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Macintyre's brows were knittec‘s‘ I.“ he did not answer. [ saw no objection; and after a con- tldential interview, all in the strictest privacy with closed doors, as you and I ell: now. it was settled that the things should be concealed inside a jampun, litter, and conveyed over the fifteen miles hence from Bi'si as if they were the most precious human jewel in his zenana. The Nawab Sahib was to put them into the jampan with his own hands, and to deapatch the train ,without letting any one in it know that only a bogus lady lurked behind the curtains. That, he swore, was faithfully done; and I have trust in his cupiility. And yet, what hapâ€" pened! Hira. Singh and his men fell upon the oavalcade four miles from the city, shot and knifed the two re- sisting sewers, and made off into the riverside jungle with the contents of the litter. If I had posted a public notice of our arrangement on his‘ kzicheri, courthouse, door they could not have known more about it. And now, I ask you, what is oneto do with a ruffian like that f" "Some months ago, just after,Bira had looted the properties of some mmindars in the neighbouring dis- trictsâ€"oh. but Trevor and Grigson were savage lâ€"our fat friend at Bilsi became seriously alarmed for his own belongings. He had no wish to be rushed at night by a band of despera. does, his women’s quarters ransacked, and his portly person drubbed till he discovered the uttermost pice. That had happened to the other old gentle- men, you know. So he came to the office here, and asked me if Govern.â€" ment would let him lodge his vuluablu for safe keeping in the treasury un- til Eira Singh weLs caught, or killed. "Hira Singh seems to be a superior being to the ordinary village-budmaeh- turned-burglar dacoit," he said. “Oh, yes; his methods are quite West- am. You heaand of his great coupâ€" the robbery of the Bilsi Nawab': jewels 9” "The bare outline. No particulars." "Well, they are worth hearing; if only to give you an instance of the man's extraordinary amartness. Macintyre smiled gravely at the whimsicallty, and at the petulant tone in which the collector delivered it. He concluded his appraisement with the reflection that it Faulkner were as looks and manner proclaimed him, he should like the mam â€" which was, for a cautious Scot, an enormous. ly favourable estimate. ' "Not your line I” [puzzled Faulkner in his mind. "Hm! I should say you were very much in their line, my young friend; these darkeyed, long- legged fellows 'turn all the women's heads.” Aloud: "I wish I could tell you some-thing that might help you to lay hands upon him. But all I can nay is that Hira Singh is the Prince of Darkness. Worried old Joscelyn into his grave, the doctor said typhoid, but that's my diagnosis; were me a stone lighter in three months; turned In- Itill, who in the prop of an. Evangelical arch-deacon, into a rank blasphemer, There 1" "And you‘re the Police-wallahl" criticised the mind of Faulkner, "You're the "keen" man I applied for in the room‘ of poor, slow, amiable Joscelyn, to settle Him Singh. You are an uncommonly good-looking apeci- men. And, dear me! there's plenty of you. Six feet two in your stockings, tor a guess," Then he said aloud, "I‘m glad you’ve come..H’amirbagh is a poor station from the social point of View; just we two amd my joint~ magistrate. Instill, and the doctorâ€"- no ladles. But there is plenty of work, and Him Singh." "Yes! . . . I‘m glad there are no ladies: they’rg not in my line. . . . I should like to know all you can ‘ fiell me about Him Singh." “So you're the Collector Sahib!“ was Macintyre's mental comment as his ayes ran over the figure that lolled, knees crossed. before him. "You look straight. I wonder what you're like to work under I" PART I. mwo men studied each other in the Eamirbagh collector's office. They eat £4108 to face, oollarless and perspiring. while the punkah squeaked above their‘ heads and the glare of a May auni filtered throwgh the venetiuns. The thermometer on the file-strewn table stood at ninety-eight. The room smelt of matting; it wu close, oven-like, and gloomy. lit only by the fingers of daylight through the shutters and a small wtndow high in the well, over which a ragged reedâ€"curtain dangled from a nail. | H H A hand had opened the 'blind, and it was the flash of diamond: that caught the policeman's eyes. He looked; and they found a woman’s face, and stayed there. A small, exquisitely poised head, well set upon a. rounded neck, peered out at him. The woman laugh. ed and pushed the shutter wide. as if the sight pleased her. He saw a hand. some face with heavy brows and reck- less eyvs; she leaned oat with unâ€" abashed interest, and her teeth gleamâ€" Here, at least, was peace. 'ihey were unoccupied, and the windows were silent, showing a decorous exâ€" terior which. if rumour said true, was not altogether in keeping with the city‘s reputation. Only a. woman's veil dropping upon a lattice. and a sitar flung upon the boards below it, gave a touch of levity. Such was Macintyre‘s first impression, and then it paged, as an opened shutter flung him a glimpse of life within. The sun beat upon the scene; and the terracotta petticoats, the yellow saris, the brown skins, and the clink- ing, bangles blended into the picture. The vendors squatted upon their heels on thcopen thresholds: the lumen-by surged up and down before them. The effect was dazzling; and Macintyre lifted his eyes to the balconies for relief. The crowd, into which an officious policeman had plunged with an outâ€" cry, wags thick and busy, and the funnel-like avenue was not easy to clear. Macin‘tyre waited for a min- ute, and looked about him. Macintyre mounted, and the police. men turned out as he passed the guard-room and left the compound to fill with litigants and orderlies. He wheeled at the entrance and made for the lane. The Bamirbegh district offices were badly situated, non that the popula- 1tion had expanded under imperial rule. i'Ihe time had been when the block {formed by the courts, the collector‘s office and the guardâ€"room had enjoyed isolation; their thatched roofs and 'deep verandae were cheek by jowl with the city now. The maldan had dwindled to a eiiip of sunâ€"baked soil, upon which the offices baked, and the crazy native buildings of the bazaar encroached upon it, their tottering, flimsy upper stories bulging above the narrow space. On three side: there was still breathing-room; but the rear ‘ ‘of the official quadrangle had become a lane, bordered by the office wall, blank except for a couple of high reed- , curtained windows, and by the shops, with their mysterious dwelling! rooms above. The Government had refused to buy the space when it was unoccupied; and new it paid for its) stupidity. The noise of the city, the I smell of dust, the reek of dungâ€"fuel and woodâ€"smoke, the endless chatter_ anud jingle of the bargaining natives, remained to the staff as a reminder: of their predecese-ora’ folly. I I "Well, find it," said Faulkner laconi- fically. He had relapsed into his chair, and his pen was already busy with note, and signatures. "The wit of Police-wallah Sahib Macintyre against the principalties of evil! Good-morn- [ingJ' Macintyre walked across the court- house compound to where his horse waited in the shade of a tree. "The man is abnormally quick and acute; that we know from the rapid- ity with which he slips from district to district, and the pertinaclty which he always employ: in fixing upon a profitable victim. ‘He ts brave, too. You remember how he dashed out when Currie had ringed him in the deserted indigoâ€"tactory that was his den for so long? Tore through a cordon of policemen like a. whirlwind â€"right and Left shotsâ€"Currie wing- ed by the first oneâ€"on to the inspector's horseâ€"the impuvdence of the rascallâ€"amd so clear away. But it’s not that which has saved him for two years. \Ve have brave men. and smart men too. No, it's his informa» tion; and there is something most unholy about its accuracy. 0!? all the plane which Joscelyn and I made in strict confidenceâ€"here, air, in my pri- vate office. there was not one for which he szs ever unprepared; and no ‘ matter to what part of the district we arranged to go, Hfira Singh had de- lcamped to another quarter. .He is alâ€" 'ways forewarned. and meanwhile three ; ‘dietricts are the laughing-stock of the “Whe-ew! It’s hot," he said. Then, his brows still knitted over the first subject. "The source of information! That is what must be traced. I don’t like wild-goose chases. There is a leakage somewhere.” ’He rose to and the interview. Mac- intyre stood up too. He opened the door and threw back the shutters. and a rush of choking heat swept into his face. as they are; but,.by George! it‘s fif- teen months since I showed my face at headquarters," Provinces. I‘m not thin-skinned like Trevor and Grigsonâ€"I’m not so young and is not, at home; and I fancy the knowledge is worth something. To proceed. The lady, having taken an apparent fancy to me, never fails to look out wheuI pass and she is in her apartments. But she is away sogmetimes; and her disappearances dove-tail between the conception of “There L3 a stranger woman who lives in the bazaar for no ustansible reason. It is very fortunate that she seems to take a friendly interest in my appearance; it is indiscreet of her, for it atttralcts my autemtion, and it enables me to know; when she is. “Him Singh has an informant in Hamirbugh; his‘kn‘owledge invariably coincides with the extent of our plans, It is somebody who is coguisant, not merely of bazaar rumour, but of the consulations of the power; which means there in a leakage, and the leakage is being tapped. “I would rather not be Him Singh lwhen Macintyre catchas him," said IiFa.ulkntM‘. "He’s raging â€" absolutely 'fouming. Well, so am I; but I can work it off with a little profanity. He shuts his mouth and stews in his own juice. Sorry for him; but we have all ‘had our turn." He lay back luxurious- ;ly, cocked Ihils fleet on to an arm of [the chair, and began to recoup his [energies by timely idleness. order. "I wonder if Martineau's letter has come and what new: the inspector has for met?” {His busy brain began to arrange his thoughts. "Wild~tgoose chases. are no good; I said it at first, and tu-duy's )vork proves me right. Let‘s pul. my conjectures into working The three pairs of eyes saw the policeman settle into the doctor’s sadâ€" dle, with the thoughtful frown which Hira Singh's misdeeds had called forth stamped deep into his forehead. He trotted past the tennisâ€"ground into the avenue of tamarisks that led to the heat and haze of the city. The sais laboured behind him in the rising dust. I ’am not at the and of my tether yet, and I‘ don’t feel like resting. Len-d me your tat to go down on, doc- torâ€"will you? Thanks.” And he was gone. “If you'll excuse me," said Macin. tyre, "I am ,going to run down to kacheri and look through my letters. iwith his escort and his monewbags early yesterday morning. The escort ran; and {Him Singb lightened their employer of all his rupees and every stitch of clothing. After that he marched to Kandua village, locked the village policemen and the elders (he a :godown, and spent the heat of the day fed and gheltered by their property. Of course when our party arrived he had fled.â€"Wh:at is it, Mac- iutyre P" "No; we didn’t.- Flown, as usual, from the scene of his triumph, and left nothing behind him but. :1 wry frigh'- ened old bannha, andâ€"that was our contributionâ€"thirty hot policemen. He cgught the old man ambling along i Indeed, the li'mp and dejected atti- tudes of Faulkner and Macintyre, as they climbed atiffly down from their ponies. wiped their faces. and called for drinks, had no Story of success to tell. They were white with dust and fatigue, and the ponies had sweated to a lather. Faulkner took arevolver out of hilS pocket-as ha sat down, and tossed it viciously on to the floor. They drank their pegs with the haste of thirsty men. " "Ah!" said the doctor sypatheticJ ally. "You didn'tâ€"2" "Look at 'em." said Instill, stooping under the door of the racquet-court, and emerging into the veranda. "There’s your answer." "Thexje they are, Instilll” The doc- tor wriggled into 3 Norfolk jacket, "Now. what d' you bet they caught him at Kandua 2" The doctor threw down his racquet. The highwalled court was stifling. The marker, outlined in the gallery against an evening sky, had taken ad- vantage of a pause to call to the players. He waved towards the com- pound that surrounded the ramshackle court, bath, and billiard-room of the Hamirbagh Club; and they heard the thu-d of boots approaching. . Eech. but the wits of Lauchlan Macintyre have ample work before them!" ’He gathered his reins and trotted up the Lane. "H'm," reflected Macintyre soberly, his Celtic blood a little stirred by the apparition. 'Delilah, and a, splendid creature. Who is ' Samson? Those jewels were bought by a. long purse. Halfcaste apparently. What is she doing in the noisiest, dirtiest quarter of Eamirbaghf There is an incon. gruity, and it must be considered ‘ed. For a few seconds they stared at each other without a movement. Then she flirted her hand with a gesture of Salutation, of defiance, of admiration -â€"it was each and allâ€"the shutter clapped to, and the window was dead again. a lady, having taken an cy to me, never fails to 5111 pass and she is in 1ts. But she is away and her disappearances the conception of The telephone was first practically used in England in 1876, when over 115 miles of wire existed. between London and Norwich, but no telegraph ex- changa was established until 1879. Every one of these cells is a living aningl. But the fat and bone of the body contain none of them. for these are really lifeless substances. On the other hand, the muscles. nerves. heart, lungs, skin, and every living putt con- sists entirely of them. “ The blood brings them ullfood, and curiously, the blood contains a. num- ber of the animalculae you find in ponds, which forage for themselves. jelly which is conitinually sending out feelers for food, and: if it meets with a particle of anything it engulfs it. But in the humun body the masses of jelly are each surrounded by a dense envelope, so that they have no power to put out feelers. They are of dif- ferent shapes in the muscles, lungs, liver, intestines, brain, and elsewhere, and each does a certain part of the body's workâ€"4thut is to say, there is division of labor. Irn other words, our bodies are com- posed of myriads of little masses of protoplasms, called cells, each’ having a distinct and independent life of its own. These cells are really very sim- ilar to the tiny little animnlaculae that one finds in. ponds and in every pool of stagnant water. If you get one one of them under a miscoscope you will see that it is a little mass of jelly which is comtinnally sending out feelers for food, and: if it meets with :1 particle of anything it engulfs it. ell Sclenllsls. 'T‘is rather a creepy piece of new: to hear from the scientists that one's body is not, as most of us think. a single animal, but is actually made up of something like ten millions of mil- lions of animals all Welded together and helping each other to live. Singular Discove Now The inspector, a big, well-groomed Mohammedan, in scarlet turban and khaki uniform, advanced to meet him with some eagerness. “That is very good. Him Singh is a man of high caste; he is also active in acquiring other people’s properties. There‘s the inspsctorâ€"in a hurry, tool” He left the office door open and ran into the courtyard. ! "Martineau? Yes, it's the Delhipost- 'murk. Good man, Martineuu. W'hat news 9” His eye ran over the letter. . . . “Your description tallies lwith that of a young woman. named 'Myra Pereira, a typical member of :1 {Delhi family of long-established dis- : respexztlability1 I believe even her relations have discarded her now: she committed the unforgivable. sin, and disappeared with a highâ€"caste ltriatiVueâ€"sorne one without even the ’thirty-secon-d strain of British engine- ,driver’s blood to brighten his complex- lion. We don’t want her back here, {thank you; she is too greedy of jewels ‘and soft raiment; it’s not good for the probity of her friends. The last was a bank clerk, and he thought a i forged cheque would help to propitiute the goddess. . . . So long.” Macimtyre patted the letter up- Macimtyre pa tted provinglj. see him," he Said to the sentry, and passed on to his office. The room was next door to, and a facsimile of, the collector’s office; it had the same cell-like appearance. the same highw bare walls, the same square window on the lane side. 'A bundle of letters lay upon the table, and he tossed them over and tore open a sealed letter. “At home toâ€"day." He turned into the kacheri compound and dismounted. "Tell the Inspector Sahib I want to He walked the puny down It. The sun was low behind the minarets and houseâ€"tops; its rays slanted over the jostling crowd and its many colours, and it bathed the tall Highlander, white and 00111er as a. god, in golden splendour. The people scattered belore him; the salesmen stopped chattering for a moment; and a woman looked from under a crazy cave, and pushed the shutter wide. She stared across ,the balcony, as she had done a dozen times before, with an undisguised ad- miration to which Macintyre, did not respond. His stolidity piqued her; evidently she . was unaccustomed to contempt: her gesture bebokened amazement that the Scotsman could treat her attention with indifference. Macintyre kept his gaze between the pony’s ears, but he felt the woman crane over as he passed, and he smelt musk through the reek of the bazaar. our plans and Him Singh‘s actions to frustrate them. What better spy can be found than a woman? Then, arguing on that premise, whose offici- al virtue bus aha undermined? "Ifâ€"â€"Well. we shall use. Here-is the lane." FIRST TELEPHONE EVERYONE IS PLURAL. To Be Cohtinued. "mic by Ad vane- up- '37., When Napoleon left Spain in 1809, ‘d I leaving his brother Joseph in posses~ i sioa of Mad-rid, he seemed justified in 3d Lhmking Spain was his. Yet but a 1d 1 few weeks after Justh Bonaparte 111 found that the town of Saragossa still defied Lhe French. The French army invested it, and on January 22 success- fully stormed the walls. Then the real fighting began. Every street was bar- ioaded, every house a fortress, and the French had to fight the Spunlard: ‘7' who Were but peasants led by peas-- am: from street to street, from house to house. For twenty days this went on; are little garrison surrendered on a y February 20, after 30,000 of the in- Pf mutants had perished. ‘ ['1 b‘ebuslopoi was besieged by the ‘r French and English armies for eleven moalhs, commencing OcLuber 17, 1587. to September 9, 1855, but‘ the hard. ships were endured by the besiegers, g not the besieged, who had houses to live in and Z} l- The area of pran is 147,655 square miles. The area. of the Russill Km. pire, 8,644,100 squara mush Since 1842 the population of Eng- land, Scotland and Wales has increas- ed 75 per cent. while Ireland shows a decrease of. nearly K per cent. out [or eighLy-six days, from July 1 Lo Septumber 25, when it was relieved by General Huveluck, while the French garrison. 01f Badujoz, during the Pen- insula War, withstood the British un- der WelliugLon from March 16, to April 6, 1812.. 1 Three of the worst siege: of modern times were of very short duration when compared with Kimberley‘s gal- lant stand of four months. During the Indian Mutiny, Cuwnpure surren- dered to Nan Sahib on June :26. 1857. after a stand of only three weeks. But the surrender was not made by the British, but the native garrison, and so the latter were let go free by Nunzt Sahib, while but three or four Eurupeans mun-aged to escape the butchers of Nana. Sahib, although that prince hard given his Word of honour that the whole garrison should be al‘ luwud l0 dcpul‘t. The siege, of Paris. during the Franco-German war lasted under six mnnlhm. ye! were was more suflariug end'uu‘ed in that time than there was 'duJing the whole period of the siege of Gibraltar. No less than forty ‘Lhousand of the inhabitants died of disease and hunger. Khu.rt0um, which withstood the Mahdi and his hosLs for eleven months from February 18, 1884, to January 2:3. 1885, is unique in that it. was a one- man‘ 51838. General Gordon, save for a few Gieek non-combatant merchants, ‘was Lbe only white man in the town. [n holding the fortress of Plevna during the Russo-Turkish War. from September 7. 1877. to December 10I against the pick of the Russian army the Tunrkish garrison. under Osman Pasha. ACCOMPLlsHED THE IMPOSSIBLE according to both military and medi~ cal experts, For not only did they defy the besieging force when it num- ‘ be'red nearly titty to one against them. but they lived for twelve weeks practically without food. Yet on December 10, after having eaten their last grain of rye, they sallied out; and pluckin tried to cut their way Vthrough the Russians. Luckno For yveeks together over six thou- sand shells were thrown into the town daily. A. curious point about this siege in that the Governor of Gibral- tar, after having done everything he could Lb:ka of to strengthen the for- li.icatiuns, issusd a pros-1.1m [Lion cal- ling on any of Lhezgwrrison who had any schemes to propose to call on him with them, as he did not wish the Rock to fall when by listening but a few minutes to a private individual it might be saved. Although by no means the mm! terrible, the Last siege of Gibraltar. when the rock was held by eBritish garrison] under General Elliott. against the combined effarts of the Spaniards and French from July 5. 1779, to November 25, 1781, holds the recurd as the longest important siege of modern times. The fact that every now and again the garrison were able to add to their provisions by success- ful stories kept Lhum from succumb- ing to hunger, but scurvy claimed nwrly one thousand victims. l-‘lu: Towns, Occupied by [he Brlllsh. la- vntcd by Ike Elm-my Yul" Agoâ€"Incl- denls 0! Tune slcgcx. PREVIDUS GREAT SIEGES. THAT 0F GIBRALTAR WAS THE LONGEST 0N RECORD. PLENTY OF FOOD .v durmg POPULATION LITTLE JAR Lhé same war held