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122 I nodded.

"Well, was n't there a ben Ephraf whom I defeated a few months ago?"

"My brother," I explained.

"Yes, yes!" said the old gentleman. "He sent me a demand for the goblet, but as he did n't explain what he wished it for, of course I considered the message impertinent and refused it. It is n't the gems I care for; but I do insist upon being approached in a proper spirit. I am fond of romance myself, and if you and the Princess care to visit me some time, I 'll show you my jewels. I have barrels of them. I am tired of them—so tired of them that I prefer paste for personal use."

I looked uneasily at the goblet in my hand.

"Oh, that is all genuine," he said. "You are quite welcome to it. But," he added, after a pause, "when you come to the throne, there's a little province that abuts on my dominions, and if you could see the way to transfer it to me—why, favors between friends, you know—"

I begged him to receive the assurances of my wish to oblige him in any reasonable request, and we parted in the best of humor.

"By the way," said he, as he pressed my hand in parting, "that gatekeeper who called you 'boy'—"

"Oh, let it go," I said.

"He has already been beheaded, or something," said the Khan. "I'm sorry, if you would have preferred to forgive him."

"It is of no consequence," I said.

"None whatever," said the Khan good-humoredly. "Good-by."

I returned to the frontier in the Khan's private carriage, and had a pleasant trip back to the palace. Like many other distinguished people, the Khan had been misunderstood.

My meeting with Vanella was joyful, and she received the goblet with exclamations of admiration and gratitude.