government. My tribe obey me and only me."

Her shaking fingers found the handkerchief for which they were groping,
and she wiped the moisture that had gathered on the palms of her hands.

"When I am missed----" she began desperately, trying to keep a bold
front, but her assurance was leaving her.

"You will not be missed for so long that it will be too late," he
replied drily.

"Too late! What do you mean?" she gasped.

"Your own plans will stop any possibility of inquiry for some time to
come." He paused, and behind her, Diana heard him strike another match.
The banal little incident nearly snapped her nerves that were stretched
to breaking-point. She put her hands to her head to try and stop the
throbbing in her temples.

"You engaged a caravan in charge of Mustafa Ali," he went on evenly,
"to travel in the desert for a month. You set out from Biskra, but your
intention was at the end of the time to travel northward to Oran and
there dismiss the caravan. From there you were to cross to Marseilles,
then to Cherbourg, where you would embark for America to follow your
brother, who has already started."

She listened breathlessly with an ever-increasing fear growing in her
eyes. The slow, casual voice detailing her itinerary with the quiet
certainty of perfect knowledge filled her with a terror that made her
want to scream. She swayed a little as she stood, her eyes fixed on the