"Oh, Nani--don't!" protested her listener. "I can almost see it too!" "Well, we will not talk of that time any more, for in my veins I have both the blood of those who killed at Cawnpore, and those who blew them from the guns. My grandfather was an English officer, and we--we will say no more. Let there be peace. Let us try and forget--and for a sick child such talk is not good." Nani paused and remained silent for some time. Then she said abruptly: "But see, here is the crystal!" As she uttered the word "crystal," she drew from some mysterious receptacle an article resembling a glass paperweight. "Now I will tell your fortune!" "What is the use, Nani? It is told," protested Verona, wearily. "What nonsense, child!" looking at her sharply; "the best part of your life is to come." Her granddaughter gave a faint, incredulous laugh. "No, do not speak one word. I must look and be quiet for an hour. I have to fix my mind." Verona, thus silenced, summoned Johnny to play with her. He was a pretty little fellow, the ordinary verandah squirrel of India--grey, with a broad brown stripe down his back. He came at once, and sat on the table beside her, and trimmed his whiskers. Presently he crept into his old quarters--her sleeve--where he lay motionless for a long time; perhaps he knew that the fate of his beloved lady was at that particular moment trembling in the balance; perhaps he was merely sleepy, being still a baby. "Aré! Aré! whatt this is arl about I cannot say," proclaimed Nani after an hour's silent contemplation. "I have seen strange things, child, and a change that is coming to you--not death, not marriage. You look at me--I see your face, and it smiles and--fades. No, no, no; it is of no use! Yet this is a lucky day, and the omens are good. I met this morning first thing, Mrs. Trotter--a mother of sons--what could be better?" "Never mind, Nani--I have no luck." "Well, you have something--I cannot understand; a veil hangs over your future. Now with Dom it is so easy, and Dom believes in the ink-pool of the crystal." "Does she?" "To her you see it tells of a great uplifting--she stands with a light around her. This may mean one of two things--a place above others, or a violent death. Dom is a strange creature--she has strange blood in her veins. She is all for herself. Only you notice, Dom will say: 'So and so, he likes me'; 'there's So and so, she adores me'; but never 'I like this one, or that one.' Dom likes only Dom," and Nani nodded with melancholy emphasis. "She has a handsome, witch-like face, and such a clever head--but of whatt use here, I say to myself. What avails a mirror to a blind man? She can never go beyond Manora--no? She will marry into the railway, like Blanche, for all her cravings." "Nani, I wonder why my father ever came here?" "Because he had no choice, child." "You remember him as a young man?"