche, MarieVictor had duly telegraphed Major Hawke's impending departure forIndia to the beautiful recluse who now cheered the lonely bride of "theMoonshee, " at the old Norman chateau, embowered in its splendid gardens, within a league of the Banker's Folly. 

Alan Hawke, closely shaven, and masquerading in a Frenchcommis-voyageur's modest garb, was seated at ease in Etienne Garcin'sdeath-trap at the Cor d'Abundance, in foggy Granville. His darkenedlocks and nondescript garb thoroughly effaced the "officer andgentleman. " One of the old French villain's wickedest and prettiestwoman decoys was coquettishly serving Hawke's breakfast as he read theburning words of Justine Delande's message from the heart. The lastgreeting, tear-blotted, and promptly sent to the Hotel Binda. 

"It's a wild day, a wild-looking place, and a wild enough sea, " grumbledMajor Hawke, gazing out of the grimy window at the rolling green surgesbreaking, white-capped, far out beyond the new pier, where the blackcannon were drenched and crusted with the salty flying scud. Far away, a little side-wheel steamer was laboring along over the strait fromthe blue island of Jersey, rising and dipping half out of sight, with atrail of intermittent puffs of dense black smoke. 

"There is the enemy's stronghold, and now for Jack Blunt's plan ofcampaign! I wonder if he'll come over to-day, or to-morrow? He must havehad my telegram last night!" Alan Hawke amused himself with the bold, black-eyed French girl's vicious stories of olden deeds done therein Etienne Garcin's gloomy spider's den. He even laughed whenthe red-bodiced she-devil laughingly pointed down at the loosenedfloor-planks in the back room, underneath which mantrap the swish of thethrobbing waves could be heard. 

Then the sheeted, cold driving rain hid the promontory, with itsheavy, lumpy-looking fort, the old gray granite parish church, and theclustered ships of the harbor, now dashing about and tugging wildly attheir doubled moorings, soon to be left high and dry on the soft oozewhen the thirty-foot tide receded. "There's where we find our bestcustomers, " laughed the French wanton, as Alan Hawke drew her to hisknee, and they laughed merrily over the golden harvest of the sea, theprice of the recovered dead. Through the narrow stone fanged streetslumbered along the heavy French hooded carts, driven by squatty men inoil skins and sou'westers, and laden down with the spoils of the whale, cod, and oyster fisheries. Stout women in huge blue aprons, with basketson their rounded arms, gossiped at the protecting corners, while theshouts of Landlord Etienne Garcin's drunken band of sea wolves now beganto ring out in the smoky salle a boire. 

It was two o'clock when the burly form of Etienne Garcin was propelledunceremoniously into Alan Hawke's room. A grin of satisfaction spreadover the bullet-headed old ruffian's face, and his round gray pig eyestwinkled, as he noted the already established entente cordiale betweenJack Blunt's pal and the wanton spy who was the absent Jack's ownespecial pet. But, Alan Hawke was temporarily blind to the universallyoffered charms of the soubrette as he read Joseph Smith's carefulreport. 

"That's the talk!" joyously cried Hawke. His heart bounded in a fiercethrill. "By God! Simpson shall be 'done up' in short order. The drunkenold dog. He cut off the payment of my drafts with his blabbing tongue!

"Yes, over the cliffs he goes, and we will make sure ofhim--forever--before he takes his last tumble! Jack! Jack! You are ahero!" he mused, as the triumphant words of Jack Blunt's great discoverywere read again and again. And then, he carefully burned the letter, before the astonished eyes of the tempting companion of his waitinghours. "These fools of employers!" cheerfully muttered Alan Hawke. "Theyalways think that 'Servant's Hall' has no eyes. That the maid in her capand apron has not the same burning passions as idle Madame in her silksand laces. That the man has not his own easy-going vices just as aliveand masterful as the base appetites of the swell master. "

While Alan Hawke thus exulted at Granville, there was gloom and jealousyin the heart of Prof. Alaric Hobbs, of Waukesha University, Wisconsin, U. S. A. 

A tall, lank, bespectacled "Westerner, " nearly thirty-five years of age, the blue-eyed country boy had dragged himself up from the obscurity ofa frontier American farm into the higher life. Uncouth, awkward, andyet resolute and untiring, he had justified his first instructor'sprediction:

"He has the head of a horse, and will make his mark!" Newspapertrainboy, chainman, assistant on Government frontier surveys, andfrontier scout, he early saved his money so as to complete a sporadicuniversity curriculum. A trip to Liberia, a dash down into Mexico, and adesert jaunt in Australia, had not satisfied his craving for adventure. With the results of two years of professional lectures, he was nowimbibing continental experiences, and plotting a bicycle "scientifictour of the world. " Hard-headed, fearless, devoted, and sincere, he wasa mad theorist in all his mental processes, and had tried, proved, and rejected free love, anarchy, Christian science, and a dozen otherfeverish fads, which for a time jangled his mental bells out of tune. A cranky tracing of the lost Ten Tribes of Israel down to the genialscalpers of the American plains had thrown him across the renownedProfessor Andrew Fraser, who had, on his part, located these samelong mourned Hebrews in Thibet, ignoring the fact that they are reallydispersed in the United States of America as "eaters of other men'shard-made 'honey'" in the "drygoods, " clothing, and "shent per shent"line. For, a glance at the signs on Broadway will prove to any one thatthe "lost" have been found in Gotham. 

Smoking his corncob pipe the Professor paced his rooms at the RoyalVictoria, and mentally consigned Prince Djiddin and his indefatigableMoonshee to Eblis, the Inferno, Sheol, or some other ardent corner ofLimbo. "How long will these two yellow fellows keep poor old Fraserenchanted?" mused the disgruntled American, mindful of his hotel billrunning on. "The old man is crazy after the two Thibetans, and I can'tsee his game. He does not wish me to publish my own volume first. Thatis why he has given me the 'marble heart, ' and taken them into hishouse. Their wing of the Banker's Folly is now an Eastern idolaters'temple. If I could only hook on to the 'Moonshee, ' I might make a'scoop'--a clean scoop--on old Fraser. God! how my book would sell if Icould only get it out first. And yet I dare not offend this old scholar, Andrew Fraser. He must be true to me. He has read to me all the originalmanuscript of his own half-finished work. He must trust to me, and hehas promised to give me a resume of their disclosures also after theyleave. The Thibetan Prince will only be here two weeks longer. "

"Then old Fraser will take me to his heart again. " Alaric Hobbsreflected on his vain attempt to try the Tunguse, Chinook, Zuni, Apache, Sioux, and Esquimaux dialects on the handsome Prince Djiddin, whoseOriental magnificence was even now the despairing admiration of the twopretty housemaids. 

"My august master cannot speak to any one but the great scholar whom hecame here to see. He soon returns to his retirement in his palace in theKarakorum Mountains. And he never will emerge thence!" solemnly saidthe Moonshee, adding in a whisper: "He may, by the grace of Buddha, bere-incarnated as the Dalai-Lama. He springs from the loins of kings. Idare not break in upon his awful silence. " The Moonshee's significantgesture of drawing a hand across his own brown throat had silenced thepushing American professor. 

"By hokey!" he groaned, "it is hard to have to play second fiddle tothis purblind old Scotchman. " Alaric Hobbs had been a reporter upon thatdainty sheet, The New York Whorl, in one of his "emergent" periods, andso he writhed in agony at being left at the post. "I must be contentto tap old Fraser when he comes back from London with that embarrassinglump of beauty, his millionaire niece. She would make a fitting spousefor this Prince Djiddin, for she never speaks a word--at least to me. And this swell Prince, who comes 'only one in a box, ' gets the same'frozen hand. ' Funny girl, that. But I must yield to old Fraser'smoods. " Alaric Hobbs then descended to the tap-room and instructed thepretty barmaid in the manufacture of his own favorite "cocktail, " anAmerican drink of surpassing fierceness and "innate power, " which hadonce caused "Bald-headed Wolf, " a Kiowa chieftain, to slay his favoritesquaw, scalp a peace commissioner, and chase a fat army paymaster tillhe died of fright in his ambulance, after Alaric Hobbes had incautiouslyleft a bottle of this "red-eye" mixture with his aboriginal host onone of the "exploring tours. " A powerful disturbing agent, the Americancocktail!

But for all Miss Nadine Johnstone's seeming aversion to men, and inspite of Prince Djiddin's inability to utter a word of any jargon saveninety-five degree Thibetan, "far above proof, " on this very morningwhile the "Moonshee" was transcribing under the watchful eyes of theexcited Andrew Fraser the disclosures of the evening before, the youngmillionairess was "getting on" very well in exhibiting the glories ofthe tropical garden to the august tourist from the lacustrine Himalayas. 

Jules Victor adroitly busied the maid whom Janet Fairbarn had dispatchedto "play propriety, " and the other London girl had quietly stolen awayto her own last rendezvous with her mysterious London lover, "Mr. JosephSmith, " otherwise "Jack Blunt, Esq. , of the Swell Mob of the Thames. "

The whispers of the stately young Prince brought crimson blushes to theface of the glowing girl, whose answering murmurs were as low as thesiren voice of Swinburne's "small serpents, with soft, stretchingthroats. " They had a double secret to keep now. A momentous, a dangerousone; for in the depths of the Tropical Gardens of Rozel, the passionatehearted Alixe Delavigne was hidden, waiting this very morning to claspagain the beautiful orphan to a bosom throbbing in wildest love. PrinceDjiddin, always on his guard, artfully turned back and busied the maid, when she was released from Jules Victor's vociferous bar-gaining, witha half-hour's choosing her "fairing, " out of the lively peddler's prettystock. The woman's vanity made her an easy victim. The "descendant ofThibetan Kings" could not, of course, speak intelligibly, but the yellowsovereigns which he carried were the magic talisman which opened at oncethe pretty maid servant's softened heart. 

It was a long half hour before the happy Nadine Johnstone returned tojoin the kinsman of the Maharajah of Cashmere. Her eyes were gleamingin a tender, dawning lovelight, her lips still thrilling with AlixeDelavigne's warm kisses. In her heart, there still rang out hermysterious visitor's last words: "Wait, darling! My own darling! Beforeanother month the secret Government agent will have officially visitedAndrew Fraser. We are all ready to act with crushing power when thehappy moment safely arrives. And you shall then hear all the storyof the past on my breast. You shall know how near you have been tomy loving heart in all these weary years. The story of your own dearmother's life shall be my wedding present to you. Yet, a few days moreof watchful patience, " softly sighed Alixe. 

"For we must not let Andrew Fraser wake for a moment from his frenzy ofThibetan study until we can force from him the permission which we willdemand to visit you, and to free you from his control. "

Prince Djiddin paced solemnly back toward the Banker's Folly, leavingthe overjoyed maid to bundle up all her many gifts. A grateful wink toJules Victor from the Prince rewarded the disguised valet, as he gaylysped away to meet his mistress, and to obtain her orders for the nextday. This artful game of mingled Literature and Love had so far beensafely played, but Jules Victor had secretly warned Nadine Johnstoneagainst any confidences with her pretty London sewing woman. "She hasfound a sweetheart here. He is a curious looking fellow, he has moneyand is liberal, and, so, what you tell her she will surely tell hersweetheart. Trust to no one but the other maid, who is devoted to me, "proudly said the dapper little Frenchman. Nearing the mansion, on thiseventful morning, Prince Djiddin, at a hidden bend of a leafy path, whispered to his fair conductress, "For God's sake, darling Nadine, donot betray yourself! Those sweetly shining eyes are tell-tale stars!Your heart happiness will struggle for expression. Go to your rooms atonce. Pour out your happy heart in song, lift up your voice. But, watchover your very heart-throbs! Only a single fortnight more, darling, and we will clip the claws of this old Scottish lion who has you in hisclutches!

"Anstruther will soon make his coup de main, for Hawke has at last goneback to India, and we will have a deadly grasp soon on the frightenedAndrew Fraser. He must either give up his legal tyranny and yield you tous, or else face a future which would appall even a braver man. I darenot to tell you our secret yet. Only the Viceroy and Anstruther know it. And, now, darling, above all, be sure not to betray yourself, in London. Remember that Anstruther will have you secretly watched, from this gateto the very moment when you return to it! Any false play of old Fraserwould lead to his detention by the authorities, and you would be freedat once by the law!"

In the three weeks of their long masquerade, neither Prince Djiddin, his scribe and interpreter, or else the two, as studious visitors, neverleft Andrew Fraser alone a single moment! The old scholar was thrilledat heart with Eric Murray's solemn rehearsing of Frank Halton's valuablenotebooks and ingenious theories. He eagerly enforced Prince Djiddin'srequest that no curious strangers should be allowed to force themselveson him, no matter of what lofty rank. Prince Djiddin was wrapped in theveil of a solemn personal seclusion. 

And to this end Simpson, now the butler of the "Banker's Folly, " wasespecially assigned to wait upon the austere "Prince Djiddin" as his"body servant. " Only one visit of state was exchanged between "PrinceDjiddin" and General Wragge, Her Majesty's Commander of the ChannelIslands. The "Moonshee, " with a sober dignity, had interpreted for theBritish Commander of the Manche, and in due state, a return visite deceremonie to General Wagge's mansion and headquarters strangely foundCaptain Anson Anstruther, A. D. C. Of the Viceroy of India, a pilgrim toSt. Heliers, to arrange secretly for "Prince Djiddin's" safe conduct andreturn to Thibet. The curious society crowd and St. Heliers's beautifulwomen envied Captain Anstruther his three hours conference with the"Asiatic lion. "

By day, in the vaulted library, Andrew Fraser pored over the weirdstories of Runjeet Singh, of Aurung zebe, of King Dharma, and theCashmerian priest who came with Buddha's first message to Thibet! Thestory of the marvelous royal babe found floating in the Ganges, in acopper box, a century before Christ, the tales of the "Konchogsum, " the"Buddha jewel, " the "doctrine jewel, " and the "priesthood jewel" fed theburning fever of old Fraser's senile mind. He now felt that he lived butonly in the past. At night, he labored alone till the wee sma' hours, depositing his precious manuscript in a secret hiding-place, where henow scarcely glanced at the "insured packet, " which had been such adangerous legacy of his dead brother. He had forgotten all his dailylife and even his fears for the future in the fierce exultation ofconcealing his strangely gotten Thibetan lore from his rival, AlaricHobbs. 

"A remarkable mind, " growled old Fraser, "but a Yankee--and sountrustworthy. " At last, unwillingly, with a quaking heart, lest PrinceDjiddin should decamp in his absence, he obeyed an imperative legalsummons and proceeded to London with Nadine Johnstone, leaving his houseunder the charge of that sphinx-eyed Scottish spinster, Janet Fairbarn. 

To the "Moonshee, " and to the rubicund veteran Simpson, the departingAndrew Fraser said solemnly, "The Prince is to be the master here untilmy return. " With a joyous heart the London sewing girl embarked as MissJohnstone's one personal attendant, forgetful of her devoted lover, Joseph Smith, who had temporarily disappeared, gone over to France "onbusiness. " For she was herself going back to the dear delights of herbeloved London, and her liberal lover had already given her his addressat the Cor d'Abondance. 

"You must telegraph to me, Mattie, where you are staying, and when youleave London to return. I may run over to Southampton and come back onthe same boat with you. Write to me, my own girl, every day, and here'sa five-pound note to buy your stamps with. " On his sacred promise ofhonor to write to her himself every day, and to let no black Gallic eyeseclipse her "orbs of English blue, " Mattie Jones allowed her lover anextra liberal allowance of good-bye kisses. 

While Professor Andrew Fraser, Miss Nadine Johnstone, and the lovelornMattie Jones, were escorted to London by a head clerk of the estate'ssolicitors, Prince Djiddin and the "Moonshee" unbent their browsand rested from the nervous strain of the three weeks of continueddeception. 

While the happy "Moonshee" escaped to his own fair bride, PrinceDjiddin, under Simpson's guidance, examined minutely the superb moderncastle, and even microscopically examined all the beautiful surroundingsof Rozel Head. "It may come in handy some day, " mused Major Hardwicke, "especially if we have to aid Nadine Johnstone to escape. " Thepseudo-Prince was glad to often steal out alone to the headlandoverlooking Rozel Pier, and there watch the French luggers beating toseaward sailing like fierce cormorants along the wild coast of St. Malo. He was glad to fill his lungs with the fresh, crisp, salt air, and tocommune in safety at length with the faithful Simpson. 

Securely hid in an angle of the cliff, they talked over all the mysteryof Hugh Fraser's bloody "taking off, " and of the dreary three years ofDeath in Life left before Nadine. 

"As for the old master, he was an out and out hard 'un, " stolidly saidSimpson. "Who killed him, nobody knows and nobody cares. I've alwayssuspicioned that there Ram Lal and yer fancy friend, this Major AlanHawke. "

Hardwicke started in a sudden alarm. "Why so?" he demanded. 

"I believe that they tried to blackmail him about some of his oldEurasian love affairs, or else some official secret they had spied out. You see the niggers in the marble house were all Ram Lal's friends, andany one of them could have left the murderers alone to do their work andthen let 'em out of the house. I believe that Hawke did the job, and RamLal got away with some of the missing crown jewels. I'll tell you, MajorHarry, General Willoughby and the magistrates had me under fire therefor many a day. "

"See here, Simpson, " said Major Hardwicke, "a man who would murder thefather, would rob the daughter! I'll give you a thousand pounds if youinstantly notify me, if Hawke ever is found creeping around here. Theremay be some ugly old family secrets, you know. "

"I'm your man! Pay or no pay!" cried Simpson. "Only they think of givingme a three months' leave on pay to visit my people. "

"Don't go! Don't go! till I tell you!" cried the Major. 

"I am glad this fellow Hawke, whom you say has been dropped, is now onhis way back to India, " said Simpson. 

"Yes, but he might show up here devilish strangely, " mused Hardwicke. "He is just the fellow for a dirty fluke. Watch over Nadine, Simpson, "cried Hardwicke, "for I've sworn to make her my wife, within threemonths, uncle or no uncle!"

"I will, " growled Simpson. "I've an old grudge to settle with the Major, and I'll tell you some day, " said the veteran. "Let us go in. There aresome curious people here. I'll tell you all when I'm your own man, andthe young mistress is Mrs. Major Hardwicke!"

On this very evening, as the gray mists hid the Jersey outline from thewindows of Etienne Garcin's den, Jack Blunt and Major Alan Hawke wereseated in the Major's bedroom in the cabaret. They were cheerfullydiscussing two steaming "grogs, " but there was doubt and a shifty lackof thorough confidence between the two scoundrels as yet. 

"So you think the boat will do?" flatly demanded Jack Blunt, offeringsome exceptional cigars. 

"Just the thing, " carefully replied the Major. "And your terms for a twoweeks charter?"

"Twenty-five hundred francs for the boat and outfit--the same sum forthe gang, cash down. Two weeks, with the privilege of renewal for twomore-at the same rate, " doggedly said Blunt. "Now, you've got to makeup your mind soon, Hawke, " said Jack Blunt roughly. "I've told you thewhole lay, and so far, have given you the worth of your money. If youcan't 'come up, ' then I'm going to run a lugger load of brandy and'baccy over to the Irish coast. She's a sixty tonner and by God! fitto cross the Atlantic! Old Garcin, too, is getting impatient. Our beinghere, stops his 'regular business, '" gloomily said Blunt. 

Hawke's impassive face angered Jack Blunt as he continued: "And you saythat I can trust Garcin's brother Andre down at Isle Dial. "

"Yes. Even if we had to stow one or both of these fools away downthere. "

"I am sure that Angelique and I could hide them away for a year or elsesafely forever there, " cried Jack Blunt, in a hoarse whisper. "It's onlya matter of money and damme if I believe you've got any! If you foolus, you'll never get out of here alive!" Major Hawke only smiled, anddropped his hands lightly on the butts of two heavy bull-dog revolversready there in his velveteen trousers' pockets. 

"Jack! Don't be an ass!" he said. "I play this game to win. Do you thinkthat I would bring my ready money into this murder pen? Now, tell mewhat you will take in cash, to tell me where the old miser has hiddenthe stuff I want? And how much will you take to do the job? I want toknow when they return, and I want your help and the aid of the gang. Youare to crack the crib--alone--while they are away, and then we, perhaps, may meet them, on their way home. The lugger lying off in that cove tothe north of Rozel Head, below the old martello tower. "

"Have you been over there?" amazedly cried Blunt. 

"Oh! I know every inch of the place of old, " laughed Hawke, still withhis hands on his revolvers. 

"Well, Major, " said Jack, pouring out a cognac, "I'll take, first, fivehundred pounds cash for the information. Another five hundred for thejob, with a quarter of what we get. And this second sum you can put upwith Etienne Garcin. You can pay him now the two hundred for the menand the boat, out of that, and give me the rest of the odd change later. We'll never lose sight of each other after we start. For the Hirondellewill not leave me in the lurch. I've sworn never to wear the widow'sjewelry again. " Jack Blunt's eyes were devilish in their glare. 

"So, it's five hundred pounds down now, and I can order the expeditionon, after the payment. You'll give me on the instant all the news fromMattie Jones of the intended return, for I propose to have some fun withthe Professor. "

"Honor bright, " said Jack forcibly. "For we will all hang or 'go toquod' together, if there's a break once that we begin. We had betterstart when I get her next letter, for Mattie is to write me to theJersey Arms and then telegraph there, too, from Southampton. I'll haveone of the crew pipe them off from the pier home to the Tolly, and ahalf dozen of the boys will be in hiding, ready for work. So you canwork your scheme as you will. "

"It's a go, then. Come on, now, and get your money, " said Hawke, ashe led the way to the nearest fiacre. In ten minutes, Alan Hawkedisappeared into the railway waiting-room, and returned after a visit tothe luggage store-room. Jack Blunt was astonished at his pal's evidentdistrust. "Here you are, Jack, " the Major cordially cried, as theysought the rear room of the neat cafe opposite the gare. "Now, countover your five hundred pounds. I'll give Garcin the other sum in yourpresence. Then, I suppose that I am safe, " he coldly smiled. "Tell menow where has old Fraser hidden the stuff. "

"In his study on the first floor, in a secret hiding place. The girlMattie has watched the old fellow through the keyhole. I know just whereto easily break in on the ground floor. These damned Hindus are far awayin the other wing, so there's only Simpson to hinder. Now, I'll have acouple of the boys pipe him off at the Jersey Arms. Old Janet Fairbarn'sstrait-laced ways make him sneak out late at night for his toddy. Whenhe is 'well loaded' and tired with climbing up the cliff, they willfollow him and fix him, for good. One of the boys will come along withme, to my hiding place, and be 'outside fence' while the two otherswill watch the road and the gardener's quarters. The three men are twohundred yards away, in the porter's lodge. The old Scotch womansleeps like a post. Then I make my way when I've done, at once to theHirondelle, alone and hide my plant. The men relieved can rally on yourparty at the old martello tower, and so we will be ready to sail whenyour part of the job is done. Two on board, three with me, nine withyou, will be plenty! My work is a quiet job! I can do the whole trick infive minutes! Yours, I leave for yourself. I know just where to lay myhand. "

"But, should any trouble occur?" said Alan Ha wke, "any outcry, anypursuit?"

"Then I will bury the stuff on the shore, saunter back openly to theJersey Arms, and just stay there as friend Joseph Smith, till I can getover to Granville by the steamer. The Hirondelle will not be seen by anyone; there are fifty luggers always hovering around. She will first landus all in Bouley Bay in the morning, or drop half the men off at St. Catherine's Bay in the early afternoon. They all know every inch ofthe ground. " In half an hour the chums in villainy dined gayly with"Angelique, " and a running mate, rejoicing in the cognomen of "PetiteDiable Jaune. " The next day, a secret meeting with a confidential Jewishmoney-lender, enabled Major Alan Hawke to safely market the half of thejewels which he had extorted from Ram Lal Singh. In a waist belt, hewore a thousand pounds of Banque of France notes neatly concealed. JackBlunt and Garcia had earned an extra bonus of a hundred pounds each inthe jewel sale, and Alan Hawke laughed, as he laid away four thousandpounds in his safely deposited luggage, in the railway office. "I cantrust to the French Republic--one and indivisible, " he said, as he senta loving letter to Justine Delande, and then mailed her the receiptfor his valuable package, with his last wishes, "in case of accident. ""These fellows might kill me for this, if they knew of it!" he growled. 

Three days later, the stanch Hirondelle was beating up and downGranville Bay, while Alan Hawke awaited the letter of the faithfulMattie Jones. He had furnished the twenty-pound note which made thatnatty damsel doubly anxious to meet her faithful lover "Joseph Smith, "to whom she now dispatched the news of the immediate return of theanxious Professor. Fraser was burning to take up the gathering ofThibetan pearls of hidden knowledge, while the artful and restlessProfessor Alaric Hobbs was stealthily waiting Prince Djiddin'sdeparture, but kept busied with some personal tidal and magneticobservations on Rozel Head. In the deserted second floor of an oldmartello tower, he had made a lair for his evening star and planetoryresearches, and the ingenious Yankee concealed a rope ladder in theclinging ivy which enabled him to cut off all intrusion on his eyrie. 

CHAPTER XV. THE FRENCH FISHER BOAT, "HIRONDELLE. "

It was four o'clock of a wild November afternoon when Major AlanHawke, cowering in a hooded Irish frieze ulster, crawled deeper into acave-like recess in the little path leading from the Jersey Arms up toRozel Head. The blinding rain was thrown in wild gusts by the howlingwinds, now lashing the green channel to a roughened foam. A sudden andterrific storm was coming on. 

Half an hour before the disguised adventurer could see the ominousdouble storm signals flying in warning on the scattered coast guardstations, a signal of danger sent on from the Corbieres Lighthouse. Butnow not a single sail was to be seen, and huge banks of heavy blackeningmists were rolling over the stormy channel. Not a stray sail was insight!

"Where in hell is Jack?" raged the excited conspirator, swallowing halfthe contents of his brandy flask. As he returned it, the butts of histwo revolvers and the handle of a huge couteau de chasse were plainlyvisible. "The fiends seem to be let loose to-day, " he growled. "It wouldbe the night of all nights! Ha!" The discharged officer noted two men insou'westers and oilskins now toiling up the path. And his heart leapedup in a wild joy. 

In another moment, he half dragged his drenched companions into theweather-worn cave. "What news?" he hoarsely demanded of Blunt, as heextended his flask. 

"The best of all news, " cheerily replied the mobs-man. "Here is Antoine. He raced down from St. Heliers, in a covered fly, and has brought thevery latest news from Fort Regent. The Stella has lost the tide, cannotenter, and has, therefore, turned south, running down the channel. She can not dare to enter St. Heliers now till between ten and elevento-night. Of course, she will not put back to Southampton, in the teethof this southwest gale, the very heaviest known for twenty years. Shehas signaled the 'Corbieres, ' and they have telegraphed over to theoffice at the pier. There's Mattie Jones's telegram. The three we wantare on board, sure enough. And, thank God! the Hirondelle is riding safeand easy around the point. It's the one night of a million for my joband for yours. "

"What's your final plan? We must get out of here soon, " growled Hawke, shaking off the pouring rain like a burly water dog. "I have my twomen already watching the little gardener's hut in the Tropical Gardens, where I hid my cracksman's outfit. Old Simpson is boozing away down atthe Jersey Arms. I heard him tell pretty Ann, the barmaid, that he wouldhave to be home by midnight, for the 'old man' would surely arrive inthe morning. Now, will you stay here with this man, and 'do up' oldSimpson? Mind you, there must be no stab or bullet wound. The 'lifepreserver, ' and, then over with him! They will only think that rum andthe fall did the business. 

"I will make straight for the Hirondelle when I am done, and send a manto report to you at the old martello tower, where your gang are to meetyou. This man can get over to the boat now and warn them to show up, carefully, one by one, and hide around there till dark. Not in the toweritself, for some of the coast-guard roundsmen might take shelter thereand pitch into them for smugglers. I'll stay here till he comes back. Ifold Simpson should come along too early, why, you and I could hide himaway here till it is dark enough to throw him over. And you'll surelycatch old Fraser and the two women on the road between eleven and two. It will take over an hour to drive from the pier in this weather. 

"All right!" sternly said Hawke. "Send your man right away. I will tellthem what to do later, when I meet them. Let him send the boatswain andtwo men to meet us here, and wait and hide with the others around thetower. I will hunt in the bushes till I run on them. Stay! He can comeback here to me with the three!"

It was already dark when the four men returned to where Alan Hawke layperdu with his murderous mate. Not a light was now to be seen but theone glimmer below in the "Public, " on the Rozel pier. And the very lastwords had been spoken between "Gentleman Jack Blunt" and his craftyemployer. "Now, remember, " said Jack, "Antoine here goes down withorders to come up the cliff ahead of old Simpson. You'll surely bewarned of his approach. You can give the boatswain his orders; there'llbe three to one. Your man leads you to your men at the tower. And I amto crack that crib and make for the Hirondelle!

"If chased, the boat runs out to sea, and you are both only honest, French fishermen storm-driven ashore in search of supplies!"

"That's it, Jack! You are to wait for me, if the house is not alarmed. I'll bring some 'passengers, ' perhaps, on board. If I fail, you are justto run for Granville. We will all meet at Etienne's. I've got money totake care of all my men. You are to make no miss. I can wait and tryagain if I am disappointed. I'll take no chances. With your success, I can hold the old miser down, and your two thousand pounds is safe;besides, the swag is your security. You see, he will never dare to makeany public outcry, for he secretly fears the Government! We take onlythe safest chances. He may stay down there all night at St. Heliers, andyour lucky chance will never come again. Go ahead, and do not fail!"

The two men grasped hands in an excited clinch. "Do up Simpson for adead man, and no mistake!" hoarsely whispered Jack Blunt. 

"I'll fix the old blanc-bec, " growled the boatswain, as the spy sliddown the hill toward Rozel Pier. 

"Take my flask, Jack!" said Alan Hawke. 

"I don't drink on duty!" simply replied Blunt. "I shall get at work byeleven, and you'll hear from me by midnight! Then, look out only foryourself! The boat is mine, if there's any alarm. I'll send her backsoon to Rozel Pier, if I have to run out to sea, and you are to be onlyhonest fishermen. How long shall I wait in the cove for you?"

"Sail at three o'clock, if I'm not on board! Remember the hail, 'SaintMalo, Ahoy!'"

"This is dead square, for life and death!" cried Blunt. 

"Dead square, " echoed the renegade officer. Darkness now doubled itsblack folds, and the roar of the surf boomed sullenly upon the rockyRozel beach. Crouching in their cave, the two French thugs eagerlywatched the winding path below, and gathered a resentful vulpineferocity in their hearts. With knife in one hand, and the heavylead-weighted blackjacks in readiness, they cowered upon the path, waiting for the old soldier, whose thickened eyes were still sullenlygazing at the dingy clock in the Jersey Arms. He hated to leave thepretty, white-armed Ann. 

Ten o'clock! The red-coated soldiery of Fort Regent and ElizabethCastle, the guardians of Mont Orgueil, were all wrapped in slumber, savethe poor, shivering sentinels. Ten o'clock! The drenched tide waitersat St. Heliers pier anathematized the still distant Stella, whose lightsnow blinked feebly, laboring far out at sea. "An hour yet to wait!"growled the bedraggled customs officers. Ten o'clock! The good burghersof St. Heliers had given up their whist, and taken their last drop of"hot and hot. " In St. Aubin's Bay, from Corbin's Light, from mansion intown, and cot among the Druidical rocks, anxious eyes now gazed out onthe wild sea, where Andrew Fraser tried to calm the terrified NadineJohnstone. 

Mattie Jones was lying senseless, a helpless mass of cowering humanity, while the anxious captain and pilot vigorously swore, as became hardyBritish seamen. The "Chief" had piped up "that the engines would be outof her, " if they shipped another sea like the last. Prayer in the cabin, curses on the deck, fear in the hold, and misery everywhere; the stoutStella struggled shoreward, toward her dangerous landing at the pier, whose sheer sixty feet of masonry wall was now lashed by the wild waves. Black waters rose and fell in great surges. The shivering coastguardsin the line of garrisoned martello towers, vowed that no such night hadever been seen since the "Great Storm. "

Prince Djiddin had also given up all hope of the return of the faithfulMoonshee whose plea of "business, " had led him away to the society ofhis brave and beautiful bride. There was but one more day of "home life"before resuming the hoodwinking of the mentally excited historian ofThibet. "It's a fearful night on the Channel, " thought Major Hardwickeas he waited in vain for Simpson's return to act as valet de chambre. 

"God help all at sea! It's a fearful night, " Prince Djiddin murmuredas he closed his eyes, little reckoning that the beautiful girl whom heloved more than life was tempest-tossed off the Corbieres, while poorMattie Jones literally "sickened on the heaving wave. "

The great house was lone and still, and for the first time PrinceDjiddin reflected upon the exposed situation of the old miser's home. "Poor old chap, " he muttered, as he closed his eyes. "Somebody mightcome in and throttle him some night! No one would be here to stop it. I must speak to Simpson, yes, speak to Simpson--that is, if he is eversober enough to listen. Poor old soldier! He will have his drink!"

There was a singular improvised bivouac going on in the ruined martellotower where Professor Alaric Hobbs had set up his instruments to takesome interesting observations upon an occultation of Venus. 

A coast-guard station at Bouley Bay and St. Catherine's Head renderedthe further occupancy of the old martello tower at Rozel Headunnecessary, and only a few rats and bats now resented Alaric Hobbs'sequestration of the second story. He meditated a comparative memoirupon the "Tides of Fundy Bay, and the Channel Islands, " with a treatiseupon "Contracted Ocean Surface Currents. " Astronomer, hydrographer, geologist, and all-round savant, his lank form was already familiar tothe Channel Islanders. And, like the wind, he veered around "where helisted. "

"Great Jupiter aid us!" cried the son of Minerva, "Venus is unpropitiousto-night. All my trouble is vain. " For when the black storm broke uponthe little channel islet, Alaric Hobbs saw no way of a comfortablereturn to the Royal Victoria at St. Heliers. "I might leave all hereand claim old Fraser's hospitality for a night. No one can get up to thesecond story, " mused Hobbes, who now regretted having ordered the fly tocome for him only at day-break. "Here is a wild night of inky darkness. The star occults only at three A. M. This hurricane ruins all. And oldman Fraser may not have returned from London. " So with a basket ofluncheon, a roll of blankets, and a bottle of cocktails, the volunteerastronomer reluctantly sought the dryest corner of the second floorof the old tower for a night's camp. A square trapdoor hole whence themoldering ladder had fallen away, was in the middle of the old barrackroom floor over the four embrasured gun room below. "I'll just drawup my ladder, have a pipe, and take a nap. It may clear off. If so theobservation goes, and then the highest tide of the year, I can get theregister in the morning. "

He had brought down his light instrument from the battlemented parapetfor safety, and now, pulling up his rope ladder, he coiled it on thefloor. "I can drop down below if I wish to if the rain should drive meout of here, " he cried as he curled up like a sleeping coyote. 

Below him the heavy door of the tower swung on its massive hinges, banging and creaking mournfully when a swirling gust set it swinging. The man who had slept out on the Lolo trail and bivouacked alone in thecanyon of the Colorado, laughed the howling storm to scorn. "Better thanbeing out in a blizzard in the Bad Lands!" he gayly cried, as he dozedaway, having finished a good meal and lowered the level of the "LoneWolf" cocktails. From sheer frontier habit, he laid his heavy revolvernear at hand, and his old-time hunting knife. "You see, you don'tknow what emergencies may arise, " often sagely observed Alaric Hobbes. "Thrice is he armed that hath two six shooters and a knife!"

When half-past ten rang out from the old French hall clock at theBanker's Folly, Janet Fairbarn, a gray ghastly figure, made her lasttimid rounds of the lower part of the mansion. Her maids were all snuglynested for the night. Simpson, the erring one, she believed to be inclose attendance upon that foreign heathen, Prince Djiddin, in theirsecond-story wing. Miss Nadine and her maid had locked their apartmentson departure, the Professor's study was the only room open and vacant, and so with a last timid glance at the darkened halls and great salonsof the main floor, the Scotch spinster retired to her rooms adjoiningthe Master's study and bedrooms on the ground floor. 

Minded to "read a chapter" and to "compose herself for the night, " thehousekeeper sat late rocking alone in her rooms, while the hollow tickof the hall clock sounded doubly lonely in the cheerless night. Themodern castle's walls were proof against the wildest rain and even theblows of a catapult, and so the dashing storm never even stirred theheavy leaded diamonded panes. "Thanks be to God, auld Andrew neverventured to cross on this raging sea! He'll no be here the morrow, neither. I must send down for telegrams in the morning, " she mused whenshe had finally laid her spectacles across her Bible. 

It was nearing eleven o'clock when the two half-drowned thugs hiding onRozel Head were roused by their returning mate stumbling wildly intothe muddy cavern in the cliff. They sprang up as he muttered, "On vient, tout pres d'ici! Soyous tous prets!" A bottle extended was half drainedby the two ruffians, who then eagerly loosened their black jaws with amad desire to revenge their cheerless vigil. 

"Lei has, " whispered the spy, pointing to a black object creepingunsteadily up the steep path--Simpson, dreaming still of prettyAnn's rounded white arms! It was indeed Simpson, with unsteadysteps, breasting the hill. A fear of Andrew Fraser's arrival led thehalf-fuddled old veteran to hasten homeward now. "I can say the telegramwas late, " he chuckled. "They never will know. " And then feeling for hispocket-flask, filled by handsome Ann, "as a last night-cap, " he turnedinto the little cavern, where the school-boys, on a Saturday outing, often played "pirates, " for his breath was gone and his eyes weredrenched with salt scud. 

Then, a half smothered cry arose, as the three waiting thugs leapedupon their prey. Simpson was taken off his guard! His muscles were allrelaxed by drink. He fell prone as the heavy black jacks descended uponhis head, muffled in the hood of his "dreadnaught. "

"Ah! V'la un affaire bien fini! Allons! Jettez-le!" growled the grimboatswain, dropping his loaded club, as all three spurned the prostratebody, and then, with a heavy lurch, it bounded off the sodden bankplunging downward, over the cliff. 

For a moment, there was no sound! Then skirting the furze bushes of theheadland, the three assassins dragged their stiffened limbs along in thedarkness, hastening to where the stout Hirondelle rocked easily in thedead water of the one protected cove to the north of Rozel Point. 

They were all safely stowed away in the forecastle before half anhour, and, with grunts of satisfaction, examined the largess of theirmysterious employer, "C'est ungaillard--un vrai coq d'Anglais!" growledthe boatswain, as his chums produced another bottle, and the threedoffed their drenched clothing. Then cognac drowned their scruplesagainst murder--for the price was in their pockets. 

It was half past eleven o'clock when gaunt old Andrew Fraser led hishalf-fainting ward ashore from the Stella, at St. Heliers pier. Butone covered carriage had remained on the storm-beaten pier, braving therigors of this terrible night. "Never mind the luggage, man, " shoutedthe Professor to the driver. "Here's ten pounds to drive us over toRozel, to my home! And, I'll bait yere horses, put ye up, and give yea tip to open yere eyes. " The hardy islander whipped up his horses, and soon cautiously climbed the hill of St. Saviours, crawling alongcarefully over the wind-swept mows toward St. Martin's Church. Theexhausted maid was fast asleep. Nadine Johnstone herself lay in asemi-trance, while the fretful old scholar consulted his watch by theblinking carriage lights, and then wildly urged the driver on. It waslong after midnight when they reached St. Martin's Church, with threemiles yet to go. A dreary and a dismal ride!

And all was silent, in the Banker's Folly where the old hall clockloudly rang out twelve, rousing Mistress Janet Fairbarn from her firstbeauty sleep. She started in terror as an unfamiliar sound broke uponthe haunting stillness of the night. The hollow sound of a smotheredcough in the Master's study, a man's deep-toned cough, unmistakablymasculine, aroused the spinster whose whole life had been haunted byphantom burglars. 

For the first time since her coming to the Folly, her lonelinessappalled her. "My God! There is the plate! The master away, and noone near. " Her nerves were thrilling with nature's indefinable protestagainst the dangers of the creeping enemy of the night. A sudden ray ofhope lit up her heart. "Had the Professor returned?" He had the keys. It would be his way. Yes, there was the sign of his presence. And, so, timorously moving on tip-toe, she crept down the hall in her whiterobes, and barefooted. Yes, he had returned, for she had left thestudy door open. It was closed now. There was a pencil of light shiningthrough the keyhole, and, yet, silently she stood at the door, andlistened. There was the sound of muffled blows within. A panic seizedupon her. "Thieves, thieves--at last!"

Scarcely daring to breathe, she fled, ghostlike, up the stair, and ina wild paroxysm of fear dashed into the room at the angle of the hall, where "Prince Djiddin" lay extended upon his couch of Oriental shawlsand cushions. He was restless, and still dreaming, open-eyed, of hisabsent love. 

The young man leaped to his feet as the frantic woman, with affrightedgestures, besought his aid and protection, pointing down to thestairway. Hardwicke's ready nerve failed him not. 

Grasping a heavy revolver from under the pillow, a mechanicalarrangement, a memory of his Indian life in the midst of untrustedsubordinates, the officer seized in his left hand the Sikh tulwar, which was his own "property saber" of Thibetan royalty. Its naked, wedge-shaped blade was as keen as that of a razor. 

Pointing to the key, he mutely signed to the woman to lock herself in. Then down the stair he crept, ready to face any unseen enemy. The lightstreamed out from Janet Fairbarn's open door. "Perhaps it was only oldSimpson, drunk, or trying to gain a surreptitious entrance, " he mused. But the woman had pointed to the light and the keyhole of the door. "Some one is in the old man's study!" Yes! There was the littletell-tale pencil of light flickering on the darkened wall opposite. AndHardwicke scented danger. "Was it Alan Hawke?"

Light-footed as the panther, the young soldier crept to the heavy oakendoor. A moment in his crouching position showed to him a man, with hisback toward him, raising one of the great red tiles of the study floor. Yes! There was only a moment of suspense, for the tile was slid aside, and a package was then eagerly clutched. With one mighty leap, the Majorbounded to the man's side as the door swung open. The cold steelmuzzle pressed the ruffian's temple as Hardwicke's hand closed uponthe burglar's throat. There lay the sealed canvas package, coveredwith official Indian seals. In an instant, the Major's knee was on thescoundrel's breast. 

"One single sound, and I blow your brains out!" hissed the disguisedEnglishman. And, astounded at the apparition of a stalwart Hinduwarrior, Jack Blunt's teeth chattered with fear. Dragging thehalf-throttled wretch to his feet, Hardwicke tore off the sash of hisIndian sleeping robe and bound the villain's arms behind him. Picking uphis saber, he then cut the bell cord and lashed the fellow's legs to achair. Then, giving the canvas package a closer glance of inspection, Hardwicke pressed the edge of his tulwar to Jack Blunt's throat, whenhe had closed the window, half raised, and shut the shutter so neatlyforced with a jimmy. "What's in that package?" he said, with a suddendivination of Alan Hawke's overmastering influence. 

"A lot of valuable jewels, " the sneaking ruffian answered. "If you'llturn me loose, I'll now save what's dearer to you than all this diamondstuff that I was sent for. I've watched you here for three weeks. You'reafter the girl. By God! Hawkes got her now!"

"Do you speak the truth?" said Hardwicke. "If you deceive me, I'llbutcher you! Speak quickly! You've got just one chance to savetransportation for life now!"

The coward thief muttered: "The old man is on his way back from St. Heliers, and Hawke's got a dozen French fellows to run the girl off andperhaps 'do up' the old man. But he wanted this same stuff. He's a downycove!"

While Jack Blunt worked upon the lover's fears, "Prince Djiddin's"hands, on an exploring tour, drew out a knife and two revolvers from thecaptured burglar's wideawake coat. He picked up the bulky bundle whichthe thief had dropped, and saw the bank seals of Calcutta and theinsurance labels thereon. "I'll give you a show. Keep silent!" criedHardwicke as he cut the cords on the fellow's legs. Then grasping himby the neck, he dragged him bodily to the door of the "Moonshee's" room, where he thrust him in. Then he locked the door, and knocking on hisown, induced the frightened Janet Fairbarn to open at last. The poorwoman screamed as "Prince Djiddin" calmly said: "Go and rouse up thegirls. Send one of them to bring the gardener and his two men over here. I've got the thief locked up. "

"My God! who are you?" screamed the affrighted Scotswoman, as the Princedropped into English. 

"I'm an English officer, madam. Don't be a fool. Rouse these people. There's been one crime already committed, and there may be another. There's no one else in the house. Get the three men over here at once tome. I'll stand guard over this thief. " Then as Janet Fairbarn fled awayshrieking and yelling, Harry Hardwicke locked the recovered package inhis own trunk, which stood in his room. Bounding across the hall, hethen dragged his captive over the way and thrust him in a helpless heapinto a chair. Before Hardwicke was dressed, he had extorted the secretof the rendezvous at the old Martello tower. 

"Now, sir, no one has seen you yet, " said Hardwicke. "If you guide methere and save her, you shall cut stick. If you betray me, then, by God, you shall die on the spot. " A groan of acquiescence sealed the bargain, as the three gardeners, armed with bili-hooks and pruning-knives, nowburst into the room. "One of you stay here with the women. Light up thewhole house now. Let no one leave it till I return. Now, you two, eachtake a pistol. Get your lanterns, at once, and a good club each. Comeback instantly here. "

The procession was descending the stair, when there was heard a vigorousknocking on the front door. As it opened, the excited "Moonshee"leaped into the hallway. "What's up?" he cried, forgetting his assumedcharacter. "I came over, for I had a telegram that the Stella was inwith old Fraser and Nadine. The General sent a special messenger to me. "

"Run up and get my saber and your own pistol and join me! There's foulplay here! The house is all right! Come on, for God's sake!" shoutedHarry Hardwicke. He led his captive by the trebled bell cord passed withdouble hitches around the burglar's pinioned arms, and the Moonsheenow leaped back--ready to take a man's part--for he easily divined thetreachery. 

Out into the wild night they hurried, leaving behind them the barricaded"Banker's Folly, " now gleaming with lights. "Where in hell is Simpson?"demanded Eric Murray, as he struggled along clutching the gleamingtulwar tightly in his hand. 

"Drunk at Rozel Pier, I suppose!" bitterly answered Hardwicke. "Comehere and just prick this fellow up into a trot!"

As they hastened on, Prince Djiddin succeeded at last in convincing thetwo gardeners that he was not a ghost, but a reincarnated Englishman whohad been larking disguised as a Hindu Prince. "What's the devilish game, anyway?" puffed out Captain Murray, still in the dark, as they struggledon in the darkness along the road. 

"Hawke has tried to kidnap Nadine!" hastily cried Hardwicke. 

"My God! what's that?" They soon came up to an overturned carriage. Thetraces had been cut, and the horses and driver were not visible. Thegardener's lantern showed to them only the insensible form of the maid, Mattie Jones, who lay moaning in a sheer exhaustion of terror. "How faris it to the tower?" almost yelled Hardwicke, his heart frozen with anew terror. "They have murdered her, my poor darling!"

"The tower is now about three hundred yards away!" said the gardener, asHardwicke sternly dragged his reluctant prisoner along. 

"On, on!" he cried. "We may even now be too late!" They were only ahundred yards from the tower, when the sound of rapid pistol shots washeard, wafted down the wind, and a confused sound of cries on the cliffwas wafted to them, as a dozen twinkling lantern lights appeared on thebrow of the bluff. 

"It's a rescue party!" joyously cried Murray. "Hurry! hurry on to thetower!"

With cheering cries, the pursuers neared the old Martello tower, anda clump of dark forms vanished quickly into the shrubbery as the threelanterns were flashed full upon the door. Eric Murray, sword in hand, was the first man at the entrance, as a desperate assailant leaped fromthe narrow door and sprang upon him, pistol in hand. There was thesnap of a clicking lock and then the sound of a hollow groan, for therobber's pistol had missed fire, and Captain Murray ran the wretchthrough the body with the razor-bladed tulwar!

There was a silence broken only by the trampling of approaching feet, asRed Eric flashed the light in the face of his fallen foe, for the stormhad spent its fury and the stars were gleaming out at last. 

"By God! It's Hawke, himself!" he shrieked. "Alan Hawke, a midnightrobber!" But, Harry Hardwicke, with the two men at his back, had dashedon into the gun-room of the old tower, leaving Murray with his prostratefoe--empty, not a sign of any human presence. 

With one wild cry Hardwicke turned to the door, "Nadine! Nadine!" heyelled, and his voice sounded unearthly in the night winds. 

And then, from over their heads, a cheery hail replied, "All right, on deck! The lady is safe up here with me. I am Professor Hobbs, theAmerican. Who are you?"

"Friends! friends!" cried Hardwicke. "The house was attacked! Where isthe Professor?"

"I reckon they have carried him off!" the nasal voice of the Americananswered. "If they've killed him it's a great loss to science, you bet!I'm coming down. " And while the gun-room was soon filled with a motleycrowd from Rozel Pier, Professor Alaric Hobbs long legs dropped danglingdown his rope ladder. He gazed, open-mouthed, at the anglicized PrinceDjiddin. 

"Who are you--friends, also?" now demanded the astonished "PrinceDjiddin" of the rescuers. 

"We are friends of Simpson!" cried the nearest. "The smugglersbludgeoned him and then threw him off the cliff, but the banks were softand wet, and his heavy coat saved him. He sent us up here to the rescue, for he crawled half a mile on his hands and knees. We've found the oldProfessor tied to a tree over there in the bushes. They are bringing himhere. Simpson is at the 'Jersey Arms, ' all safe. "

"See here, stranger!" demanded the American, still standing amazed, pistol in hand, "I winged a couple of these damned robbers; they triedtheir best to get the girl away from me. I'm a pretty good shot. Now, are you a prince or a fraud? I suspicioned you from the first! If youare a fraud, then the History of Thibet is all damned rot! I supposethat you were just 'girl hunting. ' The girl's yere sweetheart. I see itall now. Hoodwinked the old man! Who's this fellow that you've got tiedup there, anyway? One of the Johnny-Bull-Jesse-James gang?"

"Why! It's Joe Smith, our friend!" chimed out a dozen friendly voices. Then Harry Hardwicke stepped up to the shivering wretch who stood gazingon Alan Hawke, now propped up on a doubled-up coat, and rapidly bleedingto death. "I'll keep your secret, and save you yet, if you will disclosethe whole, and keep mum!" Jack Blunt nodded, and hung his head in shame. 

But, on his knees beside the dying man, Eric Murray bent down his headto listen to the final adieu of the dying wanderer, whose luck hadturned at last. "Justine Delande is to have all! The drafts, and mymoney, at Granville. Murray, I'll tell you everything now. Ram Lal Singhmurdered old Hugh Johnstone to get the jewels that Johnstone stole. Thesame ones that this old scoundrel, Fraser, here, is hiding. " The redfoam gathered thickly on Hawke's trembling lips. "Tell Major Hardwickeall! He's a good fellow! The knife that Ram Lal killed old Fraser withis in my own trunk at Granville, stored in Railroad Bureau. He got inthrough the window. I was in the garden, and caught him coming out. Iwas watching old Johnstone, for fear he would give me the slip. I didn'ttell--I wanted to come over here and get the jewels myself. Hang old RamLal! He's a cowardly murderer! Telegraph to the Viceroy to arrest thejewel seller; he will break down and confess at once. Make him pay poorJustine Delande all my drafts--Johnstone gave him that money for me tokeep me silent about the stolen crown jewels. Now--now, all grows dark!Lift me up high--higher!" he gasped. "I played a hard game, but the luckturned--turned at last! That woman, Berthe Louison was too much--toomuch for me! Poor Justine! Tell her--tell her--" His voice grew fainterand fainter. 

"Do you know this man, Hawke?" whispered Hardwicke, forcing Jack Blunt'sface down to the dying renegade's glance. 

"Never--saw him--before!" gasped Alan Hawke. "Poor Justine, tell her--"and with a sighing gasp, his jaw dropped, and at their feet, the fool offortune lay dead, with a last lie on his lips. 

"By God! He was dead game!" muttered Jack Blunt, kneeling there, by thestiffening form of the wreck of a once brilliant Queen's officer. Hedared not lift his craven eyes!

"He had the making of a gallant soldier in him!" cried Hardwicke, as heturned to the American, and motioned to the rope ladder. "We must notlet Miss Johnstone see the body. Some of you run and get a ladder orsome other means to aid her descent. And rouse up the nearest farmpeople. Get a carriage and bring the old Professor and maid here!"

While a dozen volunteers darted away to bring a conveyance, the resthastily covered Hawke's body with their coats. The gun-room was now litup, and in five minutes the waylaid carriage was drawn by hand to thedoor of the lonely tower. Within it lay the bruised and exhaustedold scholar, bareheaded and ghastly, in the light of the flickeringlanterns, while pretty Mattie Jones, with a shriek of terror, ran to theside of her sweetheart, his arms still bound with Prince Djiddin's sash. Jack Blunt's "swell mob" assurance stood him in good stead. 

"It's all a mistake, my girl, " bluntly said the mobs-man, feeling safenow that Alan Hawke's lips were sealed in death. While the old Professorwas revived with copious draughts of "usquebaugh, " Jack Blunt saw theflash below him, on the darkened seas, of a red light above a white one. And he heaved a great sigh of relief, "There goes the Hirondelle now, driving along out to sea with the wholegang, " he murmured. "Now, by God, I am safe if this yellow masqueraderonly plays the man!" There was a hubbub of cackling voices, as on thenight when the geese saved Rome! Above them, on the barrack room floorof the Martello tower, Harry Hardwicke was already holding NadineJohnstone's drooping head upon his breast, while the lanky Americangazed at the strange picture before him. The girl's arms were claspedaround her lover's neck. "Do not leave me--not a moment!" she moaned. Alaric Hobbs, with quick forethought, tossed his blankets down below, with a significant gesture. 

"Darling! You will be mine for life, now!" cried the happy soldier, ashe covered her shivering form with his coat. Alaric Hobbs had promptlydescended and hastened the necessary preparations for departure. "Damnthe explanations. Let's get the whole party out of this!" he said toCaptain Murray, and then rejoined Hardwicke. 

"Tell me all, quickly!" said Hardwicke. "I am a Queen's officer andshall telegraph to the Home Guards and send for General Wragge. I mustreport this by cable to the Indian Government. There is justice yet tobe done!"

"I was taking some private star observations here, " whispered Hobbs, bending down at Hardwicke's warning signal. "Storm bound, I waited forthe return of my wagon at dawn. I was aroused from sleep by the soundsof a struggle below. 

"Some one had dragged this young woman screaming and wailing into thetower below. She soon fainted. I heard the followers tell the leader ofthe gang that the coachman had just cut the traces and decamped with thehorses. He then bade them gather all the gang waiting in hiding so as tocarry her down to some boat below, and then closing the door, he stoodon guard outside. They were, however, baffled. Some of the scoundrelshad taken the alarm and fled, seeing the lights of the other partymoving up from the pier. Then the desperate leader tried to lead a partyto steal a horse from the nearest farmhouse. They were busied in theirquarreling. I dropped my ladder down, and while they wrangled, criedsoftly to the imprisoned woman to mount the ladder. She knew my voiceat once, as I had been a visitor at her uncle's house. With my help, shegot up into the barrack room, and, you bet, I quickly pulled up myrope ladder. In ten minutes more, the door was opened. The trick wasdiscovered. They tried a pyramid of men to reach the nine feet. But Iwaited till they were all good and blown with their exertions and then, shot a couple of them! You'll find those fellows lingering somewhere inthe bushes. I had stowed the girl safely away in the middle of the pier, over the doorway, between two pillars. She was game enough. I let themjust shoot away a bit. I kept my powder and lead to kill. I've even nowfour cartridges left. 

"But when you came on the ground, the whole coward gang skedaddled atonce, and the brave chap you killed got his dose for good, for he stoodhis ground like a man! The girl didn't bother me. She fainted in goodshape when the close fighting began. I was a dead winner from position. I could have stood them off for hours!"

"You are a hero!" warmly cried Harry Hardwicke. 

"Let's all get out of this!" replied Alaric, modestly. 

The American offered Hardwicke his cocktail bottle. "Let's get her down. I hear carriage wheels now. Would you just tell me your real name, now, the name you use when you are not doing your 'character' song anddance. " The young officer smiled at the American's rough address. 

"Major Harry Hardwicke, Royal Engineers, and, this lady's futurehusband, " confidently remarked Prince Djiddin. 

"Oh, yes, " grinned Alaric Hobbs, "the last part I'll take forgospel truth. Well, Major, I'm glad to know you. " And he then, verypractically, aided the descent of Miss Nadine Johnstone, for a dozenstout arms now held up the ponderous old ladder which had been purposelydislodged by the Coast Guardsmen. Alaric Hobbs surveyed his battleground. 

"If they had only dared to use lights, I might have had a harder fight, "chuckled Alaric Hobbs, as he descended the very last one. "Major, " saidhe huskily, "I've got my things corraled up there, and the instruments, and so on. Leave me a couple of men, and get your own people back nowto the Folly. I'll 'hold the fort' here, till you bring the properauthorities. Our man won't run away now. He is 'permanently fixed' for along repose from 'further anxieties. '"

But fiercely bristling up, old Andrew Fraser now loudly demanded to beallowed the ordering of all. "This is an outrage, " he babbled. "You area cheat, a fraud, an impostor, in league with the robbers. " So, fiercelyaddressing Major Hardwicke, he tried to drag away Miss Nadine Johnstone, at whose feet the stout Mattie Jones was blubbering and wailing. 

"Captain Murray, " sternly cried Major Hardwicke, "take Miss Nadine andher maid to the Folly. Leave the two gardeners on guard. Return hereas soon as you can, for the Professor and myself. I will come over withhim. Have a horse at once saddled and bring a man to take my dispatchesto General Wragge and for London. Bring me some writing materials. Thismust be reported at once. "

"Go now, dearest Nadine, " her lover implored. "I will join you at once. Trust to me, all in all. I will never leave you again, " and then andthere, before her astounded guardian, Nadine Johnstone threw her amsaround her lover in a fond embrace. "You will come?"

"At once, " cried the Major, as he cried out hastily, "Drive on!"

Old Andrew Fraser writhed in vain in Hardwicke's grasp. "Be quiet, youdamned old fool!" pithily said Alaric Hobbs. "They saved your life foryou!"

"You shall never darken my doors, " raged Andrew Fraser. 

"I will go there to-night, and at once remove my property, " coldlyanswered Hardwicke. "After that I care not to visit you, save to leadyour niece to the altar. But I will have a reckoning with you! Don'tfear!"

"You shall never marry her, " the old pedant cried. "You shall answer tome for this whole dastardly outrage. "

"All right, " coolly said Hardwicke. "It's man to man, now. I will marryyour niece within a month, and, with your written permission!" Andnot another single word would the disgusted Hardwicke utter--while oldFraser clung to Alaric Hobbs, whining in his wrath. In an hour, a motleycortege slowly left the door of the martello tower. Murray and Hardwickewalking, armed, beside the carriage, where Mr. Jack Blunt, still bound, was the sullen companion of the half-crazed Professor Fraser. 

To the demands of "Joseph Smith's" friends Hardwicke replied: "He willundoubtedly be released tomorrow by the proper authorities if there is amistake. "

A smart groom was already half-way to St. Heliers, galloping on witha sealed letter to General Wragge, the commander of the Channel Islandforces. "That will bring Anstruther over at once. He must act now!" saidHardwicke. "In two days Ram Lal will be in irons at Delhi, and I thinkthat we will prepare a crushing little surprise for this defiant oldfool and miser, Professor Andrew Fraser. " And Red Eric Murray nowinwardly rejoiced to see the end of all his masquerading as theMoonshee. He received a parting salute, also. "You are no gentleman, avile swindler, sir, " raved old Andrew, as Captain Murray allowed him todescend and enter his own door. The "History of Thibet" fraud rankled inold Fraser's mind. 

But the "ex-Moonshee" only smiled and politely bowed, while "PrinceDjiddin" sternly marched with his prisoner, Jack Blunt, upstairsand then locked the doors of his apartments. It was an "imperium inimperio. "

In the hall, he had turned and faced Andrew Fraser only to say: "I shallawait here, sir, the orders of the civil and military authorities; yes, here, in my own room. The very moment that they take charge, I shall, however, leave your roof. But not until then! And for your futuresafety, I warn you to moderate your ignorant abuse. "

There was no sleep in the house until the gray dawn at last straggledthrough the mists of night. And the sound of outcry and excited alarmlong continued, for Professor Andrew Fraser and Janet Fairbarn wereexcitedly wailing over the easily detected work of the burglar, in theold pedant's study. The aged Scotsman ran up and down the hall, tearinghis hair and bemoaning his lost manuscripts and papers. For, he darednot announce the loss of the stolen crown jewels!

The family coachman had already departed for Rozel Pier, to bring homethe wounded Simpson, while a doctor, summoned by the messenger from St. Heliers, was led by Janet Fairbarn to the apartments of the heiress. Murray and Hardwicke rejoiced in secret over the recovery of the key tothe whole deadlock--from Delhi to London! The game was now won!

At ten o'clock, a staff officer of General Wragge joined Major Hardwickeand Captain Murray in their room, while one of the terrible army oftwelve policemen of an island populated with "three thousand cooks"watched over the "Banker's Folly, " and another garrisoned the oldmartello tower, where Alan Hawke lay alone in the grim majesty of death. The fox-eyed American professor "invited himself" to breakfast withProfessor Andrew Fraser and cheered the broken old man. 

"Never mind, we will finish up the 'History of Thibet' together, " hecried, "when these two swashbucklers are gone, and the house will bemuch quieter when the girl is married off and out of the way. " Butold Andrew Fraser refused to be comforted. He sternly forbade allcommunication with his ward and bitterly bewailed a further personalloss, which he dared not explain!

"There was a suspicious French fishing-boat lately seen knocking aroundRozel, " acutely said Alaric Hobbs. "We also found the bloody trail wherethey dragged their wounded away down to the beach. And so they are offon the sea, with your valuable plunder. No one knows the dead scoundrelup there. "

"But we will finish the Thibet history, if I have to go out there myselfand get the honest information. " Whereat old Fraser feebly smiledand opened his heart to Alaric Hobbs at once. When a bustling countrymagistrate arrived to potter around, Andrew Fraser was astounded to seethe General's aid-de-camp lead out the man whom the two officers hadguarded, and send him off to St. Heliers under a military guard. 

"Hold this man only as a suspicious person. There may be some mistake. They say he is known at Rozel Pier as an honest man, " said the aide. "The real robbers seem to have escaped in the boat. The dying robber didnot seem to know this person, who has undoubtedly borne a good characterfor a month past at the Jersey Arms as a lodger. " It was true, and eventhe befuddled Simpson, on his questioning, only could falter that he hadbeen attacked by three unknown footpads. He failed to make any chargeagainst the mute Jack Blunt. "This man is a proper, decent fellowenough, " kindly testified the old soldier. 

In vain Andrew Fraser raved to the Magistrate, demanding that MajorHardwicke and Captain Murray should explain their past conduct. "Iam directed by General Wragge to say that he will visit you, himself, officially, to-morrow, Professor Fraser, and he will have an importantgovernmental communication for you. Until then, I desire these twogentlemen to be allowed to remain in your house. They will remove alltheir luggage this evening. " And then, old Fraser, with a presage ofcoming trouble, shivered in a sullen silence. Conscience smote him, sorely. 

"The lost jewels!" In fact, a handsomely appointed carriage and avan, in the afternoon, removed all of the effects of the two pseudo"orientals, " who, half an hour after the carriage had arrived, appearedin their respective undress uniforms of the Royal Engineers and theEighth Lancers, to the dismay of old Fraser--now affrighted at hisdangerous position. There was gloom in the house now, for Miss NadineJohnstone flatly refused to even see her guardian a single moment! AndSimpson, alone, sat in conclave with Major Hardwicke, who had learnedprivately of the secret removal of Alan Hawke's body to St. Heliers. Messengers, in uniform, coming and going rapidly, were hourly admittedto Major Hardwicke's presence, and already a pale-faced woman was onher way from Geneva to rejoin Madame Alixe Delavigne, at the old chateaumansion where Captain Murray only awaited the arrival of Anstruthernow ready to open his siege batteries on the man who had covered uphis brother's crime. There was not a word to be gleaned from theauthorities, and St. Heliers was simply convulsed in a useless feverof curiosity. Even Frank Hatton, representing the London press, wasmuzzled. Not a soul was, as yet, permitted to approach the old martellotower, where Alan Hawke had faced the Moonshee, "man to man. " A squad ofcoast guardsmen sternly picketed the vicinity of Rozel Head. And a greatsmuggling raid was the only accepted explanation to the public. 

Captain Murray had duly reported the completion of all the Major'scarefully matured preparations, and fled away to await the arrival ofJustine Delande and Captain Anson Anstruther. 

It was a sunny morning, two days later, when Major Hardwicke descendedat Simpson's summons, dressed in his full uniform, to the great library, where several grave-faced visitors were now awaiting a formal interviewwith the agitated Professor Andrew Fraser. The young Major's face wassimply radiant, for Mattie Jones had just given him a letter and anosegay, sent by the young heiress, who had already read a dozen timesher lover's smuggled love missive of this fateful morning. 

"To-day will decide all. And you will be to-morrow as free as any birdof the air. Then, darling, it will be only you and I, all in all to eachother forever more! I will send for you. Wait for me. Our hold on AndrewFraser is the deadly grip of the criminal law. He must yield. "

"The flowers are from Miss Nadine's breast; she sent them to you, withher dearest love, " cried Mattie, who rejoiced in the private assurancethat her own liberal-minded sweetheart was soon to be discharged'for lack of evidence. ' Captain Eric Murray had obtained a completedeposition, which the magistrate representing the Parliament of Jerseyhad accepted as State's evidence, under the special orders of the HomeOffice. 

In Andrew Fraser's study, the sallow face of Professor Alaric Hobbs wasseen bending over many documents and papers. He was not only busied asa volunteer lawyer for Fraser, but was now the commentator andcollaborator of that famous interrupted work, "The History of Thibet. ""Say! Go light now on the old man!" prayerfully whispered Alaric Hobbs, drawing Major Hardwicke into the study. "Captain Murray is a devilishgood fellow. He is going to make this great traveler, Frank Hatton, my friend. And you'll both be benefactors to 'Science, ' if you dropmasquerading and post me honestly on Thibet. You are a dead winner inthe little social game here. You get the girl--that's all you want. She's a nice girl, too! I'll make the old boy come down and bereasonable. I helped you out, you know. You owe me a good turn, you do. "

"All right, Professor Hobbs. I believe I do owe you my wife to be. Theywould have carried her off or injured her in some way, " said the nowanxious Hardwicke. 

"You bet your sweet life they would!" said the strange Western savant, more forcibly than elegantly. "They would have had the ransom of aprince, or else they would have chucked her in the channel! That wastheir game!"

In the library, General Wragge, Captain Anstruther and Captain Murrayfaced Professor Andrew Fraser, whose face was as set as a stone sphinx. His feeble heart was thumping, for the stolen jewels were not his toreturn now. He cursed the day he had lied about them. 

The old General gravely said: "Professor Fraser, I desire to say thatCaptain Anson Anstruther represents both her Majesty's Government andHis Excellency, the Viceroy of India. There is a magistrate waiting inthe house even now, and I recommend you to seriously consider the wordsof the Captain. If you are officially brought to face your past refusalto his just demands, I fear that you will be left, Sir, in a verypitiable position. I will now retire until you have conferred with therepresentative of the Indian Government. Remember! Once in the hands ofthe authorities, your person and estate will suffer grievously if youhave conspired against the Crown. "

Andrew Fraser's eyes were downcast as Captain Anstruther, with a lastglance at his friend, then locked the door. "Now, Sir, I repeat to youfor the last time the official demand which I made in London upon you asexecutor of the late Hugh Fraser Johnstone, to surrender certain jewelswrongfully withheld, a list of which I have furnished you, as theproperty of Her Majesty's Indian Government, and which stolen property Inow demand on this list. "

There was a long pause. "I cannot! They are not in my possession! I knownothing whatever of them, " faintly replied the startled old miser. 

"I warn you that I have a search warrant, particularly describing thearticles stolen and the place of their concealment, and a magistrate nowawaits my slightest word, " said the aid-de-camp sternly. 

"Do with me as you will. You will not find them! I know nothing aboutthem, " faltered the desperate old man. He was safe against arrest, hehoped. 

"Then, I will serve the warrant, " remarked the Captain, as AndrewFraser's head fell upon his breast. A fortune lost, and now, shame andperhaps prison awaited him. 

"One moment, " politely said Major Hardwicke. "Do not serve the warrant. I will surrender the Crown's property, which I have discovered under thefloor of this man's study, where he feloniously hid them after denyingtheir possession. "

"Thief and deceiver!" shrieked Andrew Fraser. "You lied your way into myhouse! You have now conspired against my dead brother's estate!" He wasshaking as with a palsy in his impotent rage. "And you would rob me!"

"You hardened old scoundrel! I will give you now just half an hour, "sternly said Major Hardwicke, "to consider the propriety of resigninginstantly your executorship of your brother's estate in favor of yourson, Douglas Fraser. He is honest! You are unfit to control your ward!You can also first file your written consent to the immediate marriageof your ward, Nadine Fraser Johnstone, to myself, and apply to have youraccounts passed and approved upon your discharge as guardian upon hermarriage. This alone will save you from a felon's cell. She shall befree. Douglas Fraser may be made the sole trustee of her estate untilthe age of twenty-one. On these two conditions alone will I consent toveil the shame of your brother and spare you, for we have traced thestolen jewels, step by step, with the list, the insurance, and thedelivery by Hugh Johnstone to you. If you wish to stand your trial forcomplicity in the theft and concealing stolen goods, you may. GeneralWilloughby, General Abercromby, and the Viceroy of India have watchedthese jewels on their way. And I came here only to recover them, and tofree that white slave, your poor niece!"

There was the sound of broken wailing sobs, and the three officers lefttheir detected wrong-doer alone. Out on the lawn, the young soldiersjoined General Wragge, who now looked impatiently at his watch. It wasbut a quarter of an hour when old Andrew Fraser tottered to the frontdoor. "What must I do? I care not for myself!" he cried plucking atMajor Hardwicke's sleeve. "Only save Douglas, my boy, this publicshame!"

"It rests all in your hands, Sir, " gravely answered the lover. "Shall Icall Miss Johnstone down now to have you express your consent and signthese papers in the presence of the General?" Major Hardwicke saw hisenemy weakening, even as a child. 

"Yes, yes, anything, only get her away out of my sight--out of my life!"groaned the broken old miser, whose sin had found him out. "But, you'llkeep all this from Douglas--the story of a father's disgrace? I did itall for Hugh!"

"The family honor is mine, now, Sir! I will save your niece allsuffering!" stiffly replied the Major, as he boldly mounted the stair. Captain Anstruther led Andrew Fraser aside. "I had the papers drawn upat once so that you would not be humiliated in public by yourobstinacy, and General Wragge will now witness them. He has offered thehospitalities of his family to your niece until she is made a wife. "

"I am ready, " tremblingly said Professor Fraser, and in haste a singulargroup soon gathered in the library. A notary and the magistrate enteredwith due professional decorum. 

And then, Captain Anstruther, addressing the executor, in the presenceof the gray-bearded old General, repeated the words of voluntaryresignation and surrender of all rights as guardian over NadineJohnstone, first taking his written consent to the marriage. There wasnot a word spoken as the trembling old scholar hastily signed the paperspresented to him. Then he turned to the sweet woman clinging to MajorHardwicke's arm. "I'll be thankful to ye if ye leave my home to me inpeace, as soon as ye can! Janet Fairbarn will be my representative!"With a last glance of cold aversion at Hardwicke, he bowed to theCommander of the forces, and then tottered across the hall to his study, when the tall form of Alaric Hobbs hovered at the door. 

"My dear child, " kindly said the old veteran General, lifting hertrembling hand to his lips, and bowing reverently, "Let me be, this day, your father, as you are soon to be born into the service. Here, MajorHardwicke, I give her to you to keep against the whole world, if thelady so consents. " Nadine's answer was an April smile, when her loverclasped her hand, and then she hid her blushes on Hardwicke's breast. 

"Take me away forever from this horrible prison-house, " she whispered. 

"Mrs. Wragge's carriage will be here at four for you, and we will have alittle dinner en famille at seven, Miss Nadine, for you, " said the happyGeneral, as he jingled away, his dangling sword, jingling medals, andwaving white plume, making a gallant show. It was truly "an officialcapture. "

"Now, " whispered Captain Murray to Hardwicke, "I will clear out withAnstruther, and at once deliver over the unlucky jewels to him to besealed up and deposited with General Wragge until the Viceroy's ordersare received. I've a cablegram that Ram Lal has been arrested. 

"And I fancy Miss Nadine will be astonished at seeing two new facesat the dinner table. Let Simpson and the maid at once pack all herbelongings, for we can not trust her with this old wreck of humanity. He is half crazed already. I will cable and write to Douglas Fraser that'ill health' forces the old gentleman to at once give up his trust. Now, I belong, in future, only to Mrs. Eric Murray, of the Eighth Hussars. Ithrow up my job as an all-round Figaro!"

"Stay a moment, " said Major Hardwicke to Captain Anson Anstruther, when Nadine had fled away to prepare for her flitting from the unlovedgranite fortress. 

"When do you go over to London, Anstruther?" said Major Hardwicke, forhe now nourished a scheme of "social employment" for the brilliant staffofficers. He was short only a groomsman. 

"Not till after I am married, " remarked the relative of the greatViceroy. "I have done my duty to Her Majesty, " he laughed, "and now, Iam going to do my duty to myself!" Whereat Harry Hardwicke was suddenlyaware that Cupid carries a double-barreled gun, sometimes. In her ownapartment, Nadine Johnstone listened to Janet Fairbarn's sobbing plaint, as the heart-happy Mattie Jones flew around the rooms making her youngmistress's boxes. Nadine was still in an entrancing dream of freedom, life, and love, and the cunning Scotswoman's plaint was all unheeded. Major Hardwicke was announced, "upon urgent business. "

"I cannot tell you yet, darling, just how we vanquished the oldogre, " said he. "Be brave, and remember that a feast of long-deferredlove-tidings awaits you to-night. I have already sent away all my ownluggage. A horse and a well-mounted orderly will be here at four, andso I shall not lose you from sight even a moment until you are safein General Wragge's home at Edgemere. Let the maid return alone hereto-morrow and remove all your effects we may overlook. I will dispatchthe luggage and ride after your carriage. "

"The proprieties, you know, " he laughed, as he vanished, after stealinga kiss. 

"The master's in a woeful way, " mourned Janet. "To think of yourfather's only bairn leaving her ain house so! The master's half daftwith his troubles, for they've scattered and lost the bit bookie--thework of years!

"Though there's the braw American scholar, tho', to aid him now. He hates you, my poor bairn, for your poor dead mother's sake! It'safearfu' hard heart these Frasers carried. I know them of old!"

"Do you mean to tell me that the 'Banker's Folly' is really my ownhouse?" said Nadine, her cheek flushing crimson at the insult to thememory of her beloved dream mother. 

"In truth, it's yer very ain, my leddy. Old Hugh bought it for his lasthome, " whimpered the housekeeper. 

"Then you may tell Andrew Fraser, " the spirited girl cried, "that I willnever cross the threshold again, where I have been kept under ajailer's lock under my own roof tree! Let him write his wishes toDouglas--Douglas is a gentleman. I will keep silent for the sake of theman who was a kindly brother to me on my voyage. But to Andrew Fraser, I am dead for evermore! My life of the future has no place for ahalf-crazed tyrant--the man who tried to bruise the broken heart of anorphan of his own blood. We are strangers forevermore. And I will leaveold Simpson here as my agent to keep the possession of this place in myname. I will write Douglas, so that his old father may live out his dayshere in peace!"

With a stately tread, the lonely girl descended the stair, when MajorHarry Hardwicke tapped at her door, gently saying: "The carriage waitsbelow. And--some one waits there to cheer you on your way onward toLife and Love! Remember, I follow on at once. " Nadine Johnstone spranglightly into the carriage. With a gentle art, the soldier turned awayhis head and quickly cried, "Drive on!" when the door closed. Theorderly at a sign followed the closed vehicle. It was a sweet surprise. Love's coup de main!

Nadine Johnstone never turned her head toward the dark martello tower, for a woman's arms were now clasped around her, and loving lips pressedher own. "Free at last, my own darling! Free!" cried Alixe Delavigne, asshe strained her gentle captive to her bosom. "My own poor darling! Now, we shall never be parted! My darling! My Valerie's own image!"

"And, my mother?" faltered the lovely girl, the sunrise of hope floodingher cheek with affection's glow of dawn. "My sister--your mother--looksdown from Heaven upon us, joined after many years!" sobbed Alixe. Asofter pillow never had maiden's head than Alixe Delavigne's throbbingbosom. 

"Did you not feel in your heart that love led me to your side, mydarling? That I crossed the wide world to find you, and to fight my wayto your heart?" murmured Alixe. 

"Ah! Justine always said there was a marvelous resemblance!" falteredNadine. "She must be sent for now! At once! Poor Justine!"

"She waits for you, even now, at Edgemere! I must save you, now, fromhearing the story of strangers!" said Alixe, taking the girl's tremblinghands. "Major Hardwicke telegraphed to her at Geneva, in your name, tocome on here at once. For, while we have sunshine mantling around us, she, alone, must follow Alan Hawke's body to an unknown grave. "

"Is he--that terrible man--indeed dead?" gasped Nadine. 

"You passed his body that night when they led you from the tower, "gravely said Alixe. "He fell, fighting as a criminal, by the hand ofCaptain Murray, who struck only to save your liberty, and his own life. The civil authorities will not unveil the dark past of a man who oncewore the Queen's uniform in honor. General Wragge and the authoritieshave softened the blow to Justine Delande, whom he would have made hisdupe. You must only know this, darling, from me--from me, alone! Andso, to shield poor, faithful Justine, we will all leave Jersey at once. Strange irony of fate. The Viceroy has cabled that Ram Lal Singh haspaid over twenty thousand pounds, to be held for Justine Delande, towhom Alan Hawke left all his dearly bought bribes; and also the money heleft hidden at Granville--jewels and notes to the value of ten thousandpounds more. The wages of sin, even death, was all he gained, and, strangely, through him, Justine will be shielded from penury; for shebears a broken heart. All that she knows is of his sudden death. 

"And now, darling, for I must tell you, the assassin of your fatherhas saved his miserable life by a full confession made to GeneralWilloughby. None but myself must ever tell you that your father'smemory, your uncle's liberty were all involved in a tangled storyof olden greed, intrigue, shame, and crime. Let the dead past restunchallenged. The seal of the tomb will be unbroken. And it is yourmother's tender love that will gild your bridal. Let me be your sisterforever. None but you and I must know the history until others have aright to it. "

"Has--has Harry told you of our coming marriage?" faltered Nadine, hiding her head in her kinswoman's breast. There were fleeting blushesas rosy as the Alpenglow now tinging her pale cheek. Nadine Johnstonesaw her new-found sister now glowing in a woman's gentle triumph. Shehad a secret of her own!

It was Alixe's turn to beg a fond heart's throbbing sympathy when shewhispered, "General Wragge advises and the Viceroy insists that weleave the island at once. Captain Anstruther must soon report to HisExcellency the Viceroy at Calcutta, for his promotion to a Majoritytakes him back to his kinsman's suite. The Earl has been honored withthe control of Her Majesty's Embassy at Paris. And so, " the words cameslowly in trembling whispers, "both Anson and Harry have applied for'special licenses, ' and there will be two marriages at Edgemere, insteadof one. Anson gave you to me, through a strange romance, and he demandsto be my loving jailer!

"In three days we can all leave for London. Justine Delande has finishedher solemn duty even now, with General Wragge as sole escort. It was theonly way to hoodwink useless public gossip. "

"And will we be then so soon separated?" cried Nadine, clinging to herkinswoman, in a tremble of yearning love. "For you must go out with yourhusband to India. You must tell me of my mother, her life, her home, andI must see where she lies. "

"Ah, my darling, " said Alixe, "we will all go on to my home--your home, at Jitomir, my castle in Volhynia. Your own yet to be. There, Ansonand I will leave you and Major Hardwicke for your honeymoon. There, mydearest child, where your own mother's sweet face still looks down fromthe walls. Where the Russian violets and Volhynian forget-me-nots bloomaround her tomb, where you will see her name carved in the memorials ofa princely line as 'Valerie, Princess Troubetskoi. ' There, I will tellyou the whole story. "

An April rain of loving tears silenced the girl's voice, as she lookedout of the carriage window, and saw Major Hardwicke riding after them. "Tell me no more, now, Darling Alixe, " murmured Nadine, "I must havepeace--even in this moment of happiness!" Her thoughts went back to theday when Harry Hardwicke had ridden "Garibaldi" straight to the rescue, in her moment of deadly peril, and his saber had fended off the hugecobra. And so, they journeyed on silently-linked in love, dreamingtender dreams. 

In the western skies, the sun was sinking over the purpled sea, as theydrove down to Edgemere, and the glow of the dying day lingered upon thebeautiful hills of Jersey. For the wild storm was quieted and the seashone as a sapphire zone. Golden gleams lit up stern old Mount Orgueiland gray Fort Regent, and tenderly tinted the rugged outlines of themoss-grown Elizabeth Castle. All nature dreamed in the peaceful, evenfall. On the sea, white sails were flitting afar, and the swift steamerspassed grandly on toward their distant havens. There was a groupgathered in the splendid gardens of Edgemere as General Wragge gallantlyadvanced. 

The silver-haired veteran graciously surrendered his command, as heaided his guests to alight. "This is to be 'Bride's Hall, ' and not a'place of arms'! You are now joint commanders, and so make the best useof your three days liberty! I give up my sword!"

That night, while Nadine Johnstone sat in a heart exchange of confidencewith Justine Delande and the fair woman--no longer Berthe Louison--whileFlossie Murray was playing hostess with Mrs. Wragge, General Wragge, Major Hardwicke, Captain Anstruther, and the now full-fledged Benedict, Eric Murray, gave some pithy parting counsels to Jack Blunt, "GentlemanJack, " of the London Swell Mob. "Only a mere fluke, and, our desire tosave a family needless pain, protects you, " said Hardwicke. "These fivehundred pounds will enable you to reach America. I venture to advise youto avoid landing on English soil hereafter! You certainly owe somethingto your plucky, dead comrade, who generously lied, even in death, tosave you from transportation!" With a sullen brow, Jack Blunt departedthe next morning on the Granville steamer, and, only when in the safehiding of Etienne Garcin's Cor d'Abondance did he dare to breathefreely. There were two sorely wounded lodgers already lying there, whocursed the unerring aim of the vivacious and eccentric Alaric Hobbsof Waukesha. They had told the landlord their tales over cognacand absinthe, and Jack Blunt vainly tried to comfort the sloe-eyedAngelique, who mourned for the unreturning visitor who had sprung overthe easily-stormed battlements of her mobile heart. "Il etait bien beau, cet homme la! Il m'aimait beaucoup! Je le regretterai toujours! C'etaitun vrai gaillard!"

Which heartfelt tribute from a nameless wanton served for epitaph to theman lying in an unmarked grave in the soldiers plot at Fort Regent. Withgnashing of teeth did Garcin and Jack Blunt discover that H. R. M. 'sConsul had officially aided Justine Delande to remove the valuabledeposits of the dead adventurer. 

"The whole thing was a dead plant on us. Luck turned against him atlast!" growled Blunt, as they counted up the cost of the bootless cruiseof the Hirondelle. And only Justine Delande's bitter tears flowed insilence to lament the bold adventurer who had lost the game of life!

It was at Rosebank that the three brides were assembled for a sweetreview after the quiet double marriage at Edgemere, which caused GeneralWragge's rugged face to wreathe in honest smiles of delight. 

And there was no rice left in the General's military supplies, "when thebridal parties drove away in great state to the Stella. "

A curious congratulatory visit from Professor Alaric Hobbs led to theextending of an invitation by Captain Anstruther for the lanky Americanscientist to visit him in India. 

"We owe you a debt of gratitude, " laughed Anstruther, "for you helpedHardwicke to his wife. She helped me to mine, and I will see that theIndian Government gives you an official safe conduct to Thibet, whereyou can see the real line of the Dalai-lamas, and I'll furnish you averitable 'Moonshee' free of charge. You shall be the very 'Moses' ofYankee investigators! You deserve it!"

"Now you talk horse sense, " said the alert Yankee. "I'm going out to'square things' with old Andrew Fraser's son. Don't ever kick a man whenhe's down! The old boy has had a very 'rough deal. ' That 'fake' aboutThibet nearly broke him up. And I've a commission from the Buggin'sLiterary Syndicate, of Chicago, to 'write up India. ' I shall take a hackat Egypt on my way home, and perhaps ride over to Persia, then get intoMerv and Tashkend, and come back by Astrakhan into 'darkest' Russia, andreturn home. I shall also write some spicy letters to the Chicago Howlerand the New York Whorl. I tell you, Cap, " said Alaric Hobbes, slappingAnstruther familiarly on the back, "you three military men havecertainly fitted yourselves out with tiptop wives! I am going to makea pretty good money haul myself on this trip. I'll look you up later inCalcutta. Would like to see the Viceroy. He was a 'brick' when he wasGovernor-General of Canada. So I'll get young Douglas Fraser fixedup all in good trim, and when I get home and have published my books, settle down and marry a little woman I've had my eye on for some time. Iwill go in for a family life, you bet!"

"Look out that you don't lose her, " laughed Hardwicke. 

"I will not get left, you bet!" cried Hobbes. "Now, I'm going to vamoosethe ranch. I think that I may have killed one or two of that gang, and Idon't fancy the 'monotonous regularity' and 'salubrious hygiene' of yourEnglish prisons. "

And so, "his feet were beautiful on the mountains, " as he went out onhis queer life pathway. 

After the week of quiet at Rosebank, Captain Eric Murray was hugelydelighted to receive his orders to take charge of all Anstruther'sconfidential work, in England, until the Viceroy should be pleased tootherwise direct. "I think that a garrison life here, with Miss Mildredas commander, will just suit you and Madame Flossie?" laughed the kindlyconspiring aide-de-camp, anxious to be away on his road to Jitomir, "personally conducted" by the brilliant Alixe. 

The Horse Guards were "pleased to intimate" that Major Harry Hardwicke, Royal Engineers, should be allowed "such length of leave" as he chose toapply for, and a secret compliment upon his "gift to the Crown" of therecovered property was supplemented by a request to name any futurestation "agreeable at present" to the young Benedict. And the solicitorshad now deftly arranged the complete machinery of the care of the greatestate, until the orphan claimed her own. 

While Jules Victor and Marie prepared Madame Anstruther for her statevisit of triumph to Volhynia, Hardwicke and Anstruther soon closed upall their reports to Calcutta. With due cordiality, the unsuspiciousDouglas Fraser had wired his congratulations to his gentle cousin; andGeneral Willoughby, and His Excellency, the Viceroy, were also heardfrom, in the same way. It was the gallant General Abercromby who spreadthe news of Anstruther's marriage in the club. "Ah!" he enthusiasticallycried, "A monstrous fine woman--came near marrying her myself!" whichwas a gigantic "whopper!"

Justine Delande accompanied the happy quartet to Paris, and there, beingjoined by her sister, the faithful Swiss sisters remained as guestsof Madame Berthe Louison, awaiting the return of the wanderers fromJitomir. The Murrays gayly escorted the quartet of lovers to Paris, and, the laughing face of the gallant "Moonshee" was the very last the fourlovers saw, as the Berlin train left the "Gare St. Lazare. "

Mr. Frank Halton, in his capacity of "journalist in general, " had neatlystifled all comment upon the strange events in Jersey, with the aid ofthe stern General Wragge and the startled civil authorities. "I thinkthat I had better present you with all the property costumes of PrinceDjiddin and the 'Moonshee, '" laughed Halton. "We accept on the solecondition that you will make us a visit at Jitomir, and experience aRussian welcome, " cried the Anstruthers in chorus. "The Russian bear hasa gentle hug, when his fur is stroked the right way!"

Justine and Euphrosyne Delande drove back happy-hearted to No. 9 RueBerlioz, for the beautiful brides had claimed them both as futurecolonists of Volhynia, when the mill of Minerva ceased to grind to theirturning. 

"We have agreed to own Jitomir in common, as we have both 'joined thearmy, '" laughed the kinswomen. "There is a permanent home for you both, already awaiting you, and a welcome which time will not wear out. ForJitomir shall be, now and in the future, a temple of Life and Love, theheadquarters of a happy clan. "

And, so, linked in love, the kinswomen voyaged to the far domain wherea mother had sobbed away her life, hungering for a sight of her child'sface. The men, grave with the secrets of the troubled past, wonderedover the strange meeting at Geneva which had undone all of Hugh Fraser'ssecretly plotted wiles. "We must never cast a shadow upon DouglasFraser, " they mused. "Let the dead past bury its dead, and all sin, shame, and sorrow be forgotten. For this once, the innocent do notsuffer for the guilty. "

There was only left behind them a broken old man, wanderingdisconsolately around the halls of the Banker's Folly and vainly turningthe leaves of his unfinished "History of Thibet. "

Janet Fairbarn, tenderly nursing the now childish old pedant, vainlysoothed him, and fanned his flickering lamp of life in the silentwastes of the Banker's Folly. But the half-crazed scholar refused to becomforted and called in his mental despair ever for "the Moonshee. "

THE END