“Will you not drink the pledge that I have drunk?” asked Amaranth, laying her fingers lightly on his arm and leaning toward him. And I had underestimated Sanson after all. Now, at the moment of surrender, his indomitable will flamed out, seeming to possess his body and mold each feature, every muscle to its unconquerable resolve. “I will not drink!” he cried, and flung the cup to the floor. He turned and strode from the room like the conqueror he was. He passed the curtain, which fell behind him. He had won his hardest battle, taken unaware, fighting against a cunning ambush; and I knew now that hardly an earthly enemy could conquer him. I was in the room now, for there was no need to hide myself any longer. I watched Amaranth, who, as statuesque as Sanson had been, stood looking after him. A minute passed. Suddenly she wheeled about and clapped her hands to her side. She staggered; a spasm of pain crossed her face, and she looked searchingly at Coral. The maid in the blue tunic looked back at her, smiling. Their eyes did not waver until Amaranth swayed backward and fell on the divan. A scream broke from her lips, and then another; a third; she wrung her hands and moaned. I kneeled before her. “What is it, Amaranth?” I cried. [Illustration: Sanson’s indomitable will flamed out. “I will not drink!” he cried, and flung the cup to the floor ] She raised herself and looked wildly at me. Her face was ashen pale, the features pinched; dark rings had crept beneath her eyes. “She gave me the—wrong cup,” she whispered. I tried to go for aid, but Amaranth clung to me. “There is no hope,” she sobbed. “I must die. Stay with me, Arnold!” Her head fell back and she breathed heavily. I turned and saw Coral beside me, a smiling, waxen doll, the new queen of the harem by the dying one. “Go!” I thundered at her. She shrugged her shoulders daintily and went, leaving the winecups on the floor. Amaranth’s hand trembled upon my sleeve. I bent over her. Her eyes fixed themselves on mine. “Put your hand under me,” she muttered; “raise me. All is lost now. Sanson has beaten Lembken, and everything is ended. Save your Elizabeth if you can.” She drew my face toward hers and spoke in panting accents: “It was Lembken’s plot. He learned that Sanson held you in the vaults. His case was desperate. He asked Mehemet’s aid. Mehemet said he—his men would not desert Sanson while he lived, but if he died they would follow him for Lembken. I was to poison Sanson and thus win over the Guard. I was to drug you only, and keep you out of the way. Lembken liked you; he would not let you be killed. He has been communicating with the American bosses. The plan—the plan—” She gathered her strength with a last effort of will.