"Oh, don't talk about such things, Carr. You frighten me." "Nonsense, don't take it like that. Now, see here. You know my way. Touch and go is my motto. So, I've asked a lawyer chap to come here to-night and fix up things. Suppose you make your will, too. Then it will seem more like a business matter, and not as if either of us expects to die soon. Who's your heir to be, Polly?" "Why, I don't know, I've never thought about it." "But you ought to. You see, now you're _some_ heiress, and it isn't right not to have a will made,--on general principles. To be sure, you may marry,----" "Oh, I don't think I ever will, Carr!" "Nonsense, Pollypops, of course you will. But you must take your time and select a good chappie. Now, how does this strike you? Jeffries, my lawyer, is coming here, right away. Suppose we each make a will, leaving all our worldly goods to each other. Then, later, when you decide on your life mate, you can change and rearrange as you like." "But I haven't any fortune yet. Aunt Lucy's estate isn't all settled, is it?" "No matter about that. It will be, in course of time. I have every confidence in Haviland, he's as honest a chap as ever breathed. He'll fix up all our interests over there, in apple-pie order and don't you forget it! Humor me in this thing, Polly, and believe I know more of business affairs than you do, and it's best to do as I say." Pauline was easily persuaded, and as the arrangement was conceded to be merely temporary, she agreed. Jeffries came. The two wills were drawn, signed and witnessed, all in correct form. Loria, in his, bequeathed to Pauline all he might die possessed of, and except for a few charities and minor bequests, Pauline left her fortune to Carr. The business was soon over, and Loria took both documents, saying he would put them in his Safe Deposit box for the present, as Pauline had no place for valuable papers. The next day, Loria, accompanied by the invaluable Ahri, went away to the site of his projected enterprise. This affair was conducted with such strict secrecy that even the location was not known to many. Actual work had not yet been begun, but negotiations and preparations of vast importance were being made, and secret conclaves were held by those most interested. Pauline had been emphatically adjured to give not the least hint to any one whatever of the project, and she had promised faithfully to obey Carr's injunctions. The next afternoon, a telegram from Fleming Stone announced his arrival at Alexandria and his immediate appearance in Cairo. Addressed to her, in Loria's care, Pauline received it duly, for her mail was brought to her at Shepheard's, and Carr's forwarded to him wherever he might be. She had had a cable from Haviland, but no American letters had yet reached her. Stone, having sailed just a week after Pauline's departure from New York, was arriving eight days after her own advent at Cairo.