I, who took the bride who rightfully belonged to me, as it is I who will
use you for my own good till I may throw you away. You of Northern blood
are fools."

"I thought you my friend, Dom Pedro, and I thought you a man," was the
only reply.

Every appointment of the junk was of exquisite finish, such as is
seldom seen, and kept scrupulously clean. The men at work on deck, with
usual Mongolian nonchalance, went about their business without giving
the least notice to the events occurring. "The lady Priscilla waits you
in the cabin," said Dom Pedro. "She knows my plans and though I shall
not intrude upon you I have a Chinese on guard who will kill you if any
attempt is made to free you. Enter." Adams stepped toward the cabin at
the stern, where the usual shelf-like arrangements of a junk had been
transformed into a cabin suited to European taste, with comfort and
luxury. Adams entered and the door was closed. By it stood a guard with
drawn sword; in the farther corner sat a woman at a table with her face
buried in her hands.

"Robert, as you love me stay where you are. Do not move a step, but sit
down where you are." Her voice was so full of pleading that Adams forgot
his first impulse and obeyed her. "I know all that has occurred dear
Robert, your sacrifice and pain and the pain of all my friends during
these sad weeks. Do not move toward me or you will be killed. I will not
look up, dare not look up. On that Sunday, which now seems so long ago,
when I bid you good-night at the library door, when you and he went to
the fan-tan house, I followed you with his valet and my maid, for I had
been fearful of his intentions toward you, and when his valet told me
that he had seen him secrete a dagger in his coat that morning, and when