fine clothes when I came again. This was terrible news, but I was bound to
tell my wife, and we sat up all night talking about it. To escape from
that region would have been impossible. We were obliged to stay and face
the inevitable, whatever it might be.

"The question which Rina and I had to decide was a very simple one, but
terribly difficult for all that. If I should tell the empress that men
of my country believed that it was right to have but one wife, Rina would
quickly be disposed of; so she had to decide whether she would prefer to
die so that I might marry the empress, or to preserve her life and lose
her undivided possession of a husband."

"I know what I would have done," said Mrs. Crowder, her eyes very bright;
"I would have let her kill me. I would never have consented for thee to
marry the wretch."

"That would have pleased her," said Mr. Crowder; "for she would have had
me all the same, and you would have been out of the way."

"Then I would not have died," said the little Quakeress, almost fiercely;
"I would not have done anything to please her. But I don't know. What did
thee and thy wife do?"

"We talked and talked and talked," said Mr. Crowder, "and at last I
persuaded her to live; that is to say, not to make herself an obstacle
to the wishes of the empress. It was a terrible trial, but she consented.
The more insignificant she became, I told her, the greater her chances
of safety.

"The next day the empress sent for me, as I was sure she would do.