"Your Royal Highness's surmise is correct," said Moranoff. "It would, indeed, be an international calamity were the Vizier to break down. I hope I have not hastened that end." He again bowed profoundly to the Prince, refused the Vizier's offer of assistance with his wraps, and then, with a cold adieu to him, left the room. "Now, Hasan Kuli," thundered the Prince when they were alone, "what intrigue is this?" "Your Royal Highness's suspicions are uncalled for. Moranoff and I are old friends by correspondence. We had never met personally, and he naturally seized this opportunity." "I did not know he was in England," said the Prince. "The Russian Ambassador incidentally referred to him to-day as being in Petersburg. I left you in bed, full of toothache and indigestion. I return unexpectedly, and find you deliberating with a Russian who is supposed to be five hundred _farsakhs_ away. Give me that paper." The Vizier reluctantly produced it, and the Prince read it through. "Ah," he said, as he refolded it. "I see you are making a cat's-paw of me again. My mission here is to do away with any ill-effects consequent on our treaty with Russia. You will remember that when we were fooling the English Mission in Teheran I knew nothing of the treaty just concluded with Russia. My uncle and you delighted to keep me in the dark; yet all the time it was I who did the work. Was it his Majesty the Shah who played at billiards and cards with the English? Was it you who fought them at lawn tennis. Bah! I laugh at the thought. But I played at all. I lost my money at cards and billiards, and I suffered defeat at lawn tennis till the perspiration rolled down me, and my legs gave way. And you smoked and laughed, and got all the profit. I, who worked, got none. Now I have come over land and sea with the Order of the Lion and the Sun. Again I do the work--again I know nothing. I find you intriguing behind my back. You treat me as a child; but you forget that some day I may be Shah. You play with fire, Vizier." "Your Royal Highness, I beg you to believe that I have acted for what I thought was the benefit of our country." "And your own pocket," added the Prince. "How much plunder do you get out of this?" The Vizier held up his hands in horror. "Your Royal Highness," he said, "is nothing ever done disinterestedly--from pure patriotism?" [Illustration: "SUDDENLY HE ROSE, TOOK THE DRAFT OF THE TREATY, WENT TO THE DESPATCH BOXES, AND PLACED IT IN ONE OF THEM." (_p. 175._)] "Not by Hasan Kuli," sneered the Prince. "Please save yourself useless declamation. You may as well know my terms at once. The price of my acquiescence in this matter is one million roubles." The Vizier gasped. "One million roubles!" he exclaimed. "Does money grow?"