The short and ragged one tore the pack to pieces and left no space the size of a lead pencil unsearched. He finished his fruitless task in exasperation. "Clean out His Nibs next," commanded the pasty-nosed ruffian. [Illustration] Panting from his exertions and the blistering sun, the plunderer stepped up behind their victim, and keeping himself out of gun range, he deftly felt through Prince Chu's garments. "I have not what you want," stated the Chinaman calmly. "Yuh haven't, hey! Then wot's this?" The eager fingers were fumbling with the clasp of a long, flat pocket case, black leather bound. "It contains medicines, and certain chemicals, but nothing of value to you. Yes--cigarettes. Help yourself." The case opened suddenly. Viewing an array of little vials, the searcher noticed one containing a white, crystaline powder, and his glum expression lightened immediately. He jerked out the vial and dropped the case to earth. "Here's the snow, Squint!" he rasped excitedly, working at the cork. The gun-wielder's drawn face relaxed in pleasurable anticipation. "Mistaken again," remarked the measured voice of Yuen Ming Chu. "It is an anti-venom, to be used in case of snakebite. Should you use that as you would cocaine, without first having been bitten by a snake or the black spider, it would kill you." The blue-bearded gunman's face clouded with anger. "If that's uhnother bluff, Chink," he threatened, "I'll croak yuh!" "It is not a bluff," responded the silver-haired Oriental. Sensing truth in the impassive words, the tall man ordered his partner to further rifle the Chinaman's person. Prince Chu's face was still steadily expressionless. "You are wasting your time," he said. "Well, wot in 'ell er yuh doin' in this country, anyhow?" peevishly questioned Shorty, of the blistered face. Before his question could be answered his exploring fingers encountered a chain of heavy linked gold about the Chinaman's neck, and he yanked at it. "Wot's this?" he demanded. For the first time, he might have seen a change come into their victim's expression. Exultantly observant, his partner directed him to snip the chain. When the chain had been removed by the practised use of a small pair of sharp nippers, the two crooks beheld at its end the most marvelous stone that they had ever seen. As large around as the rim of a tea cup, it covered Shorty's palm, while the gold chain glittered unheeded down from his hand. In the half-shadow of his hat, the opalescent lights flamed from the great jewel with a rapidity of changing fire which seemed alive--emerald, crimson, orange, pink and blue; fascinating, benumbing. "My God! It's worth a million!" gasped Shorty. Prince Chu's stern old lips curled slightly upward in their irony. "Do not make a second mistake, my friend," he said. "In your dollars, it is worth ten millions. But if you should find it possible to dispose of the jewel, it would be worth your life."