on the triumphant Anstruther, he deeply regretted the absence of
that most necessary organ,--an eye in the back of the head. He was
dimly aware that his beautiful neighbor was very leisurely drinking
the peace offering of the susceptible son of Mars. "I will bet
hundreds to ha'pennies she speaks English!" quickly reflected the
now aroused Major.

"You astound me, Anstruther," the Major said. "Not a lawful child!
Some Eurasian legacy--a relic of the old days of the Pagoda Tree!
Why, the old commissioner always was a woman hater, and absolutely
hostile to all social influences!" The Captain was now stealing
longing glances at the willowy figure of the beautiful woman whose
glistening dark brown eyes were turned to him with a languid glance,
as Alan Hawke leaned forward. To prolong the sight of that bewitching
half profile, with the fair, low brows, the velvet cheeks, a
Provencale flush tinting them, the parted lips a dainty challenge
speaking, and the rich masses of dark brown hair nobly crowning
her regal outlines, Anstruther yielded to the spell and babbled
on. "The whole thing is a strange melange of official business and
dying gossip!" dreamily said Anstruther with his eyes straying over
the ivory throat, the superbly modeled bust and perfect figure of
the young Venus Victrix.

He was duly rewarded by a glance of secret intelligence when he
leaned back, dreamily closing his eyes. "You see, they were going
to make old Hugh Fraser or Hugh Johnstone, as he is now called,
a baronet for some secret services to the Crown of an important
nature, rendered about the time when mad Hodson piled up the whole
princely succession to the House of Oude in a trophy of naked corpsess
pistoling them with his own hand." He ordered a third bottle of