Page:Frank Owen - The Actress.djvu/91

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BERENICE OF CONSTANTINE
77

damp, unhealthy odor. Save for this the room was empty, absolutely empty! It contained not a jewel, not a precious stone, not as much as a kranbit. Speechless, they gazed upon the empty room in amazement. Slowly the truth dawned upon them. They had loaned their money on this collateral—nothing! Gradually their faces became distorted with hate as they realized their loss, and sudden fury took possession of them. They wanted to wreak their vengeance on some one, but the Pasha was dead.

Then Jeevanjee Kadir voiced the sentiments of all, "We will make the noble locksmith pay dearly for this deed. He hath destroyed emblems sacred to Allah! He hath killed the Pasha! Death to the blasphemer! Death to the defiler of the Prophet!" And the other Musselmans took up the cry and turned in search of the locksmith, but he could not be found, for in the confusion Boyd Anniston had disappeared.