“Then? Why, a grand transformation scene, of course. Fath-ud-Din’s signet was taken from him, and he was conducted to the dungeon which Jahan Beg had just vacated. Jahan Beg was taken to the bath, and rigged out at the King’s expense, and formally invested with the Grand Vizier’s signet. He was another man after a little care and attention. As for me, I was favoured with a seat by the King’s side, publicly thanked for exposing a traitor and saving the King (evidently he held the same opinion as to his chances of life under Fath-ud-Din’s fostering care that we did), and asked whether I had a copy of our treaty at hand. That was the crowning moment. I produced the treaty from inside my coat. Jahan Beg signed it--his first act in his new capacity--I followed, and the King put his seal to it. And that is all.” “And now?” asked Lady Haigh. “Now we have only to get back to Khemistan as fast as we can,” said Stratford. CHAPTER XVI. A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. If, after Stratford had told his story, the party at the Mission had been informed that the most anxious portion of their stay in Kubbet-ul-Haj was still to come, the idea would have seemed absurd, and yet the joyful night on which the treaty was signed proved to be merely the prelude to a fresh period of uneasiness. Far from being able to pack up and start at once on the return journey to the British frontier, the members of the Mission found that their departure must necessarily be delayed for at least a week. The camels and other baggage-animals which had been taken from them had been sent for safe-keeping to a town three days’ journey off, the governor of which was a creature of Fath-ud-Din’s. It was therefore needful to send after them, and, if the governor would consent to give them up, then to bring them back, which in itself involved a considerable delay. But this was not all. Jahan Beg in Fath-ud-Din’s place bore a certain resemblance to the ass in the lion’s skin. As he said himself, he laboured under the great disadvantage, as compared with his predecessor, of being too scrupulous for the post.