“No it isn’t!” Rosie protested. “It hasn’t yet begun. It is just beginning. Mrs. Ilam and Cousin Ilam will be just to you. You will not bear them ill-will. The wrong is too old for that. You will forget it. You will forget all the past. Your hair may be grey, but I’m sure your heart isn’t. And your voice can influence even the Soudanese. The way that man obeyed you! The way he got the better of his brother just to please you! It seems strange, but I can understand it, because I have----” Again she stopped. Jetsam went up to her and took her hand, which she seemed willingly to release to him. And he held it. “How good you are!” he said steadily. “I am almost ashamed to have roused your sympathy so much.” The other two men watched. “I don’t know what Pauline will say,” Rosie stammered. Suddenly there was the sound of music. The band, which everybody in the room had forgotten, had begun to play, apparently of its own accord. And the melody it had chosen was, “See the Conquering Hero Comes.” Carpentaria rushed to the window. And then, as he drew the curtains, all noticed for the first time that the dawn had begun. “What are you making that noise for?” he demanded angrily from the balcony. The music ceased abruptly. “We’re saluting the sun, sir,” came the reply. “It’s morning. We imagined that possibly you had lost sight of the fact of our existence.” “I had,” said Carpentaria. “However, you can go!” “Mr. Carpentaria,” cried another voice--a woman’s, firm and imperious. “Open the front door immediately and let me in. I insist.” It was Pauline. “Certainly, Miss Dartmouth,” said Carpentaria obediently. “Kindly cut the rope which you will see tied to the handle. I will tell the Soudanese to admit you.” And he did so. And presently footsteps were heard on the stairs, and both Pauline and Juliette came in. “Rosie!” exclaimed Pauline. The sisters were clasped in each other’s arms. “Forgive me, dearest!” Rosie entreated; and they kissed. “But what have you----?” Pauline began, naturally mystified to the utmost. “Ah, Miss Dartmouth,” said Carpentaria, “I fear you must wait for enlightenment until you can hear the whole story.” “But the servants?” cried Pauline. “I sent them to sleep in the staff-dormitories. I said you wished it,” answered Rosie, smiling. “But why should I wish it?” “I don’t know,” said Rosie. “When they asked me that, I told them I didn’t know,” she smiled again faintly. “But Mr. Jetsam will explain it all to you. I--I tried to help him, and I have succeeded--I think.” During this conversation, Juliette, with that direct candour which frequently distinguishes women in a crisis, had gone straight to Josephus Ilam and seized his hand. She was assuring herself that he was not hurt, when Mrs. Ilam once more gave a sign with her eyelids. Carpentaria resumed his position as helper. “It was because I loved him,” Carpentaria spelt out for her, “that I tried to kill you--twice.”