“Well?” asked the Colonel; “what luck?”  
“None at all,” growled¹ Allison. “The vizier is as tricky² and sly as his master. He assumed a dignified³ and benevolent⁴ air, was very sorry we were discontented, but can do nothing to help us.”
 
“How about horses?”
 
“The vizier states it is an ecclesiastical command that no beasts of burden shall be sold to an infidel, under pain of death. His Highness the Khan regrets it; His Excellency the Vizier regrets it. You are referred to Aboullah O’Brien, Grand Mufti of the Mosque⁵ of the Angels, who issued the order to the faithful.”
 
“It iss Aboullah Beyren,” corrected David, meekly⁶.
 
“How long has this order been in effect?” enquired⁷ the doctor.
 
“Since the day we arrived. It was not aimed at us, by any means. It was a coincidence.”
 
“That looks bad,” said the Colonel gravely. “How about my interview with the Khan?”
 
“The vizier will intercede⁸ for you. He will go down on his knees to His Supreme⁹ Mightiness¹⁰; he will implore¹¹ the Star of the Heavens to see you. But he doubts if we ever get within earshot of the Glorious and Magnificent Defender¹² of the Faith, who is otherwise known as Ahmed Khan. It seems he has other fish to fry, and is busy getting them ready. We can do nothing with the scoundrelly vizier, I am certain.”
 
“Then we must depend upon David to get me an audience with the Khan. Americans are not accustomed to fail in what they undertake. See here, David,” turning to that worthy¹³ merchant; “can’t you bribe¹⁴ your way into the royal palace?”
 
“I will try, most Excellency,” answered David, eagerly. “But de bribe must be great moneys—grant moneys—many golt fillibees! Unt I promise nodding. Maybe I see de Khan; maybe nod. Who can tell?”
 
“It sounds like a risky¹⁵ investment, David,” remarked the doctor. “We’ll take time to think it over.”
 
They thought of many things, in the days that followed, but could arrive at no plan that promised to provide a caravan¹⁶ or give them an opportunity to negotiate with the Khan concerning the new railway.
 
The Colonel went personally to the palace one day, taking along the trembling David as interpreter. The official who met him at the entrance listened to him respectfully, but assured him that no message from an infidel could be carried to the Khan. Hints of money had no effect. It would cost him his head to disturb the Khan on such an errand.
 
Under these unfortunate conditions the Colonel began to be worried, and even the doctor lost much of his habitual¹⁷ cheerfulness. Aunt Lucy vowed¹⁸ vengeance¹⁹ upon every barbarian²⁰ in Baluchistan, and promised the United States would wipe this miserable²¹ country off the map as soon as she returned and reported their treatment to her friend the senator.
 
But Allison, to the wonder of all, stopped grumbling²² and bore his imprisonment²³ with rare fortitude²⁴ and good nature. Janet also grew brighter and merrier day by day—a circumstance that did much toward reconciling her father to their enforced stay in Mekran. Bessie, always philosophic²⁵ and gay, made no complaint of any sort. And so the days passed swiftly away and as yet brought no change in the fortunes of the stranded²⁶ Commission.
 
One evening David came in greatly excited. A messenger had arrived from the Khan. Although that haughty²⁷ potentate²⁸ still ignored the Commission he had placed two saddle horses from his own stables at the disposal of the young ladies. If they would ride at daybreak on the following morning—that hour being the most cool and delightful²⁹ of the day—the Khan would send a competent guard to protect them. His Most Serene³⁰ and Magnificent Highness offered this courtesy in order to relieve the monotony of the young ladies’ stay in his capital. He made no mention of the other members of the party, who might exist as monotonously³¹ as ever. And the messenger awaited an answer.
 
This was, indeed, a startling proposition. Eastern women did not ride, yet the Khan seemed to know that nothing could be more acceptable to American girls than a dash across country on the back of a spirited horse. They were very glad to accept the favor, and the Colonel hoped it might lead in some way to more friendly relations between them and the ruler of Mekran, and perhaps result in the interview he so ardently³² desired.
 
“But who’s going to chaperon them?” enquired Aunt Lucy. “It seems I’m not invited.”
 
The Colonel thought the khan’s guard would be sufficient.
 
“But it’s a heathen country, and they’ll have to bandage their faces,” declared the old lady.
 
“We’ll wear veils until we are out of Mekran,” said Bessie. “Then there will be no masculine eyes to see us, and we’ll take them off.”
 
So at daybreak Janet and Bessie were ready for their ride, and soon a grizzled Baluch warrior³³ rode up to the house leading two magnificent bays from the famous stables of Mehmet. The one that Janet rode was the very animal that had carried Ahmed on his swift journey from the monastery³⁴, and Bessie’s horse was but little inferior.
 
The warrior saluted³⁵ and assisted the ladies to mount. It was Dirrag. He led them through the streets, around the palace enclosure and out at the south gate. A beautiful country lay spread before them, and as the keen morning air saluted their nostrils³⁶, brightened their eyes and flushed their cheeks, the girls dashed away at a canter with Dirrag silently following a few paces behind.
 
After their long confinement³⁷ within the walls of a city dwelling³⁸ this free, invigorating exercise was a great delight to the two girls, and they enjoyed the ride thoroughly³⁹. Passing through the city on their return they closely veiled their faces, yet were evidently objects of curiosity to those of the natives who were abroad so early.
 
Dirrag held the stirrups for them to dismount and then silently touched his cap and led the horses back to the khan’s stables. But next morning he was again at their door with the mounts, and their ride became a daily event to the girls.
 
Dirrag knew no English, but Janet and Bessie had come to understand many of the Baluch words—a dialect evidently founded upon Arabic—and could even speak a few simple sentences, learned by contact with the native servants and somewhat puzzling explanations from David. So the silence of their first rides began to be broken by laconic⁴⁰ observations on the part of the battered⁴¹ old warrior, who seemed not to object to acting⁴² as escort to the charming infidel women. Occasionally they passed the house of Agahr the Vizier and Maie, who was informed of all that occurred in the capital, watched from her latticed window the graceful⁴³ forms of the American girls riding by and on several occasions when they neglected to arrange their veils caught glimpses of their fair faces.
 
It was enough to set the vizier’s daughter wild with envy and chagrin⁴⁴. Why should the Khan favor these outcasts-these women of another world? Was it for them the harem was being prepared, despite her father’s protestation that Ahmed had never seen the foreign women nor ever would see them? The girl well knew that their beauty could in no way compare with her own in the eyes of any true Baluch. The Americans were deformed⁴⁵ by being laced and belted at the waist and wearing heavy, close-fitting draperies that must not only be uncomfortable but were decidedly ugly in appearance. But Maie could not deny they sat their horses gracefully⁴⁶ and with rare self-possession, and men have queer ideas of beauty. Perhaps Ahmed Khan might admire the novelty of their white faces, their queerly arranged hair and the pink finger nails that lacked any trace of the beautifying henna.
 
Maie was jealous, and with good reason. She had abandoned her handsome cousin Kasam for the more powerful and scarcely less handsome Ahmed Khan, and if f............