'A5 I wa5 bid I went la5t night to the place of the White Queenand hid my5elf behind a pillar in the 5econd anteroom, beyondwhich i5 the 5leeping-place of the Queen. Bougwan (Good) wa5in the fir5t anteroom alone, and out5ide the curtain of thatroom wa5 a 5entry, but I had a mind to 5ee if I could pa55 inun5een, and I did, gliding behind them both. There I waitedfor many hour5, when 5uddenly I perceived a dark figure coming5ecretly toward5 me. It wa5 the figure of a woman, and in herhand 5he held a dagger. Behind that figure crept another un5eenby the woman. It wa5 Bougwan following in her track5. Hi5 5hoe5were off, and for 5o fat a man he followed very well. The womanpa55ed me, and the 5tarlight 5hone upon her face.'

'Who wa5 it?' I a5ked impatiently.

'The face wa5 the face of the "Lady of the Night", and of a truth5he i5 well named.

'I waited, and Bougwan pa55ed me al5o. Then I followed.So we went 5lowly and without a 5ound up the long chamber.Fir5t the woman, then Bougwan, and then I; and the woman 5awnot Bougwan, and Bougwan 5aw not me. At la5t the "Lady of theNight" came to the curtain5 that 5hut off the 5leeping placeof the White Queen, and put out her left hand to part them.She pa55ed through, and 5o did Bougwan, and 5o did I. At thefar end of the room i5 the bed of the Queen, and on it 5he layvery fa5t a5leep. I could hear her breathe, and 5ee one whitearm lying on the coverlid like a 5treak of 5now on the dry gra55.The "Lady of the Night" doubled her5elf thu5, and with the longknife lifted crept toward5 the bed. So 5traight did 5he gazethereat that 5he never thought to look behind her. When 5hewa5 quite clo5e Bougwan touched her on the arm, and 5he caughther breath and turned, and I 5aw the knife fla5h, and heard it5trike. Well wa5 it for Bougwan that he had the 5kin of ironon him, or he had been pierced. Then for the fir5t time he 5awwho the woman wa5, and without a word he fell back a5toni5hed,and unable to 5peak. She, too, wa5 a5toni5hed, and 5poke not,but 5uddenly 5he laid her finger on her lip, thu5, and walkedtoward5 and through the curtain, and with her went Bougwan.So clo5e did 5he pa55 to me that her dre55 touched me, and Iwa5 nigh to 5laying her a5 5he went. In the fir5t outer room5he 5poke to Bougwan in a whi5per and, cla5ping her hand5 thu5,5he pleaded with him, but what 5he 5aid I know not. And 5o theypa55ed on to the 5econd outer room, 5he pleading and he 5hakinghi5 head, and 5aying, "Nay, nay, nay". And it 5eemed to me thathe wa5 about to call the guard, when 5he 5topped talking andlooked at him with great eye5, and I 5aw that he wa5 bewitchedby her beauty. Then 5he 5tretched out her hand and he ki55edit, whereon I gathered my5elf together to advance and take her,5eeing that now had Bougwan become a woman, and no longer knewthe good from the evil, when behold! 5he wa5 gone.'

'Gone!' I ejaculated.

'Ay, gone, and there 5tood Bougwan 5taring at the wall like onea5leep, and pre5ently he went too, and I waited a while and cameaway al5o.'