'You have taken love from me, love which is the blossom of life.'" "It sounds very picturesque," Maggie said coldly, "but I do not follow your allegory.

What I want to know is why you lied to me, why you sent me to that house to meet Prince Shan ?" "How did I lie to you ?" Nita demanded.

"The papers you sought were there.

Were they not yours for the asking, or was the price too great ?" "The papers were there, certainly," Maggie acquiesced, "but you knew very well--" She stopped short.

Slowly the Oriental idea of it all was beginning to frame itself in her mind.