She knelt down with her arms on the parapet, and was revolving in her mind honied sentences which might cover an even more tempting meaning, and thus appeal to the witch’s cupidity, when her attention was attracted by a moving object between her and Bir-ul-Malikat. Now that the search for Dick had once more quitted the immediate neighbourhood of the fortress, the solitude of the desert was so seldom disturbed by any traveller that Georgia watched the approaching speck with interest. As it came nearer she saw that it was a man mounted on a donkey, but when it passed out of sight round the slope of the hill she thought no more about it. Presently, however, Rahah came in hot haste to seek her mistress. “There is a messenger from Bir-ul-Malikat waiting outside the door, O my lady, and he will not give his message to me. Is he to be allowed to speak to you?” “Oh, of course. Some one must be ill,” said Georgia, and she returned indoors and donned her _burka_. The man whom she had seen riding across the desert was standing in the outer hall at a suitable distance from the doorway of the passage which led into the harem, and the door was open to allow of conversation. The visitor was respectably dressed, and had the appearance of a steward or other responsible servant, but his first words were not calculated to recommend his mission, at any rate as Rahah translated them. “O doctor lady, Khadija, the mother of Yakub, sends thee greetings, and desires thee to visit her at Bir-ul-Malikat.” “Why?” asked Georgia. “Is she ill?” “I know not,” answered the man, doggedly. “Then why does she send for me?” “That is her business. It is not for any man to dispute the will of Khadija.” Georgia pondered the matter for a moment. Her first impulse was to accept the invitation which had arrived thus opportunely, but its tone was so unpleasant that she began to suspect a trap. If her presence was really needed, Khadija could well afford to send her a more explicit message. It was evident that the matter was not one of life and death, or more would have been made of it, and Georgia had a lively recollection of the way in which she had been lured to the Palace at Kubbet-ul-Haj, to warn her against putting faith in mysterious messages. In any case, nothing could be lost, and the respect in which she was held would probably increase, if she declined to pay any attention to a summons worded as this one had been. “I go nowhere unless the messenger tells me plainly why I am wanted,” she said, sharply. “That is not a reply to satisfy Khadija,” returned the messenger. “Then she must find satisfaction elsewhere,” said Georgia. “Her power is greater than the doctor lady knows.” “Thou art a fool,” said Rahah, contemptuously, her wrath aroused by the veiled threat. “My lady also has medicines. Is she likely to fear Khadija?” and she dropped the curtain as a sign that the interview was at an end.