"As my mistress slew her husband when his life was of no more value to her?" "Ah, so you know that. You would not reproach me, Ben Heer?" "Does the slave reproach the master who keeps his carcass from the kennel?" Ben Heer asked, as he bowed low. "My mistress was right; her hands were washed whiter than the snow in the blood of the Christian. It was well; it was just." "Then you shall help me, for there is much to be done. Take this ring. Place it on your finger and go to the others. They are outside waiting. Give them the call, thus." The princess made a faint noise like the drowsy call of a bird and Ben Heer caught it up at once. He had heard it many times before. Then he slipped out like a cat in the darkness, and presently the call came from the gloom. A moment later it was answered and then all was still again. Mrs. May, who had discarded the princess for a moment, closed her window, drew the blinds and lighted a cigarette. It was a glad night for her. "So those two are out of the way," she murmured. "The road is clear at last--clear to the vengeance that must be mine. And with the vengeance comes the wealth that should make me a feared and dreaded power in the East. Give me but the wealth and Lassa shall be my footstool." CHAPTER XXXVIII GEOFFREY GETS A SHOCK Ralph Ravenspur had wandered along the cliffs and Geoffrey had followed him. The latter came up to the blind man at the loneliest part of the rugged granite, and there for a time they sat. Ralph was graver and more taciturn than usual, till presently his head was raised and he seemed to be listening to something intently. "What is the matter?" Geoffrey asked. "Somebody is close to us," Ralph explained. "Somebody is creeping up to us in the gorse. Nay, you need not move. We are safe here on this bare ledge. There is one thing there is no cause to fear in dealing with these miscreants, and that is firearms. Weapons of that description make a noise and your Oriental hates noise when he is out on the kill. Ah, what did I tell you? Somebody is close by." A figure rose out of the gorse, a slender figure with a ragged beard and brown face. The stranger crept along and dropped by Geoffrey's side. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "It is only I--Tchigorsky." Geoffrey was astonished, though he had no occasion to be. Ralph took the matter coolly. "I expected something like this," he said. "I knew you would desire to see me, and that is why we came along the rocks." Tchigorsky lay on his back puffing at a cigarette. "Keep your eyes open," he said to Geoffrey. "One can't be too particular. Not that there is any danger, for I've sent those two wretches off on a wild-goose chase for an hour or two, and the she-devil is down with one of her blinding headaches. You wouldn't think she was a woman whose heart is in a weak state, eh?" "I shouldn't have supposed she had one," said Geoffrey. "Have you seen her?"