“You will be sliced if you are found here,” announced Nor Ghai, with a dimpled smile, half frightened, half amused.
“Sliced! What does that mean, little friend?” I asked.
“You are bound to the plank and the axe begins at your feet and slices you thin until you are dead—and long afterward.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Archie, contemptuously. “We’re not afraid.”
“If you care not to consider yourselves, then consider us,” begged the fair Ko-Tua. “If you are found here we shall be beaten with bamboos upon the soles of our feet and cast into dungeons without food.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, assuringly. “I will not allow the eunuchs to harm you.”
“How can you prevent it?” asked Mai Mou, curiously.
“This is our authority,” I replied, exhibiting the Prince’s ruby ring.
“Oh—h!” sighed Nor Ghai, gliding swiftly toward me. Then she knelt and touched the ring with her rose-bud lips, saying:
“It is his, Mai Mou! It is my brother’s signet, Ko-Tua! We need fear nothing, I am sure.”