“Ho, ho, ho! Not a bad shot, I see! A bow drawn at a venture! Then there is such a young lady?” “Yes,” assented Mr. Pollitt, “and a very handsome young lady; you may take my word for _that_!” “What is she like?” turning to Mark with sparkling eyes. “Fair or dark?” “You shall see her some day, Fernandez. You must come to our wedding.” “I shall be most happy; but, my dear fellow, _do_ describe her appearance. I am such a ladies’ man, you know, such an admirer of beauty.” “Oh, she is tall, a head over you, Cardozo,” said Mr. Pollitt, “and has dark hair, dark-grey eyes, and a very delicate colour, the air of a princess.” “Ah! then she shall have these pearls, instead of emeralds!” cried Fernandez with enthusiasm, plunging his fat fingers into ropes of the former, and holding them aloft for inspection. Four rows of large pearls fastened off by a quaint old clasp, and a little tassel of rubies. “They are far too valuable--it is much too handsome a gift,” objected Mark, holding back instinctively. “Nothing is too handsome for a handsome girl! and, for the matter of value, the emeralds, though they look like so many balls of green glass, beat them! If you refuse them in her name, I assure you I shall be quite affronted; and, surely, it is only right that the major’s daughter should have one small gift from amid all the begum’s jewels.” “I do not call that a small gift, Fernandez, and I am very much obliged to you; but I will take it to Miss Gordon, and, later on, she will thank you personally.” “They are superb!” exclaimed Mr. Pollitt, rapturously. “I shall give her diamonds--to correspond.” Incongruous pair though they were, Mr. Pollitt and Mr. Cardozo hit it off surprisingly well. Fernandez’s florid manner, Oriental ideas, and ornamental language interested the hard-headed matter-of-fact little Englishman. They walked and smoked and argued noisily together, whilst Mark rode away to visit a certain newly-made grave, and to take leave of the Persian lady. “Ah, my friend, I have been waiting for you,” she said, rising from the chabootra, or band-stand. “I thought you would surely come to say farewell. Of course you are going away?” “Yes. I am going away immediately.” “And you will marry her--now--and gain your heart’s desire?” “I hope so. And I am come to offer you what may fulfil yours!” She stared at him with an air of almost fierce inquiry. “It is the Yellow House. Will you accept it, for your lifetime? You said you wished for a large bungalow in a central position--and there you are!” “The Yellow House! Oh, it is too much. No, I could not take it, not even for my poor. No, no, no!” and she shook her head with an air of decision.