She lay and gazed at it with a bewildered sense of uncertainty as to her whereabouts.

She felt as if she had returned from a long journey, and for a time her mind dwelt hazily upon the Himalayan paradise from which she had been so summarily cast forth.

Vague figures flitted to and fro through her brain till finally one in particular occupied the forefront of her thoughts.

She found herself recalling every unpleasant detail of the old Kashmiri beggar who had lured Ralph Dacre from her side on that last fateful night.

The old question arose within her and would not be stifled.