"We stopped before the gate of a large house which was presently opened, and the camels entered the courtyard. We descended, and I saw that a number of small apartments surrounded the courtyard in the manner of a _caravanserai._ Then, suddenly, I saw something else, and I knew why we had been treated with such consideration on the journey; I knew into what hand I had fallen--I knew that I was in the house of a _slave-dealer!_" "Good heavens!" muttered Stuart--"this is almost incredible." "I knew you would doubt what I had to tell you," declared Miska plaintively; "but I solemnly swear what I tell you is the truth. Yes, I was in the house of a slave-dealer, and on the very next day, because I was proficient in languages, in music and in dancing, and also because--according to their Eastern ideas--I was pretty, the dealer, Mohammed Abd-el-Bali ... offered me for sale." She stopped, lowering her eyes and flushing hotly, then continued with hesitancy. "In a small room which I can never forget I was offered the only indignity which I had been called upon to suffer since my abduction. I was _exhibited_ to prospective purchasers." "As she spoke the words, Miska's eyes flashed passionately and her hand, which lay on the table, trembled. Stuart silently reached across and rested his own upon it. "There were all kinds of girls," Miska continued, "black and brown and white, in the adjoining rooms, and some of them were singing and some dancing, whilst others wept. Four different visitors inspected me critically, two of them being agents for royal _harems_ and the other two--how shall I say it?--wealthy connoisseurs. But the price asked by Mohammed Abd-el-Bali was beyond the purses of all except one of the agents. He had indeed settled the bargain, when the singing and dancing and shouting--every sound it seemed--ceased about me ... and into the little room in which I crouched amongst perfumed cushions at the feet of the two men, walked Fo-Hi." CHAPTER IV MISKA'S STORY _(concluded)_ "Of course, I did not know that this was his name at the time; I only knew that a tall Chinaman had entered the room--and that his face was entirely covered by a green veil." Stuart started, but did not interrupt Miska's story. "This veil gave him in some way a frightfully malign and repellent appearance. As he stood in the doorway looking down I seemed to _feel_ his gaze passing over me like a flame, although of course I could not see his eyes. For a moment he stood there looking at me; and much as his presence had affected me, its affect upon the slave-dealer and my purchaser was extraordinary. They seemed to be stricken dumb. Suddenly the Chinaman spoke, in perfect Arabic. 'Her price?' he said. "Mohammed Abd-el-Bali, standing trembling before him, replied: "'Miska is already sold, lord, but----" "'Her price?' repeated the Chinaman, in the same hard metallic voice and without the slightest change of intonation.