"Whether I rise out of the ground or not," the gypsy said, keeping her temper with an effort, "there will be a five-pound note in my hand. You will meet me tomorrow about this hour at--say the Kaims of Cushie?" "No," said the doctor after a moment's pause; "I won't. Even if I went to the Kaims I should not find you there. Why can you not come to me?" "Why do you carry a woman's hair," replied the Egyptian, "in that locket on your chain?" Whether she was speaking of what she knew, or this was only a chance shot, I cannot tell, but the doctor stepped back from her hastily, and could not help looking down at the locket. "Yes," said the Egyptian calmly, "it is still shut; but why do you sometimes open it at nights?" "Lassie," the old doctor cried, "are you a witch?" "Perhaps," she said; "but I ask for no answer to my questions. If you have your secrets, why may I not have mine? Now will you meet me at the Kaims?" "No; I distrust you more than ever. Even if you came, it would be to play with me as you have done already. How can a vagrant have five pounds in her pocket when she does not have five shillings on her back?" "You are a cruel, hard man," the Egyptian said, beginning to lose hope. "But, see," she cried, brightening, "look at this ring. Do you know its value?" She held up her finger, but the stone would not live in the dull light. "I see it is gold," the doctor said cautiously, and she smiled at the ignorance that made him look only at the frame. "Certainly, it is gold," said Gavin, equally stupid. "Mercy on us!" Nanny cried; "I believe it's what they call a diamond." "How did you come by it?" the doctor asked suspiciously. "I thought we had agreed not to ask each other questions," the Egyptian answered drily. "But, see, I will give it to you to hold in hostage. If I am not at the Kaims to get it back you can keep it." The doctor took the ring in his hand and examined it curiously. "There is a quirk in this," he said at last, "that I don't like. Take back your ring, lassie. Mr. Dishart, give Nanny your arm, and I'll carry her box to the machine." Now all this time Gavin had been in the dire distress of a man possessed of two minds, of which one said, "This is a true woman," and the other, "Remember the seventeenth of October." They were at war within him, and he knew that he must take a side, yet no sooner had he cast one out than he invited it back. He did not answer the doctor. "Unless," McQueen said, nettled by his hesitation, "you trust this woman's word." Gavin tried honestly to weigh those two minds against each other, but could not prevent impulse jumping into one of the scales. "You do trust me," the Egyptian said, with wet eyes; and now that he looked on her again-- "Yes," he said firmly, "I trust you," and the words that had been so difficult to say were the right words. He had no more doubt of it.