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 could not bear it. I … I …" and great tears gathered in her eyes.

Then with sudden impulse, from out the folds of her dress she drew a short dagger and held it towards Hugh.

"Do thou do it," she said, while great sobs choked her throat. "I know that that is what thou wouldst say. Sen-tur has sinned. Sen-tur must die! for perhaps now he might sin again. But I could not kill Sen-tur, for he trusts me, and he would not expect a blow from me."

She was holding the dagger out towards Hugh, while he looked at her, astonished, as I was, by the quick and varying moods of this strange and fascinating girl.

"Do it quickly," she said, "lest I repent; for, believe me, it is not of my own free will that I have asked thee to kill Sen-tur. I would sooner see him kill every one of my slaves," she added naïvely, "than that harm should come to him."

Then, as Hugh would not take the dagger from her, she placed it quietly at his feet, then threw her arms passionately round the panther's neck, while great tears fell from her eyes onto his fur.

"Farewell, Sen-tur, my beauty, my loved one," she whispered. "I know that thou art not afraid to die, for thou, like Neit-akrit, dost long for that glorious land which lies beyond the valley of death. Come back, Sen-tur, to me at nights, and tell me what thou hast seen. Sen-tur is ready, oh, beloved of the gods," she added; "thou needst not. fear, he will not even struggle. Make haste. I wish it."

"Dost really wish me to kill Sen-tur?" asked Hugh at last.

"Yes, really! I wish it."