“Oh, yes,” she responded indifferently, “I manage to keep my head above water and to save a trifle against rainy days, and old age. Ah, there is our usual late comer, Mr. Bakche. Now his soup will have to be brought back, which puts the servants out. These Orientals have no idea of time, Mr. Fuller.” Alan politely agreed and glanced carelessly at the newcomer, only to give a more earnest look later on, for Mr. Bakche was decidedly out of place amongst that shabby assemblage. He was perfectly arrayed in a well-cut evening dress, with pearl studs and patent leather shoes. Tall and slim, he was yet sinewy in his looks and possessed an admirable figure, which the close-fitting clothes set off to great advantage. He had clearly-cut features, a dark complexion, as became an Eastern, and wore a small black mustache, well twisted over very red lips and very white teeth. On the whole he was a handsome fellow and his air was somewhat haughty and reserved. As Alan observed, he ate only plain boiled rice, uncooked fruit, and drank water; just as if he were an anchorite. The looks of the man and the abstinence of the man aroused Fuller’s curiosity, and he thought that he would like to talk to Mr. Bakche as well as to Miss Grison. Meanwhile he asked for information. “He is an Indian prince, so he says,” replied Miss Grison in a whisper. “I understand that his full name is Mr. Morad-Bakche, which he told me means, in his own language, ‘Desire accomplished.’ He is only in England for a few months on some mission connected with the recovery of his family property lost during the Mutiny, and my house was recommended to him by a former boarder who went out to Ceylon.” “He has a striking personality,” said Fuller when this information was given, and then asked his hostess about Jotty. “Mr. Latimer told me that you intended to give the boy a chance in life, Miss Grison. It is very good of you to do so.” She shrugged her sloping shoulders. “Oh, I don’t know,” she answered, sinking her metallic voice. “I want a page-boy to open and shut the door, so as to save the servants’ legs. Jotty does as well as another and since my poor Baldwin took an interest in him, of course I feel that it is my duty, to do what I can. I have had him washed and dressed and fed and have given him the more Christian name of Alonzo. The boarders do not know his real name, if indeed it can be called one, and they are not aware that he is the boy who appeared at the inquest.” “They know, I presume, that it was your brother who was murdered?” “Oh yes, the name appeared in the newspapers, and I had to give evidence at the inquest, so there was no keeping the relationship quiet. But I beg of you, Mr. Fuller, to call Jotty by his new name of Alonzo, as I don’t want it generally known that I am helping my poor brother’s protégé. As the head of the Establishment,” Miss Grison drew up her spare form proudly, “I do not like scandal to be connected with my name.”