sure that it is not in a dream that the Master speaks again?"

"I am awake," said Joicey, bitterly. "Mr. Hartley is looking for the
boy, and if the boy were found, all search would stop,"--he eyed the
Chinaman carefully, but the mask-like face did not change.

"And the little boy? Perhaps, Ruler and King, the little boy is gone
dead."

"You ask me _that_, you devil?"

"It is for the servant to ask," said Leh Shin, dropping his lids for a
second.

"Now, get out," said Joicey, between his clenched teeth. "And if you
come here to me again, at night, I'll kill you."

"The Great One will not do that," said Leh Shin, placidly. "My
assistant waits for me. It would be known as fire is known when the
forest is dry. To-morrow or next day, if the police are gone, my little
house will be open again." He spoke the words with deep emphasis.

"Get out," said Joicey, turning away his head.

Leh Shin looked at him with a sudden, oblique glance like the flash of a
knife.

"Speak no more, Lord of men and elephants; the _Durwan_ is now outside
the door, and he listens."