“Can’t tell. Some native remedy or charm to give her, perhaps--which might have been poison. We have no proof that the woman comes from the Begum. She may be in reality a spy of Bahram Khan’s.” The news of the woman’s mysterious mission, and her importunity, spread quickly through the fort, but the occupants of the inner courtyard had little time to wonder over it, for Georgia’s condition seemed to have taken a sudden turn for the worse. After a troubled night she had waked in an agitated, excited state, unable to bear the slightest noise in the room. She lay listening anxiously, asking the rest at intervals if they did not hear something, and they tried in vain to find out what it was she thought they ought to hear. They left her alone at last, since their presence seemed only to increase the strain upon her mind, and Mabel remained in the outer room with the door ajar. Peeping into the inner room after a time, she saw, to her delight, that her sister-in-law had dropped asleep, but very soon a cry summoned her back. Georgia was sitting up in bed with flushed cheeks. “He _is_ here, then,” she said. “I knew I heard his voice. Bring him in, Mab. How can you keep him outside, when you know he is longing to see me?” “There’s no one outside. What do you mean, Georgie?” asked Mabel, astonished. “Why, Dick, of course! I have heard him calling me all day, though it sounded so far off, but now it’s quite close--in my ear, almost. There, don’t you hear?” Mabel strained her ears, but in vain. “There’s nothing, really,” she said. “Oh, you must be deaf! Go and see, Mab. Don’t keep him waiting. I know he wants me. Why doesn’t some one tell him where I am?” To satisfy her, Mabel went out into the verandah and looked round, naturally without result. She could scarcely bring herself to return and assure Georgia that the voice was purely a hallucination, but it was a relief to find that she did not seem seriously disappointed. A new idea had come into her mind. “What was Dr Tighe or some one saying about the Eye-of-the-Begum? that she wanted to see me? She was bringing me a message from him.” “Oh, Georgie!” sighed Mabel, in hopeless despair. “He wants me. I must go to him. Tell Rahah to get my things ready.” “But you can’t get up, you know. Besides, the enemy are all round outside.” “I tell you I must go to him. I wish you wouldn’t put absurd obstacles in the way, Mab. He wants me. He is calling me. Of course I shall go.” “Yes, you shall,” said poor harassed Mabel; “only lie quiet just now. You can’t possibly go to-night, you know. Try to sleep a little.”