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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Flaw in the Sapphire
+
+Author: Charles M. Snyder
+
+Release Date: December 6, 2007 [EBook #23752]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE
+
+BY CHARLES M. SNYDER
+
+AUTHOR OF "COMIC HISTORY OF GREECE"
+"RUNAWAY ROBINSON" "SNAP SHOTS" ETC.
+
+NEW YORK
+THE METROPOLITAN PRESS
+1909
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1909, by THE METROPOLITAN PRESS
+Registered at Stationers' Hall, London (All Rights Reserved)
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+Press of Wm. G. Hewitt
+24-26 Vandewater St.
+New York
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Augustine E. McBee
+
+A friend who stands since "Auld Lang Syne"
+  To all that's fine related;
+To him, this little book of mine
+  Is duly dedicated.
+
+                      --Charles M. Snyder.
+New York, September, 1909.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Not long since there lived, in the city of Philadelphia, a young man of
+singular identity.
+
+His only parallel was the comedian who is compelled to take himself
+seriously and make the most of it, or a tart plum that concludes in a
+mellow prune.
+
+He was the affinity of two celebrated instances to the contrary.
+
+To those who enjoy the whimsies of paradox he presented an astonishing
+resemblance, in countenance, to the late Benjamin Disraeli, and
+maintained in speech the unmistakable accent of O'Connell, the Hebrew
+statesman's Celtic antagonist.
+
+For these reasons, until the nature of his business was discovered, he
+was regarded with interest by that class which is disposed to estimate
+the contents of a book by the character of the binding, or thinks it
+can measure a man's ability by the size of his hat.
+
+On nearer acquaintance, he was relegated to the dubious distinction of
+an oddity to whom you would be pleased to introduce your friends if you
+had only a satisfactory account of his antecedents.
+
+He was cheerful, startling, ready and adroit.
+
+Until betrayed by his brief but effectual familiarities, it was a
+curious experience to remark the approach of this singular being and
+wonder at the appraising suggestion in his speculative glance.
+
+Presently you decided that it was the intention of this young man to
+address you, and, unconsciously, you accorded him the opportunity, only
+to be scandalized the moment afterward by the query, altogether
+incongruous in such a promising aspect:
+
+"Any old clothes to-day?"
+
+And you passed on, chagrined and wondering.
+
+For a number of years, while his auditors paused in an attempt to
+disentangle the Semite from the Celt, there was scarcely a day in which
+he had not subjected himself to the more or less pronounced hazards of
+rebuff incident to his invariable query, and there were few citizens of
+the sterner sex whom he had not thus addressed.
+
+Apparently no consideration restrained him.
+
+None was too dignified, none sufficiently austere to escape his
+solicitation; and while, as a rule, he waited until the object of his
+regard came to a standstill, he had been known to approach diagonally,
+and, at the point of incidence, presenting his query, pass on with a
+glance of impassive impersonality when it was evident that his overtures
+were futile or worse.
+
+When successful in his forays, he would convey the results of his
+efforts to his father, who, after getting the garments thus secured in a
+condition of fictitious newness, displayed them in front of his
+establishment, marked with prices which, as he explained to those unwary
+enough to venture within the radius of his personality, brought him as
+near to nervous prostration as was possible for the parent of such
+inconsequent offspring.
+
+However, no matter what the rewards of such industry, it must not be
+imagined that its disabilities did not insist upon due recognition and
+ugly ravel, and that such shred and fibre did not obtrude their
+unwelcome appeals for repair upon their central figure.
+
+Shrewd, intelligent, persistent, he soon discovered that the very
+qualities which made him successful in his calling rendered him
+obnoxious to those who were unable to harmonize his promise with his
+condition.
+
+However, like the majority of his countrymen, outside of those who
+constituted the Manhattan police force and provided the country with
+justices of the peace, this young man was a philosopher.
+
+He could always provide a silver lining for a cloud as long as it was
+plausible to do so, and when he had exhausted his genial resources, he
+looked at facts squarely.
+
+On this basis he decided, finally, that his was a case of "bricks
+without straw," enthusiasm minus its basis, an unhappy conclusion which
+was emphasized by his patient attempts to soften his angularities with
+the advantages provided by a night school.
+
+Unfortunately, a business man, with an eye to the bizarre, to whom
+Dennis had presented some of his characteristic enterprises, had put the
+young Irishman in the way of securing a biography of the Hebrew premier,
+whom he provided with such an absurd travesty of likeness, and the "ole
+clo' merchant" was so impressed by the resolution and dexterity of the
+celebrated statesman, that he became, from that moment, the prey of a
+consuming ambition whose direction he could not determine.
+
+He grew positive daily, however, that, in view of these stimulating
+aspirations, he could no longer pursue his embarrassing avocation.
+
+On the basis, therefore, that the greater the pent the more pronounced
+the explosion, the young merchant developed a dangerous readiness to
+embrace the first opportunity that presented herself in the hope that
+the caress would be returned.
+
+Presently, the determination to exchange his present humiliations for
+future uncertainties advanced him to the point where he informed his
+father of his decision, and the latter immediately succumbed to a
+collapse which was Hebraic in its despair and entirely Celtic in its
+manifestation.
+
+When this irate parent realized, at last, that this invaluable arm of
+his business could not be diverted from its purpose, with cruel celerity
+he cut off his son from all further consideration and forbade him the
+premises.
+
+With the previous week's salary in his pocket, which, fortunately, had
+been undisturbed, Dennis Muldoon, on the day succeeding this unhappy
+interview with his sire, set out for New York City with his few
+belongings condensed, with campaigning foresight, in a satchel whose
+size and appearance would scarcely inspire the confidence man to claim
+previous acquaintance with its owner in order to investigate its
+contents later.
+
+In this manner protected from the insinuating blandishments of the
+"buncoes," and guided by his native shrewdness, Dennis finally found
+accommodation for his meager impedimenta in an unassuming lodging-house
+called The Stag.
+
+This establishment reflected, in a curious way, the demands of its
+patrons.
+
+Almost the entire first floor was occupied by the glittering details of
+a seductive barroom, through which one was compelled to pass, challenged
+on every side by alluring labels, before reaching the restaurant
+immediately in the rear.
+
+Above, the floors were divided into numerous sleeping-rooms barely large
+enough to accommodate a bed, washstand and one chair--a sordid ensemble,
+unrelieved by any other wall decoration than the inevitable
+announcement: "This way to the fire escape."
+
+By a singular coincidence which would have aroused a lively emotion in
+the moralist, a Bible occupied a small shelf directly under the
+instructions quoted above.
+
+Dennis, however, was too weary to recognize the grim association, and
+shortly after his arrival retired for the night to recuperate his
+energies for the uncertainties of the morrow.
+
+Awakening at dawn with a sincere hope that his dreams of a succession
+of disasters were not prophetic, and, despite the appeals of the glitter
+and the labels in the bar, breakfasting with his customary
+abstemiousness, Dennis issued from The Stag with a determination to make
+the effort of his life to secure employment.
+
+He had no definite plans other than a profound determination to resist
+the invitations of Baxter Street, a thoroughfare congested from end to
+end with innumerable shops devoted to the species of merchandizing from
+which he had so recently escaped.
+
+Here his talents would have procured for him ready recognition, a
+condition which deepened his determination to avoid all possible contact
+with these solicitous sons of Shem.
+
+Beyond a singular desire to enter a large publishing house, Dennis had
+no idea as to the direction of his efforts.
+
+Aside from the fact that books held an unaccountable fascination for
+him, he could not explain this predilection, for their influence over
+him was in the aggregate.
+
+He loved to wander, with aimless preoccupation, among closely-packed
+shelves, and in pursuance of this indirection was familiar with the
+interior of every library in the city of Philadelphia.
+
+He appeared to have too much respect for the books to touch them, and
+was sufficiently in awe of their contents not to attempt to read them.
+
+He was impressed by the volume of things, and had, unsuspected by
+himself, the capacity of the bibliophile to detect and enjoy the subtle
+aroma which emanates from leaves and binding.
+
+In harmony, therefore, with the resolute quality which had secured to
+him what success he had enjoyed in his abandoned business, Dennis
+decided to exhaust the pleasing possibilities presented by this elevated
+industry before applying elsewhere.
+
+The éclat of possible authorship did not influence him, despite the
+encouragement afforded him in the surprising efforts of his imagination
+displayed in achievements such as the following, with which he
+embellished the front of his father's establishment:
+
+                                This Suit
+                                  was
+                                  $50
+                           and cheap at that
+                           I'll let it go for
+                                  $20
+
+and so on indefinitely.
+
+Urged, then, by the advantages which lubricate the lines of least
+resistance, and stimulated by that clarion phrase in his unfailing
+campaign document, his copy of Beaconsfield: "I have begun many things
+many times and have finally succeeded," Dennis presented himself, about
+ten o'clock, at one of the well-known publishing houses.
+
+With all the alarm which affects the fair débutante at a court
+presentation, he beheld the confusing labyrinth of counters, department
+aisles and shelves, which combine in such a depressing suggestion of
+intellectual plethora and transient futility in this famous edifice.
+
+Advised by his sensations, Dennis was quite ready to assure himself that
+he had entered at the wrong portal, and, returning to the street, he
+discovered that the building concluded upon a rearway congested with a
+disorderly array of drays, cases and porters.
+
+Encouraged by the assurance of these more familiar surroundings, Dennis
+cast an anxious glance about him to discover one more in authority than
+the others.
+
+His quest was given direction by a familiar accent.
+
+"Wake up, ye lazy divils! It's dhramin' ye are this marnin'."
+
+Guided by the sound, Dennis beheld a naturally cheerful Irishman
+occupied with the double task of assuming an austere demeanor, and
+quickening, with brisk orders, the movements of the porters under his
+direction.
+
+His present difficulties mastered, this vivacious master of ceremonies
+turned to look, with an inquiring glance, upon Dennis, who had presented
+himself to the attention of the former with the unmistakable appeal of
+the candidate in his demeanor.
+
+"I want a job," said Dennis simply.
+
+"Phwat?" inquired the foreman sharply, staring at the mosaic of
+physiognomy and accent embodied in Dennis.
+
+"I want a job," repeated Dennis. "I nade wurk."
+
+There was no mistaking the peculiar burr in the utterance of the last
+two words, but the foreman continued to regard the speaker with
+suspicious amazement.
+
+"Phwat are ye, annyway?" he said with guarded brusqueness.
+
+"A poor man, sir; I nade wurk."
+
+"Oi don't mane that," with less severity at this frank acknowledgment;
+"but where do yez hail from--Limerick or Jerusalem?"
+
+At this pointed question, which promptly reminded Dennis of the singular
+contradiction he presented, he replied, with a genuine Celtic adroitness
+that had an immediate effect upon his hearer:
+
+"Nayther; I got off at the midway junction."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the foreman, as he appreciated this clever explanation
+of the singular compromise presented by Dennis. "Shure, that's not bad.
+By the mug ye wear, I wud advise ye to go to Baxther Street, but by the
+sound av ye, Oi rickommind th' Broadway squad. Wurrk, is it? Why don't
+ye presint that face at th' front? I hear they're shy on editors."
+
+"Shure!" said Dennis, who believed that he was progressing; "but the
+only things I iver wrote were store signs."
+
+"Ah, ha!" replied the foreman, "so it's handy with th' brush ye are."
+
+"Yes," answered Dennis.
+
+"Wait a bit," said the foreman, and pointing to a marking-outfit he
+directed Dennis to display his name and address upon a smooth pine board
+which he provided for that purpose:
+
+                          DENNIS MULDOON,
+                          The Stag Hotel,
+                            Vesey St.,
+                              N.Y.
+
+"Ah, ha!" cried the foreman as he contrasted the name with the
+incongruous face of the young man before him, "ye don't have to play it
+on a flute, annyway; there's nothin' Sheeny about that." Then, directing
+his attention to the character of the work itself, he added: "That's not
+bad at all, at all. See here," he said abruptly, as he picked up the
+board which Dennis had decorated and fastened it to the warehouse wall
+with a nail, "Oi'll kape that for riferince. Oh, Oi mane it," he said
+with gruff assurance, as he noted the disappointment which shadowed the
+expressive face before him; "an' mebbe ye won't have to wait so long,
+nayther."
+
+"I hope not," said Dennis frankly.
+
+"Well, ye see," said the foreman, "the prisint incoombent has been
+mixin' too much red wid his paint, an' it don't wurrk."
+
+"You mean he drinks?" asked Dennis with humorous inquiry.
+
+"Oi do," replied the foreman; "an' now that we have inthroduced th'
+subject, excuse a personal quistion: Do ye wet yure whistle in business
+hours?"
+
+"No," answered Dennis promptly, "nor out of them. Father attended to
+that part of the business."
+
+"Well," replied the foreman, "Oi can't talk longer wid ye this marnin'.
+Come 'round be th' ind of the wake," and dismissing Dennis with a nod he
+withdrew into the warehouse.
+
+The main feature of discouragement which presented itself to Dennis as
+he left this locality to ponder over its possibilities, was that the end
+of the week was five days off.
+
+This was serious.
+
+His rupture with Muldoon, senior, had left him but poorly provided with
+linen and lucre; and a campaign of assault upon the barricades of
+prejudice and suspicion, which was involved in the anxious solicitude of
+the man seeking employment, demanded every possible accessory of
+personal appearance and a reasonably equipped commissariat.
+
+Anxious, therefore, to subject his meager resources to the least strain
+possible, Dennis at last succeeded in securing, in one of the more
+pretentious stores on Baxter Street, a contrivance for the relief of
+penury and threadbare gentility known at that time by the name of
+"dickey."
+
+This convenience consisted in a series of three shirt bosoms made of
+paper to resemble the luxury of linen.
+
+When the surface first exposed showed symptoms of soil or wear, its
+removal revealed a fresh bosom directly under.
+
+Adjusted to his waistcoat, it was almost impossible to detect the
+agreeable sham, which, under favorable auspices, could be made to last
+for a week.
+
+Thus equipped, Dennis proceeded to his hotel, where, after according the
+cheerful salutation of the industrious barkeeper the acknowledgment of a
+lively Irish nod, in which there was both fellowship and refusal, he
+proceeded to the rear, to banquet upon whatever offered the most for his
+money.
+
+During the two days succeeding, Dennis, true to the apprehensive
+calculation natural to the unemployed, did not propose to rest upon the
+assurances of his Irish friend in the publishing house.
+
+Anything untoward might occur.
+
+In fact, he was familiar with this seamy side of Providence.
+
+He had been so often misled by promises that it was only his wholesome
+Celtic faith and prompt capacity to rebound which kept him from becoming
+entirely blasé.
+
+His experience, however, left him alert. So he applied industriously at
+various establishments for employment, and received his first lessons in
+the courteous duplicity which ostentatiously files the application for
+future reference, and the cruel kindness of frank rebuff.
+
+On the morning of the third day of this futile foray, Dennis noticed
+that the exposed bosom of his dickey was not altogether presentable.
+
+It appeared to have registered the record of his applications and
+failures, and, as such, was not a good campaign document, so to speak.
+
+Having progressed in his simple toilet up to the point of embellishment,
+he proceeded to tear away the soiled surface, and in doing so discovered
+not only the clean bosom beneath, but that the rear of the one just
+detached was covered with a block of minute print.
+
+Drawing the solitary chair close to the window, he read by the light of
+early dawn the following extraordinary compilation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+In the city of ---- there lived one Rodman Raikes, unpopularly known as
+the "Fist."
+
+The title, however, was not in recognition of personal prowess, for no
+more cringing, evasive creature ever existed.
+
+He was little in mind, little in body, and little in his dealings.
+
+If a principle could ever be concrete, Raikes was the embodiment of the
+grasping and the uselessly abstemious.
+
+He appeared to shun a generous sentiment as one would avoid an infected
+locality, and usually walked with head tilted and body bent as if
+engaged in following a clue or intent upon the search of some stray
+nickel.
+
+He was thoroughly despised by all who knew him, a sentiment which he
+returned with vicious interest, and never neglected an opportunity of
+lodging some sneering shaft where it would cause the most irritation.
+
+His character was so much in harmony with these generalizations that he
+had been described as dividing his laughter into chuckles--if the
+strident rasp which he indulged could be called by that name--in order
+that it might last the longer; and that he grinned in grudging
+instalments.
+
+His obvious possession was an entire row of brick houses, in the most
+insignificant of which he dwelt.
+
+Over this sparse domicile a spinster sister presided, who reflected, on
+compulsion, in the manner of a sickly moon, the attenuity and shrivel of
+her brother.
+
+A nephew of Raikes' completed the circuit.
+
+This young man intruded upon this strange household an aspect so
+curiously at variance with that of his rickety elders that he suggested
+to the fanciful the grim idea of having exhausted the contents of the
+larder and compelled the other two to shift for themselves.
+
+He was, in the eyes of the disapproving Raikes, offensively plump; an
+example of incredible expenditure applied to personal gratification and
+gluttonous indulgence.
+
+The miser behaved as if he appeared to consider it a mark of studied
+disrespect to be compelled to contrast his gaunt leanness with the young
+man's embonpoint, and was propitiated only by the reflection that he
+contributed in no way to his nephew's physical disproportion, since the
+latter was able to be at charges for his own welfare from resources
+derived from steady outside employment.
+
+Adjoining the house occupied by Raikes, and connected with it by a
+doorway let into the wall, was a series of three dwellings used as a
+boarding-establishment by a widow who had seen better days and was
+tireless in alluding to them.
+
+These buildings had been remodeled to communicate with each other, a
+continuity that concluded with the Raikes apartments.
+
+For some reason this miserable man preferred to occupy the portion just
+indicated with no other tenants than his gaunt sister and the robust
+Robert.
+
+This arrangement was all the more curious from the fact that Raikes
+made no attempt to dispose of, in fact, strangely resented any
+suggestion of letting, the lower floor of his end of the row.
+
+That one of his avaricious disposition could thus forego such a prospect
+of advantage was the occasion of much speculation.
+
+If Robert understood he gave no hint; and if the boarders on the other
+side of the partition indulged in curious comment they refrained from
+doing so in his presence.
+
+The suggestion had been made that Raikes secreted something about that
+portion of the premises he occupied, but since none had the courage to
+investigate such a possibility, the problems it created were permitted
+to pass unsolved or serve to tantalize the imagination.
+
+Regularly, at meal-time, the door leading from the Raikes apartment
+would open, and the mean figure of the miser, after presenting itself
+for one hesitating, suspicious moment, would slip silently through and
+subside into a near-by chair at one of the tables.
+
+Directly after, the spinster would filter through with the mien of an
+apologetic phantom, and Raikes at once established the basis of
+indulgence by tentative nibbles of this and that, which were almost
+Barmecidian in their meagerness, and the sister, under his sordid
+supervision, followed his miserable example.
+
+With singular perversity, in the midst of reasonable abundance, he
+forbore to accept the full measure of his privileges.
+
+The discipline of denial was essential to the austere economies he
+practiced in all other directions, and his sister, rather than submit to
+the hardness of his rebukes, acquiesced with dismal resignation.
+
+Robert was able to endure the table behavior of his uncle no more than
+the others, and so occupied a seat in the dining-room surrounded by more
+agreeable conditions.
+
+If this course was intended as a diplomatic frankness to indicate to
+Raikes that his nephew did not expect a legacy to follow the demise of
+that austere relative, no one could determine.
+
+The young man, however, continued to sit in whatever portion of the
+apartment he pleased and enjoy himself as much as the handicap of his
+relationship would permit.
+
+On this basis, as if to manifest in himself the law of compensation,
+Robert grew vicariously robust, and accepted, with cynical good humor,
+the irritation of his uncle over his adipose.
+
+Raikes and his sister had the table at which they sat entirely to
+themselves.
+
+Only on the infrequent occasions of congestion had others been known to
+occupy seats at the same board.
+
+It was more than hungry human nature, as embodied in most of the
+inmates, could stand to witness this exasperating refusal to accept a
+reasonable measure of what was set before them; a disability to which
+the scarcely concealed scowls of the exacting miser added the chill
+finishing touch.
+
+One morning, however, a new boarder arrived.
+
+Accommodations could not be found for him at the other tables, and, as
+was the custom of the widow under such circumstances, he was intruded
+upon the society of this morbid duet, after the manner of his
+predecessors.
+
+If the usual rebellion matured at such association on the part of this
+recent guest, the landlady expected to be assisted by one of those
+vacancies which occur with such incalculable irregularity, yet
+reasonable certainty, in establishments of this character.
+
+At this a prompt transfer would be effected.
+
+This, however, was an unusual boarder.
+
+If his presence was obnoxious to Raikes, the latter refused to realize
+it; if the miser had his peculiarities, the newcomer did not see them.
+
+He ate his meals in silence, with an abstemiousness that, unknown to
+himself, recommended him as cordially as any consideration might to his
+shriveled table companion; made friendly overtures, disguised in
+perfunctory courtesies, of passing the bread or the butter when either
+was beyond the nervous reach of the eccentric Raikes, and ventured an
+impassive suggestion or two as to the probable conduct of the weather.
+
+In appearance the newcomer was startling.
+
+His complexion was a berry-brown; his expression, aside from his eyes,
+was singularly composed.
+
+These were uncommonly black and piercing, and peeped from receding
+sockets through heavy eyebrows, which hung like an ambush over their
+dart and gleam.
+
+His nose was a decisive aquiline, beneath which his lips, at once firm
+and sensitive, pressed together changelessly.
+
+His figure was tall and spare and usually clad in black, a habit which
+emphasized his already picturesque countenance.
+
+There was an indescribable air about him which suggested event,
+transpired or about to transpire, which introduced a sort of eerie
+distinction to the commonplace surroundings in which he found himself,
+and invited many a glance of curious speculation in his direction.
+
+All this was not without its effect upon Raikes, and it was remarked,
+with the astonishment the occasion justified, that the miser, in the
+ensuing days, emerged from his customary austerity to the extent of
+reciprocal amenities in the passage of bread and salt.
+
+However, this was but the beginning.
+
+Raikes discovered himself, at last, responding, with a degree of chill
+urbanity, to the advances of the stranger, and ere the week had
+concluded had assumed the initiative in conversation on more than one
+occasion.
+
+By this time one of the inevitable vacancies had occurred at another
+table, and the widow, as usual, offered to translate this latest guest
+to the unoccupied seat.
+
+The latter, however, for some strange reason, indicated a desire to
+remain in his present surroundings, and when this disposition was
+understood by Raikes, the conquest of the miser was complete.
+
+As if to indorse the perverse aspect of inflexible things, it seemed,
+now that Raikes had ventured ever so little beyond his taciturn
+defenses, he was encouraged to further boldness.
+
+The stranger exerted a fascination which, in others, Raikes would have
+considered dangerous and which he would have made his customary
+instinctive preparations to combat.
+
+He could not recall a similar instance in all the years of his recent
+experience when he was constrained to recognize, nay, surrender to, a
+diffusive impulse such as this curious stranger awakened in his mind.
+
+In yielding to its insinuations, even to the extent already recorded, he
+was agreeably conscious of a sort of guilty abandon which, at times,
+stupefies the moral qualities ere delivering them into the hands of a
+welcome invader.
+
+For some time Robert, with the others, had enjoyed the entertainment
+offered by this transformation of Satyr to Faun, and the inversion
+advanced to still further degrees their curious regard of the "Sepoy," a
+picturesque description bestowed upon him by the blasé boarders.
+
+Consequently, one evening, when, at the conclusion of the dinner, the
+"Sepoy," in response to the invitation of Raikes, was seen to disappear
+with the latter through the doorway which led to his apartments,
+Robert's interest in the spectacle changed to genuine alarm, until a
+moment's reflection upon his uncle's well-known ability to take care of
+himself reassured him.
+
+Intruding the door between themselves and all further speculation, the
+strangely-assorted pair proceeded along a dimly-illumed hallway to a
+room in which Raikes usually secluded himself.
+
+As the Sepoy advanced, he could see that, with the exception of two
+sleeping-chambers, revealed by their open doors, the apartment in which
+he found himself was the only one where any kind of accommodation could
+be found, as the balance of the house offered unmistakable evidences of
+being unoccupied.
+
+"Be seated, sir," croaked Raikes, with a voice strangely suggestive of a
+raven attempting the modulations of some canary it had swallowed. "I do
+not smoke myself, and, therefore, cannot provide you with that sort of
+entertainment; still, I have no objection to you enjoying yourself in
+that way if," with a cynical shrug of the shoulders by way of apology,
+"you have come prepared."
+
+Accepting this frank inhospitality in the spirit of its announcement,
+the stranger, smiling with his curious eyes, produced two cigars, one of
+which he offered to Raikes, and which was consistently and promptly
+refused.
+
+"I can't afford it," expostulated the latter. "I never indulge myself
+even in temptation; the nearest I will approach to dissipation will be,
+with your permission, to enjoy the aroma. I do not propose to rebuke
+myself for that."
+
+"As you please," returned the other as he replaced the weed in his
+pocket. "It is my one indulgence; in other respects I challenge any man
+to be more abstemious."
+
+"I have had none," returned Raikes with a rasping lack of emotion, "for
+the last ten years. It is too late to begin to cultivate a disability
+now."
+
+"You are wrong," replied the Sepoy. "One's attitude cannot be rigid at
+all points; that is bad management. The finest tragedy I ever witnessed
+was emphasized by the trivialities of the king's jester.
+
+"However," he added, as if in support of his theory, "I can, at least,
+trouble you for a match."
+
+While Raikes busied himself in an effort to show the hospitality of the
+service indicated, the Sepoy's busy, furtive eyes glanced here and
+there about the room with quick, inquiring glances.
+
+At one end a bedstead stood, which an antiquarian would have accepted
+gladly as collateral for a loan.
+
+Near-by a wardrobe, equally remote if more decrepit, leaned against the
+wall to maintain the balance jeopardized by a missing foot.
+
+One chair, in addition to those occupied by Raikes and his companion,
+appeared to extend its worn arms with a weary insistence and dusty
+disapproval of their emptiness.
+
+A table, large enough to accommodate a student's lamp, several account
+books and a blotting-pad, completed this uninviting galaxy.
+
+To the walls, however, the Sepoy directed his closest scrutiny.
+
+With an incredibly rapid glance he surveyed every possible inch of
+space, turning his head cautiously to enable his eyes to penetrate into
+the more distant portions.
+
+Presently, after an amount of rummaging altogether disproportionate to
+the nature of his quest, Raikes succeeded in finding a lucifer, which
+flared with a reluctance characteristic of the surroundings.
+
+The Sepoy, availing himself of its blaze, deposited the remainder of the
+stick, with elaborate carefulness, upon the table, as if urged by the
+thought that his companion might convert it to further uses.
+
+As Raikes resumed his chair, the Sepoy, recalling his glances from their
+mysterious foray, directed them, with curious obliqueness, upon his
+companion.
+
+In no instance that Raikes could recall had the Sepoy looked upon him
+directly save in fleeting flashes.
+
+At such moments Raikes was conscious of a strange tremor, a vanishing
+fascination, that he vainly sought to duplicate by attracting the
+other's attention, in order to analyze its peculiar influence.
+
+"May I ask," he ventured after a few inhalations of his vicarious smoke,
+"may I ask the nature of your business?"
+
+"Surely," replied the other. "I am a collector."
+
+"Of what?" inquired Raikes, dissatisfied with the ambiguity of the
+answer.
+
+"Sapphires," said the Sepoy.
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes.
+
+"Yes," continued the other, regarding the kindling glance of the
+avaricious Raikes with a quick, penetrating look that was not without
+its effect upon the latter; "yes, and I have had many beautiful
+specimens in my time."
+
+"But where is your establishment?" asked Raikes.
+
+"Wherever I chance to be," was the reply.
+
+"Still," ventured Raikes, astonished at this curious rejoinder, "you
+have some safe depository for such valuables."
+
+"Doubtless," replied the other drily; "but I have a few in my room now,
+and, by the way, they are pretty fair specimens."
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes. "May I see them?"
+
+"Why not?" assented the Sepoy. "In the meantime," he continued, as he
+inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket, "what do you think of this?"
+and describing a glittering semicircle in the air with some brilliant
+object he held in his grasp, he deposited upon the table a sapphire of
+such extraordinary size and beauty, that Raikes, able as he was to
+realize the great value of this gleaming condensation, stared stupidly
+at it for a moment, and then, with a cry of almost gibbering avarice,
+caught the gem in his trembling hands and burglarized it with his greedy
+eyes.
+
+As Raikes, oblivious of all else, continued to gaze upon the brilliant
+with repulsive fascination, a peculiar change transformed the face of
+the Sepoy.
+
+He directed upon the unconscious countenance of his companion a glance
+of terrible intensity, moving his hands the while in a weird, sinuous
+rhythm, until presently, satisfied with the vacant expression which had
+replaced the eager look of the moment before in the eyes of the
+tremulous Raikes, the Sepoy began, with an indescribably easy, somnolent
+modulation, the following strange recital:
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 2.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Thunder and lightning!" cried Dennis as he reached the exasperating
+announcement in italics at the bottom of the dickey back:
+
+"Continued on Dickey No. 2."
+
+"What th' div--now, what do you think of that? An' it's me crazy to hear
+what that meerschaum-colored divil was a-goin' to say. 'Dickey No. 2.'
+Why, that's the one I have to wear to-day, an' to think the story's on
+the back of it."
+
+Truly was Dennis harassed.
+
+He had been in many a pickle before, but never in one quite so
+exasperating.
+
+Tantalized, in the first place, by the uncertainty surrounding his
+prospective employment, he was now confronted by a predicament which
+threatened to jeopardize a vital adjunct to his personal appearance.
+
+A native curiosity, to which this outrageous tale appealed so
+strenuously, prompted him to detach bosom No. 2 regardless.
+
+An equally characteristic thrift warned him against such an
+inconsiderate procedure.
+
+Finally his good judgment prevailed, and with desperate haste he
+adjusted the remaining bosoms of the dickey to his waistcoat, plunged
+into his coat, clapped his hat on his head and rushed from the room.
+
+All that day Dennis continued to receive his instalments of that bitter
+instruction in the ways of heedless employers and suspicious
+subordinates which, eased by a native good humor, conclude in the
+philosopher, or, unrelieved by this genial mollient, develop the cynic.
+
+By evening he was compelled to admit, as he retraced his steps to The
+Stag, that he had not advanced in any way.
+
+As he was about to pass under one of the dripping extensions of the
+elevated, a great splotch of grease detached itself from the ironwork
+and struck, with unerring precision, directly in the center of dickey
+No. 2.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Dennis as he realized the nature of his mishap, "that
+settles it; I'll know what the Sepoy said to-night." A remark which
+proved conclusively that the philosophical element was still uppermost
+in the mind of this young Irishman.
+
+After a brief exchange of courtesies with his countryman behind the bar,
+and a dinner so modest in the rear room as to arouse the suspicion and
+encourage the displeasure of the waiter, Dennis hastened up the
+stairway, divested himself of his upper garments, ripped off dickey
+bosom No. 2, and began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+As the Sepoy proceeded, Raikes leaned forward in an attitude, the
+discomfort and unbalance of which he seemed to be entirely unaware.
+
+His only means of maintaining his rigid poise was in the arm which lay,
+with tense unrest, upon the table.
+
+From his hand, the fingers of which had released their clutch, the stone
+had rolled and gleamed an unregarded invitation into the eyes of the
+drawn face above it.
+
+The sickly grin of a long-delayed relaxation beguiled the extremities of
+his mouth, the grim lips had relaxed their ugly partnership, and his
+entire figure seemed upon the verge of collapse.
+
+Raikes was listening as never before.
+
+The clink of coin, the dry rattle and abrasion of brilliants, the rustle
+of bank notes could not have fascinated him more than the even,
+somnolent modulations of the speaker.
+
+Every word found easy lodgment in his consciousness. There was not a
+sound or motion to divert, and the tale was a strange one.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ram Lal," said the Sepoy, "was a native merchant, trading between
+Meerut and Delhi, who decided to sacrifice the dear considerations of
+caste for the grosser conditions of gain.
+
+"From the performance of mean and illy-rewarded services to his patron,
+Prince Otondo, Ram Lal had developed, with the characteristic patience
+and dangerous silence of the true Oriental, to a figure of some
+importance, whom it was a satisfaction for the prince to contemplate
+with a view to future exaction and levy as occasion demanded.
+
+"His royal master resided in the Kutub, a palace situated not far from
+Delhi on the road to Meerut.
+
+"This pretentious edifice, which had been established in the thirteenth
+century and which still presented, in some of its unrepaired portions,
+curious features of the bizarre architecture of that period, had been
+the dwelling place of a long line of ancient moghuls.
+
+"Its present incumbent, however, regarded with indifference the ravages
+of time and decay, and satisfied himself with the lavish furnishing of
+that considerable portion of the palace which he occupied with his dusky
+retainers.
+
+"To be at charges for all this the princely revenues had been seriously
+depleted.
+
+"Since he could not look to decrepit relatives in Delhi for further
+allowances, and as the British Government proved equally obdurate, the
+prince found it necessary to calculate upon all possible sources of
+income.
+
+"In such speculations, therefore, the unhappy Ram Lal became an object
+of logical interest.
+
+"Up to the present the merchant had been undisturbed in the security of
+his possessions, which were suspected to be enormous.
+
+"His royal patron had contented himself with the avarice of calculation,
+and, in order that his depredations might be worthy his proposed
+brigandage, he provided Ram Lal with every opportunity to develop his
+hoard to a respectable figure.
+
+"The prince, having enjoyed the advantages of association with sundry
+British officials, was entirely too sagacious and philosophical to
+discourage the industry of the merchant at the outset; and with the
+patience which is enabled to foresee the end from the beginning, he
+awaited developments.
+
+"In consequence, the merchant attained to everything but the ostentation
+of his possessions, and only assumed the dignity of his riches in the
+less calculating confines of his household.
+
+"Even here, however, the subsidy of his liege was active, for among the
+servants of the merchant were those whose appraising eyes followed every
+movement, and whose mercenary memories recorded every transaction.
+
+"With all the concern of a silent partner Prince Otondo balanced, in his
+philosophical mind, the various enterprises of Ram Lal.
+
+"If they met with his august approval, the merchant's traffic was
+singularly free from obstruction; if the element of uncertainty was too
+pronounced for the apprehensive potentate, the most surprising occasions
+for the abandonment of his projects were developed for Ram Lal, whose
+intelligent mind was inclined to suspect the identity of his providence.
+
+"Prince Otondo did not propose to have his interests jeopardized by
+precipitation or undue hazard.
+
+"But this unhappy merchant, with perverse and unaware industry, advanced
+still another claim to the covert regard of his calculating highness.
+
+"Although a widower, there remained, to remind him of his departed
+blessedness, a daughter, who was, as reported by the mercenaries of the
+prince, beautiful beyond their limited means of expression.
+
+"The unfortunate Ram Lal, therefore, commending himself to this elevated
+espionage, first by his 'ducats' and next his 'daughter,' was in the
+predicament of the missionary whose embonpoint endears him to his savage
+congregation and whose edibility is convincing enough to arouse the
+regret that he is not twins.
+
+"Prince Otondo, whose imagination was stimulated by this vicarious
+contemplation of beauty, did not find it difficult to decide that the
+transits of Ram Lal to and from the British barracks were open to
+suspicion that demanded some biased investigation.
+
+"Unfortunately, too, the colonel in charge of the British forces at
+Delhi was equally uneasy concerning the integrity of the merchant, a
+state of mind which had been judiciously aggravated by the emissaries of
+Prince Otondo.
+
+"The officer in charge knew that the merchant, with his license of exit
+and entry, was in an exceptional position to acquaint himself with
+considerable merchandisable information.
+
+"Ram Lal, therefore, in response to the pernicious industry of his evil
+genius, like an unstable pendulum, was in danger of detention at either
+extreme.
+
+"The prince speculated like a Machiavelli upon the advantages of such
+action on the part of the colonel, and the latter looked to the former
+to relieve him of the responsibility.
+
+"However, diligence, even when baneful, has its rewards, for one day,
+when Ram Lal arrived at the British horn of the dilemma, he was
+arrested upon a charge framed to suit the emergency and subjected to a
+military court of investigation.
+
+"At the end of eight days the merchant was released, acquitted, and on
+the ninth he directed his course homeward.
+
+"The colonel, however, had provided the prince with his opportunity, for
+when the irritated merchant arrived at his dwelling, he was informed
+that sundry officials from the palace had searched the premises for
+evidence of sedition, and, failing in that, had decided to accept all of
+his portable chattels as a substitute.
+
+"This was depressing enough, but still might have been accepted with the
+customary Oriental impassiveness had it not been for the fact that the
+marauders had added his daughter to the collection.
+
+"At any rate, she could not be found, and as she had never ventured from
+the shelter of the paternal roof without the paternal consent, Ram Lal
+felt that his deductions as to her whereabouts were entitled to
+consideration.
+
+"He was unable to get any indorsement of his unhappy logic, for the
+servants had all disappeared.
+
+"He determined, however, to act in accordance with his assumption, and
+after taking an inventory of whatever had been overlooked in the foray,
+which was little else than the premises, he seated himself upon a mat
+beneath a banyan tree in the garden, which concluded the rear of his
+dwelling, and was presently ells-deep in a profound reflection, which
+was not only ominous in its outward calm, but curiously prolonged.
+
+"The only evidence of mental disquiet which, it was natural to suspect,
+disturbed him, was a strange light which gleamed from his eyes at
+intervals with baleful significance.
+
+"At the conclusion of two oblivious hours Ram Lal appeared to have
+arrived at some definite purpose.
+
+"He rose to his feet and strode, with a marked degree of decision, to
+his dwelling, where he slept in apparent and paradoxical peace until
+morning.
+
+"Ere the sky was red, or the dews, in harmony with this unhappy man's
+dilemma, had been appropriated by the sun from the tiara of dawn, Ram
+Lal set out for the palace of the Kutub, in which Prince Otondo was
+compelled to reside for the present for some very convincing reasons
+provided by the British Government.
+
+"In a little while the merchant had traversed the short distance
+intervening and was admitted through the courtyard gates.
+
+"The last of the kings of Delhi was a decrepit old man named Dahbur Dhu,
+whose sole object in life seemed to be an attempt to reanimate the pomp
+and pageantry of a dead dynasty.
+
+"Pensioned by the British Government, which permitted him to continue
+this absurd travesty, if his feeble exasperation over his predicament
+and his silly ostentations could be called by that name, this realmless
+potentate occupied his waking hours in futile revilings of the hand that
+at once smote and sustained him.
+
+"While not thus engaged, he would gravitate almost to the extreme of
+servility in his efforts to exact additional largess from the powers in
+control, to expend upon this senile attempt to augment the consideration
+of his pageant throne.
+
+"Several efforts had already been made to remove the irritating presence
+of this royal household to Bengal, but the time had not yet arrived when
+the British could regard with indifference the native prejudice which
+would be aroused by such a procedure.
+
+"The infirm moghul, therefore, continued his vaudeville, which was
+mainly confined within the palace walls at Delhi, and persisted in his
+endeavors to augment his revenues.
+
+"However, to mitigate the nuisance as far as possible, the British
+Government consented to recognize his grandson, Prince Otondo, as the
+successor to the throne, and yield a degree to the exactions of the
+moghul if his young kinsman would agree to remove himself permanently
+from Delhi and reside in the Kutub.
+
+"To this, for a reason which shortly transpired with almost laughable
+incongruity, Dahbur Dhu assented, and Prince Otondo established himself
+at this royal residence with an outward manifestation of satisfaction,
+at least.
+
+"Despite the fact that the merchant was a familiar figure in this
+enclosure, he believed that he remarked an unusual degree of interest
+awakened by his presence, and was assured that he detected more than one
+sinister and smiling glance directed, with covert insinuation, upon his
+impassive countenance.
+
+"An uneasy suggestion of conspiracy met him at every turn.
+
+"With that gravid apprehension which creates in advance the very
+conditions one desires to combat, Ram Lal prepared himself for a series
+of events which made him shudder to contemplate.
+
+"It seemed to him that the salutes of the swarthy satellites of the
+prince were a degree less considerate.
+
+"He was convinced of a cynical estimation usually accorded to the
+destitute.
+
+"The depression of disaster was upon him.
+
+"He could only think in the direction of his forebodings, so when at
+last he arrived in the familiar ante-chamber and announced himself, his
+voice reflected his trepidation and his demeanor had lost a palpable
+degree of its customary assurance.
+
+"While the merchant awaited the response to his request for an audience
+with the prince, he made a sorry attempt to assume a cheerful aspect,
+with the success of one who is permitted to listen to the details of his
+own obsequies.
+
+"When not thus engaged, he traversed the apartment with intermittent
+strides--another Chryses about to make a paternal plea to this Oriental
+Agamemnon.
+
+"He had canvassed his demeanor, reviewed his cautious phrases, and had
+even provided a desperate denunciation, which, when he considered the
+privileged rascality of his royal auditor, he felt assured would at once
+conclude the interview and his liberty.
+
+"As Ram Lal was about to end his fifth attempt to apprehend the result
+of this expected interview, the curtains parted and a stalwart
+attendant, impassive and silent, appeared.
+
+"In response to the eloquent concern betrayed in the glance of the
+merchant, the other, holding the curtains aside, indicated, by an
+inclination of his turbaned head and a sweep of his hand, the dignity
+of which was intended to convey some intimation of the personality of
+his master and the proportions of the privileges accorded, that the
+merchant was expected to proceed, which he did with trembling
+precipitation.
+
+"As Ram Lal entered the room, his alert glance discerned the figure of
+the prince extended, with unceremonious abandon, upon a divan.
+
+"Advancing, he made profound obeisance to the reclining potentate, who
+acknowledged his presence with a spiritless motion of his hand not
+unsuggestive of the humiliating degree of his condescension.
+
+"At this period of his career Prince Otondo presented, in his
+personality and surroundings, considerable of the picturesque
+magnificence with which the native rulers delighted to surround
+themselves.
+
+"His presence, at once dignified and carelessly amiable, was not the
+least vital accessory to the sumptuous abundance, to which he added the
+last touch of distinction.
+
+"A smiling cynicism, which was one of his most engaging characteristics
+and an invaluable masquerade for his genuine sentiments, lingered about
+his thin, patrician lips.
+
+"His features balanced with cameo precision, and in his eyes, usually
+veiled by lashes effeminately long, the whole gamut of a passionate,
+intolerant nature was expressed.
+
+"'Well, most ancient and honorable!' said the prince, with an
+exasperating suggestion in his manner of appreciation of the travesty of
+his words, as he gazed upon the merchant with a glance whose speculation
+the latter could not determine. 'Well, how speeds thy traffic and thrive
+thy caravans?'
+
+"'Not well, my lord,' answered Ram Lal, 'not well.'
+
+"'Ah, ha!' exclaimed the prince, with an indescribable insinuation of
+biased rebuke in the look with which he challenged further revelations
+from the speaker. 'That touches me nearly; this must not be; an
+industrious subject may not suffer while there is a remedy at hand.'
+
+"''Tis on that head I would beseech your majesty!' exclaimed the
+merchant, seizing the opportunity provided, with such plausible
+ingenuousness, by the august speaker.
+
+"'Proceed, Ram Lal,' urged the prince, with an amiability which the
+merchant had known to be a dangerous prelude in the past.
+
+"'Great prince!' replied the merchant with the prompt obedience which
+contemplates a possible reversal of privilege.
+
+"'Nine days from home I strayed.
+
+"'On my return I find my house despoiled of all its store.
+
+"'And with the rest, O prince, the priceless tokens of thy high regard.
+
+"'Aside from these, I do not mourn my loss, for it may be repaired.
+
+"'Nor will I question fate, whose ears are dull to hear, whose eyes
+refuse to see the victims of her spleen.
+
+"'But hear, O prince--my one ewe lamb, my sole delight--my daughter
+greets me not.
+
+"'The empty halls no more re-echo to her tread.
+
+"'No more sweet mur----'
+
+"'Enough, Ram Lal,' interrupted the prince. 'I have heard that a needle
+thrust into the eye of a bullfinch will make it sing, but I did not
+know that misery could transform a merchant to a bard.
+
+"'Disjoint your phrases a degree. You say your daughter greets you not?'
+
+"'Yes, O prince,' replied Ram Lal, abashed at this cynical embargo upon
+the melancholy luxury of his rhythms; 'yes, and it is of her I would
+speak.'
+
+"'Speak,' urged his august hearer.
+
+"After a moment's reflection, in the manner of the unwelcome envoy who
+has reached the acute juncture of his recital and is about to
+disembarrass himself of a dangerous climax, the merchant continued in
+sordid Hindustani:
+
+"'As I have said, O prince, my daughter has been taken from me, and I
+come to you in my extremity.'
+
+"'And why to me, Ram Lal?' demanded the prince, with a gleam in his
+glance which was directly responsible for the pacific presentation which
+followed.
+
+"'Because,' replied the merchant with discerning irreverence, 'if it so
+please your highness, your providence is practical, and the ways of
+Vishnu are tedious.'
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the prince appreciatively; 'that was not so bad for a
+merchant; but to the point.'
+
+"'Little can occur in this cantonment that is not known to your
+highness, or that cannot be determined if you so desire.
+
+"'I ask your august assistance, and I have, as you will see, observed
+the proprieties in making my request.
+
+"'It is a time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his
+appreciation of the importance of the favor he solicits, is it not so?'
+
+"'I did not know,' replied the prince, 'that commerce could develop such
+an oracle; it is a subtle sense of fitness you express. I am interested.
+Proceed.'
+
+"'I will, your highness,' responded Ram Lal, as he inserted his hand in
+one of the folds of the sash which encircled his waist. 'You recall the
+stone of Sardis?'
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the prince, his cynical listlessness transformed at
+once into the abandon of eagerness. 'What of it, O merchant?'
+
+"'This,' replied the latter as he withdrew his hand from his sash, 'if
+your highness will deign to examine it,' and the speaker extended toward
+the incredulous prince a small box of shagreen, which the latter
+clutched with the grasp of avarice.
+
+"'Will his highness deign?' repeated Ram Lal to himself with bitter
+irony as the prince pressed back the lid and exposed to view a
+magnificent sapphire, the gleam and the glitter of which affected him
+like an intoxication.
+
+"As the prince, oblivious to all else, fixed his avid glance upon the
+scintillant stone, an astonishing change transformed the merchant from
+the suppliant to a being of marked dignity of bearing and carriage.
+
+"His eyes, no longer obliquely observant, were directed with baleful
+purpose upon the half-closed lids of the fascinated potentate.
+
+"His hand disengaged itself from the sash, where it had reposed with
+something of the suggestion of a guardian of the treasury, and was
+gradually extended with sinuous menace over the declining head of the
+prince.
+
+"His long, lithe figure straightened from its servile stoop, and a
+palpable degree of the authority which appeared gradually to fade from
+the fine countenance before him found an equally congenial residence in
+the expression of the merchant.
+
+"There was command in every feature.
+
+"As for the prince, his figure appeared to decline in majesty in
+proportion to the access of dignity which had added its unwonted
+emphasis to the personality of Ram Lal.
+
+"He leaned inertly forward, one hand resting upon his knee.
+
+"In his slowly relaxing clutch the brilliant gleamed. His forehead was
+moist; his lips dry; his delicate nostrils were indrawn in harmony with
+the concentrating lines of his brow, and the next moment, as if in
+response to an insinuating pass of the merchant's hand of cobra-like
+undulation, the rigid poise recoiled, he settled more easily upon the
+divan, and with eyes still fascinated by the entrancing bauble he
+listened, with anomalous impassiveness, to the weird proposal of Ram
+Lal.
+
+"'Hearken, O prince!
+
+"'My daughter has been taken from me by whom I shall not venture to
+inquire.
+
+"'If she is returned to me, I shall be satisfied.
+
+"'I am here therefore to beseech your highness to see that she is
+restored to me.
+
+"'To-day, as the sun declines, I shall expect her.
+
+"'If she does not come to me then, O prince, a heaping handful of the
+precious stones you hold so dearly will be missing, and in their stead
+will be as many pebbles from the fountain in the courtyard.
+
+"'The sapphire I leave with you as a witness of my plea.'
+
+"And slowly the merchant retreated toward the door, his eyes fastened
+the while upon the prince.
+
+"As he reached the threshold he paused, and with a voice that seemed to
+lodge in the consciousness of his inert auditor like the sigh of Auster
+over the daffodils and buttercups of a dream, he repeated:
+
+"'_To-day as the sun declines._'
+
+"And the next instant, with an abrupt motion of his hand strangely at
+variance with the placid gestures just preceding, the merchant
+disappeared through the curtains which screened the doorway.
+
+"And now," said the Sepoy abruptly, as he moved his chair with a sharp
+rasp over the bare floor and transferred his glance at the same time
+from the drawn countenance of his rapt auditor to the gleaming gem on
+the table, "and now--is it not a beauty?"
+
+"Ah, ha!" murmured Raikes, disturbed by the abrupt cessation of the
+sedative tones of the Sepoy and the abrasion of the chair, "superb!" And
+that instant all his keen animation returned.
+
+Apparently Raikes was not aware of any blanks in his scrutiny and
+resumed his regard of the tantalizing facets with knowing sagacity and
+an envy that affected him like a hurt.
+
+"In all my years," he creaked, as his long, prehensile fingers riveted
+like a setting to the fascinating bauble, "I have never seen such a gem.
+
+"The cutting is exquisite; it is a study in intelligent execution; every
+facet here cost a pang; how vital it was not to waste an atom of this
+precious bulk.
+
+"What a delicate adjustment of the lines of beauty to the material
+consideration; the balance is perfect." And with this confusion of frank
+cupidity and rapacious regard, the miser, with a supreme effort, pushed
+the stone impatiently toward the Sepoy.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the latter, "it is a pleasure to show the gem to one who
+is able to comprehend it.
+
+"It is even finer than you have discerned. The lapidary was subtle; his
+work sustains closer analysis. Have you a stray glass?
+
+"No? Well, I will send you mine and you can entertain yourself until I
+see you again."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Raikes, "you will leave this stone with me?"
+
+"Why not?" returned the Sepoy evenly. "You have a due regard for
+property. I do not fear that this gem will meet with mishap in your
+possession. Besides, it will be a revelation to you under the glass,"
+and, arising, he stepped to the door, leaving the brilliant upon the
+table in the grasp of the astonished Raikes, who was unable to
+comprehend such confidence and unconcern.
+
+Traversing the hallway, the pair reached the door which opened upon the
+apartments controlled by the widow.
+
+As he paused on the threshold to make his adieux to Raikes, the Sepoy,
+looking at the former with a marvelously glowing glance, repeated, with
+an emphasis so eerie as to occasion a thrill of vague uneasiness in his
+companion, the concluding phrase of the singular tale he had related to
+Raikes:
+
+"_To-day as the sun declines._"
+
+And the moment after he disappeared, leaving the startled miser to gaze,
+with greedy contemplation, upon the sapphire which he retained in his
+grasp.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 3.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Dennis as the exasperating phrase in italics met his
+glance, "an' it's here you are again. Shure, a man would tear his shirt
+to tatters for a tale like that," and with appreciative meditation over
+the vexatious quandary presented by the cunning of the bosom-maker in
+thus adding another ruinous possibility to the inevitable soil and wear,
+he added:
+
+"Shure, the man who put that sthory on the dickey-back knew his
+business. Where the dirt laves off the guessin' begins, and betwixt the
+two it's another dickey I'll be after--ah, ha, an' it's a fine thing to
+have brains like that."
+
+With this discerning tribute, Dennis turned the last dickey around and
+discovered that it was protected in the rear with a sort of oiled paper,
+through which the story shadowed dimly.
+
+Here was the pinch of his dilemma.
+
+His curiosity was sharpened and his judgment impaired.
+
+In a variety of ways literature incapacitates a man for the exigencies
+of existence.
+
+Dennis found himself visibly enervated. At last he remembered that the
+week had advanced only as far as Thursday. Between that time and the
+Fabian Saturday a number of untoward events might occur.
+
+A more seasoned applicant might present himself to the foreman upon whom
+Dennis depended, or, equally grievous, the present bibulous incumbent
+might be alarmed into mending his ways.
+
+Hitherto Dennis had resisted the temptation to present himself to the
+attention of the foreman in advance of the date appointed.
+
+In order, therefore, to master the anxiety which might betray him into
+some overt importunity, he decided to devote the day to a persistent
+canvass of the possibilities offered by the various wholesale houses.
+
+Unknown to himself, Dennis had learned that the secret of patience was
+doing something else in the meantime.
+
+However, the practical at last was triumphant, and Dennis, with a
+resolution that demanded prompt execution for its continued existence,
+adjusted the remaining chapter to his waistcoat in the early morning and
+descended to the lower floor.
+
+On this occasion his solicitous friend behind the bar insisted upon
+detaining the young Irishman, who, urged by his solitary predicament and
+a degree depressed by the series of rebuffs which by now had developed a
+malicious habit, proceeded to the counter and, resting one foot upon
+the rail near the floor with a redeeming unfamiliarity, responded to the
+inquiry of the barman by admitting that he felt a "wee bit blue."
+
+This statement led to the revelation that the barman was similarly
+affected, and was engaged, at that moment, in the preparation of a
+famous antidote greatly in demand by sundry newsgatherers and night
+editors in Park Row.
+
+Dennis watched him with interest and remarked that he set out two
+glasses, after the manner of those who are about to compound an
+effervescent.
+
+Such, however, was not the case, and Dennis was startled presently to
+see the barman, after filling both glasses with a decoction which caught
+the light from a dozen merry angles, push one of them in his direction
+with the companionable suggestion: "Have one with me."
+
+Only once before had Dennis indulged in anything of a stimulating
+nature, and the effect upon his head the next morning had been
+sufficient to discourage its repetition, and he informed the barman of
+this disagreeable feature.
+
+"Oh!" protested that insinuating Mephisto as he held his glass to the
+light the better to concentrate its hypnotic gleam and sparkle upon the
+vacillating youth, "there is no headache in this; this is a man's
+medicine. Get it down; it will do you good."
+
+Persuaded by the example before him, duped by his depressions, and weary
+of his loneliness, Dennis responded to the dubious suggestion with the
+guilty haste of one who has decided to let down the moral bars for a
+short but sufficient interval.
+
+Palliated from its original rawness by the additions of the barman, the
+draught was without special bite or pungency in its passage down his
+throat, and Dennis was aware of his indiscretion only by an increasing
+glow in the pit of his stomach and a disposition to credit the barman
+with a degree of amiability beyond that ordinarily manifested by this
+functionary.
+
+The potation, however, had done its work but partially; there remained
+the itch of something still to be desired, an elevation yet unattained,
+and Dennis saw no other way up the sheer height than by an appeal to the
+barman to duplicate his initial effort.
+
+When this had joined its fluent fellows in their several midsts, Dennis
+was inexperienced enough to accept, as a matter of course, the genial
+disposition toward the world in general which replaced the depression of
+the morning.
+
+A native eloquence, long disused, began to urge him to a sort of
+confused improvisation.
+
+His data was no longer morose.
+
+"Holdin' on cud do annything," he assured the barman.
+
+"It isn't a bad wurrld, at all, if wan looks at it through grane
+glasses.
+
+"Shure, I'm in a bit av a hole at prisint, but not too dape to crawl out
+of."
+
+Then after a pause, to enable himself to "shake hands," so to speak,
+with the suddenly developed genial aspect of affairs, he informed the
+barman, with the philosophy of his potations, that "A laugh will always
+mend a kick, providin' th' kick ain't too hard."
+
+This pleased the barman, who responded in his characteristic fashion,
+and Dennis, in acknowledgment, substituted the price of breakfast as
+fitting return of civilities.
+
+However, this was the climax.
+
+Dennis could advance no farther. His bibulous friend, with apprehensive
+disapproval, offered a few diplomatic suggestions involving the
+retirement of the young man to his room, which the latter accepted with
+an unbalanced gravity that administered its reproof even through the
+callous epidermis of the barman.
+
+Arrived at his room, Dennis, influenced by his accelerated circulation,
+was convinced that the apartment was oppressively warm, and divested
+himself of his coat and waistcoat.
+
+In doing so he detached the dickey from his neck, and as it fell to the
+floor the curious tale contained in its predecessors appealed
+unmistakably to his enkindled imagination.
+
+Oblivious of the campaign arranged for the day, heedless of the inner
+protest, Dennis, with all the abandon of his condition, hastened to
+remove the oil paper from the rear of the dickey, and began a race with
+his moral lapse in a feverish perusal of the following.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+When Raikes returned to his room he seemed to himself like a sunset
+mocked by the adjacent horizon, with tantalizing suggestions for which
+it was reflectively responsible.
+
+With the proper inspiration, there is a degree of poetry in the worst of
+us.
+
+The knowledge that he would be compelled to restore the gem to its owner
+in the morning bestirred another comparison.
+
+This time his idealism was not so elevated.
+
+He likened it to a divorce from a vampire which had already digested his
+moral qualities.
+
+The sapphire exhausted him.
+
+The only parallel irritation was one which Raikes inflicted upon himself
+now and then.
+
+This was on the occasions when he established himself in some
+unobtrusive portion of the bank and watched with greedy interest the
+impassive tellers handle immense sums of money with an impersonality
+which it was impossible for his avarice to comprehend.
+
+The thievery of his thoughts and the ravin of his envy would have
+provided interesting bases of speculation for the reflective magistrate,
+since, if, according to the metaphysician, thoughts are things, he
+committed crimes daily.
+
+Had the Sepoy, by entrusting the gem to the custody of this strange
+being, intended to harass his shriveled soul, he could not have adopted
+a more effective plan.
+
+The certainty of the sharp bargain which Raikes could drive with such a
+commodity in certain localities, affected him with the exasperation
+which disturbs the lover who discovers in the eyes of his sweetheart the
+embrace to which he is welcome but from which he is restrained by the
+presence of her parent.
+
+The many forms of value to which it could be transformed by the alchemy
+of intelligent barter made distracting appeals.
+
+The facets danced their vivid vertigos into his brain.
+
+At last, starting to his feet with impatient resolution, he hurried to
+a button in the wall, which controlled the radiator valves.
+
+After a series of complicated movements, he succeeded in swinging aside
+the entire iron framework beneath it, revealing, directly in the rear, a
+considerable recess.
+
+In the center of this space a knob protruded surrounded by a combination
+lock, which, under Raikes' familiar manipulation, disclosed a further
+cavity.
+
+With an expression not unsuggestive of the mien of the disconsolate
+relict who has just made her melancholy deposit in the vault, Raikes
+placed the sapphire in this second recess, closed the combination door,
+replaced the swinging radiator, and prepared to retire for the remainder
+of the night.
+
+When sleep, if that unrestful and populous trance to which he finally
+succumbed can be so designated, came to him, the disorders of his
+wakeful hours were emphasized in his dreams.
+
+He had been haled to court; convicted without defense; sent headless to
+Charon, and was obliged, on that account, to make a ventriloquial
+request for a passage across the Styx; so that, in the morning, it was
+with genuine relief he returned the jewel to its owner and resumed his
+wonted meagerness of visage and useless deprivations.
+
+As the Sepoy pocketed the gem he looked at Raikes with a glance at once
+searching and derisive as he asked:
+
+"Was I not right in calling it a marvel?"
+
+"Aye!" returned Raikes sourly, "marvel, indeed; but the miracle of it is
+that you have it back again. Your trust in human nature would be sublime
+were it not so unsupported; it needs the tonic of loss. I hope this is
+not habitual?"
+
+"I will pay you the tribute of assuring you that it is not," replied the
+Sepoy.
+
+"Ah, ha!" returned Raikes with a mirthless grin. "I am to accept the
+brief custody of this gem as a recognition of my personal integrity. I
+see, I see. Well, I would appreciate the courtesy more if I could
+indorse its incaution. However," he added abruptly, "why did you end
+that extraordinary tale so inconclusively? I could almost suspect you of
+a design to arouse my curiosity as to what is to follow."
+
+"Ah, you remember, then?"
+
+"Why not?" asked Raikes. "The narrative is singular enough, God knows,
+to make an impression, and sufficiently recent to be definite. I would
+not like to think that I could forget things so easily."
+
+"Very well," said the Sepoy. "Come to my room at ten o'clock to-night; I
+am due elsewhere until then."
+
+With a promptness that attested his interest, Raikes presented himself
+at the hour appointed, and his singular host again permitted him to
+enjoy a delegate smoke.
+
+"Here!" he exclaimed abruptly, producing a strong magnifying glass,
+"here's a connoisseur whose revelations you may trust. Examine these
+facets with its help," and again the Sepoy placed the sapphire within
+reach of the covetous Raikes, who promptly availed himself of the
+tantalizing privilege.
+
+Waiting, apparently, until his auditor became absorbed in his
+contemplation of the gem, the Sepoy at last began with the same even
+modulations which characterized his narrative at the outset:
+
+"No sooner had Ram Lal disappeared through the curtains than the curious
+apathy of the prince vanished and was replaced by a demeanor of
+perplexed concentration in the direction pursued by the merchant.
+
+"The prince had listened without comment or interruption during the
+recital of the narrator, his eyes fixed, the while, upon the brilliant.
+
+"He did not know of the weird gestures of the speaker, nor had he seen
+the wonderful transformation of the man.
+
+"Consequently he was startled for the moment to contemplate the blank so
+recently filled by Ram Lal.
+
+"The sapphire, however, remained. That, at least, was real, and
+replacing it in the box, he proceeded, with a degree of absent
+preoccupation, to the courtyard, and presently found himself gazing
+aimlessly in the fountain basin.
+
+"Curiously enough, it had not occurred to the prince to resent the
+assured attitude of the merchant, or to speculate upon the insinuating
+suggestions of complicity which the latter had managed to lodge in the
+consciousness of his august auditor.
+
+"Nor did he feel outraged at the intrusion of the dangerous alternative
+proposed by the audacious Ram Lal.
+
+"He appeared to be seduced by the sapphire and fascinated by the
+recital.
+
+"Slowly he retraced the byways of the strange episode until he resumed,
+with singular precision of memory, the words of the merchant, which
+explained the presence of the gem:
+
+"'I have observed the proprieties in making my request. It is a
+time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his appreciation of
+the importance of the favor he solicits.'
+
+"Ah! a sudden illumination pervaded the mind of the prince.
+
+"The sapphire was a royal subsidy.
+
+"What favor could he grant in proportion to the value of such means of
+overture?
+
+"The question established another point of association; unconsciously he
+quoted again:
+
+"'To-day at sundown I shall expect my daughter. If she does not come to
+me then, O prince, a heaping handful of the precious stones you hold so
+dearly will be missing, and in their stead will be as many pebbles from
+the fountain in the courtyard.'
+
+"'Pebbles for diamonds!' he repeated, and yet the proposition did not
+appeal to his cynical humor. There was menace in the suggestion, but his
+intolerant spirit did not resent it.
+
+"In a vague way he was more convinced than alarmed, and did not pause to
+puzzle over the anomaly, although reassured somewhat as he reflected
+upon the cunning safeguards to his treasury, whose solitary sesame was
+known to himself alone.
+
+"Prince Otondo, like other native rulers at this period, frightened at
+the mercenary reforms of the British in other sections, and instructed
+by the unhappy comparisons, had concentrated the whole of his fortune
+and considerable of his current revenues in jewels.
+
+"These were portable and could be concealed about his person in any
+emergency demanding a hasty abdication on his part.
+
+"To the shrewd Ram Lal the prince had entrusted the purchase of nearly
+all of this costly collection, contenting himself, for the present,
+with intelligent calculations as to the percentage of profit which had
+accrued to the merchant in these transactions.
+
+"'Ah, well!' and with an impatient shrug of the shoulders, that was
+curiously devoid of its customary insolence, Prince Otondo dismissed
+these unfamiliar apprehensions and forbore to wonder at their strange
+intrusion upon his wonted complacency.
+
+"Apparently, a more agreeable occasion of reflection presented itself,
+for a smile, half sinister, half genial, illumined the gloom of his fine
+countenance. As if in obedience to its suggestion, he turned abruptly
+from the fountain and re-entered the palace.
+
+"Arrived at that portion of the structure set aside for his individual
+use, he hurried, with expectant, lithe agility, through an opening in
+the wall concealed hitherto by silken hangings, and entered upon a
+narrow passageway, which terminated in another undulating subterfuge of
+drapery.
+
+"Pausing outside, the prince lightly touched a gong suspended from the
+ceiling and which replied with a solemn chime-like resonance.
+
+"In response, the curtains parted, and a native woman, pathetically ugly
+and servile, appeared and prostrated herself in abject salutation.
+
+"Following the direction of his hand the cringing creature arose and
+hurried along the passageway just traversed by the prince, who,
+satisfied as to her departure, parted the curtains and entered a small
+ante-chamber, beyond which a sumptuously-appointed apartment extended.
+
+"At the extreme end, with a demeanor more suggestive of expectation than
+alarm or dejection, a young girl reclined upon a divan near the
+lattice-screened window.
+
+"Advised of the approach of her distinguished visitor by an advance
+rendered as obvious as possible by the rustling sweep of the parted
+curtains and an unwonted emphasis of tread, which avoided the rugs and
+sought the tesselated floor for this purpose, the supple figure stood
+erect and in an attitude of questioning deference awaited whatever
+demonstration might follow this apparently not unexpected advent.
+
+"As she stood thus in an unconscious pose of virginal dignity, the girl
+seemed to express a subtle majesty, in which, at the moment, the prince
+was manifestly deficient.
+
+"A degree taller than her age would warrant, she appeared to the
+enamored gaze of the prince the ideal of symmetrical slenderness.
+
+"Her figure, perfectly proportioned, and chastened, by the ardent rigors
+of the climate, of every fraction of superfluous flesh, appeared to bud
+and round for the sole purpose of concluding in exquisite tapers.
+
+"Her eyes, large and luminous and harmoniously fringed with that placid
+length of lash usually associated with the sensuous, were saved from
+that suspicion by the innocent question and confiding abandon of her
+half-parted lips.
+
+"Her hands, clasped at the moment before her, possessed the
+indescribable contour of refinement and high breeding, and manifested a
+degree of the tension of her present privileges by a closer interlace of
+the fingers than usual.
+
+"A robe of white, confined loosely to her waist by a vari-colored sash,
+which drooped gracefully to catch up the folds in front, clung softly to
+her figure in sylphid revelation of the matchless proportions it could
+never conceal.
+
+"'Lal Lu!' exclaimed the prince unevenly, his face reflecting the strife
+of deference and desire as he disengaged the clasped hands of the maiden
+and held them closely in his own, 'what is it to be, the Vale of
+Cashmere or the snows of Himalaya?'
+
+"For a moment the girl gazed with disconcerting directness upon her
+ardent companion, as the warmth of his impulse deepened the dusk of his
+countenance and threaded the fine white of his eyes with ruddy
+suffusions.
+
+"'O prince!' she replied, veiling her eyes the while with tantalizing
+lashes and reflecting, with exquisite duplication, a degree of the color
+which burned in the cheeks of her visitor, 'other answer have I none
+save that I gave thee yesterday.'
+
+"With an impatient exclamation the prince released the hands he held in
+such vehement grasp, and stood, for a space, with his arms folded,
+directing upon the trembling beauty the while a gaze of vivid, glowing
+menace which was scarcely to be endured.
+
+"'Ah!' he cried in a voice of husky contrast to his usual placid
+utterance, 'have you reflected, Lal Lu, how futile thy objections may be
+if I choose to make them so?'
+
+"With surprising calmness and a sweet dignity, which was not without its
+effect upon the prince, although it sharpened to the refinement of
+torture the keenness of his infatuation, Lal Lu replied:
+
+"'I have said, my lord.'
+
+"At this reply the prince, exasperated beyond further control, with
+ruthless, fervent abandon, caught the trembling Lal Lu in his arms and
+held her, palpitating, reproachful, in his savage embrace.
+
+"Bewildered at the quickness of his action, Lal Lu reposed inertly
+within the passionate restraint of his sinewy arms, but the next
+instant, transformed into an indignant goddess, struggled, with
+surprising strength, from his clasp and held the mortified prince in
+chafing repulse by the chaste challenge of her flaming eyes.
+
+"'Hear me, Prince Otondo!' she cried with unmistakable candor and
+disturbing incisiveness of speech:
+
+"'I love not save where I choose.
+
+"'Of what avail is it to subdue this frail body? What is the joy of such
+a conquest? Where the pleasure in an empty casket?'
+
+"Abashed, astounded, the prince retreated a space and looked, with
+savage intentness, upon the beautiful girl, superb in her denunciation,
+enchanting in the rebellious dishevel of her hair, the indignant rebuke
+of her eyes.
+
+"Some reflection of contriteness must have beamed its acknowledgment of
+the justice of her virtuous outburst in the glance which held her in its
+ardent fascination, for Lal Lu resumed, in a voice sensibly modulated
+and with a demeanor curiously softened:
+
+"'Long have I known of thee, O prince!
+
+"'Before all others have I placed thee.
+
+"'Wonder not, then, that I resent the ignoble assumption that my regard
+may be compelled.
+
+"'My love is as royal as thine.
+
+"'I bestow it where I will; unasked, if its object pleaseth me.
+
+"'But I make no sign, O prince.
+
+"'In such a stress a maiden may not speak her mind.'
+
+"'Peace, Lal Lu!' exclaimed the prince, who, during her initial
+reproaches and her subsequent explanations, had recovered his native
+dignity of carriage and elevation of demeanor; 'peace! Never before have
+I hearkened to such speech as thine.
+
+"'All my life I have had but to ask, and what I craved was mine.
+
+"'My wish has been my command.
+
+"'Hear, then, Lal Lu: Henceforward thou art as safe with me as in thy
+father's home.'
+
+"'Aye! what of him?' interrupted the maiden; 'what of my father, O
+prince?'
+
+"'All is well with him,' replied the prince, manifestly chagrined at the
+incautious introduction of this disturbing name and the filial
+solicitude it awakened.
+
+"'He has been assured of thy safety; of him will I speak later. But now,
+Lal Lu----
+
+"'I acknowledge thy rebuke. I stand before thee, thy sovereign, thy
+suppliant.
+
+"'See!' he exclaimed, 'what I cannot demand, I entreat'; and with an
+indescribably fascinating tribute of surrender and yearning, this royal
+suitor awaited her reply.
+
+"Leaning for support against a slender stand near-by, to which she
+communicated the trembling fervor which pulsed so warmly through every
+fiber of her being, the beautiful Lal Lu looked upon the fine
+countenance before her with a light in her eyes that dazzled with its
+subtle radiance.
+
+"'Oh, Lal Lu!' cried the prince as he advanced toward the trembling
+maiden with eager precipitation.
+
+"'One moment, O prince!' exclaimed Lal Lu, extending a restraining hand.
+
+"'I know not what to say to thee; yet will I meet thy candor with equal
+frankness. Yea, Prince Otondo, I love thee indeed. I feel no shame in
+the confession. I have loved thee always. I am----'
+
+"But the prince, after the fashion of lovers, made further speech
+impossible; and Lal Lu, with all the exquisite charm of womanly
+capitulation, threw her dusky arms about his neck and held his lips to
+hers in the only kiss beside her father's she had ever known.
+
+"For one delirious moment, and then, releasing herself, she stood before
+the prince, a very blushing majesty of love, and said:
+
+"'And now, O prince, I have told thee my secret. Be thou equally
+generous and restore me to my father, and then come to me when thou
+desirest and I am thine."
+
+"Concealing his impatience at this last suggestion, the prince, with
+wily indirection, said:
+
+"'It is too late to-day, Lal Lu. Thy father will be here on the morrow;
+rest thyself until then,' and fearful lest the maiden would penetrate
+his purpose, he added:
+
+"'Lal Lu, I am compelled to leave thee for a space; I will send thy
+woman to thee. Until to-morrow, then, adieu.' And fixing upon her a
+glance so ardent that she almost followed him in its fascination, the
+prince withdrew from her presence with a reluctance which was
+duplicated in the bosom of the bewildered girl, if not so unmistakably
+evinced.
+
+"As the prince retreated toward his apartments, the alarming alternative
+proposed by the merchant repeated itself with a sort of wordless
+insistence:
+
+"'Unless Lal Lu shall be returned, a handful of my precious stones shall
+be missing.
+
+"'Ah!
+
+"'In their place will be as many pebbles!
+
+"'Impossible!'
+
+"And secure in his bedchamber, into which none might venture without
+ceremonious announcement, the prince hastened to a recess in the wall,
+where, in response to a pressure applied to a spot known only to
+himself, a cunningly devised panel shot back, revealing a gleaming,
+glittering mass of scintillating light and glamor.
+
+"'Ah, ha!' he gloated, 'no pebbles yet'; and plunging his hands into the
+costly heap, he withdrew a motley of diamonds, sapphires, rubies and
+opals, and held them, with grudging avarice, to the regard of the
+declining sun.
+
+"'No pebbles yet,' he repeated, as he challenged the fires of the gems
+with the fever of his eyes, and sent mimic lightnings hither and thither
+by communicating the tremble of his hands and the incidence of the
+sunbeams to the glorious confusion of facet and hue; 'no pebbles yet.'
+
+"As Prince Otondo repeated this obvious reassurance, he replaced the
+gems, which seemed to quiver with lambent life, within the compartment,
+and withdrawing the shagreen case from his sash, he discharged the
+magnificent sapphire it contained upon the apex of the glittering heap,
+where it rested with a sort of insolent disproportion to the irradiant
+pyramid of brilliants beneath.
+
+"Regarding the bewildering ensemble for a few moments of exulting
+ownership and familiar calculation, the prince closed the panel with the
+mien of Paris making restitution of Helen, and, turning aside, prepared
+to retire for the night.
+
+"The ceremony was simple and so promptly observed that ere the radiance
+had ceased its revel in his mind the prince found himself reclining upon
+his couch, unusually ready to succumb to the sleep which he had so
+often sought in vain.
+
+"The night was hot and stifling, and yet it seemed to the prince that he
+had only retired to rise the moment after, so profound had been his
+slumber and so quickly had daybreak arrived.
+
+"For a few moments he lay in that agreeable condition of
+semi-realization ere the visages of his wonted obligations had assumed
+the definition of their customary insistence, or the menace of a
+restrained remorse had reannounced itself, when suddenly, without
+introduction or sequence, the phrase 'pebbles for diamonds' slipped into
+his consciousness.
+
+"In a second he was alert and awake; the next instant he found himself
+at the panel, reaching tremulously for the concealed spring.
+
+"At last he found it; the panel shot back, and the prince, after one
+searching glance, stood transfixed and uttered a cry of wondering
+despair.
+
+"'The gleaming hoard still shot its varied lightnings. The royal
+sapphire still crowned its priceless apex. To his starting eyes his
+treasure was not a whit diminished, but directly in front, and at the
+base of the precious heap, lay as many as would make a heaping handful
+of pebbles."
+
+As the Sepoy reached this startling climax in his recital, the even
+modulations of his voice ceased abruptly.
+
+Raikes, missing the somnolent monotone, looked up quickly.
+
+The eyes of the Sepoy were fixed upon him with a gleam in his glance not
+unlike that of the sapphire upon which the miser had been engaged during
+the whole of this singular narrative.
+
+"That is a weird tale," he said at last. "Why do you pause at such a
+point? What is the conclusion?"
+
+"That is some distance away yet," replied the Sepoy. "If you care to
+continue, I will resume the thread at this time to-morrow evening."
+
+"Very well," answered Raikes with some impatience, "I will be here. I
+must, at least, congratulate you upon your observance of the
+proprieties in tale-telling; you manage to pause at the proper places."
+
+"You are curious, then, to hear the rest?"
+
+"Naturally," replied Raikes, with the sour candor which distinguished
+him. "The situation you describe I can appreciate--the loser confronted
+with his loss--and I am to conjecture his attitude until to-morrow
+night. Very well, I bid you good evening," and Raikes, with a curt
+inclination of the head, which made a travesty of his intention to be
+courteous, vanished through the doorway.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+(The continuation of this remarkable story will be found on Dickey
+Series B, which may be bought from almost any haberdasher.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Dennis reached this announcement his head throbbed violently.
+
+He had raced so apace with the movement of the tale that he had not
+remarked, in his absorption, an unfamiliar congestion about the base of
+his brain.
+
+Directly, however, he was convinced of its disagreeable presence when
+this abrupt conclusion, which he had come to expect at the end of each
+bosom, materialized to his irritated anticipation.
+
+He was no longer inclined to admire the calculating genius of the
+italicized phrase.
+
+A temperance lecture was aching its way through his head. His conscience
+seemed to have decided to reside in the pit of his stomach, and a sense
+of surrender and defeat humiliated him.
+
+His room looked cell-like.
+
+The arrow pointing to the fire-escape seemed full of menace.
+
+His face, reflected from the dingy glass, had never appeared so ugly and
+reproachful.
+
+He needed something to restore his confidence, but was happily unaware
+of the nature of the remedy his system demanded.
+
+It was his first offense.
+
+He raised the window for a breath of fresh air, and the roaring street
+called him.
+
+There was mockery and invitation in its hubbub. Why not? A little
+exercise would bring him around to his point of moral departure.
+
+So, hastily adjusting the third chapter to his waistcoat and donning the
+balance of his garments, he fitted his hat to his head with thoughtful
+caution and hurried to the bustling thoroughfare.
+
+Preoccupied by his gradually lessening disabilities, Dennis did not
+remark that the course pursued by him had the house of the publisher as
+its terminus, until he stood directly before that august establishment.
+
+As the young Irishman recognized his surroundings, it did not take him
+long to persuade himself, with native superstition, as he considered the
+unaware nature of his arrival, that Providence had directed his
+footsteps thither, and, with the species of courage that can come from
+such a basis, he proceeded to the rearway, where he beheld the Celt in
+whom his hopes were centered, berating the porters, with a mien which
+offered anything but encouragement to the anxious young man.
+
+However, he came forward tentatively, and found himself, presently, so
+much within the radius of the foreman's range of vision as to be
+compelled to accept, with enforced urbanity, the vituperation of the
+draymen, who objected to the amount of landscape he occupied with his
+bulk and eager personality.
+
+At last, when the foreman had bullied his lusty understudies into a
+certain degree of sullen system, and the drays began to move away with
+their mysterious burdens, Dennis ventured to address him.
+
+Greatly to his relief, the perturbed countenance of the latter softened
+perceptibly as he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, ha! an' it's there ye are?"
+
+"Yes," replied Dennis with solicitous abnegation.
+
+"Well," returned the other, "roll up yer sleeves; yer job's a-waitin'
+fur ye."
+
+With an agility that betrayed the diplomacy of his countenance into
+ingenuous exultation, Dennis followed the foreman into the warehouse,
+and the latter at once began his instructions as to the system of
+marking, and Dennis mastered its simple mysteries with a quickness that
+was not only flattering to the discernment of his instructor but an
+indorsement of Celtic adjustability in general.
+
+In the course of the morning Dennis discovered that his predecessor had
+put him under obligations by prolonging his debauch, and that his
+arrival upon the scene had been most opportune in consequence.
+
+He was now assured of a position, whose only handicap was the prospect,
+delicately insinuated by the foreman for his consideration, of the
+possible state of mind of the previous incumbent when he realized that
+his niche had been filled, and it did not add to his cheerfulness when
+the foreman examined his biceps with an expert touch and remarked: "I
+guess that ye can take care of yerself."
+
+There was nothing belligerent about Dennis, and he trusted that his
+predecessor would not regard him from that standpoint.
+
+In the meantime Saturday arrived, and Dennis, in possession of his
+proportion of the week's pay, hurried to The Stag by way of Baxter
+Street.
+
+In this locality he began a search for Series B of the dickies, and was
+finally successful, after a number of disappointments and a protracted
+hunt.
+
+With the courage of his recently acquired situation, Dennis proposed to
+indulge in a little improvidence.
+
+He decided that he would follow the singular recital on the dickey backs
+and rip off a chapter at a time.
+
+After a night of fortifying slumber, Dennis arose, breakfasted, and
+boarded an elevated train, which presently conveyed him to the vicinity
+of Central Park.
+
+Here, after securing a seat to his fancy, he withdrew Series B from the
+wrapper, detached bosom No. 1 and began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+When Raikes had parted from the Sepoy, a degree of his customary
+hardness and assurance was evident in his manner.
+
+He had been able to comment sagaciously upon the extraordinary
+narrative, and had appropriated as much of the sapphire as his greedy
+glance and covetous memory could bear away; but now that he pursued his
+way along the dimly lighted hallway which led to his apartment, a
+singularly thoughtful mood oppressed him.
+
+This phenomenon, due, in part, to the cessation of the drowsy cadences
+of the Sepoy and the absence of the fascination and gleam of the
+sapphire, was relegated by Raikes to the overtures of approaching
+drowsiness.
+
+And yet the startling episode which confronted Prince Otondo in the
+evening's instalment of this Oriental complication recurred to his mind
+again and again.
+
+Strangely, too, Raikes did not comment upon the singular fact of the
+narrative itself.
+
+Why should the Sepoy take the trouble to relate it to him, and why
+should he, of all unconcerned and self-centered men, manifest such an
+unusual interest in a recital which lacked every practical feature and
+had nothing but the weird to commend it?
+
+If he asked himself these questions, it was with the impersonality of
+lethargy, for they were dismissed as readily as they presented
+themselves.
+
+With such sedative queries, which were gradually diminishing from fabric
+to ravel, Raikes finally reached his room and, securely bolting the
+door, began to prepare to retire.
+
+This was not an elaborate proceeding.
+
+His outer garments removed, he had only to seek the seclusion of the
+bedclothes, clad in the remainder of his attire.
+
+In this manner he economized on the cost of a night-robe and the time it
+would consume to don and doff such a superfluity.
+
+At all events, if such was not his sordid reasoning, the promptness with
+which he fell asleep indicated that he did not propose to squander
+useless time in wakeful speculation upon the intangible nothings to
+which his recollection of the narrative began to fade.
+
+However, if Raikes had succeeded in passing the boundaries of slumber,
+he had admitted, at the same time, extravagances of which he would never
+have been guilty in his wakeful hours, for he found himself so engaged
+in all sorts of uneasy shiftlessness and inconsiderate expenditure that
+when morning came and he awoke, as usual, with the sunrise, he resumed
+his customary identity, peevish and unrefreshed.
+
+For a moment he sat with his knees huddled to his chin, over which his
+eyes peered like vermin in the wainscoting, and then, urged by an
+impulse whose source he could not determine, he leaped with surprising
+agility to the floor and proceeded to the false radiator.
+
+For a short space of inexplicable indecision he stood with his hands
+resting upon the button which released the fastenings in the rear, an
+uneasy thoughtfulness converging the ugly wrinkles downward to the root
+of his nose and contracting his eyebrows with senile apprehension.
+
+Suddenly his wonted decision asserted itself. He pressed the button and
+the radiator swung toward him; a few moments later the inner
+compartments responded to his manipulation, and the last door opened.
+
+Apparently everything was as he had left it.
+
+To his rapid enumeration the quantity of the small bags, containing his
+beloved coin, remained undisturbed. But, upon nearer regard, one of
+them--that within easiest reach--seemed to betray, through its canvas
+sides, a variety of unusually sharp angles and definite lines.
+
+With a suffocating sensation of impending disaster, Raikes grasped the
+bag.
+
+It pended from his tense grip with a frightful lightness. He caught up
+its neighbor for further confirmation. It responded with reassuring bulk
+and weight. But this one from which all specific gravity seemed to have
+departed--what did it contain?
+
+With trembling hands the terrified man unfastened the cord which bound
+it and inverted the bag over the table.
+
+Instead of the sharp, musical collision and clink of metal, a sodden
+succession of thuds smote his ears.
+
+With a shriek of utter wonderment and alarm, Raikes stood erect and
+petrified.
+
+His hands fell, with inert palsies, to his sides. His eyes seemed about
+to start from his head, for, looming dully to his aching gaze, in place
+of the coin he had so confidently hidden away, was a rayless, squalid
+heap of small, black coals.
+
+A moment he stood lean and limp; every particle of the fever which
+consumed him concentrated in his starting eyes, which turned, with
+savage inquiry, toward the fastenings of the door.
+
+The next instant, with a leap like that of a wild beast, he reached the
+threshold, examined the bolt with vivid glance and searching fingers,
+then raised his hand to his forehead with a gesture of utter
+distraction.
+
+Nothing had been disturbed.
+
+Even the check-pin which he had inserted over the bar for additional
+security was in place.
+
+The only other possible means of entrance was by a window at the other
+extreme of the room.
+
+But this was not to be considered, for it opened, with sheer
+precipitation, upon the unrelieved front of the house.
+
+The windows adjacent were removed at a distance which could afford no
+possible basis from which to reach the one from which Raikes glared so
+grimly.
+
+Moreover, the shutters had been clasped and the inner sash secured.
+
+The conclusion was inevitable.
+
+No one had entered the room during the night. It was impossible for a
+stranger to have access to the apartment during the day unobserved, and
+the recess behind the radiator was known to himself alone.
+
+Nevertheless there was the absurd substitution.
+
+It was incredible!
+
+The secret repository was of his own construction.
+
+The room was secure against intrusion.
+
+And opposed to all this the incontrovertible proof of his loss, a
+catastrophe all the more agonizing since the logic of the situation
+obliged him to eliminate any one from suspicion.
+
+Raikes had always considered a loss of this character the climax of
+malignant fate. He had never been able to contemplate it without the
+mortal shudder which usually communicates its chill to a loving parent
+confronted with the prospect of the departure of a dear one.
+
+The recess in the wall contained all that Raikes held dear in the world;
+every spasm of fear, each contraction of the heart, always began and
+concluded with the button which moved its protecting bolts.
+
+But now a new element added its ugly emphasis; there was something
+supernatural about the episode.
+
+Convinced of the impossibility of thievery in any of its ordinary forms,
+he was bewildered as to the inexplicable means of his present
+predicament.
+
+His sense of security was shaken.
+
+He promised himself to stand guard over his belongings jealously that
+day, and to make assurance doubly sure at night.
+
+In the meantime Raikes decided to confide his misfortune to no one.
+
+There was a meager possibility that the guilty one might be misled by
+his silence; he had heard of such cases; he had known of the culprit
+offering condolences to the silent victim on the assumption that the
+latter had discussed his mishap with others.
+
+He would wait, and with Raikes to determine was to do.
+
+With his obnoxious individuality rendered several degrees more
+unendurable by his catastrophe, if that was possible, Raikes, having
+assumed that portion of his attire in which he had not slept,
+double-locked the door of his room from the outside with a brace of keys
+that, in all likelihood, had not their duplicates in existence, and
+proceeded to the dining-room, whither he had been preceded by his
+parchment of a sister.
+
+At once he began to rustle his exhausted sensibilities with an added
+menace, awakened by a manifest desire on the part of the famished woman
+to satisfy the cravings of an ungratified hunger with an extra help of
+bread and butter.
+
+As he looked upon the attenuated creature, with a morose reflection of
+his loss, the latter, with a rebellion which she could not control,
+selected with trembling fortitude a thick slice of bread, which she
+buttered liberally and began to devour with pathetic haste, despite the
+rebuking gleam of the rat eyes opposite, an episode which, added to his
+already perturbed mind, exasperated his brutal temper to the point of
+snarling remonstrance, which was fortunately denied its utterance by the
+opportune arrival of the Sepoy, who smiled blandly upon the chill
+acknowledgment of the shriveled Raikes.
+
+The Sepoy, at the conclusion of a hearty repast, which the spinster
+witnessed with famished envy and Raikes considered with ascetic
+disapproval, looked, with a scarcely concealed disdain, into the
+furtive, troubled eyes of the miser and said: "I will see you to-night?"
+
+"Yes," replied Raikes promptly. "I will be there."
+
+"Very well; I will not return until the time appointed," said the Sepoy.
+"I expect to show you a rarity."
+
+"Another brilliant aggravation?" asked Raikes.
+
+"Ah!" laughed the Sepoy, "is that your estimation of the sapphire?"
+
+"Yes," returned Raikes with acid frankness. "To be permitted to
+appropriate the gleam and the radiance; to comprehend the cunning of the
+facets; to appraise its magnificent bulk intelligently, and witness the
+careless possession by another of all these beatitudes, I think that
+constitutes an aggravation."
+
+"It has been known to degenerate into a temptation," continued the
+Sepoy, reflecting the cynical humor of the other.
+
+"Aye!" admitted Raikes, "and has concluded in surrender."
+
+With this the strangely assorted trio left the table directly, the Sepoy
+to his problematical business, the spinster to escape the reprimand
+foreshadowed in the eyes of her brother, and Raikes to keep his
+treasures under malicious surveillance.
+
+All that day his diseased mind tortured itself with impossible theories
+and absurd speculations, until his attempts to explain the curious
+substitution degenerated into a perfect chaos of despair and
+bewilderment.
+
+With an impatience he could not explain, Raikes at last presented
+himself at the apartment of the Sepoy as the hour of ten was striking.
+
+He was greeted by the curious individual within with a demeanor which
+somehow offended Raikes with the impression that his prompt eagerness
+was the subject of amused calculation.
+
+His irritation, however, was not permitted to develop, for no sooner had
+he seated himself in the chair indicated by his host than the latter
+placed upon the table, within easy reach of his harassed visitor, a
+small box of leather and directed him to press the spring.
+
+Anticipating something of the nature of the contents of the case from
+the material of which it was made, Raikes, forgetting for the moment the
+futility of the day's researches, pressed his bony thumb upon the
+spring, and at once the lid flew back like a protest, disclosing the
+most superb diamond it had ever been his misfortune to see and not
+possess.
+
+"Ah!" he cried in an ecstasy of tantalized contemplation, "the glass,
+the glass! Anything so precious must have had commensurate treatment.
+What color, what clarity, what bulk!" and as the unhappy creature
+yielded to that species of intoxication which even the grace of God
+seems unable to ameliorate, the Sepoy, with the easy poise and balance
+of intonation and phrase which had served as such facile vehicles for
+the previous instalments, began:
+
+"When the bewildered prince realized the meaning of the worthless heap
+in the recess, and calculated, with familiar appraisement, the immense
+loss represented by the senseless substitution, he stood for a moment
+destitute of all dignity and as impotent as the meanest of his
+household.
+
+"His thin, fine lips, which usually held such firm partnership and
+divided his words with such cynical scission, relaxed separately into
+the inane lines of superstitious fear, and the luster of his restless
+eyes seemed to have degenerated into that surrounding dullness of sickly
+white which would have provided the impressionable Lal Lu with an easy
+fortitude to deny the approaches of this semi-potentate.
+
+"The next instant, like the doubled blade of Toledo steel, the prince
+recoiled to his lithe stature, and the customary brightness of his eyes
+returned shadowed with a degree of crafty reflection.
+
+"One by one, lest a stray gem might be collected with the worthless
+débris, like the crew of Ulysses clinging to the sheep of the Cyclops,
+Prince Otondo removed the pebbles which intruded their sordid presence
+in this scintillant treasure-trove like a motley of base subjects in an
+assemblage of the nobility.
+
+"When the last of these worthless objects had been cleared from the
+recess, the prince closed the panel, and seating himself before the
+rayless heap, surrendered himself to moody reflection, like a disabled
+enthusiast confronted by his disillusions.
+
+"How did these pebbles reach this hiding place?
+
+"In asking himself the question, the prince had absolute assurance that
+it was impossible for any one to enter his sleeping-apartment without
+his knowledge.
+
+"The puzzled man also recollected, with a shudder, which he alone could
+explain, that he had taken radical means of making it impossible for the
+artisan who had contrived the hidden treasury to reveal its existence.
+
+"He was positive, too, when he had retired the night before, that his
+jewels were undisturbed.
+
+"Why just this exchange of a handful?
+
+"For what reason had not double the quantity been removed? Nay, why not
+all, since it was possible to abstract a portion?
+
+"At this question the eerie iteration of the merchant returned to his
+mind:
+
+"'Pebbles for diamonds!'
+
+"At once the distasteful alternative upon which it was based recurred to
+him.
+
+"A quick radiation illumined his mind, and subsided to darkness as
+promptly.
+
+"Ram Lal!
+
+"It was he who had indicated the substitution. But the merchant could no
+more enter the room in which the prince was seated at this moment than
+the most abject menial in the palace.
+
+"Still, the merchant had been able to predict the disaster.
+
+"Some sort of association existed, but what it was, considered with the
+impracticability of unobserved entrance and exit, was beyond his
+comprehension.
+
+"The incredible condition existed.
+
+"In the light of its outrageous improbability, and the insuperable
+obstacles in the way of its accomplishment, the prince found himself
+compelled to dismiss every hypothesis.
+
+"Still, he could subject Ram Lal to an investigation that would, at
+least, extort a confession as to his ability to allude to the episode in
+advance.
+
+"In the meantime, with true Oriental craft, the prince determined to say
+nothing of his loss, and present an impassive demeanor to those by whom
+he was surrounded.
+
+"With this purpose the prince proceeded to the apartment beyond, and was
+about to strike the gong to summon the servant charged with the
+preparation of his morning repast, when his attention was attracted to a
+slip of folded paper fluttering from the edge of the table-top and held
+in place by a diminutive bronze Buddha.
+
+"With the weird certainty that this beckoning paper was another
+unaccountable feature of the savage perplexity he was compelled to
+endure, the prince, approaching, grasped the folded sheet with eager,
+trembling hands and exposed its inner surface to his vivid glance.
+
+"'Ah!' With a burning sensation about his eyes, a fever of harassed
+impatience in his brain, and a sense of suffocation and impotent rage,
+he read:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"'MOST ILLUSTRIOUS!
+
+"'Unless Lal Lu is returned to her father by nightfall, another handful
+of precious stones will be replaced by as many pebbles.
+
+"'And this to warn thee:
+
+"'The native troops at Meerut are in revolt.
+
+"'They have shot the regimental officers, and have put to death every
+European they could find.
+
+"'They are now on their way to Delhi to proclaim Dahbur Dhu, thy
+grandfather, sovereign of Hindustan.
+
+"'The Moghul is old.
+
+"'Thou art next in succession.'
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There was no signature.
+
+"None was needed; the prince had preserved several specimens of that
+chirography at the bottom of various interesting bills of sale.
+
+"As this bizarre scion of an incredibly ancient régime read this
+extraordinary missive, with its exasperating reference to the
+restitution of Lal Lu, and considered the prompt realization of the
+threatened reprisal which had followed his first failure to comply with
+the request of Ram Lal, a sense of fear and futility possessed him.
+
+"With curious apathy, an unaccountable suggestion of impersonality,
+almost, he did not pause to consider the absence of the intolerant
+passion which his loss should have occasioned, or to wonder at his
+bewildered reception of this implication of further dispossession.
+
+"The prince appeared to be moving as in a spell; but as he concluded the
+remainder of the missive and remembered, at its inspiration, that he
+was, indeed, the grandson of the Moghul and the heir-apparent of this
+pageant throne of Delhi, a sensible degree of his customary cynical
+assurance returned.
+
+"Hastening to the ante-room, the prince, with alert reanimation,
+questioned the stalwart official who stood without.
+
+"He indicated to his master that the missive had been left upon the
+outer sill of the threshold leading from the ante-room to the corridor
+which opened upon the courtyard.
+
+"Beyond this nothing could be learned; but other and more absorbing
+information was conveyed to the prince.
+
+"He learned that several bodies of Sepoys had already passed the palace,
+on the highway, in the direction of Delhi.
+
+"Startled at this rapid confirmation of the statement conveyed in the
+strange communication which he had just read, the prince rapidly
+reviewed the singular cause of the mutiny.
+
+"Great Britain had just supplied the native soldiery with the Enfield
+rifle.
+
+"This weapon was rendered formidable by a new cartridge, which, in order
+that it might not bind in the barrel bore, was greased in England with
+the fat of beef or pork.
+
+"With incredible indifference to the prejudices of the Sepoys, the
+military authorities at Calcutta ordered the low-caste Lascars to
+prepare the cartridges in a similar manner.
+
+"To this direct invitation disaster was not slow to respond.
+
+"The fat of pigs was sufficient to make a degenerate of a Mohammedan;
+and to devour the flesh of cows converted a Hindoo into a Mussulman.
+
+"In this manner had Tippu Sultan enforced the faith of Islam on hordes
+of Brahmins, and with the abomination of pork had the Afghans prevailed
+upon the Hindoo Sepoys, captured in the Kabul war, to become
+Mohammedans.
+
+"Exasperated by the unconcealed contempt of the Brahmins, the Lascars,
+with an easily understood rancor, managed to convey the startling
+information to their detested superiors that the cartridges they bit in
+loading the new rifles were greased with the fat of cows, and that they
+were, in consequence, defiled, and their boasted caste supremacy was
+destroyed.
+
+"This revelation, so momentous to the Hindoo, found its way first to
+Barrackpore by reason of its nearness to Calcutta.
+
+"At once an indescribable panic ensued, and in a marvelously short time
+every native regiment in Bengal was confronted with the possibility of
+lost caste, and terrified at the consequent belief that the British
+Government was making an attempt to Anglicize them with beef as they
+had already attempted to do with beer.
+
+"The account of the greased cartridges, embellished as it speeded,
+traveled, with the rapidity which usually expedites evil rumor, along
+the Ganges and Jumna to Benares, Allahabad, Agra, Delhi and Meerut, and
+the British authorities were confronted with a revolt which was to cost
+thousands of men and countless treasure.
+
+"As the prince reflected upon the fever of events, and calculated their
+possible consequence to himself, the ambition--often napping, seldom in
+slumber--which he secretly cherished, awoke to disturbing vividness.
+
+"His allowance was ample; his retinue, all things considered,
+impressive; and the Kutub, although in a state of disrepair in certain
+portions, was still unmistakably a royal residence. But he was
+thoroughly weary of the massive pile, and increasingly exasperated at
+the interdict of Delhi.
+
+"Certain salacious possibilities within its walls still made their
+insidious appeals to him, and he had not forgotten the ceremonious
+deference accorded him in the household of the Moghul.
+
+"At the Kutub he had to contrive his own dissipations and excesses.
+
+"There was no need to be clandestine.
+
+"The very frankness of his privileges discouraged his imagination. There
+was no spice of jeopardy in them; no preludes of intrigue.
+
+"To relieve this surfeit, which is the worst of monotonies, eagerly
+would the prince have joined the revolting troops, detachments of which
+he could perceive from the walls of the Kutub hastening along the
+sun-scorched highway to Delhi.
+
+"But his semi-majesty was cautious.
+
+"It was characteristic of him that his mature reflections should
+frequently place his impulse under obligations; a condition that had
+resulted in many a salutary compromise with some proposed moral abandon.
+
+"Should he show the slightest countenance to the native troops in the
+present emergency, the record of such an attitude would constitute
+anything but a passport to the continued consideration of the British
+Government, upon whose sufferance he not only enjoyed his present
+magnificent residence, but the acknowledgment of his right of succession
+as well.
+
+"The prince was not yet inclined to believe that the Sepoys could make
+headway against his detested patrons.
+
+"However, with his mind stimulated by the hazard of the prospect, this
+picturesque heir-apparent, who had assured himself, since his perusal of
+the unaccountably delivered missive, that Ram Lal had no intention of
+making his appearance that day, at least, returned to the apartment
+where his morning repast awaited him, which he dispatched with the
+preoccupied impersonality of a savant who consults his timepiece in
+order to determine the temperature.
+
+"Advised of the fact that he had finished by a disposition to ignore his
+remaining privileges, the prince, as if to pursue the direction of the
+unseeing gaze which he projected into space, rose slowly, and with that
+moody deliberation which is so often the outward manifestation of an
+ignoble as well as an elevated determination, proceeded to the silken
+arras and disappeared from view between the folds.
+
+"Quickly he traversed the passageway leading to the apartments of Lal
+Lu; and in response to a light touch upon the gong the same servile
+apparition emerged and vanished, with cringing obedience, down the
+passage.
+
+"With a gleam in his eyes, which might have caused a magistrate to
+reflect or a moralist to anticipate, that was both sinister and
+engaging, eager and speculative, the prince, with a gesture that was not
+without its impatient majesty and lithe impressiveness, swept aside the
+curtains which guarded the entrance to the small ante-room and stepped
+within."
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the Sepoy reached this point of the narrative, arranged, perhaps,
+with shrewd malice to tantalize his eager listener, an expression of
+libidinous expectation and depraved absorption deepened upon the
+countenance of the latter, who, like an animal deprived of its prey,
+looked up suddenly as the narrator paused, with an exasperation which he
+made little attempt to conceal.
+
+"Hell!" he muttered, "why do you pause? It is not late. This is an
+irritating trick of yours to leave off at the crucial juncture."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the Sepoy mirthlessly. "You have attended me, then?
+Well, I can't admit you with the prince until to-morrow evening. I have
+much to do ere I retire."
+
+"This is my dismissal, I presume," responded Raikes sourly as he
+replaced the gem, from which he seemed unable to remove his thieving
+eyes.
+
+"Here, take this damned thing; it has demoralized me," and placing the
+shagreen case, with its priceless contents, in the hands of the
+evilly-smiling Sepoy, he disappeared through the doorway.
+
+Arrived at the door which opened upon his room, Raikes was assured, by
+the familiar response of the locks to the pressure of his extraordinary
+keys, that his precautions of a few hours before had been undisturbed.
+
+Moreover, his sister, seated in her room in a chair so placed as to
+command a view of the doorway opposite, and looking more effaced than
+ever from the weary vigil which her heartless brother had imposed upon
+her during his absence, advised him of the customary isolation and
+depression which distinguished this barren household.
+
+Within, Raikes began to make himself secure for the night.
+
+He double-locked the door, placed the heavy bar in the iron shoulders,
+over which he inserted a stout iron pin.
+
+A brief investigation convinced him that it was out of the question to
+open the shutters from without.
+
+Satisfied upon these points, Raikes proceeded to the radiator, which for
+a trembling space of apprehension he forbore to open.
+
+However, since it was certainty he wanted, the valves shortly swung
+toward him, the inner door responded to the sesame of his touch, and the
+recess containing the tenets of his religion was exposed to view.
+
+With trembling hands, which indicated the latent fear which unnerved
+him, and eyes aching with anxiety, the wretched man examined bag after
+bag of his precious coin with the solicitude one sees manifested by
+parents whose children are rendered doubly dear by the taking away of
+one of their number.
+
+"Ah!" With a sigh, the relief of which almost concluded in physical
+collapse, Raikes was able to assure himself that his rapid inventory
+revealed no further loss.
+
+Replacing his treasure with the indisposition he usually manifested to
+leave the vicinity of his hoard, the miser closed the various
+compartments with more than his accustomed certitude and began to
+prepare to respond to the lassitude of sleep which, for some
+unaccountable reason, was unusually insistent.
+
+With the easy partition of attire already noted, Raikes presently found
+himself ready to tuck himself away for the night, which he did after
+rolling his bedstead directly in front of the false radiator.
+
+This unusual measure of precaution consummated, Raikes, with the first
+sense of security he had felt for the last twenty-four hours, presently
+succumbed to a sleep remarkable for its quick approach and its
+subsequent soundness.
+
+Until early dawn, with the relaxation which is commonly the reward of
+innocence, Raikes slept away in unconscious travesty.
+
+And when at last he opened his eyes he was as alertly awake as he had
+been profoundly asleep.
+
+With a promptness due to his retiring forebodings, his habitual unrest
+and suspicion returned to him.
+
+He was as vitally alive to the disturbing conditions of the day before
+as if they had been the subjects of an all-night meditation.
+
+But the confidence of his bolts and bars, the recollection of his
+unusual measures of safety, reassured him somewhat.
+
+It was, therefore, with a degree of composure he approached the door and
+satisfied himself that the bar and the locks had been undisturbed.
+
+With equal assurance he rolled the bedstead from the radiator and
+pressed the button which operated the concealed spring, with a
+deliberation in which no suggestion of uneasiness appeared.
+
+A quick revolution or so and the inner recess was revealed.
+
+To his rapid accounting the quantity of bags was the same, and their
+relative positions, which he had so carefully arranged the night before,
+were undisturbed--but this one, that within easiest reach! What was it
+caused those sharp suggestions in its accustomed rotundity--those
+angular points?
+
+In a quiver the man was transformed.
+
+With a cry such as must have been forced from the Jew of old, compelled
+by the rough levies of his time to part at once with his teeth and his
+treasure, Raikes grasped the bag, which came away in his clutch with the
+agonizing lightness that had preceded his first loss.
+
+Quickly he unfastened the mouth of the fateful packet and inverted it
+over the table.
+
+The next instant there rattled to view a soulless, sodden shower of
+lack-luster, heart-breaking coals.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 2, Series B.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Dennis, "an' it's there ye are again," as the
+familiar phrase at the bottom of bosom No. 1 met his glance.
+
+But it did not exasperate him on this occasion, for the young man, true
+to his determination to be liberal with himself, had still bosoms No. 2
+and No. 3 at his disposal.
+
+As he was about to separate No. 2 from its duplicate, his eyes, glancing
+aimlessly about for the moment, caught sight of a trim female figure
+sitting not far away on a bench diagonally opposite.
+
+Hovering near her, a man, of a species Dennis had not seen before on the
+street corners of New York, seemed determined to intrude upon her
+attention.
+
+Convinced of his purpose, the lady, for such she unmistakably appeared,
+rose from the seat as the fellow was about to raise his hat as a
+preliminary to further overtures, and sought another bench directly
+opposite the one from which Dennis had been a witness to her apparent
+persecution.
+
+The intruder, however, refusing evidently to believe that the action of
+the lady had a personal application, deliberately walked past this new
+resting place and surveyed its occupant with insolent estimation.
+
+A short distance away his pace slackened; he was about to return.
+
+With genuine Irish impulse, Dennis, rising hurriedly, proceeded to the
+bench occupied by the disturbed lady, and, with a bow that was not
+deficient in grace and evident good intention, said:
+
+"Excuse me, but say the wurrd, madam, and I'll see that you are troubled
+no more with that loafer."
+
+For an instant, with an expression of countenance that suggested a fear
+that the flight from one intrusion was but the introduction to another,
+the lady looked upon Dennis with an astonishment that was partly the
+result of his picturesque contrasts of voice and visage.
+
+Then, with fine intuition realizing, in the ingenuous face of the young
+Irishman, the unmistakable evidence of kindly impulse, she said, with a
+modulation in which Dennis was able to detect the accent of good
+breeding:
+
+"I thank you, sir; I am tired; that man annoys me; but I would rather
+move on than be the cause of a disturbance."
+
+"If you will permit me," responded Dennis promptly, "I will sit beside
+you long enough to indicate that you have met a friend; then I think
+that he will move off."
+
+The lady looked at Dennis with an uncertain smile, in which there was
+just enough restraint to urge the young man to add hastily: "An' when he
+is gone for good, I will go too."
+
+"Oh, I was not thinking of that, I assure you!" the lady hastened to
+say. "That would be rather ungrateful on my part. I accept your
+suggestion. May I ask you to be seated?" and Dennis promptly complied.
+
+As he had predicted, the fellow, who had witnessed the conversation, was
+compelled to accept its ostensible suggestion, and departed finally with
+a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and a Tammany tilt of his hat over
+his eyebrows.
+
+In yielding to his gallant impulse, Dennis was unaware of the fact that
+he held, with not exactly picturesque abandon, bosom No. 1 in his right
+hand and the other two in his left, which gave him the appearance of
+having disposed, in some violent way, of the remainder of several
+shirts.
+
+Awakened by the puzzled amusement depicted in the curious gaze with
+which the lady surveyed the various bosoms which he held, and encouraged
+by the impromptu nature of the entire episode, Dennis, as he realized
+the spectacle which he presented, indulged himself in a frank laugh, in
+which his companion seemed inclined to join.
+
+The next moment he apologized, and, yielding to the obligation enforced
+by the situation, explained his possession of the dickey bosoms and the
+curious story which had gone before.
+
+As he proceeded with the candor of genuine enthusiasm, and related the
+incredible narrative in his rich, Irish brogue, which affected his
+hearer, as it did every one else, with such singular sentiments in
+contrast with his remarkable countenance, all traces of punctilious
+restraint and artificial reticence vanished, and with the mien of one
+who proposes to extract all the entertainment possible from an
+undreamed-of experience, the lady urged Dennis to continue.
+
+"I can't do that unless I read the balance from the dickey," said
+Dennis. "Would you mind?"
+
+"I should like it very much," replied the lady with gratifying
+readiness.
+
+"Well, then," said Dennis, "here goes," and with his musical voice,
+which was one of his most inviting characteristics, the young man, on
+the basis of all that had preceded the bosom from which he was about to
+read, and which he had narrated to his auditor with refreshing _verve_
+and an ingenuousness whose vitalizing effect upon her sensibilities he
+was far from suspecting, began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Whoever has witnessed Kean's superb delineation of the ruthless Richard
+in the scene where, in the illusion of his dying agony, swordless, he
+continues to lunge and feint, may comprehend the frightful mental
+overturn which prompted Raikes to sink inertly into a chair near the
+table, and with foam-flecked lips fall to counting, one by one, the
+miserable coals in the dull heap before him.
+
+A silly smile overspread his sharp features like an apologetic sunbeam
+intruding upon a bleak landscape.
+
+A gleam of shrewd transaction shone in his eyes.
+
+The clutch of unwonted acquisition contracted his hands.
+
+Slowly he made partition of the large from the small coals; regretfully
+he acknowledged the presence of the lesser bits as, with a chuckle of
+greedy appreciation, he grouped the relative piles.
+
+"Ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha!" What a laugh! What a frightful mockery of
+mirth! "Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and raising both hands above his head he
+brought them down upon the table with the lax inertia of utter collapse,
+and fell forward upon his extended arms, his face buried in the squalid
+heap beneath.
+
+For a dreary hour he lay there without the twitch of a muscle, the well
+of a sigh.
+
+Like a Cyclop's eye the button at the bottom of the concave in the wall
+seemed to stare with wonder upon this unfamiliar Raikes, who could thus
+permit the radiator to swing open so heedlessly, and the inner recess to
+expose its golden glut.
+
+Suddenly there came a sharp rap upon the door, then a pause; but its
+quick reverberations were unheeded by the prostrate man.
+
+Again the thuds were administered to the echoing panels, and still no
+response.
+
+"Uncle, I say, uncle!" cried a man's voice. "Uncle!" and the shout was
+followed by a vigorous kick upon the woodwork; "Uncle! Uncle!"
+
+At this last appeal Raikes stirred uneasily, and as the assault was
+continued with still greater stress, he managed finally to stagger
+uncertainly to his feet.
+
+As he raised his head to listen to the clamor without, the meanness of
+his face, emphasized by the smudges of the coal in which it had so
+recently reposed, presented itself to the scandalized eye in the wall.
+
+The miserable creature depicted the last degree of absurdity, and yet
+the ugly pathos of it all would have moved to pity.
+
+"Uncle, I say!" and at the sound of the voice, which he recognized as
+that of his lusty nephew, Raikes, with a return of his accustomed
+intelligence, which had received its kindly repairs at the hands of
+nature during his brief coma, cried sharply: "Well, well!"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the voice outside with an unmistakable accent of relief
+in its tone as it added, with unlettered eagerness: "It's me--Bob!"
+
+However, if his reawakened animation had revived his deadened spirit,
+it also restored the appreciation of his disaster, as, with a glance of
+vivid comprehension, he looked from the coal heap to the register,
+toward which he leaped with astonishing agility.
+
+In an instant the inner recess was secure; in another the radiator was
+replaced, and Raikes, proceeding to the door, raised the bar, unlocked
+the catches and exclaimed, "Enter!"
+
+As the breezy Bob crossed the threshold, the question of his eyes was
+instantly transformed to an expression of utter astonishment as he
+beheld the extraordinary blend of soil and pallor upon the countenance
+of his uncle.
+
+"For the Lord's sake!" he cried, "what ails your face?" and strongly
+tempted to laugh at the absurd spectacle, and as urgently impelled to
+restrain himself by the glittering eyes of the raging Raikes, he added,
+by way of apology for his noisy intrusion:
+
+"We knew that you were in here, but could not make you hear us. You are
+almost two hours beyond your usual time."
+
+Directly in the rear of the young man stood the spinster, who gazed
+with widened eyes and parted lips upon her brother's soiled visage.
+
+"Well," snarled Raikes, "I am all right, you see; now leave me until I
+get myself in shape to make an appearance."
+
+As the door closed behind the pair, Raikes hurried to the mirror, and
+above the crack which extended, like a spasm, diagonally across its
+surface he beheld his bloodless cheeks and forehead, and below, the dry
+slit of his mouth and his chin spattered with black and white.
+
+As he witnessed the sorry sight, the unhappy man, unable for the moment
+to account for his plight, stood aghast, until his gaze, penetrating to
+the rear of his smudged physiognomy, beheld the reflection of the coal
+heaps upon the table.
+
+At once a savage grin distorted his features into the degree of ugliness
+not already accomplished by its dusky resting place of the hour
+previous. A grin that was scarcely human and almost diabolical, as if
+the miserable creature had caught sight of the shriveled soul peering
+through the chinks which imprisoned his rat eyes and found a malignant
+enjoyment in the contemplation of its contemptible littleness.
+
+From this debasing inspection Raikes turned slowly to the washstand to
+remove the grime from his face, with an impersonal deliberation that was
+not only unnatural under the circumstances, but which awakened the eerie
+suggestion that he was expending his effort upon another than himself.
+
+From this moment he became strangely calm; the sharp decision of his
+lips was never so pronounced.
+
+A baleful, unwavering gleam distinguished his glance. He had evidently
+arrived at some determination, one that levied upon the last limit of
+his endurance.
+
+All that day the unhappy man sat in his room, sullen and pondering.
+
+The timid offers of nourishment made by his sister were either ignored
+or refused with such an ill grace that she finally forbore further
+overtures and left him to his morose reflections, to improve her
+opportunities of enjoying, unrebuked, the privileges of the table,
+until, by nightfall, an indigestion, which she welcomed on account of
+its occasion, disturbed her with its unfamiliar pangs.
+
+In response to his nephew's concern as to his condition Raikes replied
+by saying: "I may have something to tell you by eleven o'clock to-night;
+will you be on hand?"
+
+"Sure!" answered Bob with breezy goodwill.
+
+From time to time Raikes glanced at the clock.
+
+His last scrutiny had revealed the hour of nine. Sixty interminable
+minutes more remained ere he could see the Sepoy.
+
+Slowly the leaden hands crawled over the indifferent face.
+
+At last the half hour struck.
+
+A strange impatience possessed him.
+
+Perhaps the Sepoy might begin a little earlier than usual. He could, at
+least, suggest such a courtesy by his precipitation; it was far better
+than this unendurable wait.
+
+With this anticipation he decided to proceed to the apartment of this
+singular narrator.
+
+After taking his usual precautions, which seemed more or less of a
+mockery in view of the succession of disasters which had overtaken him,
+and again establishing the spinster in a position where she could
+maintain an unobstructed view of the entrance to his room, Raikes
+proceeded hurriedly along the various passageways, which finally
+concluded in his point of destination.
+
+He rapped gently upon the door, which he discovered to be slightly ajar.
+
+There was no response.
+
+His second attempt to attract attention was pronounced enough to urge
+the door aside and enable him to make a comprehensive survey of the
+interior.
+
+It was unoccupied; and of his last assault upon the panel the only
+recognition was a sullen echo in the hallway.
+
+About to retire, his glance fell upon the table in the center of the
+room.
+
+At once a sudden trembling seized him.
+
+A burning fever surged through his veins; an irresistible impulse
+overwhelmed; for there, in inconceivable negligence, lay the shagreen
+case which he had so reluctantly returned to its owner only the night
+before.
+
+And then--the malign agreement of his outward husk with his inner
+degradation was revealed.
+
+His eyes, already criminal, reflected the kaleidoscopic succession of
+temptation and surrender; desire and thievery.
+
+He scanned the passageway without in either direction.
+
+No one was in sight.
+
+A silence of respectable retirement prevailed that enabled him to hear
+his heartbeats almost, which surged along his veins to his ears and
+stifled the final gasp of the still, small voice within.
+
+The next instant, with a lithe animal leap of astonishing quickness,
+Raikes, darting into the apartment, grasped the precious case and
+retreated as rapidly over the threshold.
+
+Scarcely had the stealthy rogue vanished from the room when the door of
+a closet in the rear opened softly and revealed the Sepoy.
+
+Upon his face a smile, surely evil, otherwise inscrutable, appeared, as
+he proceeded to the chair by the table, turned down the light in the
+lamp a trifle, and abstracted from his waistcoat pocket a small red
+case, the contents of which he examined with absorbed attention.
+
+Arrived at his room, Raikes was elated to discover that he was not due
+at the Sepoy's apartment until twenty minutes later.
+
+"What a providence!" he murmured.
+
+He would arrive late; he would make his approach as ostensible as
+possible; he would apologize for his tardiness.
+
+His alibi would be perfect.
+
+During these proposed depravities Raikes had closed and fastened the
+door, seated himself at the table, and pressed the spring which detained
+the lid of the shagreen case.
+
+In a dazzling instant it flew open.
+
+"Ah!" A very riot of irradiation and gleam met his eyes.
+
+Here was rehabilitation! Here was amendment!
+
+The diamond was a liberal equivalent for his losses.
+
+Another glance at the clock revealed to him that he had exhausted ten
+minutes in his exultation.
+
+This left a balance of ten minutes for a compunction or two.
+
+Apparently he did not realize his opportunity, for half of the remaining
+time was consumed in the intoxication of the facets and the glamor, the
+thrill of intelligent valuation; and the other half to a grim
+calculation as to the usury that might accrue after the account with his
+losses was balanced.
+
+These perjured figures were scarcely arranged to his satisfaction when
+the clock struck ten.
+
+The strokes seemed like as many separate accusations.
+
+"Bah! what are they to me?" he asked himself. He had been robbed; he had
+found a way to restitution; a man's providence must measure to his
+necessities.
+
+To arrive at these conclusions put him five minutes in arrears. Five
+more for a leisurely arrival would be ten; enough to apologize for;
+sufficient for his purposes.
+
+He consumed as much time as possible secreting the stone in the recess.
+That accomplished, Raikes emerged from his room and proceeded down the
+hallway.
+
+When he reached the apartment occupied by the Sepoy he breathed a sigh
+of relief.
+
+The door was closed.
+
+In response to his rap upon the panel, a voice which he recognized as
+that of the Sepoy cried: "Come in!"
+
+With a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, where, with him, the
+only conscience he had was located, Raikes complied with these
+instructions, and, closing the door softly, established himself, in his
+customary expectant attitude, in the chair indicated by his host.
+
+"I have been told," began the latter abruptly, "that there is a flaw in
+the sapphire."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Raikes with genuine concern. Two things he could
+comprehend: a loss and the abuse of property. The announcement of the
+Sepoy awakened the same misgiving which commonly affected his mind at a
+suggestion of defective title.
+
+"Yes," continued the Sepoy; "it was pointed out to me. But I am not
+convinced, or it may be that I refuse to be. A man often elects to be
+blind when confronted with a suggestion of disaster. I want to be candid
+with myself. I require your assistance. While I continue the narrative,
+kindly see if you can discover any sign of blemish."
+
+Raikes, only too willing to engage himself upon anything which would
+assist his attempt at outward poise, seized the glass offered him and
+began a close inspection of the gem, as the Sepoy, with an indescribably
+insinuating modulation, resumed:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As the prince advanced, Lal Lu, advised of his approach by the hasty
+exit of the waiting-woman and the soft alarm of the gong in the
+passageway, stood ready to receive him.
+
+"A slight flush suffused her cheeks, a brighter luster beamed from her
+eyes.
+
+"With a fervor which was evidently unembarrassed by any anticipation of
+denial, the prince approached the trembling Lal Lu, who seemed to his
+enamored glance unspeakably bewitching in the graceful attitude, of
+which she was thoroughly unconscious, which she had naturally assumed,
+and which gave unmistakable expression to the hope, trepidation and
+regard awakened by his presence.
+
+"And yet his eagerness was not reflected.
+
+"There was little in the demeanor of the beautiful girl that was
+responsive; no indication of the sweet surrender that doubly endears,
+and which makes such irresistible appeals for protection and sensitive
+understanding to a man worthy of the name; and what evidences of
+confusion she betrayed were rather those which commonly prelude the
+execution of unwelcome resolution; a suggestion of a lurking disposition
+to readmit the Peri into Paradise, restrained by a knowledge of
+conditions unfulfilled.
+
+"With the rapid interchange and subtle apprehension characteristic of a
+passion which has no definite assurances as to its right to monopolize
+the regard of the object of jealous consideration, the prince was
+compelled to acknowledge, in these vague suggestions, an intangible but
+no less real succession of barriers opposed to his ardent advances, and
+with a scarcely concealed and certainly undiplomatic irritation he
+paused before Lal Lu and demanded:
+
+"'What is it, Lal Lu? Thou art not glad to see me. I expected a
+reception other than this.'
+
+"'My father?' demanded Lal Lu, ignoring the question and the yearning
+intonation of his address, each word of which was like a caress; 'my
+father, what of him?'
+
+"'Ah!' muttered the prince with deepening choler at the disturbing
+conditions introduced by the name, and a gleam strangely suggestive of
+menace. 'Why speak of him now? Is not the present enough?'
+
+"Lal Lu gazed upon the speaker with astonishment. How could he so easily
+forget what he had said the day before? And with a scarcely perceptible
+tightening of her beautiful lips, she said:
+
+"'Dost remember thy promise to give me news of him to-day?'
+
+"'I do,' replied the prince. 'I received word that he will not be here
+to-day.'
+
+"'Who told thee so?' demanded Lal Lu.
+
+"'A writing so informed me.'
+
+"'Is it with thee?'
+
+"'No,' replied the prince. 'It is in my cabinet. Is not my word
+sufficient?'
+
+"To this Lal Lu did not reply, but searched his countenance with a
+scrutiny which he found it difficult to endure, as he cried with renewed
+animation:
+
+"'Oh, Lal Lu, be not so cold! Hearken! The native regiments of Meerut
+are in revolt and on their way to Delhi.
+
+"'It is their purpose to re-establish Dahbur Dhu, my grandfather, upon
+the throne of the moghuls.
+
+"'As thou knowest, I am next in succession, and Dahbur Dhu is feeble and
+decrepit.
+
+"'The British are not in sufficient force to withstand a combined
+attack.
+
+"'See, then, Lal Lu, what this means for me; what it means for thee.'
+
+"'Oh!' repeated the girl with curious emphasis, 'what it means for thee,
+I know; but what it means for me'--and she paused with disconcerting
+deliberation as she added--'thou hast not said.'
+
+"'Everything, my own!' exclaimed the prince with generous
+ardor--'everything! Thou hast but to command and thy will is done.'
+
+"'Everything?' re-echoed Lal Lu with a questioning stress which the
+prince could not ignore--'everything?'
+
+"'I have said,' replied the prince.
+
+"'Am I then to be thy queen?'
+
+"For a moment, a vital moment, the prince hesitated, but brief as the
+pause, scarcely the durance of an eye-flash, Lal Lu saw it, and gazed
+upon the prince with a disconcerting directness as he added, with the
+haste we note in the accused who attempt to distract suspicion by the
+utterance of glib generalities:
+
+"'My queen! Thou art always that!'
+
+"'Hold, Prince Otondo!' exclaimed Lal Lu as the prince seemed about to
+surrender to an impulse to clasp her in his arms--'hold! Thy answers
+suit me not. Reply, then, to this: Thy wife--am I to be thy wedded
+wife?'
+
+"An expression like that of a peevish child tantalized by obstacles
+intruded to enhance its appreciation of favor withheld brightened his
+eyes and sent sullen lines converging in his forehead.
+
+"His hands clenched and opened; a faint suggestion of disdain curled his
+thin lips; the amiable inclination of his figure was transformed to an
+erect intolerance--and Lal Lu was answered.
+
+"When the unfortunate girl could no longer doubt the unlovely evidence
+provided by the prince, and apprehended the humiliating significance of
+his hesitation, a majesty surer than his own, a presence superb in its
+elevation, encompassed her, and she gazed upon the perturbed man with an
+expression from which every trace of tenderness appeared to have
+vanished.
+
+"With an angry sweep of his arm, as if to banish with a peremptory
+gesture the kneeling envoys of compunction, manliness and nobility, the
+prince stepped forward.
+
+"'What is that?' At this moment the gong in the passageway responded to
+three measured strokes.
+
+"'Confusion!' muttered the prince. 'What does this mean?' and turning
+abruptly, he hastened to the doorway, swept aside the curtains, and
+revealed the trembling figure of the wrinkled crone who had quitted the
+apartment at his entrance.
+
+"'What now?' cried the exasperated prince as he fixed his eyes, vivid
+with rage at the unwelcome interruption, upon the miserable creature.
+
+"In reply the woman raised her shriveled hand, with a gesture that was
+not without its weird impressiveness, and pointed to his apartments.
+
+"'Speak!' he demanded with a modification of his intensity, which he
+perceived deprived the waiting-woman of the power of speech.
+
+"'A messenger,' she croaked, 'from the palace of the moghul; he must
+speak with thee at once.'
+
+"With one long glance of such concentrated determination that it caused
+the beautiful girl to tremble anew, the prince vanished through the
+portal and hastened along the passageway.
+
+"Scarcely had he departed when the demeanor of the waiting-woman
+underwent a startling transformation.
+
+"An incredible degree of energy quickened in the recoil of her bent form
+to a disproportionate erectness of stature.
+
+"Beneath level, unwavering lids, her eyes emitted gleams which had
+pierced the retreating figure with deadly viciousness had they been
+poniards.
+
+"The servile vanished, the abject; and she stood, the silent embodiment
+of evil, restrained purpose.
+
+"The next instant, with an angry gesture that was vaguely significant of
+future requital and present impotence, the vindictive creature swept
+aside the curtains and re-entered the room leading to the apartment
+occupied by Lal Lu.
+
+"As she approached the disturbed beauty, the tension in her mien
+relaxed, and she regarded the _distrait_ countenance before her with a
+glance that was anything but unfriendly, in so far as it was possible to
+determine the nature of the sentiment in hiding behind that austere
+visage.
+
+"Directly she stood by the table which Lal Lu had interposed as a sort
+of barricade against advances of her impetuous lover, and with an
+attempt at a smile, which could as readily find acceptance as a
+repentant scowl, this singular being inserted her hand in the folds of
+the tunic which defended her parchment bosom, and produced from that
+barren demesne a folded missive, which she placed in the hands of the
+astonished Lal Lu.
+
+"With trembling haste she exposed the inner surface of the paper, and
+with a glad heart and filial trust read:
+
+"'Be not afraid; relief is at hand.'
+
+"There was no signature; none was needed.
+
+"In a moment Lal Lu recognized her father's familiar chirography, and as
+she reflected upon his well-known sagacity and resourceful boldness, her
+hope and courage renewed their belated assurances.
+
+"'Who gave you this?' she asked.
+
+"The waiting-woman, after a brief hesitation, in which inclination and
+restraint left their disturbing traces, replied:
+
+"'That I must not reveal.'
+
+"'At least,' insisted Lal Lu, whose quick glance had detected the
+irresolution of the instant preceding, 'at least, tell me this: Was it
+my father?'
+
+"'No,' replied the other promptly. With a barely perceptible grin of
+amusement at this ingenuous betrayal of the author of the few words
+which had awakened such animation, she added:
+
+"'One sent by him, it may be.'
+
+"'True,' assented the girl.
+
+"'And now,' exclaimed the woman with a return of her vindictive aspect,
+which the harassed beauty, unaware of its inspiration, witnessed with
+vague misgiving and a futile attempt to associate herself with its ugly
+manifestation; 'and now, I would ask a question of you.'
+
+"'Yes?' responded Lal Lu, perplexed at the baleful emphasis which
+preceded this announcement.
+
+"'Well, then,' continued the woman with startling and uncompromising
+abruptness, 'am I wrong in thinking that you would defend your honor
+with your life?'
+
+"Before the astonished Lal Lu could reply, or encouraged, it may be, by
+some subtle confirmation in the look which shot from the distended eyes
+of the young girl, the eccentric speaker, again inserting her hands in
+the folds of her tunic, withdrew a short, slender poniard, at sight of
+which Lal Lu recoiled.
+
+"'Ha, ha!' laughed the withered creature mirthlessly as she gazed with
+unsmiling eyes upon the shrinking beauty. 'Be not afraid; this weapon is
+intended for you, but not to your hurt.'
+
+"'What, then?' asked Lal Lu breathlessly, unable to adjust the peaceful
+assurance of the grim-visaged woman with the menace of the glittering
+blade.
+
+"'Listen!' exclaimed the woman impressively: 'I know Prince Otondo of
+old; he meditates no good for you. Were I in your place, I would receive
+his detested advances upon the point of this blade. Your protestations
+he will not heed, but this'--and the speaker advanced the dagger with a
+savage gesture which caused a shudder to pervade the trembling frame of
+Lal Lu--'this is an argument he can understand.'
+
+"'Oh,' cried the terrified girl, 'I could not!'
+
+"'You could not?' repeated the other with chilling emphasis. 'Ha, ha!
+you could not! But you will submit to the advances of this monster!
+
+"'Believe me, you are not the sole object of his regard.
+
+"'There have been others caged within these walls who have been less
+obdurate than you, or whose resistance has availed them nothing.'
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Lal Lu with an inexpressibly melancholy accent, as she
+considered the empty pedestal from which her ideal had fallen, and
+recalled with a shudder the caress which she had permitted and bestowed
+in that fervid interview with the prince. 'Can this be true?'
+
+"'Aye!' exclaimed the woman with savage affirmation. 'Do not doubt it.
+Sooner than submit to the embraces of that wretch I would turn that
+weapon against myself.'
+
+"'Oh!' exclaimed Lal Lu with a superb gesture and the light of
+unmistakable resolution in her eyes, 'that I can do; but the other----'
+And the poor girl trembled at the spectacle pictured in her mind.
+
+"'Well,' exclaimed the woman, 'I will leave this dagger here; do as you
+will; I have done for you what I could,' and she turned to depart,
+unmindful, apparently, of Lal Lu's tremulous 'And I am grateful to you.'
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"When the prince arrived at the apartment in which he accorded his
+audiences, if the attention he bestowed upon the meager assemblages
+which presented themselves occasionally can be dignified by that
+description, he found awaiting him a Hindoo, whom he recognized at once,
+and whose presence invariably preceded the recital of important
+information.
+
+"To the degree that Prince Otondo had reason to suspect that his
+grandfather had certain of his servants subsidized at the Kutub, he
+measured secretly by similar secret embassies at the Delhi palace.
+
+"The egotistical old moghul, with a vanity which even his anomalous
+situation with the British had not impaired, wished to assure himself
+that he would be worthily succeeded, and the prince was equally
+solicitous concerning the advancing senility of the moghul.
+
+"In such bloodless intrigues this picturesque pair kept their servants
+engaged, until this germ of mutual distrust infected every dependent in
+the two households with that singular propensity to conspire which the
+studious historian of this mysterious country cannot have failed to
+record.
+
+"On this basis certain shrewd spirits among the British intruders at
+this period were able to discover more of the character of the people
+under their unwelcome rule, in a single establishment of native
+servants, than in the general observations of a hundred English
+households.
+
+"Awaiting, therefore, the conclusion of the ceremonies of approach, upon
+which he always insisted and which were shortly to be rendered so
+absurd, the prince at last, calling the Hindoo by name, demanded the
+occasion of his presence.
+
+"'It is an ill service, O prince,' replied the Hindoo, 'which I am about
+to render you.'
+
+"'What, then?' exclaimed the prince. 'To the point, to the point!'
+
+"'Your grandfather----'
+
+"'Is dead?' inquired the prince with badly disguised eagerness.
+
+"'Nay; worse.'
+
+"'Proceed!' demanded the prince. 'What can be worse?'
+
+"'Your grandfather,' replied the messenger, in evident haste to conclude
+a disagreeable task, 'has taken to himself a young wife.'
+
+"'Ah!' cried the prince, startled into a degrading abandonment of his
+customary elevation of demeanor. 'The dotard, the imbecile! Married? To
+whom?'
+
+"'A daughter of the house of Nadis Shah, Rani Rue.'
+
+"'I know her!' cried the prince savagely. 'Implacable, ambitious,
+unscrupulous. What will she not attempt with that old driveller?' Then,
+evidently impressed by something shadowed in the expression of his
+ill-omened Mercury, he exclaimed: 'You have more to tell me?'
+
+"The Hindoo bowed his head in perturbed affirmation.
+
+"'Quickly, then!' demanded his august listener.
+
+"'The British forces have concentrated at the cantonment without the
+walls of Delhi; a detachment is even now on the way to your palace,
+which they propose to seize and garrison.'
+
+"'Ah!' murmured the prince, 'the freshet is turning to a deluge. Is
+there more?'
+
+"'Yes, O prince,' returned the Hindoo; 'the British intend to hold you as
+a hostage for the safety of the English resident, who is a prisoner at
+the palace in Delhi.'
+
+"'So!' exclaimed this royal reprobate as he reflected upon the
+picturesque possibilities to himself, in view of the sanguinary
+temptation which the helpless resident would present to the ambitious
+Queen Rani Rue. 'How far in advance of the detachment are you?'
+
+"'About one hour's march.'
+
+"'This is short reckoning. You have hastened with leaden feet.'
+
+"'Nay, your highness,' cried the Hindoo, 'I came the instant I heard.
+There is still time to escape, and the way is known to you alone.'
+
+"'So be it,' returned the prince as an expression of savage
+determination compressed his thin lips and ignited baleful fires in his
+restless eyes. 'Await me without; I will join you presently.'
+
+"As the Hindoo turned to obey, the prince darted, with lithe haste, into
+the inner room and pressed the spring in the wall.
+
+"Slowly the panel rolled aside and revealed the glittering pyramid of
+gems within.
+
+"From the depths, just in the rear of the priceless heap, he withdrew a
+sort of jacket, separated upon its upper edge into a series of openings
+similar to the partitions of a cartridge-belt.
+
+"Into these, with a sort of clumsy trepidation, he began to pack the
+almost elusive portions of the gleaming mass of brilliants from the
+recess.
+
+"At the conclusion of fifteen vital minutes the prince had deposited the
+last of the gems in the receptacles of this curious jacket, and, if the
+reports of the Hindoo were to be credited, the advancing British were
+that much nearer the Kutub.
+
+"With desperate rapidity he disengaged the folds of the delicate cambric
+which covered the upper portion of his body, inserting the precious
+jacket beneath, and after adjusting it to his figure, strapped it
+securely in place and rearranged his attire into non-committal contours.
+
+"'And now,' he cried with an expression of savage determination, 'and
+now for the rarest gem of all!' and darting through the silken hangings
+which concealed his extreme of the passageway leading to the apartments
+of Lal Lu, he hastened along that dingy bypath and presently reached the
+threshold from which he had issued but a short time before with such
+little credit to himself.
+
+"Without pausing to announce himself or consider the impropriety of his
+abrupt intrusion and its possible influence upon Lal Lu, the impetuous
+heir-apparent swept aside the curtains and rushed into the room.
+
+"Startled at the rattling rings which held the hangings in place, and
+the impetuous swish of its folds, Lal Lu sprang to her feet and gazed
+with indignant rebuke upon the inconsiderate prince.
+
+"Heedless of the unconcealed disdain of her glance and ignoring the
+presence of the furtive-eyed waiting-woman, he cried:
+
+"'Lal Lu, the time for further parley is past. The Kutub is shortly to
+be attacked by the British. We must fly--come!' and the speaker advanced
+with unreflective haste to the side of the palpitating girl.
+
+"In an instant, however, his headlong progress was checked as Lal Lu,
+with a superb gesture, raised the gleaming dagger above her head and
+cried, encouraged by the lowering eyes of the evilly-expectant
+waiting-woman: 'With thee--never! I will die first!'
+
+"As the prince recoiled a step at sight of the flashing blade, Lal Lu,
+with contemptuous emphasis, exclaimed: 'Be not afraid, Prince Otondo,
+this is not for thee. Advance but a step and it will be but an empty
+casket that awaits thee!'
+
+"Never had Lal Lu appeared so desirable in the eyes of this royal rogue,
+and never had he been more resolute to possess her.
+
+"With misleading quiet, therefore, he gazed upon the upraised hand which
+menaced the one unattained object of his desire. Quickly he measured
+the distance between them. Slowly he removed one foot behind the other.
+Lightly he pressed the slipper's point upon the tessellated floor, and
+then with a leap of incredible quickness, he darted forward, caught the
+descending arm of Lal Lu in his grasp, and, with his disengaged hand,
+wrenched the dagger from her and threw it away from him into the center
+of the apartment.
+
+"But as rapidly as he had moved, the prince had not been able to prevent
+the incision which the dagger's point made in his wrist and from which a
+thin stream of blood issued.
+
+"'Ah, ha, my beauty!' he cried as he released the struggling girl and
+retreated a step, the better to enjoy her discomfiture; 'ah, ha! I like
+thy spirit. I would not have thee mar the lovely casket which contains
+it. Here!' he called to the waiting-woman, who had witnessed the episode
+and into whose quick eyes, which had detected the slight wound upon the
+wrist of the prince, there crept a strange, inexplicable expression of
+leering triumph, 'here, guard this maiden for a space. Your life shall
+pay the penalty if aught befalls her in my absence.
+
+"'I shall return presently with the help I need to overcome such
+elevated objection'; and turning abruptly, the prince hastened toward
+the doorway, pausing a second to regain possession of the dagger which
+he had cast from him during the brief struggle.
+
+"'Alas!' cried the unhappy girl, 'what shall I do? He has gone to get
+some of his creatures to help him in his evil purposes.'
+
+"For a moment a tense silence prevailed.
+
+"The next instant, with eerie, jubilant interruption, the waiting-woman
+made the very air shudder with a laugh of such shrill exultation and
+riotous abandon that Lal Lu, for a moment forgetful of her own
+extremity, gazed with unconcealed amazement and alarm upon the almost
+hysterical creature.
+
+"'Ha, ha!' she raved; 'be not afraid, Lal Lu. This royal pest, this
+insolent prince, will trouble you no more; you will never see him
+again.'
+
+"'Ha!' exclaimed Lal Lu. 'You seem strangely positive. What do you
+mean?'
+
+"'Did you see that scratch which the point of your dagger made upon the
+wrist of the prince?'
+
+"'No,' replied Lal Lu, shrinking from the picture presented to her mind.
+
+"'Well,' returned the grim-visaged woman with a return to her customary
+austerity, 'I did. The wound was slight; only a few easily subdued drops
+of blood followed; but, believe me, maiden, it will be sufficient.'
+
+"'What do you mean?' demanded Lal Lu.
+
+"'This,' returned the weird creature with repulsive, evil joy, which she
+made no attempt to disguise: 'The point of that dagger was steeped in
+the most deadly poison known in India. In twenty minutes, ha, ha! it is
+the prince who will be the empty casket.'"
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the Sepoy reached this point in his narrative he paused with
+startling abruptness.
+
+Raikes, no longer under the influence of the seductive cadences, looked
+up sharply.
+
+"Well?" inquired the Sepoy as he met the inquiring glance of his furtive
+auditor, "what of the flaw in the sapphire? Can you trace the blemish?"
+
+"Devil seize me!" exclaimed Raikes, as he offered, by this apostrophe,
+an invitation which was certain, at no distant date, to be accepted.
+
+"Devil seize me if I have thought of the sapphire!" and he began at once
+an apologetic inspection of the brilliant with the magnifying glass.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the Sepoy. "I must congratulate myself upon my powers
+of narration."
+
+"Aye!" replied Raikes, as he continued his examination of the flaming
+bauble, "and also upon your irritating habit of concluding at the
+anxious moment. But see here," and he held the sapphire up to view; "I
+can see nothing wrong; possibly the light is bad. The searching glare of
+day is required to discover a blemish such as you speak of."
+
+"Suppose you return to-morrow, then, directly after breakfast?"
+suggested the Sepoy.
+
+"I want your judgment. I dare not trust my own; my blindness may be
+voluntary."
+
+"Very well, then," assented Raikes, who, now that he had nothing upon
+which to fasten his eyes, felt an easily comprehended uneasiness to
+leave the Sepoy. "I will be here at that time"; and with his customary
+emotionless adieux the guilty creature slipped through the doorway and
+speeded like a shriveled shadow along the various passages.
+
+As he was about to enter his room he was hailed by his nephew.
+
+"Uncle, you wanted to see me."
+
+"True," replied Raikes, with a start of recollection, "I do; but suppose
+we postpone the interview until to-morrow."
+
+"Very well," replied the young man easily, and Raikes, entering his
+room, fastened the door with his usual elaborate precaution.
+
+His first movement was to disclose the interior of the recess containing
+his coin and his conscience.
+
+A rapid examination convinced him that no further depredations had been
+committed upon the former, and the latter he secreted in the pocket of
+his waistcoat along with the diamond, which flashed its unregarded
+rebuke into his eager eyes.
+
+At this juncture the singular drowsiness which had overtaken him so
+persistently in the past few days began to steep his dulling senses.
+
+Warned by its approach, Raikes began to put into execution a newly
+conceived plan of retiring for the night and effective vigil over his
+treasure-trove.
+
+Hastily drawing a chair before the radiator, and placing directly in
+front of that the table, from which with a savage sweep of the arm he
+swept the dull heap of coals rattling to the floor, Raikes established
+himself in the seat so provided and, leaning forward, awaited the final
+blandishments of the drowsiness which was not long in lulling him into
+that profound degree of slumber which is commonly supposed to be the
+reward of sound morals and Christian resignation.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 3, Series B.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the reading of this impossible helter-skelter of unrestrained
+imagination and composite style, the expression in the countenance of
+the listening woman had developed from its original sadness to an
+unmistakable geniality.
+
+The pensive droop of her lips, little by little, nestled away into a
+smiling seriousness, and when Dennis, confronted with the habitual
+conclusion in italics, looked up with a grimace of recognition, his
+glance was met by a pair of kindly blue eyes, in which he believed he
+traced a charming suggestion of unaffected good fellowship.
+
+Altogether unsuspected by himself, Dennis, with his intent, intelligent
+countenance, and the contrasting vivacity of his rich, Irish accent, had
+awakened an interest in the mind of his companion which months of adroit
+approach could not have achieved.
+
+His genuineness was unquestionable.
+
+His entire absorption in the story, his delightful and unconscious
+elimination of self, supplied this tired woman with elements of mental
+refreshment and genuine enjoyment which circumstances had compelled her
+to decide no longer existed.
+
+Encouraged, therefore, by this unmistakable interest and the amiable
+attitude of attention which Dennis, with characteristic ingenuousness,
+accepted as a tribute to the narrative, he exclaimed:
+
+"An' isn't it great, now? Did you ever hear such a tale as that?"
+
+"I never did," was the smiling reply.
+
+"An' wasn't that Raikes a div--a tight one, I mean?"
+
+"He was, indeed," assented the lady, as she reviewed this sordid
+character and the incidents surrounding him, and contrasted the tumult
+of phrase and situation with her genial Addison and her placid Irving.
+
+"An' would you like to hear the rest?" asked Dennis, as he produced the
+remaining bosom of Series B.
+
+"Yes," replied the lady, "I believe I would. But just a moment before
+you begin," and regarding this oblivious young man with an expression in
+which a degree of speculation still lingered to tantalize its suggestion
+of frank indorsement, she hazarded:
+
+"You have not lived in New York long?"
+
+Wondering at the acuteness of this observation, Dennis responded by
+according to her the exact time of his brief residence.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the lady, "I thought so."
+
+"May I ask," inquired Dennis, wondering if, like the visitor from the
+bucolic district, he supplied unconscious data in his appearance for
+classification, "may I ask how you are able to tell that I'm here for a
+short time only?"
+
+"Well," returned his companion with a degree of hesitation exquisitely
+refined as it shadowed through her fine countenance, and which she
+presently conquered as she replied to his question with that shade of
+frankness which, in the well-bred, can never be mistaken for anything
+else: "It requires about a year's residence in this bedlam to replace
+the genuine with the artificial; I see no evidence of such an unhappy
+transformation in you."
+
+"Oh, I see," responded Dennis. "An' you never will, either."
+
+"I am almost prepared to believe that," answered the lady with a
+reassuring cordiality which somehow indicated to this young man that she
+had already become convinced of more than she was willing to
+acknowledge.
+
+"You may do so entirely," said Dennis simply.
+
+"Now, one question more," continued his companion, "and do not consider
+me inquisitive, since I may have something to suggest to your advantage
+if your reply is satisfactory. What is your business?"
+
+Dennis blushed.
+
+"My business?" he repeated with a droll accent and an amusing grimace;
+and then, encouraged by the friendly invitation and subtle encouragement
+in the manner of his sweet-faced listener, with a straightforward
+recital which the lady had expected from him, and which advanced him
+several leagues in her estimation, Dennis recounted his experiences from
+the time of his arrival up to the present moment.
+
+"It isn't much," he concluded apologetically, "not anywhere as
+interesting as the dickey back; but it's all there is, an' it's true,
+every word."
+
+"It is more than you suspect," dissented his hearer. "You have enabled
+me to come to a decision, at least, and may help me to solve a vexed
+problem. In the meantime, let us finish the story. While you are reading
+my mind will clear; I will make my suggestion when you conclude."
+
+Wondering, and yet with a prompt confidence which conveyed an agreeable
+flattery which the cleverest diplomacy could not have achieved, Dennis,
+holding his absurd medium at a level which permitted him to receive the
+stimulation of a sympathetic glance now and then, began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Considering the unaccustomed position in which Raikes had placed himself
+in arranging to retire the night before, he awoke with considerable
+astonishment to the realization that he had passed a night of
+undisturbed slumber.
+
+Aside from a slight disposition to stretch his lean limbs unduly, and a
+feeling of insecurity attending his first efforts to stand, he was not
+aware of any inconvenience from his singular siesta.
+
+At last, after having re-established his creaking equilibrium and
+resumed his accustomed furtive regard of things, he was suddenly
+reminded by the shifted position of the furniture of the purpose of this
+makeshift barricade.
+
+At once the shuddering dread which had attended his recent visits to the
+secret recess returned with numbing chills and sinking spirit.
+
+He advanced his bony hand, gnarled and mean with useless abstemiousness
+and miserable abnegations, and revolved the button in the concave. In
+response, the false register swung back; in another tense moment the
+inner space was revealed, and his treasury laid bare.
+
+For an instant, in the manner of an apprehensive child who postpones as
+long as possible some unwelcome confirmation, Raikes closed his eyes,
+and when he opened them again they rested, with unerring precision, upon
+a bag somewhat detached from the others, which protruded at its sides
+with those frightful points and angles with which he had become so
+unhappily familiar of late.
+
+With a smothered cry he sprang forward, gripped the bag in a trembling,
+faltering clutch, and dropped it with a groan to the floor, where it
+fell with a heart-breaking, distracting lightness, which, nevertheless,
+smote like a mighty weight upon his bursting heart.
+
+"My God!" he cried, "this is incredible!" and the miserable creature
+stood for a moment with an appalling vacancy shadowing in his
+countenance, which was illumed for one fitful moment with a ray of hope
+as he inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket to assure himself that
+the diamond which he had placed in that receptacle the night before at
+least was safe.
+
+The diamond--ah, yes!
+
+There was still some consolation in that.
+
+Its value still maintained a close proportion to his loss. If there was
+no gain there was, at least, a sort of evil restitution.
+
+But his exploring fingers found only an empty pocket.
+
+In a palsy of fear, and with the demeanor of one who feels the first
+twinge of a mortal affliction and awaits in fearful silence the grewsome
+confirmation of another, he stood without sound or motion, his set,
+staring eyes directed with unseeing intensity upon the vacant air.
+
+The next instant, with feverish animation and impotent apprehension,
+five writhing fingers leaped from their futile search, like scotched
+reptiles, into the opposite pocket and withdrew the two useless keys
+with which he fastened his abortive latch on the door.
+
+And then, with a frightful glitter in his eyes, an ugly ooze about his
+bloodless lips, a flickering effort of his shriveled fingers to adjust
+themselves to some ribald rhythm, Raikes began to sing, with the dry
+rasp and ancient husk of a galvanized sphinx:
+
+    "And her name it was Dinah,
+      Scarce sixteen years old;
+    She'd a very large fortune
+      In greenbacks and gold.
+    Sing turi-li-luri----
+
+Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and supporting himself along the wall he made his way
+slowly to the threshold, unfastened the locks, removed the heavy bar,
+opened the door, and cried out in a voice that was not human, that
+shuddered its way along the chill passage through the shrinking air:
+
+"Robert--Robert!" and then, reeling, stumbling toward a near-by chair,
+he fell ere he could reach it, in utter collapse to the floor, and lay
+there--shriveled, grotesque, in no way pathetic, in all points
+contemptible, as his nephew, in response to his uncle's unearthly
+summons, rushed into the room, followed by the wide-eyed spinster.
+
+For three days during the week that followed Raikes lay oblivious to the
+considerations of loss or gain.
+
+The utmost of the young medical attendant, who had been selected on the
+basis of the small charges incident to a beginning practice, had failed
+to restore the emaciated man to his suspended consciousness, until,
+toward the morning of the fourth day, the spinster, who sat near-by in
+weary vigil, was startled to behold the dull eyes of her brother
+fastened upon her with the faraway, questioning look of one returning
+from the confines of the nether to the sharp realities of existence.
+
+"Rodman?" she inquired with anxious interrogation.
+
+In response the thin lips of the sufferer moved slowly.
+
+Approaching the bed, his sister, leaning over the unfortunate Raikes,
+heard him articulate with difficulty "Water!"
+
+Supporting his head with one hand, the spinster supplied his
+feebly-sighed request, and when the last difficult swallow conveyed the
+refreshing draught along his fevered throat, she restored his head to
+the pillow and awaited developments.
+
+As she sat at the bedside in an attitude of fearful expectation, it was
+evident that some transformation, more wholesome than subtle, had
+manifested itself in the mien and physique of his nurse.
+
+A large degree of her pitiful attenuity had vanished; a legible vestige
+of placid well-being seemed to have replaced the hunger of her eyes;
+there was a vague, unsubstantial promise of possible comeliness in the
+restoration of her cheeks.
+
+Aware of these changes herself, and fearful lest her brother's sharp
+eyes would discover them, the spinster recalled, with a sort of troubled
+gratification, the occasion of the improvement.
+
+Undisturbed by the rebuking glances of the abstemious Raikes, and
+secretly abetted by the amused Sepoy, the poor woman had enjoyed the
+privileges of the table with a relish and surrender which had begun to
+result in the manner indicated.
+
+For several days previous to the catastrophe which had concluded in the
+prostration of her brother, the spinster had supplied the cravings of
+her appetite with a gusto that was a revelation to her, and which would
+have evoked a profound rebuke from the wretched creature on the bed.
+
+It was therefore with secret misgiving and a qualified delight she heard
+her brother at last call feebly: "Sarah!"
+
+In answer to the exhausted interrogation in his utterance of the name,
+his sister hastened to recount to him the incident of his collapse and
+his subsequent unconsciousness.
+
+Little by little his intelligence began to resume its abandoned
+functions, and at last he recalled the whole evil situation.
+
+"Where's Robert?" he said. "I want him."
+
+"I will send him to you," exclaimed his sister, and she hastened from
+the room.
+
+"Well, uncle!" exclaimed Robert as he entered with a cheerfulness he was
+far from feeling as he witnessed that emaciated countenance; "better, I
+see."
+
+"I congratulate you upon your imagination," replied Raikes, with a
+feeble attempt at his customary incivility; "but lock the door and
+listen to me carefully."
+
+These instructions complied with, Robert seated himself in the chair
+just vacated by the spinster, which provided his uncle an unobstructed
+view of the embonpoint and general aspect of well-being which were so
+obnoxious to the singular man on the bed.
+
+"In the first place," resumed Raikes weakly, "move the bed around so
+that I can see the register in the wall."
+
+The wondering Robert did as he was ordered.
+
+"Take hold of the button that moves the valves and pull it toward you."
+
+Robert followed these instructions minutely, and to his astonishment and
+the miser's consternation the radiator itself swung away from the wall.
+
+"What!" cried the startled invalid as he beheld this confirmation of his
+fear that he had neglected to spring the catch that held the radiator
+on the occasion of the mishap which resulted in his confinement to the
+bed, "Look within. Is the inner compartment closed?"
+
+"No!" replied Robert.
+
+"My God!" groaned Raikes as he realized that his treasury had been thus
+unguarded during his illness. "Tell me how many bags there are."
+
+Robert removed them one by one, and deposited them on the table.
+
+As the miser followed the movements of his nephew with anxious notation,
+a sigh of unutterable relief welled from the innermost depths of his
+bosom.
+
+The bags had been untouched!
+
+There was no further loss, and the clinking weight assured him that his
+nocturnal visitor had made no more of his gross substitutions.
+
+"Listen, Robert," said Raikes with laborious amiability, as his
+astonished nephew seated himself near the bedside, "it has been my
+purpose to conceal this hiding place from any living soul, but I find
+that I have not succeeded.
+
+"Some one has made three visits to that recess and helped himself to as
+many bags of coin."
+
+Robert, remembering his uncle's well-known secrecy and the unusual
+precautions taken by him to secure his room from intrusion, looked his
+incredulity, which stimulated Raikes into exclaiming:
+
+"Ah, but you do not know how incredible it is. Wait until you hear all.
+You will wonder what human agency could penetrate these locks, open the
+doors of this hiding place, extract the plunder, restore the locks to
+their original condition, and re-issue into the passageway without
+disturbing the latches or the crossbar. My losses are supernatural. Now
+follow me carefully and confess that you have not heard anything so
+ghastly, so unreal as what I am about to relate."
+
+As Raikes proceeded in his narrative, his nephew was at first inclined
+to receive these weird confidences as features of the unhappy man's
+condition, but as the latter progressed, with a constantly increasing
+degree of his customary emotionless lucidity, his sincerity became
+apparent.
+
+"And now," concluded Raikes, "what have you to say to all this? Is it
+not worthy of a Poe or a Maupassant? I tell you, I must have some
+explanation of this mystery or I shall go mad."
+
+During this singular recital the young man's mind, stimulated by the
+eerie perplexities and the unhappy dénouement, had been busy.
+
+It was not difficult to convince himself of the futility of any of his
+own speculations; the nearness of the calamity affected him, in a
+degree, as it did the withered invalid.
+
+He had a sound brain, nourished by a well sustained body; his
+intelligence was apt and rapid, but these unheard-of complications
+demanded a morbid analysis of which he was incapable.
+
+On this basis, however, as his uncle had proceeded, Robert had been able
+to develop a suggestion; he could offer that, at least.
+
+In reply, therefore, to the feverish questions of his uncle, the young
+man said:
+
+"In so far as I am able to see, your disasters have narrowed your range
+of discernment. They are too recent; they affect you too nearly. Under
+such conditions we take counsel of our prejudices instead of our
+judgment. Your thoughts are apt to return to the central feature of your
+loss. It is not natural to expect one to dismiss such a consideration in
+order to make way for others which might help you in your search.
+
+"On my part, the incident is new and stimulating, but the ideas it
+awakens lead to nothing. However, I should not regard the case as
+impossible until I had tried at least one means of solution."
+
+"What is that?" demanded Raikes, diverted, if not convinced, by the
+sensible observations of his nephew.
+
+"You have heard of Gratz?" inquired Robert.
+
+"Of the secret service?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Ah!" cried the old man; "to submit the case to him means another in the
+secret, with little prospect of advantage."
+
+"I am not so sure about that," returned Robert. "Do you recall the
+Dupont mystery?"
+
+Raikes nodded.
+
+"Well," continued Robert, "you must also remember the Belmont scandal.
+Gratz certainly let daylight into that."
+
+"Ah," cried Raikes, "I do not like your suggestions; they encourage me
+and alarm me at the same time. Think of the cost."
+
+Irritated at the intrusion of this frugal proviso at this juncture,
+Robert exclaimed with some warmth: "Yes, but think, also, how
+insignificant that would be if he discovered the thief and recovered the
+money."
+
+"If--if----" repeated Raikes with impatience.
+
+"And I can say this," continued Robert: "It is the ambition of Gratz to
+be appointed chief of the bureau to which he belongs. Whatever can be
+placed to his credit in the meantime will serve as an additional reason
+for his advancement.
+
+"I believe that he would be more persuaded to undertake the case with
+this prospect in view than for a mercenary reason."
+
+"But," interrupted Raikes, "can you get him?"
+
+"I think I can answer for that," replied Robert. "I know him very well.
+If you will consent to leave the matter in my hands, I will attend to
+Gratz."
+
+"Well," exclaimed Raikes, as Robert concluded, "have it your own way;
+anything is better than this killing suspense. I do not believe that I
+could endure a repetition of the incidents of the last few nights. But
+return the bags before you go, and shut the radiator; it will lock in
+closing."
+
+When Robert at last reached the dining-room he discovered his aunt at
+the table, seated opposite the Sepoy.
+
+Instructing the spinster to resume her vigil until his return, Robert
+proceeded to his own table, and from that point of observation occupied
+himself, during the next twenty minutes, partly with his breakfast and
+partly in regarding this illy-assorted duet.
+
+The Sepoy was as gravely urbane as ever; his browns and blacks
+intermingled harmoniously; his eyes were bright; his teeth still
+suggestive of restrained sarcasm in their dull, red sheaths, as, with
+grave courtesy, he made himself agreeable to his companion by abetting
+her newly-awakened appetite with recommendations of the steak and
+eulogies of the butter.
+
+The spinster was no longer ravenous; the advantages she had enjoyed
+during the absence of her domestic Argus had made her cravings more
+equable, and she accepted the edible suggestions of the Sepoy with an
+approach to placid satisfaction that hinted at the imminence of
+repletion.
+
+This disposition to make the most of her privileges, with what composure
+she could assume, would have added the basis of a serious relapse on the
+part of the invalid could he have witnessed the phenomenon.
+
+It was remarkable how promptly the poor creature evinced the effects of
+her nourishment.
+
+Beginning, as already indicated, with a logical indigestion, she
+progressed to the point of a possible filling out of the crevices of her
+countenance, and her eyes certainly had lost the expression of appeal
+characteristic of the mendicant in the doorway.
+
+All this, minutely noted by her watchful nephew, was thoroughly enjoyed
+with a sort of chuckling collusion and vicarious gratification.
+
+On her return to the invalid she was requested by him to provide
+whatever nourishment was needed, and then to leave him alone for a
+couple of hours.
+
+These instructions fulfilled, the spinster sought the retirement of her
+room, surrendered herself to the enjoyment of reminiscent digestion, and
+Raikes began to pull himself together.
+
+His method was characteristic.
+
+On the basis that he could not afford to enjoy himself like any normally
+constituted being, he assured his mind that he could not submit to the
+expense of illness.
+
+According to his rigid logic, sickness was more the result of indulgence
+than self-denial.
+
+He proposed to have the credit of his abnegations.
+
+Therefore he directed his perverse will to the contemplation of the
+rational aspect of his condition, and presently had managed to convince
+himself that if he did not entertain the belief of suffering, this
+untoward condition would cease to exist.
+
+As this singular being combatted all that was unwelcome to this point of
+view, the grim lines tightened about the corners of his mouth, the deep
+fissures in his forehead established a communication with the obstinate
+wrinkles at the root of his nose, and by noon he was well on his way to
+the mastery of his indisposition, and by nightfall he scandalized the
+young medical attendant by standing up to receive him.
+
+Extending to himself a chuckling tribute of his resolution, he received
+the incredulity of his nephew as additional indorsement when the latter
+made his appearance that evening, accompanied by the colorless negation
+of a man whom he could scarcely persuade himself to believe was the
+celebrated Gratz.
+
+However, no more ideal countenance could have been created for the
+purposes to which it was applied by its owner.
+
+Pallid, expressionless, vacant, it was as nearly a canvas upon which to
+delineate almost anything in the range of emotion as it was possible for
+a visage of flesh and blood to be.
+
+As to the details of features, these were altogether subordinate, and as
+devoid of physiognomical meaning as the dull integument which
+encompassed them.
+
+It had about the same amount of character as a bald baby.
+
+One received the impression that a seismic disturbance might awaken some
+show of emotion, but design--never.
+
+And yet, behind that pale disguise, between sleepy, level lids, two
+points of concentrated fire and ceaseless animation gleamed their
+startling significance to any one able to comprehend.
+
+In stature he was adjusted to his visage.
+
+His frame was lean enough to repudiate the incredible agility and
+recuperative strength it housed, and his carriage was consistently "out
+of plumb."
+
+Altogether it was an identity that would have been overlooked in any
+gathering, and was almost nondescript enough to establish an eligibility
+to the most exclusive function.
+
+This unpromising ensemble, however, was not misleading to Raikes, who
+had looked up quickly at the first appearance of the detective, and had
+seen the sharp, penetrating glance with which Gratz had for an instant
+surveyed the apartment.
+
+Moreover, the very leanness of the famous official appealed to him.
+
+Here, at least, were none of the obnoxious evidences of repletion which
+he viewed with such disapprobation in his sturdier nephew.
+
+The man's attire, too, commended him to the starved graces of his spare
+host. It was as characterless as it was possible for fabric to be, and
+considered with his meager physique and vacant physiognomy, was a
+fitting complement to both; an adjustment of component detail too
+consistent to have been the needless aspect it was designed to present.
+
+With a voice in which the character had been trained away as surely as
+the charity from the opinions of the social élite, this descendant of
+Lecocq accosted his patron, and with business-like brevity indicated
+that he was already familiar with the situation as outlined by Robert,
+and if Mr. Raikes would consent to reply to a few questions it would
+facilitate matters.
+
+His hearer indicated that he was entirely at the disposal of the
+detective.
+
+With characteristic concentration, therefore, Gratz began:
+
+"Do you suspect anybody in particular?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That is singular," commented Gratz. "May I ask why? Under such
+circumstances the mind generally proceeds in some unhappy direction."
+
+"Not in this instance," returned Raikes. "Before I suspect any one, I
+must assign to him supernatural powers, almost. I will have to explain
+how it is possible for any one to enter this room, penetrate that
+recess, make the substitution, and retire, leaving the door in the same
+condition, precisely as left by me the night before."
+
+"That is the point," replied Gratz. Then, after a moment's reflection,
+he inquired: "Am I at liberty to nose around this room?"
+
+"Help yourself," answered Raikes.
+
+With this assent, Gratz hurried to the window, examined the sash,
+considered the sheer depths immediately below, its lack of vicinity to
+other windows, and last, the strong fastenings, to disturb which would
+involve a degree of rasp and wrench sufficient to disturb the slumbers
+of a Rip Van Winkle.
+
+With a countenance as impassive as ever, he returned to Raikes and said:
+
+"Now for the hiding place."
+
+With a grimace of reluctant acquiescence, Raikes, closely regarded by
+the detective, proceeded to the button in the concave, which he moved
+with slow manipulation for the edification of the alert watcher, who
+witnessed, without comment, the displacement of the register and the
+subsequent revelation of the inner compartment.
+
+"Remove the bags."
+
+At the conclusion of this labor, this impenetrable being produced a
+small rod of steel from one of his pockets, one end of which concluded
+in a round knob.
+
+With this he proceeded to rap the walls of the inner recess, a
+proceeding of which Raikes inquired the purpose.
+
+"I want to ascertain," replied Gratz, "if there is any vacancy on the
+other side."
+
+"I could have saved you all that trouble," replied Raikes. "This is a
+false radiator, the real flue is on the other side of the room.
+
+"The rear of this small safe backs up against nearly two feet of solid
+brickwork.
+
+"Exactly behind that is a room occupied by one no more burglarious than
+a dressmaker's apprentice."
+
+"Thank you," replied Gratz. "Your information is helpful, but I am never
+satisfied to rely upon description when investigation is possible.
+
+"Whatever deductions I make from this examination I do not want
+disturbed, so all the doubts they dissipate are not likely to intrude
+upon my calculations again."
+
+After a few further taps, in which Raikes could see no better purpose
+than to retire from an embarrassing position with some show of satisfied
+motive, Gratz directed that the bags be returned.
+
+For the next few minutes he busied himself with the locks, upon which he
+experimented with the extraordinary keys which Raikes had given him. He
+shot the bolts backward and forward; noted the stout bar and the
+precautions for keeping it in place, and then resumed the seat near the
+table.
+
+After a few moments he said:
+
+"Tell me what has occurred to you between sunrise and sunset during the
+last three days."
+
+Raikes recounted his usual round of petty detail, which had no possible
+bearing upon the problem.
+
+When he had concluded this meager résumé, Gratz continued:
+
+"Now tell me about the nights."
+
+Raikes complied with a statement of his careful precautions; the watch
+of his sister upon the doorway during his absence, and his visits to the
+room of the Sepoy.
+
+"The Sepoy?" inquired Gratz. "Why do you call him that?"
+
+"On account of his swarthy complexion, his bright eyes, and his general
+alien aspect," replied Robert.
+
+"Describe him to me as carefully as you can," said Gratz.
+
+When Robert had concluded his brief delineation, Raikes hastened to
+inquire: "Why do you ask about him so particularly? He could no more
+enter my room, under the conditions I have described to you, than you
+could."
+
+"I realize that," admitted the detective, "but I gather from what you
+have just said that you visit this Sepoy, as you call him, with some
+degree of regularity. May I ask if you have business transactions with
+him?"
+
+"I have not," replied Raikes.
+
+Then, in response to the unchanging look of inquiry in the countenance
+of the detective, he added:
+
+"The Sepoy has been telling me an extraordinary story. It has been too
+elaborate to confine to one sitting, and my purpose in re-visiting him
+was to get at the conclusion. It is most interesting, and apparently
+interminable."
+
+"Would you object to relating it to me?" inquired Gratz.
+
+"Heavens!" cried Raikes, aghast at the prospect of the extended effort
+which this would impose upon him. "Is it necessary?"
+
+"I would not be surprised," replied Gratz. "At any rate, if your story
+is more mysterious than the predicament which confronts us, it must be
+worth hearing."
+
+With an ill grace, after making the elaborate arrangements which usually
+precede a protracted campaign, Raikes hastened to comply with the
+request of the detective.
+
+As he proceeded, he was startled to note, now that he made his first
+conscious effort to review the weird recital of the Sepoy, just how
+vividly the incidents presented themselves.
+
+Aside from the phraseology, he recounted, in precise order, the
+incredible incidents, and by the time he had reached the climax in the
+first division of his effort his hearers were interested enough to
+hasten through a light meal, which, at the suggestion of Gratz, had been
+sent to the room they occupied.
+
+With something of the calculation of the Sepoy, or remembering, perhaps,
+the effect which his abrupt terminations had upon him, Raikes contrived
+his irritating pauses with remorseless enjoyment and the ostensible
+purpose of stimulating his sorely taxed energies with draughts of
+brandy and water.
+
+In this way Raikes consumed the time until the hour of eleven, which
+enabled him to develop the narrative to the point at which the Sepoy had
+concluded.
+
+"And now," exclaimed Raikes with unmistakable relief, as he signified
+that his hearers were in possession of all he knew, "and now will you
+kindly tell me what you expect to gain by this tedious task you have
+imposed upon me?"
+
+Gratz did not reply at once, but after a few moments of reflection, he
+asked, apparently ignoring the question of the narrator: "Will you give
+me the keys of this building you occupy, and indicate to me the means of
+rummaging about the other building on the opposite side of the wall?"
+
+"If it is necessary," replied Raikes with grudging assent.
+
+"Why else should I make the request?" suggested Gratz with emotionless
+directness of speech and a momentary gleam of the eyes.
+
+"True!" responded Raikes.
+
+"Now," exclaimed Gratz, when the various keys were placed in his hand,
+"you can sleep in peace to-night, and bolt your doors with all the
+assurance in the world, for I guarantee that your property will be
+undisturbed."
+
+Then turning to Robert, he said: "I want you to guide me for a short
+while, and as soon as I get my bearings you can retire."
+
+At this the two bade the thoroughly exhausted Raikes good-night and
+departed from the room, which the miser hastily secured with his usual
+precautions.
+
+Without, Robert soon discovered that his services were no longer
+required, and at the suggestion of the detective he retired, after
+indicating to this curious official that when he had concluded his
+investigations he would find a cot in his room which he was at liberty
+to occupy.
+
+As dawn began to make its appearance on the ensuing morning, Robert was
+disturbed by a curious dream.
+
+He appeared to be alone upon a fragile raft in the midst of a
+destructive sea.
+
+Bit by bit the hastily joined structure upon which he rode the waters
+so insecurely began to disintegrate, until but one scarcely sufficing
+plank remained.
+
+To this, however, he clung with rapidly failing strength, shouting at
+intervals with what vim remained, in an attempt to attract the attention
+of the keepers of the light, not far away.
+
+But with devilish perversity, an immense fog-horn sent forth a heavy
+blast seaward precisely at the moments he raised his voice.
+
+No matter how far apart or how near he planned the intervals, he was
+bound to coincide with the deafening horn.
+
+At last in despair he desisted in his efforts, and the monster horn,
+with hoarse mockery, continued its grewsome noises at dismal intervals,
+until one, more stentorian than the others, caused the very tempest to
+hush, and Robert awoke to discover Gratz the cause of his fictitious
+misery, sleeping upon the cot near the foot of his bed, emitting a
+series of snores which had managed to communicate their odious telepathy
+to his slumbering consciousness.
+
+As this singular being lay there in the relaxation and undisguise to
+which the most diplomatic must submit at times, his countenance, so
+impassive in his wakeful hours, depicted singular lines of
+determination.
+
+An expression of tense anxiety contracted his features; resolution held
+the thin lips in rigid partnership; there was a hint of purpose in the
+solitary wrinkle which corrugated his forehead; the general aspect was
+impressive, its suggestion indefatigable.
+
+In this paradoxical fashion, the emotions, concealed during the day,
+revealed themselves at night.
+
+What in others would have concluded in a vacant mien and colorless
+repose, in him expressed all that he was so sedulous to conceal.
+
+Scarcely had Robert placed his feet upon the floor when Gratz opened his
+eyes, awakened partly by the sounds of rising and partly by his tumult
+of snores, and in an instant the flaccid mask descended over his face,
+and Gratz was his apathetic self again.
+
+"Well?" inquired Robert.
+
+"You have said it," replied Gratz; "it is well."
+
+"You have succeeded, then?" demanded Robert breathlessly.
+
+"I believe so; but do not question me further just now. I want to see
+your uncle before I go."
+
+A few moments later the two presented themselves before the closed door
+leading to the apartment occupied by Raikes, whom they fancied they
+could hear stirring about within.
+
+In answer to their raps, he opened the door and they entered.
+
+"What news?" demanded Raikes.
+
+"The best, I hope; but I will not communicate it to you until to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Raikes with manifest disappointment.
+
+"But," continued Gratz, as he noted the expression on the face of the
+other, "at that time I fancy that I shall not only have solved the
+mystery but I will also secure the thief."
+
+"Do you know him, then?" asked Raikes.
+
+"You are wrong," replied Gratz. "Unless I am seriously mistaken, there
+are two."
+
+"Two!" repeated Raikes incredulously.
+
+"Yes--but listen: I am anxious to hear the conclusion of that
+remarkable story you began last night."
+
+"But," objected Raikes, "I have already told you all I know."
+
+"I am aware of that," answered the detective, "but your friend, the
+Sepoy, will doubtless oblige you with the balance. Arrange with him at
+breakfast-time for a continuation. I will return either to-night or
+to-morrow morning to hear it."
+
+"But----" began Raikes.
+
+"Do not refuse to do as I ask," urged Gratz impressively. "It may be
+useful; I'm inclined to think it will."
+
+"Very well," answered Raikes. "I will do as you suggest."
+
+"And," continued Gratz, "I need not assure you that if a living soul
+learns of my presence here last night, I can do nothing for you."
+
+"I understand," said Raikes.
+
+"And I," added Robert.
+
+With this Gratz departed, and Raikes prepared to make his appearance in
+the dining-room.
+
+Advised of the intention of her brother to breakfast at the table, the
+spinster had hastened to precede him, and by the time Raikes presented
+himself she had managed to bestow a couple of furtive biscuits in her
+pocket, and had devoured another couple, lavishly buttered, accompanied
+by a fairly liberal cut of beefsteak.
+
+Consequently, when Raikes conveyed his customary intimation that she was
+at liberty to begin, the spinster obediently proceeded to add a moderate
+breakfast to the one she had already enjoyed.
+
+Trembling lest her brother would remark the developing suggestions of
+well-being which had resulted from her recent regimen, she welcomed with
+genuine relief the advent of the Sepoy, to whom Raikes transferred his
+speculative glance.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed the Sepoy, "you have had quite a siege, I hear."
+
+"I have," replied Raikes shortly; then added with a sort of grim humor:
+"My physician has recommended a little diversion, and I have just
+thought of a simple way of following his advice."
+
+"What is that?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I would like to present myself at the usual hour and hear the
+conclusion of the story, for I judge, from the predicament of Prince
+Otondo, that the end is not far off."
+
+"Ah, you remember?" exclaimed the Sepoy.
+
+"Decidedly!" replied Raikes.
+
+"Very well, then," returned the other. "Come at ten and I will gather
+the tangled threads together."
+
+During the balance of that day Raikes devoted his powers of
+concentration to the consummation of the treatment to which he had
+subjected himself, and this, together with the prospect of the recovery
+of his property, resulted in a condition which made the visits of the
+astonished physician no longer necessary.
+
+With an eagerness intensified to a childish impatience, almost, by the
+vague suggestions of Gratz that the story would be personally
+interesting, and exhausting his mind with futile speculations as to the
+manner of its application to the unnatural conditions which distressed
+him so, Raikes at last concluded his contemplation of the clock, and
+promptly upon the stroke of ten, hastened from his room and hurried to
+the apartment occupied by the Sepoy.
+
+Seating himself in the chair indicated by his host, he shortly found
+that he was unable to avoid recalling his recent guilty appropriation of
+the diamond, and a degree of confusion, which he could not entirely
+disguise, manifested itself in his difficulty of adjusting his eyes to
+the inscrutable gaze of the Sepoy.
+
+On this occasion the narrator, as hitherto, did not provide his auditor
+with a brilliant to look upon during the progress of the story--an
+omission that was radiantly repaired by the two lambent gems in the eyes
+of the former.
+
+Upon these the shifting gaze of the restless listener finally fastened
+itself with a fascination which he found it impossible to resist, and
+the Sepoy, with all the modulated lights and shadows of ardor,
+animation, lethargy, somnolence, peace, with which he complemented his
+sedative phrases, began:
+
+(_The conclusion of this interesting tale will be found on Bosom No. 1,
+Dickey Series C_.)
+
+As Dennis looked up from his reading, a pair of eyes of unclouded blue,
+vivid with interest and altogether friendly, met his animated glance.
+
+With alert intuition his sweet-faced auditor believed that she
+discovered a shadow of vexation in the ingenuous countenance of the
+reader.
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+To Dennis, in his absorption, it seemed impossible that the question
+could refer to anything else than the habitual disability at the end of
+each chapter, and he answered promptly:
+
+"'Tis the way the dickey ends--to be concluded in Series C--an' it's me
+here an' Series C in Baxter Street, so I can't read the rest; it's too
+bad, so it is."
+
+"So it is," repeated the lady softly, with a dexterous parody of his
+concluding words, but with a subtle intimation in her manner that she
+did not consider the inconvenient termination such a misfortune, after
+all, and that it somehow suggested an alternative that was not
+displeasing.
+
+"Do you want to hear the rest?" asked Dennis frankly.
+
+"I do, indeed," replied his companion with an adroitly conveyed
+insinuation of disappointed expectation that seemed to place the
+responsibility of measuring to this agreeable emergency entirely upon
+Dennis.
+
+The same degree of sensitiveness which leaves an Irishman so open to
+offense, enables him, with equal celerity, to comprehend a hint, and
+Dennis, when he realized that the lady understood that the continuation
+of the tale involved a subsequent reading, exclaimed, with a delicious
+paraphrase of Sancho Panza: "God bless the man who first invented
+'_Continued in our next!_'"
+
+Presently the one certain that her telepathy had not miscarried, and the
+other equally convinced that his reception of the message was accredited
+to him, the conversation was given an abrupt direction by an apparently
+alien question:
+
+"Do you know anything about flowers?" asked his companion.
+
+"Only the difference between a rose and a cauliflower," replied Dennis
+with a twinkle in his eye, to which the lady responded with a shade of
+disappointment.
+
+"An' why flowers?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Listen!" answered the lady with a slight return of her original
+sadness.
+
+"Eleven months ago I was left a widow.
+
+"My husband's estate consisted of a moderate amount of life insurance, a
+prosperous business, and no debts.
+
+"He was a florist.
+
+"The establishment is located in the heart of a very fashionable
+district.
+
+"There has scarcely been a function of the élite in this section which
+my husband has not supplied with floral decorations.
+
+"His taste was exquisite, and his taste was his undoing, for he added
+refinement to refinement until he began to lose sight of the practical
+side of existence.
+
+"By degrees he became as attenuated as some of the tendrils he
+cultivated with such absorption, and as frail as an orchid.
+
+"The intrusion of a pronounced scent was sufficient to induce a serious
+nervous disturbance, and he could no more endure disproportionate and
+sharp distinctions of color than a lapidary could tolerate a serious
+unevenness of facets.
+
+"I was compelled to paper his room with a delicate shade of lavender.
+
+"The furniture was stained a light buff, and the upholstering was a
+delicate cretonne livened by exquisite tracings of wisteria.
+
+"The carpet was light blue, surrounded by a border of deeper blue,
+lightly emphasized by suggestions of trailing arbutus.
+
+"Despite all this," continued the lady sadly as she paused to enjoy an
+intentness of interest on the part of the bewildered Dennis, so profound
+that the dickey backs had been permitted to fall unregarded to the
+ground, and their printed extravagances, by contrast with this unusual
+recital, relegated to the most prosaic of occurrences, "despite all
+these precautions, the most carefully guarded recesses are not entirely
+secure.
+
+"For one day an elaborately protected package arrived during my absence,
+and my husband opened it.
+
+"At once a pungent, overpowering sweetness filled the air, and the very
+surfeit of its fragrance threw my husband into a convulsion of delight
+which ended in a stupor so replete that we were able only to restore the
+poor man to consciousness by hypodermics of--what was to him a most
+violent stimulant--Cambric Tea."
+
+Dennis looked his astonishment at these accumulating refinements, and in
+the pause that followed the narration of this last episode he inquired,
+with the appreciative hesitation of one who is reluctant to advance lest
+he destroy the dew-gemmed tracery of a fragile spider's web.
+
+"An' what kind of flowers did all this?"
+
+"Cape Jessamine," replied the lady; "and we were never able to discover
+who sent them.
+
+"His physicians claimed that his disorder was paralleled by similar
+disturbances instanced in pathological records, but that the
+contributing causes were different and that my husband's particular
+debility was not induced by his devotion to flowers but aggravated by
+it.
+
+"To further complicate matters, the physician assured me that to deprive
+the invalid of his floral diversions would be to remove his remaining
+impulse to continued existence.
+
+"He went on to say that he had reached the limit of his skill, and that
+nothing further was to be done than to surround the sufferer with placid
+considerations and neutral odors, and intimated that he disliked to
+contemplate the possible result of a second contact with Cape Jessamine.
+
+"In a short time it became evident that I possessed merely the essence
+of a husband, and one day, as he wafted--that's the word, for his step
+seemed to be almost devoid of specific gravity--so I repeat, one day, as
+he wafted to the room in which he usually experimented with his floral
+attenuations, I happened to be engaged in the dwelling adjoining the
+conservatory and into which it opened.
+
+"Presently, my duties concluded, I proceeded in the direction taken by
+my husband.
+
+"As I advanced I grew momently conscious of a ravishing fragrance which
+seemed to pervade and invite the consciousness to all varieties of
+agreeable surrender.
+
+"Ah!--in a moment I recognized this pungent delight: Cape Jessamine!
+
+"Aware of the consequences to him should he inhale anything so
+transporting, I hastened forward.
+
+"The fragrance grew stronger as I hurried on. It seemed to envelop every
+delicate, fainting scent in the conservatory, and as I placed my hand
+upon the door-latch leading to the section where I was positive my
+husband would be found, I knew that I had traced the occasion to its
+source.
+
+"In another second I had opened the door, and there, a few feet away,
+lay my unfortunate husband.
+
+"I hurried to his side.
+
+"His countenance, which exhibited that singular placidity which
+sometimes comes with death, was as serene as a lily, and gave no
+evidence of the convulsion that must have ensued.
+
+"He was dead.
+
+"All about him, distributed with devilish malignity and criminal intent,
+were various clusters of the flowers that had transported him,
+literally."
+
+"My God!" exclaimed Dennis. "What a situation!"
+
+"Wasn't it?" exclaimed the widow. "It almost equals the story on the
+dickeys."
+
+"Equals!" exclaimed Dennis with profound conviction. "I don't know that
+I care to read the balance of the story after this. Do you know the
+guilty party?"
+
+"I think so," answered the widow; "but you can judge for yourself as I
+proceed.
+
+"Now follow me closely."
+
+There was no need of this advice, for Dennis would not have missed a
+word for the world, and gazed upon the sweet-faced narrator with a sort
+of superstitious admiration as she continued:
+
+"Since his death the patronage is larger than ever.
+
+"I now find myself confronted with what is equivalent to an
+embarrassment of riches on the one hand, and a famine of intelligent
+help on the other."
+
+At this statement Dennis attempted not to appear too deeply interested.
+
+"I employ a manager, the one we have always had, who desires to become
+a partner in the business; but his proposition is handicapped by the
+character of the consideration he is willing to offer for such an
+interest.
+
+"In other words, he considers that a proposal of marriage is an
+equivalent for any financial objection I may suggest."
+
+Despite his efforts, Dennis looked troubled.
+
+The lady smiled and continued:
+
+"I received this proposition two months since. Its suddenness surprised
+a plan which I have been perfecting for a long time.
+
+"In order to avoid any interruption to my purposes, I permitted the
+manager to believe that I was impressed with his offer, but desired a
+little time for consideration."
+
+"An' true, now," asked Dennis with genuine Irish impulse, "an' true,
+now, were you?"
+
+The lady smiled again. "Wait," she urged, "you shall see.
+
+"I have never trusted this man. He is not only personally obnoxious to
+me, but I fear that I cannot rely upon his business integrity.
+
+"Little by little, I have gathered together the threads of the business,
+and I now have a strong legal grip upon the situation, which enables me
+to decline this alliance with no possible jeopardy to the property.
+
+"But one consideration restrains me: I need a man of enterprise and
+address to succeed him. And now," she added with a simple, business-like
+directness, "I have a suggestion to offer:
+
+"You ransack Baxter Street to-morrow for Dickey Series C, and come with
+it to this address," and she placed a small card in his hand.
+
+"We can reach the end of the story, in which I am exceedingly
+interested, and when we have set our minds at rest on that point, I will
+give myself the pleasure of listening to whatever recommendations you
+may offer as to your fitness to take the place of the retiring
+management."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Dennis as he went through an absurd pantomime of
+punching himself, "an' is it awake you are, Dennis Muldoon?"
+
+At this the lady, with a cordial smile, indicated that the interview was
+at an end, and as she turned to depart, said: "You will come, then,
+to-morrow night?"
+
+And Dennis, hat in hand, with an unmistakable deference of attitude and
+demeanor, cheerily responded with a query that required no further
+answer than a rosy acknowledgment:
+
+"Will a duck swim?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+On the succeeding morning it seemed to the foreman of the shipping
+department of the publishers that his new marker did not manifest the
+same enthusiasm for his work which had distinguished his earlier
+efforts.
+
+It looked to him as if Dennis handled his paint-brush with the mien of
+one who considered his occupation a diversion rather than a means of
+livelihood.
+
+As the day advanced and Dennis located an "e" in the spot designed for
+an "i," and concluded an address with Detroit in place of Duluth, the
+foreman was more than ever convinced that something was wrong, and asked
+the young man if he was not feeling well.
+
+"Sure!" exclaimed Dennis, a degree too cheerily, the foreman thought, in
+view of his delinquencies with the brush, "sure; but why do you ask?"
+
+"Well," returned the foreman, "iv'ry thing's wid you this mornin' but
+yure head," and he pointed out several blunders which Dennis had made.
+
+"Sure, an' I'm sorry for that," he said with blushing contriteness; "it
+will not happen again."
+
+The foreman, however, had told the truth only in part, for Dennis had
+left not only his head behind him, but a considerable portion of his
+heart.
+
+All day he continued to think about the sweet-faced woman who had
+listened with such gratifying attention to the story, and more than
+once, in his agreeable preoccupation, had he noted an impulse to
+substitute the address she had provided for the one demanded by the
+shipping invoices.
+
+"To-night at eight," he repeated to himself over and over, like the
+refrain of a popular ballad, invariably concluding, by way of chorus:
+"Oh, I'll be there; oh, I'll be there."
+
+Therefore, as soon as his day's duties were over, Dennis speeded to
+Baxter Street in search of Dickey Series C.
+
+After a foray in a half dozen separate establishments, where neckties,
+collars and all the accessories were offered in place of what he
+required, he succeeded at last in securing the missing series.
+
+At The Stag he was so full of emotion and anticipation that there was
+little room for such a substantial consideration as supper, so,
+dismissing that he proceeded to his room, and after indulging in the
+luxury of one of the few genuine shirts which remained to him, he
+anticipated his appointment a half hour by boarding the elevated, which
+carried him shortly to a point within three blocks of his destination.
+
+In order that he might not appear too anxious or come into a premature
+collision with social usage, Dennis obliged himself to walk slowly in
+the vicinity indicated by the address.
+
+The general aspect of his immediate surroundings looked promising and
+offered a comfortable assurance that his visit would not introduce him
+to a disappointment.
+
+At last, from the opposite side of the street, he was able to measure,
+with an approving glance, a prepossessing dwelling of four stories and
+a mansard.
+
+The front was of brown stone and differed but little from its neighbors,
+but to Dennis it seemed that it possessed an identity which was largely
+the recollection of the lingering presence of its owner.
+
+Directly alongside, a large conservatory extended rearward an indefinite
+length.
+
+The glittering front was picturesque with clusters of ingeniously
+disposed electric lights within, which revealed to advantage a mass of
+varied plants and flowers in prosperous abundance.
+
+Charmed by the glow and color, and stimulated by the dancing lights,
+Dennis presented himself "on the minute" before the door of the adjacent
+dwelling.
+
+In response to his ring, a trim, bright-eyed maid appeared, who,
+accepting his name in place of his card with an amiable lack of
+surprise, instructed him to enter, which he did, with alert, observing
+eyes.
+
+Although Dennis was not much of a judge of the elaborate surroundings in
+which he found himself, he figured it out that the business of a
+florist must be a profitable one, and speculated, with wondering
+calculation, upon the length of time and the degree of application
+demanded to enable him to possess similar advantages.
+
+Acting upon the parting instructions of the widow, Dennis had already
+canvassed his eligible points and was prepared to give an account of
+himself that was little short of eulogy.
+
+At this juncture in his reflections the hangings at the parlor entrance
+parted with a musical swish that was suggestive of feminine approach,
+and the widow advanced into the room, with one slender hand extended in
+cordial informality.
+
+If this woman had seemed charming to him in the park, she was certainly
+bewitching now.
+
+The street costume in which she had first appeared was replaced by a
+gown of some clinging white fabric, which shimmered the light with a
+thousand blending radiations and fitted to every movement and contour
+like an embrace conscious of its privileges.
+
+A delicate collar of filmy lace surrounded her neck like the intricate
+etchings of frost upon frost, and this was fastened with a solitary
+pearl as chaste as the exquisite skin with which it managed to offer
+only the faintest contrast.
+
+Her head, crowned with a wavy nimbus of Titian auburn, was superbly set
+upon her fine, symmetrical shoulders.
+
+As she flashed upon the vision of this palpitating young man through the
+parting curtains, like a dramatic climax or the goddess of reward, or
+denunciation, she seemed to Dennis, whose mythology was centralized from
+that moment, like another Aphrodite churned into lovely being by the
+sea.
+
+At the entrance of this beautiful woman Dennis had risen to his feet,
+and stood for a moment, offering, with his helpless silence, a
+compliment whose genuineness she thoroughly enjoyed.
+
+When at last his tongue resumed its function, Dennis, like many another
+with even more self-possession and experience, uttered just the words
+which were intended for concealment, as he stammered:
+
+"An' it's no wonder, at all, at all."
+
+The exclamation, however, was barely above a whisper, and it was only by
+following the motion of his lips and a shrewd intuition as to the rest
+which enabled the widow to realize what he had uttered, as she asked,
+smiling to note that the young man had neglected to release her hand:
+
+"And what is it that is no wonder?"
+
+At this question, Dennis, deserted for the moment by his customary
+adroitness, was unable to do anything else than respond, without evasion
+or subterfuge:
+
+"Well, I was thinkin' it's no wonder the manager wanted to go into the
+business."
+
+"Ah!" laughed the widow with genuine enjoyment and a sensible
+realization of the spirit which urged his exclamation and its
+explanation, "that is Irish, I am sure"; and with that Dennis began to
+feel more at home, although still subdued by the accumulation of
+practical beatitudes.
+
+"Tell me," he said, when each was agreeably established, Dennis upon a
+comfortable divan and his listener in a chair which supplied its
+fascinating occupant with a sort of solicitous support, which Dennis
+assured himself would be poetry realized if he could be permitted to
+share, "tell me, shall I recite my abilities first or read the story?"
+
+"Suppose," suggested his hearer, "we hear the story first and reserve
+your catalogue as a climax, like the dessert after the banquet."
+
+"All right!" assented Dennis, as he produced a circular bundle, from
+which he extracted his absurd medium.
+
+"One moment," suggested his hearer, as she arranged an electric cluster
+in a manner that enabled her to witness every alternation of expression
+in that mobile countenance--"now."
+
+Withdrawing his gaze from the sweet face of his auditor with a
+reluctance sufficiently marked to advance him several leagues further in
+her good graces, Dennis, directing his attention to the closely-printed
+dickey, began, with racy Irish emphasis, as follows:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"With a bound the prince swept aside the curtains and reached his room.
+
+"Advancing to the gong, which was suspended by silken cords near the
+divan, he struck it sharply several times.
+
+"There was no response.
+
+"He repeated his summons with the added vigor of his irritation at the
+delay.
+
+"Only the sullen echo answered.
+
+"With impatient incredulity the prince was about to hasten to the
+ante-room in which his faithful Sepoy had always been found, when a
+strange trembling seized his limbs.
+
+"A confusion obscured his mind; his sight grew dim.
+
+"Alarmed at this unusual sensation, the prince asserted himself against
+its depressing influence with all his customary resolution, and was
+finally able to reach the ante-room.
+
+"It was deserted!
+
+"He hastened to the passageway outside.
+
+"Not a soul was visible; an unearthly stillness prevailed.
+
+"'Ah!' he cried with sudden realization, 'my messenger has been too
+liberal with his news; they have heard of the British advance.'
+
+"Thirty vital minutes had passed, and away in the dim distance an
+animated spot of red and gleam began to emerge.
+
+"Again that inexplicable numbness and alarming physical weakness.
+
+"With trembling hands he supported himself along the walls and finally
+reached the apartment in which he held his mimic court.
+
+"A burning thirst began to parch his lips and throat; he hastened to the
+carafe in which the water for his use was usually held.
+
+"It was empty.
+
+"'Ah!' the prince groaned aloud; the veins of his forehead knotted; a
+sharp, strained look appeared in his eyes, and he shivered with a mortal
+chill.
+
+"A stinging, sharp surge attracted his attention to his right wrist.
+
+"It was swollen beyond its usual size, and a bluish discoloration
+surrounded the livid line where the dagger point had penetrated.
+
+"He placed his hands together and noted their disproportion, considered
+the wounded arm, and then--he remembered.
+
+"'The dagger!' he gasped, and a new horror charged his bloodshot eyes as
+he recalled the devilish craft employed by the natives to envenom their
+weapons.
+
+"'Poisoned! and by Lal Lu!'
+
+"At this thought the malignant light of a fearful determination illumed
+his features and revealed their frightful distortion.
+
+"'I shall not--go--alone!' he sighed, and repossessing himself of the
+fatal dagger, which he had cast upon the table on entering the room, he
+rose from the chair, looked with fearful purpose upon the curtains which
+disguised the entrance to the secret passageway from which he had
+emerged but a short time before, took one step forward, and then fell
+inertly on to the couch from which he had risen in the excitement of his
+malignant impulse.
+
+"'Ha!' The faint sound of an alien air smote his ears.
+
+"'The bagpipes!' he muttered; 'the Scots, the hellish Highlanders.'
+
+"Nearer and nearer the lively air was borne to him.
+
+"His raging pulse thrummed through his palpitating veins a rhythmic,
+mocking accompaniment to the swelling music.
+
+"His frame stiffened and stretched as though subjected to the distortion
+of the ancient rack.
+
+"The agony was unendurable. With a final conscious effort he reached for
+the poisoned weapon to bring his sufferings to a summary conclusion, but
+his failing will could no longer vitalize his palsied arm, and with a
+gasp that seemed to rend his tortured body, to the weird orchestration
+of that refrain which was destined in the near future to herald such joy
+at Lucknow, 'The Campbells Are Coming, Hi-ay, Hi-ay!' the spirit of
+Prince Otondo returned to Him who gave it, to be put into what repair
+was possible for such a proposition.
+
+"As the last writhing rigor ceased to convulse his frame, the prince
+lurched forward, and his body collapsed into an attitude not unlike that
+of one engaged in some dejecting reflection.
+
+"By a singular nervous caprice he had raised his hands to his face,
+which he had clutched in his agony, and his elbows rested upon the table
+in grewsome support of his head.
+
+"This ghastly calm, however, of which he was the center, was to be
+interrupted.
+
+"A trumpet blast sounded without the gate; a clamor of voices filled the
+air.
+
+"The bagpipes, in anticipation of some show of resistance, had ceased
+their stirring strains; within, the silence of an ambuscade prevailed.
+
+"Suddenly, through the unguarded entrance rushed a body of red-coated
+soldiers; but their advance was unopposed; the courtyard was abandoned.
+
+"One danger alone remained--an attack from within. But there was none to
+receive the detested intruders but the pulseless master, from whom all
+majesty had departed.
+
+"Over the grounds they swarmed, through the doors, along the
+passageways.
+
+"Abreast of the leading officer appeared the turbaned head and
+white-robed figure of Ram Lal.
+
+"As the two entered the apartment and gazed upon its silent occupant,
+with the same impulse both came to a standstill, impressed by the
+unnatural attitude and the chill undemonstration of the richly-clad
+figure.
+
+"'It is the prince!' cried Ram Lal.
+
+"At once the officer turned to command the curious detachment which had
+followed them to remain without, and placing a sergeant on guard in the
+ante-room, he resumed his investigation of the dead man.
+
+"He had not seen the quick approach of Ram Lal, nor the rapid movement
+of his searching hand.
+
+"It was over in an instant, but in that instant Ram Lal had assured
+himself of the presence of the precious jacket beneath the cambric
+folds.
+
+"'He is dead!' he cried to the officer, as the latter approached to
+discover some reason for this shocking sight.
+
+"'He is still warm,' exclaimed the other, as he placed his hand, with
+careless familiarity, upon the cheek of the prince.
+
+"'Let us see,' he continued, 'if his heart still beats.'
+
+"As the officer knelt in order to accommodate his head to the leaning
+position of the body, Ram Lal stood as one transfixed.
+
+"His hand crept slowly to the dagger upon the table, which he grasped
+with an expression of desperate determination as the officer placed his
+ear close to the riches concealed beneath the tunic of the prince.
+
+"Kneeling thus, with scarcely a hand-breadth between him and wealth such
+as he had never dared to dream of, with the menacing figure of the
+merchant directly above him, prepared to strike at the least indication
+of suspicion of the jacket and its priceless contents, the pair
+presented a striking tableau of the sardonic jest in which fate
+sometimes indulges in providing such nearness of opportunity and such a
+threat to its embrace.
+
+"'There is something thick about the body!' exclaimed the kneeling
+officer.
+
+"Ram Lal crept nearer.
+
+"'Yes,' he replied with a stifled voice, as he shot a quick glance
+toward the curtained doorway, on the other side of which the sergeant
+was posted, 'yes, the prince was of a phthisical tendency.
+
+"'He was compelled to protect himself against inequalities of
+temperature.'
+
+"At this instant the quick eye of the merchant detected the livid
+scratch on the dead man's arm. 'Ha!' he cried, with an intonation which
+caused the officer to forego his examination for the moment and regard
+the merchant attentively.
+
+"'Here!' cried the latter, pointing to the discolored and swollen wrist,
+'here! There is no need to look for further sign of life; his heart will
+beat no more. This dagger has been inserted in the poison sac of the
+cobra--and here is the result!'
+
+"As the officer rose to regard the wound, and understood its
+significance, he shuddered and looked upon the hapless heir-apparent
+with a sort of bluff compassion, but he made no further attempt to
+pursue his investigations, and Ram Lal was spared one sanguinary entry
+upon the book of his recording angel.
+
+"'At least,' said the officer, as if in continuation of some unexpressed
+idea, 'let us do ourselves the honor of disposing the prince upon his
+bed'; and Ram Lal supporting the head and shoulders and the officer
+grasping the feet, they carried the stiffened form to the bed.
+
+"'May I ask the privilege,' said Ram Lal, 'of composing the features and
+the body of the prince?'
+
+"'Surely,' replied the officer, as he bestowed a departing glance upon
+this last descendant of the long line of moghuls with a degree of
+deference that was the result of his military training and his own
+subjection to discipline, 'surely he is sadly in need of such a
+service.'
+
+"For his arms, although disengaged somewhat by their efforts, and the
+clutch of the distorted fingers, though not so distended, still pointed
+upward in a sort of eerie, rigid salutation to the subdued watchers.
+
+"The eyes, too, which but a short time before had been so vivid with the
+contentions of restraint and desire, stared with a ghastly lack of
+speculation.
+
+"As the officer turned to leave Ram Lal undisturbed in the performance
+of this last duty to the dead, the merchant, presently assured that he
+would be free from intrusion for a time sufficient for his ostensible
+purposes, approached the body, tore aside the delicate fabric, which
+covered the breast, and with surprising dexterity released the
+fastenings which held the jacket to the body, wrenched it away with
+desperate haste, and in an incredibly short time had secured this
+treasure-trove around his own loins beneath the folds of his linen.
+
+"Then, with a grin of malignant triumph, he murmured: 'This is more
+speedy, O prince, than pebbles for diamonds--and now for Lal Lu.'
+
+"With this the merchant darted to the hangings from which the prince had
+issued with such desperate purpose, cast them ruthlessly aside, hurried
+along the passageway, shouting as he speeded: 'Lal Lu--Lal Lu!'
+
+"A joyful cry responded.
+
+"'Here, father, here!' and Lal Lu, who had recognized her father's call,
+rushed toward the entrance just as the merchant crossed its threshold,
+and in a moment she was enfolded in his protecting embrace."
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is that all?" asked Raikes as the Sepoy paused.
+
+"Isn't it enough?" laughed the narrator. "The villain punished, the
+righteous rewarded, the maiden rescued. It seems to me that all the
+proprieties are preserved."
+
+"True," assented Raikes. "You are to be congratulated upon your
+consistency. But as usual your art is a bit too refined. You still
+discontinue with a question unsolved."
+
+"Name it," replied the Sepoy; "perhaps I can clear up the difficulty at
+once."
+
+"Well," returned Raikes, "there is all that wealth concealed about the
+person of Ram Lal; I am interested to know if he retained it, to what
+use he put it. If it is inconsistent in your narrative to reply to these
+questions, waive your formalities for once."
+
+"Why not?" laughed the Sepoy. "Still, I can only approximate to your
+request. There was a report that Ram Lal and his daughter disappeared
+shortly after the raid upon the Kutub.
+
+"It is also said that a dealer in precious stones opened an
+establishment on the Strand in London, and that his description
+corresponded in so many points with that of Ram Lal that it is safe to
+infer that the twain are identical."
+
+"That is better," sighed Raikes. "I will assume that the report is
+correct since it relieves my mind on one point, at any rate. However,
+there is one question more: Can you tell me how that substitution was
+made?"
+
+"Pebbles for diamonds?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"To do so requires another story, which I cannot tell you to-night,"
+replied the Sepoy. "How about to-morrow evening?"
+
+"If that's the only way?" queried Raikes.
+
+"It is," the Sepoy assured him.
+
+"I will be here, then," said Raikes, "but I must leave you now; I will
+see you at breakfast-time."
+
+With this Raikes departed and made his way along the dim passages to his
+room.
+
+Arrived at this point, and taking his customary precautions for the night,
+Raikes prepared to retire.
+
+Since the process involved such little attention to detail in its almost
+aboriginal readiness, it was not long before Raikes was tucked away in
+his uneasy rest.
+
+Possibly a half hour later a series of labored snores announced his
+successful escape from the disturbing realities of the day and his
+stentorian entrance upon more fictitious complications.
+
+Just across the hallway, in the room occupied by his nephew, conditions
+were more animated, for Robert, giving his admiring and somewhat
+incredulous attention to the alert Gratz, sat with his eyes bright with
+the acknowledgment of the purport of the speaker.
+
+Just a trace of excitement appeared in the manner of the detective.
+
+He had witnessed the return of the sleepy Raikes to his room, and was
+relieved to be able to assure himself that the miser was altogether
+unaware of his presence.
+
+Gratz was about to provide himself with the confirmation of a theory
+which he dared not discuss in advance.
+
+The possibilities of failure were numerous enough to provide him with
+the element of fascination, and its bizarre unfamiliarity piqued his
+imagination.
+
+If he was not mistaken in his calculations, he would be in possession,
+before morning, of some interesting data which would make a startling
+addition to the criminal records to which his past activities had
+contributed.
+
+The suggestion which stimulated him was the last which would occur to a
+wholly sensible man and the first which would be likely to present
+itself to a genius for speculation and morbid analysis.
+
+Consequently silence upon these somewhat abstruse reasonings was his
+safeguard against ridicule in the event of failure.
+
+However, he had intimated to Robert that events would transpire during
+the night which would be illuminative, but he could not be persuaded to
+indicate to the curious youth just what to expect.
+
+Whatever was to occur, Robert was assured that he would witness; in
+fact, he would be a necessary feature to the mysterious plans of the
+detective.
+
+Stimulated, therefore, by these occult hints and the lively prospect
+they introduced, the young man developed a clandestine emotion of weird
+anticipation, which he readily accredited to an unsuspected fitness for
+intrigue.
+
+Gratz, in the meantime, having primed the young enthusiast, maintained
+an irritating silence, and when an hour had passed in this spiritless
+fashion Robert was electrified by the solitary word "Now!" from the lips
+of the enigmatical Gratz.
+
+Unable to comprehend the significance of the subdued exclamation, Robert
+nevertheless followed the detective with confiding docility, and the
+pair hastened down a flight of stairs which conducted them to the main
+hallway.
+
+From this Gratz proceeded to a door directly beneath the stairway which
+they had just traversed, and which opened upon another short series of
+steps that concluded in the cellar.
+
+Descending these, the two hastened along the chill floor and presently
+paused by the main coal-bin in which the widow stored her fuel.
+
+With an impressive injunction to silence, Gratz indicated the course
+which Robert was expected to pursue, and in the recess created by a
+flight of disused stairs the two secreted themselves.
+
+It was pitch dark.
+
+Neither of the watchers could see the other, and communication was only
+maintained by the reassuring pressure of the hand of the detective upon
+the arm of the excited Robert.
+
+At last the latter ventured to inquire in a whisper what it was that
+Gratz expected to discover.
+
+"The solution of the puzzle," replied the other in the same tone.
+
+"The thief?" asked Robert.
+
+"No, the accessory," was the reply; "but do not ask any further
+questions; you will be treated to the surprise of your life in a little
+while, unless I am much mistaken."
+
+Scarcely had the detective uttered these words when the faint click of a
+door-latch was borne to their ears from the direction of the stairway
+they had just descended.
+
+The next moment a dim ray of light flickered into the darkness, and a
+figure vaguely shadowed its grotesque disproportion on the walls just
+behind as it crept, with cautious lightness, step by step down the
+stairs.
+
+At last it reached the floor and moved in the direction of the bin.
+
+The light, which was furnished by a candle, was raised in the air at
+about the height of a man's face, and directly behind it a man's face
+appeared.
+
+"Great heavens!" whispered Robert as the strange figure advanced, "it is
+uncle!"
+
+"Steady, now!" whispered the detective; "not a word or you will ruin
+everything."
+
+Revealed by the weird light, the miserable countenance of the miser had
+never looked so contemptible.
+
+The sputtering flame seemed to have the power to betray all the miserly
+emotions and mean parsimonies usually concealed behind its starved
+pallor.
+
+The lips had fallen inanely apart with an absurd look of silly wonder.
+
+The eyes were wide open and stared directly ahead with the most
+unnatural expression or lack of it that Robert had ever beheld in the
+visage of mortal man.
+
+Even the detective, accustomed as he was to all sorts of uncommon
+spectacles, could not repress a slight disposition to shudder.
+
+One bony hand grasped the candlestick, and the other held some sort of
+round object, to which Robert directed his attention.
+
+By the sudden motion he made the detective knew that the young man had
+discovered what this object was, and pressed his arm warningly.
+
+_It was one of the canvas bags from the recess in the wall._
+
+Just before the opening of the bin his uncle paused, like a speculative
+phantom, as if to consider its next doleful move.
+
+His entire countenance, upon nearer view, like the canvas which the
+painter has roughly outlined, was suggestive of anything, according to
+the fancy of the beholder.
+
+Upon this spiritless blank Robert depicted, with a morbid genius and the
+stimulation of his unnatural surroundings, all that was reminiscent of
+his uncle's littleness.
+
+But this uneasy transit from the room upstairs to the bin below, the
+vacant, irresponsible ensemble, the inscrutable determination to fulfill
+some strange obligation, enforced by what influence or moral unrest he
+could not tell, culminated in the mind of the young man in the only
+possible explanation:
+
+His uncle was engaged in the unaware execution of some fixed idea.
+
+He was responding to an uncontrollable, secret impulse, and Robert,
+guiding himself by the touch of his hand in order to locate his lips as
+close to the ear of the detective as he might, whispered with
+conviction:
+
+"Somnambulist!"
+
+"No," replied Gratz--"worse; be silent."
+
+Amazed and wondering what could possibly be worse, and rummaging through
+the garret of all his unusual experiences, Robert could find nothing to
+correspond to this inexplicable phenomenon; and it was with a sort of
+superstitious distraction that he beheld his uncle discard his transient
+hesitation and proceed with ghostly purpose to the opening of the bin.
+
+Advancing, Raikes placed the candle upon the bed of coals and began to
+unfasten the cord which secured the mouth of the bag which he carried.
+
+Robert had never beheld anything so ghastly as his uncle's eyes, intent
+but unseeing; nor so frightful as his motions, direct but
+unintelligent, like those of a midnight marionette controlled by
+invisible strings.
+
+In a few moments his efforts were successful, and the incredulous Robert
+beheld his uncle invert his precious burden and send a clinking,
+intrinsic shower of coin to the floor.
+
+Apparently this familiar sound had penetrated in some degree to his
+inner consciousness.
+
+An expression of vague uneasiness, of troubled irresolution, clouded his
+eyes, but this semi-intellection and its transient phasis subsided to
+his original apathy as, with a sigh of helpless impersonality, he began
+to collect, with a silly, childish selection, as if to balance, by the
+size of the individual coals, the proportion of the discharged gold,
+handfuls of these dusky diamonds and substitute the sordid heaps in the
+bag.
+
+This weird absurdity concluded, Raikes, repossessing himself of the
+candle, turned wearily and retraced the path of his ghostly journey.
+
+In a little while his shuffling footfalls had concluded with the doorway
+at the top of the cellar stairs, the latch was heard to click into
+place, and all was still.
+
+"Now," whispered Gratz with concentrated emphasis, "not a word--not a
+sound from this moment. We have seen the accessory, now for the
+principal."
+
+In reply Robert pressed his hand upon the arm of the detective to
+indicate that his instructions were understood and would be obeyed, and
+in a silence through which he felt that his heart-throbs must certainly
+be audible, the watchers awaited developments.
+
+The obscurity and silence which prevailed, and the vault-like chill and
+dampness, harmonized so fully with the unnatural spectacle which he had
+just witnessed, and the grim expectation of something untoward still to
+come, that Robert was prepared to reconsider his views of the earlier
+portion of the evening as to his fitness for secret investigation and
+criminal analysis.
+
+He no longer felt the exultation of this association with relentless and
+cunning pursuit, and began to wonder how any normal human being could
+adopt a profession which embraced all these cheerless handicaps when
+there were so many occupations into which a little sunlight and
+geniality penetrated now and then.
+
+He had about decided that such industry was the manifestation of a
+disease, and that his silent companion was a desperate incurable, when
+his diagnosis was suddenly interrupted.
+
+The detective pressed the shoulders of his companion, communicating a
+slight impulse toward the opposite end of the cellar, and Robert, in
+obedience to its intimation, turned and beheld an approaching light.
+
+It had the unreal appearance of a detached eye of some malignant
+Cyclops, glancing in a ghastly, bodiless way, from object to object, and
+concentrating itself at last in a definite course along the floor.
+
+To witness the approach of this stealthy, gleam, without visible means
+of support or guidance, caused the young man's flesh to creep and his
+heart to throb almost to the point of suffocation.
+
+If it requires experience to become a successful narrator, Robert was
+certainly in a way to accumulate a budget of startling data.
+
+Nothing, hitherto, in his life could explain the marvel, but Gratz, with
+trained certainty, knew that he gazed upon the disk of a dark lantern
+which, exposing all else to view, shielded, with its distracting flash,
+the object of this midnight quest.
+
+With an assurance that indicated a definite purpose, the figure at last
+stood within the door of the coal bin.
+
+At once the searching gleam began to dance hither and thither upon the
+floor, and finally, with unerring pause, fell directly upon the heap of
+glittering coin.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed a voice.
+
+In its concentrated emphasis there was the unmistakable accent of
+certitude, of expectation gratified.
+
+The next instant the light was placed upon the floor with a tilt that
+sent its rays upon the treasure, and the unknown began to collect the
+gold with oblivious haste and bestow it in some receptacle near-by.
+
+Suddenly Robert felt his companion move forward noiselessly, at the same
+time he recognized the intimation of a detaining hand; and then he
+stood alone.
+
+Scarcely had he adjusted himself to these startling conditions when he
+heard a sharp, metallic snap, and beheld a sudden flood of light
+directed upon the kneeling figure.
+
+There was a cry of desperate amazement, the quick clink of scattering
+coin, and the next instant a wild, rage-distorted face shot into view.
+
+"My God!" cried Robert.
+
+It was the Sepoy!
+
+"Hands up!" commanded a voice which the young man recognized as that of
+Gratz; "hands up, or you are a dead man. There are five bullets in
+reserve for you if you budge from where you stand."
+
+With an imprecation that was charged with malignant venom, the Sepoy
+looked upon the gleaming barrel of a pistol which was advancing into the
+light, recognized his helplessness, and with snarling obedience elevated
+his arms in the air.
+
+"Robert!" called Gratz.
+
+The young man, trembling, hurried to the opening.
+
+"Get behind me," directed Gratz; "put your hand in my coat pocket;
+you'll find a pair of bracelets there for our friend here."
+
+With shaking hands Robert followed these sharply delivered instructions,
+and withdrew a set of handcuffs, gaping at the fastenings to receive a
+pair of guilty wrists.
+
+"Now move around to the rear of this gentleman," continued the
+relentless Gratz, "and snap them on his wrists."
+
+Somehow Robert managed to obey these commands.
+
+He reached to the uplifted hands of the Sepoy, embraced his wrists with
+the handcuffs, and closed them with a snap.
+
+(To be continued on Bosom No. 2, Series C.)
+
+Unknown to himself, Dennis, stimulated by the lively succession of
+incidents, had spurred his enunciation in a racy adjustment to these
+animated conditions.
+
+His eyes appeared to have appropriated the sparkle which had intensified
+the glance of the Sepoy of whom he had just read, and when he arrived
+at the familiar legend at the bottom of the bosom, his expression, vivid
+with all these communicated emotions, was duplicated in the sweet,
+absorbed face of his bewitching listener, who, in order the better to
+follow his rapid utterance, leaned, with the exquisite intoxication of
+her presence, in rapt nearness to the reader.
+
+Consequently, when Dennis looked up from his reading, he was transported
+along the highway of a sympathetic glance into deeps of dazzling blue.
+
+For a moment he abandoned himself to the enchanting witchery with the
+dreamful enjoyment of the voluptuary inhaling the odors of a scented
+bath.
+
+He seemed to be on the best of terms with some well-disposed harlequin.
+
+Scarcely had the excitement of one series of events developed to its
+climax when he was whisked to another.
+
+His providence was working overtime in his behalf, and being at heart
+sound and genuine, the weight of his obligations to all these auspices
+warned him not to be too prodigal with his privileges; so, with an
+effort, the stress of which communicated some of its rigors to his
+countenance, he closed his eyes for one ascetic moment and came bravely
+to earth again.
+
+Suspecting something of the nature of his confusion, as a lovely woman
+will, and secretly applauding his undemonstrative deference, which, in
+the cynical atmosphere to which she was habituated, came to her like a
+refreshing zephyr, the widow asked him with an engaging smile of
+encouragement:
+
+"Of what were you thinking, Mr. Muldoon?"
+
+"Mr. Muldoon!" he repeated to himself with an endeavor to reflect the
+intonation of personal distinction which issued so entrancingly from the
+Cupid's bow of a mouth. He had not been so ceremoniously addressed since
+he knew not when, and never realized that his homely name had such music
+in it. "Oh!" he thought, "if she would only say 'Dennis,' it would be
+like grand opera."
+
+"Why," replied Dennis with simple frankness. "I was thinking, for one
+thing--for one thing"--but encouraged by her smiling invitation he
+stammered--"how beautiful you are!" and added to himself, or it looked
+as though he might express his sentiments that way: "There, you've done
+it!"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed his companion, with a rosy enjoyment of this unstudied
+situation and frank appreciation, "and what was the other?"
+
+"I don't know how to tell you the other," answered Dennis. Then with an
+unreflective inspiration: "Did you ever read about Launcelot and
+Guinevere?"
+
+"Ye-yes," was the apprehensive answer.
+
+"Well," continued Dennis with a naïve remembrance only of the chivalry
+of this idyllic indiscretion, "when I look at you I can understand how a
+knight could battle for a queen."
+
+There was silence for a moment, but in the interval the lady did not
+laugh, though her eyes were bright as she said:
+
+"You are a strange boy."
+
+"Oh!" cried Dennis, "tell me, have I offended? I would not do that for
+the world."
+
+"I am sure of that," replied the widow, "and I believe that you mean
+what you say."
+
+"Oh, I do, I do!" exclaimed Dennis impulsively; then, with a realization
+of the thin surface over which he was making such rapid strides despite
+the danger signals of conventionality, and with a diplomacy born of his
+native good sense, he glided, with cheerful Celtic sagacity, to safer
+footing by asking abruptly: "May I recommend myself"--as if he had not
+already done so--"for the position you offer?"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, from whom no alternation of his mobile
+countenance seemed to escape, "it is your turn now; I must not receive
+all the honors."
+
+"Well," replied Dennis, altogether aware of the graceful courtesy of
+this exquisite woman, and constituted by nature, if not by past
+association, to accord it due appreciation, "well, there isn't much to
+say, but here's my outfit:
+
+"I am sorry to have to begin badly. I don't know anything about flowers.
+I can't tell you, even, the difference between a shamrock and a
+clover."
+
+"All that can be easily remedied," his listener reassured him; "but
+proceed."
+
+"But there's one thing I'm sure about," continued Dennis. "You can rely
+upon me, an' that's better."
+
+"It is, indeed," answered the widow.
+
+"I am anxious to do the best I can for myself," resumed Dennis. "I have
+just one way of doing it, and that is to do the best I can for others."
+
+"That is real business principle," exclaimed his companion, "and very
+rare. What else?"
+
+"I guess that's about all," answered Dennis, "an' it don't sound so very
+much, does it?"
+
+"More than you think," answered the widow. "Now listen to me:
+
+"I need such service as I hope from you very much. Would you like to
+come and help me here?"
+
+"Oh!" cried Dennis.
+
+"I am answered," responded his companion, "When can you come?"
+
+"At once!" cried Dennis--"or no, wait a bit; that wouldn't be fair to
+my present employer. But I can tell him to look out for somebody else
+right away; surely he can fill my place within a week. Suppose I say
+next Monday?"
+
+"Very well, that will suit," answered the widow; "but you have not asked
+me what your salary will be."
+
+Dennis blushed, and his blush was appreciated. To enjoy the genial
+inspiration of such an association would be a perquisite which, other
+things being only approximately even, would repair any possible
+shortage.
+
+"Will twenty dollars a week and your board satisfy you for the present?"
+
+Dennis held his breath and pictured the contrast.
+
+His present employment brought him just ten dollars and the association
+of a barkeeper--would it satisfy him? However, he managed to say,
+without too great a show of emotion: "It is more than I expected."
+
+"Well, then, that point is settled," said the widow with a brisk
+business air, which provided such a sharp contrast to her delightful
+womanly qualities and caused Dennis to wonder at the graceful
+alternation of the one with the other. "Now as to board: In the rear of
+the conservatory is a suite of rooms as cozy as any young man could
+wish. At the end of the week I expect to have them vacated.
+
+"They are occupied just now by the manager, but he has already been
+notified through my attorney, and all will be in readiness for you by
+next Monday.
+
+"It has been somewhat difficult to make him comprehend my purpose; it is
+so different from what he expected. He is incautious enough to demand a
+reason."
+
+"There is one," ventured Dennis boldly, "if I may venture to suggest
+it."
+
+"Surely!" replied the widow, remarking Dennis curiously.
+
+"Well," replied the young man as he recalled the astonishing array of
+details surrounding the death of the æsthetic proprietor, "just enclose
+him a note with two words in it."
+
+"And those?" queried the widow as Dennis paused.
+
+"Cape Jessamine."
+
+For a space Dennis feared that he had offended. A shade of depression
+darkened the lovely features before him, but his companion looked into
+his apprehensive eyes reassuringly as she said: "You have penetration."
+
+His momentary embarrassment, however, introduced another perturbation,
+for in glancing away for an instant to reassemble himself, so to speak,
+his eyes fell upon the clock, which at that very moment chimed the hour
+of eleven.
+
+This was startling!
+
+Dennis was familiar enough with social usage, or, at least, had the
+practical good sense to realize that he had exceeded the limits of good
+taste by an hour, and began to make disconcerted preparations for
+departure.
+
+Perceiving his embarrassment, his companion relieved him with genial
+tact by asking: "And what about bosom No. 2? I want to hear the rest of
+that story."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Dennis, brightening, "when shall it be?"
+
+"How will Wednesday evening suit?" suggested the widow.
+
+And Dennis, with a mien which plainly indicated that he considered the
+time represented in the space that must elapse between the delightful
+present and the evening appointed embodied his views of a brief
+eternity, assured the widow that he would be on hand, and added: "I will
+not read a line until then."
+
+"Leave the story here, then, and I will put it away until you make your
+appearance. I promise, too, that I will not read it in the meantime,"
+and the widow received the remaining bosoms from Dennis with an
+extravagant show of gravity, which caused them both to laugh, in view of
+its absurd occasion, as she bestowed them in a music rack and turned to
+conduct him to the entrance.
+
+"Good-by!" she said, and once more extended her hand, which Dennis
+received with an unmistakable indication of his appreciation of the
+exceptional favor.
+
+"Good-by!" he responded as he prepared to descend the steps, "good-by!"
+and added to himself, with a fervor which conveyed some intimation of
+his sentiments if it did not suggest his words:
+
+"An' may the saints preserve you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+When Dennis retired for the night at The Stag, his transit from his
+room, which had never seemed so contracted as now, to the Land of Nod
+was somewhat delayed by reason of the exhilarating conditions through
+which he had just passed.
+
+Toward midnight, however, his pulse had resumed its normal, and the
+young man, reaching his drowsy destination at last, began a series of
+the most surprising horticultural experiments until, what with orchids
+as big as a barrel, and geraniums which could be reached only by a
+ladder, he had converted the silvery strand of the dreamful domain into
+a forest of atrocious color and floral monstrosity.
+
+Awakening on the succeeding morning, Dennis, accepting the sense of
+general lassitude which oppressed him as an indication of the arduous
+nature of his efforts in his dreams, began to prepare for the activities
+of the day.
+
+On this occasion he was compelled to attire himself in the shirt which
+he had worn on the occasion of his visit the evening before, since his
+remaining bosoms, along with his heart, were in the possession of the
+beautiful widow.
+
+But the extravagance of such indulgence did not alarm him now.
+
+Under the circumstances, what did a shirt more or less matter?
+
+Was he not about to be admitted into paradise and receive twenty dollars
+per week besides?
+
+"Shirt, ha!" he exclaimed with a touch of Celtic wit; "it's a robe of
+white I want." However, he compromised on a new necktie, and almost
+ventured the length of patent leathers.
+
+Stimulated by the prospect of all this beatitude, Dennis proceeded to
+the dining-room and revived the spirit of the discouraged waiter by
+ordering a liberal breakfast.
+
+At the conclusion of the meal he further celebrated his disposition to
+mortgage providence by the bestowal of a gratuity moderate enough to
+renew the waiter's original unflattering estimation.
+
+Had his father witnessed this imprudence he would have been prepared to
+believe that Dennis was under the influence of a danseuse, and the
+proportions of the breakfast could only have indicated a determination
+to commit suicide by repletion.
+
+On his way to the street Dennis paused to inform the barman of his
+intended departure.
+
+As an indication of his sentiments at this announcement, the barman, who
+was engaged in the mixture of a mysterious decoction, said, as he poured
+an amber-colored fluid into the glass: "This wan is fur grief at the
+goin', an' this wan"--pouring from another bottle--"is fur good luck
+when ye git there," and he pushed the mixture toward Dennis.
+
+But the young Irishman, remembering his recent experience, declined with
+thanks.
+
+"No?" queried the barman. "Well, an' that's not a bad idea at all. It's
+the right sthart fur a bad day an' a bad sthart fur a right wan. 'Tis
+th' divil's own way av showin' wan's sintimints." Then, reaching for
+the glass, he added: "I'll do th' honors fur th' two av us"; and with
+the singular tendency, so often noted under such circumstances, to
+swallow with haste that which it required such trouble to prepare, the
+barman bolted the contents of the glass and looked his appreciation
+through moist eyes.
+
+As Dennis neared the establishment of his employer, he recalled his
+obligation.
+
+He must begin the day by informing the foreman of his changed
+intentions.
+
+He disliked the idea of the possible friction involved in the
+performance of this disagreeable duty, but there seemed to be no other
+way out of the dilemma.
+
+His announcement, however, was to be less embarrassing than he
+anticipated.
+
+His providence was about to take a short nap.
+
+As he approached the foreman, he discovered that individual, several
+degrees less breezy than usual, engaged in an animated conversation with
+a young man whose prevailing expression was so penitential that Dennis,
+with prompt Celtic intuition, decided that he was gazing upon his
+predecessor in office.
+
+He was assured of this by the glance of belligerent appraisement with
+which the young fellow surveyed him from head to foot, in response to
+some suggestive indication from the foreman.
+
+He seemed, to the apprehensive eyes of Dennis, to be calculating his
+chances in the event of a physical contest.
+
+And this recalled what the foreman had said about his biceps.
+
+"You want to see me?" queried the latter with an expression in which the
+sunshine seemed overdue.
+
+"Yes," answered Dennis as his employer stepped aside to hear what he had
+to say.
+
+As Dennis proceeded the look of perplexity which he had noted upon the
+face of his listener seemed to give way to one of unmistakable relief,
+and when Dennis had stated his case he exclaimed: "Shure, now, it's an
+aisy way out av a bad muss, so it is. Here, Phil!" he shouted, turning
+to the young fellow in the background, who had witnessed this brief
+interview with scowling interest, "here, you two can t'row th' gloves
+down an' shake; Muldoon here wants to hand yure job back to ye."
+
+At this announcement, the disfavor in the countenance of the other
+disappeared and was replaced by an expression which indicated that he
+regarded such liberality as something in the nature of a freak.
+
+Some evidences of his debauch still clung to him.
+
+His eyes were moist and heavy-lidded; his lips dry and tremulous, and
+the hand which he extended to Dennis shook somewhat.
+
+"Come, now!" exclaimed the foreman, "that's well over"; and addressing
+the one he called Phil he added: "Now get to work."
+
+Dennis looked his astonishment.
+
+He had not calculated upon such a prompt acceptance of his resignation.
+He felt that he presented an absurd appearance, and that the foreman did
+not appear to his usual bluff advantage.
+
+"Come this way," said the latter to Dennis, who followed him into his
+office with a strange sinking at heart.
+
+"I did not mean to hand over everything right off!" exclaimed Dennis.
+
+"Well," replied the foreman, "Phil's wife came here early this mornin'
+an' put up a few tears, an' Phil made all sorts av promises; an' you
+have no children an' he has, an--oh, the divil!" cried the foreman,
+weary of the series of explanations in which he was getting involved. "I
+can't kape th' two av ye, an' Phil there is an ould hand at th'
+paint-pot."
+
+"Then," cried Dennis, "you mean that I must leave at once?"
+
+"That's about th' size of it."
+
+"Why," exclaimed Dennis, indignant at this injustice, "I tried to be
+fair with you, and you haven't----"
+
+"Here," interrupted the foreman, in evident haste to conclude a
+disagreeable interview; "there's no use talking about it, it's got to be
+done"; and turning to a drawer in the desk he extracted Monday's pay and
+placed it in the young man's hand.
+
+At that moment a burly porter filled up the doorway.
+
+"What is it?" asked the foreman, glad of the interruption, as he
+hastened, with unnecessary and suspicious promptness, to attend to the
+wants of the intruder.
+
+In a little while Dennis realized that he waited in vain for the return
+of the foreman, and that, in so far as he was concerned, he was out of a
+job.
+
+Dennis had been, at various times in his life, subjected to some rugged
+experiences, but could not recall any treatment quite so heartless as
+this.
+
+It upset all his calculations.
+
+He must exist somehow between the unhappy realities of the present and
+the blissful expectations of the approaching Monday.
+
+He recalled, with the self-accusation of a repentant prodigal, his
+needlessly elaborate breakfast, the extravagance of the necktie.
+
+His return led him past the cheap amusement district of the Bowery.
+
+Never had their tawdry invitations seemed so alluring.
+
+By that singular perversity which opens up every suggestion of riotous
+expenditure to destitution, the poor fellow felt inclined to indulge
+himself regardless.
+
+An obese nymph pictured in the foam of a beer sign, apparently
+elaborated with a whitewash brush and finished in the throes of an
+epileptic fit, solicited a share of his patronage.
+
+Long rows of slot machines offered all sorts of libidinous suggestions
+in placards, which proposed to debauch his morals for a penny a sight.
+
+And with absurd propriety a vender of shoddy jewels presented the chance
+of his lifetime in bizarre decoration.
+
+But somehow Dennis reached Broadway at last, and faced the unpleasant
+prospect of the next few days with despairing calculation.
+
+As Dennis looked up and down this busy thoroughfare, with its thousands
+speeding oppositely in preoccupied interest, as if all that was vital
+and worthy was to be found at either extreme of its splendid distances,
+he paused for a moment to account his meager finances.
+
+He found that he possessed just four one-dollar bills and about eighty
+cents in small change.
+
+Since he was compelled to pay a half dollar each night in advance for
+his lodgings, a little over two dollars would remain to him.
+
+With rigid economy and almost miserly abstemiousness this sum would
+suffice for his meals, unless he developed a mania for Delmonico's, and
+for his carfare, provided he did not venture outside the possibilities
+of the elevated.
+
+As he was about to return his resources to his pocket there was a rattle
+and clamor up the street, and looking in that direction he beheld a
+glittering engine, drawn by a splendid team of white horses, speed along
+with plunging dash and portent rumble.
+
+Along the sidewalk directly in his rear the usual mob of men and boys
+who have nothing more to do apparently than to attend fires and scramble
+with a morbid curiosity to behold the misery of some victim of accident,
+ran in scuffling uproar.
+
+With a pathetic realization of his own idleness, Dennis turned to join
+the speeding throng, when suddenly he became aware of a desperate clutch
+at his hand, heard the rattle of scattering change at his feet, and
+felt the bills which he held slip away from his grasp and disappear in
+the rush.
+
+It was over in a second. Apparently no one noticed him or his loss. He
+was as abandoned as the unfortunate marooned by rushing waters; as
+unheeded as a lame lamb in the multitude of the flock.
+
+Not a head turned, and by the time he realized precisely what had
+happened and prepared to give chase to the thief, a score of other men
+and boys formed an unconscious barricade between the unfortunate boy and
+the rogue.
+
+His suddenly created interest in the fire vanished and was replaced by
+the despair of his own disaster.
+
+The nap of his providence was developing into a sound slumber, and since
+this deity never gets up before noon Dennis had still two hours of
+despair before him.
+
+And what despair!
+
+Of his pitiful hoard of a few moments since only a few dimes and nickels
+remained.
+
+And just across the street was the Third National Bank with barrels of
+them.
+
+The whimsies of the contrast almost amused him; but there was not enough
+of the Tapley about him to detect its humor.
+
+Again he counted his resources.
+
+Fifty-eight cents!
+
+He could lodge to-night, at any rate, and dine on one of those sidewalk
+pretzels.
+
+"The darkest hour is just before the dawn." Dennis tried to cheer
+himself with this reflection, but the only dawn upon which he could
+calculate was five days off.
+
+In vain the poor fellow adjured his brains for some homely suggestion,
+some meager inspiration.
+
+Nothing responded but his destitution, like the echo of a groan; and
+through such mental straits he arrived, at last, at The Stag.
+
+He decided that he would do nothing radical until the following day.
+
+He could afford a night's rest, at least, and that might revive his
+numbed faculties.
+
+As he reached the office he glanced at the proprietor.
+
+Could he persuade that cynical-visaged individual to trust him until he
+received his first week's pay?
+
+Would he be credited if he related his prospects?
+
+As a measure in this assurance, would not the proprietor feel justified
+in calling upon the widow for indorsement of the statement of the young
+man?
+
+This would never do.
+
+He could not endure the humiliation of such a revelation.
+
+The poor fellow got little encouragement from the face of the
+proprietor.
+
+This was suspicious and hard. It had scarcely the perfunctory smile of
+the professional boniface.
+
+The prospect of having to address that forbidding ensemble was
+disheartening.
+
+Suddenly his reflections were interrupted.
+
+The proprietor waved a beckoning hand to him.
+
+Dennis hurried to the desk.
+
+"A letter for you," said the proprietor, as he placed in the young man's
+hand an envelope addressed in a handwriting which he recognized at
+once.
+
+"'Dennis Muldoon'; yes, that's mine," and hastening to an unoccupied
+seat in a remote portion of the office, Dennis hastily opened the
+envelope and withdrew a short letter, and--ye gods! was it possible?--a
+postal order for twenty-five dollars.
+
+    Philadelphia.
+
+    DEAR DENNIS:
+
+    It's a hard row you have to hoe, I'm a-think-in', and it's a bad
+    spot you have to hoe it in. I know New York of old, and it's a
+    lonesome place for a poor lad.
+
+    I send you the week's wages due you, and an extry five to come
+    back with in case your dreams don't come true.
+
+    I've got over my mad, my boy, and I'll be glad to see you.
+
+    Run over annyhow; it's a dull place without you. The mother misses
+    you bad.
+
+    Come Saturday if you can; I've got a business proposition I want
+    to make.
+
+    Tell me how you're getting on, annyway.
+
+                                                           THE OLD MAN.
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried Dennis. His providence was wide awake now, had made its
+toilet, and was ready for business.
+
+For a long while Dennis sat with the letter in his hand, gazing, with
+unseeing eyes, upon its eccentric chirography.
+
+His exultation had not fully materialized.
+
+To grope in the valley of despair one moment and skip along the summit
+of beatitude the next was a little too much for immediate comprehension.
+
+Somewhat in the manner of the metaphysician, he was inclined to believe,
+since his misfortune was no longer a reality, that his prosperity might
+be equally immaterial, and in unaware corroboration he made a minute
+tear in the edge of the postal order to establish its tangibility.
+
+In the evening, influenced perhaps by his comparative weal, Dennis
+decided that he would purchase a ticket to the Olympus, and climbing the
+rear approach to that elevation, found himself seated shortly with the
+gallery gods, viewing with uncritical contrasts the relative merits of
+the clown, the harlequin and the columbine.
+
+Between the acts his roving glance found a sudden destination and his
+elation went into abrupt decline, for seated in one of the boxes, her
+glass surveying the house in all sorts of disconcerting directions, sat
+the beautiful widow.
+
+Instinctively Dennis crouched into his seat.
+
+Fortunately he was able by thus collapsing within himself, to escape the
+radius of her vision, which was interrupted by the railing extending
+around the balcony.
+
+It would never do to be discovered in his present situation. The
+elevation was degrading, and Dennis understood the unhappy paradox.
+
+It emphasized the social distinctions too much, and caused the distance
+from where he sat to the placid beauty below to appear immeasurable.
+
+But this was not the least of his perturbations.
+
+Near the widow a gentleman sat, solicitous, engaging, persistent.
+
+A certain air of distinction rendered doubly obnoxious the assumption of
+proprietorship which Dennis believed he remarked, and while the young
+man was able to comfort himself with the discovery that his bewitching
+companion devoted more attention to the stage and the house than to her
+escort, still, as Dennis contemplated the faultless attire of the
+gentleman in the box and contrasted it with his own modest apparel, he
+felt unaccountably depressed.
+
+All this was revealed by the furtive glances which the young Irishman
+ventured over the gallery rail.
+
+A strange foreboding overwhelmed him.
+
+The bewildering tinsel of the stage no longer diverted, and he would
+have been astonished to analyze the reason why.
+
+As the last curtain fell and Dennis was no longer able to adjust his
+gloomy contemplation to incongruous orchestration, he hastened from the
+theater, scrambled down the precipitate stairs and hastened to The Stag.
+
+It was midnight before he slept, and scarcely morning when he awoke.
+
+He dressed himself like an automaton, and breakfasted like an anchorite.
+
+He left the hotel without his personal knowledge, and traversed half the
+length of Broadway without volition. His mind was making the visit in
+advance of the appointed time, and his torpid body alone observed the
+social usages.
+
+By noon the patent leathers were a reality; by six-thirty he had assumed
+a clean shirt and his new necktie.
+
+When the clock struck seven he hastened to the elevated; a half hour
+later found him parading the street opposite the conservatory, and at
+eight he arrived with a promptness which, persistently observed,
+commends a young man to a junior partnership.
+
+When the widow finally presented herself, Dennis was more than ever
+convinced, by the richness of her attire, that the business must be in a
+flourishing condition.
+
+For some unknown reason the beautiful woman was dressed entirely in
+black with the exception of some exquisite traceries in white about her
+throat and wrists.
+
+Had his life depended upon it Dennis could never have described the
+fabric of her gown.
+
+He only knew that it was distinguished by a sort of subdued sheen; that
+it rustled with an entrancing swish and suggestion of femininity as she
+moved, and that it was adjusted to her shapely figure as though her
+delightful personality had been moulded into it.
+
+A slim wonder of a white hand was extended to him, a bright smile
+illumed her bewildering eyes and bent the Cupid bow of her lips into a
+curve which sent an intangible arrow into the young man's heart as she
+said with musical simplicity:
+
+"I am glad to see you."
+
+To this Dennis made no direct reply.
+
+His eyes gleamed their idealized eloquence, however; his attitude
+presented unmistakable shades of deference, and to save himself further
+revelation he collapsed into the chair indicated by his hostess.
+
+Apparently the widow extracted the same enjoyment from these ingenuous
+acknowledgments as ever, for she did not immediately resume the
+conversation.
+
+Fortunately, Dennis assembled himself, so to speak, and realized his
+psychological moment.
+
+"Shure," he said as he became aware of his involuntary self-revelations,
+"'shure, an' you would know that I am glad to see you if I was deaf and
+dumb."
+
+The widow laughed heartily at this, as she replied:
+
+"I'm afraid that you have kissed the blarney stone, Mr. Muldoon."
+
+Having no response for this, Dennis substituted: "I saw you at the
+theater last night," and a palpable degree of joy left his countenance
+at the announcement.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, regarding him curiously. "Where were you?"
+
+"In th' lobby," replied Dennis unblushingly.
+
+"What did you think of the performance?" asked his companion after a
+moment.
+
+Dennis looked her directly in the eyes with the light of inspiration in
+his glance as he said:
+
+"I did not see it."
+
+The widow gazed at the young man for one searching moment, reddened
+slightly, and, rising, proceeded to the music rack, from which she
+extracted bosoms Nos. 2 and 3.
+
+"Suppose we read the story," was her reply.
+
+As the widow extended the bosoms toward him, Dennis could not avoid the
+thought which had presented itself to him on the day before, that this
+woman had not only two bosoms of his in her possession, but his heart as
+well; and a certain degree of the animation of this reflection found its
+way into his eyes.
+
+"Well," inquired this observing woman, "what is it?"
+
+Dennis flushed as he replied: "I'll tell you by-and-by," and added:
+"Will you do me a great favor?"
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+"Why," answered Dennis, "I would like to hear you read bosom No. 2."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well," replied the young man, with a sincerity that was unmistakable,
+"I think it would sound like a song then."
+
+"Very well," she assented, "let me have it"; and with a voice that
+reflected, to this young man's ears, at least, at one moment the
+rippling of silver brooks, the trill of woodbirds, the sigh of zephyrs
+scented with daffodils, and the next the full, round resonance of an
+animated day in June, she read:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Now!" exclaimed Gratz as the familiar click assured him that the
+handcuffs were in place, "now you can lower your hands and come over
+here."
+
+As the Sepoy advanced into the light, Gratz instructed Robert to pick up
+the remaining coins and restore them to the bag.
+
+During all this time the Sepoy had not uttered a word, but his fierce
+eyes, which stared with savage intentness in the direction of the disk
+of light, from the rear of which issued that implacable voice, were
+vital with rage and impotent menace.
+
+As he gazed thus with his distorted countenance concentrated into a look
+of bitter speculation in his futile attempt to discover by whom he was
+addressed in this tone of insolent authority, there was something
+frightful in the quest and uncertainty of the disturbed features.
+
+An unnatural luster, partly the reflection of his somber eyes and partly
+from the tawny hue of his saturnine visage, added an inexpressible
+degree of malignant rancor to his expression.
+
+His hands, which he was compelled by the manacles to hold directly in
+front of him in an absurd travesty of penitential clasp, gripped each
+other in his consuming resentment until the tendons of his wrist stood
+out with the tense distinction of whipcords.
+
+While Robert was engaged in restoring the coins to the bag, the only
+sound came from the derisive click and fall of the gold-pieces as they
+chinked their mockery into the ears of the raging prisoner.
+
+As the last coin joined its fellows a neighboring clock chimed the hour
+of two.
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Gratz; "there is time to settle this business before
+morning"; and turning to the Sepoy he added: "I will trouble you to
+precede me to your room."
+
+There was something unreal in the silence which the Sepoy still
+maintained and the enforced apathy with which he proceeded to obey
+these instructions, and Robert, unaccustomed to such episodes as this,
+in which he was a contributing factor, was more affected than if he had
+witnessed some violent demonstration or listened to a raging
+vituperation.
+
+The transit of the trio from the cellar to the apartment of the Sepoy
+was effected without attracting further regard, and the balance of the
+boarders slept away in snoring oblivion and provided another instance of
+the frail partition which separates the violent from the placid.
+
+Arrived at the room of their swarthy prisoner, Gratz provided the
+uncomfortable Robert with the relief he required by instructing him to
+hasten to his uncle and summon him to the scene, and to avoid giving him
+any of the details of what had transpired.
+
+Glad to escape the depression of the gloomy vicinity, and the unabashed
+directness of the Sepoy's glance, the young man hurried away.
+
+If the terrible concentration which the Sepoy resumed, with his luminous
+eyes upon the countenance of the detective, affected the latter, there
+was certainly no such evidence.
+
+It was as dull and lifeless as ever; the eyelids had fallen to their
+accustomed suggestion of ambush, and it seemed scarcely possible that
+the sharp directions of a few moments since could issue from such
+flaccid lips, and so much determination could dominate such an
+insignificant figure.
+
+Apparently exasperated by the undemonstration of this negative aspect,
+the Sepoy was near the limit of his repression.
+
+The lines about his lips relaxed somewhat, the pupils of his eyes
+reduced their staring diameter, and his head was inclined forward a
+trifle.
+
+Gratz concluded that his companion had decided to speak.
+
+He was not mistaken.
+
+"Can I be spared the humiliation of meeting that old dotard you have
+sent for?"
+
+"I do not see how," replied Gratz.
+
+"What do you gain by it?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I cannot tell that in advance; possibly nothing," replied Gratz.
+
+"That is likely," replied the Sepoy quietly.
+
+"We shall see," exclaimed the detective. "I am working out a theory; I
+need the assistance of all concerned."
+
+"Look at me!" exclaimed the Sepoy abruptly. "I will credit you with
+being something of a physiognomist. Do you see any evidences of
+determination in my face?"
+
+"And if I do?" queried Gratz.
+
+"Only this," was the reply: "No matter what your object may be, I will
+oppose it with all the resolution and dexterity at my command, if you
+conduct your inquiries as you contemplate."
+
+In reply Gratz offered an exasperating shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"There is no mystery to be solved," he said. "I have no further facts to
+discover; I know that you have managed to secure three separate bags of
+coin from Raikes, and I am aware of your process."
+
+"If you know all this," replied the other with curious calmness, "why do
+you----"
+
+The question was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
+
+"Now!" exclaimed Gratz, as if with sudden determination, "I will try to
+grant your request in part. Retire into your bedchamber, leave the door
+open, and listen.
+
+"I will place Raikes and his nephew where they cannot see you, but I
+will sit here where I can note your slightest move."
+
+The Sepoy arose hastily and entered the bedchamber, seating himself
+according to the direction of the detective.
+
+At that moment there was a knock upon the door.
+
+In answer to the salutation of the detective Raikes and his nephew
+entered.
+
+Seating themselves in the chairs indicated, they awaited with intense
+curiosity the proceedings of this enigmatical man.
+
+Noting the alert questioning in the eyes of the young man, and the
+half-awakened inquiry in the sordid countenance of Raikes, Gratz, in
+order to prevent the intrusion of any disturbing remark upon his present
+purpose, said impressively:
+
+"I must ask you both to listen without interruption. When I want you to
+speak I will question you"; and fastening his strange eyes upon the
+blinking Raikes, he added: "Now we will proceed.
+
+"You have lost four bags of coin."
+
+"Three!" corrected Raikes, despite his instructions to silence.
+
+"Pardon me," continued Gratz, "and please do not interrupt. I said
+four--and here is the fourth," and he pointed to the bag upon the table.
+
+The miser's jaw dropped helplessly, and he stared at the bag with a
+superstitious terror.
+
+"But," continued Gratz, "what seems so incredible to you is merely the
+logical outcome of a cunningly established sequence," and the speaker
+shot an incredibly quick glance at the silent figure in the adjoining
+room.
+
+"Now attend me closely.
+
+"During the last few evenings you have heard some very curious
+narratives."
+
+Raikes nodded with gloomy corroboration.
+
+"A series of well-arranged events have introduced a startling
+episode--the substitution of pebbles for diamonds."
+
+Again Raikes nodded.
+
+"At this point in the narrative the first instalment concludes. Am I
+right?"
+
+"Yes," answered Raikes.
+
+"Then," continued Gratz, "you went directly to your room; you retired.
+In the morning you are prompted, with more than your usual eagerness, to
+open your private safe."
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Raikes in indorsement of this relentless résumé.
+
+"You find the locks undisturbed; the contents apparently as you left
+them on retiring. Some difference in the conformity of one of the bags
+urges a nearer examination. You discover that this indicates a
+difference in the contents. You grasp it; it comes away in your hands
+with startling lightness. You discharge its deposit upon the table--a
+shower of coals follows."
+
+"Yes, yes!" stammered Raikes with impatient eagerness.
+
+"Well, you are convinced, by an examination of the fastenings of the
+door, an inspection of the window, that no human being could have
+effected an entrance from either direction.
+
+"The next evening is a repetition of the history of the night before.
+
+"The strange Indian narrative, another gem to examine--an additional
+loss on the succeeding morning."
+
+Raikes nodded savagely.
+
+"On the following night the same unhappy series of events occur,
+followed by the loss of the third bag."
+
+"But why all this again?" inquired Raikes.
+
+"That concerns me," exclaimed the detective with another rapid glance at
+the undemonstrative figure in the next room. "You must follow my
+instructions or you will conclude as badly as you have begun. Now,"
+continued Gratz, "it is incredible to me that, with the astuteness with
+which you are credited, that having such a good standpoint to begin
+with, you did not proceed upon that basis."
+
+"I?" questioned the astonished Raikes. "What standpoint had I?"
+
+"Elimination," replied Gratz.
+
+"Several puzzling possibilities were retired permanently.
+
+"Recall the details as we have enumerated them: An impossible door; the
+window equally out of the question; the substitution of the coals for
+the coin.
+
+"It is very simple. The outside agency unfeasible, we must look within.
+There is but one conclusion----"
+
+"And that?" interrupted Raikes.
+
+"An accessory."
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes, "unthinkable!"
+
+"Not at all," replied Gratz; "there was an accessory--yourself!"
+
+At this announcement Raikes seemed about to collapse into his original
+helplessness. The facts of his losses were extraordinary enough, but
+this was too much.
+
+But Gratz hurried on, explained the unconscious visits of his astounded
+hearer to the cellar, and all that followed.
+
+"Then," exclaimed Raikes, when he had concluded, "I have been the victim
+of hypnotic suggestion."
+
+"Precisely!" replied Gratz. "The story was merely the medium of
+transmission, and through this weird conduit the story-teller conveyed
+his instructions to your subconsciousness."
+
+"But," demanded Raikes, "why this substitution of coals? It strikes me
+that a scheme so clever as all this would scarcely be jeopardized by
+such an absurdity."
+
+"That contingency," answered Gratz, "was never intended. In your
+condition of mind, having discharged the coin upon the floor of the bin,
+a mental idiosyncrasy of years insisted upon recognition.
+
+"In some inexplicable way you retained enough of your mental identity to
+preserve some manifestation of the law of equivalents. In other words,
+having parted with something, you demanded something in return.
+
+"With as much deliberation, therefore, as you manifested in contributing
+to your loss, you attempted to reimburse yourself by filling the bag
+with coal.
+
+"In some occult way you assured yourself that you were engaged in a
+transaction where one commodity took the place of another.
+
+"To this freak of mentality the idea of the pebbles in the story being
+substituted for the diamonds contributed; and what was intended by the
+narrator as a consistency of detail, to be explained later on, made an
+unforeseen appeal to your native cupidity and provided me with a very
+satisfactory clue.
+
+"Moreover, the narrator assisted himself by allowing you to contemplate
+some brilliants--a sapphire, a diamond.
+
+"In such demonstrations a centralizing object is an almost indispensable
+adjunct; and putting the two together, the stories, the brilliants, it
+is not difficult to see that you have received your instructions in the
+manner indicated, and obeyed them with unexpected consistency."
+
+For a moment there was silence, which was sharply disturbed by an
+unexpected and apparently unsuggested query from Gratz.
+
+"Were you ever," he asked, looking directly at Raikes, "in this
+apartment during the absence of its occupant?"
+
+"No!" stammered Raikes, apparently very much astonished at the question.
+
+"You lie!"
+
+Raikes and his nephew sprang to their feet, their eyes bulging in the
+direction of the bedroom.
+
+In the doorway stood the Sepoy.
+
+"You lie!" he repeated, "you miserable husk, you! You were here one
+evening in my absence, or, at least, what you supposed was my absence,"
+and raising his manacled hands the speaker pointed to the closet. "I was
+there," he said.
+
+"Ah--ah!" faltered Raikes chokingly.
+
+"And now," continued the Sepoy, "let us get to the end of this business.
+It ought to be a simple proceeding. You want three missing bags of gold;
+they will be forthcoming on one condition."
+
+"And what is that?" cried Raikes, beginning to withdraw into himself as
+if he expected a sharp bargain.
+
+"That you leave the details of the transaction in the hands of this
+gentleman," answered the Sepoy, pointing to Gratz. "You had better
+consent," he added as he analyzed the hesitation of the startled Raikes,
+"or I shall describe, with photographic minuteness, all that occurred in
+the few short moments of your visit."
+
+Raikes regarded Gratz helplessly.
+
+During all this conversation the detective had been doing some rapid
+thinking and had decided upon his course, so nodding to Raikes, he said:
+"Leave the matter to me; I will restore your coin to you in the morning.
+See that neither of you leaves the house until then, or speak to a soul
+before I see you."
+
+Whatever objections may have been forming in the mind of the miser were
+quickly dissipated by a look from the Sepoy, and without another word
+Raikes and his nephew departed.
+
+"Well," inquired Gratz, when the two were again alone, "what have you to
+say to me that you do not want Raikes to hear?"
+
+"You will know shortly," replied the Sepoy after a few moments of
+reflection, with his eyes directed upon the handcuffs. "I do not have to
+resort to your elaborate reasoning to discover the nature of your
+profession. These," holding up his hands, "are unmistakable."
+
+"Yes," answered Gratz drily, "they require no trope or metaphor to
+illustrate their application."
+
+"However," continued the Sepoy, "I have just listened to the deductions
+of an unusual acumen for analysis along abstract lines."
+
+Gratz bowed his acknowledgments.
+
+"That is simple," he said, "when there is such a liberal supply of
+data."
+
+"True," responded the Sepoy. "That was an oversight on my part. Still,
+your constructive application, too, is no less convincing."
+
+"But to what does all this lead?" inquired Gratz with a degree of
+impatience. "Suppose we admit that there is an exquisite balance
+maintained between my analysis and my synthesis, and have done with it.
+You have some appeal to make to one or both of these faculties."
+
+"Your penetration is the peer of your reasoning. Listen: Will you do me
+the favor of assuming that your comprehensive résumé of a few moments
+ago is all I care to hear on the subject?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I understand," replied Gratz.
+
+"Very well, then," continued the Sepoy. "I will extend to you the
+courtesy of offering no denial to anything you have said."
+
+"That," laughed Gratz, "is the height of affability, under the
+circumstances; but proceed."
+
+"Good!" responded the Sepoy. "I have a suggestion to make. It is
+understood, in the first place, that Raikes is to recover his coin; on
+that point he will be fully satisfied. But there still remains the
+recognition of your services to him; you will have more difficulty in
+convincing him of his obligation than you had in persuading me of your
+acumen."
+
+"Ah!" murmured Gratz; "it is coming."
+
+"Are you any judge of brilliants?" inquired the Sepoy abruptly.
+
+"Somewhat," answered Gratz; "I have seen a few in my time."
+
+"Well," continued the Sepoy, "kindly put your hand in my right vest
+pocket and withdraw a small case of shagreen which you will find there."
+
+Gratz obeyed.
+
+"Now," continued the Sepoy, "press the spring."
+
+As Gratz complied with this instruction, the lid of the shagreen case
+flew open and revealed the superb sapphire which had radiated such
+insidious depravity into the mind of the miser.
+
+"What do you think of that?" inquired the Sepoy.
+
+For a moment or so Gratz did not reply. The mastery of its cutting, its
+magnificent bulk, its unrivaled purity overwhelmed him. "I have never
+seen one like it," he said finally, "if it is genuine."
+
+"Oh, you need not doubt it!" exclaimed the Sepoy, "or, if you do, you
+can assure yourself on that point. Now follow me. Six bags of Raikes'
+coin could not buy that."
+
+"You set its value high," suggested Gratz.
+
+"Naturally; its like does not exist. Money has never been able to
+purchase it. There is just one consideration I can accept for it."
+
+"And that?" inquired Gratz as the Sepoy paused.
+
+"A lapse of memory," replied the Sepoy.
+
+"A lapse of memory!" repeated Gratz.
+
+"Yes. Unlock these handcuffs and forget that you have done so."
+
+A sudden irradiation seemed to shoot from the gem. It was the impulse
+communicated by the trembling hand of the detective, who, either to
+conceal the flush that was gradually transforming his pallid face, or
+from his reluctance to remove his gaze, continued to hold the brilliant
+in much the same oblivious regard as that bestowed upon it by the
+unhappy Raikes.
+
+Gratz was having the struggle of his life.
+
+The veins fretted through his temples with frightful distinction; his
+forehead was moist with a profuse perspiration; his breath labored with
+intermittent entrance and egress.
+
+His well-known apathy, his exasperating negation of demeanor, where were
+they now?
+
+Gradually, however, in the manner of disheartened stragglers whipped
+again into the firing line, there shadowed in his expression evidences
+of moral recovery which the Sepoy did not like.
+
+The professional instincts of the detective, reinspired by his better
+nature, were making some very obvious appeals.
+
+The éclat of this singular case beckoned. He seemed to brace himself
+morally and physically as he leaned back in his chair and again looked
+at his desperate companion.
+
+At once the Sepoy, upon whom no vestige of this mental tumult was lost,
+again restored the ebbing temptation to its flood by exclaiming:
+
+"Here is a more convincing reason still," and raising his hands to his
+breast, in order to give the detective easier access to the point
+designated beneath his arms, he said: "Reach into the pocket on the
+left."
+
+For a moment Gratz hesitated. If he had found the first subsidy
+difficult to refuse, how might he resist the second, or, he added to
+himself, with a sort of usurious exaltation, the depravity of the two
+combined?
+
+Curiosity, too, without which no detective is truly fit for his calling,
+moved him, so with the impatient impulse we so often witness when
+rectitude is about to subject itself to the persuasions of the evil one
+for the ostensible purpose of combating them and the private
+determination to yield, Gratz extended a trembling hand toward the
+Sepoy, who had drawn himself to the extreme limit of his sinewy height,
+the better to accommodate his figure to the intent search of the
+detective, and then----
+
+Just as Gratz managed to insert his trembling fingers over the edge of
+the pocket rim, a pair of tense, sinewy hands shot upward and with
+incredible dexterity encircled the throat of the detective.
+
+The surprise was complete.
+
+The hands of the unfortunate man flew out wildly, grasping at nothing,
+and the next instant closed upon the wrists of the Sepoy.
+
+But the recoil was too late. The frightful grasp concentrated its deadly
+pressure.
+
+The livid face of the detective grew purple. His eyes seemed about to
+bulge from their sockets. His grip relaxed from the wrists of his
+antagonist, and then all vigor seemed to vanish from his body, and he
+sank inertly to the floor.
+
+As the malignant Sepoy bestowed the stiffening body upon the carpet, he
+released his horrible clutch upon the detective's throat, and, despite
+his manacles, began with desperate agility to search the silent man's
+waistcoat pockets.
+
+From one futile quest his implacable hands leaped to another, the length
+of chain which held the two handcuffs together rattling an eerie
+accompaniment to his eagerness.
+
+At last he withdrew a tiny key.
+
+Grasping the precious bit of steel in his right hand the Sepoy inserted
+it in the latch-hole of the left manacle; a quick turn, and the steel
+clasp relaxed its obnoxious embrace.
+
+It was but the work of a second to repeat these operations on his right
+arm, and the Sepoy was free.
+
+"Ha!" The breath seemed to whistle from his lungs with one sharp,
+exulting impulse.
+
+He stretched his superb figure to its utmost, and with the smile of a
+re-embodied Lucifer restored the sapphire to its case.
+
+For a brief space he gazed upon the man extended upon the floor, and
+then, urged by some devilish impulse, if one might judge from the
+expression of his countenance, he knelt by the prostrate body and placed
+his ear to the pulseless breast.
+
+The next instant, stimulated, apparently, by some unexpected endorsement
+of a vague possibility, he was upon his feet and had darted to a small
+cabinet near-by.
+
+His hasty foray among its drawers was rewarded with a small bottle, the
+stopper of which he removed.
+
+With a quick motion of the head to escape the full force of the pungent
+odor of ammonia which issued, the Sepoy returned to the unfortunate
+Gratz, and wetting the tip of his handkerchief with a few drops from the
+vial, he passed it gently to and fro under the nostrils of the
+detective.
+
+Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he
+remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.
+
+At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic
+breeze upon the drawn face.
+
+Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time
+from the bottle itself.
+
+The result was startling.
+
+There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic
+throb in the throat.
+
+Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he
+saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining
+attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.
+
+From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping
+the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel
+force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.
+
+There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the
+wrists of the detective.
+
+Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the
+stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room,
+could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and
+unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching
+features.
+
+Again he lifted the uneasy figure and placed it upon the reclining
+chair, into which it collapsed helplessly with a nerveless huddle.
+
+A few minutes more of alternate fan and bottle resulted in the opening
+of the eyes and the utterance of a choking gasp.
+
+Assured now, the Sepoy rushed to the bedroom, threw aside the coverlets
+and possessed himself of one of the sheets.
+
+With the aid of his pocket-knife he ripped this into several lengths,
+with which he returned to the rapidly reviving Gratz.
+
+In his grim struggle for reanimation the firm lines about the mouth of
+the unfortunate man had finally relaxed, and into this ugly opening the
+Sepoy inserted a strip of the sheet and secured it in a rigid knot
+behind the neck of his victim.
+
+With a few dexterous turns and knots he bound the body to the chair with
+the remaining lengths of linen, and hastening to the washstand grasped a
+water pitcher and deluged the face of the now thoroughly awakened Gratz.
+
+From the look in his eyes it was evident that his senses had not only
+fully returned, but that he was perfectly aware of the changed
+conditions and their relative humiliations.
+
+For a moment an expression vaguely suggestive of admiration shadowed
+through the slightly flushed countenance, and the next instant it
+returned to its customary apathy, from which it was not again disturbed
+during the bitter ordeal to which the helpless Gratz was subjected.
+
+"And now," exclaimed the Sepoy with a frightful grin of malice, "I trust
+that your senses are sufficiently restored to receive a farewell
+suggestion or two. You will notice," he went on with evil emphasis,
+"that I say 'farewell suggestions,' for I assure you that you will never
+set eyes on me again.
+
+"A little previous to the change which resulted in your present
+predicament, I extended to you the courtesy of all sorts of tribute to
+your acumen.
+
+"Now--note my liberality--I do not insist upon a reciprocal indorsement
+of my dexterity, since I see"--pointing to the gag which he had inserted
+in the mouth of the detective--"since I see, with deep regret, that you
+have an impediment in your speech.
+
+"I excuse you in advance.
+
+"Still, I cannot resist the temptation of chiding your indifference to
+such a brilliant argument as this," and the Sepoy caused the sapphire
+to scintillate its mocking rebuke into the eyes of the wretched Gratz.
+
+"I must also improve the occasion by calling your attention to the
+reprimand offered by your plight to your curiosity, for you see to what
+a pass it has brought you.
+
+"However, since it would be a malice of which I am incapable not to
+gratify it, I will show you what it was I had in reserve," and the Sepoy
+produced the small shagreen case with which Raikes had been on such
+questionable terms of familiarity, and pressing back the lid revealed
+the splendid diamond to the still impassive Gratz.
+
+With a continuation of his elaborate courtesy and his purposely stilted
+phrasing, the Sepoy said: "If the sapphire was argument, this was
+certainly conviction. The moral barrier which could withstand the
+assault of the first, must, unquestionably, have yielded to the
+insidious attack of the second.
+
+"But since you have managed to place yourself beyond the reach of such
+considerations, I will be compelled to discontinue my futile eloquence
+and leave you to your more mature reflections.
+
+"Observe!" he continued, as he replaced the sapphire in the case and
+restored the latter to the right-hand pocket of his waistcoat, "I place
+the argument in this repository"; and treating the diamond in like
+manner, he deposited that in the left-hand pocket and added: "And place
+the conviction on this side.
+
+"It is not often that one is the embodiment of _belles-lettres_, having
+such details of logic so easily within reach."
+
+During all this travesty of demeanor and phrase, with its tantalizing
+mockery and its crafty insinuation, Gratz had betrayed no emotion
+whatever, nor did his eyes lose one whit of their usual placidity as he
+beheld the Sepoy, with a sort of lithe, animal rapidity, produce a small
+traveling-case from the wardrobe and return with it to the bag of coin
+on the table.
+
+"You see," continued the Sepoy as he was about to deposit the bag in the
+case, "I have left room for this. I anticipated its addition to my
+paraphernalia and made preparations accordingly.
+
+"Notice how neatly it fits in. And now I offer you my sympathy for the
+miscarriage of your plans.
+
+"This, to a man of sentiment and enterprise, is always obnoxious. I feel
+myself indebted to you for some exceedingly intelligent mental
+processes, and, believe me, I part with you with a feeling so nearly
+resembling regret that I will not do you the discourtesy of doubting
+that the sentiment is genuine.
+
+"I leave you to make explanations to your clients in whatsoever way you
+may see fit. I salute you!" and the next instant the Sepoy had slipped
+through the doorway into the hall, along which he hurried until he
+reached the main entrance of the house.
+
+To make his way through this into the vestibule and thence into the
+street was the work of the next few moments, and with a grin of
+malicious triumph he descended the steps which led to the pave.
+
+Scarcely had his feet touched the ground when a man from either side of
+the stone balustrade stepped out, and each grasped an arm of the
+scowling Sepoy.
+
+"A moment, please!" exclaimed one of the men, as he snapped back the
+shield of a small lantern he carried and directed its searching light
+into the distorted countenance.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed his captor to the fellow on the other side of the
+prisoner, "this is the chap, Tom."
+
+"Now, mister, you can walk back. Not a word; you may be all right and we
+may be all wrong; it can soon be settled in there."
+
+"One question, please," begged the Sepoy. "Who are you? By what right do
+you detain me?"
+
+"One at a time, mister," replied the man with the lantern. "There's a
+man inside who can answer these questions for you."
+
+A sudden light penetrated the mind of the Sepoy. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "I
+understand."
+
+"That's good, mister; it will save a deal of explanation."
+
+"These men, then," muttered the Sepoy to himself, "are the subordinates
+of the detective within."
+
+At that moment the moon slipped out from behind a mask of cloud and
+silhouetted the three.
+
+By its light the prisoner examined the grim countenances before him.
+"Surely," he decided, "there is nothing in these features to indicate a
+strenuous moral objection to the bribery of the contents of my
+traveling-case," and at the thought of the absurd discrepancy between
+his present predicament and the cynical altitudes of a short time since,
+and as he considered the humiliation awaiting him when he was compelled
+once more to face the detective, he decided to venture on another
+attempt to purchase his freedom.
+
+With this thought he was about to place the case he carried on the
+ground, when one of the men, remarking his movement and mistaking its
+purpose, cried: "Here; none of that!"
+
+"But," expostulated the Sepoy, "you do not----"
+
+"Shut up!" replied the fellow coarsely. "Come inside and show us where
+you have left the chief. You here, the boss in there--something's
+wrong."
+
+With a muttered curse, and urged by no ceremonious hands, the Sepoy
+reascended the steps.
+
+Having in his haste to escape neglected to latch the doors, the raging
+Sepoy had no difficulty in conducting his captors along the hallway to
+his room.
+
+In a few moments this strangely assorted trio reached the apartment in
+which the Sepoy had but a short time before disported himself, so to
+speak, with such waspish reprisal, and delivered such a farrago of
+ridicule and cynicism upon the defenseless head of the silent figure
+bound to the chair.
+
+At sight of this extraordinary spectacle the two understrappers came to
+a standstill and looked upon the Sepoy with a species of respect.
+
+Never before had they beheld their chief in such a predicament; the
+means of its accomplishment must have been amazingly clever, and the
+agent himself somewhat of a marvel.
+
+However, while one of the men stood guard over the Sepoy, with a renewal
+of his watchfulness awakened by what he saw, the other proceeded to
+unfasten the gag and remove the strips which bound the unfortunate
+Gratz.
+
+After a pause of inscrutable regard of the Sepoy, who, despite the
+embarrassing dénouement, managed to maintain a fair degree of composure,
+Gratz, addressing the man who had released him, said:
+
+"You will find the key of these handcuffs on the table yonder."
+
+Obedient to the direction of the detective's glance, the man proceeded
+to the table, found the object of his quest, and inserting it in the
+handcuffs detached them from the hands of the still impassive Gratz.
+
+"Now," continued the latter calmly, "I will transfer these ornaments to
+that gentleman. Secure him precisely as you found me, with the exception
+of the gag."
+
+Presently this was done.
+
+At this, turning to his subordinates, the detective said: "Leave me with
+this gentleman for a while; I will call you in case of need."
+
+As the pair passed through the doorway, Gratz, with no intimation of
+triumph or exultation in his manner, addressed the unhappy Sepoy, with
+an emphasis, however, which implied that he had not forgotten the
+experience to which he had been subjected.
+
+"And _now_ what have you to say?"
+
+The Sepoy looked his questioner directly in the eyes, with a glance that
+was subtle in its insinuation and eloquent of collusive suggestion, and
+replied:
+
+"The sapphire is still in my right waistcoat pocket, and the diamond in
+the left."
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+
+As the beautiful reader reached this singular conclusion, which came
+with an abruptness that indicated the decrepit imagination of the author
+and his overworked vocabulary, she looked up from the absurd vehicle of
+all this hectic style and incident and beheld in the eyes of her auditor
+a suggestion of the light that is indigenous to neither land nor sea.
+
+To Dennis, who had in his composition the material of a poet, if not the
+finish, the melodious intonations of the widow had seemed like the
+incongruous orchestration of birds in the treetops to some minor
+tragedy among the denizens of the underbrush.
+
+Her elocution was exquisite and provided the bizarre narrative with a
+refinement which contrasted with its crudities, like Valenciennes lace
+on a background of calico.
+
+"Well," she said smilingly, after she had subjected his ingenuous glance
+to the rapid analysis of her intuition, with a satisfaction which it
+startled her to recognize, "what do you think of it?"
+
+"Is that the end?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Yes, it is the end."
+
+With a shade of emphasis, intended by Dennis to indicate that the words
+of the reply of the widow were suggestive of other finalities which he
+did not like to consider, he said:
+
+"That is no end; it looks to me as though the author has struck his
+limits."
+
+"No," objected the widow, "I fancy that he has left the subject open so
+that the reader can solve the riddle in his own way."
+
+"There is no riddle!" exclaimed Dennis.
+
+"No?" inquired the widow; "and that splendid sapphire, that magnificent
+diamond to tempt the detective?"
+
+"They will not tempt him," said Dennis with simple conviction and a
+degree of feeling that might lead one to suppose that he was an
+indispensable element in the situation. "He will recollect his
+professional pride; he will remember that he is a man."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the widow with an indescribable intonation.
+
+"Don't you think that I am right?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Yes," replied his companion with a pronounced emphasis on the personal
+pronoun which followed, "yes, _you_ are right"; and as she considered
+the frank revelation of character in his reply and contrasted it with
+the possible disclosures of similar situations among the majority of men
+she knew, she added:
+
+"I am glad that we have read the story."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
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+        h2                {text-align: center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 0em; clear: both;}
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+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Flaw in the Sapphire
+
+Author: Charles M. Snyder
+
+Release Date: December 6, 2007 [EBook #23752]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<table style="margin: auto; border: black 1px solid; padding:0.8em;" summary="">
+  <tr><td>
+    <table style="margin: auto; border: black 1px solid; width:22em;" summary="">
+        <tr><td>
+        <p style=" font-size:2.4em; margin-top:0.5em;">THE FLAW IN</p>
+        <p style=" font-size:2.4em; margin-bottom:0.5em;">THE SAPPHIRE</p>
+        </td></tr>
+    </table>
+    <table style="margin-top:1em; border: black 1px solid; width:22em" summary="">
+        <tr><td>
+        <p style="font-size:1.4em;margin-top:2em;">By CHARLES M. SNYDER</p>
+        <p style="font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:2em;">AUTHOR OF &#8220;COMIC HISTORY OF GREECE&#8221;<br />&#8220;RUNAWAY ROBINSON&#8221; &#8220;SNAP SHOTS&#8221; ETC.</p>
+        <div class="center"><img src="images/illus-emb.png" alt="" style="margin-bottom:5em;" /> </div>
+        </td></tr>
+    </table>
+    <table style="margin-top:1em; border: black 1px solid; width:22em" summary="">
+        <tr><td>
+        <p style="margin-top:1em;">NEW YORK</p>
+        <p style="font-size:1.2em;">THE METROPOLITAN PRESS</p>
+        <p style="font-size:1em;margin-bottom:1em;">1909</p>
+        </td></tr>
+    </table>
+  </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<p class="c s nm">Copyright, 1909, by<br />THE METROPOLITAN PRESS</p>
+<hr style="width: 4em; margin: 0.5em auto 0.5em auto;" />
+<p class="c s nm"><i>Registered at Stationers&#8217; Hall, London</i><br />(<i>All Rights Reserved</i>)</p>
+<hr style="width: 4em; margin: 0.5em auto 0.5em auto;" />
+<p class="c s nm" style="margin-bottom: 1.5em;">Printed in the United States of America</p>
+<p class="c s nm"><span class="sc">Press&nbsp;&nbsp;of&nbsp;&nbsp;Wm.&nbsp;&nbsp;G.&nbsp;&nbsp;Hewitt<br />24-26 Vandewater St.<br />New York</span></p>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<p class="c l">Augustine E. McBee</p>
+
+<table summary="dedication poem">
+    <tr>
+        <td>
+            A friend who stands since &#8220;Auld Lang Syne&#8221;<br />
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To all that&#8217;s fine related;<br />
+            To him, this little book of mine<br />
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Is duly dedicated.
+        </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+        <td align="right">
+            &mdash;<span class="sc">Charles M. Snyder.</span>
+        </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+            <i>New York, September</i>, 1909.
+        </td>
+    </tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:2em;">THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE</h2>
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_1" id="pg_1">1</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_I_100" id="CHAPTER_I_100"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Not long since there lived, in the city of Philadelphia, a young man of
+singular identity.</p>
+
+<p>His only parallel was the comedian who is compelled to take himself
+seriously and make the most of it, or a tart plum that concludes in a
+mellow prune.</p>
+
+<p>He was the affinity of two celebrated instances to the contrary.</p>
+
+<p>To those who enjoy the whimsies of paradox he presented an astonishing
+resemblance, in countenance, to the late Benjamin Disraeli, and
+maintained in speech the unmistakable accent of O&#8217;Connell, the Hebrew
+statesman&#8217;s Celtic antagonist.</p>
+
+<p>For these reasons, until the nature of his business was discovered, he
+was regarded with interest by that class which is disposed to estimate
+the contents of a book by the character<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_2" id="pg_2">2</a></span> of the binding, or thinks it
+
+can measure a man&#8217;s ability by the size of his hat.</p>
+
+<p>On nearer acquaintance, he was relegated to the dubious distinction of
+an oddity to whom you would be pleased to introduce your friends if you
+had only a satisfactory account of his antecedents.</p>
+
+<p>He was cheerful, startling, ready and adroit.</p>
+
+<p>Until betrayed by his brief but effectual familiarities, it was a
+curious experience to remark the approach of this singular being and
+wonder at the appraising suggestion in his speculative glance.</p>
+
+<p>Presently you decided that it was the intention of this young man to
+address you, and, unconsciously, you accorded him the opportunity, only
+to be scandalized the moment afterward by the query, altogether
+incongruous in such a promising aspect:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Any old clothes to-day?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And you passed on, chagrined and wondering.</p>
+
+<p>For a number of years, while his auditors paused in an attempt to
+disentangle the Semite from the Celt, there was scarcely a day in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_3" id="pg_3">3</a></span>
+he had not subjected himself to the more or less pronounced hazards of
+rebuff incident to his invariable query, and there were few citizens of
+the sterner sex whom he had not thus addressed.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently no consideration restrained him.</p>
+
+<p>None was too dignified, none sufficiently austere to escape his
+solicitation; and while, as a rule, he waited until the object of his
+regard came to a standstill, he had been known to approach diagonally,
+and, at the point of incidence, presenting his query, pass on with a
+glance of impassive impersonality when it was evident that his overtures
+were futile or worse.</p>
+
+<p>When successful in his forays, he would convey the results of his
+efforts to his father, who, after getting the garments thus secured in a
+condition of fictitious newness, displayed them in front of his
+establishment, marked with prices which, as he explained to those unwary
+enough to venture within the radius of his personality, brought him as
+near to nervous prostration as was possible for the parent of such
+inconsequent offspring.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_4" id="pg_4">4</a></span></p>
+
+<p>However, no matter what the rewards of such industry, it must not be
+imagined that its disabilities did not insist upon due recognition and
+ugly ravel, and that such shred and fibre did not obtrude their
+unwelcome appeals for repair upon their central figure.</p>
+
+<p>Shrewd, intelligent, persistent, he soon discovered that the very
+qualities which made him successful in his calling rendered him
+obnoxious to those who were unable to harmonize his promise with his
+condition.</p>
+
+<p>However, like the majority of his countrymen, outside of those who
+constituted the Manhattan police force and provided the country with
+justices of the peace, this young man was a philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>He could always provide a silver lining for a cloud as long as it was
+plausible to do so, and when he had exhausted his genial resources, he
+looked at facts squarely.</p>
+
+<p>On this basis he decided, finally, that his was a case of &#8220;bricks
+without straw,&#8221; enthusiasm minus its basis, an unhappy conclusion which
+was emphasized by his patient attempts<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_5" id="pg_5">5</a></span> to soften his angularities with
+the advantages provided by a night school.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, a business man, with an eye to the bizarre, to whom
+Dennis had presented some of his characteristic enterprises, had put the
+young Irishman in the way of securing a biography of the Hebrew premier,
+whom he provided with such an absurd travesty of likeness, and the &#8220;ole
+clo&#8217; merchant&#8221; was so impressed by the resolution and dexterity of the
+celebrated statesman, that he became, from that moment, the prey of a
+consuming ambition whose direction he could not determine.</p>
+
+<p>He grew positive daily, however, that, in view of these stimulating
+aspirations, he could no longer pursue his embarrassing avocation.</p>
+
+<p>On the basis, therefore, that the greater the pent the more pronounced
+the explosion, the young merchant developed a dangerous readiness to
+embrace the first opportunity that presented herself in the hope that
+the caress would be returned.</p>
+
+<p>Presently, the determination to exchange his present humiliations for
+future uncertainties<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_6" id="pg_6">6</a></span> advanced him to the point where he informed his
+father of his decision, and the latter immediately succumbed to a
+collapse which was Hebraic in its despair and entirely Celtic in its
+manifestation.</p>
+
+<p>When this irate parent realized, at last, that this invaluable arm of
+his business could not be diverted from its purpose, with cruel celerity
+he cut off his son from all further consideration and forbade him the
+premises.</p>
+
+<p>With the previous week&#8217;s salary in his pocket, which, fortunately, had
+been undisturbed, Dennis Muldoon, on the day succeeding this unhappy
+interview with his sire, set out for New York City with his few
+belongings condensed, with campaigning foresight, in a satchel whose
+size and appearance would scarcely inspire the confidence man to claim
+previous acquaintance with its owner in order to investigate its
+contents later.</p>
+
+<p>In this manner protected from the insinuating blandishments of the
+&#8220;buncoes,&#8221; and guided by his native shrewdness, Dennis finally found
+accommodation for his meager impedimenta<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_7" id="pg_7">7</a></span> in an unassuming lodging-house
+called The Stag.</p>
+
+<p>This establishment reflected, in a curious way, the demands of its
+patrons.</p>
+
+<p>Almost the entire first floor was occupied by the glittering details of
+a seductive barroom, through which one was compelled to pass, challenged
+on every side by alluring labels, before reaching the restaurant
+immediately in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>Above, the floors were divided into numerous sleeping-rooms barely large
+enough to accommodate a bed, washstand and one chair&mdash;a sordid ensemble,
+unrelieved by any other wall decoration than the inevitable
+announcement: &#8220;This way to the fire escape.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>By a singular coincidence which would have aroused a lively emotion in
+the moralist, a Bible occupied a small shelf directly under the
+instructions quoted above.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis, however, was too weary to recognize the grim association, and
+shortly after his arrival retired for the night to recuperate his
+energies for the uncertainties of the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>Awakening at dawn with a sincere hope that<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_8" id="pg_8">8</a></span> his dreams of a succession
+of disasters were not prophetic, and, despite the appeals of the glitter
+and the labels in the bar, breakfasting with his customary
+abstemiousness, Dennis issued from The Stag with a determination to make
+the effort of his life to secure employment.</p>
+
+<p>He had no definite plans other than a profound determination to resist
+the invitations of Baxter Street, a thoroughfare congested from end to
+end with innumerable shops devoted to the species of merchandizing from
+which he had so recently escaped.</p>
+
+<p>Here his talents would have procured for him ready recognition, a
+condition which deepened his determination to avoid all possible contact
+with these solicitous sons of Shem.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond a singular desire to enter a large publishing house, Dennis had
+no idea as to the direction of his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from the fact that books held an unaccountable fascination for
+him, he could not explain this predilection, for their influence over
+him was in the aggregate.</p>
+
+<p>He loved to wander, with aimless preoccupation, among closely-packed
+shelves, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_9" id="pg_9">9</a></span> pursuance of this indirection was familiar with the
+interior of every library in the city of Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>He appeared to have too much respect for the books to touch them, and
+was sufficiently in awe of their contents not to attempt to read them.</p>
+
+<p>He was impressed by the volume of things, and had, unsuspected by
+himself, the capacity of the bibliophile to detect and enjoy the subtle
+aroma which emanates from leaves and binding.</p>
+
+<p>In harmony, therefore, with the resolute quality which had secured to
+him what success he had enjoyed in his abandoned business, Dennis
+decided to exhaust the pleasing possibilities presented by this elevated
+industry before applying elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>The &eacute;clat of possible authorship did not influence him, despite the
+encouragement afforded him in the surprising efforts of his imagination
+displayed in achievements such as the following, with which he
+embellished the front of his father&#8217;s establishment:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_10" id="pg_10">10</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="c">
+This Suit<br />
+was<br />
+$50<br />
+and cheap at that<br />
+I&#8217;ll let it go for<br />
+$20<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>and so on indefinitely.</p>
+
+<p>Urged, then, by the advantages which lubricate the lines of least
+resistance, and stimulated by that clarion phrase in his unfailing
+campaign document, his copy of Beaconsfield: &#8220;I have begun many things
+many times and have finally succeeded,&#8221; Dennis presented himself, about
+ten o&#8217;clock, at one of the well-known publishing houses.</p>
+
+<p>With all the alarm which affects the fair d&eacute;butante at a court
+presentation, he beheld the confusing labyrinth of counters, department
+aisles and shelves, which combine in such a depressing suggestion of
+intellectual plethora and transient futility in this famous edifice.</p>
+
+<p>Advised by his sensations, Dennis was quite ready to assure himself that
+he had entered at<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_11" id="pg_11">11</a></span> the wrong portal, and, returning to the street, he
+discovered that the building concluded upon a rearway congested with a
+disorderly array of drays, cases and porters.</p>
+
+<p>Encouraged by the assurance of these more familiar surroundings, Dennis
+cast an anxious glance about him to discover one more in authority than
+the others.</p>
+
+<p>His quest was given direction by a familiar accent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wake up, ye lazy divils! It&#8217;s dhramin&#8217; ye are this marnin&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Guided by the sound, Dennis beheld a naturally cheerful Irishman
+occupied with the double task of assuming an austere demeanor, and
+quickening, with brisk orders, the movements of the porters under his
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>His present difficulties mastered, this vivacious master of ceremonies
+turned to look, with an inquiring glance, upon Dennis, who had presented
+himself to the attention of the former with the unmistakable appeal of
+the candidate in his demeanor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want a job,&#8221; said Dennis simply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Phwat?&#8221; inquired the foreman sharply,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_12" id="pg_12">12</a></span> staring at the mosaic of
+physiognomy and accent embodied in Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want a job,&#8221; repeated Dennis. &#8220;I nade wurk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistaking the peculiar burr in the utterance of the last
+two words, but the foreman continued to regard the speaker with
+suspicious amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Phwat are ye, annyway?&#8221; he said with guarded brusqueness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A poor man, sir; I nade wurk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oi don&#8217;t mane that,&#8221; with less severity at this frank acknowledgment;
+&#8220;but where do yez hail from&mdash;Limerick or Jerusalem?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this pointed question, which promptly reminded Dennis of the singular
+contradiction he presented, he replied, with a genuine Celtic adroitness
+that had an immediate effect upon his hearer:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nayther; I got off at the midway junction.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha, ha!&#8221; laughed the foreman, as he appreciated this clever explanation
+of the singular compromise presented by Dennis. &#8220;Shure, that&#8217;s not bad.
+By the mug ye wear, I wud<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_13" id="pg_13">13</a></span> advise ye to go to Baxther Street, but by the
+sound av ye, Oi rickommind th&#8217; Broadway squad. Wurrk, is it? Why don&#8217;t
+ye presint that face at th&#8217; front? I hear they&#8217;re shy on editors.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shure!&#8221; said Dennis, who believed that he was progressing; &#8220;but the
+only things I iver wrote were store signs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha!&#8221; replied the foreman, &#8220;so it&#8217;s handy with th&#8217; brush ye are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait a bit,&#8221; said the foreman, and pointing to a marking-outfit he
+directed Dennis to display his name and address upon a smooth pine board
+which he provided for that purpose:</p>
+
+<p class="c">
+<span class="smcap">Dennis Muldoon</span>,<br />
+The Stag Hotel,<br />
+Vesey St.,<br />
+N.Y.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha!&#8221; cried the foreman as he contrasted the name with the
+incongruous face of the young man before him, &#8220;ye don&#8217;t have to play<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_14" id="pg_14">14</a></span> it
+on a flute, annyway; there&#8217;s nothin&#8217; Sheeny about that.&#8221; Then, directing
+his attention to the character of the work itself, he added: &#8220;That&#8217;s not
+bad at all, at all. See here,&#8221; he said abruptly, as he picked up the
+board which Dennis had decorated and fastened it to the warehouse wall
+with a nail, &#8220;Oi&#8217;ll kape that for riferince. Oh, Oi mane it,&#8221; he said
+with gruff assurance, as he noted the disappointment which shadowed the
+expressive face before him; &#8220;an&#8217; mebbe ye won&#8217;t have to wait so long,
+nayther.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope not,&#8221; said Dennis frankly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, ye see,&#8221; said the foreman, &#8220;the prisint incoombent has been
+mixin&#8217; too much red wid his paint, an&#8217; it don&#8217;t wurrk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You mean he drinks?&#8221; asked Dennis with humorous inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oi do,&#8221; replied the foreman; &#8220;an&#8217; now that we have inthroduced th&#8217;
+subject, excuse a personal quistion: Do ye wet yure whistle in business
+hours?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; answered Dennis promptly, &#8220;nor out of them. Father attended to
+that part of the business.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_15" id="pg_15">15</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; replied the foreman, &#8220;Oi can&#8217;t talk longer wid ye this marnin&#8217;.
+Come &#8217;round be th&#8217; ind of the wake,&#8221; and dismissing Dennis with a nod he
+withdrew into the warehouse.</p>
+
+<p>The main feature of discouragement which presented itself to Dennis as
+he left this locality to ponder over its possibilities, was that the end
+of the week was five days off.</p>
+
+<p>This was serious.</p>
+
+<p>His rupture with Muldoon, senior, had left him but poorly provided with
+linen and lucre; and a campaign of assault upon the barricades of
+prejudice and suspicion, which was involved in the anxious solicitude of
+the man seeking employment, demanded every possible accessory of
+personal appearance and a reasonably equipped commissariat.</p>
+
+<p>Anxious, therefore, to subject his meager resources to the least strain
+possible, Dennis at last succeeded in securing, in one of the more
+pretentious stores on Baxter Street, a contrivance for the relief of
+penury and threadbare gentility known at that time by the name of
+&#8220;dickey.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This convenience consisted in a series of three<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_16" id="pg_16">16</a></span> shirt bosoms made of
+paper to resemble the luxury of linen.</p>
+
+<p>When the surface first exposed showed symptoms of soil or wear, its
+removal revealed a fresh bosom directly under.</p>
+
+<p>Adjusted to his waistcoat, it was almost impossible to detect the
+agreeable sham, which, under favorable auspices, could be made to last
+for a week.</p>
+
+<p>Thus equipped, Dennis proceeded to his hotel, where, after according the
+cheerful salutation of the industrious barkeeper the acknowledgment of a
+lively Irish nod, in which there was both fellowship and refusal, he
+proceeded to the rear, to banquet upon whatever offered the most for his
+money.</p>
+
+<p>During the two days succeeding, Dennis, true to the apprehensive
+calculation natural to the unemployed, did not propose to rest upon the
+assurances of his Irish friend in the publishing house.</p>
+
+<p>Anything untoward might occur.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, he was familiar with this seamy side of Providence.</p>
+
+<p>He had been so often misled by promises<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_17" id="pg_17">17</a></span> that it was only his wholesome
+Celtic faith and prompt capacity to rebound which kept him from becoming
+entirely blas&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>His experience, however, left him alert. So he applied industriously at
+various establishments for employment, and received his first lessons in
+the courteous duplicity which ostentatiously files the application for
+future reference, and the cruel kindness of frank rebuff.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the third day of this futile foray, Dennis noticed
+that the exposed bosom of his dickey was not altogether presentable.</p>
+
+<p>It appeared to have registered the record of his applications and
+failures, and, as such, was not a good campaign document, so to speak.</p>
+
+<p>Having progressed in his simple toilet up to the point of embellishment,
+he proceeded to tear away the soiled surface, and in doing so discovered
+not only the clean bosom beneath, but that the rear of the one just
+detached was covered with a block of minute print.</p>
+
+<p>Drawing the solitary chair close to the window, he read by the light of
+early dawn the following extraordinary compilation.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_18" id="pg_18">18</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_II_488" id="CHAPTER_II_488"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the city of &mdash;&mdash; there lived one Rodman Raikes, unpopularly known as
+the &#8220;Fist.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The title, however, was not in recognition of personal prowess, for no
+more cringing, evasive creature ever existed.</p>
+
+<p>He was little in mind, little in body, and little in his dealings.</p>
+
+<p>If a principle could ever be concrete, Raikes was the embodiment of the
+grasping and the uselessly abstemious.</p>
+
+<p>He appeared to shun a generous sentiment as one would avoid an infected
+locality, and usually walked with head tilted and body bent as if
+engaged in following a clue or intent upon the search of some stray
+nickel.</p>
+
+<p>He was thoroughly despised by all who knew him, a sentiment which he
+returned with vicious interest, and never neglected an opportunity<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_19" id="pg_19">19</a></span> of
+lodging some sneering shaft where it would cause the most irritation.</p>
+
+<p>His character was so much in harmony with these generalizations that he
+had been described as dividing his laughter into chuckles&mdash;if the
+strident rasp which he indulged could be called by that name&mdash;in order
+that it might last the longer; and that he grinned in grudging
+instalments.</p>
+
+<p>His obvious possession was an entire row of brick houses, in the most
+insignificant of which he dwelt.</p>
+
+<p>Over this sparse domicile a spinster sister presided, who reflected, on
+compulsion, in the manner of a sickly moon, the attenuity and shrivel of
+her brother.</p>
+
+<p>A nephew of Raikes&#8217; completed the circuit.</p>
+
+<p>This young man intruded upon this strange household an aspect so
+curiously at variance with that of his rickety elders that he suggested
+to the fanciful the grim idea of having exhausted the contents of the
+larder and compelled the other two to shift for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>He was, in the eyes of the disapproving Raikes, offensively plump; an
+example of incredible<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_20" id="pg_20">20</a></span> expenditure applied to personal gratification and
+gluttonous indulgence.</p>
+
+<p>The miser behaved as if he appeared to consider it a mark of studied
+disrespect to be compelled to contrast his gaunt leanness with the young
+man&#8217;s embonpoint, and was propitiated only by the reflection that he
+contributed in no way to his nephew&#8217;s physical disproportion, since the
+latter was able to be at charges for his own welfare from resources
+derived from steady outside employment.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the house occupied by Raikes, and connected with it by a
+doorway let into the wall, was a series of three dwellings used as a
+boarding-establishment by a widow who had seen better days and was
+tireless in alluding to them.</p>
+
+<p>These buildings had been remodeled to communicate with each other, a
+continuity that concluded with the Raikes apartments.</p>
+
+<p>For some reason this miserable man preferred to occupy the portion just
+indicated with no other tenants than his gaunt sister and the robust
+Robert.</p>
+
+<p>This arrangement was all the more curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span> from the fact that Raikes
+made no attempt to dispose of, in fact, strangely resented any
+suggestion of letting, the lower floor of his end of the row.</p>
+
+<p>That one of his avaricious disposition could thus forego such a prospect
+of advantage was the occasion of much speculation.</p>
+
+<p>If Robert understood he gave no hint; and if the boarders on the other
+side of the partition indulged in curious comment they refrained from
+doing so in his presence.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion had been made that Raikes secreted something about that
+portion of the premises he occupied, but since none had the courage to
+investigate such a possibility, the problems it created were permitted
+to pass unsolved or serve to tantalize the imagination.</p>
+
+<p>Regularly, at meal-time, the door leading from the Raikes apartment
+would open, and the mean figure of the miser, after presenting itself
+for one hesitating, suspicious moment, would slip silently through and
+subside into a near-by chair at one of the tables.</p>
+
+<p>Directly after, the spinster would filter through with the mien of an
+apologetic phantom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span> and Raikes at once established the basis of
+indulgence by tentative nibbles of this and that, which were almost
+Barmecidian in their meagerness, and the sister, under his sordid
+supervision, followed his miserable example.</p>
+
+<p>With singular perversity, in the midst of reasonable abundance, he
+forbore to accept the full measure of his privileges.</p>
+
+<p>The discipline of denial was essential to the austere economies he
+practiced in all other directions, and his sister, rather than submit to
+the hardness of his rebukes, acquiesced with dismal resignation.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was able to endure the table behavior of his uncle no more than
+the others, and so occupied a seat in the dining-room surrounded by more
+agreeable conditions.</p>
+
+<p>If this course was intended as a diplomatic frankness to indicate to
+Raikes that his nephew did not expect a legacy to follow the demise of
+that austere relative, no one could determine.</p>
+
+<p>The young man, however, continued to sit in whatever portion of the
+apartment he pleased and enjoy himself as much as the handicap of his
+relationship would permit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On this basis, as if to manifest in himself the law of compensation,
+Robert grew vicariously robust, and accepted, with cynical good humor,
+the irritation of his uncle over his adipose.</p>
+
+<p>Raikes and his sister had the table at which they sat entirely to
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Only on the infrequent occasions of congestion had others been known to
+occupy seats at the same board.</p>
+
+<p>It was more than hungry human nature, as embodied in most of the
+inmates, could stand to witness this exasperating refusal to accept a
+reasonable measure of what was set before them; a disability to which
+the scarcely concealed scowls of the exacting miser added the chill
+finishing touch.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, however, a new boarder arrived.</p>
+
+<p>Accommodations could not be found for him at the other tables, and, as
+was the custom of the widow under such circumstances, he was intruded
+upon the society of this morbid duet, after the manner of his
+predecessors.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span></p>
+
+<p>If the usual rebellion matured at such association on the part of this
+recent guest, the landlady expected to be assisted by one of those
+vacancies which occur with such incalculable irregularity, yet
+reasonable certainty, in establishments of this character.</p>
+
+<p>At this a prompt transfer would be effected.</p>
+
+<p>This, however, was an unusual boarder.</p>
+
+<p>If his presence was obnoxious to Raikes, the latter refused to realize
+it; if the miser had his peculiarities, the newcomer did not see them.</p>
+
+<p>He ate his meals in silence, with an abstemiousness that, unknown to
+himself, recommended him as cordially as any consideration might to his
+shriveled table companion; made friendly overtures, disguised in
+perfunctory courtesies, of passing the bread or the butter when either
+was beyond the nervous reach of the eccentric Raikes, and ventured an
+impassive suggestion or two as to the probable conduct of the weather.</p>
+
+<p>In appearance the newcomer was startling.</p>
+
+<p>His complexion was a berry-brown; his expression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span> aside from his eyes,
+was singularly composed.</p>
+
+<p>These were uncommonly black and piercing, and peeped from receding
+sockets through heavy eyebrows, which hung like an ambush over their
+dart and gleam.</p>
+
+<p>His nose was a decisive aquiline, beneath which his lips, at once firm
+and sensitive, pressed together changelessly.</p>
+
+<p>His figure was tall and spare and usually clad in black, a habit which
+emphasized his already picturesque countenance.</p>
+
+<p>There was an indescribable air about him which suggested event,
+transpired or about to transpire, which introduced a sort of eerie
+distinction to the commonplace surroundings in which he found himself,
+and invited many a glance of curious speculation in his direction.</p>
+
+<p>All this was not without its effect upon Raikes, and it was remarked,
+with the astonishment the occasion justified, that the miser, in the
+ensuing days, emerged from his customary austerity to the extent of
+reciprocal amenities in the passage of bread and salt.</p>
+
+<p>However, this was but the beginning.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_26" id="pg_26">26</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Raikes discovered himself, at last, responding, with a degree of chill
+urbanity, to the advances of the stranger, and ere the week had
+concluded had assumed the initiative in conversation on more than one
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>By this time one of the inevitable vacancies had occurred at another
+table, and the widow, as usual, offered to translate this latest guest
+to the unoccupied seat.</p>
+
+<p>The latter, however, for some strange reason, indicated a desire to
+remain in his present surroundings, and when this disposition was
+understood by Raikes, the conquest of the miser was complete.</p>
+
+<p>As if to indorse the perverse aspect of inflexible things, it seemed,
+now that Raikes had ventured ever so little beyond his taciturn
+defenses, he was encouraged to further boldness.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger exerted a fascination which, in others, Raikes would have
+considered dangerous and which he would have made his customary
+instinctive preparations to combat.</p>
+
+<p>He could not recall a similar instance in all the years of his recent
+experience when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span> was constrained to recognize, nay, surrender to, a
+diffusive impulse such as this curious stranger awakened in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>In yielding to its insinuations, even to the extent already recorded, he
+was agreeably conscious of a sort of guilty abandon which, at times,
+stupefies the moral qualities ere delivering them into the hands of a
+welcome invader.</p>
+
+<p>For some time Robert, with the others, had enjoyed the entertainment
+offered by this transformation of Satyr to Faun, and the inversion
+advanced to still further degrees their curious regard of the &#8220;Sepoy,&#8221; a
+picturesque description bestowed upon him by the blas&eacute; boarders.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently, one evening, when, at the conclusion of the dinner, the
+&#8220;Sepoy,&#8221; in response to the invitation of Raikes, was seen to disappear
+with the latter through the doorway which led to his apartments,
+Robert&#8217;s interest in the spectacle changed to genuine alarm, until a
+moment&#8217;s reflection upon his uncle&#8217;s well-known ability to take care of
+himself reassured him.</p>
+
+<p>Intruding the door between themselves and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span> all further speculation, the
+strangely-assorted pair proceeded along a dimly-illumed hallway to a
+room in which Raikes usually secluded himself.</p>
+
+<p>As the Sepoy advanced, he could see that, with the exception of two
+sleeping-chambers, revealed by their open doors, the apartment in which
+he found himself was the only one where any kind of accommodation could
+be found, as the balance of the house offered unmistakable evidences of
+being unoccupied.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Be seated, sir,&#8221; croaked Raikes, with a voice strangely suggestive of a
+raven attempting the modulations of some canary it had swallowed. &#8220;I do
+not smoke myself, and, therefore, cannot provide you with that sort of
+entertainment; still, I have no objection to you enjoying yourself in
+that way if,&#8221; with a cynical shrug of the shoulders by way of apology,
+&#8220;you have come prepared.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Accepting this frank inhospitality in the spirit of its announcement,
+the stranger, smiling with his curious eyes, produced two cigars, one of
+which he offered to Raikes, and which was consistently and promptly
+refused.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t afford it,&#8221; expostulated the latter. &#8220;I never indulge myself
+even in temptation; the nearest I will approach to dissipation will be,
+with your permission, to enjoy the aroma. I do not propose to rebuke
+myself for that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As you please,&#8221; returned the other as he replaced the weed in his
+pocket. &#8220;It is my one indulgence; in other respects I challenge any man
+to be more abstemious.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have had none,&#8221; returned Raikes with a rasping lack of emotion, &#8220;for
+the last ten years. It is too late to begin to cultivate a disability
+now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are wrong,&#8221; replied the Sepoy. &#8220;One&#8217;s attitude cannot be rigid at
+all points; that is bad management. The finest tragedy I ever witnessed
+was emphasized by the trivialities of the king&#8217;s jester.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However,&#8221; he added, as if in support of his theory, &#8220;I can, at least,
+trouble you for a match.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>While Raikes busied himself in an effort to show the hospitality of the
+service indicated, the Sepoy&#8217;s busy, furtive eyes glanced here and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span>
+there about the room with quick, inquiring glances.</p>
+
+<p>At one end a bedstead stood, which an antiquarian would have accepted
+gladly as collateral for a loan.</p>
+
+<p>Near-by a wardrobe, equally remote if more decrepit, leaned against the
+wall to maintain the balance jeopardized by a missing foot.</p>
+
+<p>One chair, in addition to those occupied by Raikes and his companion,
+appeared to extend its worn arms with a weary insistence and dusty
+disapproval of their emptiness.</p>
+
+<p>A table, large enough to accommodate a student&#8217;s lamp, several account
+books and a blotting-pad, completed this uninviting galaxy.</p>
+
+<p>To the walls, however, the Sepoy directed his closest scrutiny.</p>
+
+<p>With an incredibly rapid glance he surveyed every possible inch of
+space, turning his head cautiously to enable his eyes to penetrate into
+the more distant portions.</p>
+
+<p>Presently, after an amount of rummaging altogether disproportionate to
+the nature of his quest, Raikes succeeded in finding a lucifer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span> which
+flared with a reluctance characteristic of the surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>The Sepoy, availing himself of its blaze, deposited the remainder of the
+stick, with elaborate carefulness, upon the table, as if urged by the
+thought that his companion might convert it to further uses.</p>
+
+<p>As Raikes resumed his chair, the Sepoy, recalling his glances from their
+mysterious foray, directed them, with curious obliqueness, upon his
+companion.</p>
+
+<p>In no instance that Raikes could recall had the Sepoy looked upon him
+directly save in fleeting flashes.</p>
+
+<p>At such moments Raikes was conscious of a strange tremor, a vanishing
+fascination, that he vainly sought to duplicate by attracting the
+other&#8217;s attention, in order to analyze its peculiar influence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I ask,&#8221; he ventured after a few inhalations of his vicarious smoke,
+&#8220;may I ask the nature of your business?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Surely,&#8221; replied the other. &#8220;I am a collector.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of what?&#8221; inquired Raikes, dissatisfied with the ambiguity of the
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sapphires,&#8221; said the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; cried Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; continued the other, regarding the kindling glance of the
+avaricious Raikes with a quick, penetrating look that was not without
+its effect upon the latter; &#8220;yes, and I have had many beautiful
+specimens in my time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But where is your establishment?&#8221; asked Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wherever I chance to be,&#8221; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Still,&#8221; ventured Raikes, astonished at this curious rejoinder, &#8220;you
+have some safe depository for such valuables.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Doubtless,&#8221; replied the other drily; &#8220;but I have a few in my room now,
+and, by the way, they are pretty fair specimens.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; cried Raikes. &#8220;May I see them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; assented the Sepoy. &#8220;In the meantime,&#8221; he continued, as he
+inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket, &#8220;what do you think of this?&#8221;
+and describing a glittering semicircle in the air with some brilliant
+object he held in his grasp, he deposited upon the table<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span> a sapphire of
+such extraordinary size and beauty, that Raikes, able as he was to
+realize the great value of this gleaming condensation, stared stupidly
+at it for a moment, and then, with a cry of almost gibbering avarice,
+caught the gem in his trembling hands and burglarized it with his greedy
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>As Raikes, oblivious of all else, continued to gaze upon the brilliant
+with repulsive fascination, a peculiar change transformed the face of
+the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>He directed upon the unconscious countenance of his companion a glance
+of terrible intensity, moving his hands the while in a weird, sinuous
+rhythm, until presently, satisfied with the vacant expression which had
+replaced the eager look of the moment before in the eyes of the
+tremulous Raikes, the Sepoy began, with an indescribably easy, somnolent
+modulation, the following strange recital:</p>
+
+<p>(<i>To be continued on Dickey No. 2.</i>)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Thunder and lightning!&#8221; cried Dennis as<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span> he reached the exasperating
+announcement in italics at the bottom of the dickey back:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Continued on Dickey No. 2.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What th&#8217; div&mdash;now, what do you think of that? An&#8217; it&#8217;s me crazy to hear
+what that meerschaum-colored divil was a-goin&#8217; to say. &#8216;Dickey No. 2.&#8217;
+Why, that&#8217;s the one I have to wear to-day, an&#8217; to think the story&#8217;s on
+the back of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Truly was Dennis harassed.</p>
+
+<p>He had been in many a pickle before, but never in one quite so
+exasperating.</p>
+
+<p>Tantalized, in the first place, by the uncertainty surrounding his
+prospective employment, he was now confronted by a predicament which
+threatened to jeopardize a vital adjunct to his personal appearance.</p>
+
+<p>A native curiosity, to which this outrageous tale appealed so
+strenuously, prompted him to detach bosom No. 2 regardless.</p>
+
+<p>An equally characteristic thrift warned him against such an
+inconsiderate procedure.</p>
+
+<p>Finally his good judgment prevailed, and with desperate haste he
+adjusted the remaining bosoms of the dickey to his waistcoat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span> plunged
+into his coat, clapped his hat on his head and rushed from the room.</p>
+
+<p>All that day Dennis continued to receive his instalments of that bitter
+instruction in the ways of heedless employers and suspicious
+subordinates which, eased by a native good humor, conclude in the
+philosopher, or, unrelieved by this genial mollient, develop the cynic.</p>
+
+<p>By evening he was compelled to admit, as he retraced his steps to The
+Stag, that he had not advanced in any way.</p>
+
+<p>As he was about to pass under one of the dripping extensions of the
+elevated, a great splotch of grease detached itself from the ironwork
+and struck, with unerring precision, directly in the center of dickey
+No. 2.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis as he realized the nature of his mishap, &#8220;that
+settles it; I&#8217;ll know what the Sepoy said to-night.&#8221; A remark which
+proved conclusively that the philosophical element was still uppermost
+in the mind of this young Irishman.</p>
+
+<p>After a brief exchange of courtesies with his countryman behind the bar,
+and a dinner<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span> so modest in the rear room as to arouse the suspicion and
+encourage the displeasure of the waiter, Dennis hastened up the
+stairway, divested himself of his upper garments, ripped off dickey
+bosom No. 2, and began.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_III_909" id="CHAPTER_III_909"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>As the Sepoy proceeded, Raikes leaned forward in an attitude, the
+discomfort and unbalance of which he seemed to be entirely unaware.</p>
+
+<p>His only means of maintaining his rigid poise was in the arm which lay,
+with tense unrest, upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>From his hand, the fingers of which had released their clutch, the stone
+had rolled and gleamed an unregarded invitation into the eyes of the
+drawn face above it.</p>
+
+<p>The sickly grin of a long-delayed relaxation beguiled the extremities of
+his mouth, the grim lips had relaxed their ugly partnership, and his
+entire figure seemed upon the verge of collapse.</p>
+
+<p>Raikes was listening as never before.</p>
+
+<p>The clink of coin, the dry rattle and abrasion of brilliants, the rustle
+of bank notes could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span> have fascinated him more than the even,
+somnolent modulations of the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Every word found easy lodgment in his consciousness. There was not a
+sound or motion to divert, and the tale was a strange one.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Ram Lal,&#8221; said the Sepoy, &#8220;was a native merchant, trading between
+Meerut and Delhi, who decided to sacrifice the dear considerations of
+caste for the grosser conditions of gain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;From the performance of mean and illy-rewarded services to his patron,
+Prince Otondo, Ram Lal had developed, with the characteristic patience
+and dangerous silence of the true Oriental, to a figure of some
+importance, whom it was a satisfaction for the prince to contemplate
+with a view to future exaction and levy as occasion demanded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His royal master resided in the Kutub, a palace situated not far from
+Delhi on the road to Meerut.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This pretentious edifice, which had been established in the thirteenth
+century and which still presented, in some of its unrepaired portions,
+curious features of the bizarre architecture<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span> of that period, had been
+the dwelling place of a long line of ancient moghuls.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Its present incumbent, however, regarded with indifference the ravages
+of time and decay, and satisfied himself with the lavish furnishing of
+that considerable portion of the palace which he occupied with his dusky
+retainers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be at charges for all this the princely revenues had been seriously
+depleted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Since he could not look to decrepit relatives in Delhi for further
+allowances, and as the British Government proved equally obdurate, the
+prince found it necessary to calculate upon all possible sources of
+income.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In such speculations, therefore, the unhappy Ram Lal became an object
+of logical interest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Up to the present the merchant had been undisturbed in the security of
+his possessions, which were suspected to be enormous.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His royal patron had contented himself with the avarice of calculation,
+and, in order that his depredations might be worthy his proposed
+brigandage, he provided Ram Lal with<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span> every opportunity to develop his
+hoard to a respectable figure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prince, having enjoyed the advantages of association with sundry
+British officials, was entirely too sagacious and philosophical to
+discourage the industry of the merchant at the outset; and with the
+patience which is enabled to foresee the end from the beginning, he
+awaited developments.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In consequence, the merchant attained to everything but the ostentation
+of his possessions, and only assumed the dignity of his riches in the
+less calculating confines of his household.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Even here, however, the subsidy of his liege was active, for among the
+servants of the merchant were those whose appraising eyes followed every
+movement, and whose mercenary memories recorded every transaction.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With all the concern of a silent partner Prince Otondo balanced, in his
+philosophical mind, the various enterprises of Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If they met with his august approval, the merchant&#8217;s traffic was
+singularly free from obstruction; if the element of uncertainty was<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span> too
+pronounced for the apprehensive potentate, the most surprising occasions
+for the abandonment of his projects were developed for Ram Lal, whose
+intelligent mind was inclined to suspect the identity of his providence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Prince Otondo did not propose to have his interests jeopardized by
+precipitation or undue hazard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But this unhappy merchant, with perverse and unaware industry, advanced
+still another claim to the covert regard of his calculating highness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Although a widower, there remained, to remind him of his departed
+blessedness, a daughter, who was, as reported by the mercenaries of the
+prince, beautiful beyond their limited means of expression.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The unfortunate Ram Lal, therefore, commending himself to this elevated
+espionage, first by his &#8216;ducats&#8217; and next his &#8216;daughter,&#8217; was in the
+predicament of the missionary whose embonpoint endears him to his savage
+congregation and whose edibility is convincing enough to arouse the
+regret that he is not twins.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Prince Otondo, whose imagination was<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span> stimulated by this vicarious
+contemplation of beauty, did not find it difficult to decide that the
+transits of Ram Lal to and from the British barracks were open to
+suspicion that demanded some biased investigation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, too, the colonel in charge of the British forces at
+Delhi was equally uneasy concerning the integrity of the merchant, a
+state of mind which had been judiciously aggravated by the emissaries of
+Prince Otondo.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The officer in charge knew that the merchant, with his license of exit
+and entry, was in an exceptional position to acquaint himself with
+considerable merchandisable information.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ram Lal, therefore, in response to the pernicious industry of his evil
+genius, like an unstable pendulum, was in danger of detention at either
+extreme.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prince speculated like a Machiavelli upon the advantages of such
+action on the part of the colonel, and the latter looked to the former
+to relieve him of the responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However, diligence, even when baneful, has its rewards, for one day,
+when Ram Lal arrived at the British horn of the dilemma, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span> was
+arrested upon a charge framed to suit the emergency and subjected to a
+military court of investigation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the end of eight days the merchant was released, acquitted, and on
+the ninth he directed his course homeward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The colonel, however, had provided the prince with his opportunity, for
+when the irritated merchant arrived at his dwelling, he was informed
+that sundry officials from the palace had searched the premises for
+evidence of sedition, and, failing in that, had decided to accept all of
+his portable chattels as a substitute.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This was depressing enough, but still might have been accepted with the
+customary Oriental impassiveness had it not been for the fact that the
+marauders had added his daughter to the collection.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At any rate, she could not be found, and as she had never ventured from
+the shelter of the paternal roof without the paternal consent, Ram Lal
+felt that his deductions as to her whereabouts were entitled to
+consideration.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was unable to get any indorsement of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span> his unhappy logic, for the
+servants had all disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He determined, however, to act in accordance with his assumption, and
+after taking an inventory of whatever had been overlooked in the foray,
+which was little else than the premises, he seated himself upon a mat
+beneath a banyan tree in the garden, which concluded the rear of his
+dwelling, and was presently ells-deep in a profound reflection, which
+was not only ominous in its outward calm, but curiously prolonged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The only evidence of mental disquiet which, it was natural to suspect,
+disturbed him, was a strange light which gleamed from his eyes at
+intervals with baleful significance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the conclusion of two oblivious hours Ram Lal appeared to have
+arrived at some definite purpose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He rose to his feet and strode, with a marked degree of decision, to
+his dwelling, where he slept in apparent and paradoxical peace until
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ere the sky was red, or the dews, in harmony with this unhappy man&#8217;s
+dilemma, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span> been appropriated by the sun from the tiara of dawn, Ram
+Lal set out for the palace of the Kutub, in which Prince Otondo was
+compelled to reside for the present for some very convincing reasons
+provided by the British Government.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a little while the merchant had traversed the short distance
+intervening and was admitted through the courtyard gates.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The last of the kings of Delhi was a decrepit old man named Dahbur Dhu,
+whose sole object in life seemed to be an attempt to reanimate the pomp
+and pageantry of a dead dynasty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pensioned by the British Government, which permitted him to continue
+this absurd travesty, if his feeble exasperation over his predicament
+and his silly ostentations could be called by that name, this realmless
+potentate occupied his waking hours in futile revilings of the hand that
+at once smote and sustained him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;While not thus engaged, he would gravitate almost to the extreme of
+servility in his efforts to exact additional largess from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span> powers in
+control, to expend upon this senile attempt to augment the consideration
+of his pageant throne.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Several efforts had already been made to remove the irritating presence
+of this royal household to Bengal, but the time had not yet arrived when
+the British could regard with indifference the native prejudice which
+would be aroused by such a procedure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The infirm moghul, therefore, continued his vaudeville, which was
+mainly confined within the palace walls at Delhi, and persisted in his
+endeavors to augment his revenues.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However, to mitigate the nuisance as far as possible, the British
+Government consented to recognize his grandson, Prince Otondo, as the
+successor to the throne, and yield a degree to the exactions of the
+moghul if his young kinsman would agree to remove himself permanently
+from Delhi and reside in the Kutub.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To this, for a reason which shortly transpired with almost laughable
+incongruity, Dahbur Dhu assented, and Prince Otondo established himself
+at this royal residence with an outward manifestation of satisfaction,
+at least.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Despite the fact that the merchant was a familiar figure in this
+enclosure, he believed that he remarked an unusual degree of interest
+awakened by his presence, and was assured that he detected more than one
+sinister and smiling glance directed, with covert insinuation, upon his
+impassive countenance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An uneasy suggestion of conspiracy met him at every turn.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With that gravid apprehension which creates in advance the very
+conditions one desires to combat, Ram Lal prepared himself for a series
+of events which made him shudder to contemplate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It seemed to him that the salutes of the swarthy satellites of the
+prince were a degree less considerate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was convinced of a cynical estimation usually accorded to the
+destitute.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The depression of disaster was upon him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He could only think in the direction of his forebodings, so when at
+last he arrived in the familiar ante-chamber and announced himself, his
+voice reflected his trepidation and his demeanor<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span> had lost a palpable
+degree of its customary assurance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;While the merchant awaited the response to his request for an audience
+with the prince, he made a sorry attempt to assume a cheerful aspect,
+with the success of one who is permitted to listen to the details of his
+own obsequies.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When not thus engaged, he traversed the apartment with intermittent
+strides&mdash;another Chryses about to make a paternal plea to this Oriental
+Agamemnon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He had canvassed his demeanor, reviewed his cautious phrases, and had
+even provided a desperate denunciation, which, when he considered the
+privileged rascality of his royal auditor, he felt assured would at once
+conclude the interview and his liberty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As Ram Lal was about to end his fifth attempt to apprehend the result
+of this expected interview, the curtains parted and a stalwart
+attendant, impassive and silent, appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In response to the eloquent concern betrayed in the glance of the
+merchant, the other, holding the curtains aside, indicated, by an
+inclination of his turbaned head and a sweep of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span> his hand, the dignity
+of which was intended to convey some intimation of the personality of
+his master and the proportions of the privileges accorded, that the
+merchant was expected to proceed, which he did with trembling
+precipitation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As Ram Lal entered the room, his alert glance discerned the figure of
+the prince extended, with unceremonious abandon, upon a divan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Advancing, he made profound obeisance to the reclining potentate, who
+acknowledged his presence with a spiritless motion of his hand not
+unsuggestive of the humiliating degree of his condescension.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this period of his career Prince Otondo presented, in his
+personality and surroundings, considerable of the picturesque
+magnificence with which the native rulers delighted to surround
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His presence, at once dignified and carelessly amiable, was not the
+least vital accessory to the sumptuous abundance, to which he added the
+last touch of distinction.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A smiling cynicism, which was one of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span> most engaging characteristics
+and an invaluable masquerade for his genuine sentiments, lingered about
+his thin, patrician lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His features balanced with cameo precision, and in his eyes, usually
+veiled by lashes effeminately long, the whole gamut of a passionate,
+intolerant nature was expressed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Well, most ancient and honorable!&#8217; said the prince, with an
+exasperating suggestion in his manner of appreciation of the travesty of
+his words, as he gazed upon the merchant with a glance whose speculation
+the latter could not determine. &#8216;Well, how speeds thy traffic and thrive
+thy caravans?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Not well, my lord,&#8217; answered Ram Lal, &#8216;not well.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah, ha!&#8217; exclaimed the prince, with an indescribable insinuation of
+biased rebuke in the look with which he challenged further revelations
+from the speaker. &#8216;That touches me nearly; this must not be; an
+industrious subject may not suffer while there is a remedy at hand.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;&#8217;Tis on that head I would beseech your majesty!&#8217; exclaimed the
+merchant, seizing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span> opportunity provided, with such plausible
+ingenuousness, by the august speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Proceed, Ram Lal,&#8217; urged the prince, with an amiability which the
+merchant had known to be a dangerous prelude in the past.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Great prince!&#8217; replied the merchant with the prompt obedience which
+contemplates a possible reversal of privilege.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Nine days from home I strayed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;On my return I find my house despoiled of all its store.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And with the rest, O prince, the priceless tokens of thy high regard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Aside from these, I do not mourn my loss, for it may be repaired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Nor will I question fate, whose ears are dull to hear, whose eyes
+refuse to see the victims of her spleen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;But hear, O prince&mdash;my one ewe lamb, my sole delight&mdash;my daughter
+greets me not.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The empty halls no more re-echo to her tread.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No more sweet mur&mdash;&mdash;&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Enough, Ram Lal,&#8217; interrupted the prince. &#8216;I have heard that a needle
+thrust into<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span> the eye of a bullfinch will make it sing, but I did not
+know that misery could transform a merchant to a bard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Disjoint your phrases a degree. You say your daughter greets you not?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, O prince,&#8217; replied Ram Lal, abashed at this cynical embargo upon
+the melancholy luxury of his rhythms; &#8216;yes, and it is of her I would
+speak.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Speak,&#8217; urged his august hearer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After a moment&#8217;s reflection, in the manner of the unwelcome envoy who
+has reached the acute juncture of his recital and is about to
+disembarrass himself of a dangerous climax, the merchant continued in
+sordid Hindustani:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;As I have said, O prince, my daughter has been taken from me, and I
+come to you in my extremity.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And why to me, Ram Lal?&#8217; demanded the prince, with a gleam in his
+glance which was directly responsible for the pacific presentation which
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Because,&#8217; replied the merchant with discerning irreverence, &#8216;if it so
+please your highness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span> your providence is practical, and the ways of
+Vishnu are tedious.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; exclaimed the prince appreciatively; &#8216;that was not so bad for a
+merchant; but to the point.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Little can occur in this cantonment that is not known to your
+highness, or that cannot be determined if you so desire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I ask your august assistance, and I have, as you will see, observed
+the proprieties in making my request.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is a time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his
+appreciation of the importance of the favor he solicits, is it not so?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I did not know,&#8217; replied the prince, &#8216;that commerce could develop such
+an oracle; it is a subtle sense of fitness you express. I am interested.
+Proceed.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I will, your highness,&#8217; responded Ram Lal, as he inserted his hand in
+one of the folds of the sash which encircled his waist. &#8216;You recall the
+stone of Sardis?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; exclaimed the prince, his cynical listlessness transformed at
+once into the abandon of eagerness. &#8216;What of it, O merchant?&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;This,&#8217; replied the latter as he withdrew his hand from his sash, &#8216;if
+your highness will deign to examine it,&#8217; and the speaker extended toward
+the incredulous prince a small box of shagreen, which the latter
+clutched with the grasp of avarice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Will his highness deign?&#8217; repeated Ram Lal to himself with bitter
+irony as the prince pressed back the lid and exposed to view a
+magnificent sapphire, the gleam and the glitter of which affected him
+like an intoxication.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the prince, oblivious to all else, fixed his avid glance upon the
+scintillant stone, an astonishing change transformed the merchant from
+the suppliant to a being of marked dignity of bearing and carriage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His eyes, no longer obliquely observant, were directed with baleful
+purpose upon the half-closed lids of the fascinated potentate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His hand disengaged itself from the sash, where it had reposed with
+something of the suggestion of a guardian of the treasury, and was
+gradually extended with sinuous menace over the declining head of the
+prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His long, lithe figure straightened from its<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span> servile stoop, and a
+palpable degree of the authority which appeared gradually to fade from
+the fine countenance before him found an equally congenial residence in
+the expression of the merchant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was command in every feature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As for the prince, his figure appeared to decline in majesty in
+proportion to the access of dignity which had added its unwonted
+emphasis to the personality of Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He leaned inertly forward, one hand resting upon his knee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In his slowly relaxing clutch the brilliant gleamed. His forehead was
+moist; his lips dry; his delicate nostrils were indrawn in harmony with
+the concentrating lines of his brow, and the next moment, as if in
+response to an insinuating pass of the merchant&#8217;s hand of cobra-like
+undulation, the rigid poise recoiled, he settled more easily upon the
+divan, and with eyes still fascinated by the entrancing bauble he
+listened, with anomalous impassiveness, to the weird proposal of Ram
+Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hearken, O prince!<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My daughter has been taken from me by whom I shall not venture to
+inquire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;If she is returned to me, I shall be satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I am here therefore to beseech your highness to see that she is
+restored to me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;To-day, as the sun declines, I shall expect her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;If she does not come to me then, O prince, a heaping handful of the
+precious stones you hold so dearly will be missing, and in their stead
+will be as many pebbles from the fountain in the courtyard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The sapphire I leave with you as a witness of my plea.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And slowly the merchant retreated toward the door, his eyes fastened
+the while upon the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As he reached the threshold he paused, and with a voice that seemed to
+lodge in the consciousness of his inert auditor like the sigh of Auster
+over the daffodils and buttercups of a dream, he repeated:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<i>To-day as the sun declines</i>.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the next instant, with an abrupt motion<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span> of his hand strangely at
+variance with the placid gestures just preceding, the merchant
+disappeared through the curtains which screened the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; said the Sepoy abruptly, as he moved his chair with a sharp
+rasp over the bare floor and transferred his glance at the same time
+from the drawn countenance of his rapt auditor to the gleaming gem on
+the table, &#8220;and now&mdash;is it not a beauty?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha!&#8221; murmured Raikes, disturbed by the abrupt cessation of the
+sedative tones of the Sepoy and the abrasion of the chair, &#8220;superb!&#8221; And
+that instant all his keen animation returned.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently Raikes was not aware of any blanks in his scrutiny and
+resumed his regard of the tantalizing facets with knowing sagacity and
+an envy that affected him like a hurt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In all my years,&#8221; he creaked, as his long, prehensile fingers riveted
+like a setting to the fascinating bauble, &#8220;I have never seen such a gem.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The cutting is exquisite; it is a study in intelligent execution; every
+facet here cost a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span> pang; how vital it was not to waste an atom of this
+precious bulk.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a delicate adjustment of the lines of beauty to the material
+consideration; the balance is perfect.&#8221; And with this confusion of frank
+cupidity and rapacious regard, the miser, with a supreme effort, pushed
+the stone impatiently toward the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the latter, &#8220;it is a pleasure to show the gem to one who
+is able to comprehend it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is even finer than you have discerned. The lapidary was subtle; his
+work sustains closer analysis. Have you a stray glass?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No? Well, I will send you mine and you can entertain yourself until I
+see you again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; exclaimed Raikes, &#8220;you will leave this stone with me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; returned the Sepoy evenly. &#8220;You have a due regard for
+property. I do not fear that this gem will meet with mishap in your
+possession. Besides, it will be a revelation to you under the glass,&#8221;
+and, arising, he stepped to the door, leaving the brilliant upon the
+table in the grasp of the astonished Raikes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span> who was unable to
+comprehend such confidence and unconcern.</p>
+
+<p>Traversing the hallway, the pair reached the door which opened upon the
+apartments controlled by the widow.</p>
+
+<p>As he paused on the threshold to make his adieux to Raikes, the Sepoy,
+looking at the former with a marvelously glowing glance, repeated, with
+an emphasis so eerie as to occasion a thrill of vague uneasiness in his
+companion, the concluding phrase of the singular tale he had related to
+Raikes:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>To-day as the sun declines</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the moment after he disappeared, leaving the startled miser to gaze,
+with greedy contemplation, upon the sapphire which he retained in his
+grasp.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>To be continued on Dickey No. 3.</i>)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, ho!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis as the exasperating phrase in italics met his
+glance, &#8220;an&#8217; it&#8217;s here you are again. Shure, a man would tear his shirt
+to tatters for a tale like that,&#8221; and with appreciative meditation over
+the vexatious quandary presented by the cunning of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span> bosom-maker in
+thus adding another ruinous possibility to the inevitable soil and wear,
+he added:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shure, the man who put that sthory on the dickey-back knew his
+business. Where the dirt laves off the guessin&#8217; begins, and betwixt the
+two it&#8217;s another dickey I&#8217;ll be after&mdash;ah, ha, an&#8217; it&#8217;s a fine thing to
+have brains like that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With this discerning tribute, Dennis turned the last dickey around and
+discovered that it was protected in the rear with a sort of oiled paper,
+through which the story shadowed dimly.</p>
+
+<p>Here was the pinch of his dilemma.</p>
+
+<p>His curiosity was sharpened and his judgment impaired.</p>
+
+<p>In a variety of ways literature incapacitates a man for the exigencies
+of existence.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis found himself visibly enervated. At last he remembered that the
+week had advanced only as far as Thursday. Between that time and the
+Fabian Saturday a number of untoward events might occur.</p>
+
+<p>A more seasoned applicant might present himself to the foreman upon whom
+Dennis depended,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span> or, equally grievous, the present bibulous incumbent
+might be alarmed into mending his ways.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto Dennis had resisted the temptation to present himself to the
+attention of the foreman in advance of the date appointed.</p>
+
+<p>In order, therefore, to master the anxiety which might betray him into
+some overt importunity, he decided to devote the day to a persistent
+canvass of the possibilities offered by the various wholesale houses.</p>
+
+<p>Unknown to himself, Dennis had learned that the secret of patience was
+doing something else in the meantime.</p>
+
+<p>However, the practical at last was triumphant, and Dennis, with a
+resolution that demanded prompt execution for its continued existence,
+adjusted the remaining chapter to his waistcoat in the early morning and
+descended to the lower floor.</p>
+
+<p>On this occasion his solicitous friend behind the bar insisted upon
+detaining the young Irishman, who, urged by his solitary predicament and
+a degree depressed by the series of rebuffs which by now had developed a
+malicious<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span> habit, proceeded to the counter and, resting one foot upon
+the rail near the floor with a redeeming unfamiliarity, responded to the
+inquiry of the barman by admitting that he felt a &#8220;wee bit blue.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This statement led to the revelation that the barman was similarly
+affected, and was engaged, at that moment, in the preparation of a
+famous antidote greatly in demand by sundry newsgatherers and night
+editors in Park Row.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis watched him with interest and remarked that he set out two
+glasses, after the manner of those who are about to compound an
+effervescent.</p>
+
+<p>Such, however, was not the case, and Dennis was startled presently to
+see the barman, after filling both glasses with a decoction which caught
+the light from a dozen merry angles, push one of them in his direction
+with the companionable suggestion: &#8220;Have one with me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Only once before had Dennis indulged in anything of a stimulating
+nature, and the effect upon his head the next morning had been
+sufficient to discourage its repetition, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span> informed the barman of
+this disagreeable feature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; protested that insinuating Mephisto as he held his glass to the
+light the better to concentrate its hypnotic gleam and sparkle upon the
+vacillating youth, &#8220;there is no headache in this; this is a man&#8217;s
+medicine. Get it down; it will do you good.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Persuaded by the example before him, duped by his depressions, and weary
+of his loneliness, Dennis responded to the dubious suggestion with the
+guilty haste of one who has decided to let down the moral bars for a
+short but sufficient interval.</p>
+
+<p>Palliated from its original rawness by the additions of the barman, the
+draught was without special bite or pungency in its passage down his
+throat, and Dennis was aware of his indiscretion only by an increasing
+glow in the pit of his stomach and a disposition to credit the barman
+with a degree of amiability beyond that ordinarily manifested by this
+functionary.</p>
+
+<p>The potation, however, had done its work but partially; there remained
+the itch of something still to be desired, an elevation yet unattained,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span>
+and Dennis saw no other way up the sheer height than by an appeal to the
+barman to duplicate his initial effort.</p>
+
+<p>When this had joined its fluent fellows in their several midsts, Dennis
+was inexperienced enough to accept, as a matter of course, the genial
+disposition toward the world in general which replaced the depression of
+the morning.</p>
+
+<p>A native eloquence, long disused, began to urge him to a sort of
+confused improvisation.</p>
+
+<p>His data was no longer morose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Holdin&#8217; on cud do annything,&#8221; he assured the barman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t a bad wurrld, at all, if wan looks at it through grane
+glasses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shure, I&#8217;m in a bit av a hole at prisint, but not too dape to crawl out
+of.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then after a pause, to enable himself to &#8220;shake hands,&#8221; so to speak,
+with the suddenly developed genial aspect of affairs, he informed the
+barman, with the philosophy of his potations, that &#8220;A laugh will always
+mend a kick, providin&#8217; th&#8217; kick ain&#8217;t too hard.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This pleased the barman, who responded in his characteristic fashion,
+and Dennis, in acknowledgment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span> substituted the price of breakfast as
+fitting return of civilities.</p>
+
+<p>However, this was the climax.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis could advance no farther. His bibulous friend, with apprehensive
+disapproval, offered a few diplomatic suggestions involving the
+retirement of the young man to his room, which the latter accepted with
+an unbalanced gravity that administered its reproof even through the
+callous epidermis of the barman.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at his room, Dennis, influenced by his accelerated circulation,
+was convinced that the apartment was oppressively warm, and divested
+himself of his coat and waistcoat.</p>
+
+<p>In doing so he detached the dickey from his neck, and as it fell to the
+floor the curious tale contained in its predecessors appealed
+unmistakably to his enkindled imagination.</p>
+
+<p>Oblivious of the campaign arranged for the day, heedless of the inner
+protest, Dennis, with all the abandon of his condition, hastened to
+remove the oil paper from the rear of the dickey, and began a race with
+his moral lapse in a feverish perusal of the following.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV_1581" id="CHAPTER_IV_1581"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Raikes returned to his room he seemed to himself like a sunset
+mocked by the adjacent horizon, with tantalizing suggestions for which
+it was reflectively responsible.</p>
+
+<p>With the proper inspiration, there is a degree of poetry in the worst of
+us.</p>
+
+<p>The knowledge that he would be compelled to restore the gem to its owner
+in the morning bestirred another comparison.</p>
+
+<p>This time his idealism was not so elevated.</p>
+
+<p>He likened it to a divorce from a vampire which had already digested his
+moral qualities.</p>
+
+<p>The sapphire exhausted him.</p>
+
+<p>The only parallel irritation was one which Raikes inflicted upon himself
+now and then.</p>
+
+<p>This was on the occasions when he established himself in some
+unobtrusive portion of the bank and watched with greedy interest the
+impassive tellers handle immense sums of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span> money with an impersonality
+which it was impossible for his avarice to comprehend.</p>
+
+<p>The thievery of his thoughts and the ravin of his envy would have
+provided interesting bases of speculation for the reflective magistrate,
+since, if, according to the metaphysician, thoughts are things, he
+committed crimes daily.</p>
+
+<p>Had the Sepoy, by entrusting the gem to the custody of this strange
+being, intended to harass his shriveled soul, he could not have adopted
+a more effective plan.</p>
+
+<p>The certainty of the sharp bargain which Raikes could drive with such a
+commodity in certain localities, affected him with the exasperation
+which disturbs the lover who discovers in the eyes of his sweetheart the
+embrace to which he is welcome but from which he is restrained by the
+presence of her parent.</p>
+
+<p>The many forms of value to which it could be transformed by the alchemy
+of intelligent barter made distracting appeals.</p>
+
+<p>The facets danced their vivid vertigos into his brain.</p>
+
+<p>At last, starting to his feet with impatient<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span> resolution, he hurried to
+a button in the wall, which controlled the radiator valves.</p>
+
+<p>After a series of complicated movements, he succeeded in swinging aside
+the entire iron framework beneath it, revealing, directly in the rear, a
+considerable recess.</p>
+
+<p>In the center of this space a knob protruded surrounded by a combination
+lock, which, under Raikes&#8217; familiar manipulation, disclosed a further
+cavity.</p>
+
+<p>With an expression not unsuggestive of the mien of the disconsolate
+relict who has just made her melancholy deposit in the vault, Raikes
+placed the sapphire in this second recess, closed the combination door,
+replaced the swinging radiator, and prepared to retire for the remainder
+of the night.</p>
+
+<p>When sleep, if that unrestful and populous trance to which he finally
+succumbed can be so designated, came to him, the disorders of his
+wakeful hours were emphasized in his dreams.</p>
+
+<p>He had been haled to court; convicted without defense; sent headless to
+Charon, and was obliged, on that account, to make a ventriloquial
+request for a passage across the Styx;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span> so that, in the morning, it was
+with genuine relief he returned the jewel to its owner and resumed his
+wonted meagerness of visage and useless deprivations.</p>
+
+<p>As the Sepoy pocketed the gem he looked at Raikes with a glance at once
+searching and derisive as he asked:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Was I not right in calling it a marvel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye!&#8221; returned Raikes sourly, &#8220;marvel, indeed; but the miracle of it is
+that you have it back again. Your trust in human nature would be sublime
+were it not so unsupported; it needs the tonic of loss. I hope this is
+not habitual?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will pay you the tribute of assuring you that it is not,&#8221; replied the
+Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha!&#8221; returned Raikes with a mirthless grin. &#8220;I am to accept the
+brief custody of this gem as a recognition of my personal integrity. I
+see, I see. Well, I would appreciate the courtesy more if I could
+indorse its incaution. However,&#8221; he added abruptly, &#8220;why did you end
+that extraordinary tale so inconclusively? I could almost suspect you of
+a design to arouse my curiosity as to what is to follow.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, you remember, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; asked Raikes. &#8220;The narrative is singular enough, God knows,
+to make an impression, and sufficiently recent to be definite. I would
+not like to think that I could forget things so easily.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said the Sepoy. &#8220;Come to my room at ten o&#8217;clock to-night; I
+am due elsewhere until then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a promptness that attested his interest, Raikes presented himself
+at the hour appointed, and his singular host again permitted him to
+enjoy a delegate smoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here!&#8221; he exclaimed abruptly, producing a strong magnifying glass,
+&#8220;here&#8217;s a connoisseur whose revelations you may trust. Examine these
+facets with its help,&#8221; and again the Sepoy placed the sapphire within
+reach of the covetous Raikes, who promptly availed himself of the
+tantalizing privilege.</p>
+
+<p>Waiting, apparently, until his auditor became absorbed in his
+contemplation of the gem, the Sepoy at last began with the same even
+modulations which characterized his narrative at the outset:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No sooner had Ram Lal disappeared through the curtains than the curious
+apathy of the prince vanished and was replaced by a demeanor of
+perplexed concentration in the direction pursued by the merchant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prince had listened without comment or interruption during the
+recital of the narrator, his eyes fixed, the while, upon the brilliant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He did not know of the weird gestures of the speaker, nor had he seen
+the wonderful transformation of the man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Consequently he was startled for the moment to contemplate the blank so
+recently filled by Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The sapphire, however, remained. That, at least, was real, and
+replacing it in the box, he proceeded, with a degree of absent
+preoccupation, to the courtyard, and presently found himself gazing
+aimlessly in the fountain basin.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Curiously enough, it had not occurred to the prince to resent the
+assured attitude of the merchant, or to speculate upon the insinuating
+suggestions of complicity which the latter had<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span> managed to lodge in the
+consciousness of his august auditor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor did he feel outraged at the intrusion of the dangerous alternative
+proposed by the audacious Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He appeared to be seduced by the sapphire and fascinated by the
+recital.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Slowly he retraced the byways of the strange episode until he resumed,
+with singular precision of memory, the words of the merchant, which
+explained the presence of the gem:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>&#8216;I have observed the proprieties in making my request. It is a
+time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his appreciation of
+the importance of the favor he solicits</i>.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah! a sudden illumination pervaded the mind of the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The sapphire was a royal subsidy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What favor could he grant in proportion to the value of such means of
+overture?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The question established another point of association; unconsciously he
+quoted again:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>&#8216;To-day at sundown I shall expect my daughter. If she does not come to
+me then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span> O prince, a heaping handful of the precious stones you hold so
+dearly will be missing, and in their stead will be as many pebbles from
+the fountain in the courtyard</i>.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Pebbles for diamonds!&#8217; he repeated, and yet the proposition did not
+appeal to his cynical humor. There was menace in the suggestion, but his
+intolerant spirit did not resent it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a vague way he was more convinced than alarmed, and did not pause to
+puzzle over the anomaly, although reassured somewhat as he reflected
+upon the cunning safeguards to his treasury, whose solitary sesame was
+known to himself alone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Prince Otondo, like other native rulers at this period, frightened at
+the mercenary reforms of the British in other sections, and instructed
+by the unhappy comparisons, had concentrated the whole of his fortune
+and considerable of his current revenues in jewels.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These were portable and could be concealed about his person in any
+emergency demanding a hasty abdication on his part.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To the shrewd Ram Lal the prince had entrusted the purchase of nearly
+all of this costly<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span> collection, contenting himself, for the present,
+with intelligent calculations as to the percentage of profit which had
+accrued to the merchant in these transactions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah, well!&#8217; and with an impatient shrug of the shoulders, that was
+curiously devoid of its customary insolence, Prince Otondo dismissed
+these unfamiliar apprehensions and forbore to wonder at their strange
+intrusion upon his wonted complacency.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Apparently, a more agreeable occasion of reflection presented itself,
+for a smile, half sinister, half genial, illumined the gloom of his fine
+countenance. As if in obedience to its suggestion, he turned abruptly
+from the fountain and re-entered the palace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arrived at that portion of the structure set aside for his individual
+use, he hurried, with expectant, lithe agility, through an opening in
+the wall concealed hitherto by silken hangings, and entered upon a
+narrow passageway, which terminated in another undulating subterfuge of
+drapery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pausing outside, the prince lightly touched<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span> a gong suspended from the
+ceiling and which replied with a solemn chime-like resonance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In response, the curtains parted, and a native woman, pathetically ugly
+and servile, appeared and prostrated herself in abject salutation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Following the direction of his hand the cringing creature arose and
+hurried along the passageway just traversed by the prince, who,
+satisfied as to her departure, parted the curtains and entered a small
+ante-chamber, beyond which a sumptuously-appointed apartment extended.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the extreme end, with a demeanor more suggestive of expectation than
+alarm or dejection, a young girl reclined upon a divan near the
+lattice-screened window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Advised of the approach of her distinguished visitor by an advance
+rendered as obvious as possible by the rustling sweep of the parted
+curtains and an unwonted emphasis of tread, which avoided the rugs and
+sought the tesselated floor for this purpose, the supple figure stood
+erect and in an attitude of questioning deference awaited whatever
+demonstration<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span> might follow this apparently not unexpected advent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As she stood thus in an unconscious pose of virginal dignity, the girl
+seemed to express a subtle majesty, in which, at the moment, the prince
+was manifestly deficient.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A degree taller than her age would warrant, she appeared to the
+enamored gaze of the prince the ideal of symmetrical slenderness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Her figure, perfectly proportioned, and chastened, by the ardent rigors
+of the climate, of every fraction of superfluous flesh, appeared to bud
+and round for the sole purpose of concluding in exquisite tapers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Her eyes, large and luminous and harmoniously fringed with that placid
+length of lash usually associated with the sensuous, were saved from
+that suspicion by the innocent question and confiding abandon of her
+half-parted lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Her hands, clasped at the moment before her, possessed the
+indescribable contour of refinement and high breeding, and manifested a
+degree of the tension of her present privileges by a closer interlace of
+the fingers than usual.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A robe of white, confined loosely to her waist by a vari-colored sash,
+which drooped gracefully to catch up the folds in front, clung softly to
+her figure in sylphid revelation of the matchless proportions it could
+never conceal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Lal Lu!&#8217; exclaimed the prince unevenly, his face reflecting the strife
+of deference and desire as he disengaged the clasped hands of the maiden
+and held them closely in his own, &#8216;what is it to be, the Vale of
+Cashmere or the snows of Himalaya?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a moment the girl gazed with disconcerting directness upon her
+ardent companion, as the warmth of his impulse deepened the dusk of his
+countenance and threaded the fine white of his eyes with ruddy
+suffusions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;O prince!&#8217; she replied, veiling her eyes the while with tantalizing
+lashes and reflecting, with exquisite duplication, a degree of the color
+which burned in the cheeks of her visitor, &#8216;other answer have I none
+save that I gave thee yesterday.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With an impatient exclamation the prince released the hands he held in
+such vehement<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span> grasp, and stood, for a space, with his arms folded,
+directing upon the trembling beauty the while a gaze of vivid, glowing
+menace which was scarcely to be endured.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; he cried in a voice of husky contrast to his usual placid
+utterance, &#8216;have you reflected, Lal Lu, how futile thy objections may be
+if I choose to make them so?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With surprising calmness and a sweet dignity, which was not without its
+effect upon the prince, although it sharpened to the refinement of
+torture the keenness of his infatuation, Lal Lu replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have said, my lord.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this reply the prince, exasperated beyond further control, with
+ruthless, fervent abandon, caught the trembling Lal Lu in his arms and
+held her, palpitating, reproachful, in his savage embrace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bewildered at the quickness of his action, Lal Lu reposed inertly
+within the passionate restraint of his sinewy arms, but the next
+instant, transformed into an indignant goddess, struggled, with
+surprising strength, from<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span> his clasp and held the mortified prince in
+chafing repulse by the chaste challenge of her flaming eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hear me, Prince Otondo!&#8217; she cried with unmistakable candor and
+disturbing incisiveness of speech:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I love not save where I choose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Of what avail is it to subdue this frail body? What is the joy of such
+a conquest? Where the pleasure in an empty casket?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Abashed, astounded, the prince retreated a space and looked, with
+savage intentness, upon the beautiful girl, superb in her denunciation,
+enchanting in the rebellious dishevel of her hair, the indignant rebuke
+of her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some reflection of contriteness must have beamed its acknowledgment of
+the justice of her virtuous outburst in the glance which held her in its
+ardent fascination, for Lal Lu resumed, in a voice sensibly modulated
+and with a demeanor curiously softened:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Long have I known of thee, O prince!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Before all others have I placed thee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Wonder not, then, that I resent the ignoble<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span> assumption that my regard
+may be compelled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My love is as royal as thine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I bestow it where I will; unasked, if its object pleaseth me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;But I make no sign, O prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;In such a stress a maiden may not speak her mind.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Peace, Lal Lu!&#8217; exclaimed the prince, who, during her initial
+reproaches and her subsequent explanations, had recovered his native
+dignity of carriage and elevation of demeanor; &#8216;peace! Never before have
+I hearkened to such speech as thine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;All my life I have had but to ask, and what I craved was mine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My wish has been my command.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hear, then, Lal Lu: Henceforward thou art as safe with me as in thy
+father&#8217;s home.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Aye! what of him?&#8217; interrupted the maiden; &#8216;what of my father, O
+prince?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;All is well with him,&#8217; replied the prince, manifestly chagrined at the
+incautious introduction of this disturbing name and the filial
+solicitude it awakened.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;He has been assured of thy safety; of him will I speak later. But now,
+Lal Lu&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I acknowledge thy rebuke. I stand before thee, thy sovereign, thy
+suppliant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;See!&#8217; he exclaimed, &#8216;what I cannot demand, I entreat&#8217;; and with an
+indescribably fascinating tribute of surrender and yearning, this royal
+suitor awaited her reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Leaning for support against a slender stand near-by, to which she
+communicated the trembling fervor which pulsed so warmly through every
+fiber of her being, the beautiful Lal Lu looked upon the fine
+countenance before her with a light in her eyes that dazzled with its
+subtle radiance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, Lal Lu!&#8217; cried the prince as he advanced toward the trembling
+maiden with eager precipitation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;One moment, O prince!&#8217; exclaimed Lal Lu, extending a restraining hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I know not what to say to thee; yet will I meet thy candor with equal
+frankness. Yea, Prince Otondo, I love thee indeed. I feel no shame in
+the confession. I have loved thee always. I am&mdash;&mdash;&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But the prince, after the fashion of lovers, made further speech
+impossible; and Lal Lu, with all the exquisite charm of womanly
+capitulation, threw her dusky arms about his neck and held his lips to
+hers in the only kiss beside her father&#8217;s she had ever known.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For one delirious moment, and then, releasing herself, she stood before
+the prince, a very blushing majesty of love, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And now, O prince, I have told thee my secret. Be thou equally
+generous and restore me to my father, and then come to me when thou
+desirest and I am thine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Concealing his impatience at this last suggestion, the prince, with
+wily indirection, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is too late to-day, Lal Lu. Thy father will be here on the morrow;
+rest thyself until then,&#8217; and fearful lest the maiden would penetrate
+his purpose, he added:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Lal Lu, I am compelled to leave thee for a space; I will send thy
+woman to thee. Until to-morrow, then, adieu.&#8217; And fixing upon her a
+glance so ardent that she almost followed him in its fascination, the
+prince withdrew from her presence with a reluctance which was
+duplicated<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span> in the bosom of the bewildered girl, if not so unmistakably
+evinced.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the prince retreated toward his apartments, the alarming alternative
+proposed by the merchant repeated itself with a sort of wordless
+insistence:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Unless Lal Lu shall be returned, a handful of my precious stones shall
+be missing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;In their place will be as many pebbles!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Impossible!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And secure in his bedchamber, into which none might venture without
+ceremonious announcement, the prince hastened to a recess in the wall,
+where, in response to a pressure applied to a spot known only to
+himself, a cunningly devised panel shot back, revealing a gleaming,
+glittering mass of scintillating light and glamor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah, ha!&#8217; he gloated, &#8216;no pebbles yet&#8217;; and plunging his hands into the
+costly heap, he withdrew a motley of diamonds, sapphires, rubies and
+opals, and held them, with grudging avarice, to the regard of the
+declining sun.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No pebbles yet,&#8217; he repeated, as he challenged<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_84" id="pg_84">84</a></span> the fires of the gems
+with the fever of his eyes, and sent mimic lightnings hither and thither
+by communicating the tremble of his hands and the incidence of the
+sunbeams to the glorious confusion of facet and hue; &#8216;no pebbles yet.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As Prince Otondo repeated this obvious reassurance, he replaced the
+gems, which seemed to quiver with lambent life, within the compartment,
+and withdrawing the shagreen case from his sash, he discharged the
+magnificent sapphire it contained upon the apex of the glittering heap,
+where it rested with a sort of insolent disproportion to the irradiant
+pyramid of brilliants beneath.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Regarding the bewildering ensemble for a few moments of exulting
+ownership and familiar calculation, the prince closed the panel with the
+mien of Paris making restitution of Helen, and, turning aside, prepared
+to retire for the night.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The ceremony was simple and so promptly observed that ere the radiance
+had ceased its revel in his mind the prince found himself reclining upon
+his couch, unusually ready to succumb<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span> to the sleep which he had so
+often sought in vain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The night was hot and stifling, and yet it seemed to the prince that he
+had only retired to rise the moment after, so profound had been his
+slumber and so quickly had daybreak arrived.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a few moments he lay in that agreeable condition of
+semi-realization ere the visages of his wonted obligations had assumed
+the definition of their customary insistence, or the menace of a
+restrained remorse had reannounced itself, when suddenly, without
+introduction or sequence, the phrase &#8216;pebbles for diamonds&#8217; slipped into
+his consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a second he was alert and awake; the next instant he found himself
+at the panel, reaching tremulously for the concealed spring.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At last he found it; the panel shot back, and the prince, after one
+searching glance, stood transfixed and uttered a cry of wondering
+despair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The gleaming hoard still shot its varied lightnings. The royal
+sapphire still crowned its priceless apex. To his starting eyes his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span>
+treasure was not a whit diminished, but directly in front, and at the
+base of the precious heap, lay as many as would make a heaping handful
+of pebbles.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the Sepoy reached this startling climax in his recital, the even
+modulations of his voice ceased abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>Raikes, missing the somnolent monotone, looked up quickly.</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the Sepoy were fixed upon him with a gleam in his glance not
+unlike that of the sapphire upon which the miser had been engaged during
+the whole of this singular narrative.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is a weird tale,&#8221; he said at last. &#8220;Why do you pause at such a
+point? What is the conclusion?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is some distance away yet,&#8221; replied the Sepoy. &#8220;If you care to
+continue, I will resume the thread at this time to-morrow evening.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; answered Raikes with some impatience, &#8220;I will be here. I
+must, at least, congratulate you upon your observance of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span>
+proprieties in tale-telling; you manage to pause at the proper places.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are curious, then, to hear the rest?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Naturally,&#8221; replied Raikes, with the sour candor which distinguished
+him. &#8220;The situation you describe I can appreciate&mdash;the loser confronted
+with his loss&mdash;and I am to conjecture his attitude until to-morrow
+night. Very well, I bid you good evening,&#8221; and Raikes, with a curt
+inclination of the head, which made a travesty of his intention to be
+courteous, vanished through the doorway.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>(<i>The continuation of this remarkable story will be found on Dickey
+Series B, which may be bought from almost any haberdasher</i>.)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>As Dennis reached this announcement his head throbbed violently.</p>
+
+<p>He had raced so apace with the movement of the tale that he had not
+remarked, in his absorption, an unfamiliar congestion about the base of
+his brain.</p>
+
+<p>Directly, however, he was convinced of its disagreeable presence when
+this abrupt conclusion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_88" id="pg_88">88</a></span> which he had come to expect at the end of each
+bosom, materialized to his irritated anticipation.</p>
+
+<p>He was no longer inclined to admire the calculating genius of the
+italicized phrase.</p>
+
+<p>A temperance lecture was aching its way through his head. His conscience
+seemed to have decided to reside in the pit of his stomach, and a sense
+of surrender and defeat humiliated him.</p>
+
+<p>His room looked cell-like.</p>
+
+<p>The arrow pointing to the fire-escape seemed full of menace.</p>
+
+<p>His face, reflected from the dingy glass, had never appeared so ugly and
+reproachful.</p>
+
+<p>He needed something to restore his confidence, but was happily unaware
+of the nature of the remedy his system demanded.</p>
+
+<p>It was his first offense.</p>
+
+<p>He raised the window for a breath of fresh air, and the roaring street
+called him.</p>
+
+<p>There was mockery and invitation in its hubbub. Why not? A little
+exercise would bring him around to his point of moral departure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So, hastily adjusting the third chapter to his waistcoat and donning the
+balance of his garments, he fitted his hat to his head with thoughtful
+caution and hurried to the bustling thoroughfare.</p>
+
+<p>Preoccupied by his gradually lessening disabilities, Dennis did not
+remark that the course pursued by him had the house of the publisher as
+its terminus, until he stood directly before that august establishment.</p>
+
+<p>As the young Irishman recognized his surroundings, it did not take him
+long to persuade himself, with native superstition, as he considered the
+unaware nature of his arrival, that Providence had directed his
+footsteps thither, and, with the species of courage that can come from
+such a basis, he proceeded to the rearway, where he beheld the Celt in
+whom his hopes were centered, berating the porters, with a mien which
+offered anything but encouragement to the anxious young man.</p>
+
+<p>However, he came forward tentatively, and found himself, presently, so
+much within the radius of the foreman&#8217;s range of vision as to be
+compelled to accept, with enforced urbanity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span> the vituperation of the
+draymen, who objected to the amount of landscape he occupied with his
+bulk and eager personality.</p>
+
+<p>At last, when the foreman had bullied his lusty understudies into a
+certain degree of sullen system, and the drays began to move away with
+their mysterious burdens, Dennis ventured to address him.</p>
+
+<p>Greatly to his relief, the perturbed countenance of the latter softened
+perceptibly as he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha! an&#8217; it&#8217;s there ye are?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Dennis with solicitous abnegation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; returned the other, &#8220;roll up yer sleeves; yer job&#8217;s a-waitin&#8217;
+fur ye.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With an agility that betrayed the diplomacy of his countenance into
+ingenuous exultation, Dennis followed the foreman into the warehouse,
+and the latter at once began his instructions as to the system of
+marking, and Dennis mastered its simple mysteries with a quickness that
+was not only flattering to the discernment of his instructor but an
+indorsement of Celtic adjustability in general.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning Dennis discovered that his predecessor had
+put him under obligations by prolonging his debauch, and that his
+arrival upon the scene had been most opportune in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>He was now assured of a position, whose only handicap was the prospect,
+delicately insinuated by the foreman for his consideration, of the
+possible state of mind of the previous incumbent when he realized that
+his niche had been filled, and it did not add to his cheerfulness when
+the foreman examined his biceps with an expert touch and remarked: &#8220;I
+guess that ye can take care of yerself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing belligerent about Dennis, and he trusted that his
+predecessor would not regard him from that standpoint.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Saturday arrived, and Dennis, in possession of his
+proportion of the week&#8217;s pay, hurried to The Stag by way of Baxter
+Street.</p>
+
+<p>In this locality he began a search for Series B of the dickies, and was
+finally successful, after a number of disappointments and a protracted
+hunt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With the courage of his recently acquired situation, Dennis proposed to
+indulge in a little improvidence.</p>
+
+<p>He decided that he would follow the singular recital on the dickey backs
+and rip off a chapter at a time.</p>
+
+<p>After a night of fortifying slumber, Dennis arose, breakfasted, and
+boarded an elevated train, which presently conveyed him to the vicinity
+of Central Park.</p>
+
+<p>Here, after securing a seat to his fancy, he withdrew Series B from the
+wrapper, detached bosom No. 1 and began.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_V_2205" id="CHAPTER_V_2205"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Raikes had parted from the Sepoy, a degree of his customary
+hardness and assurance was evident in his manner.</p>
+
+<p>He had been able to comment sagaciously upon the extraordinary
+narrative, and had appropriated as much of the sapphire as his greedy
+glance and covetous memory could bear away; but now that he pursued his
+way along the dimly lighted hallway which led to his apartment, a
+singularly thoughtful mood oppressed him.</p>
+
+<p>This phenomenon, due, in part, to the cessation of the drowsy cadences
+of the Sepoy and the absence of the fascination and gleam of the
+sapphire, was relegated by Raikes to the overtures of approaching
+drowsiness.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the startling episode which confronted Prince Otondo in the
+evening&#8217;s instalment<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span> of this Oriental complication recurred to his mind
+again and again.</p>
+
+<p>Strangely, too, Raikes did not comment upon the singular fact of the
+narrative itself.</p>
+
+<p>Why should the Sepoy take the trouble to relate it to him, and why
+should he, of all unconcerned and self-centered men, manifest such an
+unusual interest in a recital which lacked every practical feature and
+had nothing but the weird to commend it?</p>
+
+<p>If he asked himself these questions, it was with the impersonality of
+lethargy, for they were dismissed as readily as they presented
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>With such sedative queries, which were gradually diminishing from fabric
+to ravel, Raikes finally reached his room and, securely bolting the
+door, began to prepare to retire.</p>
+
+<p>This was not an elaborate proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>His outer garments removed, he had only to seek the seclusion of the
+bedclothes, clad in the remainder of his attire.</p>
+
+<p>In this manner he economized on the cost of a night-robe and the time it
+would consume to don and doff such a superfluity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At all events, if such was not his sordid reasoning, the promptness with
+which he fell asleep indicated that he did not propose to squander
+useless time in wakeful speculation upon the intangible nothings to
+which his recollection of the narrative began to fade.</p>
+
+<p>However, if Raikes had succeeded in passing the boundaries of slumber,
+he had admitted, at the same time, extravagances of which he would never
+have been guilty in his wakeful hours, for he found himself so engaged
+in all sorts of uneasy shiftlessness and inconsiderate expenditure that
+when morning came and he awoke, as usual, with the sunrise, he resumed
+his customary identity, peevish and unrefreshed.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment he sat with his knees huddled to his chin, over which his
+eyes peered like vermin in the wainscoting, and then, urged by an
+impulse whose source he could not determine, he leaped with surprising
+agility to the floor and proceeded to the false radiator.</p>
+
+<p>For a short space of inexplicable indecision he stood with his hands
+resting upon the button which released the fastenings in the rear,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span> an
+uneasy thoughtfulness converging the ugly wrinkles downward to the root
+of his nose and contracting his eyebrows with senile apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his wonted decision asserted itself. He pressed the button and
+the radiator swung toward him; a few moments later the inner
+compartments responded to his manipulation, and the last door opened.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently everything was as he had left it.</p>
+
+<p>To his rapid enumeration the quantity of the small bags, containing his
+beloved coin, remained undisturbed. But, upon nearer regard, one of
+them&mdash;that within easiest reach&mdash;seemed to betray, through its canvas
+sides, a variety of unusually sharp angles and definite lines.</p>
+
+<p>With a suffocating sensation of impending disaster, Raikes grasped the
+bag.</p>
+
+<p>It pended from his tense grip with a frightful lightness. He caught up
+its neighbor for further confirmation. It responded with reassuring bulk
+and weight. But this one from<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_97" id="pg_97">97</a></span> which all specific gravity seemed to have
+departed&mdash;what did it contain?</p>
+
+<p>With trembling hands the terrified man unfastened the cord which bound
+it and inverted the bag over the table.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of the sharp, musical collision and clink of metal, a sodden
+succession of thuds smote his ears.</p>
+
+<p>With a shriek of utter wonderment and alarm, Raikes stood erect and
+petrified.</p>
+
+<p>His hands fell, with inert palsies, to his sides. His eyes seemed about
+to start from his head, for, looming dully to his aching gaze, in place
+of the coin he had so confidently hidden away, was a rayless, squalid
+heap of small, black coals.</p>
+
+<p>A moment he stood lean and limp; every particle of the fever which
+consumed him concentrated in his starting eyes, which turned, with
+savage inquiry, toward the fastenings of the door.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant, with a leap like that of a wild beast, he reached the
+threshold, examined the bolt with vivid glance and searching fingers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span>
+then raised his hand to his forehead with a gesture of utter
+distraction.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing had been disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>Even the check-pin which he had inserted over the bar for additional
+security was in place.</p>
+
+<p>The only other possible means of entrance was by a window at the other
+extreme of the room.</p>
+
+<p>But this was not to be considered, for it opened, with sheer
+precipitation, upon the unrelieved front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>The windows adjacent were removed at a distance which could afford no
+possible basis from which to reach the one from which Raikes glared so
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the shutters had been clasped and the inner sash secured.</p>
+
+<p>The conclusion was inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>No one had entered the room during the night. It was impossible for a
+stranger to have access to the apartment during the day unobserved, and
+the recess behind the radiator was known to himself alone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless there was the absurd substitution.</p>
+
+<p>It was incredible!</p>
+
+<p>The secret repository was of his own construction.</p>
+
+<p>The room was secure against intrusion.</p>
+
+<p>And opposed to all this the incontrovertible proof of his loss, a
+catastrophe all the more agonizing since the logic of the situation
+obliged him to eliminate any one from suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>Raikes had always considered a loss of this character the climax of
+malignant fate. He had never been able to contemplate it without the
+mortal shudder which usually communicates its chill to a loving parent
+confronted with the prospect of the departure of a dear one.</p>
+
+<p>The recess in the wall contained all that Raikes held dear in the world;
+every spasm of fear, each contraction of the heart, always began and
+concluded with the button which moved its protecting bolts.</p>
+
+<p>But now a new element added its ugly emphasis; there was something
+supernatural about the episode.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Convinced of the impossibility of thievery in any of its ordinary forms,
+he was bewildered as to the inexplicable means of his present
+predicament.</p>
+
+<p>His sense of security was shaken.</p>
+
+<p>He promised himself to stand guard over his belongings jealously that
+day, and to make assurance doubly sure at night.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Raikes decided to confide his misfortune to no one.</p>
+
+<p>There was a meager possibility that the guilty one might be misled by
+his silence; he had heard of such cases; he had known of the culprit
+offering condolences to the silent victim on the assumption that the
+latter had discussed his mishap with others.</p>
+
+<p>He would wait, and with Raikes to determine was to do.</p>
+
+<p>With his obnoxious individuality rendered several degrees more
+unendurable by his catastrophe, if that was possible, Raikes, having
+assumed that portion of his attire in which he had not slept,
+double-locked the door of his room from the outside with a brace of keys
+that, in all likelihood, had not their duplicates in existence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span> and
+proceeded to the dining-room, whither he had been preceded by his
+parchment of a sister.</p>
+
+<p>At once he began to rustle his exhausted sensibilities with an added
+menace, awakened by a manifest desire on the part of the famished woman
+to satisfy the cravings of an ungratified hunger with an extra help of
+bread and butter.</p>
+
+<p>As he looked upon the attenuated creature, with a morose reflection of
+his loss, the latter, with a rebellion which she could not control,
+selected with trembling fortitude a thick slice of bread, which she
+buttered liberally and began to devour with pathetic haste, despite the
+rebuking gleam of the rat eyes opposite, an episode which, added to his
+already perturbed mind, exasperated his brutal temper to the point of
+snarling remonstrance, which was fortunately denied its utterance by the
+opportune arrival of the Sepoy, who smiled blandly upon the chill
+acknowledgment of the shriveled Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>The Sepoy, at the conclusion of a hearty repast, which the spinster
+witnessed with famished<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span> envy and Raikes considered with ascetic
+disapproval, looked, with a scarcely concealed disdain, into the
+furtive, troubled eyes of the miser and said: &#8220;I will see you to-night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Raikes promptly. &#8220;I will be there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well; I will not return until the time appointed,&#8221; said the Sepoy.
+&#8220;I expect to show you a rarity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Another brilliant aggravation?&#8221; asked Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; laughed the Sepoy, &#8220;is that your estimation of the sapphire?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; returned Raikes with acid frankness. &#8220;To be permitted to
+appropriate the gleam and the radiance; to comprehend the cunning of the
+facets; to appraise its magnificent bulk intelligently, and witness the
+careless possession by another of all these beatitudes, I think that
+constitutes an aggravation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It has been known to degenerate into a temptation,&#8221; continued the
+Sepoy, reflecting the cynical humor of the other.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye!&#8221; admitted Raikes, &#8220;and has concluded in surrender.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With this the strangely assorted trio left the table directly, the Sepoy
+to his problematical business, the spinster to escape the reprimand
+foreshadowed in the eyes of her brother, and Raikes to keep his
+treasures under malicious surveillance.</p>
+
+<p>All that day his diseased mind tortured itself with impossible theories
+and absurd speculations, until his attempts to explain the curious
+substitution degenerated into a perfect chaos of despair and
+bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>With an impatience he could not explain, Raikes at last presented
+himself at the apartment of the Sepoy as the hour of ten was striking.</p>
+
+<p>He was greeted by the curious individual within with a demeanor which
+somehow offended Raikes with the impression that his prompt eagerness
+was the subject of amused calculation.</p>
+
+<p>His irritation, however, was not permitted to develop, for no sooner had
+he seated himself in the chair indicated by his host than the latter
+placed upon the table, within easy reach<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_104" id="pg_104">104</a></span> of his harassed visitor, a
+small box of leather and directed him to press the spring.</p>
+
+<p>Anticipating something of the nature of the contents of the case from
+the material of which it was made, Raikes, forgetting for the moment the
+futility of the day&#8217;s researches, pressed his bony thumb upon the
+spring, and at once the lid flew back like a protest, disclosing the
+most superb diamond it had ever been his misfortune to see and not
+possess.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; he cried in an ecstasy of tantalized contemplation, &#8220;the glass,
+the glass! Anything so precious must have had commensurate treatment.
+What color, what clarity, what bulk!&#8221; and as the unhappy creature
+yielded to that species of intoxication which even the grace of God
+seems unable to ameliorate, the Sepoy, with the easy poise and balance
+of intonation and phrase which had served as such facile vehicles for
+the previous instalments, began:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When the bewildered prince realized the meaning of the worthless heap
+in the recess, and calculated, with familiar appraisement, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span> immense
+loss represented by the senseless substitution, he stood for a moment
+destitute of all dignity and as impotent as the meanest of his
+household.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His thin, fine lips, which usually held such firm partnership and
+divided his words with such cynical scission, relaxed separately into
+the inane lines of superstitious fear, and the luster of his restless
+eyes seemed to have degenerated into that surrounding dullness of sickly
+white which would have provided the impressionable Lal Lu with an easy
+fortitude to deny the approaches of this semi-potentate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next instant, like the doubled blade of Toledo steel, the prince
+recoiled to his lithe stature, and the customary brightness of his eyes
+returned shadowed with a degree of crafty reflection.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One by one, lest a stray gem might be collected with the worthless
+d&eacute;bris, like the crew of Ulysses clinging to the sheep of the Cyclops,
+Prince Otondo removed the pebbles which intruded their sordid presence
+in this scintillant treasure-trove like a motley of base subjects in an
+assemblage of the nobility.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When the last of these worthless objects had been cleared from the
+recess, the prince closed the panel, and seating himself before the
+rayless heap, surrendered himself to moody reflection, like a disabled
+enthusiast confronted by his disillusions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How did these pebbles reach this hiding place?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In asking himself the question, the prince had absolute assurance that
+it was impossible for any one to enter his sleeping-apartment without
+his knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The puzzled man also recollected, with a shudder, which he alone could
+explain, that he had taken radical means of making it impossible for the
+artisan who had contrived the hidden treasury to reveal its existence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was positive, too, when he had retired the night before, that his
+jewels were undisturbed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why just this exchange of a handful?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For what reason had not double the quantity been removed? Nay, why not
+all, since it was possible to abstract a portion?<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this question the eerie iteration of the merchant returned to his
+mind:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Pebbles for diamonds!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once the distasteful alternative upon which it was based recurred to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A quick radiation illumined his mind, and subsided to darkness as
+promptly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ram Lal!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was he who had indicated the substitution. But the merchant could no
+more enter the room in which the prince was seated at this moment than
+the most abject menial in the palace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Still, the merchant had been able to predict the disaster.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some sort of association existed, but what it was, considered with the
+impracticability of unobserved entrance and exit, was beyond his
+comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The incredible condition existed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the light of its outrageous improbability, and the insuperable
+obstacles in the way of its accomplishment, the prince found himself
+compelled to dismiss every hypothesis.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Still, he could subject Ram Lal to an investigation that would, at
+least, extort a confession as to his ability to allude to the episode in
+advance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the meantime, with true Oriental craft, the prince determined to say
+nothing of his loss, and present an impassive demeanor to those by whom
+he was surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With this purpose the prince proceeded to the apartment beyond, and was
+about to strike the gong to summon the servant charged with the
+preparation of his morning repast, when his attention was attracted to a
+slip of folded paper fluttering from the edge of the table-top and held
+in place by a diminutive bronze Buddha.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With the weird certainty that this beckoning paper was another
+unaccountable feature of the savage perplexity he was compelled to
+endure, the prince, approaching, grasped the folded sheet with eager,
+trembling hands and exposed its inner surface to his vivid glance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; With a burning sensation about his eyes, a fever of harassed
+impatience in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span> brain, and a sense of suffocation and impotent rage,
+he read:</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;<span class="smcap">Most Illustrious</span>!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Unless Lal Lu is returned to her father by nightfall, another handful
+of precious stones will be replaced by as many pebbles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And this to warn thee:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The native troops at Meerut are in revolt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;They have shot the regimental officers, and have put to death every
+European they could find.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;They are now on their way to Delhi to proclaim Dahbur Dhu, thy
+grandfather, sovereign of Hindustan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The Moghul is old.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Thou art next in succession.&#8217;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no signature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None was needed; the prince had preserved several specimens of that
+chirography at the bottom of various interesting bills of sale.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As this bizarre scion of an incredibly ancient r&eacute;gime read this
+extraordinary missive, with its exasperating reference to the
+restitution<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_110" id="pg_110">110</a></span> of Lal Lu, and considered the prompt realization of the
+threatened reprisal which had followed his first failure to comply with
+the request of Ram Lal, a sense of fear and futility possessed him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With curious apathy, an unaccountable suggestion of impersonality,
+almost, he did not pause to consider the absence of the intolerant
+passion which his loss should have occasioned, or to wonder at his
+bewildered reception of this implication of further dispossession.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prince appeared to be moving as in a spell; but as he concluded the
+remainder of the missive and remembered, at its inspiration, that he
+was, indeed, the grandson of the Moghul and the heir-apparent of this
+pageant throne of Delhi, a sensible degree of his customary cynical
+assurance returned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hastening to the ante-room, the prince, with alert reanimation,
+questioned the stalwart official who stood without.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He indicated to his master that the missive had been left upon the
+outer sill of the threshold<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_111" id="pg_111">111</a></span> leading from the ante-room to the corridor
+which opened upon the courtyard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Beyond this nothing could be learned; but other and more absorbing
+information was conveyed to the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He learned that several bodies of Sepoys had already passed the palace,
+on the highway, in the direction of Delhi.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Startled at this rapid confirmation of the statement conveyed in the
+strange communication which he had just read, the prince rapidly
+reviewed the singular cause of the mutiny.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great Britain had just supplied the native soldiery with the Enfield
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This weapon was rendered formidable by a new cartridge, which, in order
+that it might not bind in the barrel bore, was greased in England with
+the fat of beef or pork.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With incredible indifference to the prejudices of the Sepoys, the
+military authorities at Calcutta ordered the low-caste Lascars to
+prepare the cartridges in a similar manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To this direct invitation disaster was not slow to respond.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The fat of pigs was sufficient to make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span> degenerate of a Mohammedan;
+and to devour the flesh of cows converted a Hindoo into a Mussulman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In this manner had Tippu Sultan enforced the faith of Islam on hordes
+of Brahmins, and with the abomination of pork had the Afghans prevailed
+upon the Hindoo Sepoys, captured in the Kabul war, to become
+Mohammedans.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Exasperated by the unconcealed contempt of the Brahmins, the Lascars,
+with an easily understood rancor, managed to convey the startling
+information to their detested superiors that the cartridges they bit in
+loading the new rifles were greased with the fat of cows, and that they
+were, in consequence, defiled, and their boasted caste supremacy was
+destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This revelation, so momentous to the Hindoo, found its way first to
+Barrackpore by reason of its nearness to Calcutta.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once an indescribable panic ensued, and in a marvelously short time
+every native regiment in Bengal was confronted with the possibility of
+lost caste, and terrified at the consequent belief that the British
+Government was<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span> making an attempt to Anglicize them with beef as they
+had already attempted to do with beer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The account of the greased cartridges, embellished as it speeded,
+traveled, with the rapidity which usually expedites evil rumor, along
+the Ganges and Jumna to Benares, Allahabad, Agra, Delhi and Meerut, and
+the British authorities were confronted with a revolt which was to cost
+thousands of men and countless treasure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the prince reflected upon the fever of events, and calculated their
+possible consequence to himself, the ambition&mdash;often napping, seldom in
+slumber&mdash;which he secretly cherished, awoke to disturbing vividness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His allowance was ample; his retinue, all things considered,
+impressive; and the Kutub, although in a state of disrepair in certain
+portions, was still unmistakably a royal residence. But he was
+thoroughly weary of the massive pile, and increasingly exasperated at
+the interdict of Delhi.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certain salacious possibilities within its walls still made their
+insidious appeals to him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span> and he had not forgotten the ceremonious
+deference accorded him in the household of the Moghul.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the Kutub he had to contrive his own dissipations and excesses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no need to be clandestine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The very frankness of his privileges discouraged his imagination. There
+was no spice of jeopardy in them; no preludes of intrigue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To relieve this surfeit, which is the worst of monotonies, eagerly
+would the prince have joined the revolting troops, detachments of which
+he could perceive from the walls of the Kutub hastening along the
+sun-scorched highway to Delhi.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But his semi-majesty was cautious.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was characteristic of him that his mature reflections should
+frequently place his impulse under obligations; a condition that had
+resulted in many a salutary compromise with some proposed moral abandon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Should he show the slightest countenance to the native troops in the
+present emergency, the record of such an attitude would constitute
+anything but a passport to the continued consideration<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span> of the British
+Government, upon whose sufferance he not only enjoyed his present
+magnificent residence, but the acknowledgment of his right of succession
+as well.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The prince was not yet inclined to believe that the Sepoys could make
+headway against his detested patrons.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However, with his mind stimulated by the hazard of the prospect, this
+picturesque heir-apparent, who had assured himself, since his perusal of
+the unaccountably delivered missive, that Ram Lal had no intention of
+making his appearance that day, at least, returned to the apartment
+where his morning repast awaited him, which he dispatched with the
+preoccupied impersonality of a savant who consults his timepiece in
+order to determine the temperature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Advised of the fact that he had finished by a disposition to ignore his
+remaining privileges, the prince, as if to pursue the direction of the
+unseeing gaze which he projected into space, rose slowly, and with that
+moody deliberation which is so often the outward manifestation of an
+ignoble as well as an elevated determination,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span> proceeded to the silken
+arras and disappeared from view between the folds.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quickly he traversed the passageway leading to the apartments of Lal
+Lu; and in response to a light touch upon the gong the same servile
+apparition emerged and vanished, with cringing obedience, down the
+passage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With a gleam in his eyes, which might have caused a magistrate to
+reflect or a moralist to anticipate, that was both sinister and
+engaging, eager and speculative, the prince, with a gesture that was not
+without its impatient majesty and lithe impressiveness, swept aside the
+curtains which guarded the entrance to the small ante-room and stepped
+within.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>As the Sepoy reached this point of the narrative, arranged, perhaps,
+with shrewd malice to tantalize his eager listener, an expression of
+libidinous expectation and depraved absorption deepened upon the
+countenance of the latter, who, like an animal deprived of its prey,
+looked up suddenly as the narrator paused, with an exasperation which he
+made little attempt to conceal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hell!&#8221; he muttered, &#8220;why do you pause? It is not late. This is an
+irritating trick of yours to leave off at the crucial juncture.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha, ha!&#8221; laughed the Sepoy mirthlessly. &#8220;You have attended me, then?
+Well, I can&#8217;t admit you with the prince until to-morrow evening. I have
+much to do ere I retire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is my dismissal, I presume,&#8221; responded Raikes sourly as he
+replaced the gem, from which he seemed unable to remove his thieving
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here, take this damned thing; it has demoralized me,&#8221; and placing the
+shagreen case, with its priceless contents, in the hands of the
+evilly-smiling Sepoy, he disappeared through the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the door which opened upon his room, Raikes was assured, by
+the familiar response of the locks to the pressure of his extraordinary
+keys, that his precautions of a few hours before had been undisturbed.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, his sister, seated in her room in a chair so placed as to
+command a view of the doorway opposite, and looking more effaced than
+ever from the weary vigil which her heartless<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span> brother had imposed upon
+her during his absence, advised him of the customary isolation and
+depression which distinguished this barren household.</p>
+
+<p>Within, Raikes began to make himself secure for the night.</p>
+
+<p>He double-locked the door, placed the heavy bar in the iron shoulders,
+over which he inserted a stout iron pin.</p>
+
+<p>A brief investigation convinced him that it was out of the question to
+open the shutters from without.</p>
+
+<p>Satisfied upon these points, Raikes proceeded to the radiator, which for
+a trembling space of apprehension he forbore to open.</p>
+
+<p>However, since it was certainty he wanted, the valves shortly swung
+toward him, the inner door responded to the sesame of his touch, and the
+recess containing the tenets of his religion was exposed to view.</p>
+
+<p>With trembling hands, which indicated the latent fear which unnerved
+him, and eyes aching with anxiety, the wretched man examined bag after
+bag of his precious coin with the solicitude one sees manifested by
+parents whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span> children are rendered doubly dear by the taking away of
+one of their number.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; With a sigh, the relief of which almost concluded in physical
+collapse, Raikes was able to assure himself that his rapid inventory
+revealed no further loss.</p>
+
+<p>Replacing his treasure with the indisposition he usually manifested to
+leave the vicinity of his hoard, the miser closed the various
+compartments with more than his accustomed certitude and began to
+prepare to respond to the lassitude of sleep which, for some
+unaccountable reason, was unusually insistent.</p>
+
+<p>With the easy partition of attire already noted, Raikes presently found
+himself ready to tuck himself away for the night, which he did after
+rolling his bedstead directly in front of the false radiator.</p>
+
+<p>This unusual measure of precaution consummated, Raikes, with the first
+sense of security he had felt for the last twenty-four hours, presently
+succumbed to a sleep remarkable for its quick approach and its
+subsequent soundness.</p>
+
+<p>Until early dawn, with the relaxation which<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_120" id="pg_120">120</a></span> is commonly the reward of
+innocence, Raikes slept away in unconscious travesty.</p>
+
+<p>And when at last he opened his eyes he was as alertly awake as he had
+been profoundly asleep.</p>
+
+<p>With a promptness due to his retiring forebodings, his habitual unrest
+and suspicion returned to him.</p>
+
+<p>He was as vitally alive to the disturbing conditions of the day before
+as if they had been the subjects of an all-night meditation.</p>
+
+<p>But the confidence of his bolts and bars, the recollection of his
+unusual measures of safety, reassured him somewhat.</p>
+
+<p>It was, therefore, with a degree of composure he approached the door and
+satisfied himself that the bar and the locks had been undisturbed.</p>
+
+<p>With equal assurance he rolled the bedstead from the radiator and
+pressed the button which operated the concealed spring, with a
+deliberation in which no suggestion of uneasiness appeared.</p>
+
+<p>A quick revolution or so and the inner recess was revealed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To his rapid accounting the quantity of bags was the same, and their
+relative positions, which he had so carefully arranged the night before,
+were undisturbed&mdash;but this one, that within easiest reach! What was it
+caused those sharp suggestions in its accustomed rotundity&mdash;those
+angular points?</p>
+
+<p>In a quiver the man was transformed.</p>
+
+<p>With a cry such as must have been forced from the Jew of old, compelled
+by the rough levies of his time to part at once with his teeth and his
+treasure, Raikes grasped the bag, which came away in his clutch with the
+agonizing lightness that had preceded his first loss.</p>
+
+<p>Quickly he unfastened the mouth of the fateful packet and inverted it
+over the table.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant there rattled to view a soulless, sodden shower of
+lack-luster, heart-breaking coals.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>To be continued on Dickey No. 2, Series B.</i>)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, ha!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis, &#8220;an&#8217; it&#8217;s there ye are again,&#8221; as the
+familiar phrase at the bottom of bosom No. 1 met his glance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it did not exasperate him on this occasion, for the young man, true
+to his determination to be liberal with himself, had still bosoms No. 2
+and No. 3 at his disposal.</p>
+
+<p>As he was about to separate No. 2 from its duplicate, his eyes, glancing
+aimlessly about for the moment, caught sight of a trim female figure
+sitting not far away on a bench diagonally opposite.</p>
+
+<p>Hovering near her, a man, of a species Dennis had not seen before on the
+street corners of New York, seemed determined to intrude upon her
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Convinced of his purpose, the lady, for such she unmistakably appeared,
+rose from the seat as the fellow was about to raise his hat as a
+preliminary to further overtures, and sought another bench directly
+opposite the one from which Dennis had been a witness to her apparent
+persecution.</p>
+
+<p>The intruder, however, refusing evidently to believe that the action of
+the lady had a personal application, deliberately walked past this new
+resting place and surveyed its occupant with insolent estimation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A short distance away his pace slackened; he was about to return.</p>
+
+<p>With genuine Irish impulse, Dennis, rising hurriedly, proceeded to the
+bench occupied by the disturbed lady, and, with a bow that was not
+deficient in grace and evident good intention, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me, but say the wurrd, madam, and I&#8217;ll see that you are troubled
+no more with that loafer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For an instant, with an expression of countenance that suggested a fear
+that the flight from one intrusion was but the introduction to another,
+the lady looked upon Dennis with an astonishment that was partly the
+result of his picturesque contrasts of voice and visage.</p>
+
+<p>Then, with fine intuition realizing, in the ingenuous face of the young
+Irishman, the unmistakable evidence of kindly impulse, she said, with a
+modulation in which Dennis was able to detect the accent of good
+breeding:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thank you, sir; I am tired; that man annoys me; but I would rather
+move on than be the cause of a disturbance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you will permit me,&#8221; responded Dennis<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span> promptly, &#8220;I will sit beside
+you long enough to indicate that you have met a friend; then I think
+that he will move off.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady looked at Dennis with an uncertain smile, in which there was
+just enough restraint to urge the young man to add hastily: &#8220;An&#8217; when he
+is gone for good, I will go too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I was not thinking of that, I assure you!&#8221; the lady hastened to
+say. &#8220;That would be rather ungrateful on my part. I accept your
+suggestion. May I ask you to be seated?&#8221; and Dennis promptly complied.</p>
+
+<p>As he had predicted, the fellow, who had witnessed the conversation, was
+compelled to accept its ostensible suggestion, and departed finally with
+a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and a Tammany tilt of his hat over
+his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>In yielding to his gallant impulse, Dennis was unaware of the fact that
+he held, with not exactly picturesque abandon, bosom No. 1 in his right
+hand and the other two in his left, which gave him the appearance of
+having disposed, in some violent way, of the remainder of several
+shirts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Awakened by the puzzled amusement depicted in the curious gaze with
+which the lady surveyed the various bosoms which he held, and encouraged
+by the impromptu nature of the entire episode, Dennis, as he realized
+the spectacle which he presented, indulged himself in a frank laugh, in
+which his companion seemed inclined to join.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment he apologized, and, yielding to the obligation enforced
+by the situation, explained his possession of the dickey bosoms and the
+curious story which had gone before.</p>
+
+<p>As he proceeded with the candor of genuine enthusiasm, and related the
+incredible narrative in his rich, Irish brogue, which affected his
+hearer, as it did every one else, with such singular sentiments in
+contrast with his remarkable countenance, all traces of punctilious
+restraint and artificial reticence vanished, and with the mien of one
+who proposes to extract all the entertainment possible from an undreamed-of
+experience, the lady urged Dennis to continue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t do that unless I read the balance<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span> from the dickey,&#8221; said
+Dennis. &#8220;Would you mind?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should like it very much,&#8221; replied the lady with gratifying
+readiness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then,&#8221; said Dennis, &#8220;here goes,&#8221; and with his musical voice,
+which was one of his most inviting characteristics, the young man, on
+the basis of all that had preceded the bosom from which he was about to
+read, and which he had narrated to his auditor with refreshing <i>verve</i>
+and an ingenuousness whose vitalizing effect upon her sensibilities he
+was far from suspecting, began.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI_2965" id="CHAPTER_VI_2965"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Whoever has witnessed Kean&#8217;s superb delineation of the ruthless Richard
+in the scene where, in the illusion of his dying agony, swordless, he
+continues to lunge and feint, may comprehend the frightful mental
+overturn which prompted Raikes to sink inertly into a chair near the
+table, and with foam-flecked lips fall to counting, one by one, the
+miserable coals in the dull heap before him.</p>
+
+<p>A silly smile overspread his sharp features like an apologetic sunbeam
+intruding upon a bleak landscape.</p>
+
+<p>A gleam of shrewd transaction shone in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The clutch of unwonted acquisition contracted his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly he made partition of the large from the small coals; regretfully
+he acknowledged the presence of the lesser bits as, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span> chuckle of
+greedy appreciation, he grouped the relative piles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha!&#8221; What a laugh! What a frightful mockery of
+mirth! &#8220;Ha, ha! ha, ha!&#8221; and raising both hands above his head he
+brought them down upon the table with the lax inertia of utter collapse,
+and fell forward upon his extended arms, his face buried in the squalid
+heap beneath.</p>
+
+<p>For a dreary hour he lay there without the twitch of a muscle, the well
+of a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>Like a Cyclop&#8217;s eye the button at the bottom of the concave in the wall
+seemed to stare with wonder upon this unfamiliar Raikes, who could thus
+permit the radiator to swing open so heedlessly, and the inner recess to
+expose its golden glut.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there came a sharp rap upon the door, then a pause; but its
+quick reverberations were unheeded by the prostrate man.</p>
+
+<p>Again the thuds were administered to the echoing panels, and still no
+response.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Uncle, I say, uncle!&#8221; cried a man&#8217;s voice. &#8220;Uncle!&#8221; and the shout was
+followed by a vigorous<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_129" id="pg_129">129</a></span> kick upon the woodwork; &#8220;Uncle! Uncle!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this last appeal Raikes stirred uneasily, and as the assault was
+continued with still greater stress, he managed finally to stagger
+uncertainly to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>As he raised his head to listen to the clamor without, the meanness of
+his face, emphasized by the smudges of the coal in which it had so
+recently reposed, presented itself to the scandalized eye in the wall.</p>
+
+<p>The miserable creature depicted the last degree of absurdity, and yet
+the ugly pathos of it all would have moved to pity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Uncle, I say!&#8221; and at the sound of the voice, which he recognized as
+that of his lusty nephew, Raikes, with a return of his accustomed
+intelligence, which had received its kindly repairs at the hands of
+nature during his brief coma, cried sharply: &#8220;Well, well!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the voice outside with an unmistakable accent of relief
+in its tone as it added, with unlettered eagerness: &#8220;It&#8217;s me&mdash;Bob!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>However, if his reawakened animation had<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span> revived his deadened spirit,
+it also restored the appreciation of his disaster, as, with a glance of
+vivid comprehension, he looked from the coal heap to the register,
+toward which he leaped with astonishing agility.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant the inner recess was secure; in another the radiator was
+replaced, and Raikes, proceeding to the door, raised the bar, unlocked
+the catches and exclaimed, &#8220;Enter!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the breezy Bob crossed the threshold, the question of his eyes was
+instantly transformed to an expression of utter astonishment as he
+beheld the extraordinary blend of soil and pallor upon the countenance
+of his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For the Lord&#8217;s sake!&#8221; he cried, &#8220;what ails your face?&#8221; and strongly
+tempted to laugh at the absurd spectacle, and as urgently impelled to
+restrain himself by the glittering eyes of the raging Raikes, he added,
+by way of apology for his noisy intrusion:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We knew that you were in here, but could not make you hear us. You are
+almost two hours beyond your usual time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Directly in the rear of the young man stood<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span> the spinster, who gazed
+with widened eyes and parted lips upon her brother&#8217;s soiled visage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; snarled Raikes, &#8220;I am all right, you see; now leave me until I
+get myself in shape to make an appearance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the door closed behind the pair, Raikes hurried to the mirror, and
+above the crack which extended, like a spasm, diagonally across its
+surface he beheld his bloodless cheeks and forehead, and below, the dry
+slit of his mouth and his chin spattered with black and white.</p>
+
+<p>As he witnessed the sorry sight, the unhappy man, unable for the moment
+to account for his plight, stood aghast, until his gaze, penetrating to
+the rear of his smudged physiognomy, beheld the reflection of the coal
+heaps upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>At once a savage grin distorted his features into the degree of ugliness
+not already accomplished by its dusky resting place of the hour
+previous. A grin that was scarcely human and almost diabolical, as if
+the miserable creature had caught sight of the shriveled soul peering
+through the chinks which imprisoned his rat<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span> eyes and found a malignant
+enjoyment in the contemplation of its contemptible littleness.</p>
+
+<p>From this debasing inspection Raikes turned slowly to the washstand to
+remove the grime from his face, with an impersonal deliberation that was
+not only unnatural under the circumstances, but which awakened the eerie
+suggestion that he was expending his effort upon another than himself.</p>
+
+<p>From this moment he became strangely calm; the sharp decision of his
+lips was never so pronounced.</p>
+
+<p>A baleful, unwavering gleam distinguished his glance. He had evidently
+arrived at some determination, one that levied upon the last limit of
+his endurance.</p>
+
+<p>All that day the unhappy man sat in his room, sullen and pondering.</p>
+
+<p>The timid offers of nourishment made by his sister were either ignored
+or refused with such an ill grace that she finally forbore further
+overtures and left him to his morose reflections, to improve her
+opportunities of enjoying, unrebuked, the privileges of the table,
+until, by nightfall, an indigestion, which she<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span> welcomed on account of
+its occasion, disturbed her with its unfamiliar pangs.</p>
+
+<p>In response to his nephew&#8217;s concern as to his condition Raikes replied
+by saying: &#8220;I may have something to tell you by eleven o&#8217;clock to-night;
+will you be on hand?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sure!&#8221; answered Bob with breezy goodwill.</p>
+
+<p>From time to time Raikes glanced at the clock.</p>
+
+<p>His last scrutiny had revealed the hour of nine. Sixty interminable
+minutes more remained ere he could see the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the leaden hands crawled over the indifferent face.</p>
+
+<p>At last the half hour struck.</p>
+
+<p>A strange impatience possessed him.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the Sepoy might begin a little earlier than usual. He could, at
+least, suggest such a courtesy by his precipitation; it was far better
+than this unendurable wait.</p>
+
+<p>With this anticipation he decided to proceed to the apartment of this
+singular narrator.</p>
+
+<p>After taking his usual precautions, which seemed more or less of a
+mockery in view of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_134" id="pg_134">134</a></span> the succession of disasters which had overtaken him,
+and again establishing the spinster in a position where she could
+maintain an unobstructed view of the entrance to his room, Raikes
+proceeded hurriedly along the various passageways, which finally
+concluded in his point of destination.</p>
+
+<p>He rapped gently upon the door, which he discovered to be slightly ajar.</p>
+
+<p>There was no response.</p>
+
+<p>His second attempt to attract attention was pronounced enough to urge
+the door aside and enable him to make a comprehensive survey of the
+interior.</p>
+
+<p>It was unoccupied; and of his last assault upon the panel the only
+recognition was a sullen echo in the hallway.</p>
+
+<p>About to retire, his glance fell upon the table in the center of the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>At once a sudden trembling seized him.</p>
+
+<p>A burning fever surged through his veins; an irresistible impulse
+overwhelmed; for there, in inconceivable negligence, lay the shagreen
+case which he had so reluctantly returned to its owner only the night
+before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_135" id="pg_135">135</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And then&mdash;the malign agreement of his outward husk with his inner
+degradation was revealed.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes, already criminal, reflected the kaleidoscopic succession of
+temptation and surrender; desire and thievery.</p>
+
+<p>He scanned the passageway without in either direction.</p>
+
+<p>No one was in sight.</p>
+
+<p>A silence of respectable retirement prevailed that enabled him to hear
+his heartbeats almost, which surged along his veins to his ears and
+stifled the final gasp of the still, small voice within.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant, with a lithe animal leap of astonishing quickness,
+Raikes, darting into the apartment, grasped the precious case and
+retreated as rapidly over the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the stealthy rogue vanished from the room when the door of
+a closet in the rear opened softly and revealed the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>Upon his face a smile, surely evil, otherwise inscrutable, appeared, as
+he proceeded to the chair by the table, turned down the light in the
+lamp a trifle, and abstracted from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_136" id="pg_136">136</a></span> waistcoat pocket a small red
+case, the contents of which he examined with absorbed attention.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at his room, Raikes was elated to discover that he was not due
+at the Sepoy&#8217;s apartment until twenty minutes later.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a providence!&#8221; he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>He would arrive late; he would make his approach as ostensible as
+possible; he would apologize for his tardiness.</p>
+
+<p>His alibi would be perfect.</p>
+
+<p>During these proposed depravities Raikes had closed and fastened the
+door, seated himself at the table, and pressed the spring which detained
+the lid of the shagreen case.</p>
+
+<p>In a dazzling instant it flew open.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; A very riot of irradiation and gleam met his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Here was rehabilitation! Here was amendment!</p>
+
+<p>The diamond was a liberal equivalent for his losses.</p>
+
+<p>Another glance at the clock revealed to him that he had exhausted ten
+minutes in his exultation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_137" id="pg_137">137</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This left a balance of ten minutes for a compunction or two.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently he did not realize his opportunity, for half of the remaining
+time was consumed in the intoxication of the facets and the glamor, the
+thrill of intelligent valuation; and the other half to a grim
+calculation as to the usury that might accrue after the account with his
+losses was balanced.</p>
+
+<p>These perjured figures were scarcely arranged to his satisfaction when
+the clock struck ten.</p>
+
+<p>The strokes seemed like as many separate accusations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bah! what are they to me?&#8221; he asked himself. He had been robbed; he had
+found a way to restitution; a man&#8217;s providence must measure to his
+necessities.</p>
+
+<p>To arrive at these conclusions put him five minutes in arrears. Five
+more for a leisurely arrival would be ten; enough to apologize for;
+sufficient for his purposes.</p>
+
+<p>He consumed as much time as possible secreting the stone in the recess.
+That accomplished,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_138" id="pg_138">138</a></span> Raikes emerged from his room and proceeded down the
+hallway.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the apartment occupied by the Sepoy he breathed a sigh
+of relief.</p>
+
+<p>The door was closed.</p>
+
+<p>In response to his rap upon the panel, a voice which he recognized as
+that of the Sepoy cried: &#8220;Come in!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, where, with him, the
+only conscience he had was located, Raikes complied with these
+instructions, and, closing the door softly, established himself, in his
+customary expectant attitude, in the chair indicated by his host.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been told,&#8221; began the latter abruptly, &#8220;that there is a flaw in
+the sapphire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; exclaimed Raikes with genuine concern. Two things he could
+comprehend: a loss and the abuse of property. The announcement of the
+Sepoy awakened the same misgiving which commonly affected his mind at a
+suggestion of defective title.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; continued the Sepoy; &#8220;it was pointed out to me. But I am not
+convinced, or it may be that I refuse to be. A man often elects to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_139" id="pg_139">139</a></span> be
+blind when confronted with a suggestion of disaster. I want to be candid
+with myself. I require your assistance. While I continue the narrative,
+kindly see if you can discover any sign of blemish.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes, only too willing to engage himself upon anything which would
+assist his attempt at outward poise, seized the glass offered him and
+began a close inspection of the gem, as the Sepoy, with an indescribably
+insinuating modulation, resumed:</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;As the prince advanced, Lal Lu, advised of his approach by the hasty
+exit of the waiting-woman and the soft alarm of the gong in the
+passageway, stood ready to receive him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A slight flush suffused her cheeks, a brighter luster beamed from her
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With a fervor which was evidently unembarrassed by any anticipation of
+denial, the prince approached the trembling Lal Lu, who seemed to his
+enamored glance unspeakably bewitching in the graceful attitude, of
+which she was thoroughly unconscious, which she had naturally assumed,
+and which gave unmistakable<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_140" id="pg_140">140</a></span> expression to the hope, trepidation and
+regard awakened by his presence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And yet his eagerness was not reflected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was little in the demeanor of the beautiful girl that was
+responsive; no indication of the sweet surrender that doubly endears,
+and which makes such irresistible appeals for protection and sensitive
+understanding to a man worthy of the name; and what evidences of
+confusion she betrayed were rather those which commonly prelude the
+execution of unwelcome resolution; a suggestion of a lurking disposition
+to readmit the Peri into Paradise, restrained by a knowledge of
+conditions unfulfilled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With the rapid interchange and subtle apprehension characteristic of a
+passion which has no definite assurances as to its right to monopolize
+the regard of the object of jealous consideration, the prince was
+compelled to acknowledge, in these vague suggestions, an intangible but
+no less real succession of barriers opposed to his ardent advances, and
+with a scarcely concealed and certainly undiplomatic<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_141" id="pg_141">141</a></span> irritation he
+paused before Lal Lu and demanded:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What is it, Lal Lu? Thou art not glad to see me. I expected a
+reception other than this.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My father?&#8217; demanded Lal Lu, ignoring the question and the yearning
+intonation of his address, each word of which was like a caress; &#8216;my
+father, what of him?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; muttered the prince with deepening choler at the disturbing
+conditions introduced by the name, and a gleam strangely suggestive of
+menace. &#8216;Why speak of him now? Is not the present enough?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lal Lu gazed upon the speaker with astonishment. How could he so easily
+forget what he had said the day before? And with a scarcely perceptible
+tightening of her beautiful lips, she said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Dost remember thy promise to give me news of him to-day?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I do,&#8217; replied the prince. &#8216;I received word that he will not be here
+to-day.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Who told thee so?&#8217; demanded Lal Lu.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;A writing so informed me.&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_142" id="pg_142">142</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Is it with thee?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No,&#8217; replied the prince. &#8216;It is in my cabinet. Is not my word
+sufficient?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To this Lal Lu did not reply, but searched his countenance with a
+scrutiny which he found it difficult to endure, as he cried with renewed
+animation:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, Lal Lu, be not so cold! Hearken! The native regiments of Meerut
+are in revolt and on their way to Delhi.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is their purpose to re-establish Dahbur Dhu, my grandfather, upon
+the throne of the moghuls.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;As thou knowest, I am next in succession, and Dahbur Dhu is feeble and
+decrepit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The British are not in sufficient force to withstand a combined
+attack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;See, then, Lal Lu, what this means for me; what it means for thee.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh!&#8217; repeated the girl with curious emphasis, &#8216;what it means for thee,
+I know; but what it means for me&#8217;&mdash;and she paused with disconcerting
+deliberation as she added&mdash;&#8216;thou hast not said.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Everything, my own!&#8217; exclaimed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_143" id="pg_143">143</a></span> prince with generous
+ardor&mdash;&#8216;everything! Thou hast but to command and thy will is done.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Everything?&#8217; re-echoed Lal Lu with a questioning stress which the
+prince could not ignore&mdash;&#8216;everything?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have said,&#8217; replied the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Am I then to be thy queen?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a moment, a vital moment, the prince hesitated, but brief as the
+pause, scarcely the durance of an eye-flash, Lal Lu saw it, and gazed
+upon the prince with a disconcerting directness as he added, with the
+haste we note in the accused who attempt to distract suspicion by the
+utterance of glib generalities:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;My queen! Thou art always that!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Hold, Prince Otondo!&#8217; exclaimed Lal Lu as the prince seemed about to
+surrender to an impulse to clasp her in his arms&mdash;&#8216;hold! Thy answers
+suit me not. Reply, then, to this: Thy wife&mdash;am I to be thy wedded
+wife?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An expression like that of a peevish child tantalized by obstacles
+intruded to enhance its appreciation of favor withheld brightened his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_144" id="pg_144">144</a></span>
+eyes and sent sullen lines converging in his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His hands clenched and opened; a faint suggestion of disdain curled his
+thin lips; the amiable inclination of his figure was transformed to an
+erect intolerance&mdash;and Lal Lu was answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When the unfortunate girl could no longer doubt the unlovely evidence
+provided by the prince, and apprehended the humiliating significance of
+his hesitation, a majesty surer than his own, a presence superb in its
+elevation, encompassed her, and she gazed upon the perturbed man with an
+expression from which every trace of tenderness appeared to have
+vanished.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With an angry sweep of his arm, as if to banish with a peremptory
+gesture the kneeling envoys of compunction, manliness and nobility, the
+prince stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What is that?&#8217; At this moment the gong in the passageway responded to
+three measured strokes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Confusion!&#8217; muttered the prince. &#8216;What does this mean?&#8217; and turning
+abruptly, he hastened<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_145" id="pg_145">145</a></span> to the doorway, swept aside the curtains, and
+revealed the trembling figure of the wrinkled crone who had quitted the
+apartment at his entrance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What now?&#8217; cried the exasperated prince as he fixed his eyes, vivid
+with rage at the unwelcome interruption, upon the miserable creature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In reply the woman raised her shriveled hand, with a gesture that was
+not without its weird impressiveness, and pointed to his apartments.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Speak!&#8217; he demanded with a modification of his intensity, which he
+perceived deprived the waiting-woman of the power of speech.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;A messenger,&#8217; she croaked, &#8216;from the palace of the moghul; he must
+speak with thee at once.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With one long glance of such concentrated determination that it caused
+the beautiful girl to tremble anew, the prince vanished through the
+portal and hastened along the passageway.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Scarcely had he departed when the demeanor of the waiting-woman
+underwent a startling transformation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_146" id="pg_146">146</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An incredible degree of energy quickened in the recoil of her bent form
+to a disproportionate erectness of stature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Beneath level, unwavering lids, her eyes emitted gleams which had
+pierced the retreating figure with deadly viciousness had they been
+poniards.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The servile vanished, the abject; and she stood, the silent embodiment
+of evil, restrained purpose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next instant, with an angry gesture that was vaguely significant of
+future requital and present impotence, the vindictive creature swept
+aside the curtains and re-entered the room leading to the apartment
+occupied by Lal Lu.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As she approached the disturbed beauty, the tension in her mien
+relaxed, and she regarded the <i>distrait</i> countenance before her with a
+glance that was anything but unfriendly, in so far as it was possible to
+determine the nature of the sentiment in hiding behind that austere
+visage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Directly she stood by the table which Lal Lu had interposed as a sort
+of barricade<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_147" id="pg_147">147</a></span> against advances of her impetuous lover, and with an
+attempt at a smile, which could as readily find acceptance as a
+repentant scowl, this singular being inserted her hand in the folds of
+the tunic which defended her parchment bosom, and produced from that
+barren demesne a folded missive, which she placed in the hands of the
+astonished Lal Lu.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With trembling haste she exposed the inner surface of the paper, and
+with a glad heart and filial trust read:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Be not afraid; relief is at hand.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no signature; none was needed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a moment Lal Lu recognized her father&#8217;s familiar chirography, and as
+she reflected upon his well-known sagacity and resourceful boldness, her
+hope and courage renewed their belated assurances.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Who gave you this?&#8217; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The waiting-woman, after a brief hesitation, in which inclination and
+restraint left their disturbing traces, replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;That I must not reveal.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;At least,&#8217; insisted Lal Lu, whose quick glance had detected the
+irresolution of the instant<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_148" id="pg_148">148</a></span> preceding, &#8216;at least, tell me this: Was it
+my father?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No,&#8217; replied the other promptly. With a barely perceptible grin of
+amusement at this ingenuous betrayal of the author of the few words
+which had awakened such animation, she added:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;One sent by him, it may be.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;True,&#8217; assented the girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And now,&#8217; exclaimed the woman with a return of her vindictive aspect,
+which the harassed beauty, unaware of its inspiration, witnessed with
+vague misgiving and a futile attempt to associate herself with its ugly
+manifestation; &#8216;and now, I would ask a question of you.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes?&#8217; responded Lal Lu, perplexed at the baleful emphasis which
+preceded this announcement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Well, then,&#8217; continued the woman with startling and uncompromising
+abruptness, &#8216;am I wrong in thinking that you would defend your honor
+with your life?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Before the astonished Lal Lu could reply, or encouraged, it may be, by
+some subtle confirmation<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_149" id="pg_149">149</a></span> in the look which shot from the distended eyes
+of the young girl, the eccentric speaker, again inserting her hands in
+the folds of her tunic, withdrew a short, slender poniard, at sight of
+which Lal Lu recoiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ha, ha!&#8217; laughed the withered creature mirthlessly as she gazed with
+unsmiling eyes upon the shrinking beauty. &#8216;Be not afraid; this weapon is
+intended for you, but not to your hurt.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What, then?&#8217; asked Lal Lu breathlessly, unable to adjust the peaceful
+assurance of the grim-visaged woman with the menace of the glittering
+blade.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Listen!&#8217; exclaimed the woman impressively: &#8216;I know Prince Otondo of
+old; he meditates no good for you. Were I in your place, I would receive
+his detested advances upon the point of this blade. Your protestations
+he will not heed, but this&#8217;&mdash;and the speaker advanced the dagger with a
+savage gesture which caused a shudder to pervade the trembling frame of
+Lal Lu&mdash;&#8216;this is an argument he can understand.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh,&#8217; cried the terrified girl, &#8216;I could not!&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_150" id="pg_150">150</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You could not?&#8217; repeated the other with chilling emphasis. &#8216;Ha, ha!
+you could not! But you will submit to the advances of this monster!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Believe me, you are not the sole object of his regard.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;There have been others caged within these walls who have been less
+obdurate than you, or whose resistance has availed them nothing.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Alas!&#8217; exclaimed Lal Lu with an inexpressibly melancholy accent, as she
+considered the empty pedestal from which her ideal had fallen, and
+recalled with a shudder the caress which she had permitted and bestowed
+in that fervid interview with the prince. &#8216;Can this be true?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Aye!&#8217; exclaimed the woman with savage affirmation. &#8216;Do not doubt it.
+Sooner than submit to the embraces of that wretch I would turn that
+weapon against myself.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh!&#8217; exclaimed Lal Lu with a superb gesture and the light of
+unmistakable resolution in her eyes, &#8216;that I can do; but the other&mdash;&mdash;&#8217;
+And the poor girl trembled at the spectacle pictured in her mind.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_151" id="pg_151">151</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Well,&#8217; exclaimed the woman, &#8216;I will leave this dagger here; do as you
+will; I have done for you what I could,&#8217; and she turned to depart,
+unmindful, apparently, of Lal Lu&#8217;s tremulous &#8216;And I am grateful to you.&#8217;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;When the prince arrived at the apartment in which he accorded his
+audiences, if the attention he bestowed upon the meager assemblages
+which presented themselves occasionally can be dignified by that
+description, he found awaiting him a Hindoo, whom he recognized at once,
+and whose presence invariably preceded the recital of important
+information.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To the degree that Prince Otondo had reason to suspect that his
+grandfather had certain of his servants subsidized at the Kutub, he
+measured secretly by similar secret embassies at the Delhi palace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The egotistical old moghul, with a vanity which even his anomalous
+situation with the British had not impaired, wished to assure himself
+that he would be worthily succeeded, and the prince was equally
+solicitous concerning the advancing senility of the moghul.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_152" id="pg_152">152</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In such bloodless intrigues this picturesque pair kept their servants
+engaged, until this germ of mutual distrust infected every dependent in
+the two households with that singular propensity to conspire which the
+studious historian of this mysterious country cannot have failed to
+record.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On this basis certain shrewd spirits among the British intruders at
+this period were able to discover more of the character of the people
+under their unwelcome rule, in a single establishment of native
+servants, than in the general observations of a hundred English
+households.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Awaiting, therefore, the conclusion of the ceremonies of approach, upon
+which he always insisted and which were shortly to be rendered so
+absurd, the prince at last, calling the Hindoo by name, demanded the
+occasion of his presence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is an ill service, O prince,&#8217; replied the Hindoo, &#8216;which I am about
+to render you.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What, then?&#8217; exclaimed the prince. &#8216;To the point, to the point!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Your grandfather&mdash;&mdash;&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_153" id="pg_153">153</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Is dead?&#8217; inquired the prince with badly disguised eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Nay; worse.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Proceed!&#8217; demanded the prince. &#8216;What can be worse?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Your grandfather,&#8217; replied the messenger, in evident haste to conclude
+a disagreeable task, &#8216;has taken to himself a young wife.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; cried the prince, startled into a degrading abandonment of his
+customary elevation of demeanor. &#8216;The dotard, the imbecile! Married? To
+whom?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;A daughter of the house of Nadis Shah, Rani Rue.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I know her!&#8217; cried the prince savagely. &#8216;Implacable, ambitious,
+unscrupulous. What will she not attempt with that old driveller?&#8217; Then,
+evidently impressed by something shadowed in the expression of his
+ill-omened Mercury, he exclaimed: &#8216;You have more to tell me?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Hindoo bowed his head in perturbed affirmation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Quickly, then!&#8217; demanded his august listener.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_154" id="pg_154">154</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The British forces have concentrated at the cantonment without the
+walls of Delhi; a detachment is even now on the way to your palace,
+which they propose to seize and garrison.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; murmured the prince, &#8216;the freshet is turning to a deluge. Is
+there more?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes, O prince,&#8217; returned the Hindoo; &#8216;the British intend to hold you as
+a hostage for the safety of the English resident, who is a prisoner at
+the palace in Delhi.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;So!&#8217; exclaimed this royal reprobate as he reflected upon the
+picturesque possibilities to himself, in view of the sanguinary
+temptation which the helpless resident would present to the ambitious
+Queen Rani Rue. &#8216;How far in advance of the detachment are you?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;About one hour&#8217;s march.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;This is short reckoning. You have hastened with leaden feet.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Nay, your highness,&#8217; cried the Hindoo, &#8216;I came the instant I heard.
+There is still time to escape, and the way is known to you alone.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;So be it,&#8217; returned the prince as an expression of savage
+determination compressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_155" id="pg_155">155</a></span> his thin lips and ignited baleful fires in his
+restless eyes. &#8216;Await me without; I will join you presently.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the Hindoo turned to obey, the prince darted, with lithe haste, into
+the inner room and pressed the spring in the wall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Slowly the panel rolled aside and revealed the glittering pyramid of
+gems within.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;From the depths, just in the rear of the priceless heap, he withdrew a
+sort of jacket, separated upon its upper edge into a series of openings
+similar to the partitions of a cartridge-belt.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Into these, with a sort of clumsy trepidation, he began to pack the
+almost elusive portions of the gleaming mass of brilliants from the
+recess.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the conclusion of fifteen vital minutes the prince had deposited the
+last of the gems in the receptacles of this curious jacket, and, if the
+reports of the Hindoo were to be credited, the advancing British were
+that much nearer the Kutub.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With desperate rapidity he disengaged the folds of the delicate cambric
+which covered the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_156" id="pg_156">156</a></span> upper portion of his body, inserting the precious
+jacket beneath, and after adjusting it to his figure, strapped it
+securely in place and rearranged his attire into non-committal contours.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And now,&#8217; he cried with an expression of savage determination, &#8216;and
+now for the rarest gem of all!&#8217; and darting through the silken hangings
+which concealed his extreme of the passageway leading to the apartments
+of Lal Lu, he hastened along that dingy bypath and presently reached the
+threshold from which he had issued but a short time before with such
+little credit to himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Without pausing to announce himself or consider the impropriety of his
+abrupt intrusion and its possible influence upon Lal Lu, the impetuous
+heir-apparent swept aside the curtains and rushed into the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Startled at the rattling rings which held the hangings in place, and
+the impetuous swish of its folds, Lal Lu sprang to her feet and gazed
+with indignant rebuke upon the inconsiderate prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heedless of the unconcealed disdain of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_157" id="pg_157">157</a></span> glance and ignoring the
+presence of the furtive-eyed waiting-woman, he cried:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Lal Lu, the time for further parley is past. The Kutub is shortly to
+be attacked by the British. We must fly&mdash;come!&#8217; and the speaker advanced
+with unreflective haste to the side of the palpitating girl.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In an instant, however, his headlong progress was checked as Lal Lu,
+with a superb gesture, raised the gleaming dagger above her head and
+cried, encouraged by the lowering eyes of the evilly-expectant
+waiting-woman: &#8216;With thee&mdash;never! I will die first!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the prince recoiled a step at sight of the flashing blade, Lal Lu,
+with contemptuous emphasis, exclaimed: &#8216;Be not afraid, Prince Otondo,
+this is not for thee. Advance but a step and it will be but an empty
+casket that awaits thee!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never had Lal Lu appeared so desirable in the eyes of this royal rogue,
+and never had he been more resolute to possess her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With misleading quiet, therefore, he gazed upon the upraised hand which
+menaced the one unattained object of his desire. Quickly he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_158" id="pg_158">158</a></span> measured
+the distance between them. Slowly he removed one foot behind the other.
+Lightly he pressed the slipper&#8217;s point upon the tessellated floor, and
+then with a leap of incredible quickness, he darted forward, caught the
+descending arm of Lal Lu in his grasp, and, with his disengaged hand,
+wrenched the dagger from her and threw it away from him into the center
+of the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But as rapidly as he had moved, the prince had not been able to prevent
+the incision which the dagger&#8217;s point made in his wrist and from which a
+thin stream of blood issued.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah, ha, my beauty!&#8217; he cried as he released the struggling girl and
+retreated a step, the better to enjoy her discomfiture; &#8216;ah, ha! I like
+thy spirit. I would not have thee mar the lovely casket which contains
+it. Here!&#8217; he called to the waiting-woman, who had witnessed the episode
+and into whose quick eyes, which had detected the slight wound upon the
+wrist of the prince, there crept a strange, inexplicable expression of
+leering triumph, &#8216;here, guard this maiden for a space. Your life shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_159" id="pg_159">159</a></span>
+pay the penalty if aught befalls her in my absence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I shall return presently with the help I need to overcome such
+elevated objection&#8217;; and turning abruptly, the prince hastened toward
+the doorway, pausing a second to regain possession of the dagger which
+he had cast from him during the brief struggle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Alas!&#8217; cried the unhappy girl, &#8216;what shall I do? He has gone to get
+some of his creatures to help him in his evil purposes.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a moment a tense silence prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next instant, with eerie, jubilant interruption, the waiting-woman
+made the very air shudder with a laugh of such shrill exultation and
+riotous abandon that Lal Lu, for a moment forgetful of her own
+extremity, gazed with unconcealed amazement and alarm upon the almost
+hysterical creature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ha, ha!&#8217; she raved; &#8216;be not afraid, Lal Lu. This royal pest, this
+insolent prince, will trouble you no more; you will never see him
+again.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ha!&#8217; exclaimed Lal Lu. &#8216;You seem strangely positive. What do you
+mean?&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_160" id="pg_160">160</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Did you see that scratch which the point of your dagger made upon the
+wrist of the prince?&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No,&#8217; replied Lal Lu, shrinking from the picture presented to her mind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Well,&#8217; returned the grim-visaged woman with a return to her customary
+austerity, &#8216;I did. The wound was slight; only a few easily subdued drops
+of blood followed; but, believe me, maiden, it will be sufficient.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What do you mean?&#8217; demanded Lal Lu.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;This,&#8217; returned the weird creature with repulsive, evil joy, which she
+made no attempt to disguise: &#8216;The point of that dagger was steeped in
+the most deadly poison known in India. In twenty minutes, ha, ha! it is
+the prince who will be the empty casket.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>As the Sepoy reached this point in his narrative he paused with
+startling abruptness.</p>
+
+<p>Raikes, no longer under the influence of the seductive cadences, looked
+up sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; inquired the Sepoy as he met the inquiring glance of his furtive
+auditor, &#8220;what<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_161" id="pg_161">161</a></span> of the flaw in the sapphire? Can you trace the blemish?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Devil seize me!&#8221; exclaimed Raikes, as he offered, by this apostrophe,
+an invitation which was certain, at no distant date, to be accepted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Devil seize me if I have thought of the sapphire!&#8221; and he began at once
+an apologetic inspection of the brilliant with the magnifying glass.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha, ha!&#8221; laughed the Sepoy. &#8220;I must congratulate myself upon my powers
+of narration.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aye!&#8221; replied Raikes, as he continued his examination of the flaming
+bauble, &#8220;and also upon your irritating habit of concluding at the
+anxious moment. But see here,&#8221; and he held the sapphire up to view; &#8220;I
+can see nothing wrong; possibly the light is bad. The searching glare of
+day is required to discover a blemish such as you speak of.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Suppose you return to-morrow, then, directly after breakfast?&#8221;
+suggested the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want your judgment. I dare not trust my own; my blindness may be
+voluntary.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, then,&#8221; assented Raikes, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_162" id="pg_162">162</a></span> now that he had nothing upon
+which to fasten his eyes, felt an easily comprehended uneasiness to
+leave the Sepoy. &#8220;I will be here at that time&#8221;; and with his customary
+emotionless adieux the guilty creature slipped through the doorway and
+speeded like a shriveled shadow along the various passages.</p>
+
+<p>As he was about to enter his room he was hailed by his nephew.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Uncle, you wanted to see me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True,&#8221; replied Raikes, with a start of recollection, &#8220;I do; but suppose
+we postpone the interview until to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; replied the young man easily, and Raikes, entering his
+room, fastened the door with his usual elaborate precaution.</p>
+
+<p>His first movement was to disclose the interior of the recess containing
+his coin and his conscience.</p>
+
+<p>A rapid examination convinced him that no further depredations had been
+committed upon the former, and the latter he secreted in the pocket of
+his waistcoat along with the diamond, which flashed its unregarded
+rebuke into his eager eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_163" id="pg_163">163</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At this juncture the singular drowsiness which had overtaken him so
+persistently in the past few days began to steep his dulling senses.</p>
+
+<p>Warned by its approach, Raikes began to put into execution a newly
+conceived plan of retiring for the night and effective vigil over his
+treasure-trove.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily drawing a chair before the radiator, and placing directly in
+front of that the table, from which with a savage sweep of the arm he
+swept the dull heap of coals rattling to the floor, Raikes established
+himself in the seat so provided and, leaning forward, awaited the final
+blandishments of the drowsiness which was not long in lulling him into
+that profound degree of slumber which is commonly supposed to be the
+reward of sound morals and Christian resignation.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>To be continued on Dickey No. 3, Series B.</i>)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>During the reading of this impossible helter-skelter of unrestrained
+imagination and composite style, the expression in the countenance of
+the listening woman had developed from<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_164" id="pg_164">164</a></span> its original sadness to an
+unmistakable geniality.</p>
+
+<p>The pensive droop of her lips, little by little, nestled away into a
+smiling seriousness, and when Dennis, confronted with the habitual
+conclusion in italics, looked up with a grimace of recognition, his
+glance was met by a pair of kindly blue eyes, in which he believed he
+traced a charming suggestion of unaffected good fellowship.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether unsuspected by himself, Dennis, with his intent, intelligent
+countenance, and the contrasting vivacity of his rich, Irish accent, had
+awakened an interest in the mind of his companion which months of adroit
+approach could not have achieved.</p>
+
+<p>His genuineness was unquestionable.</p>
+
+<p>His entire absorption in the story, his delightful and unconscious
+elimination of self, supplied this tired woman with elements of mental
+refreshment and genuine enjoyment which circumstances had compelled her
+to decide no longer existed.</p>
+
+<p>Encouraged, therefore, by this unmistakable interest and the amiable
+attitude of attention<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_165" id="pg_165">165</a></span> which Dennis, with characteristic ingenuousness,
+accepted as a tribute to the narrative, he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; isn&#8217;t it great, now? Did you ever hear such a tale as that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never did,&#8221; was the smiling reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; wasn&#8217;t that Raikes a div&mdash;a tight one, I mean?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was, indeed,&#8221; assented the lady, as she reviewed this sordid
+character and the incidents surrounding him, and contrasted the tumult
+of phrase and situation with her genial Addison and her placid Irving.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; would you like to hear the rest?&#8221; asked Dennis, as he produced the
+remaining bosom of Series B.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the lady, &#8220;I believe I would. But just a moment before
+you begin,&#8221; and regarding this oblivious young man with an expression in
+which a degree of speculation still lingered to tantalize its suggestion
+of frank indorsement, she hazarded:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not lived in New York long?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wondering at the acuteness of this observation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_166" id="pg_166">166</a></span> Dennis responded by
+according to her the exact time of his brief residence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the lady, &#8220;I thought so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I ask,&#8221; inquired Dennis, wondering if, like the visitor from the
+bucolic district, he supplied unconscious data in his appearance for
+classification, &#8220;may I ask how you are able to tell that I&#8217;m here for a
+short time only?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; returned his companion with a degree of hesitation exquisitely
+refined as it shadowed through her fine countenance, and which she
+presently conquered as she replied to his question with that shade of
+frankness which, in the well-bred, can never be mistaken for anything
+else: &#8220;It requires about a year&#8217;s residence in this bedlam to replace
+the genuine with the artificial; I see no evidence of such an unhappy
+transformation in you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I see,&#8221; responded Dennis. &#8220;An&#8217; you never will, either.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am almost prepared to believe that,&#8221; answered the lady with a
+reassuring cordiality which somehow indicated to this young man that she
+had already become convinced of more than she was willing to
+acknowledge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_167" id="pg_167">167</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may do so entirely,&#8221; said Dennis simply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, one question more,&#8221; continued his companion, &#8220;and do not consider
+me inquisitive, since I may have something to suggest to your advantage
+if your reply is satisfactory. What is your business?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis blushed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My business?&#8221; he repeated with a droll accent and an amusing grimace;
+and then, encouraged by the friendly invitation and subtle encouragement
+in the manner of his sweet-faced listener, with a straightforward
+recital which the lady had expected from him, and which advanced him
+several leagues in her estimation, Dennis recounted his experiences from
+the time of his arrival up to the present moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t much,&#8221; he concluded apologetically, &#8220;not anywhere as
+interesting as the dickey back; but it&#8217;s all there is, an&#8217; it&#8217;s true,
+every word.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is more than you suspect,&#8221; dissented his hearer. &#8220;You have enabled
+me to come to a decision, at least, and may help me to solve<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_168" id="pg_168">168</a></span> a vexed
+problem. In the meantime, let us finish the story. While you are reading
+my mind will clear; I will make my suggestion when you conclude.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wondering, and yet with a prompt confidence which conveyed an agreeable
+flattery which the cleverest diplomacy could not have achieved, Dennis,
+holding his absurd medium at a level which permitted him to receive the
+stimulation of a sympathetic glance now and then, began.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_169" id="pg_169">169</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII_3924" id="CHAPTER_VII_3924"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Considering the unaccustomed position in which Raikes had placed himself
+in arranging to retire the night before, he awoke with considerable
+astonishment to the realization that he had passed a night of
+undisturbed slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from a slight disposition to stretch his lean limbs unduly, and a
+feeling of insecurity attending his first efforts to stand, he was not
+aware of any inconvenience from his singular siesta.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after having re-established his creaking equilibrium and
+resumed his accustomed furtive regard of things, he was suddenly
+reminded by the shifted position of the furniture of the purpose of this
+makeshift barricade.</p>
+
+<p>At once the shuddering dread which had attended his recent visits to the
+secret recess returned with numbing chills and sinking spirit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_170" id="pg_170">170</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He advanced his bony hand, gnarled and mean with useless abstemiousness
+and miserable abnegations, and revolved the button in the concave. In
+response, the false register swung back; in another tense moment the
+inner space was revealed, and his treasury laid bare.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant, in the manner of an apprehensive child who postpones as
+long as possible some unwelcome confirmation, Raikes closed his eyes,
+and when he opened them again they rested, with unerring precision, upon
+a bag somewhat detached from the others, which protruded at its sides
+with those frightful points and angles with which he had become so
+unhappily familiar of late.</p>
+
+<p>With a smothered cry he sprang forward, gripped the bag in a trembling,
+faltering clutch, and dropped it with a groan to the floor, where it
+fell with a heart-breaking, distracting lightness, which, nevertheless,
+smote like a mighty weight upon his bursting heart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My God!&#8221; he cried, &#8220;this is incredible!&#8221; and the miserable creature
+stood for a moment with an appalling vacancy shadowing in his
+countenance, which was illumed for one fitful<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_171" id="pg_171">171</a></span> moment with a ray of hope
+as he inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket to assure himself that
+the diamond which he had placed in that receptacle the night before at
+least was safe.</p>
+
+<p>The diamond&mdash;ah, yes!</p>
+
+<p>There was still some consolation in that.</p>
+
+<p>Its value still maintained a close proportion to his loss. If there was
+no gain there was, at least, a sort of evil restitution.</p>
+
+<p>But his exploring fingers found only an empty pocket.</p>
+
+<p>In a palsy of fear, and with the demeanor of one who feels the first
+twinge of a mortal affliction and awaits in fearful silence the grewsome
+confirmation of another, he stood without sound or motion, his set,
+staring eyes directed with unseeing intensity upon the vacant air.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant, with feverish animation and impotent apprehension,
+five writhing fingers leaped from their futile search, like scotched
+reptiles, into the opposite pocket and withdrew the two useless keys
+with which he fastened his abortive latch on the door.</p>
+
+<p>And then, with a frightful glitter in his eyes, an ugly ooze about his
+bloodless lips, a flickering<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_172" id="pg_172">172</a></span> effort of his shriveled fingers to adjust
+themselves to some ribald rhythm, Raikes began to sing, with the dry
+rasp and ancient husk of a galvanized sphinx:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2em;">
+&#8220;And her name it was Dinah,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Scarce sixteen years old;<br />
+She&#8217;d a very large fortune<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;In greenbacks and gold.<br />
+Sing turi-li-luri&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Ha, ha! ha, ha!&#8221; and supporting himself along the wall he made his way
+slowly to the threshold, unfastened the locks, removed the heavy bar,
+opened the door, and cried out in a voice that was not human, that
+shuddered its way along the chill passage through the shrinking air:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Robert&mdash;Robert!&#8221; and then, reeling, stumbling toward a near-by chair,
+he fell ere he could reach it, in utter collapse to the floor, and lay
+there&mdash;shriveled, grotesque, in no way pathetic, in all points
+contemptible, as his nephew, in response to his uncle&#8217;s unearthly<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_173" id="pg_173">173</a></span>
+summons, rushed into the room, followed by the wide-eyed spinster.</p>
+
+<p>For three days during the week that followed Raikes lay oblivious to the
+considerations of loss or gain.</p>
+
+<p>The utmost of the young medical attendant, who had been selected on the
+basis of the small charges incident to a beginning practice, had failed
+to restore the emaciated man to his suspended consciousness, until,
+toward the morning of the fourth day, the spinster, who sat near-by in
+weary vigil, was startled to behold the dull eyes of her brother
+fastened upon her with the faraway, questioning look of one returning
+from the confines of the nether to the sharp realities of existence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rodman?&#8221; she inquired with anxious interrogation.</p>
+
+<p>In response the thin lips of the sufferer moved slowly.</p>
+
+<p>Approaching the bed, his sister, leaning over the unfortunate Raikes,
+heard him articulate with difficulty &#8220;Water!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Supporting his head with one hand, the spinster supplied his
+feebly-sighed request, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_174" id="pg_174">174</a></span> when the last difficult swallow conveyed the
+refreshing draught along his fevered throat, she restored his head to
+the pillow and awaited developments.</p>
+
+<p>As she sat at the bedside in an attitude of fearful expectation, it was
+evident that some transformation, more wholesome than subtle, had
+manifested itself in the mien and physique of his nurse.</p>
+
+<p>A large degree of her pitiful attenuity had vanished; a legible vestige
+of placid well-being seemed to have replaced the hunger of her eyes;
+there was a vague, unsubstantial promise of possible comeliness in the
+restoration of her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>Aware of these changes herself, and fearful lest her brother&#8217;s sharp
+eyes would discover them, the spinster recalled, with a sort of troubled
+gratification, the occasion of the improvement.</p>
+
+<p>Undisturbed by the rebuking glances of the abstemious Raikes, and
+secretly abetted by the amused Sepoy, the poor woman had enjoyed the
+privileges of the table with a relish and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_175" id="pg_175">175</a></span> surrender which had begun to
+result in the manner indicated.</p>
+
+<p>For several days previous to the catastrophe which had concluded in the
+prostration of her brother, the spinster had supplied the cravings of
+her appetite with a gusto that was a revelation to her, and which would
+have evoked a profound rebuke from the wretched creature on the bed.</p>
+
+<p>It was therefore with secret misgiving and a qualified delight she heard
+her brother at last call feebly: &#8220;Sarah!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In answer to the exhausted interrogation in his utterance of the name,
+his sister hastened to recount to him the incident of his collapse and
+his subsequent unconsciousness.</p>
+
+<p>Little by little his intelligence began to resume its abandoned
+functions, and at last he recalled the whole evil situation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Robert?&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will send him to you,&#8221; exclaimed his sister, and she hastened from
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, uncle!&#8221; exclaimed Robert as he entered with a cheerfulness he was
+far from feeling<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_176" id="pg_176">176</a></span> as he witnessed that emaciated countenance; &#8220;better, I
+see.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I congratulate you upon your imagination,&#8221; replied Raikes, with a
+feeble attempt at his customary incivility; &#8220;but lock the door and
+listen to me carefully.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>These instructions complied with, Robert seated himself in the chair
+just vacated by the spinster, which provided his uncle an unobstructed
+view of the embonpoint and general aspect of well-being which were so
+obnoxious to the singular man on the bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the first place,&#8221; resumed Raikes weakly, &#8220;move the bed around so
+that I can see the register in the wall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The wondering Robert did as he was ordered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take hold of the button that moves the valves and pull it toward you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Robert followed these instructions minutely, and to his astonishment and
+the miser&#8217;s consternation the radiator itself swung away from the wall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; cried the startled invalid as he beheld this confirmation of his
+fear that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_177" id="pg_177">177</a></span> neglected to spring the catch that held the radiator
+on the occasion of the mishap which resulted in his confinement to the
+bed, &#8220;Look within. Is the inner compartment closed?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; replied Robert.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My God!&#8221; groaned Raikes as he realized that his treasury had been thus
+unguarded during his illness. &#8220;Tell me how many bags there are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Robert removed them one by one, and deposited them on the table.</p>
+
+<p>As the miser followed the movements of his nephew with anxious notation,
+a sigh of unutterable relief welled from the innermost depths of his
+bosom.</p>
+
+<p>The bags had been untouched!</p>
+
+<p>There was no further loss, and the clinking weight assured him that his
+nocturnal visitor had made no more of his gross substitutions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Robert,&#8221; said Raikes with laborious amiability, as his
+astonished nephew seated himself near the bedside, &#8220;it has been my
+purpose to conceal this hiding place from any living soul, but I find
+that I have not succeeded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_178" id="pg_178">178</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some one has made three visits to that recess and helped himself to as
+many bags of coin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Robert, remembering his uncle&#8217;s well-known secrecy and the unusual
+precautions taken by him to secure his room from intrusion, looked his
+incredulity, which stimulated Raikes into exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, but you do not know how incredible it is. Wait until you hear all.
+You will wonder what human agency could penetrate these locks, open the
+doors of this hiding place, extract the plunder, restore the locks to
+their original condition, and re-issue into the passageway without
+disturbing the latches or the crossbar. My losses are supernatural. Now
+follow me carefully and confess that you have not heard anything so
+ghastly, so unreal as what I am about to relate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As Raikes proceeded in his narrative, his nephew was at first inclined
+to receive these weird confidences as features of the unhappy man&#8217;s
+condition, but as the latter progressed, with a constantly increasing
+degree of his customary<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_179" id="pg_179">179</a></span> emotionless lucidity, his sincerity became
+apparent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; concluded Raikes, &#8220;what have you to say to all this? Is it
+not worthy of a Poe or a Maupassant? I tell you, I must have some
+explanation of this mystery or I shall go mad.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>During this singular recital the young man&#8217;s mind, stimulated by the
+eerie perplexities and the unhappy d&eacute;nouement, had been busy.</p>
+
+<p>It was not difficult to convince himself of the futility of any of his
+own speculations; the nearness of the calamity affected him, in a
+degree, as it did the withered invalid.</p>
+
+<p>He had a sound brain, nourished by a well sustained body; his
+intelligence was apt and rapid, but these unheard-of complications
+demanded a morbid analysis of which he was incapable.</p>
+
+<p>On this basis, however, as his uncle had proceeded, Robert had been able
+to develop a suggestion; he could offer that, at least.</p>
+
+<p>In reply, therefore, to the feverish questions of his uncle, the young
+man said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In so far as I am able to see, your disasters<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_180" id="pg_180">180</a></span> have narrowed your range
+of discernment. They are too recent; they affect you too nearly. Under
+such conditions we take counsel of our prejudices instead of our
+judgment. Your thoughts are apt to return to the central feature of your
+loss. It is not natural to expect one to dismiss such a consideration in
+order to make way for others which might help you in your search.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On my part, the incident is new and stimulating, but the ideas it
+awakens lead to nothing. However, I should not regard the case as
+impossible until I had tried at least one means of solution.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is that?&#8221; demanded Raikes, diverted, if not convinced, by the
+sensible observations of his nephew.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have heard of Gratz?&#8221; inquired Robert.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of the secret service?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; cried the old man; &#8220;to submit the case to him means another in the
+secret, with little prospect of advantage.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_181" id="pg_181">181</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not so sure about that,&#8221; returned Robert. &#8220;Do you recall the
+Dupont mystery?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; continued Robert, &#8220;you must also remember the Belmont scandal.
+Gratz certainly let daylight into that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah,&#8221; cried Raikes, &#8220;I do not like your suggestions; they encourage me
+and alarm me at the same time. Think of the cost.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Irritated at the intrusion of this frugal proviso at this juncture,
+Robert exclaimed with some warmth: &#8220;Yes, but think, also, how
+insignificant that would be if he discovered the thief and recovered the
+money.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If&mdash;if&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; repeated Raikes with impatience.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I can say this,&#8221; continued Robert: &#8220;It is the ambition of Gratz to
+be appointed chief of the bureau to which he belongs. Whatever can be
+placed to his credit in the meantime will serve as an additional reason
+for his advancement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe that he would be more persuaded to undertake the case with
+this prospect in view than for a mercenary reason.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_182" id="pg_182">182</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; interrupted Raikes, &#8220;can you get him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think I can answer for that,&#8221; replied Robert. &#8220;I know him very well.
+If you will consent to leave the matter in my hands, I will attend to
+Gratz.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; exclaimed Raikes, as Robert concluded, &#8220;have it your own way;
+anything is better than this killing suspense. I do not believe that I
+could endure a repetition of the incidents of the last few nights. But
+return the bags before you go, and shut the radiator; it will lock in
+closing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>When Robert at last reached the dining-room he discovered his aunt at
+the table, seated opposite the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>Instructing the spinster to resume her vigil until his return, Robert
+proceeded to his own table, and from that point of observation occupied
+himself, during the next twenty minutes, partly with his breakfast and
+partly in regarding this illy-assorted duet.</p>
+
+<p>The Sepoy was as gravely urbane as ever; his browns and blacks
+intermingled harmoniously; his eyes were bright; his teeth still<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_183" id="pg_183">183</a></span>
+suggestive of restrained sarcasm in their dull, red sheaths, as, with
+grave courtesy, he made himself agreeable to his companion by abetting
+her newly-awakened appetite with recommendations of the steak and
+eulogies of the butter.</p>
+
+<p>The spinster was no longer ravenous; the advantages she had enjoyed
+during the absence of her domestic Argus had made her cravings more
+equable, and she accepted the edible suggestions of the Sepoy with an
+approach to placid satisfaction that hinted at the imminence of
+repletion.</p>
+
+<p>This disposition to make the most of her privileges, with what composure
+she could assume, would have added the basis of a serious relapse on the
+part of the invalid could he have witnessed the phenomenon.</p>
+
+<p>It was remarkable how promptly the poor creature evinced the effects of
+her nourishment.</p>
+
+<p>Beginning, as already indicated, with a logical indigestion, she
+progressed to the point of a possible filling out of the crevices of her
+countenance, and her eyes certainly had lost the expression of appeal
+characteristic of the mendicant in the doorway.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_184" id="pg_184">184</a></span></p>
+
+<p>All this, minutely noted by her watchful nephew, was thoroughly enjoyed
+with a sort of chuckling collusion and vicarious gratification.</p>
+
+<p>On her return to the invalid she was requested by him to provide
+whatever nourishment was needed, and then to leave him alone for a
+couple of hours.</p>
+
+<p>These instructions fulfilled, the spinster sought the retirement of her
+room, surrendered herself to the enjoyment of reminiscent digestion, and
+Raikes began to pull himself together.</p>
+
+<p>His method was characteristic.</p>
+
+<p>On the basis that he could not afford to enjoy himself like any normally
+constituted being, he assured his mind that he could not submit to the
+expense of illness.</p>
+
+<p>According to his rigid logic, sickness was more the result of indulgence
+than self-denial.</p>
+
+<p>He proposed to have the credit of his abnegations.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore he directed his perverse will to the contemplation of the
+rational aspect of his condition, and presently had managed to convince
+himself that if he did not entertain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_185" id="pg_185">185</a></span> belief of suffering, this
+untoward condition would cease to exist.</p>
+
+<p>As this singular being combatted all that was unwelcome to this point of
+view, the grim lines tightened about the corners of his mouth, the deep
+fissures in his forehead established a communication with the obstinate
+wrinkles at the root of his nose, and by noon he was well on his way to
+the mastery of his indisposition, and by nightfall he scandalized the
+young medical attendant by standing up to receive him.</p>
+
+<p>Extending to himself a chuckling tribute of his resolution, he received
+the incredulity of his nephew as additional indorsement when the latter
+made his appearance that evening, accompanied by the colorless negation
+of a man whom he could scarcely persuade himself to believe was the
+celebrated Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>However, no more ideal countenance could have been created for the
+purposes to which it was applied by its owner.</p>
+
+<p>Pallid, expressionless, vacant, it was as nearly a canvas upon which to
+delineate almost anything in the range of emotion as it was possible for
+a visage of flesh and blood to be.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_186" id="pg_186">186</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As to the details of features, these were altogether subordinate, and as
+devoid of physiognomical meaning as the dull integument which
+encompassed them.</p>
+
+<p>It had about the same amount of character as a bald baby.</p>
+
+<p>One received the impression that a seismic disturbance might awaken some
+show of emotion, but design&mdash;never.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, behind that pale disguise, between sleepy, level lids, two
+points of concentrated fire and ceaseless animation gleamed their
+startling significance to any one able to comprehend.</p>
+
+<p>In stature he was adjusted to his visage.</p>
+
+<p>His frame was lean enough to repudiate the incredible agility and
+recuperative strength it housed, and his carriage was consistently &#8220;out
+of plumb.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Altogether it was an identity that would have been overlooked in any
+gathering, and was almost nondescript enough to establish an eligibility
+to the most exclusive function.</p>
+
+<p>This unpromising ensemble, however, was not misleading to Raikes, who
+had looked up<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_187" id="pg_187">187</a></span> quickly at the first appearance of the detective, and had
+seen the sharp, penetrating glance with which Gratz had for an instant
+surveyed the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the very leanness of the famous official appealed to him.</p>
+
+<p>Here, at least, were none of the obnoxious evidences of repletion which
+he viewed with such disapprobation in his sturdier nephew.</p>
+
+<p>The man&#8217;s attire, too, commended him to the starved graces of his spare
+host. It was as characterless as it was possible for fabric to be, and
+considered with his meager physique and vacant physiognomy, was a
+fitting complement to both; an adjustment of component detail too
+consistent to have been the needless aspect it was designed to present.</p>
+
+<p>With a voice in which the character had been trained away as surely as
+the charity from the opinions of the social &eacute;lite, this descendant of
+Lecocq accosted his patron, and with business-like brevity indicated
+that he was already familiar with the situation as outlined by Robert,
+and if Mr. Raikes would consent to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_188" id="pg_188">188</a></span> reply to a few questions it would
+facilitate matters.</p>
+
+<p>His hearer indicated that he was entirely at the disposal of the
+detective.</p>
+
+<p>With characteristic concentration, therefore, Gratz began:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you suspect anybody in particular?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is singular,&#8221; commented Gratz. &#8220;May I ask why? Under such
+circumstances the mind generally proceeds in some unhappy direction.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not in this instance,&#8221; returned Raikes. &#8220;Before I suspect any one, I
+must assign to him supernatural powers, almost. I will have to explain
+how it is possible for any one to enter this room, penetrate that
+recess, make the substitution, and retire, leaving the door in the same
+condition, precisely as left by me the night before.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is the point,&#8221; replied Gratz. Then, after a moment&#8217;s reflection,
+he inquired: &#8220;Am I at liberty to nose around this room?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Help yourself,&#8221; answered Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>With this assent, Gratz hurried to the window,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_189" id="pg_189">189</a></span> examined the sash,
+considered the sheer depths immediately below, its lack of vicinity to
+other windows, and last, the strong fastenings, to disturb which would
+involve a degree of rasp and wrench sufficient to disturb the slumbers
+of a Rip Van Winkle.</p>
+
+<p>With a countenance as impassive as ever, he returned to Raikes and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now for the hiding place.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a grimace of reluctant acquiescence, Raikes, closely regarded by
+the detective, proceeded to the button in the concave, which he moved
+with slow manipulation for the edification of the alert watcher, who
+witnessed, without comment, the displacement of the register and the
+subsequent revelation of the inner compartment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Remove the bags.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of this labor, this impenetrable being produced a
+small rod of steel from one of his pockets, one end of which concluded
+in a round knob.</p>
+
+<p>With this he proceeded to rap the walls of the inner recess, a
+proceeding of which Raikes inquired the purpose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_190" id="pg_190">190</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want to ascertain,&#8221; replied Gratz, &#8220;if there is any vacancy on the
+other side.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I could have saved you all that trouble,&#8221; replied Raikes. &#8220;This is a
+false radiator, the real flue is on the other side of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The rear of this small safe backs up against nearly two feet of solid
+brickwork.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Exactly behind that is a room occupied by one no more burglarious than
+a dressmaker&#8217;s apprentice.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; replied Gratz. &#8220;Your information is helpful, but I am never
+satisfied to rely upon description when investigation is possible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whatever deductions I make from this examination I do not want
+disturbed, so all the doubts they dissipate are not likely to intrude
+upon my calculations again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After a few further taps, in which Raikes could see no better purpose
+than to retire from an embarrassing position with some show of satisfied
+motive, Gratz directed that the bags be returned.</p>
+
+<p>For the next few minutes he busied himself with the locks, upon which he
+experimented<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_191" id="pg_191">191</a></span> with the extraordinary keys which Raikes had given him. He
+shot the bolts backward and forward; noted the stout bar and the
+precautions for keeping it in place, and then resumed the seat near the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me what has occurred to you between sunrise and sunset during the
+last three days.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes recounted his usual round of petty detail, which had no possible
+bearing upon the problem.</p>
+
+<p>When he had concluded this meager r&eacute;sum&eacute;, Gratz continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now tell me about the nights.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes complied with a statement of his careful precautions; the watch
+of his sister upon the doorway during his absence, and his visits to the
+room of the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Sepoy?&#8221; inquired Gratz. &#8220;Why do you call him that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On account of his swarthy complexion, his bright eyes, and his general
+alien aspect,&#8221; replied Robert.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Describe him to me as carefully as you can,&#8221; said Gratz.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_192" id="pg_192">192</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Robert had concluded his brief delineation, Raikes hastened to
+inquire: &#8220;Why do you ask about him so particularly? He could no more
+enter my room, under the conditions I have described to you, than you
+could.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I realize that,&#8221; admitted the detective, &#8220;but I gather from what you
+have just said that you visit this Sepoy, as you call him, with some
+degree of regularity. May I ask if you have business transactions with
+him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have not,&#8221; replied Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>Then, in response to the unchanging look of inquiry in the countenance
+of the detective, he added:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Sepoy has been telling me an extraordinary story. It has been too
+elaborate to confine to one sitting, and my purpose in re-visiting him
+was to get at the conclusion. It is most interesting, and apparently
+interminable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would you object to relating it to me?&#8221; inquired Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heavens!&#8221; cried Raikes, aghast at the prospect of the extended effort
+which this would impose upon him. &#8220;Is it necessary?&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_193" id="pg_193">193</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would not be surprised,&#8221; replied Gratz. &#8220;At any rate, if your story
+is more mysterious than the predicament which confronts us, it must be
+worth hearing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With an ill grace, after making the elaborate arrangements which usually
+precede a protracted campaign, Raikes hastened to comply with the
+request of the detective.</p>
+
+<p>As he proceeded, he was startled to note, now that he made his first
+conscious effort to review the weird recital of the Sepoy, just how
+vividly the incidents presented themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from the phraseology, he recounted, in precise order, the
+incredible incidents, and by the time he had reached the climax in the
+first division of his effort his hearers were interested enough to
+hasten through a light meal, which, at the suggestion of Gratz, had been
+sent to the room they occupied.</p>
+
+<p>With something of the calculation of the Sepoy, or remembering, perhaps,
+the effect which his abrupt terminations had upon him, Raikes contrived
+his irritating pauses with remorseless enjoyment and the ostensible
+purpose<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_194" id="pg_194">194</a></span> of stimulating his sorely taxed energies with draughts of
+brandy and water.</p>
+
+<p>In this way Raikes consumed the time until the hour of eleven, which
+enabled him to develop the narrative to the point at which the Sepoy had
+concluded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; exclaimed Raikes with unmistakable relief, as he signified
+that his hearers were in possession of all he knew, &#8220;and now will you
+kindly tell me what you expect to gain by this tedious task you have
+imposed upon me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Gratz did not reply at once, but after a few moments of reflection, he
+asked, apparently ignoring the question of the narrator: &#8220;Will you give
+me the keys of this building you occupy, and indicate to me the means of
+rummaging about the other building on the opposite side of the wall?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it is necessary,&#8221; replied Raikes with grudging assent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why else should I make the request?&#8221; suggested Gratz with emotionless
+directness of speech and a momentary gleam of the eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True!&#8221; responded Raikes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_195" id="pg_195">195</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; exclaimed Gratz, when the various keys were placed in his hand,
+&#8220;you can sleep in peace to-night, and bolt your doors with all the
+assurance in the world, for I guarantee that your property will be
+undisturbed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then turning to Robert, he said: &#8220;I want you to guide me for a short
+while, and as soon as I get my bearings you can retire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this the two bade the thoroughly exhausted Raikes good-night and
+departed from the room, which the miser hastily secured with his usual
+precautions.</p>
+
+<p>Without, Robert soon discovered that his services were no longer
+required, and at the suggestion of the detective he retired, after
+indicating to this curious official that when he had concluded his
+investigations he would find a cot in his room which he was at liberty
+to occupy.</p>
+
+<p>As dawn began to make its appearance on the ensuing morning, Robert was
+disturbed by a curious dream.</p>
+
+<p>He appeared to be alone upon a fragile raft in the midst of a
+destructive sea.</p>
+
+<p>Bit by bit the hastily joined structure upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_196" id="pg_196">196</a></span> which he rode the waters
+so insecurely began to disintegrate, until but one scarcely sufficing
+plank remained.</p>
+
+<p>To this, however, he clung with rapidly failing strength, shouting at
+intervals with what vim remained, in an attempt to attract the attention
+of the keepers of the light, not far away.</p>
+
+<p>But with devilish perversity, an immense fog-horn sent forth a heavy
+blast seaward precisely at the moments he raised his voice.</p>
+
+<p>No matter how far apart or how near he planned the intervals, he was
+bound to coincide with the deafening horn.</p>
+
+<p>At last in despair he desisted in his efforts, and the monster horn,
+with hoarse mockery, continued its grewsome noises at dismal intervals,
+until one, more stentorian than the others, caused the very tempest to
+hush, and Robert awoke to discover Gratz the cause of his fictitious
+misery, sleeping upon the cot near the foot of his bed, emitting a
+series of snores which had managed to communicate their odious telepathy
+to his slumbering consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>As this singular being lay there in the relaxation<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_197" id="pg_197">197</a></span> and undisguise to
+which the most diplomatic must submit at times, his countenance, so
+impassive in his wakeful hours, depicted singular lines of
+determination.</p>
+
+<p>An expression of tense anxiety contracted his features; resolution held
+the thin lips in rigid partnership; there was a hint of purpose in the
+solitary wrinkle which corrugated his forehead; the general aspect was
+impressive, its suggestion indefatigable.</p>
+
+<p>In this paradoxical fashion, the emotions, concealed during the day,
+revealed themselves at night.</p>
+
+<p>What in others would have concluded in a vacant mien and colorless
+repose, in him expressed all that he was so sedulous to conceal.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had Robert placed his feet upon the floor when Gratz opened his
+eyes, awakened partly by the sounds of rising and partly by his tumult
+of snores, and in an instant the flaccid mask descended over his face,
+and Gratz was his apathetic self again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; inquired Robert.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have said it,&#8221; replied Gratz; &#8220;it is well.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_198" id="pg_198">198</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have succeeded, then?&#8221; demanded Robert breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe so; but do not question me further just now. I want to see
+your uncle before I go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later the two presented themselves before the closed door
+leading to the apartment occupied by Raikes, whom they fancied they
+could hear stirring about within.</p>
+
+<p>In answer to their raps, he opened the door and they entered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What news?&#8221; demanded Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The best, I hope; but I will not communicate it to you until to-morrow
+morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed Raikes with manifest disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; continued Gratz, as he noted the expression on the face of the
+other, &#8220;at that time I fancy that I shall not only have solved the
+mystery but I will also secure the thief.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know him, then?&#8221; asked Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are wrong,&#8221; replied Gratz. &#8220;Unless I am seriously mistaken, there
+are two.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Two!&#8221; repeated Raikes incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;but listen: I am anxious to hear the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_199" id="pg_199">199</a></span> conclusion of that
+remarkable story you began last night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; objected Raikes, &#8220;I have already told you all I know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am aware of that,&#8221; answered the detective, &#8220;but your friend, the
+Sepoy, will doubtless oblige you with the balance. Arrange with him at
+breakfast-time for a continuation. I will return either to-night or
+to-morrow morning to hear it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; began Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not refuse to do as I ask,&#8221; urged Gratz impressively. &#8220;It may be
+useful; I&#8217;m inclined to think it will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; answered Raikes. &#8220;I will do as you suggest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And,&#8221; continued Gratz, &#8220;I need not assure you that if a living soul
+learns of my presence here last night, I can do nothing for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I understand,&#8221; said Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I,&#8221; added Robert.</p>
+
+<p>With this Gratz departed, and Raikes prepared to make his appearance in
+the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>Advised of the intention of her brother to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_200" id="pg_200">200</a></span> breakfast at the table, the
+spinster had hastened to precede him, and by the time Raikes presented
+himself she had managed to bestow a couple of furtive biscuits in her
+pocket, and had devoured another couple, lavishly buttered, accompanied
+by a fairly liberal cut of beefsteak.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently, when Raikes conveyed his customary intimation that she was
+at liberty to begin, the spinster obediently proceeded to add a moderate
+breakfast to the one she had already enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>Trembling lest her brother would remark the developing suggestions of
+well-being which had resulted from her recent regimen, she welcomed with
+genuine relief the advent of the Sepoy, to whom Raikes transferred his
+speculative glance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221; exclaimed the Sepoy, &#8220;you have had quite a siege, I hear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have,&#8221; replied Raikes shortly; then added with a sort of grim humor:
+&#8220;My physician has recommended a little diversion, and I have just
+thought of a simple way of following his advice.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_201" id="pg_201">201</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is that?&#8221; asked the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would like to present myself at the usual hour and hear the
+conclusion of the story, for I judge, from the predicament of Prince
+Otondo, that the end is not far off.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, you remember?&#8221; exclaimed the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Decidedly!&#8221; replied Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, then,&#8221; returned the other. &#8220;Come at ten and I will gather
+the tangled threads together.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>During the balance of that day Raikes devoted his powers of
+concentration to the consummation of the treatment to which he had
+subjected himself, and this, together with the prospect of the recovery
+of his property, resulted in a condition which made the visits of the
+astonished physician no longer necessary.</p>
+
+<p>With an eagerness intensified to a childish impatience, almost, by the
+vague suggestions of Gratz that the story would be personally
+interesting, and exhausting his mind with futile speculations as to the
+manner of its application to the unnatural conditions which distressed
+him so, Raikes at last concluded his contemplation of the clock, and
+promptly upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_202" id="pg_202">202</a></span> the stroke of ten, hastened from his room and hurried to
+the apartment occupied by the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>Seating himself in the chair indicated by his host, he shortly found
+that he was unable to avoid recalling his recent guilty appropriation of
+the diamond, and a degree of confusion, which he could not entirely
+disguise, manifested itself in his difficulty of adjusting his eyes to
+the inscrutable gaze of the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>On this occasion the narrator, as hitherto, did not provide his auditor
+with a brilliant to look upon during the progress of the story&mdash;an
+omission that was radiantly repaired by the two lambent gems in the eyes
+of the former.</p>
+
+<p>Upon these the shifting gaze of the restless listener finally fastened
+itself with a fascination which he found it impossible to resist, and
+the Sepoy, with all the modulated lights and shadows of ardor,
+animation, lethargy, somnolence, peace, with which he complemented his
+sedative phrases, began:</p>
+
+<p>(<i>The conclusion of this interesting tale will be found on Bosom No</i>. 1,
+<i>Dickey Series C</i>.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_203" id="pg_203">203</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As Dennis looked up from his reading, a pair of eyes of unclouded blue,
+vivid with interest and altogether friendly, met his animated glance.</p>
+
+<p>With alert intuition his sweet-faced auditor believed that she
+discovered a shadow of vexation in the ingenuous countenance of the
+reader.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>To Dennis, in his absorption, it seemed impossible that the question
+could refer to anything else than the habitual disability at the end of
+each chapter, and he answered promptly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Tis the way the dickey ends&mdash;to be concluded in Series C&mdash;an&#8217; it&#8217;s me
+here an&#8217; Series C in Baxter Street, so I can&#8217;t read the rest; it&#8217;s too
+bad, so it is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So it is,&#8221; repeated the lady softly, with a dexterous parody of his
+concluding words, but with a subtle intimation in her manner that she
+did not consider the inconvenient termination such a misfortune, after
+all, and that it somehow suggested an alternative that was not
+displeasing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_204" id="pg_204">204</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you want to hear the rest?&#8221; asked Dennis frankly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do, indeed,&#8221; replied his companion with an adroitly conveyed
+insinuation of disappointed expectation that seemed to place the
+responsibility of measuring to this agreeable emergency entirely upon
+Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>The same degree of sensitiveness which leaves an Irishman so open to
+offense, enables him, with equal celerity, to comprehend a hint, and
+Dennis, when he realized that the lady understood that the continuation
+of the tale involved a subsequent reading, exclaimed, with a delicious
+paraphrase of Sancho Panza: &#8220;God bless the man who first invented
+&#8216;<i>Continued in our next!</i>&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Presently the one certain that her telepathy had not miscarried, and the
+other equally convinced that his reception of the message was accredited
+to him, the conversation was given an abrupt direction by an apparently
+alien question:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know anything about flowers?&#8221; asked his companion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only the difference between a rose and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_205" id="pg_205">205</a></span> cauliflower,&#8221; replied Dennis
+with a twinkle in his eye, to which the lady responded with a shade of
+disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; why flowers?&#8221; asked Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen!&#8221; answered the lady with a slight return of her original
+sadness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Eleven months ago I was left a widow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My husband&#8217;s estate consisted of a moderate amount of life insurance, a
+prosperous business, and no debts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was a florist.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The establishment is located in the heart of a very fashionable
+district.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There has scarcely been a function of the &eacute;lite in this section which
+my husband has not supplied with floral decorations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His taste was exquisite, and his taste was his undoing, for he added
+refinement to refinement until he began to lose sight of the practical
+side of existence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By degrees he became as attenuated as some of the tendrils he
+cultivated with such absorption, and as frail as an orchid.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The intrusion of a pronounced scent was sufficient to induce a serious
+nervous disturbance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_206" id="pg_206">206</a></span> and he could no more endure disproportionate and
+sharp distinctions of color than a lapidary could tolerate a serious
+unevenness of facets.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was compelled to paper his room with a delicate shade of lavender.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The furniture was stained a light buff, and the upholstering was a
+delicate cretonne livened by exquisite tracings of wisteria.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The carpet was light blue, surrounded by a border of deeper blue,
+lightly emphasized by suggestions of trailing arbutus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Despite all this,&#8221; continued the lady sadly as she paused to enjoy an
+intentness of interest on the part of the bewildered Dennis, so profound
+that the dickey backs had been permitted to fall unregarded to the
+ground, and their printed extravagances, by contrast with this unusual
+recital, relegated to the most prosaic of occurrences, &#8220;despite all
+these precautions, the most carefully guarded recesses are not entirely
+secure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For one day an elaborately protected package arrived during my absence,
+and my husband opened it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_207" id="pg_207">207</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once a pungent, overpowering sweetness filled the air, and the very
+surfeit of its fragrance threw my husband into a convulsion of delight
+which ended in a stupor so replete that we were able only to restore the
+poor man to consciousness by hypodermics of&mdash;what was to him a most
+violent stimulant&mdash;Cambric Tea.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis looked his astonishment at these accumulating refinements, and in
+the pause that followed the narration of this last episode he inquired,
+with the appreciative hesitation of one who is reluctant to advance lest
+he destroy the dew-gemmed tracery of a fragile spider&#8217;s web.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; what kind of flowers did all this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cape Jessamine,&#8221; replied the lady; &#8220;and we were never able to discover
+who sent them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His physicians claimed that his disorder was paralleled by similar
+disturbances instanced in pathological records, but that the
+contributing causes were different and that my husband&#8217;s particular
+debility was not induced by his devotion to flowers but aggravated by
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To further complicate matters, the physician assured me that to deprive
+the invalid of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_208" id="pg_208">208</a></span> his floral diversions would be to remove his remaining
+impulse to continued existence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He went on to say that he had reached the limit of his skill, and that
+nothing further was to be done than to surround the sufferer with placid
+considerations and neutral odors, and intimated that he disliked to
+contemplate the possible result of a second contact with Cape Jessamine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a short time it became evident that I possessed merely the essence
+of a husband, and one day, as he wafted&mdash;that&#8217;s the word, for his step
+seemed to be almost devoid of specific gravity&mdash;so I repeat, one day, as
+he wafted to the room in which he usually experimented with his floral
+attenuations, I happened to be engaged in the dwelling adjoining the
+conservatory and into which it opened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Presently, my duties concluded, I proceeded in the direction taken by
+my husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As I advanced I grew momently conscious of a ravishing fragrance which
+seemed to pervade and invite the consciousness to all varieties of
+agreeable surrender.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_209" id="pg_209">209</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&mdash;in a moment I recognized this pungent delight: Cape Jessamine!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Aware of the consequences to him should he inhale anything so
+transporting, I hastened forward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The fragrance grew stronger as I hurried on. It seemed to envelop every
+delicate, fainting scent in the conservatory, and as I placed my hand
+upon the door-latch leading to the section where I was positive my
+husband would be found, I knew that I had traced the occasion to its
+source.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In another second I had opened the door, and there, a few feet away,
+lay my unfortunate husband.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hurried to his side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His countenance, which exhibited that singular placidity which
+sometimes comes with death, was as serene as a lily, and gave no
+evidence of the convulsion that must have ensued.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was dead.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All about him, distributed with devilish malignity and criminal intent,
+were various clusters of the flowers that had transported him,
+literally.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_210" id="pg_210">210</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My God!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis. &#8220;What a situation!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it?&#8221; exclaimed the widow. &#8220;It almost equals the story on the
+dickeys.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Equals!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis with profound conviction. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know that
+I care to read the balance of the story after this. Do you know the
+guilty party?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; answered the widow; &#8220;but you can judge for yourself as I
+proceed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now follow me closely.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was no need of this advice, for Dennis would not have missed a
+word for the world, and gazed upon the sweet-faced narrator with a sort
+of superstitious admiration as she continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Since his death the patronage is larger than ever.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I now find myself confronted with what is equivalent to an
+embarrassment of riches on the one hand, and a famine of intelligent
+help on the other.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this statement Dennis attempted not to appear too deeply interested.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I employ a manager, the one we have always<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_211" id="pg_211">211</a></span> had, who desires to become
+a partner in the business; but his proposition is handicapped by the
+character of the consideration he is willing to offer for such an
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In other words, he considers that a proposal of marriage is an
+equivalent for any financial objection I may suggest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Despite his efforts, Dennis looked troubled.</p>
+
+<p>The lady smiled and continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I received this proposition two months since. Its suddenness surprised
+a plan which I have been perfecting for a long time.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In order to avoid any interruption to my purposes, I permitted the
+manager to believe that I was impressed with his offer, but desired a
+little time for consideration.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; true, now,&#8221; asked Dennis with genuine Irish impulse, &#8220;an&#8217; true,
+now, were you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady smiled again. &#8220;Wait,&#8221; she urged, &#8220;you shall see.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have never trusted this man. He is not only personally obnoxious to
+me, but I fear that I cannot rely upon his business integrity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Little by little, I have gathered together the threads of the business,
+and I now have a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_212" id="pg_212">212</a></span> strong legal grip upon the situation, which enables me
+to decline this alliance with no possible jeopardy to the property.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But one consideration restrains me: I need a man of enterprise and
+address to succeed him. And now,&#8221; she added with a simple, business-like
+directness, &#8220;I have a suggestion to offer:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You ransack Baxter Street to-morrow for Dickey Series C, and come with
+it to this address,&#8221; and she placed a small card in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can reach the end of the story, in which I am exceedingly
+interested, and when we have set our minds at rest on that point, I will
+give myself the pleasure of listening to whatever recommendations you
+may offer as to your fitness to take the place of the retiring
+management.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis as he went through an absurd pantomime of
+punching himself, &#8220;an&#8217; is it awake you are, Dennis Muldoon?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this the lady, with a cordial smile, indicated that the interview was
+at an end, and as she turned to depart, said: &#8220;You will come, then,
+to-morrow night?&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_213" id="pg_213">213</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And Dennis, hat in hand, with an unmistakable deference of attitude and
+demeanor, cheerily responded with a query that required no further
+answer than a rosy acknowledgment:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will a duck swim?&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_214" id="pg_214">214</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII_4973" id="CHAPTER_VIII_4973"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the succeeding morning it seemed to the foreman of the shipping
+department of the publishers that his new marker did not manifest the
+same enthusiasm for his work which had distinguished his earlier
+efforts.</p>
+
+<p>It looked to him as if Dennis handled his paint-brush with the mien of
+one who considered his occupation a diversion rather than a means of
+livelihood.</p>
+
+<p>As the day advanced and Dennis located an &#8220;e&#8221; in the spot designed for
+an &#8220;i,&#8221; and concluded an address with Detroit in place of Duluth, the
+foreman was more than ever convinced that something was wrong, and asked
+the young man if he was not feeling well.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sure!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis, a degree too cheerily, the foreman thought, in
+view of his delinquencies with the brush, &#8220;sure; but why do you ask?&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_215" id="pg_215">215</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; returned the foreman, &#8220;iv&#8217;ry thing&#8217;s wid you this mornin&#8217; but
+yure head,&#8221; and he pointed out several blunders which Dennis had made.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sure, an&#8217; I&#8217;m sorry for that,&#8221; he said with blushing contriteness; &#8220;it
+will not happen again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The foreman, however, had told the truth only in part, for Dennis had
+left not only his head behind him, but a considerable portion of his
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>All day he continued to think about the sweet-faced woman who had
+listened with such gratifying attention to the story, and more than
+once, in his agreeable preoccupation, had he noted an impulse to
+substitute the address she had provided for the one demanded by the
+shipping invoices.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To-night at eight,&#8221; he repeated to himself over and over, like the
+refrain of a popular ballad, invariably concluding, by way of chorus:
+&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;ll be there; oh, I&#8217;ll be there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, as soon as his day&#8217;s duties were over, Dennis speeded to
+Baxter Street in search of Dickey Series C.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_216" id="pg_216">216</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After a foray in a half dozen separate establishments, where neckties,
+collars and all the accessories were offered in place of what he
+required, he succeeded at last in securing the missing series.</p>
+
+<p>At The Stag he was so full of emotion and anticipation that there was
+little room for such a substantial consideration as supper, so,
+dismissing that he proceeded to his room, and after indulging in the
+luxury of one of the few genuine shirts which remained to him, he
+anticipated his appointment a half hour by boarding the elevated, which
+carried him shortly to a point within three blocks of his destination.</p>
+
+<p>In order that he might not appear too anxious or come into a premature
+collision with social usage, Dennis obliged himself to walk slowly in
+the vicinity indicated by the address.</p>
+
+<p>The general aspect of his immediate surroundings looked promising and
+offered a comfortable assurance that his visit would not introduce him
+to a disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>At last, from the opposite side of the street, he was able to measure,
+with an approving<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_217" id="pg_217">217</a></span> glance, a prepossessing dwelling of four stories and
+a mansard.</p>
+
+<p>The front was of brown stone and differed but little from its neighbors,
+but to Dennis it seemed that it possessed an identity which was largely
+the recollection of the lingering presence of its owner.</p>
+
+<p>Directly alongside, a large conservatory extended rearward an indefinite
+length.</p>
+
+<p>The glittering front was picturesque with clusters of ingeniously
+disposed electric lights within, which revealed to advantage a mass of
+varied plants and flowers in prosperous abundance.</p>
+
+<p>Charmed by the glow and color, and stimulated by the dancing lights,
+Dennis presented himself &#8220;on the minute&#8221; before the door of the adjacent
+dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>In response to his ring, a trim, bright-eyed maid appeared, who,
+accepting his name in place of his card with an amiable lack of
+surprise, instructed him to enter, which he did, with alert, observing
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Although Dennis was not much of a judge of the elaborate surroundings in
+which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_218" id="pg_218">218</a></span> found himself, he figured it out that the business of a
+florist must be a profitable one, and speculated, with wondering
+calculation, upon the length of time and the degree of application
+demanded to enable him to possess similar advantages.</p>
+
+<p>Acting upon the parting instructions of the widow, Dennis had already
+canvassed his eligible points and was prepared to give an account of
+himself that was little short of eulogy.</p>
+
+<p>At this juncture in his reflections the hangings at the parlor entrance
+parted with a musical swish that was suggestive of feminine approach,
+and the widow advanced into the room, with one slender hand extended in
+cordial informality.</p>
+
+<p>If this woman had seemed charming to him in the park, she was certainly
+bewitching now.</p>
+
+<p>The street costume in which she had first appeared was replaced by a
+gown of some clinging white fabric, which shimmered the light with a
+thousand blending radiations and fitted to every movement and contour
+like an embrace conscious of its privileges.</p>
+
+<p>A delicate collar of filmy lace surrounded her<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_219" id="pg_219">219</a></span> neck like the intricate
+etchings of frost upon frost, and this was fastened with a solitary
+pearl as chaste as the exquisite skin with which it managed to offer
+only the faintest contrast.</p>
+
+<p>Her head, crowned with a wavy nimbus of Titian auburn, was superbly set
+upon her fine, symmetrical shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>As she flashed upon the vision of this palpitating young man through the
+parting curtains, like a dramatic climax or the goddess of reward, or
+denunciation, she seemed to Dennis, whose mythology was centralized from
+that moment, like another Aphrodite churned into lovely being by the
+sea.</p>
+
+<p>At the entrance of this beautiful woman Dennis had risen to his feet,
+and stood for a moment, offering, with his helpless silence, a
+compliment whose genuineness she thoroughly enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>When at last his tongue resumed its function, Dennis, like many another
+with even more self-possession and experience, uttered just the words
+which were intended for concealment, as he stammered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; it&#8217;s no wonder, at all, at all.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_220" id="pg_220">220</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The exclamation, however, was barely above a whisper, and it was only by
+following the motion of his lips and a shrewd intuition as to the rest
+which enabled the widow to realize what he had uttered, as she asked,
+smiling to note that the young man had neglected to release her hand:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what is it that is no wonder?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this question, Dennis, deserted for the moment by his customary
+adroitness, was unable to do anything else than respond, without evasion
+or subterfuge:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I was thinkin&#8217; it&#8217;s no wonder the manager wanted to go into the
+business.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; laughed the widow with genuine enjoyment and a sensible
+realization of the spirit which urged his exclamation and its
+explanation, &#8220;that is Irish, I am sure&#8221;; and with that Dennis began to
+feel more at home, although still subdued by the accumulation of
+practical beatitudes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me,&#8221; he said, when each was agreeably established, Dennis upon a
+comfortable divan and his listener in a chair which supplied its
+fascinating occupant with a sort of solicitous<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_221" id="pg_221">221</a></span> support, which Dennis
+assured himself would be poetry realized if he could be permitted to
+share, &#8220;tell me, shall I recite my abilities first or read the story?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Suppose,&#8221; suggested his hearer, &#8220;we hear the story first and reserve
+your catalogue as a climax, like the dessert after the banquet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right!&#8221; assented Dennis, as he produced a circular bundle, from
+which he extracted his absurd medium.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One moment,&#8221; suggested his hearer, as she arranged an electric cluster
+in a manner that enabled her to witness every alternation of expression
+in that mobile countenance&mdash;&#8220;now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Withdrawing his gaze from the sweet face of his auditor with a
+reluctance sufficiently marked to advance him several leagues further in
+her good graces, Dennis, directing his attention to the closely-printed
+dickey, began, with racy Irish emphasis, as follows:</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;With a bound the prince swept aside the curtains and reached his room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Advancing to the gong, which was suspended<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_222" id="pg_222">222</a></span> by silken cords near the
+divan, he struck it sharply several times.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no response.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He repeated his summons with the added vigor of his irritation at the
+delay.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only the sullen echo answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With impatient incredulity the prince was about to hasten to the
+ante-room in which his faithful Sepoy had always been found, when a
+strange trembling seized his limbs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A confusion obscured his mind; his sight grew dim.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Alarmed at this unusual sensation, the prince asserted himself against
+its depressing influence with all his customary resolution, and was
+finally able to reach the ante-room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was deserted!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He hastened to the passageway outside.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not a soul was visible; an unearthly stillness prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; he cried with sudden realization, &#8216;my messenger has been too
+liberal with his news; they have heard of the British advance.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thirty vital minutes had passed, and away<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_223" id="pg_223">223</a></span> in the dim distance an
+animated spot of red and gleam began to emerge.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Again that inexplicable numbness and alarming physical weakness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With trembling hands he supported himself along the walls and finally
+reached the apartment in which he held his mimic court.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A burning thirst began to parch his lips and throat; he hastened to the
+carafe in which the water for his use was usually held.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was empty.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ah!&#8217; the prince groaned aloud; the veins of his forehead knotted; a
+sharp, strained look appeared in his eyes, and he shivered with a mortal
+chill.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A stinging, sharp surge attracted his attention to his right wrist.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was swollen beyond its usual size, and a bluish discoloration
+surrounded the livid line where the dagger point had penetrated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He placed his hands together and noted their disproportion, considered
+the wounded arm, and then&mdash;he remembered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The dagger!&#8217; he gasped, and a new horror charged his bloodshot eyes as
+he recalled the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_224" id="pg_224">224</a></span> devilish craft employed by the natives to envenom their
+weapons.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Poisoned! and by Lal Lu!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this thought the malignant light of a fearful determination illumed
+his features and revealed their frightful distortion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I shall not&mdash;go&mdash;alone!&#8217; he sighed, and repossessing himself of the
+fatal dagger, which he had cast upon the table on entering the room, he
+rose from the chair, looked with fearful purpose upon the curtains which
+disguised the entrance to the secret passageway from which he had
+emerged but a short time before, took one step forward, and then fell
+inertly on to the couch from which he had risen in the excitement of his
+malignant impulse.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ha!&#8217; The faint sound of an alien air smote his ears.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;The bagpipes!&#8217; he muttered; &#8216;the Scots, the hellish Highlanders.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nearer and nearer the lively air was borne to him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His raging pulse thrummed through his palpitating veins a rhythmic,
+mocking accompaniment to the swelling music.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_225" id="pg_225">225</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His frame stiffened and stretched as though subjected to the distortion
+of the ancient rack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The agony was unendurable. With a final conscious effort he reached for
+the poisoned weapon to bring his sufferings to a summary conclusion, but
+his failing will could no longer vitalize his palsied arm, and with a
+gasp that seemed to rend his tortured body, to the weird orchestration
+of that refrain which was destined in the near future to herald such joy
+at Lucknow, &#8216;The Campbells Are Coming, Hi-ay, Hi-ay!&#8217; the spirit of
+Prince Otondo returned to Him who gave it, to be put into what repair
+was possible for such a proposition.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the last writhing rigor ceased to convulse his frame, the prince
+lurched forward, and his body collapsed into an attitude not unlike that
+of one engaged in some dejecting reflection.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By a singular nervous caprice he had raised his hands to his face,
+which he had clutched in his agony, and his elbows rested upon the table
+in grewsome support of his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This ghastly calm, however, of which he was the center, was to be
+interrupted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_226" id="pg_226">226</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A trumpet blast sounded without the gate; a clamor of voices filled the
+air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The bagpipes, in anticipation of some show of resistance, had ceased
+their stirring strains; within, the silence of an ambuscade prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Suddenly, through the unguarded entrance rushed a body of red-coated
+soldiers; but their advance was unopposed; the courtyard was abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One danger alone remained&mdash;an attack from within. But there was none to
+receive the detested intruders but the pulseless master, from whom all
+majesty had departed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Over the grounds they swarmed, through the doors, along the
+passageways.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Abreast of the leading officer appeared the turbaned head and
+white-robed figure of Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the two entered the apartment and gazed upon its silent occupant,
+with the same impulse both came to a standstill, impressed by the
+unnatural attitude and the chill undemonstration of the richly-clad
+figure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is the prince!&#8217; cried Ram Lal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once the officer turned to command the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_227" id="pg_227">227</a></span> curious detachment which had
+followed them to remain without, and placing a sergeant on guard in the
+ante-room, he resumed his investigation of the dead man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He had not seen the quick approach of Ram Lal, nor the rapid movement
+of his searching hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was over in an instant, but in that instant Ram Lal had assured
+himself of the presence of the precious jacket beneath the cambric
+folds.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;He is dead!&#8217; he cried to the officer, as the latter approached to
+discover some reason for this shocking sight.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;He is still warm,&#8217; exclaimed the other, as he placed his hand, with
+careless familiarity, upon the cheek of the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Let us see,&#8217; he continued, &#8216;if his heart still beats.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the officer knelt in order to accommodate his head to the leaning
+position of the body, Ram Lal stood as one transfixed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His hand crept slowly to the dagger upon the table, which he grasped
+with an expression of desperate determination as the officer placed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_228" id="pg_228">228</a></span> his
+ear close to the riches concealed beneath the tunic of the prince.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Kneeling thus, with scarcely a hand-breadth between him and wealth such
+as he had never dared to dream of, with the menacing figure of the
+merchant directly above him, prepared to strike at the least indication
+of suspicion of the jacket and its priceless contents, the pair
+presented a striking tableau of the sardonic jest in which fate
+sometimes indulges in providing such nearness of opportunity and such a
+threat to its embrace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;There is something thick about the body!&#8217; exclaimed the kneeling
+officer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ram Lal crept nearer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes,&#8217; he replied with a stifled voice, as he shot a quick glance
+toward the curtained doorway, on the other side of which the sergeant
+was posted, &#8216;yes, the prince was of a phthisical tendency.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;He was compelled to protect himself against inequalities of
+temperature.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this instant the quick eye of the merchant detected the livid
+scratch on the dead man&#8217;s arm. &#8216;Ha!&#8217; he cried, with an intonation<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_229" id="pg_229">229</a></span> which
+caused the officer to forego his examination for the moment and regard
+the merchant attentively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Here!&#8217; cried the latter, pointing to the discolored and swollen wrist,
+&#8216;here! There is no need to look for further sign of life; his heart will
+beat no more. This dagger has been inserted in the poison sac of the
+cobra&mdash;and here is the result!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the officer rose to regard the wound, and understood its
+significance, he shuddered and looked upon the hapless heir-apparent
+with a sort of bluff compassion, but he made no further attempt to
+pursue his investigations, and Ram Lal was spared one sanguinary entry
+upon the book of his recording angel.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;At least,&#8217; said the officer, as if in continuation of some unexpressed
+idea, &#8216;let us do ourselves the honor of disposing the prince upon his
+bed&#8217;; and Ram Lal supporting the head and shoulders and the officer
+grasping the feet, they carried the stiffened form to the bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;May I ask the privilege,&#8217; said Ram Lal, &#8216;of composing the features and
+the body of the prince?&#8217;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_230" id="pg_230">230</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Surely,&#8217; replied the officer, as he bestowed a departing glance upon
+this last descendant of the long line of moghuls with a degree of
+deference that was the result of his military training and his own
+subjection to discipline, &#8216;surely he is sadly in need of such a
+service.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For his arms, although disengaged somewhat by their efforts, and the
+clutch of the distorted fingers, though not so distended, still pointed
+upward in a sort of eerie, rigid salutation to the subdued watchers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The eyes, too, which but a short time before had been so vivid with the
+contentions of restraint and desire, stared with a ghastly lack of
+speculation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the officer turned to leave Ram Lal undisturbed in the performance
+of this last duty to the dead, the merchant, presently assured that he
+would be free from intrusion for a time sufficient for his ostensible
+purposes, approached the body, tore aside the delicate fabric, which
+covered the breast, and with surprising dexterity released the
+fastenings which held the jacket to the body, wrenched it away with
+desperate haste, and in an incredibly short<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_231" id="pg_231">231</a></span> time had secured this
+treasure-trove around his own loins beneath the folds of his linen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, with a grin of malignant triumph, he murmured: &#8216;This is more
+speedy, O prince, than pebbles for diamonds&mdash;and now for Lal Lu.&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With this the merchant darted to the hangings from which the prince had
+issued with such desperate purpose, cast them ruthlessly aside, hurried
+along the passageway, shouting as he speeded: &#8216;Lal Lu&mdash;Lal Lu!&#8217;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A joyful cry responded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Here, father, here!&#8217; and Lal Lu, who had recognized her father&#8217;s call,
+rushed toward the entrance just as the merchant crossed its threshold,
+and in a moment she was enfolded in his protecting embrace.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that all?&#8221; asked Raikes as the Sepoy paused.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it enough?&#8221; laughed the narrator. &#8220;The villain punished, the
+righteous rewarded, the maiden rescued. It seems to me that all the
+proprieties are preserved.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True,&#8221; assented Raikes. &#8220;You are to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_232" id="pg_232">232</a></span> congratulated upon your
+consistency. But as usual your art is a bit too refined. You still
+discontinue with a question unsolved.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Name it,&#8221; replied the Sepoy; &#8220;perhaps I can clear up the difficulty at
+once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; returned Raikes, &#8220;there is all that wealth concealed about the
+person of Ram Lal; I am interested to know if he retained it, to what
+use he put it. If it is inconsistent in your narrative to reply to these
+questions, waive your formalities for once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; laughed the Sepoy. &#8220;Still, I can only approximate to your
+request. There was a report that Ram Lal and his daughter disappeared
+shortly after the raid upon the Kutub.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is also said that a dealer in precious stones opened an
+establishment on the Strand in London, and that his description
+corresponded in so many points with that of Ram Lal that it is safe to
+infer that the twain are identical.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is better,&#8221; sighed Raikes. &#8220;I will assume that the report is
+correct since it relieves my mind on one point, at any rate. However,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_233" id="pg_233">233</a></span>
+there is one question more: Can you tell me how that substitution was
+made?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pebbles for diamonds?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To do so requires another story, which I cannot tell you to-night,&#8221;
+replied the Sepoy. &#8220;How about to-morrow evening?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If that&#8217;s the only way?&#8221; queried Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; the Sepoy assured him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will be here, then,&#8221; said Raikes, &#8220;but I must leave you now; I will
+see you at breakfast-time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With this Raikes departed and made his way along the dim passages to his
+room.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at this point, and taking his customary
+precautions for the night, Raikes prepared to retire.</p>
+
+<p>Since the process involved such little attention to detail in its almost
+aboriginal readiness, it was not long before Raikes was tucked away in
+his uneasy rest.</p>
+
+<p>Possibly a half hour later a series of labored snores announced his
+successful escape from the disturbing realities of the day and his
+stentorian<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_234" id="pg_234">234</a></span> entrance upon more fictitious complications.</p>
+
+<p>Just across the hallway, in the room occupied by his nephew, conditions
+were more animated, for Robert, giving his admiring and somewhat
+incredulous attention to the alert Gratz, sat with his eyes bright with
+the acknowledgment of the purport of the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Just a trace of excitement appeared in the manner of the detective.</p>
+
+<p>He had witnessed the return of the sleepy Raikes to his room, and was
+relieved to be able to assure himself that the miser was altogether
+unaware of his presence.</p>
+
+<p>Gratz was about to provide himself with the confirmation of a theory
+which he dared not discuss in advance.</p>
+
+<p>The possibilities of failure were numerous enough to provide him with
+the element of fascination, and its bizarre unfamiliarity piqued his
+imagination.</p>
+
+<p>If he was not mistaken in his calculations, he would be in possession,
+before morning, of some interesting data which would make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_235" id="pg_235">235</a></span> startling
+addition to the criminal records to which his past activities had
+contributed.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion which stimulated him was the last which would occur to a
+wholly sensible man and the first which would be likely to present
+itself to a genius for speculation and morbid analysis.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently silence upon these somewhat abstruse reasonings was his
+safeguard against ridicule in the event of failure.</p>
+
+<p>However, he had intimated to Robert that events would transpire during
+the night which would be illuminative, but he could not be persuaded to
+indicate to the curious youth just what to expect.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever was to occur, Robert was assured that he would witness; in
+fact, he would be a necessary feature to the mysterious plans of the
+detective.</p>
+
+<p>Stimulated, therefore, by these occult hints and the lively prospect
+they introduced, the young man developed a clandestine emotion of weird
+anticipation, which he readily accredited to an unsuspected fitness for
+intrigue.</p>
+
+<p>Gratz, in the meantime, having primed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_236" id="pg_236">236</a></span> young enthusiast, maintained
+an irritating silence, and when an hour had passed in this spiritless
+fashion Robert was electrified by the solitary word &#8220;Now!&#8221; from the lips
+of the enigmatical Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>Unable to comprehend the significance of the subdued exclamation, Robert
+nevertheless followed the detective with confiding docility, and the
+pair hastened down a flight of stairs which conducted them to the main
+hallway.</p>
+
+<p>From this Gratz proceeded to a door directly beneath the stairway which
+they had just traversed, and which opened upon another short series of
+steps that concluded in the cellar.</p>
+
+<p>Descending these, the two hastened along the chill floor and presently
+paused by the main coal-bin in which the widow stored her fuel.</p>
+
+<p>With an impressive injunction to silence, Gratz indicated the course
+which Robert was expected to pursue, and in the recess created by a
+flight of disused stairs the two secreted themselves.</p>
+
+<p>It was pitch dark.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of the watchers could see the other, and communication was only
+maintained by<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_237" id="pg_237">237</a></span> the reassuring pressure of the hand of the detective upon
+the arm of the excited Robert.</p>
+
+<p>At last the latter ventured to inquire in a whisper what it was that
+Gratz expected to discover.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The solution of the puzzle,&#8221; replied the other in the same tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The thief?&#8221; asked Robert.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, the accessory,&#8221; was the reply; &#8220;but do not ask any further
+questions; you will be treated to the surprise of your life in a little
+while, unless I am much mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the detective uttered these words when the faint click of a
+door-latch was borne to their ears from the direction of the stairway
+they had just descended.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment a dim ray of light flickered into the darkness, and a
+figure vaguely shadowed its grotesque disproportion on the walls just
+behind as it crept, with cautious lightness, step by step down the
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>At last it reached the floor and moved in the direction of the bin.</p>
+
+<p>The light, which was furnished by a candle, was raised in the air at
+about the height of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_238" id="pg_238">238</a></span> man&#8217;s face, and directly behind it a man&#8217;s face
+appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great heavens!&#8221; whispered Robert as the strange figure advanced, &#8220;it is
+uncle!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Steady, now!&#8221; whispered the detective; &#8220;not a word or you will ruin
+everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Revealed by the weird light, the miserable countenance of the miser had
+never looked so contemptible.</p>
+
+<p>The sputtering flame seemed to have the power to betray all the miserly
+emotions and mean parsimonies usually concealed behind its starved
+pallor.</p>
+
+<p>The lips had fallen inanely apart with an absurd look of silly wonder.</p>
+
+<p>The eyes were wide open and stared directly ahead with the most
+unnatural expression or lack of it that Robert had ever beheld in the
+visage of mortal man.</p>
+
+<p>Even the detective, accustomed as he was to all sorts of uncommon
+spectacles, could not repress a slight disposition to shudder.</p>
+
+<p>One bony hand grasped the candlestick, and the other held some sort of
+round object, to which Robert directed his attention.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_239" id="pg_239">239</a></span></p>
+
+<p>By the sudden motion he made the detective knew that the young man had
+discovered what this object was, and pressed his arm warningly.</p>
+
+<p><i>It was one of the canvas bags from the recess in the wall.</i></p>
+
+<p>Just before the opening of the bin his uncle paused, like a speculative
+phantom, as if to consider its next doleful move.</p>
+
+<p>His entire countenance, upon nearer view, like the canvas which the
+painter has roughly outlined, was suggestive of anything, according to
+the fancy of the beholder.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this spiritless blank Robert depicted, with a morbid genius and the
+stimulation of his unnatural surroundings, all that was reminiscent of
+his uncle&#8217;s littleness.</p>
+
+<p>But this uneasy transit from the room upstairs to the bin below, the
+vacant, irresponsible ensemble, the inscrutable determination to fulfill
+some strange obligation, enforced by what influence or moral unrest he
+could not tell, culminated in the mind of the young man in the only
+possible explanation:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_240" id="pg_240">240</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His uncle was engaged in the unaware execution of some fixed idea.</p>
+
+<p>He was responding to an uncontrollable, secret impulse, and Robert,
+guiding himself by the touch of his hand in order to locate his lips as
+close to the ear of the detective as he might, whispered with
+conviction:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Somnambulist!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Gratz&mdash;&#8220;worse; be silent.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Amazed and wondering what could possibly be worse, and rummaging through
+the garret of all his unusual experiences, Robert could find nothing to
+correspond to this inexplicable phenomenon; and it was with a sort of
+superstitious distraction that he beheld his uncle discard his transient
+hesitation and proceed with ghostly purpose to the opening of the bin.</p>
+
+<p>Advancing, Raikes placed the candle upon the bed of coals and began to
+unfasten the cord which secured the mouth of the bag which he carried.</p>
+
+<p>Robert had never beheld anything so ghastly as his uncle&#8217;s eyes, intent
+but unseeing; nor so frightful as his motions, direct but
+unintelligent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_241" id="pg_241">241</a></span> like those of a midnight marionette controlled by
+invisible strings.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments his efforts were successful, and the incredulous Robert
+beheld his uncle invert his precious burden and send a clinking,
+intrinsic shower of coin to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently this familiar sound had penetrated in some degree to his
+inner consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>An expression of vague uneasiness, of troubled irresolution, clouded his
+eyes, but this semi-intellection and its transient phasis subsided to
+his original apathy as, with a sigh of helpless impersonality, he began
+to collect, with a silly, childish selection, as if to balance, by the
+size of the individual coals, the proportion of the discharged gold,
+handfuls of these dusky diamonds and substitute the sordid heaps in the
+bag.</p>
+
+<p>This weird absurdity concluded, Raikes, repossessing himself of the
+candle, turned wearily and retraced the path of his ghostly journey.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while his shuffling footfalls had concluded with the doorway
+at the top of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_242" id="pg_242">242</a></span> cellar stairs, the latch was heard to click into
+place, and all was still.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; whispered Gratz with concentrated emphasis, &#8220;not a word&mdash;not a
+sound from this moment. We have seen the accessory, now for the
+principal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In reply Robert pressed his hand upon the arm of the detective to
+indicate that his instructions were understood and would be obeyed, and
+in a silence through which he felt that his heart-throbs must certainly
+be audible, the watchers awaited developments.</p>
+
+<p>The obscurity and silence which prevailed, and the vault-like chill and
+dampness, harmonized so fully with the unnatural spectacle which he had
+just witnessed, and the grim expectation of something untoward still to
+come, that Robert was prepared to reconsider his views of the earlier
+portion of the evening as to his fitness for secret investigation and
+criminal analysis.</p>
+
+<p>He no longer felt the exultation of this association with relentless and
+cunning pursuit, and began to wonder how any normal human being could
+adopt a profession which embraced<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_243" id="pg_243">243</a></span> all these cheerless handicaps when
+there were so many occupations into which a little sunlight and
+geniality penetrated now and then.</p>
+
+<p>He had about decided that such industry was the manifestation of a
+disease, and that his silent companion was a desperate incurable, when
+his diagnosis was suddenly interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>The detective pressed the shoulders of his companion, communicating a
+slight impulse toward the opposite end of the cellar, and Robert, in
+obedience to its intimation, turned and beheld an approaching light.</p>
+
+<p>It had the unreal appearance of a detached eye of some malignant
+Cyclops, glancing in a ghastly, bodiless way, from object to object, and
+concentrating itself at last in a definite course along the floor.</p>
+
+<p>To witness the approach of this stealthy, gleam, without visible means
+of support or guidance, caused the young man&#8217;s flesh to creep and his
+heart to throb almost to the point of suffocation.</p>
+
+<p>If it requires experience to become a successful narrator, Robert was
+certainly in a way to accumulate a budget of startling data.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_244" id="pg_244">244</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nothing, hitherto, in his life could explain the marvel, but Gratz, with
+trained certainty, knew that he gazed upon the disk of a dark lantern
+which, exposing all else to view, shielded, with its distracting flash,
+the object of this midnight quest.</p>
+
+<p>With an assurance that indicated a definite purpose, the figure at last
+stood within the door of the coal bin.</p>
+
+<p>At once the searching gleam began to dance hither and thither upon the
+floor, and finally, with unerring pause, fell directly upon the heap of
+glittering coin.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed a voice.</p>
+
+<p>In its concentrated emphasis there was the unmistakable accent of
+certitude, of expectation gratified.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant the light was placed upon the floor with a tilt that
+sent its rays upon the treasure, and the unknown began to collect the
+gold with oblivious haste and bestow it in some receptacle near-by.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Robert felt his companion move forward noiselessly, at the same
+time he recognized<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_245" id="pg_245">245</a></span> the intimation of a detaining hand; and then he
+stood alone.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he adjusted himself to these startling conditions when he
+heard a sharp, metallic snap, and beheld a sudden flood of light
+directed upon the kneeling figure.</p>
+
+<p>There was a cry of desperate amazement, the quick clink of scattering
+coin, and the next instant a wild, rage-distorted face shot into view.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My God!&#8221; cried Robert.</p>
+
+<p>It was the Sepoy!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hands up!&#8221; commanded a voice which the young man recognized as that of
+Gratz; &#8220;hands up, or you are a dead man. There are five bullets in
+reserve for you if you budge from where you stand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With an imprecation that was charged with malignant venom, the Sepoy
+looked upon the gleaming barrel of a pistol which was advancing into the
+light, recognized his helplessness, and with snarling obedience elevated
+his arms in the air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Robert!&#8221; called Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>The young man, trembling, hurried to the opening.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_246" id="pg_246">246</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Get behind me,&#8221; directed Gratz; &#8220;put your hand in my coat pocket;
+you&#8217;ll find a pair of bracelets there for our friend here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With shaking hands Robert followed these sharply delivered instructions,
+and withdrew a set of handcuffs, gaping at the fastenings to receive a
+pair of guilty wrists.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now move around to the rear of this gentleman,&#8221; continued the
+relentless Gratz, &#8220;and snap them on his wrists.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Somehow Robert managed to obey these commands.</p>
+
+<p>He reached to the uplifted hands of the Sepoy, embraced his wrists with
+the handcuffs, and closed them with a snap.</p>
+
+<p><i>(To be continued on Bosom No</i>. 2, <i>Series C</i>.)</p>
+
+<p>Unknown to himself, Dennis, stimulated by the lively succession of
+incidents, had spurred his enunciation in a racy adjustment to these
+animated conditions.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes appeared to have appropriated the sparkle which had intensified
+the glance of the Sepoy of whom he had just read, and when<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_247" id="pg_247">247</a></span> he arrived
+at the familiar legend at the bottom of the bosom, his expression, vivid
+with all these communicated emotions, was duplicated in the sweet,
+absorbed face of his bewitching listener, who, in order the better to
+follow his rapid utterance, leaned, with the exquisite intoxication of
+her presence, in rapt nearness to the reader.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently, when Dennis looked up from his reading, he was transported
+along the highway of a sympathetic glance into deeps of dazzling blue.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment he abandoned himself to the enchanting witchery with the
+dreamful enjoyment of the voluptuary inhaling the odors of a scented
+bath.</p>
+
+<p>He seemed to be on the best of terms with some well-disposed harlequin.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the excitement of one series of events developed to its
+climax when he was whisked to another.</p>
+
+<p>His providence was working overtime in his behalf, and being at heart
+sound and genuine, the weight of his obligations to all these auspices
+warned him not to be too prodigal<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_248" id="pg_248">248</a></span> with his privileges; so, with an
+effort, the stress of which communicated some of its rigors to his
+countenance, he closed his eyes for one ascetic moment and came bravely
+to earth again.</p>
+
+<p>Suspecting something of the nature of his confusion, as a lovely woman
+will, and secretly applauding his undemonstrative deference, which, in
+the cynical atmosphere to which she was habituated, came to her like a
+refreshing zephyr, the widow asked him with an engaging smile of
+encouragement:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of what were you thinking, Mr. Muldoon?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Muldoon!&#8221; he repeated to himself with an endeavor to reflect the
+intonation of personal distinction which issued so entrancingly from the
+Cupid&#8217;s bow of a mouth. He had not been so ceremoniously addressed since
+he knew not when, and never realized that his homely name had such music
+in it. &#8220;Oh!&#8221; he thought, &#8220;if she would only say &#8216;Dennis,&#8217; it would be
+like grand opera.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; replied Dennis with simple frankness. &#8220;I was thinking, for one
+thing&mdash;for one<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_249" id="pg_249">249</a></span> thing&#8221;&mdash;but encouraged by her smiling invitation he
+stammered&mdash;&#8220;how beautiful you are!&#8221; and added to himself, or it looked
+as though he might express his sentiments that way: &#8220;There, you&#8217;ve done
+it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed his companion, with a rosy enjoyment of this unstudied
+situation and frank appreciation, &#8220;and what was the other?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how to tell you the other,&#8221; answered Dennis. Then with an
+unreflective inspiration: &#8220;Did you ever read about Launcelot and
+Guinevere?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ye-yes,&#8221; was the apprehensive answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; continued Dennis with a na&iuml;ve remembrance only of the chivalry
+of this idyllic indiscretion, &#8220;when I look at you I can understand how a
+knight could battle for a queen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a moment, but in the interval the lady did not
+laugh, though her eyes were bright as she said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a strange boy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; cried Dennis, &#8220;tell me, have I offended? I would not do that for
+the world.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sure of that,&#8221; replied the widow, &#8220;and I believe that you mean
+what you say.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_250" id="pg_250">250</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I do, I do!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis impulsively; then, with a realization
+of the thin surface over which he was making such rapid strides despite
+the danger signals of conventionality, and with a diplomacy born of his
+native good sense, he glided, with cheerful Celtic sagacity, to safer
+footing by asking abruptly: &#8220;May I recommend myself&#8221;&mdash;as if he had not
+already done so&mdash;&#8220;for the position you offer?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the widow, from whom no alternation of his mobile
+countenance seemed to escape, &#8220;it is your turn now; I must not receive
+all the honors.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; replied Dennis, altogether aware of the graceful courtesy of
+this exquisite woman, and constituted by nature, if not by past
+association, to accord it due appreciation, &#8220;well, there isn&#8217;t much to
+say, but here&#8217;s my outfit:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry to have to begin badly. I don&#8217;t know anything about flowers.
+I can&#8217;t tell you, even, the difference between a shamrock and a
+clover.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_251" id="pg_251">251</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All that can be easily remedied,&#8221; his listener reassured him; &#8220;but
+proceed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But there&#8217;s one thing I&#8217;m sure about,&#8221; continued Dennis. &#8220;You can rely
+upon me, an&#8217; that&#8217;s better.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is, indeed,&#8221; answered the widow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am anxious to do the best I can for myself,&#8221; resumed Dennis. &#8220;I have
+just one way of doing it, and that is to do the best I can for others.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is real business principle,&#8221; exclaimed his companion, &#8220;and very
+rare. What else?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I guess that&#8217;s about all,&#8221; answered Dennis, &#8220;an&#8217; it don&#8217;t sound so very
+much, does it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;More than you think,&#8221; answered the widow. &#8220;Now listen to me:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I need such service as I hope from you very much. Would you like to
+come and help me here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; cried Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am answered,&#8221; responded his companion, &#8220;When can you come?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At once!&#8221; cried Dennis&mdash;&#8220;or no, wait a bit; that wouldn&#8217;t be fair to
+my present employer. But I can tell him to look out for somebody<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_252" id="pg_252">252</a></span> else
+right away; surely he can fill my place within a week. Suppose I say
+next Monday?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, that will suit,&#8221; answered the widow; &#8220;but you have not asked
+me what your salary will be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis blushed, and his blush was appreciated. To enjoy the genial
+inspiration of such an association would be a perquisite which, other
+things being only approximately even, would repair any possible
+shortage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will twenty dollars a week and your board satisfy you for the present?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis held his breath and pictured the contrast.</p>
+
+<p>His present employment brought him just ten dollars and the association
+of a barkeeper&mdash;would it satisfy him? However, he managed to say,
+without too great a show of emotion: &#8220;It is more than I expected.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, that point is settled,&#8221; said the widow with a brisk
+business air, which provided such a sharp contrast to her delightful
+womanly qualities and caused Dennis to wonder at the graceful
+alternation of the one with the other. &#8220;Now as to board: In the rear of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_253" id="pg_253">253</a></span>
+the conservatory is a suite of rooms as cozy as any young man could
+wish. At the end of the week I expect to have them vacated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are occupied just now by the manager, but he has already been
+notified through my attorney, and all will be in readiness for you by
+next Monday.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It has been somewhat difficult to make him comprehend my purpose; it is
+so different from what he expected. He is incautious enough to demand a
+reason.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is one,&#8221; ventured Dennis boldly, &#8220;if I may venture to suggest
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Surely!&#8221; replied the widow, remarking Dennis curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; replied the young man as he recalled the astonishing array of
+details surrounding the death of the &aelig;sthetic proprietor, &#8220;just enclose
+him a note with two words in it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And those?&#8221; queried the widow as Dennis paused.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cape Jessamine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a space Dennis feared that he had offended. A shade of depression
+darkened the lovely features before him, but his companion<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_254" id="pg_254">254</a></span> looked into
+his apprehensive eyes reassuringly as she said: &#8220;You have penetration.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His momentary embarrassment, however, introduced another perturbation,
+for in glancing away for an instant to reassemble himself, so to speak,
+his eyes fell upon the clock, which at that very moment chimed the hour
+of eleven.</p>
+
+<p>This was startling!</p>
+
+<p>Dennis was familiar enough with social usage, or, at least, had the
+practical good sense to realize that he had exceeded the limits of good
+taste by an hour, and began to make disconcerted preparations for
+departure.</p>
+
+<p>Perceiving his embarrassment, his companion relieved him with genial
+tact by asking: &#8220;And what about bosom No. 2? I want to hear the rest of
+that story.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis, brightening, &#8220;when shall it be?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How will Wednesday evening suit?&#8221; suggested the widow.</p>
+
+<p>And Dennis, with a mien which plainly indicated that he considered the
+time represented in the space that must elapse between the delightful
+present and the evening appointed embodied<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_255" id="pg_255">255</a></span> his views of a brief
+eternity, assured the widow that he would be on hand, and added: &#8220;I will
+not read a line until then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Leave the story here, then, and I will put it away until you make your
+appearance. I promise, too, that I will not read it in the meantime,&#8221;
+and the widow received the remaining bosoms from Dennis with an
+extravagant show of gravity, which caused them both to laugh, in view of
+its absurd occasion, as she bestowed them in a music rack and turned to
+conduct him to the entrance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-by!&#8221; she said, and once more extended her hand, which Dennis
+received with an unmistakable indication of his appreciation of the
+exceptional favor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-by!&#8221; he responded as he prepared to descend the steps, &#8220;good-by!&#8221;
+and added to himself, with a fervor which conveyed some intimation of
+his sentiments if it did not suggest his words:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An&#8217; may the saints preserve you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_256" id="pg_256">256</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX_5970" id="CHAPTER_IX_5970"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Dennis retired for the night at The Stag, his transit from his
+room, which had never seemed so contracted as now, to the Land of Nod
+was somewhat delayed by reason of the exhilarating conditions through
+which he had just passed.</p>
+
+<p>Toward midnight, however, his pulse had resumed its normal, and the
+young man, reaching his drowsy destination at last, began a series of
+the most surprising horticultural experiments until, what with orchids
+as big as a barrel, and geraniums which could be reached only by a
+ladder, he had converted the silvery strand of the dreamful domain into
+a forest of atrocious color and floral monstrosity.</p>
+
+<p>Awakening on the succeeding morning, Dennis, accepting the sense of
+general lassitude which oppressed him as an indication of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_257" id="pg_257">257</a></span> the arduous
+nature of his efforts in his dreams, began to prepare for the activities
+of the day.</p>
+
+<p>On this occasion he was compelled to attire himself in the shirt which
+he had worn on the occasion of his visit the evening before, since his
+remaining bosoms, along with his heart, were in the possession of the
+beautiful widow.</p>
+
+<p>But the extravagance of such indulgence did not alarm him now.</p>
+
+<p>Under the circumstances, what did a shirt more or less matter?</p>
+
+<p>Was he not about to be admitted into paradise and receive twenty dollars
+per week besides?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shirt, ha!&#8221; he exclaimed with a touch of Celtic wit; &#8220;it&#8217;s a robe of
+white I want.&#8221; However, he compromised on a new necktie, and almost
+ventured the length of patent leathers.</p>
+
+<p>Stimulated by the prospect of all this beatitude, Dennis proceeded to
+the dining-room and revived the spirit of the discouraged waiter by
+ordering a liberal breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of the meal he further celebrated his disposition to
+mortgage providence by the bestowal of a gratuity moderate enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_258" id="pg_258">258</a></span> to
+renew the waiter&#8217;s original unflattering estimation.</p>
+
+<p>Had his father witnessed this imprudence he would have been prepared to
+believe that Dennis was under the influence of a danseuse, and the
+proportions of the breakfast could only have indicated a determination
+to commit suicide by repletion.</p>
+
+<p>On his way to the street Dennis paused to inform the barman of his
+intended departure.</p>
+
+<p>As an indication of his sentiments at this announcement, the barman, who
+was engaged in the mixture of a mysterious decoction, said, as he poured
+an amber-colored fluid into the glass: &#8220;This wan is fur grief at the
+goin&#8217;, an&#8217; this wan&#8221;&mdash;pouring from another bottle&mdash;&#8220;is fur good luck
+when ye git there,&#8221; and he pushed the mixture toward Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>But the young Irishman, remembering his recent experience, declined with
+thanks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No?&#8221; queried the barman. &#8220;Well, an&#8217; that&#8217;s not a bad idea at all. It&#8217;s
+the right sthart fur a bad day an&#8217; a bad sthart fur a right wan. &#8217;Tis
+th&#8217; divil&#8217;s own way av showin&#8217; wan&#8217;s sintimints.&#8221; Then, reaching for
+the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_259" id="pg_259">259</a></span> glass, he added: &#8220;I&#8217;ll do th&#8217; honors fur th&#8217; two av us&#8221;; and with
+the singular tendency, so often noted under such circumstances, to
+swallow with haste that which it required such trouble to prepare, the
+barman bolted the contents of the glass and looked his appreciation
+through moist eyes.</p>
+
+<p>As Dennis neared the establishment of his employer, he recalled his
+obligation.</p>
+
+<p>He must begin the day by informing the foreman of his changed
+intentions.</p>
+
+<p>He disliked the idea of the possible friction involved in the
+performance of this disagreeable duty, but there seemed to be no other
+way out of the dilemma.</p>
+
+<p>His announcement, however, was to be less embarrassing than he
+anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>His providence was about to take a short nap.</p>
+
+<p>As he approached the foreman, he discovered that individual, several
+degrees less breezy than usual, engaged in an animated conversation with
+a young man whose prevailing expression was so penitential that Dennis,
+with<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_260" id="pg_260">260</a></span> prompt Celtic intuition, decided that he was gazing upon his
+predecessor in office.</p>
+
+<p>He was assured of this by the glance of belligerent appraisement with
+which the young fellow surveyed him from head to foot, in response to
+some suggestive indication from the foreman.</p>
+
+<p>He seemed, to the apprehensive eyes of Dennis, to be calculating his
+chances in the event of a physical contest.</p>
+
+<p>And this recalled what the foreman had said about his biceps.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You want to see me?&#8221; queried the latter with an expression in which the
+sunshine seemed overdue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Dennis as his employer stepped aside to hear what he had
+to say.</p>
+
+<p>As Dennis proceeded the look of perplexity which he had noted upon the
+face of his listener seemed to give way to one of unmistakable relief,
+and when Dennis had stated his case he exclaimed: &#8220;Shure, now, it&#8217;s an
+aisy way out av a bad muss, so it is. Here, Phil!&#8221; he shouted, turning
+to the young fellow in the background, who had witnessed this brief<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_261" id="pg_261">261</a></span>
+interview with scowling interest, &#8220;here, you two can t&#8217;row th&#8217; gloves
+down an&#8217; shake; Muldoon here wants to hand yure job back to ye.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this announcement, the disfavor in the countenance of the other
+disappeared and was replaced by an expression which indicated that he
+regarded such liberality as something in the nature of a freak.</p>
+
+<p>Some evidences of his debauch still clung to him.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were moist and heavy-lidded; his lips dry and tremulous, and
+the hand which he extended to Dennis shook somewhat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, now!&#8221; exclaimed the foreman, &#8220;that&#8217;s well over&#8221;; and addressing
+the one he called Phil he added: &#8220;Now get to work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis looked his astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>He had not calculated upon such a prompt acceptance of his resignation.
+He felt that he presented an absurd appearance, and that the foreman did
+not appear to his usual bluff advantage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come this way,&#8221; said the latter to Dennis, who followed him into his
+office with a strange sinking at heart.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_262" id="pg_262">262</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not mean to hand over everything right off!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; replied the foreman, &#8220;Phil&#8217;s wife came here early this mornin&#8217;
+an&#8217; put up a few tears, an&#8217; Phil made all sorts av promises; an&#8217; you
+have no children an&#8217; he has, an&mdash;oh, the divil!&#8221; cried the foreman,
+weary of the series of explanations in which he was getting involved. &#8220;I
+can&#8217;t kape th&#8217; two av ye, an&#8217; Phil there is an ould hand at th&#8217;
+paint-pot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; cried Dennis, &#8220;you mean that I must leave at once?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about th&#8217; size of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; exclaimed Dennis, indignant at this injustice, &#8220;I tried to be
+fair with you, and you haven&#8217;t&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here,&#8221; interrupted the foreman, in evident haste to conclude a
+disagreeable interview; &#8220;there&#8217;s no use talking about it, it&#8217;s got to be
+done&#8221;; and turning to a drawer in the desk he extracted Monday&#8217;s pay and
+placed it in the young man&#8217;s hand.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a burly porter filled up the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; asked the foreman, glad of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_263" id="pg_263">263</a></span> the interruption, as he
+hastened, with unnecessary and suspicious promptness, to attend to the
+wants of the intruder.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while Dennis realized that he waited in vain for the return
+of the foreman, and that, in so far as he was concerned, he was out of a
+job.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis had been, at various times in his life, subjected to some rugged
+experiences, but could not recall any treatment quite so heartless as
+this.</p>
+
+<p>It upset all his calculations.</p>
+
+<p>He must exist somehow between the unhappy realities of the present and
+the blissful expectations of the approaching Monday.</p>
+
+<p>He recalled, with the self-accusation of a repentant prodigal, his
+needlessly elaborate breakfast, the extravagance of the necktie.</p>
+
+<p>His return led him past the cheap amusement district of the Bowery.</p>
+
+<p>Never had their tawdry invitations seemed so alluring.</p>
+
+<p>By that singular perversity which opens up every suggestion of riotous
+expenditure to destitution,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_264" id="pg_264">264</a></span> the poor fellow felt inclined to indulge
+himself regardless.</p>
+
+<p>An obese nymph pictured in the foam of a beer sign, apparently
+elaborated with a whitewash brush and finished in the throes of an
+epileptic fit, solicited a share of his patronage.</p>
+
+<p>Long rows of slot machines offered all sorts of libidinous suggestions
+in placards, which proposed to debauch his morals for a penny a sight.</p>
+
+<p>And with absurd propriety a vender of shoddy jewels presented the chance
+of his lifetime in bizarre decoration.</p>
+
+<p>But somehow Dennis reached Broadway at last, and faced the unpleasant
+prospect of the next few days with despairing calculation.</p>
+
+<p>As Dennis looked up and down this busy thoroughfare, with its thousands
+speeding oppositely in preoccupied interest, as if all that was vital
+and worthy was to be found at either extreme of its splendid distances,
+he paused for a moment to account his meager finances.</p>
+
+<p>He found that he possessed just four one-dollar bills and about eighty
+cents in small change.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_265" id="pg_265">265</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Since he was compelled to pay a half dollar each night in advance for
+his lodgings, a little over two dollars would remain to him.</p>
+
+<p>With rigid economy and almost miserly abstemiousness this sum would
+suffice for his meals, unless he developed a mania for Delmonico&#8217;s, and
+for his carfare, provided he did not venture outside the possibilities
+of the elevated.</p>
+
+<p>As he was about to return his resources to his pocket there was a rattle
+and clamor up the street, and looking in that direction he beheld a
+glittering engine, drawn by a splendid team of white horses, speed along
+with plunging dash and portent rumble.</p>
+
+<p>Along the sidewalk directly in his rear the usual mob of men and boys
+who have nothing more to do apparently than to attend fires and scramble
+with a morbid curiosity to behold the misery of some victim of accident,
+ran in scuffling uproar.</p>
+
+<p>With a pathetic realization of his own idleness, Dennis turned to join
+the speeding throng, when suddenly he became aware of a desperate clutch
+at his hand, heard the rattle<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_266" id="pg_266">266</a></span> of scattering change at his feet, and
+felt the bills which he held slip away from his grasp and disappear in
+the rush.</p>
+
+<p>It was over in a second. Apparently no one noticed him or his loss. He
+was as abandoned as the unfortunate marooned by rushing waters; as
+unheeded as a lame lamb in the multitude of the flock.</p>
+
+<p>Not a head turned, and by the time he realized precisely what had
+happened and prepared to give chase to the thief, a score of other men
+and boys formed an unconscious barricade between the unfortunate boy and
+the rogue.</p>
+
+<p>His suddenly created interest in the fire vanished and was replaced by
+the despair of his own disaster.</p>
+
+<p>The nap of his providence was developing into a sound slumber, and since
+this deity never gets up before noon Dennis had still two hours of
+despair before him.</p>
+
+<p>And what despair!</p>
+
+<p>Of his pitiful hoard of a few moments since only a few dimes and nickels
+remained.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_267" id="pg_267">267</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And just across the street was the Third National Bank with barrels of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The whimsies of the contrast almost amused him; but there was not enough
+of the Tapley about him to detect its humor.</p>
+
+<p>Again he counted his resources.</p>
+
+<p>Fifty-eight cents!</p>
+
+<p>He could lodge to-night, at any rate, and dine on one of those sidewalk
+pretzels.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The darkest hour is just before the dawn.&#8221; Dennis tried to cheer
+himself with this reflection, but the only dawn upon which he could
+calculate was five days off.</p>
+
+<p>In vain the poor fellow adjured his brains for some homely suggestion,
+some meager inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing responded but his destitution, like the echo of a groan; and
+through such mental straits he arrived, at last, at The Stag.</p>
+
+<p>He decided that he would do nothing radical until the following day.</p>
+
+<p>He could afford a night&#8217;s rest, at least, and that might revive his
+numbed faculties.</p>
+
+<p>As he reached the office he glanced at the proprietor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_268" id="pg_268">268</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Could he persuade that cynical-visaged individual to trust him until he
+received his first week&#8217;s pay?</p>
+
+<p>Would he be credited if he related his prospects?</p>
+
+<p>As a measure in this assurance, would not the proprietor feel justified
+in calling upon the widow for indorsement of the statement of the young
+man?</p>
+
+<p>This would never do.</p>
+
+<p>He could not endure the humiliation of such a revelation.</p>
+
+<p>The poor fellow got little encouragement from the face of the
+proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>This was suspicious and hard. It had scarcely the perfunctory smile of
+the professional boniface.</p>
+
+<p>The prospect of having to address that forbidding ensemble was
+disheartening.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his reflections were interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>The proprietor waved a beckoning hand to him.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis hurried to the desk.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A letter for you,&#8221; said the proprietor, as he placed in the young man&#8217;s
+hand an envelope<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_269" id="pg_269">269</a></span> addressed in a handwriting which he recognized at
+once.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Dennis Muldoon&#8217;; yes, that&#8217;s mine,&#8221; and hastening to an unoccupied
+seat in a remote portion of the office, Dennis hastily opened the
+envelope and withdrew a short letter, and&mdash;ye gods! was it possible?&mdash;a
+postal order for twenty-five dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Dennis</span>:</p>
+
+<p>It&#8217;s a hard row you have to hoe, I&#8217;m a-think-in&#8217;, and it&#8217;s a bad spot
+you have to hoe it in. I know New York of old, and it&#8217;s a lonesome place
+for a poor lad.</p>
+
+<p>I send you the week&#8217;s wages due you, and an extry five to come back with
+in case your dreams don&#8217;t come true.</p>
+
+<p>I&#8217;ve got over my mad, my boy, and I&#8217;ll be glad to see you.</p>
+
+<p>Run over annyhow; it&#8217;s a dull place without you. The mother misses you
+bad.</p>
+
+<p>Come Saturday if you can; I&#8217;ve got a business proposition I want to
+make.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me how you&#8217;re getting on, annyway.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Old Man</span>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_270" id="pg_270">270</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, ho!&#8221; cried Dennis. His providence was wide awake now, had made its
+toilet, and was ready for business.</p>
+
+<p>For a long while Dennis sat with the letter in his hand, gazing, with
+unseeing eyes, upon its eccentric chirography.</p>
+
+<p>His exultation had not fully materialized.</p>
+
+<p>To grope in the valley of despair one moment and skip along the summit
+of beatitude the next was a little too much for immediate comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>Somewhat in the manner of the metaphysician, he was inclined to believe,
+since his misfortune was no longer a reality, that his prosperity might
+be equally immaterial, and in unaware corroboration he made a minute
+tear in the edge of the postal order to establish its tangibility.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, influenced perhaps by his comparative weal, Dennis
+decided that he would purchase a ticket to the Olympus, and climbing the
+rear approach to that elevation, found himself seated shortly with the
+gallery gods, viewing with uncritical contrasts the relative<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_271" id="pg_271">271</a></span> merits of
+the clown, the harlequin and the columbine.</p>
+
+<p>Between the acts his roving glance found a sudden destination and his
+elation went into abrupt decline, for seated in one of the boxes, her
+glass surveying the house in all sorts of disconcerting directions, sat
+the beautiful widow.</p>
+
+<p>Instinctively Dennis crouched into his seat.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately he was able by thus collapsing within himself, to escape the
+radius of her vision, which was interrupted by the railing extending
+around the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>It would never do to be discovered in his present situation. The
+elevation was degrading, and Dennis understood the unhappy paradox.</p>
+
+<p>It emphasized the social distinctions too much, and caused the distance
+from where he sat to the placid beauty below to appear immeasurable.</p>
+
+<p>But this was not the least of his perturbations.</p>
+
+<p>Near the widow a gentleman sat, solicitous, engaging, persistent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_272" id="pg_272">272</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A certain air of distinction rendered doubly obnoxious the assumption of
+proprietorship which Dennis believed he remarked, and while the young
+man was able to comfort himself with the discovery that his bewitching
+companion devoted more attention to the stage and the house than to her
+escort, still, as Dennis contemplated the faultless attire of the
+gentleman in the box and contrasted it with his own modest apparel, he
+felt unaccountably depressed.</p>
+
+<p>All this was revealed by the furtive glances which the young Irishman
+ventured over the gallery rail.</p>
+
+<p>A strange foreboding overwhelmed him.</p>
+
+<p>The bewildering tinsel of the stage no longer diverted, and he would
+have been astonished to analyze the reason why.</p>
+
+<p>As the last curtain fell and Dennis was no longer able to adjust his
+gloomy contemplation to incongruous orchestration, he hastened from the
+theater, scrambled down the precipitate stairs and hastened to The Stag.</p>
+
+<p>It was midnight before he slept, and scarcely morning when he awoke.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_273" id="pg_273">273</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He dressed himself like an automaton, and breakfasted like an anchorite.</p>
+
+<p>He left the hotel without his personal knowledge, and traversed half the
+length of Broadway without volition. His mind was making the visit in
+advance of the appointed time, and his torpid body alone observed the
+social usages.</p>
+
+<p>By noon the patent leathers were a reality; by six-thirty he had assumed
+a clean shirt and his new necktie.</p>
+
+<p>When the clock struck seven he hastened to the elevated; a half hour
+later found him parading the street opposite the conservatory, and at
+eight he arrived with a promptness which, persistently observed,
+commends a young man to a junior partnership.</p>
+
+<p>When the widow finally presented herself, Dennis was more than ever
+convinced, by the richness of her attire, that the business must be in a
+flourishing condition.</p>
+
+<p>For some unknown reason the beautiful woman was dressed entirely in
+black with the exception of some exquisite traceries in white about her
+throat and wrists.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_274" id="pg_274">274</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Had his life depended upon it Dennis could never have described the
+fabric of her gown.</p>
+
+<p>He only knew that it was distinguished by a sort of subdued sheen; that
+it rustled with an entrancing swish and suggestion of femininity as she
+moved, and that it was adjusted to her shapely figure as though her
+delightful personality had been moulded into it.</p>
+
+<p>A slim wonder of a white hand was extended to him, a bright smile
+illumed her bewildering eyes and bent the Cupid bow of her lips into a
+curve which sent an intangible arrow into the young man&#8217;s heart as she
+said with musical simplicity:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to see you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To this Dennis made no direct reply.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes gleamed their idealized eloquence, however; his attitude
+presented unmistakable shades of deference, and to save himself further
+revelation he collapsed into the chair indicated by his hostess.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently the widow extracted the same enjoyment from these ingenuous
+acknowledgments as ever, for she did not immediately resume the
+conversation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_275" id="pg_275">275</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, Dennis assembled himself, so to speak, and realized his
+psychological moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shure,&#8221; he said as he became aware of his involuntary self-revelations,
+&#8220;&#8217;shure, an&#8217; you would know that I am glad to see you if I was deaf and
+dumb.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The widow laughed heartily at this, as she replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid that you have kissed the blarney stone, Mr. Muldoon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Having no response for this, Dennis substituted: &#8220;I saw you at the
+theater last night,&#8221; and a palpable degree of joy left his countenance
+at the announcement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed the widow, regarding him curiously. &#8220;Where were you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In th&#8217; lobby,&#8221; replied Dennis unblushingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What did you think of the performance?&#8221; asked his companion after a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>Dennis looked her directly in the eyes with the light of inspiration in
+his glance as he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not see it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The widow gazed at the young man for one<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_276" id="pg_276">276</a></span> searching moment, reddened
+slightly, and, rising, proceeded to the music rack, from which she
+extracted bosoms Nos. 2 and 3.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Suppose we read the story,&#8221; was her reply.</p>
+
+<p>As the widow extended the bosoms toward him, Dennis could not avoid the
+thought which had presented itself to him on the day before, that this
+woman had not only two bosoms of his in her possession, but his heart as
+well; and a certain degree of the animation of this reflection found its
+way into his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; inquired this observing woman, &#8220;what is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dennis flushed as he replied: &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you by-and-by,&#8221; and added:
+&#8220;Will you do me a great favor?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; answered Dennis, &#8220;I would like to hear you read bosom No. 2.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; replied the young man, with a sincerity that was unmistakable,
+&#8220;I think it would sound like a song then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; she assented, &#8220;let me have it&#8221;;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_277" id="pg_277">277</a></span> and with a voice that
+reflected, to this young man&#8217;s ears, at least, at one moment the
+rippling of silver brooks, the trill of woodbirds, the sigh of zephyrs
+scented with daffodils, and the next the full, round resonance of an
+animated day in June, she read:</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Now!&#8221; exclaimed Gratz as the familiar click assured him that the
+handcuffs were in place, &#8220;now you can lower your hands and come over
+here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the Sepoy advanced into the light, Gratz instructed Robert to pick up
+the remaining coins and restore them to the bag.</p>
+
+<p>During all this time the Sepoy had not uttered a word, but his fierce
+eyes, which stared with savage intentness in the direction of the disk
+of light, from the rear of which issued that implacable voice, were
+vital with rage and impotent menace.</p>
+
+<p>As he gazed thus with his distorted countenance concentrated into a look
+of bitter speculation in his futile attempt to discover by whom he was
+addressed in this tone of insolent authority, there was something
+frightful in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_278" id="pg_278">278</a></span> quest and uncertainty of the disturbed features.</p>
+
+<p>An unnatural luster, partly the reflection of his somber eyes and partly
+from the tawny hue of his saturnine visage, added an inexpressible
+degree of malignant rancor to his expression.</p>
+
+<p>His hands, which he was compelled by the manacles to hold directly in
+front of him in an absurd travesty of penitential clasp, gripped each
+other in his consuming resentment until the tendons of his wrist stood
+out with the tense distinction of whipcords.</p>
+
+<p>While Robert was engaged in restoring the coins to the bag, the only
+sound came from the derisive click and fall of the gold-pieces as they
+chinked their mockery into the ears of the raging prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>As the last coin joined its fellows a neighboring clock chimed the hour
+of two.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; exclaimed Gratz; &#8220;there is time to settle this business before
+morning&#8221;; and turning to the Sepoy he added: &#8220;I will trouble you to
+precede me to your room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was something unreal in the silence which the Sepoy still
+maintained and the enforced<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_279" id="pg_279">279</a></span> apathy with which he proceeded to obey
+these instructions, and Robert, unaccustomed to such episodes as this,
+in which he was a contributing factor, was more affected than if he had
+witnessed some violent demonstration or listened to a raging
+vituperation.</p>
+
+<p>The transit of the trio from the cellar to the apartment of the Sepoy
+was effected without attracting further regard, and the balance of the
+boarders slept away in snoring oblivion and provided another instance of
+the frail partition which separates the violent from the placid.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the room of their swarthy prisoner, Gratz provided the
+uncomfortable Robert with the relief he required by instructing him to
+hasten to his uncle and summon him to the scene, and to avoid giving him
+any of the details of what had transpired.</p>
+
+<p>Glad to escape the depression of the gloomy vicinity, and the unabashed
+directness of the Sepoy&#8217;s glance, the young man hurried away.</p>
+
+<p>If the terrible concentration which the Sepoy resumed, with his luminous
+eyes upon the countenance of the detective, affected the latter, there
+was certainly no such evidence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_280" id="pg_280">280</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was as dull and lifeless as ever; the eyelids had fallen to their
+accustomed suggestion of ambush, and it seemed scarcely possible that
+the sharp directions of a few moments since could issue from such
+flaccid lips, and so much determination could dominate such an
+insignificant figure.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently exasperated by the undemonstration of this negative aspect,
+the Sepoy was near the limit of his repression.</p>
+
+<p>The lines about his lips relaxed somewhat, the pupils of his eyes
+reduced their staring diameter, and his head was inclined forward a
+trifle.</p>
+
+<p>Gratz concluded that his companion had decided to speak.</p>
+
+<p>He was not mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can I be spared the humiliation of meeting that old dotard you have
+sent for?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not see how,&#8221; replied Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you gain by it?&#8221; asked the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell that in advance; possibly nothing,&#8221; replied Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is likely,&#8221; replied the Sepoy quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We shall see,&#8221; exclaimed the detective. &#8220;I<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_281" id="pg_281">281</a></span> am working out a theory; I
+need the assistance of all concerned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look at me!&#8221; exclaimed the Sepoy abruptly. &#8220;I will credit you with
+being something of a physiognomist. Do you see any evidences of
+determination in my face?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And if I do?&#8221; queried Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only this,&#8221; was the reply: &#8220;No matter what your object may be, I will
+oppose it with all the resolution and dexterity at my command, if you
+conduct your inquiries as you contemplate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In reply Gratz offered an exasperating shrug of the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no mystery to be solved,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have no further facts to
+discover; I know that you have managed to secure three separate bags of
+coin from Raikes, and I am aware of your process.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you know all this,&#8221; replied the other with curious calmness, &#8220;why do
+you&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The question was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now!&#8221; exclaimed Gratz, as if with sudden determination, &#8220;I will try to
+grant your request<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_282" id="pg_282">282</a></span> in part. Retire into your bedchamber, leave the door
+open, and listen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will place Raikes and his nephew where they cannot see you, but I
+will sit here where I can note your slightest move.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Sepoy arose hastily and entered the bedchamber, seating himself
+according to the direction of the detective.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment there was a knock upon the door.</p>
+
+<p>In answer to the salutation of the detective Raikes and his nephew
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>Seating themselves in the chairs indicated, they awaited with intense
+curiosity the proceedings of this enigmatical man.</p>
+
+<p>Noting the alert questioning in the eyes of the young man, and the
+half-awakened inquiry in the sordid countenance of Raikes, Gratz, in
+order to prevent the intrusion of any disturbing remark upon his present
+purpose, said impressively:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must ask you both to listen without interruption. When I want you to
+speak I will question you&#8221;; and fastening his strange eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_283" id="pg_283">283</a></span> upon the
+blinking Raikes, he added: &#8220;Now we will proceed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have lost four bags of coin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Three!&#8221; corrected Raikes, despite his instructions to silence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pardon me,&#8221; continued Gratz, &#8220;and please do not interrupt. I said
+four&mdash;and here is the fourth,&#8221; and he pointed to the bag upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>The miser&#8217;s jaw dropped helplessly, and he stared at the bag with a
+superstitious terror.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; continued Gratz, &#8220;what seems so incredible to you is merely the
+logical outcome of a cunningly established sequence,&#8221; and the speaker
+shot an incredibly quick glance at the silent figure in the adjoining
+room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now attend me closely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;During the last few evenings you have heard some very curious
+narratives.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes nodded with gloomy corroboration.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A series of well-arranged events have introduced a startling
+episode&mdash;the substitution of pebbles for diamonds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again Raikes nodded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_284" id="pg_284">284</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At this point in the narrative the first instalment concludes. Am I
+right?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; continued Gratz, &#8220;you went directly to your room; you retired.
+In the morning you are prompted, with more than your usual eagerness, to
+open your private safe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Right!&#8221; exclaimed Raikes in indorsement of this relentless r&eacute;sum&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You find the locks undisturbed; the contents apparently as you left
+them on retiring. Some difference in the conformity of one of the bags
+urges a nearer examination. You discover that this indicates a
+difference in the contents. You grasp it; it comes away in your hands
+with startling lightness. You discharge its deposit upon the table&mdash;a
+shower of coals follows.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes!&#8221; stammered Raikes with impatient eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you are convinced, by an examination of the fastenings of the
+door, an inspection of the window, that no human being could have
+effected an entrance from either direction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_285" id="pg_285">285</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next evening is a repetition of the history of the night before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The strange Indian narrative, another gem to examine&mdash;an additional
+loss on the succeeding morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes nodded savagely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On the following night the same unhappy series of events occur,
+followed by the loss of the third bag.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why all this again?&#8221; inquired Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That concerns me,&#8221; exclaimed the detective with another rapid glance at
+the undemonstrative figure in the next room. &#8220;You must follow my
+instructions or you will conclude as badly as you have begun. Now,&#8221;
+continued Gratz, &#8220;it is incredible to me that, with the astuteness with
+which you are credited, that having such a good standpoint to begin
+with, you did not proceed upon that basis.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I?&#8221; questioned the astonished Raikes. &#8220;What standpoint had I?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Elimination,&#8221; replied Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Several puzzling possibilities were retired permanently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Recall the details as we have enumerated<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_286" id="pg_286">286</a></span> them: An impossible door; the
+window equally out of the question; the substitution of the coals for
+the coin.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very simple. The outside agency unfeasible, we must look within.
+There is but one conclusion&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that?&#8221; interrupted Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An accessory.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; cried Raikes, &#8220;unthinkable!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all,&#8221; replied Gratz; &#8220;there was an accessory&mdash;yourself!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this announcement Raikes seemed about to collapse into his original
+helplessness. The facts of his losses were extraordinary enough, but
+this was too much.</p>
+
+<p>But Gratz hurried on, explained the unconscious visits of his astounded
+hearer to the cellar, and all that followed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; exclaimed Raikes, when he had concluded, &#8220;I have been the victim
+of hypnotic suggestion.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Precisely!&#8221; replied Gratz. &#8220;The story was merely the medium of
+transmission, and through this weird conduit the story-teller conveyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_287" id="pg_287">287</a></span>
+his instructions to your subconsciousness.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; demanded Raikes, &#8220;why this substitution of coals? It strikes me
+that a scheme so clever as all this would scarcely be jeopardized by
+such an absurdity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That contingency,&#8221; answered Gratz, &#8220;was never intended. In your
+condition of mind, having discharged the coin upon the floor of the bin,
+a mental idiosyncrasy of years insisted upon recognition.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In some inexplicable way you retained enough of your mental identity to
+preserve some manifestation of the law of equivalents. In other words,
+having parted with something, you demanded something in return.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With as much deliberation, therefore, as you manifested in contributing
+to your loss, you attempted to reimburse yourself by filling the bag
+with coal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In some occult way you assured yourself that you were engaged in a
+transaction where one commodity took the place of another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To this freak of mentality the idea of the pebbles in the story being
+substituted for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_288" id="pg_288">288</a></span> diamonds contributed; and what was intended by the
+narrator as a consistency of detail, to be explained later on, made an
+unforeseen appeal to your native cupidity and provided me with a very
+satisfactory clue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Moreover, the narrator assisted himself by allowing you to contemplate
+some brilliants&mdash;a sapphire, a diamond.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In such demonstrations a centralizing object is an almost indispensable
+adjunct; and putting the two together, the stories, the brilliants, it
+is not difficult to see that you have received your instructions in the
+manner indicated, and obeyed them with unexpected consistency.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment there was silence, which was sharply disturbed by an
+unexpected and apparently unsuggested query from Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Were you ever,&#8221; he asked, looking directly at Raikes, &#8220;in this
+apartment during the absence of its occupant?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; stammered Raikes, apparently very much astonished at the question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You lie!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Raikes and his nephew sprang to their feet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_289" id="pg_289">289</a></span> their eyes bulging in the
+direction of the bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>In the doorway stood the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You lie!&#8221; he repeated, &#8220;you miserable husk, you! You were here one
+evening in my absence, or, at least, what you supposed was my absence,&#8221;
+and raising his manacled hands the speaker pointed to the closet. &#8220;I was
+there,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah&mdash;ah!&#8221; faltered Raikes chokingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; continued the Sepoy, &#8220;let us get to the end of this business.
+It ought to be a simple proceeding. You want three missing bags of gold;
+they will be forthcoming on one condition.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what is that?&#8221; cried Raikes, beginning to withdraw into himself as
+if he expected a sharp bargain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That you leave the details of the transaction in the hands of this
+gentleman,&#8221; answered the Sepoy, pointing to Gratz. &#8220;You had better
+consent,&#8221; he added as he analyzed the hesitation of the startled Raikes,
+&#8220;or I shall describe, with photographic minuteness, all that occurred in
+the few short moments of your visit.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_290" id="pg_290">290</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Raikes regarded Gratz helplessly.</p>
+
+<p>During all this conversation the detective had been doing some rapid
+thinking and had decided upon his course, so nodding to Raikes, he said:
+&#8220;Leave the matter to me; I will restore your coin to you in the morning.
+See that neither of you leaves the house until then, or speak to a soul
+before I see you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Whatever objections may have been forming in the mind of the miser were
+quickly dissipated by a look from the Sepoy, and without another word
+Raikes and his nephew departed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; inquired Gratz, when the two were again alone, &#8220;what have you to
+say to me that you do not want Raikes to hear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will know shortly,&#8221; replied the Sepoy after a few moments of
+reflection, with his eyes directed upon the handcuffs. &#8220;I do not have to
+resort to your elaborate reasoning to discover the nature of your
+profession. These,&#8221; holding up his hands, &#8220;are unmistakable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Gratz drily, &#8220;they require no trope or metaphor to
+illustrate their application.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However,&#8221; continued the Sepoy, &#8220;I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_291" id="pg_291">291</a></span> just listened to the deductions
+of an unusual acumen for analysis along abstract lines.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Gratz bowed his acknowledgments.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is simple,&#8221; he said, &#8220;when there is such a liberal supply of
+data.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True,&#8221; responded the Sepoy. &#8220;That was an oversight on my part. Still,
+your constructive application, too, is no less convincing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But to what does all this lead?&#8221; inquired Gratz with a degree of
+impatience. &#8220;Suppose we admit that there is an exquisite balance
+maintained between my analysis and my synthesis, and have done with it.
+You have some appeal to make to one or both of these faculties.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your penetration is the peer of your reasoning. Listen: Will you do me
+the favor of assuming that your comprehensive r&eacute;sum&eacute; of a few moments
+ago is all I care to hear on the subject?&#8221; asked the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I understand,&#8221; replied Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well, then,&#8221; continued the Sepoy. &#8220;I will extend to you the
+courtesy of offering no denial to anything you have said.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_292" id="pg_292">292</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; laughed Gratz, &#8220;is the height of affability, under the
+circumstances; but proceed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; responded the Sepoy. &#8220;I have a suggestion to make. It is
+understood, in the first place, that Raikes is to recover his coin; on
+that point he will be fully satisfied. But there still remains the
+recognition of your services to him; you will have more difficulty in
+convincing him of his obligation than you had in persuading me of your
+acumen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; murmured Gratz; &#8220;it is coming.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you any judge of brilliants?&#8221; inquired the Sepoy abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Somewhat,&#8221; answered Gratz; &#8220;I have seen a few in my time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; continued the Sepoy, &#8220;kindly put your hand in my right vest
+pocket and withdraw a small case of shagreen which you will find there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Gratz obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; continued the Sepoy, &#8220;press the spring.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As Gratz complied with this instruction, the lid of the shagreen case
+flew open and revealed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_293" id="pg_293">293</a></span> the superb sapphire which had radiated such
+insidious depravity into the mind of the miser.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of that?&#8221; inquired the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or so Gratz did not reply. The mastery of its cutting, its
+magnificent bulk, its unrivaled purity overwhelmed him. &#8220;I have never
+seen one like it,&#8221; he said finally, &#8220;if it is genuine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you need not doubt it!&#8221; exclaimed the Sepoy, &#8220;or, if you do, you
+can assure yourself on that point. Now follow me. Six bags of Raikes&#8217;
+coin could not buy that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You set its value high,&#8221; suggested Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Naturally; its like does not exist. Money has never been able to
+purchase it. There is just one consideration I can accept for it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that?&#8221; inquired Gratz as the Sepoy paused.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A lapse of memory,&#8221; replied the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A lapse of memory!&#8221; repeated Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. Unlock these handcuffs and forget that you have done so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden irradiation seemed to shoot from the gem. It was the impulse
+communicated<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_294" id="pg_294">294</a></span> by the trembling hand of the detective, who, either to
+conceal the flush that was gradually transforming his pallid face, or
+from his reluctance to remove his gaze, continued to hold the brilliant
+in much the same oblivious regard as that bestowed upon it by the
+unhappy Raikes.</p>
+
+<p>Gratz was having the struggle of his life.</p>
+
+<p>The veins fretted through his temples with frightful distinction; his
+forehead was moist with a profuse perspiration; his breath labored with
+intermittent entrance and egress.</p>
+
+<p>His well-known apathy, his exasperating negation of demeanor, where were
+they now?</p>
+
+<p>Gradually, however, in the manner of disheartened stragglers whipped
+again into the firing line, there shadowed in his expression evidences
+of moral recovery which the Sepoy did not like.</p>
+
+<p>The professional instincts of the detective, reinspired by his better
+nature, were making some very obvious appeals.</p>
+
+<p>The &eacute;clat of this singular case beckoned. He seemed to brace himself
+morally and physically<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_295" id="pg_295">295</a></span> as he leaned back in his chair and again looked
+at his desperate companion.</p>
+
+<p>At once the Sepoy, upon whom no vestige of this mental tumult was lost,
+again restored the ebbing temptation to its flood by exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here is a more convincing reason still,&#8221; and raising his hands to his
+breast, in order to give the detective easier access to the point
+designated beneath his arms, he said: &#8220;Reach into the pocket on the
+left.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Gratz hesitated. If he had found the first subsidy
+difficult to refuse, how might he resist the second, or, he added to
+himself, with a sort of usurious exaltation, the depravity of the two
+combined?</p>
+
+<p>Curiosity, too, without which no detective is truly fit for his calling,
+moved him, so with the impatient impulse we so often witness when
+rectitude is about to subject itself to the persuasions of the evil one
+for the ostensible purpose of combating them and the private
+determination to yield, Gratz extended a trembling hand toward the
+Sepoy, who had drawn himself to the extreme limit of his sinewy<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_296" id="pg_296">296</a></span> height,
+the better to accommodate his figure to the intent search of the
+detective, and then&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Just as Gratz managed to insert his trembling fingers over the edge of
+the pocket rim, a pair of tense, sinewy hands shot upward and with
+incredible dexterity encircled the throat of the detective.</p>
+
+<p>The surprise was complete.</p>
+
+<p>The hands of the unfortunate man flew out wildly, grasping at nothing,
+and the next instant closed upon the wrists of the Sepoy.</p>
+
+<p>But the recoil was too late. The frightful grasp concentrated its deadly
+pressure.</p>
+
+<p>The livid face of the detective grew purple. His eyes seemed about to
+bulge from their sockets. His grip relaxed from the wrists of his
+antagonist, and then all vigor seemed to vanish from his body, and he
+sank inertly to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>As the malignant Sepoy bestowed the stiffening body upon the carpet, he
+released his horrible clutch upon the detective&#8217;s throat, and, despite
+his manacles, began with desperate<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_297" id="pg_297">297</a></span> agility to search the silent man&#8217;s
+waistcoat pockets.</p>
+
+<p>From one futile quest his implacable hands leaped to another, the length
+of chain which held the two handcuffs together rattling an eerie
+accompaniment to his eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>At last he withdrew a tiny key.</p>
+
+<p>Grasping the precious bit of steel in his right hand the Sepoy inserted
+it in the latch-hole of the left manacle; a quick turn, and the steel
+clasp relaxed its obnoxious embrace.</p>
+
+<p>It was but the work of a second to repeat these operations on his right
+arm, and the Sepoy was free.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ha!&#8221; The breath seemed to whistle from his lungs with one sharp,
+exulting impulse.</p>
+
+<p>He stretched his superb figure to its utmost, and with the smile of a
+re-embodied Lucifer restored the sapphire to its case.</p>
+
+<p>For a brief space he gazed upon the man extended upon the floor, and
+then, urged by some devilish impulse, if one might judge from the
+expression of his countenance, he knelt by the prostrate body and placed
+his ear to the pulseless breast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_298" id="pg_298">298</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The next instant, stimulated, apparently, by some unexpected endorsement
+of a vague possibility, he was upon his feet and had darted to a small
+cabinet near-by.</p>
+
+<p>His hasty foray among its drawers was rewarded with a small bottle, the
+stopper of which he removed.</p>
+
+<p>With a quick motion of the head to escape the full force of the pungent
+odor of ammonia which issued, the Sepoy returned to the unfortunate
+Gratz, and wetting the tip of his handkerchief with a few drops from the
+vial, he passed it gently to and fro under the nostrils of the
+detective.</p>
+
+<p>Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he
+remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.</p>
+
+<p>At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic
+breeze upon the drawn face.</p>
+
+<p>Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time
+from the bottle itself.</p>
+
+<p>The result was startling.</p>
+
+<p>There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic
+throb in the throat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_299" id="pg_299">299</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he
+saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining
+attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.</p>
+
+<p>From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping
+the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel
+force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the
+wrists of the detective.</p>
+
+<p>Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the
+stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room,
+could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and
+unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching
+features.</p>
+
+<p>Again he lifted the uneasy figure and placed it upon the reclining
+chair, into which it collapsed helplessly with a nerveless huddle.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes more of alternate fan and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_300" id="pg_300">300</a></span> bottle resulted in the opening
+of the eyes and the utterance of a choking gasp.</p>
+
+<p>Assured now, the Sepoy rushed to the bedroom, threw aside the coverlets
+and possessed himself of one of the sheets.</p>
+
+<p>With the aid of his pocket-knife he ripped this into several lengths,
+with which he returned to the rapidly reviving Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>In his grim struggle for reanimation the firm lines about the mouth of
+the unfortunate man had finally relaxed, and into this ugly opening the
+Sepoy inserted a strip of the sheet and secured it in a rigid knot
+behind the neck of his victim.</p>
+
+<p>With a few dexterous turns and knots he bound the body to the chair with
+the remaining lengths of linen, and hastening to the washstand grasped a
+water pitcher and deluged the face of the now thoroughly awakened Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>From the look in his eyes it was evident that his senses had not only
+fully returned, but that he was perfectly aware of the changed
+conditions and their relative humiliations.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment an expression vaguely suggestive of admiration shadowed
+through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_301" id="pg_301">301</a></span> slightly flushed countenance, and the next instant it
+returned to its customary apathy, from which it was not again disturbed
+during the bitter ordeal to which the helpless Gratz was subjected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; exclaimed the Sepoy with a frightful grin of malice, &#8220;I trust
+that your senses are sufficiently restored to receive a farewell
+suggestion or two. You will notice,&#8221; he went on with evil emphasis,
+&#8220;that I say &#8216;farewell suggestions,&#8217; for I assure you that you will never
+set eyes on me again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A little previous to the change which resulted in your present
+predicament, I extended to you the courtesy of all sorts of tribute to
+your acumen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now&mdash;note my liberality&mdash;I do not insist upon a reciprocal indorsement
+of my dexterity, since I see&#8221;&mdash;pointing to the gag which he had inserted
+in the mouth of the detective&mdash;&#8220;since I see, with deep regret, that you
+have an impediment in your speech.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I excuse you in advance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Still, I cannot resist the temptation of chiding your indifference to
+such a brilliant<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_302" id="pg_302">302</a></span> argument as this,&#8221; and the Sepoy caused the sapphire
+to scintillate its mocking rebuke into the eyes of the wretched Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must also improve the occasion by calling your attention to the
+reprimand offered by your plight to your curiosity, for you see to what
+a pass it has brought you.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;However, since it would be a malice of which I am incapable not to
+gratify it, I will show you what it was I had in reserve,&#8221; and the Sepoy
+produced the small shagreen case with which Raikes had been on such
+questionable terms of familiarity, and pressing back the lid revealed
+the splendid diamond to the still impassive Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>With a continuation of his elaborate courtesy and his purposely stilted
+phrasing, the Sepoy said: &#8220;If the sapphire was argument, this was
+certainly conviction. The moral barrier which could withstand the
+assault of the first, must, unquestionably, have yielded to the
+insidious attack of the second.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But since you have managed to place yourself beyond the reach of such
+considerations, I will be compelled to discontinue my futile<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_303" id="pg_303">303</a></span> eloquence
+and leave you to your more mature reflections.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Observe!&#8221; he continued, as he replaced the sapphire in the case and
+restored the latter to the right-hand pocket of his waistcoat, &#8220;I place
+the argument in this repository&#8221;; and treating the diamond in like
+manner, he deposited that in the left-hand pocket and added: &#8220;And place
+the conviction on this side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is not often that one is the embodiment of <i>belles-lettres</i>, having
+such details of logic so easily within reach.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>During all this travesty of demeanor and phrase, with its tantalizing
+mockery and its crafty insinuation, Gratz had betrayed no emotion
+whatever, nor did his eyes lose one whit of their usual placidity as he
+beheld the Sepoy, with a sort of lithe, animal rapidity, produce a small
+traveling-case from the wardrobe and return with it to the bag of coin
+on the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see,&#8221; continued the Sepoy as he was about to deposit the bag in the
+case, &#8220;I have left room for this. I anticipated its addition to my
+paraphernalia and made preparations accordingly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_304" id="pg_304">304</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Notice how neatly it fits in. And now I offer you my sympathy for the
+miscarriage of your plans.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This, to a man of sentiment and enterprise, is always obnoxious. I feel
+myself indebted to you for some exceedingly intelligent mental
+processes, and, believe me, I part with you with a feeling so nearly
+resembling regret that I will not do you the discourtesy of doubting
+that the sentiment is genuine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I leave you to make explanations to your clients in whatsoever way you
+may see fit. I salute you!&#8221; and the next instant the Sepoy had slipped
+through the doorway into the hall, along which he hurried until he
+reached the main entrance of the house.</p>
+
+<p>To make his way through this into the vestibule and thence into the
+street was the work of the next few moments, and with a grin of
+malicious triumph he descended the steps which led to the pave.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had his feet touched the ground when a man from either side of
+the stone balustrade stepped out, and each grasped an arm of the
+scowling Sepoy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_305" id="pg_305">305</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A moment, please!&#8221; exclaimed one of the men, as he snapped back the
+shield of a small lantern he carried and directed its searching light
+into the distorted countenance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; exclaimed his captor to the fellow on the other side of the
+prisoner, &#8220;this is the chap, Tom.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, mister, you can walk back. Not a word; you may be all right and we
+may be all wrong; it can soon be settled in there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One question, please,&#8221; begged the Sepoy. &#8220;Who are you? By what right do
+you detain me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One at a time, mister,&#8221; replied the man with the lantern. &#8220;There&#8217;s a
+man inside who can answer these questions for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden light penetrated the mind of the Sepoy. &#8220;Ah!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;I
+understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s good, mister; it will save a deal of explanation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These men, then,&#8221; muttered the Sepoy to himself, &#8220;are the subordinates
+of the detective within.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the moon slipped out from<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_306" id="pg_306">306</a></span> behind a mask of cloud and
+silhouetted the three.</p>
+
+<p>By its light the prisoner examined the grim countenances before him.
+&#8220;Surely,&#8221; he decided, &#8220;there is nothing in these features to indicate a
+strenuous moral objection to the bribery of the contents of my
+traveling-case,&#8221; and at the thought of the absurd discrepancy between
+his present predicament and the cynical altitudes of a short time since,
+and as he considered the humiliation awaiting him when he was compelled
+once more to face the detective, he decided to venture on another
+attempt to purchase his freedom.</p>
+
+<p>With this thought he was about to place the case he carried on the
+ground, when one of the men, remarking his movement and mistaking its
+purpose, cried: &#8220;Here; none of that!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; expostulated the Sepoy, &#8220;you do not&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shut up!&#8221; replied the fellow coarsely. &#8220;Come inside and show us where
+you have left the chief. You here, the boss in there&mdash;something&#8217;s
+wrong.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_307" id="pg_307">307</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With a muttered curse, and urged by no ceremonious hands, the Sepoy
+reascended the steps.</p>
+
+<p>Having in his haste to escape neglected to latch the doors, the raging
+Sepoy had no difficulty in conducting his captors along the hallway to
+his room.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments this strangely assorted trio reached the apartment in
+which the Sepoy had but a short time before disported himself, so to
+speak, with such waspish reprisal, and delivered such a farrago of
+ridicule and cynicism upon the defenseless head of the silent figure
+bound to the chair.</p>
+
+<p>At sight of this extraordinary spectacle the two understrappers came to
+a standstill and looked upon the Sepoy with a species of respect.</p>
+
+<p>Never before had they beheld their chief in such a predicament; the
+means of its accomplishment must have been amazingly clever, and the
+agent himself somewhat of a marvel.</p>
+
+<p>However, while one of the men stood guard over the Sepoy, with a renewal
+of his watchfulness awakened by what he saw, the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_308" id="pg_308">308</a></span> proceeded to
+unfasten the gag and remove the strips which bound the unfortunate
+Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>After a pause of inscrutable regard of the Sepoy, who, despite the
+embarrassing d&eacute;nouement, managed to maintain a fair degree of composure,
+Gratz, addressing the man who had released him, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will find the key of these handcuffs on the table yonder.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Obedient to the direction of the detective&#8217;s glance, the man proceeded
+to the table, found the object of his quest, and inserting it in the
+handcuffs detached them from the hands of the still impassive Gratz.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; continued the latter calmly, &#8220;I will transfer these ornaments to
+that gentleman. Secure him precisely as you found me, with the exception
+of the gag.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Presently this was done.</p>
+
+<p>At this, turning to his subordinates, the detective said: &#8220;Leave me with
+this gentleman for a while; I will call you in case of need.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the pair passed through the doorway, Gratz, with no intimation of
+triumph or exultation in his manner, addressed the unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_309" id="pg_309">309</a></span> Sepoy, with
+an emphasis, however, which implied that he had not forgotten the
+experience to which he had been subjected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And <i>now</i> what have you to say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Sepoy looked his questioner directly in the eyes, with a glance that
+was subtle in its insinuation and eloquent of collusive suggestion, and
+replied:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The sapphire is still in my right waistcoat pocket, and the diamond in
+the left.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p style="margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; text-align:center;">THE END</p>
+
+<p>As the beautiful reader reached this singular conclusion, which came
+with an abruptness that indicated the decrepit imagination of the author
+and his overworked vocabulary, she looked up from the absurd vehicle of
+all this hectic style and incident and beheld in the eyes of her auditor
+a suggestion of the light that is indigenous to neither land nor sea.</p>
+
+<p>To Dennis, who had in his composition the material of a poet, if not the
+finish, the melodious intonations of the widow had seemed like the
+incongruous orchestration of birds in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_310" id="pg_310">310</a></span> treetops to some minor
+tragedy among the denizens of the underbrush.</p>
+
+<p>Her elocution was exquisite and provided the bizarre narrative with a
+refinement which contrasted with its crudities, like Valenciennes lace
+on a background of calico.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said smilingly, after she had subjected his ingenuous glance
+to the rapid analysis of her intuition, with a satisfaction which it
+startled her to recognize, &#8220;what do you think of it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that the end?&#8221; asked Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is the end.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a shade of emphasis, intended by Dennis to indicate that the words
+of the reply of the widow were suggestive of other finalities which he
+did not like to consider, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is no end; it looks to me as though the author has struck his
+limits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; objected the widow, &#8220;I fancy that he has left the subject open so
+that the reader can solve the riddle in his own way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no riddle!&#8221; exclaimed Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No?&#8221; inquired the widow; &#8220;and that splendid<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_311" id="pg_311">311</a></span> sapphire, that magnificent
+diamond to tempt the detective?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They will not tempt him,&#8221; said Dennis with simple conviction and a
+degree of feeling that might lead one to suppose that he was an
+indispensable element in the situation. &#8220;He will recollect his
+professional pride; he will remember that he is a man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; exclaimed the widow with an indescribable intonation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think that I am right?&#8221; asked Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied his companion with a pronounced emphasis on the personal
+pronoun which followed, &#8220;yes, <i>you</i> are right&#8221;; and as she considered
+the frank revelation of character in his reply and contrasted it with
+the possible disclosures of similar situations among the majority of men
+she knew, she added:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad that we have read the story.&#8221;</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Flaw in the Sapphire
+
+Author: Charles M. Snyder
+
+Release Date: December 6, 2007 [EBook #23752]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE
+
+BY CHARLES M. SNYDER
+
+AUTHOR OF "COMIC HISTORY OF GREECE"
+"RUNAWAY ROBINSON" "SNAP SHOTS" ETC.
+
+NEW YORK
+THE METROPOLITAN PRESS
+1909
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1909, by THE METROPOLITAN PRESS
+Registered at Stationers' Hall, London (All Rights Reserved)
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+Press of Wm. G. Hewitt
+24-26 Vandewater St.
+New York
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Augustine E. McBee
+
+A friend who stands since "Auld Lang Syne"
+  To all that's fine related;
+To him, this little book of mine
+  Is duly dedicated.
+
+                      --Charles M. Snyder.
+New York, September, 1909.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAW IN THE SAPPHIRE
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Not long since there lived, in the city of Philadelphia, a young man of
+singular identity.
+
+His only parallel was the comedian who is compelled to take himself
+seriously and make the most of it, or a tart plum that concludes in a
+mellow prune.
+
+He was the affinity of two celebrated instances to the contrary.
+
+To those who enjoy the whimsies of paradox he presented an astonishing
+resemblance, in countenance, to the late Benjamin Disraeli, and
+maintained in speech the unmistakable accent of O'Connell, the Hebrew
+statesman's Celtic antagonist.
+
+For these reasons, until the nature of his business was discovered, he
+was regarded with interest by that class which is disposed to estimate
+the contents of a book by the character of the binding, or thinks it
+can measure a man's ability by the size of his hat.
+
+On nearer acquaintance, he was relegated to the dubious distinction of
+an oddity to whom you would be pleased to introduce your friends if you
+had only a satisfactory account of his antecedents.
+
+He was cheerful, startling, ready and adroit.
+
+Until betrayed by his brief but effectual familiarities, it was a
+curious experience to remark the approach of this singular being and
+wonder at the appraising suggestion in his speculative glance.
+
+Presently you decided that it was the intention of this young man to
+address you, and, unconsciously, you accorded him the opportunity, only
+to be scandalized the moment afterward by the query, altogether
+incongruous in such a promising aspect:
+
+"Any old clothes to-day?"
+
+And you passed on, chagrined and wondering.
+
+For a number of years, while his auditors paused in an attempt to
+disentangle the Semite from the Celt, there was scarcely a day in which
+he had not subjected himself to the more or less pronounced hazards of
+rebuff incident to his invariable query, and there were few citizens of
+the sterner sex whom he had not thus addressed.
+
+Apparently no consideration restrained him.
+
+None was too dignified, none sufficiently austere to escape his
+solicitation; and while, as a rule, he waited until the object of his
+regard came to a standstill, he had been known to approach diagonally,
+and, at the point of incidence, presenting his query, pass on with a
+glance of impassive impersonality when it was evident that his overtures
+were futile or worse.
+
+When successful in his forays, he would convey the results of his
+efforts to his father, who, after getting the garments thus secured in a
+condition of fictitious newness, displayed them in front of his
+establishment, marked with prices which, as he explained to those unwary
+enough to venture within the radius of his personality, brought him as
+near to nervous prostration as was possible for the parent of such
+inconsequent offspring.
+
+However, no matter what the rewards of such industry, it must not be
+imagined that its disabilities did not insist upon due recognition and
+ugly ravel, and that such shred and fibre did not obtrude their
+unwelcome appeals for repair upon their central figure.
+
+Shrewd, intelligent, persistent, he soon discovered that the very
+qualities which made him successful in his calling rendered him
+obnoxious to those who were unable to harmonize his promise with his
+condition.
+
+However, like the majority of his countrymen, outside of those who
+constituted the Manhattan police force and provided the country with
+justices of the peace, this young man was a philosopher.
+
+He could always provide a silver lining for a cloud as long as it was
+plausible to do so, and when he had exhausted his genial resources, he
+looked at facts squarely.
+
+On this basis he decided, finally, that his was a case of "bricks
+without straw," enthusiasm minus its basis, an unhappy conclusion which
+was emphasized by his patient attempts to soften his angularities with
+the advantages provided by a night school.
+
+Unfortunately, a business man, with an eye to the bizarre, to whom
+Dennis had presented some of his characteristic enterprises, had put the
+young Irishman in the way of securing a biography of the Hebrew premier,
+whom he provided with such an absurd travesty of likeness, and the "ole
+clo' merchant" was so impressed by the resolution and dexterity of the
+celebrated statesman, that he became, from that moment, the prey of a
+consuming ambition whose direction he could not determine.
+
+He grew positive daily, however, that, in view of these stimulating
+aspirations, he could no longer pursue his embarrassing avocation.
+
+On the basis, therefore, that the greater the pent the more pronounced
+the explosion, the young merchant developed a dangerous readiness to
+embrace the first opportunity that presented herself in the hope that
+the caress would be returned.
+
+Presently, the determination to exchange his present humiliations for
+future uncertainties advanced him to the point where he informed his
+father of his decision, and the latter immediately succumbed to a
+collapse which was Hebraic in its despair and entirely Celtic in its
+manifestation.
+
+When this irate parent realized, at last, that this invaluable arm of
+his business could not be diverted from its purpose, with cruel celerity
+he cut off his son from all further consideration and forbade him the
+premises.
+
+With the previous week's salary in his pocket, which, fortunately, had
+been undisturbed, Dennis Muldoon, on the day succeeding this unhappy
+interview with his sire, set out for New York City with his few
+belongings condensed, with campaigning foresight, in a satchel whose
+size and appearance would scarcely inspire the confidence man to claim
+previous acquaintance with its owner in order to investigate its
+contents later.
+
+In this manner protected from the insinuating blandishments of the
+"buncoes," and guided by his native shrewdness, Dennis finally found
+accommodation for his meager impedimenta in an unassuming lodging-house
+called The Stag.
+
+This establishment reflected, in a curious way, the demands of its
+patrons.
+
+Almost the entire first floor was occupied by the glittering details of
+a seductive barroom, through which one was compelled to pass, challenged
+on every side by alluring labels, before reaching the restaurant
+immediately in the rear.
+
+Above, the floors were divided into numerous sleeping-rooms barely large
+enough to accommodate a bed, washstand and one chair--a sordid ensemble,
+unrelieved by any other wall decoration than the inevitable
+announcement: "This way to the fire escape."
+
+By a singular coincidence which would have aroused a lively emotion in
+the moralist, a Bible occupied a small shelf directly under the
+instructions quoted above.
+
+Dennis, however, was too weary to recognize the grim association, and
+shortly after his arrival retired for the night to recuperate his
+energies for the uncertainties of the morrow.
+
+Awakening at dawn with a sincere hope that his dreams of a succession
+of disasters were not prophetic, and, despite the appeals of the glitter
+and the labels in the bar, breakfasting with his customary
+abstemiousness, Dennis issued from The Stag with a determination to make
+the effort of his life to secure employment.
+
+He had no definite plans other than a profound determination to resist
+the invitations of Baxter Street, a thoroughfare congested from end to
+end with innumerable shops devoted to the species of merchandizing from
+which he had so recently escaped.
+
+Here his talents would have procured for him ready recognition, a
+condition which deepened his determination to avoid all possible contact
+with these solicitous sons of Shem.
+
+Beyond a singular desire to enter a large publishing house, Dennis had
+no idea as to the direction of his efforts.
+
+Aside from the fact that books held an unaccountable fascination for
+him, he could not explain this predilection, for their influence over
+him was in the aggregate.
+
+He loved to wander, with aimless preoccupation, among closely-packed
+shelves, and in pursuance of this indirection was familiar with the
+interior of every library in the city of Philadelphia.
+
+He appeared to have too much respect for the books to touch them, and
+was sufficiently in awe of their contents not to attempt to read them.
+
+He was impressed by the volume of things, and had, unsuspected by
+himself, the capacity of the bibliophile to detect and enjoy the subtle
+aroma which emanates from leaves and binding.
+
+In harmony, therefore, with the resolute quality which had secured to
+him what success he had enjoyed in his abandoned business, Dennis
+decided to exhaust the pleasing possibilities presented by this elevated
+industry before applying elsewhere.
+
+The eclat of possible authorship did not influence him, despite the
+encouragement afforded him in the surprising efforts of his imagination
+displayed in achievements such as the following, with which he
+embellished the front of his father's establishment:
+
+                                This Suit
+                                  was
+                                  $50
+                           and cheap at that
+                           I'll let it go for
+                                  $20
+
+and so on indefinitely.
+
+Urged, then, by the advantages which lubricate the lines of least
+resistance, and stimulated by that clarion phrase in his unfailing
+campaign document, his copy of Beaconsfield: "I have begun many things
+many times and have finally succeeded," Dennis presented himself, about
+ten o'clock, at one of the well-known publishing houses.
+
+With all the alarm which affects the fair debutante at a court
+presentation, he beheld the confusing labyrinth of counters, department
+aisles and shelves, which combine in such a depressing suggestion of
+intellectual plethora and transient futility in this famous edifice.
+
+Advised by his sensations, Dennis was quite ready to assure himself that
+he had entered at the wrong portal, and, returning to the street, he
+discovered that the building concluded upon a rearway congested with a
+disorderly array of drays, cases and porters.
+
+Encouraged by the assurance of these more familiar surroundings, Dennis
+cast an anxious glance about him to discover one more in authority than
+the others.
+
+His quest was given direction by a familiar accent.
+
+"Wake up, ye lazy divils! It's dhramin' ye are this marnin'."
+
+Guided by the sound, Dennis beheld a naturally cheerful Irishman
+occupied with the double task of assuming an austere demeanor, and
+quickening, with brisk orders, the movements of the porters under his
+direction.
+
+His present difficulties mastered, this vivacious master of ceremonies
+turned to look, with an inquiring glance, upon Dennis, who had presented
+himself to the attention of the former with the unmistakable appeal of
+the candidate in his demeanor.
+
+"I want a job," said Dennis simply.
+
+"Phwat?" inquired the foreman sharply, staring at the mosaic of
+physiognomy and accent embodied in Dennis.
+
+"I want a job," repeated Dennis. "I nade wurk."
+
+There was no mistaking the peculiar burr in the utterance of the last
+two words, but the foreman continued to regard the speaker with
+suspicious amazement.
+
+"Phwat are ye, annyway?" he said with guarded brusqueness.
+
+"A poor man, sir; I nade wurk."
+
+"Oi don't mane that," with less severity at this frank acknowledgment;
+"but where do yez hail from--Limerick or Jerusalem?"
+
+At this pointed question, which promptly reminded Dennis of the singular
+contradiction he presented, he replied, with a genuine Celtic adroitness
+that had an immediate effect upon his hearer:
+
+"Nayther; I got off at the midway junction."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the foreman, as he appreciated this clever explanation
+of the singular compromise presented by Dennis. "Shure, that's not bad.
+By the mug ye wear, I wud advise ye to go to Baxther Street, but by the
+sound av ye, Oi rickommind th' Broadway squad. Wurrk, is it? Why don't
+ye presint that face at th' front? I hear they're shy on editors."
+
+"Shure!" said Dennis, who believed that he was progressing; "but the
+only things I iver wrote were store signs."
+
+"Ah, ha!" replied the foreman, "so it's handy with th' brush ye are."
+
+"Yes," answered Dennis.
+
+"Wait a bit," said the foreman, and pointing to a marking-outfit he
+directed Dennis to display his name and address upon a smooth pine board
+which he provided for that purpose:
+
+                          DENNIS MULDOON,
+                          The Stag Hotel,
+                            Vesey St.,
+                              N.Y.
+
+"Ah, ha!" cried the foreman as he contrasted the name with the
+incongruous face of the young man before him, "ye don't have to play it
+on a flute, annyway; there's nothin' Sheeny about that." Then, directing
+his attention to the character of the work itself, he added: "That's not
+bad at all, at all. See here," he said abruptly, as he picked up the
+board which Dennis had decorated and fastened it to the warehouse wall
+with a nail, "Oi'll kape that for riferince. Oh, Oi mane it," he said
+with gruff assurance, as he noted the disappointment which shadowed the
+expressive face before him; "an' mebbe ye won't have to wait so long,
+nayther."
+
+"I hope not," said Dennis frankly.
+
+"Well, ye see," said the foreman, "the prisint incoombent has been
+mixin' too much red wid his paint, an' it don't wurrk."
+
+"You mean he drinks?" asked Dennis with humorous inquiry.
+
+"Oi do," replied the foreman; "an' now that we have inthroduced th'
+subject, excuse a personal quistion: Do ye wet yure whistle in business
+hours?"
+
+"No," answered Dennis promptly, "nor out of them. Father attended to
+that part of the business."
+
+"Well," replied the foreman, "Oi can't talk longer wid ye this marnin'.
+Come 'round be th' ind of the wake," and dismissing Dennis with a nod he
+withdrew into the warehouse.
+
+The main feature of discouragement which presented itself to Dennis as
+he left this locality to ponder over its possibilities, was that the end
+of the week was five days off.
+
+This was serious.
+
+His rupture with Muldoon, senior, had left him but poorly provided with
+linen and lucre; and a campaign of assault upon the barricades of
+prejudice and suspicion, which was involved in the anxious solicitude of
+the man seeking employment, demanded every possible accessory of
+personal appearance and a reasonably equipped commissariat.
+
+Anxious, therefore, to subject his meager resources to the least strain
+possible, Dennis at last succeeded in securing, in one of the more
+pretentious stores on Baxter Street, a contrivance for the relief of
+penury and threadbare gentility known at that time by the name of
+"dickey."
+
+This convenience consisted in a series of three shirt bosoms made of
+paper to resemble the luxury of linen.
+
+When the surface first exposed showed symptoms of soil or wear, its
+removal revealed a fresh bosom directly under.
+
+Adjusted to his waistcoat, it was almost impossible to detect the
+agreeable sham, which, under favorable auspices, could be made to last
+for a week.
+
+Thus equipped, Dennis proceeded to his hotel, where, after according the
+cheerful salutation of the industrious barkeeper the acknowledgment of a
+lively Irish nod, in which there was both fellowship and refusal, he
+proceeded to the rear, to banquet upon whatever offered the most for his
+money.
+
+During the two days succeeding, Dennis, true to the apprehensive
+calculation natural to the unemployed, did not propose to rest upon the
+assurances of his Irish friend in the publishing house.
+
+Anything untoward might occur.
+
+In fact, he was familiar with this seamy side of Providence.
+
+He had been so often misled by promises that it was only his wholesome
+Celtic faith and prompt capacity to rebound which kept him from becoming
+entirely blase.
+
+His experience, however, left him alert. So he applied industriously at
+various establishments for employment, and received his first lessons in
+the courteous duplicity which ostentatiously files the application for
+future reference, and the cruel kindness of frank rebuff.
+
+On the morning of the third day of this futile foray, Dennis noticed
+that the exposed bosom of his dickey was not altogether presentable.
+
+It appeared to have registered the record of his applications and
+failures, and, as such, was not a good campaign document, so to speak.
+
+Having progressed in his simple toilet up to the point of embellishment,
+he proceeded to tear away the soiled surface, and in doing so discovered
+not only the clean bosom beneath, but that the rear of the one just
+detached was covered with a block of minute print.
+
+Drawing the solitary chair close to the window, he read by the light of
+early dawn the following extraordinary compilation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+In the city of ---- there lived one Rodman Raikes, unpopularly known as
+the "Fist."
+
+The title, however, was not in recognition of personal prowess, for no
+more cringing, evasive creature ever existed.
+
+He was little in mind, little in body, and little in his dealings.
+
+If a principle could ever be concrete, Raikes was the embodiment of the
+grasping and the uselessly abstemious.
+
+He appeared to shun a generous sentiment as one would avoid an infected
+locality, and usually walked with head tilted and body bent as if
+engaged in following a clue or intent upon the search of some stray
+nickel.
+
+He was thoroughly despised by all who knew him, a sentiment which he
+returned with vicious interest, and never neglected an opportunity of
+lodging some sneering shaft where it would cause the most irritation.
+
+His character was so much in harmony with these generalizations that he
+had been described as dividing his laughter into chuckles--if the
+strident rasp which he indulged could be called by that name--in order
+that it might last the longer; and that he grinned in grudging
+instalments.
+
+His obvious possession was an entire row of brick houses, in the most
+insignificant of which he dwelt.
+
+Over this sparse domicile a spinster sister presided, who reflected, on
+compulsion, in the manner of a sickly moon, the attenuity and shrivel of
+her brother.
+
+A nephew of Raikes' completed the circuit.
+
+This young man intruded upon this strange household an aspect so
+curiously at variance with that of his rickety elders that he suggested
+to the fanciful the grim idea of having exhausted the contents of the
+larder and compelled the other two to shift for themselves.
+
+He was, in the eyes of the disapproving Raikes, offensively plump; an
+example of incredible expenditure applied to personal gratification and
+gluttonous indulgence.
+
+The miser behaved as if he appeared to consider it a mark of studied
+disrespect to be compelled to contrast his gaunt leanness with the young
+man's embonpoint, and was propitiated only by the reflection that he
+contributed in no way to his nephew's physical disproportion, since the
+latter was able to be at charges for his own welfare from resources
+derived from steady outside employment.
+
+Adjoining the house occupied by Raikes, and connected with it by a
+doorway let into the wall, was a series of three dwellings used as a
+boarding-establishment by a widow who had seen better days and was
+tireless in alluding to them.
+
+These buildings had been remodeled to communicate with each other, a
+continuity that concluded with the Raikes apartments.
+
+For some reason this miserable man preferred to occupy the portion just
+indicated with no other tenants than his gaunt sister and the robust
+Robert.
+
+This arrangement was all the more curious from the fact that Raikes
+made no attempt to dispose of, in fact, strangely resented any
+suggestion of letting, the lower floor of his end of the row.
+
+That one of his avaricious disposition could thus forego such a prospect
+of advantage was the occasion of much speculation.
+
+If Robert understood he gave no hint; and if the boarders on the other
+side of the partition indulged in curious comment they refrained from
+doing so in his presence.
+
+The suggestion had been made that Raikes secreted something about that
+portion of the premises he occupied, but since none had the courage to
+investigate such a possibility, the problems it created were permitted
+to pass unsolved or serve to tantalize the imagination.
+
+Regularly, at meal-time, the door leading from the Raikes apartment
+would open, and the mean figure of the miser, after presenting itself
+for one hesitating, suspicious moment, would slip silently through and
+subside into a near-by chair at one of the tables.
+
+Directly after, the spinster would filter through with the mien of an
+apologetic phantom, and Raikes at once established the basis of
+indulgence by tentative nibbles of this and that, which were almost
+Barmecidian in their meagerness, and the sister, under his sordid
+supervision, followed his miserable example.
+
+With singular perversity, in the midst of reasonable abundance, he
+forbore to accept the full measure of his privileges.
+
+The discipline of denial was essential to the austere economies he
+practiced in all other directions, and his sister, rather than submit to
+the hardness of his rebukes, acquiesced with dismal resignation.
+
+Robert was able to endure the table behavior of his uncle no more than
+the others, and so occupied a seat in the dining-room surrounded by more
+agreeable conditions.
+
+If this course was intended as a diplomatic frankness to indicate to
+Raikes that his nephew did not expect a legacy to follow the demise of
+that austere relative, no one could determine.
+
+The young man, however, continued to sit in whatever portion of the
+apartment he pleased and enjoy himself as much as the handicap of his
+relationship would permit.
+
+On this basis, as if to manifest in himself the law of compensation,
+Robert grew vicariously robust, and accepted, with cynical good humor,
+the irritation of his uncle over his adipose.
+
+Raikes and his sister had the table at which they sat entirely to
+themselves.
+
+Only on the infrequent occasions of congestion had others been known to
+occupy seats at the same board.
+
+It was more than hungry human nature, as embodied in most of the
+inmates, could stand to witness this exasperating refusal to accept a
+reasonable measure of what was set before them; a disability to which
+the scarcely concealed scowls of the exacting miser added the chill
+finishing touch.
+
+One morning, however, a new boarder arrived.
+
+Accommodations could not be found for him at the other tables, and, as
+was the custom of the widow under such circumstances, he was intruded
+upon the society of this morbid duet, after the manner of his
+predecessors.
+
+If the usual rebellion matured at such association on the part of this
+recent guest, the landlady expected to be assisted by one of those
+vacancies which occur with such incalculable irregularity, yet
+reasonable certainty, in establishments of this character.
+
+At this a prompt transfer would be effected.
+
+This, however, was an unusual boarder.
+
+If his presence was obnoxious to Raikes, the latter refused to realize
+it; if the miser had his peculiarities, the newcomer did not see them.
+
+He ate his meals in silence, with an abstemiousness that, unknown to
+himself, recommended him as cordially as any consideration might to his
+shriveled table companion; made friendly overtures, disguised in
+perfunctory courtesies, of passing the bread or the butter when either
+was beyond the nervous reach of the eccentric Raikes, and ventured an
+impassive suggestion or two as to the probable conduct of the weather.
+
+In appearance the newcomer was startling.
+
+His complexion was a berry-brown; his expression, aside from his eyes,
+was singularly composed.
+
+These were uncommonly black and piercing, and peeped from receding
+sockets through heavy eyebrows, which hung like an ambush over their
+dart and gleam.
+
+His nose was a decisive aquiline, beneath which his lips, at once firm
+and sensitive, pressed together changelessly.
+
+His figure was tall and spare and usually clad in black, a habit which
+emphasized his already picturesque countenance.
+
+There was an indescribable air about him which suggested event,
+transpired or about to transpire, which introduced a sort of eerie
+distinction to the commonplace surroundings in which he found himself,
+and invited many a glance of curious speculation in his direction.
+
+All this was not without its effect upon Raikes, and it was remarked,
+with the astonishment the occasion justified, that the miser, in the
+ensuing days, emerged from his customary austerity to the extent of
+reciprocal amenities in the passage of bread and salt.
+
+However, this was but the beginning.
+
+Raikes discovered himself, at last, responding, with a degree of chill
+urbanity, to the advances of the stranger, and ere the week had
+concluded had assumed the initiative in conversation on more than one
+occasion.
+
+By this time one of the inevitable vacancies had occurred at another
+table, and the widow, as usual, offered to translate this latest guest
+to the unoccupied seat.
+
+The latter, however, for some strange reason, indicated a desire to
+remain in his present surroundings, and when this disposition was
+understood by Raikes, the conquest of the miser was complete.
+
+As if to indorse the perverse aspect of inflexible things, it seemed,
+now that Raikes had ventured ever so little beyond his taciturn
+defenses, he was encouraged to further boldness.
+
+The stranger exerted a fascination which, in others, Raikes would have
+considered dangerous and which he would have made his customary
+instinctive preparations to combat.
+
+He could not recall a similar instance in all the years of his recent
+experience when he was constrained to recognize, nay, surrender to, a
+diffusive impulse such as this curious stranger awakened in his mind.
+
+In yielding to its insinuations, even to the extent already recorded, he
+was agreeably conscious of a sort of guilty abandon which, at times,
+stupefies the moral qualities ere delivering them into the hands of a
+welcome invader.
+
+For some time Robert, with the others, had enjoyed the entertainment
+offered by this transformation of Satyr to Faun, and the inversion
+advanced to still further degrees their curious regard of the "Sepoy," a
+picturesque description bestowed upon him by the blase boarders.
+
+Consequently, one evening, when, at the conclusion of the dinner, the
+"Sepoy," in response to the invitation of Raikes, was seen to disappear
+with the latter through the doorway which led to his apartments,
+Robert's interest in the spectacle changed to genuine alarm, until a
+moment's reflection upon his uncle's well-known ability to take care of
+himself reassured him.
+
+Intruding the door between themselves and all further speculation, the
+strangely-assorted pair proceeded along a dimly-illumed hallway to a
+room in which Raikes usually secluded himself.
+
+As the Sepoy advanced, he could see that, with the exception of two
+sleeping-chambers, revealed by their open doors, the apartment in which
+he found himself was the only one where any kind of accommodation could
+be found, as the balance of the house offered unmistakable evidences of
+being unoccupied.
+
+"Be seated, sir," croaked Raikes, with a voice strangely suggestive of a
+raven attempting the modulations of some canary it had swallowed. "I do
+not smoke myself, and, therefore, cannot provide you with that sort of
+entertainment; still, I have no objection to you enjoying yourself in
+that way if," with a cynical shrug of the shoulders by way of apology,
+"you have come prepared."
+
+Accepting this frank inhospitality in the spirit of its announcement,
+the stranger, smiling with his curious eyes, produced two cigars, one of
+which he offered to Raikes, and which was consistently and promptly
+refused.
+
+"I can't afford it," expostulated the latter. "I never indulge myself
+even in temptation; the nearest I will approach to dissipation will be,
+with your permission, to enjoy the aroma. I do not propose to rebuke
+myself for that."
+
+"As you please," returned the other as he replaced the weed in his
+pocket. "It is my one indulgence; in other respects I challenge any man
+to be more abstemious."
+
+"I have had none," returned Raikes with a rasping lack of emotion, "for
+the last ten years. It is too late to begin to cultivate a disability
+now."
+
+"You are wrong," replied the Sepoy. "One's attitude cannot be rigid at
+all points; that is bad management. The finest tragedy I ever witnessed
+was emphasized by the trivialities of the king's jester.
+
+"However," he added, as if in support of his theory, "I can, at least,
+trouble you for a match."
+
+While Raikes busied himself in an effort to show the hospitality of the
+service indicated, the Sepoy's busy, furtive eyes glanced here and
+there about the room with quick, inquiring glances.
+
+At one end a bedstead stood, which an antiquarian would have accepted
+gladly as collateral for a loan.
+
+Near-by a wardrobe, equally remote if more decrepit, leaned against the
+wall to maintain the balance jeopardized by a missing foot.
+
+One chair, in addition to those occupied by Raikes and his companion,
+appeared to extend its worn arms with a weary insistence and dusty
+disapproval of their emptiness.
+
+A table, large enough to accommodate a student's lamp, several account
+books and a blotting-pad, completed this uninviting galaxy.
+
+To the walls, however, the Sepoy directed his closest scrutiny.
+
+With an incredibly rapid glance he surveyed every possible inch of
+space, turning his head cautiously to enable his eyes to penetrate into
+the more distant portions.
+
+Presently, after an amount of rummaging altogether disproportionate to
+the nature of his quest, Raikes succeeded in finding a lucifer, which
+flared with a reluctance characteristic of the surroundings.
+
+The Sepoy, availing himself of its blaze, deposited the remainder of the
+stick, with elaborate carefulness, upon the table, as if urged by the
+thought that his companion might convert it to further uses.
+
+As Raikes resumed his chair, the Sepoy, recalling his glances from their
+mysterious foray, directed them, with curious obliqueness, upon his
+companion.
+
+In no instance that Raikes could recall had the Sepoy looked upon him
+directly save in fleeting flashes.
+
+At such moments Raikes was conscious of a strange tremor, a vanishing
+fascination, that he vainly sought to duplicate by attracting the
+other's attention, in order to analyze its peculiar influence.
+
+"May I ask," he ventured after a few inhalations of his vicarious smoke,
+"may I ask the nature of your business?"
+
+"Surely," replied the other. "I am a collector."
+
+"Of what?" inquired Raikes, dissatisfied with the ambiguity of the
+answer.
+
+"Sapphires," said the Sepoy.
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes.
+
+"Yes," continued the other, regarding the kindling glance of the
+avaricious Raikes with a quick, penetrating look that was not without
+its effect upon the latter; "yes, and I have had many beautiful
+specimens in my time."
+
+"But where is your establishment?" asked Raikes.
+
+"Wherever I chance to be," was the reply.
+
+"Still," ventured Raikes, astonished at this curious rejoinder, "you
+have some safe depository for such valuables."
+
+"Doubtless," replied the other drily; "but I have a few in my room now,
+and, by the way, they are pretty fair specimens."
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes. "May I see them?"
+
+"Why not?" assented the Sepoy. "In the meantime," he continued, as he
+inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket, "what do you think of this?"
+and describing a glittering semicircle in the air with some brilliant
+object he held in his grasp, he deposited upon the table a sapphire of
+such extraordinary size and beauty, that Raikes, able as he was to
+realize the great value of this gleaming condensation, stared stupidly
+at it for a moment, and then, with a cry of almost gibbering avarice,
+caught the gem in his trembling hands and burglarized it with his greedy
+eyes.
+
+As Raikes, oblivious of all else, continued to gaze upon the brilliant
+with repulsive fascination, a peculiar change transformed the face of
+the Sepoy.
+
+He directed upon the unconscious countenance of his companion a glance
+of terrible intensity, moving his hands the while in a weird, sinuous
+rhythm, until presently, satisfied with the vacant expression which had
+replaced the eager look of the moment before in the eyes of the
+tremulous Raikes, the Sepoy began, with an indescribably easy, somnolent
+modulation, the following strange recital:
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 2.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Thunder and lightning!" cried Dennis as he reached the exasperating
+announcement in italics at the bottom of the dickey back:
+
+"Continued on Dickey No. 2."
+
+"What th' div--now, what do you think of that? An' it's me crazy to hear
+what that meerschaum-colored divil was a-goin' to say. 'Dickey No. 2.'
+Why, that's the one I have to wear to-day, an' to think the story's on
+the back of it."
+
+Truly was Dennis harassed.
+
+He had been in many a pickle before, but never in one quite so
+exasperating.
+
+Tantalized, in the first place, by the uncertainty surrounding his
+prospective employment, he was now confronted by a predicament which
+threatened to jeopardize a vital adjunct to his personal appearance.
+
+A native curiosity, to which this outrageous tale appealed so
+strenuously, prompted him to detach bosom No. 2 regardless.
+
+An equally characteristic thrift warned him against such an
+inconsiderate procedure.
+
+Finally his good judgment prevailed, and with desperate haste he
+adjusted the remaining bosoms of the dickey to his waistcoat, plunged
+into his coat, clapped his hat on his head and rushed from the room.
+
+All that day Dennis continued to receive his instalments of that bitter
+instruction in the ways of heedless employers and suspicious
+subordinates which, eased by a native good humor, conclude in the
+philosopher, or, unrelieved by this genial mollient, develop the cynic.
+
+By evening he was compelled to admit, as he retraced his steps to The
+Stag, that he had not advanced in any way.
+
+As he was about to pass under one of the dripping extensions of the
+elevated, a great splotch of grease detached itself from the ironwork
+and struck, with unerring precision, directly in the center of dickey
+No. 2.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Dennis as he realized the nature of his mishap, "that
+settles it; I'll know what the Sepoy said to-night." A remark which
+proved conclusively that the philosophical element was still uppermost
+in the mind of this young Irishman.
+
+After a brief exchange of courtesies with his countryman behind the bar,
+and a dinner so modest in the rear room as to arouse the suspicion and
+encourage the displeasure of the waiter, Dennis hastened up the
+stairway, divested himself of his upper garments, ripped off dickey
+bosom No. 2, and began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+As the Sepoy proceeded, Raikes leaned forward in an attitude, the
+discomfort and unbalance of which he seemed to be entirely unaware.
+
+His only means of maintaining his rigid poise was in the arm which lay,
+with tense unrest, upon the table.
+
+From his hand, the fingers of which had released their clutch, the stone
+had rolled and gleamed an unregarded invitation into the eyes of the
+drawn face above it.
+
+The sickly grin of a long-delayed relaxation beguiled the extremities of
+his mouth, the grim lips had relaxed their ugly partnership, and his
+entire figure seemed upon the verge of collapse.
+
+Raikes was listening as never before.
+
+The clink of coin, the dry rattle and abrasion of brilliants, the rustle
+of bank notes could not have fascinated him more than the even,
+somnolent modulations of the speaker.
+
+Every word found easy lodgment in his consciousness. There was not a
+sound or motion to divert, and the tale was a strange one.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ram Lal," said the Sepoy, "was a native merchant, trading between
+Meerut and Delhi, who decided to sacrifice the dear considerations of
+caste for the grosser conditions of gain.
+
+"From the performance of mean and illy-rewarded services to his patron,
+Prince Otondo, Ram Lal had developed, with the characteristic patience
+and dangerous silence of the true Oriental, to a figure of some
+importance, whom it was a satisfaction for the prince to contemplate
+with a view to future exaction and levy as occasion demanded.
+
+"His royal master resided in the Kutub, a palace situated not far from
+Delhi on the road to Meerut.
+
+"This pretentious edifice, which had been established in the thirteenth
+century and which still presented, in some of its unrepaired portions,
+curious features of the bizarre architecture of that period, had been
+the dwelling place of a long line of ancient moghuls.
+
+"Its present incumbent, however, regarded with indifference the ravages
+of time and decay, and satisfied himself with the lavish furnishing of
+that considerable portion of the palace which he occupied with his dusky
+retainers.
+
+"To be at charges for all this the princely revenues had been seriously
+depleted.
+
+"Since he could not look to decrepit relatives in Delhi for further
+allowances, and as the British Government proved equally obdurate, the
+prince found it necessary to calculate upon all possible sources of
+income.
+
+"In such speculations, therefore, the unhappy Ram Lal became an object
+of logical interest.
+
+"Up to the present the merchant had been undisturbed in the security of
+his possessions, which were suspected to be enormous.
+
+"His royal patron had contented himself with the avarice of calculation,
+and, in order that his depredations might be worthy his proposed
+brigandage, he provided Ram Lal with every opportunity to develop his
+hoard to a respectable figure.
+
+"The prince, having enjoyed the advantages of association with sundry
+British officials, was entirely too sagacious and philosophical to
+discourage the industry of the merchant at the outset; and with the
+patience which is enabled to foresee the end from the beginning, he
+awaited developments.
+
+"In consequence, the merchant attained to everything but the ostentation
+of his possessions, and only assumed the dignity of his riches in the
+less calculating confines of his household.
+
+"Even here, however, the subsidy of his liege was active, for among the
+servants of the merchant were those whose appraising eyes followed every
+movement, and whose mercenary memories recorded every transaction.
+
+"With all the concern of a silent partner Prince Otondo balanced, in his
+philosophical mind, the various enterprises of Ram Lal.
+
+"If they met with his august approval, the merchant's traffic was
+singularly free from obstruction; if the element of uncertainty was too
+pronounced for the apprehensive potentate, the most surprising occasions
+for the abandonment of his projects were developed for Ram Lal, whose
+intelligent mind was inclined to suspect the identity of his providence.
+
+"Prince Otondo did not propose to have his interests jeopardized by
+precipitation or undue hazard.
+
+"But this unhappy merchant, with perverse and unaware industry, advanced
+still another claim to the covert regard of his calculating highness.
+
+"Although a widower, there remained, to remind him of his departed
+blessedness, a daughter, who was, as reported by the mercenaries of the
+prince, beautiful beyond their limited means of expression.
+
+"The unfortunate Ram Lal, therefore, commending himself to this elevated
+espionage, first by his 'ducats' and next his 'daughter,' was in the
+predicament of the missionary whose embonpoint endears him to his savage
+congregation and whose edibility is convincing enough to arouse the
+regret that he is not twins.
+
+"Prince Otondo, whose imagination was stimulated by this vicarious
+contemplation of beauty, did not find it difficult to decide that the
+transits of Ram Lal to and from the British barracks were open to
+suspicion that demanded some biased investigation.
+
+"Unfortunately, too, the colonel in charge of the British forces at
+Delhi was equally uneasy concerning the integrity of the merchant, a
+state of mind which had been judiciously aggravated by the emissaries of
+Prince Otondo.
+
+"The officer in charge knew that the merchant, with his license of exit
+and entry, was in an exceptional position to acquaint himself with
+considerable merchandisable information.
+
+"Ram Lal, therefore, in response to the pernicious industry of his evil
+genius, like an unstable pendulum, was in danger of detention at either
+extreme.
+
+"The prince speculated like a Machiavelli upon the advantages of such
+action on the part of the colonel, and the latter looked to the former
+to relieve him of the responsibility.
+
+"However, diligence, even when baneful, has its rewards, for one day,
+when Ram Lal arrived at the British horn of the dilemma, he was
+arrested upon a charge framed to suit the emergency and subjected to a
+military court of investigation.
+
+"At the end of eight days the merchant was released, acquitted, and on
+the ninth he directed his course homeward.
+
+"The colonel, however, had provided the prince with his opportunity, for
+when the irritated merchant arrived at his dwelling, he was informed
+that sundry officials from the palace had searched the premises for
+evidence of sedition, and, failing in that, had decided to accept all of
+his portable chattels as a substitute.
+
+"This was depressing enough, but still might have been accepted with the
+customary Oriental impassiveness had it not been for the fact that the
+marauders had added his daughter to the collection.
+
+"At any rate, she could not be found, and as she had never ventured from
+the shelter of the paternal roof without the paternal consent, Ram Lal
+felt that his deductions as to her whereabouts were entitled to
+consideration.
+
+"He was unable to get any indorsement of his unhappy logic, for the
+servants had all disappeared.
+
+"He determined, however, to act in accordance with his assumption, and
+after taking an inventory of whatever had been overlooked in the foray,
+which was little else than the premises, he seated himself upon a mat
+beneath a banyan tree in the garden, which concluded the rear of his
+dwelling, and was presently ells-deep in a profound reflection, which
+was not only ominous in its outward calm, but curiously prolonged.
+
+"The only evidence of mental disquiet which, it was natural to suspect,
+disturbed him, was a strange light which gleamed from his eyes at
+intervals with baleful significance.
+
+"At the conclusion of two oblivious hours Ram Lal appeared to have
+arrived at some definite purpose.
+
+"He rose to his feet and strode, with a marked degree of decision, to
+his dwelling, where he slept in apparent and paradoxical peace until
+morning.
+
+"Ere the sky was red, or the dews, in harmony with this unhappy man's
+dilemma, had been appropriated by the sun from the tiara of dawn, Ram
+Lal set out for the palace of the Kutub, in which Prince Otondo was
+compelled to reside for the present for some very convincing reasons
+provided by the British Government.
+
+"In a little while the merchant had traversed the short distance
+intervening and was admitted through the courtyard gates.
+
+"The last of the kings of Delhi was a decrepit old man named Dahbur Dhu,
+whose sole object in life seemed to be an attempt to reanimate the pomp
+and pageantry of a dead dynasty.
+
+"Pensioned by the British Government, which permitted him to continue
+this absurd travesty, if his feeble exasperation over his predicament
+and his silly ostentations could be called by that name, this realmless
+potentate occupied his waking hours in futile revilings of the hand that
+at once smote and sustained him.
+
+"While not thus engaged, he would gravitate almost to the extreme of
+servility in his efforts to exact additional largess from the powers in
+control, to expend upon this senile attempt to augment the consideration
+of his pageant throne.
+
+"Several efforts had already been made to remove the irritating presence
+of this royal household to Bengal, but the time had not yet arrived when
+the British could regard with indifference the native prejudice which
+would be aroused by such a procedure.
+
+"The infirm moghul, therefore, continued his vaudeville, which was
+mainly confined within the palace walls at Delhi, and persisted in his
+endeavors to augment his revenues.
+
+"However, to mitigate the nuisance as far as possible, the British
+Government consented to recognize his grandson, Prince Otondo, as the
+successor to the throne, and yield a degree to the exactions of the
+moghul if his young kinsman would agree to remove himself permanently
+from Delhi and reside in the Kutub.
+
+"To this, for a reason which shortly transpired with almost laughable
+incongruity, Dahbur Dhu assented, and Prince Otondo established himself
+at this royal residence with an outward manifestation of satisfaction,
+at least.
+
+"Despite the fact that the merchant was a familiar figure in this
+enclosure, he believed that he remarked an unusual degree of interest
+awakened by his presence, and was assured that he detected more than one
+sinister and smiling glance directed, with covert insinuation, upon his
+impassive countenance.
+
+"An uneasy suggestion of conspiracy met him at every turn.
+
+"With that gravid apprehension which creates in advance the very
+conditions one desires to combat, Ram Lal prepared himself for a series
+of events which made him shudder to contemplate.
+
+"It seemed to him that the salutes of the swarthy satellites of the
+prince were a degree less considerate.
+
+"He was convinced of a cynical estimation usually accorded to the
+destitute.
+
+"The depression of disaster was upon him.
+
+"He could only think in the direction of his forebodings, so when at
+last he arrived in the familiar ante-chamber and announced himself, his
+voice reflected his trepidation and his demeanor had lost a palpable
+degree of its customary assurance.
+
+"While the merchant awaited the response to his request for an audience
+with the prince, he made a sorry attempt to assume a cheerful aspect,
+with the success of one who is permitted to listen to the details of his
+own obsequies.
+
+"When not thus engaged, he traversed the apartment with intermittent
+strides--another Chryses about to make a paternal plea to this Oriental
+Agamemnon.
+
+"He had canvassed his demeanor, reviewed his cautious phrases, and had
+even provided a desperate denunciation, which, when he considered the
+privileged rascality of his royal auditor, he felt assured would at once
+conclude the interview and his liberty.
+
+"As Ram Lal was about to end his fifth attempt to apprehend the result
+of this expected interview, the curtains parted and a stalwart
+attendant, impassive and silent, appeared.
+
+"In response to the eloquent concern betrayed in the glance of the
+merchant, the other, holding the curtains aside, indicated, by an
+inclination of his turbaned head and a sweep of his hand, the dignity
+of which was intended to convey some intimation of the personality of
+his master and the proportions of the privileges accorded, that the
+merchant was expected to proceed, which he did with trembling
+precipitation.
+
+"As Ram Lal entered the room, his alert glance discerned the figure of
+the prince extended, with unceremonious abandon, upon a divan.
+
+"Advancing, he made profound obeisance to the reclining potentate, who
+acknowledged his presence with a spiritless motion of his hand not
+unsuggestive of the humiliating degree of his condescension.
+
+"At this period of his career Prince Otondo presented, in his
+personality and surroundings, considerable of the picturesque
+magnificence with which the native rulers delighted to surround
+themselves.
+
+"His presence, at once dignified and carelessly amiable, was not the
+least vital accessory to the sumptuous abundance, to which he added the
+last touch of distinction.
+
+"A smiling cynicism, which was one of his most engaging characteristics
+and an invaluable masquerade for his genuine sentiments, lingered about
+his thin, patrician lips.
+
+"His features balanced with cameo precision, and in his eyes, usually
+veiled by lashes effeminately long, the whole gamut of a passionate,
+intolerant nature was expressed.
+
+"'Well, most ancient and honorable!' said the prince, with an
+exasperating suggestion in his manner of appreciation of the travesty of
+his words, as he gazed upon the merchant with a glance whose speculation
+the latter could not determine. 'Well, how speeds thy traffic and thrive
+thy caravans?'
+
+"'Not well, my lord,' answered Ram Lal, 'not well.'
+
+"'Ah, ha!' exclaimed the prince, with an indescribable insinuation of
+biased rebuke in the look with which he challenged further revelations
+from the speaker. 'That touches me nearly; this must not be; an
+industrious subject may not suffer while there is a remedy at hand.'
+
+"''Tis on that head I would beseech your majesty!' exclaimed the
+merchant, seizing the opportunity provided, with such plausible
+ingenuousness, by the august speaker.
+
+"'Proceed, Ram Lal,' urged the prince, with an amiability which the
+merchant had known to be a dangerous prelude in the past.
+
+"'Great prince!' replied the merchant with the prompt obedience which
+contemplates a possible reversal of privilege.
+
+"'Nine days from home I strayed.
+
+"'On my return I find my house despoiled of all its store.
+
+"'And with the rest, O prince, the priceless tokens of thy high regard.
+
+"'Aside from these, I do not mourn my loss, for it may be repaired.
+
+"'Nor will I question fate, whose ears are dull to hear, whose eyes
+refuse to see the victims of her spleen.
+
+"'But hear, O prince--my one ewe lamb, my sole delight--my daughter
+greets me not.
+
+"'The empty halls no more re-echo to her tread.
+
+"'No more sweet mur----'
+
+"'Enough, Ram Lal,' interrupted the prince. 'I have heard that a needle
+thrust into the eye of a bullfinch will make it sing, but I did not
+know that misery could transform a merchant to a bard.
+
+"'Disjoint your phrases a degree. You say your daughter greets you not?'
+
+"'Yes, O prince,' replied Ram Lal, abashed at this cynical embargo upon
+the melancholy luxury of his rhythms; 'yes, and it is of her I would
+speak.'
+
+"'Speak,' urged his august hearer.
+
+"After a moment's reflection, in the manner of the unwelcome envoy who
+has reached the acute juncture of his recital and is about to
+disembarrass himself of a dangerous climax, the merchant continued in
+sordid Hindustani:
+
+"'As I have said, O prince, my daughter has been taken from me, and I
+come to you in my extremity.'
+
+"'And why to me, Ram Lal?' demanded the prince, with a gleam in his
+glance which was directly responsible for the pacific presentation which
+followed.
+
+"'Because,' replied the merchant with discerning irreverence, 'if it so
+please your highness, your providence is practical, and the ways of
+Vishnu are tedious.'
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the prince appreciatively; 'that was not so bad for a
+merchant; but to the point.'
+
+"'Little can occur in this cantonment that is not known to your
+highness, or that cannot be determined if you so desire.
+
+"'I ask your august assistance, and I have, as you will see, observed
+the proprieties in making my request.
+
+"'It is a time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his
+appreciation of the importance of the favor he solicits, is it not so?'
+
+"'I did not know,' replied the prince, 'that commerce could develop such
+an oracle; it is a subtle sense of fitness you express. I am interested.
+Proceed.'
+
+"'I will, your highness,' responded Ram Lal, as he inserted his hand in
+one of the folds of the sash which encircled his waist. 'You recall the
+stone of Sardis?'
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the prince, his cynical listlessness transformed at
+once into the abandon of eagerness. 'What of it, O merchant?'
+
+"'This,' replied the latter as he withdrew his hand from his sash, 'if
+your highness will deign to examine it,' and the speaker extended toward
+the incredulous prince a small box of shagreen, which the latter
+clutched with the grasp of avarice.
+
+"'Will his highness deign?' repeated Ram Lal to himself with bitter
+irony as the prince pressed back the lid and exposed to view a
+magnificent sapphire, the gleam and the glitter of which affected him
+like an intoxication.
+
+"As the prince, oblivious to all else, fixed his avid glance upon the
+scintillant stone, an astonishing change transformed the merchant from
+the suppliant to a being of marked dignity of bearing and carriage.
+
+"His eyes, no longer obliquely observant, were directed with baleful
+purpose upon the half-closed lids of the fascinated potentate.
+
+"His hand disengaged itself from the sash, where it had reposed with
+something of the suggestion of a guardian of the treasury, and was
+gradually extended with sinuous menace over the declining head of the
+prince.
+
+"His long, lithe figure straightened from its servile stoop, and a
+palpable degree of the authority which appeared gradually to fade from
+the fine countenance before him found an equally congenial residence in
+the expression of the merchant.
+
+"There was command in every feature.
+
+"As for the prince, his figure appeared to decline in majesty in
+proportion to the access of dignity which had added its unwonted
+emphasis to the personality of Ram Lal.
+
+"He leaned inertly forward, one hand resting upon his knee.
+
+"In his slowly relaxing clutch the brilliant gleamed. His forehead was
+moist; his lips dry; his delicate nostrils were indrawn in harmony with
+the concentrating lines of his brow, and the next moment, as if in
+response to an insinuating pass of the merchant's hand of cobra-like
+undulation, the rigid poise recoiled, he settled more easily upon the
+divan, and with eyes still fascinated by the entrancing bauble he
+listened, with anomalous impassiveness, to the weird proposal of Ram
+Lal.
+
+"'Hearken, O prince!
+
+"'My daughter has been taken from me by whom I shall not venture to
+inquire.
+
+"'If she is returned to me, I shall be satisfied.
+
+"'I am here therefore to beseech your highness to see that she is
+restored to me.
+
+"'To-day, as the sun declines, I shall expect her.
+
+"'If she does not come to me then, O prince, a heaping handful of the
+precious stones you hold so dearly will be missing, and in their stead
+will be as many pebbles from the fountain in the courtyard.
+
+"'The sapphire I leave with you as a witness of my plea.'
+
+"And slowly the merchant retreated toward the door, his eyes fastened
+the while upon the prince.
+
+"As he reached the threshold he paused, and with a voice that seemed to
+lodge in the consciousness of his inert auditor like the sigh of Auster
+over the daffodils and buttercups of a dream, he repeated:
+
+"'_To-day as the sun declines._'
+
+"And the next instant, with an abrupt motion of his hand strangely at
+variance with the placid gestures just preceding, the merchant
+disappeared through the curtains which screened the doorway.
+
+"And now," said the Sepoy abruptly, as he moved his chair with a sharp
+rasp over the bare floor and transferred his glance at the same time
+from the drawn countenance of his rapt auditor to the gleaming gem on
+the table, "and now--is it not a beauty?"
+
+"Ah, ha!" murmured Raikes, disturbed by the abrupt cessation of the
+sedative tones of the Sepoy and the abrasion of the chair, "superb!" And
+that instant all his keen animation returned.
+
+Apparently Raikes was not aware of any blanks in his scrutiny and
+resumed his regard of the tantalizing facets with knowing sagacity and
+an envy that affected him like a hurt.
+
+"In all my years," he creaked, as his long, prehensile fingers riveted
+like a setting to the fascinating bauble, "I have never seen such a gem.
+
+"The cutting is exquisite; it is a study in intelligent execution; every
+facet here cost a pang; how vital it was not to waste an atom of this
+precious bulk.
+
+"What a delicate adjustment of the lines of beauty to the material
+consideration; the balance is perfect." And with this confusion of frank
+cupidity and rapacious regard, the miser, with a supreme effort, pushed
+the stone impatiently toward the Sepoy.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the latter, "it is a pleasure to show the gem to one who
+is able to comprehend it.
+
+"It is even finer than you have discerned. The lapidary was subtle; his
+work sustains closer analysis. Have you a stray glass?
+
+"No? Well, I will send you mine and you can entertain yourself until I
+see you again."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Raikes, "you will leave this stone with me?"
+
+"Why not?" returned the Sepoy evenly. "You have a due regard for
+property. I do not fear that this gem will meet with mishap in your
+possession. Besides, it will be a revelation to you under the glass,"
+and, arising, he stepped to the door, leaving the brilliant upon the
+table in the grasp of the astonished Raikes, who was unable to
+comprehend such confidence and unconcern.
+
+Traversing the hallway, the pair reached the door which opened upon the
+apartments controlled by the widow.
+
+As he paused on the threshold to make his adieux to Raikes, the Sepoy,
+looking at the former with a marvelously glowing glance, repeated, with
+an emphasis so eerie as to occasion a thrill of vague uneasiness in his
+companion, the concluding phrase of the singular tale he had related to
+Raikes:
+
+"_To-day as the sun declines._"
+
+And the moment after he disappeared, leaving the startled miser to gaze,
+with greedy contemplation, upon the sapphire which he retained in his
+grasp.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 3.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Dennis as the exasperating phrase in italics met his
+glance, "an' it's here you are again. Shure, a man would tear his shirt
+to tatters for a tale like that," and with appreciative meditation over
+the vexatious quandary presented by the cunning of the bosom-maker in
+thus adding another ruinous possibility to the inevitable soil and wear,
+he added:
+
+"Shure, the man who put that sthory on the dickey-back knew his
+business. Where the dirt laves off the guessin' begins, and betwixt the
+two it's another dickey I'll be after--ah, ha, an' it's a fine thing to
+have brains like that."
+
+With this discerning tribute, Dennis turned the last dickey around and
+discovered that it was protected in the rear with a sort of oiled paper,
+through which the story shadowed dimly.
+
+Here was the pinch of his dilemma.
+
+His curiosity was sharpened and his judgment impaired.
+
+In a variety of ways literature incapacitates a man for the exigencies
+of existence.
+
+Dennis found himself visibly enervated. At last he remembered that the
+week had advanced only as far as Thursday. Between that time and the
+Fabian Saturday a number of untoward events might occur.
+
+A more seasoned applicant might present himself to the foreman upon whom
+Dennis depended, or, equally grievous, the present bibulous incumbent
+might be alarmed into mending his ways.
+
+Hitherto Dennis had resisted the temptation to present himself to the
+attention of the foreman in advance of the date appointed.
+
+In order, therefore, to master the anxiety which might betray him into
+some overt importunity, he decided to devote the day to a persistent
+canvass of the possibilities offered by the various wholesale houses.
+
+Unknown to himself, Dennis had learned that the secret of patience was
+doing something else in the meantime.
+
+However, the practical at last was triumphant, and Dennis, with a
+resolution that demanded prompt execution for its continued existence,
+adjusted the remaining chapter to his waistcoat in the early morning and
+descended to the lower floor.
+
+On this occasion his solicitous friend behind the bar insisted upon
+detaining the young Irishman, who, urged by his solitary predicament and
+a degree depressed by the series of rebuffs which by now had developed a
+malicious habit, proceeded to the counter and, resting one foot upon
+the rail near the floor with a redeeming unfamiliarity, responded to the
+inquiry of the barman by admitting that he felt a "wee bit blue."
+
+This statement led to the revelation that the barman was similarly
+affected, and was engaged, at that moment, in the preparation of a
+famous antidote greatly in demand by sundry newsgatherers and night
+editors in Park Row.
+
+Dennis watched him with interest and remarked that he set out two
+glasses, after the manner of those who are about to compound an
+effervescent.
+
+Such, however, was not the case, and Dennis was startled presently to
+see the barman, after filling both glasses with a decoction which caught
+the light from a dozen merry angles, push one of them in his direction
+with the companionable suggestion: "Have one with me."
+
+Only once before had Dennis indulged in anything of a stimulating
+nature, and the effect upon his head the next morning had been
+sufficient to discourage its repetition, and he informed the barman of
+this disagreeable feature.
+
+"Oh!" protested that insinuating Mephisto as he held his glass to the
+light the better to concentrate its hypnotic gleam and sparkle upon the
+vacillating youth, "there is no headache in this; this is a man's
+medicine. Get it down; it will do you good."
+
+Persuaded by the example before him, duped by his depressions, and weary
+of his loneliness, Dennis responded to the dubious suggestion with the
+guilty haste of one who has decided to let down the moral bars for a
+short but sufficient interval.
+
+Palliated from its original rawness by the additions of the barman, the
+draught was without special bite or pungency in its passage down his
+throat, and Dennis was aware of his indiscretion only by an increasing
+glow in the pit of his stomach and a disposition to credit the barman
+with a degree of amiability beyond that ordinarily manifested by this
+functionary.
+
+The potation, however, had done its work but partially; there remained
+the itch of something still to be desired, an elevation yet unattained,
+and Dennis saw no other way up the sheer height than by an appeal to the
+barman to duplicate his initial effort.
+
+When this had joined its fluent fellows in their several midsts, Dennis
+was inexperienced enough to accept, as a matter of course, the genial
+disposition toward the world in general which replaced the depression of
+the morning.
+
+A native eloquence, long disused, began to urge him to a sort of
+confused improvisation.
+
+His data was no longer morose.
+
+"Holdin' on cud do annything," he assured the barman.
+
+"It isn't a bad wurrld, at all, if wan looks at it through grane
+glasses.
+
+"Shure, I'm in a bit av a hole at prisint, but not too dape to crawl out
+of."
+
+Then after a pause, to enable himself to "shake hands," so to speak,
+with the suddenly developed genial aspect of affairs, he informed the
+barman, with the philosophy of his potations, that "A laugh will always
+mend a kick, providin' th' kick ain't too hard."
+
+This pleased the barman, who responded in his characteristic fashion,
+and Dennis, in acknowledgment, substituted the price of breakfast as
+fitting return of civilities.
+
+However, this was the climax.
+
+Dennis could advance no farther. His bibulous friend, with apprehensive
+disapproval, offered a few diplomatic suggestions involving the
+retirement of the young man to his room, which the latter accepted with
+an unbalanced gravity that administered its reproof even through the
+callous epidermis of the barman.
+
+Arrived at his room, Dennis, influenced by his accelerated circulation,
+was convinced that the apartment was oppressively warm, and divested
+himself of his coat and waistcoat.
+
+In doing so he detached the dickey from his neck, and as it fell to the
+floor the curious tale contained in its predecessors appealed
+unmistakably to his enkindled imagination.
+
+Oblivious of the campaign arranged for the day, heedless of the inner
+protest, Dennis, with all the abandon of his condition, hastened to
+remove the oil paper from the rear of the dickey, and began a race with
+his moral lapse in a feverish perusal of the following.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+When Raikes returned to his room he seemed to himself like a sunset
+mocked by the adjacent horizon, with tantalizing suggestions for which
+it was reflectively responsible.
+
+With the proper inspiration, there is a degree of poetry in the worst of
+us.
+
+The knowledge that he would be compelled to restore the gem to its owner
+in the morning bestirred another comparison.
+
+This time his idealism was not so elevated.
+
+He likened it to a divorce from a vampire which had already digested his
+moral qualities.
+
+The sapphire exhausted him.
+
+The only parallel irritation was one which Raikes inflicted upon himself
+now and then.
+
+This was on the occasions when he established himself in some
+unobtrusive portion of the bank and watched with greedy interest the
+impassive tellers handle immense sums of money with an impersonality
+which it was impossible for his avarice to comprehend.
+
+The thievery of his thoughts and the ravin of his envy would have
+provided interesting bases of speculation for the reflective magistrate,
+since, if, according to the metaphysician, thoughts are things, he
+committed crimes daily.
+
+Had the Sepoy, by entrusting the gem to the custody of this strange
+being, intended to harass his shriveled soul, he could not have adopted
+a more effective plan.
+
+The certainty of the sharp bargain which Raikes could drive with such a
+commodity in certain localities, affected him with the exasperation
+which disturbs the lover who discovers in the eyes of his sweetheart the
+embrace to which he is welcome but from which he is restrained by the
+presence of her parent.
+
+The many forms of value to which it could be transformed by the alchemy
+of intelligent barter made distracting appeals.
+
+The facets danced their vivid vertigos into his brain.
+
+At last, starting to his feet with impatient resolution, he hurried to
+a button in the wall, which controlled the radiator valves.
+
+After a series of complicated movements, he succeeded in swinging aside
+the entire iron framework beneath it, revealing, directly in the rear, a
+considerable recess.
+
+In the center of this space a knob protruded surrounded by a combination
+lock, which, under Raikes' familiar manipulation, disclosed a further
+cavity.
+
+With an expression not unsuggestive of the mien of the disconsolate
+relict who has just made her melancholy deposit in the vault, Raikes
+placed the sapphire in this second recess, closed the combination door,
+replaced the swinging radiator, and prepared to retire for the remainder
+of the night.
+
+When sleep, if that unrestful and populous trance to which he finally
+succumbed can be so designated, came to him, the disorders of his
+wakeful hours were emphasized in his dreams.
+
+He had been haled to court; convicted without defense; sent headless to
+Charon, and was obliged, on that account, to make a ventriloquial
+request for a passage across the Styx; so that, in the morning, it was
+with genuine relief he returned the jewel to its owner and resumed his
+wonted meagerness of visage and useless deprivations.
+
+As the Sepoy pocketed the gem he looked at Raikes with a glance at once
+searching and derisive as he asked:
+
+"Was I not right in calling it a marvel?"
+
+"Aye!" returned Raikes sourly, "marvel, indeed; but the miracle of it is
+that you have it back again. Your trust in human nature would be sublime
+were it not so unsupported; it needs the tonic of loss. I hope this is
+not habitual?"
+
+"I will pay you the tribute of assuring you that it is not," replied the
+Sepoy.
+
+"Ah, ha!" returned Raikes with a mirthless grin. "I am to accept the
+brief custody of this gem as a recognition of my personal integrity. I
+see, I see. Well, I would appreciate the courtesy more if I could
+indorse its incaution. However," he added abruptly, "why did you end
+that extraordinary tale so inconclusively? I could almost suspect you of
+a design to arouse my curiosity as to what is to follow."
+
+"Ah, you remember, then?"
+
+"Why not?" asked Raikes. "The narrative is singular enough, God knows,
+to make an impression, and sufficiently recent to be definite. I would
+not like to think that I could forget things so easily."
+
+"Very well," said the Sepoy. "Come to my room at ten o'clock to-night; I
+am due elsewhere until then."
+
+With a promptness that attested his interest, Raikes presented himself
+at the hour appointed, and his singular host again permitted him to
+enjoy a delegate smoke.
+
+"Here!" he exclaimed abruptly, producing a strong magnifying glass,
+"here's a connoisseur whose revelations you may trust. Examine these
+facets with its help," and again the Sepoy placed the sapphire within
+reach of the covetous Raikes, who promptly availed himself of the
+tantalizing privilege.
+
+Waiting, apparently, until his auditor became absorbed in his
+contemplation of the gem, the Sepoy at last began with the same even
+modulations which characterized his narrative at the outset:
+
+"No sooner had Ram Lal disappeared through the curtains than the curious
+apathy of the prince vanished and was replaced by a demeanor of
+perplexed concentration in the direction pursued by the merchant.
+
+"The prince had listened without comment or interruption during the
+recital of the narrator, his eyes fixed, the while, upon the brilliant.
+
+"He did not know of the weird gestures of the speaker, nor had he seen
+the wonderful transformation of the man.
+
+"Consequently he was startled for the moment to contemplate the blank so
+recently filled by Ram Lal.
+
+"The sapphire, however, remained. That, at least, was real, and
+replacing it in the box, he proceeded, with a degree of absent
+preoccupation, to the courtyard, and presently found himself gazing
+aimlessly in the fountain basin.
+
+"Curiously enough, it had not occurred to the prince to resent the
+assured attitude of the merchant, or to speculate upon the insinuating
+suggestions of complicity which the latter had managed to lodge in the
+consciousness of his august auditor.
+
+"Nor did he feel outraged at the intrusion of the dangerous alternative
+proposed by the audacious Ram Lal.
+
+"He appeared to be seduced by the sapphire and fascinated by the
+recital.
+
+"Slowly he retraced the byways of the strange episode until he resumed,
+with singular precision of memory, the words of the merchant, which
+explained the presence of the gem:
+
+"'I have observed the proprieties in making my request. It is a
+time-honored custom for the suppliant to signalize his appreciation of
+the importance of the favor he solicits.'
+
+"Ah! a sudden illumination pervaded the mind of the prince.
+
+"The sapphire was a royal subsidy.
+
+"What favor could he grant in proportion to the value of such means of
+overture?
+
+"The question established another point of association; unconsciously he
+quoted again:
+
+"'To-day at sundown I shall expect my daughter. If she does not come to
+me then, O prince, a heaping handful of the precious stones you hold so
+dearly will be missing, and in their stead will be as many pebbles from
+the fountain in the courtyard.'
+
+"'Pebbles for diamonds!' he repeated, and yet the proposition did not
+appeal to his cynical humor. There was menace in the suggestion, but his
+intolerant spirit did not resent it.
+
+"In a vague way he was more convinced than alarmed, and did not pause to
+puzzle over the anomaly, although reassured somewhat as he reflected
+upon the cunning safeguards to his treasury, whose solitary sesame was
+known to himself alone.
+
+"Prince Otondo, like other native rulers at this period, frightened at
+the mercenary reforms of the British in other sections, and instructed
+by the unhappy comparisons, had concentrated the whole of his fortune
+and considerable of his current revenues in jewels.
+
+"These were portable and could be concealed about his person in any
+emergency demanding a hasty abdication on his part.
+
+"To the shrewd Ram Lal the prince had entrusted the purchase of nearly
+all of this costly collection, contenting himself, for the present,
+with intelligent calculations as to the percentage of profit which had
+accrued to the merchant in these transactions.
+
+"'Ah, well!' and with an impatient shrug of the shoulders, that was
+curiously devoid of its customary insolence, Prince Otondo dismissed
+these unfamiliar apprehensions and forbore to wonder at their strange
+intrusion upon his wonted complacency.
+
+"Apparently, a more agreeable occasion of reflection presented itself,
+for a smile, half sinister, half genial, illumined the gloom of his fine
+countenance. As if in obedience to its suggestion, he turned abruptly
+from the fountain and re-entered the palace.
+
+"Arrived at that portion of the structure set aside for his individual
+use, he hurried, with expectant, lithe agility, through an opening in
+the wall concealed hitherto by silken hangings, and entered upon a
+narrow passageway, which terminated in another undulating subterfuge of
+drapery.
+
+"Pausing outside, the prince lightly touched a gong suspended from the
+ceiling and which replied with a solemn chime-like resonance.
+
+"In response, the curtains parted, and a native woman, pathetically ugly
+and servile, appeared and prostrated herself in abject salutation.
+
+"Following the direction of his hand the cringing creature arose and
+hurried along the passageway just traversed by the prince, who,
+satisfied as to her departure, parted the curtains and entered a small
+ante-chamber, beyond which a sumptuously-appointed apartment extended.
+
+"At the extreme end, with a demeanor more suggestive of expectation than
+alarm or dejection, a young girl reclined upon a divan near the
+lattice-screened window.
+
+"Advised of the approach of her distinguished visitor by an advance
+rendered as obvious as possible by the rustling sweep of the parted
+curtains and an unwonted emphasis of tread, which avoided the rugs and
+sought the tesselated floor for this purpose, the supple figure stood
+erect and in an attitude of questioning deference awaited whatever
+demonstration might follow this apparently not unexpected advent.
+
+"As she stood thus in an unconscious pose of virginal dignity, the girl
+seemed to express a subtle majesty, in which, at the moment, the prince
+was manifestly deficient.
+
+"A degree taller than her age would warrant, she appeared to the
+enamored gaze of the prince the ideal of symmetrical slenderness.
+
+"Her figure, perfectly proportioned, and chastened, by the ardent rigors
+of the climate, of every fraction of superfluous flesh, appeared to bud
+and round for the sole purpose of concluding in exquisite tapers.
+
+"Her eyes, large and luminous and harmoniously fringed with that placid
+length of lash usually associated with the sensuous, were saved from
+that suspicion by the innocent question and confiding abandon of her
+half-parted lips.
+
+"Her hands, clasped at the moment before her, possessed the
+indescribable contour of refinement and high breeding, and manifested a
+degree of the tension of her present privileges by a closer interlace of
+the fingers than usual.
+
+"A robe of white, confined loosely to her waist by a vari-colored sash,
+which drooped gracefully to catch up the folds in front, clung softly to
+her figure in sylphid revelation of the matchless proportions it could
+never conceal.
+
+"'Lal Lu!' exclaimed the prince unevenly, his face reflecting the strife
+of deference and desire as he disengaged the clasped hands of the maiden
+and held them closely in his own, 'what is it to be, the Vale of
+Cashmere or the snows of Himalaya?'
+
+"For a moment the girl gazed with disconcerting directness upon her
+ardent companion, as the warmth of his impulse deepened the dusk of his
+countenance and threaded the fine white of his eyes with ruddy
+suffusions.
+
+"'O prince!' she replied, veiling her eyes the while with tantalizing
+lashes and reflecting, with exquisite duplication, a degree of the color
+which burned in the cheeks of her visitor, 'other answer have I none
+save that I gave thee yesterday.'
+
+"With an impatient exclamation the prince released the hands he held in
+such vehement grasp, and stood, for a space, with his arms folded,
+directing upon the trembling beauty the while a gaze of vivid, glowing
+menace which was scarcely to be endured.
+
+"'Ah!' he cried in a voice of husky contrast to his usual placid
+utterance, 'have you reflected, Lal Lu, how futile thy objections may be
+if I choose to make them so?'
+
+"With surprising calmness and a sweet dignity, which was not without its
+effect upon the prince, although it sharpened to the refinement of
+torture the keenness of his infatuation, Lal Lu replied:
+
+"'I have said, my lord.'
+
+"At this reply the prince, exasperated beyond further control, with
+ruthless, fervent abandon, caught the trembling Lal Lu in his arms and
+held her, palpitating, reproachful, in his savage embrace.
+
+"Bewildered at the quickness of his action, Lal Lu reposed inertly
+within the passionate restraint of his sinewy arms, but the next
+instant, transformed into an indignant goddess, struggled, with
+surprising strength, from his clasp and held the mortified prince in
+chafing repulse by the chaste challenge of her flaming eyes.
+
+"'Hear me, Prince Otondo!' she cried with unmistakable candor and
+disturbing incisiveness of speech:
+
+"'I love not save where I choose.
+
+"'Of what avail is it to subdue this frail body? What is the joy of such
+a conquest? Where the pleasure in an empty casket?'
+
+"Abashed, astounded, the prince retreated a space and looked, with
+savage intentness, upon the beautiful girl, superb in her denunciation,
+enchanting in the rebellious dishevel of her hair, the indignant rebuke
+of her eyes.
+
+"Some reflection of contriteness must have beamed its acknowledgment of
+the justice of her virtuous outburst in the glance which held her in its
+ardent fascination, for Lal Lu resumed, in a voice sensibly modulated
+and with a demeanor curiously softened:
+
+"'Long have I known of thee, O prince!
+
+"'Before all others have I placed thee.
+
+"'Wonder not, then, that I resent the ignoble assumption that my regard
+may be compelled.
+
+"'My love is as royal as thine.
+
+"'I bestow it where I will; unasked, if its object pleaseth me.
+
+"'But I make no sign, O prince.
+
+"'In such a stress a maiden may not speak her mind.'
+
+"'Peace, Lal Lu!' exclaimed the prince, who, during her initial
+reproaches and her subsequent explanations, had recovered his native
+dignity of carriage and elevation of demeanor; 'peace! Never before have
+I hearkened to such speech as thine.
+
+"'All my life I have had but to ask, and what I craved was mine.
+
+"'My wish has been my command.
+
+"'Hear, then, Lal Lu: Henceforward thou art as safe with me as in thy
+father's home.'
+
+"'Aye! what of him?' interrupted the maiden; 'what of my father, O
+prince?'
+
+"'All is well with him,' replied the prince, manifestly chagrined at the
+incautious introduction of this disturbing name and the filial
+solicitude it awakened.
+
+"'He has been assured of thy safety; of him will I speak later. But now,
+Lal Lu----
+
+"'I acknowledge thy rebuke. I stand before thee, thy sovereign, thy
+suppliant.
+
+"'See!' he exclaimed, 'what I cannot demand, I entreat'; and with an
+indescribably fascinating tribute of surrender and yearning, this royal
+suitor awaited her reply.
+
+"Leaning for support against a slender stand near-by, to which she
+communicated the trembling fervor which pulsed so warmly through every
+fiber of her being, the beautiful Lal Lu looked upon the fine
+countenance before her with a light in her eyes that dazzled with its
+subtle radiance.
+
+"'Oh, Lal Lu!' cried the prince as he advanced toward the trembling
+maiden with eager precipitation.
+
+"'One moment, O prince!' exclaimed Lal Lu, extending a restraining hand.
+
+"'I know not what to say to thee; yet will I meet thy candor with equal
+frankness. Yea, Prince Otondo, I love thee indeed. I feel no shame in
+the confession. I have loved thee always. I am----'
+
+"But the prince, after the fashion of lovers, made further speech
+impossible; and Lal Lu, with all the exquisite charm of womanly
+capitulation, threw her dusky arms about his neck and held his lips to
+hers in the only kiss beside her father's she had ever known.
+
+"For one delirious moment, and then, releasing herself, she stood before
+the prince, a very blushing majesty of love, and said:
+
+"'And now, O prince, I have told thee my secret. Be thou equally
+generous and restore me to my father, and then come to me when thou
+desirest and I am thine."
+
+"Concealing his impatience at this last suggestion, the prince, with
+wily indirection, said:
+
+"'It is too late to-day, Lal Lu. Thy father will be here on the morrow;
+rest thyself until then,' and fearful lest the maiden would penetrate
+his purpose, he added:
+
+"'Lal Lu, I am compelled to leave thee for a space; I will send thy
+woman to thee. Until to-morrow, then, adieu.' And fixing upon her a
+glance so ardent that she almost followed him in its fascination, the
+prince withdrew from her presence with a reluctance which was
+duplicated in the bosom of the bewildered girl, if not so unmistakably
+evinced.
+
+"As the prince retreated toward his apartments, the alarming alternative
+proposed by the merchant repeated itself with a sort of wordless
+insistence:
+
+"'Unless Lal Lu shall be returned, a handful of my precious stones shall
+be missing.
+
+"'Ah!
+
+"'In their place will be as many pebbles!
+
+"'Impossible!'
+
+"And secure in his bedchamber, into which none might venture without
+ceremonious announcement, the prince hastened to a recess in the wall,
+where, in response to a pressure applied to a spot known only to
+himself, a cunningly devised panel shot back, revealing a gleaming,
+glittering mass of scintillating light and glamor.
+
+"'Ah, ha!' he gloated, 'no pebbles yet'; and plunging his hands into the
+costly heap, he withdrew a motley of diamonds, sapphires, rubies and
+opals, and held them, with grudging avarice, to the regard of the
+declining sun.
+
+"'No pebbles yet,' he repeated, as he challenged the fires of the gems
+with the fever of his eyes, and sent mimic lightnings hither and thither
+by communicating the tremble of his hands and the incidence of the
+sunbeams to the glorious confusion of facet and hue; 'no pebbles yet.'
+
+"As Prince Otondo repeated this obvious reassurance, he replaced the
+gems, which seemed to quiver with lambent life, within the compartment,
+and withdrawing the shagreen case from his sash, he discharged the
+magnificent sapphire it contained upon the apex of the glittering heap,
+where it rested with a sort of insolent disproportion to the irradiant
+pyramid of brilliants beneath.
+
+"Regarding the bewildering ensemble for a few moments of exulting
+ownership and familiar calculation, the prince closed the panel with the
+mien of Paris making restitution of Helen, and, turning aside, prepared
+to retire for the night.
+
+"The ceremony was simple and so promptly observed that ere the radiance
+had ceased its revel in his mind the prince found himself reclining upon
+his couch, unusually ready to succumb to the sleep which he had so
+often sought in vain.
+
+"The night was hot and stifling, and yet it seemed to the prince that he
+had only retired to rise the moment after, so profound had been his
+slumber and so quickly had daybreak arrived.
+
+"For a few moments he lay in that agreeable condition of
+semi-realization ere the visages of his wonted obligations had assumed
+the definition of their customary insistence, or the menace of a
+restrained remorse had reannounced itself, when suddenly, without
+introduction or sequence, the phrase 'pebbles for diamonds' slipped into
+his consciousness.
+
+"In a second he was alert and awake; the next instant he found himself
+at the panel, reaching tremulously for the concealed spring.
+
+"At last he found it; the panel shot back, and the prince, after one
+searching glance, stood transfixed and uttered a cry of wondering
+despair.
+
+"'The gleaming hoard still shot its varied lightnings. The royal
+sapphire still crowned its priceless apex. To his starting eyes his
+treasure was not a whit diminished, but directly in front, and at the
+base of the precious heap, lay as many as would make a heaping handful
+of pebbles."
+
+As the Sepoy reached this startling climax in his recital, the even
+modulations of his voice ceased abruptly.
+
+Raikes, missing the somnolent monotone, looked up quickly.
+
+The eyes of the Sepoy were fixed upon him with a gleam in his glance not
+unlike that of the sapphire upon which the miser had been engaged during
+the whole of this singular narrative.
+
+"That is a weird tale," he said at last. "Why do you pause at such a
+point? What is the conclusion?"
+
+"That is some distance away yet," replied the Sepoy. "If you care to
+continue, I will resume the thread at this time to-morrow evening."
+
+"Very well," answered Raikes with some impatience, "I will be here. I
+must, at least, congratulate you upon your observance of the
+proprieties in tale-telling; you manage to pause at the proper places."
+
+"You are curious, then, to hear the rest?"
+
+"Naturally," replied Raikes, with the sour candor which distinguished
+him. "The situation you describe I can appreciate--the loser confronted
+with his loss--and I am to conjecture his attitude until to-morrow
+night. Very well, I bid you good evening," and Raikes, with a curt
+inclination of the head, which made a travesty of his intention to be
+courteous, vanished through the doorway.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+(The continuation of this remarkable story will be found on Dickey
+Series B, which may be bought from almost any haberdasher.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Dennis reached this announcement his head throbbed violently.
+
+He had raced so apace with the movement of the tale that he had not
+remarked, in his absorption, an unfamiliar congestion about the base of
+his brain.
+
+Directly, however, he was convinced of its disagreeable presence when
+this abrupt conclusion, which he had come to expect at the end of each
+bosom, materialized to his irritated anticipation.
+
+He was no longer inclined to admire the calculating genius of the
+italicized phrase.
+
+A temperance lecture was aching its way through his head. His conscience
+seemed to have decided to reside in the pit of his stomach, and a sense
+of surrender and defeat humiliated him.
+
+His room looked cell-like.
+
+The arrow pointing to the fire-escape seemed full of menace.
+
+His face, reflected from the dingy glass, had never appeared so ugly and
+reproachful.
+
+He needed something to restore his confidence, but was happily unaware
+of the nature of the remedy his system demanded.
+
+It was his first offense.
+
+He raised the window for a breath of fresh air, and the roaring street
+called him.
+
+There was mockery and invitation in its hubbub. Why not? A little
+exercise would bring him around to his point of moral departure.
+
+So, hastily adjusting the third chapter to his waistcoat and donning the
+balance of his garments, he fitted his hat to his head with thoughtful
+caution and hurried to the bustling thoroughfare.
+
+Preoccupied by his gradually lessening disabilities, Dennis did not
+remark that the course pursued by him had the house of the publisher as
+its terminus, until he stood directly before that august establishment.
+
+As the young Irishman recognized his surroundings, it did not take him
+long to persuade himself, with native superstition, as he considered the
+unaware nature of his arrival, that Providence had directed his
+footsteps thither, and, with the species of courage that can come from
+such a basis, he proceeded to the rearway, where he beheld the Celt in
+whom his hopes were centered, berating the porters, with a mien which
+offered anything but encouragement to the anxious young man.
+
+However, he came forward tentatively, and found himself, presently, so
+much within the radius of the foreman's range of vision as to be
+compelled to accept, with enforced urbanity, the vituperation of the
+draymen, who objected to the amount of landscape he occupied with his
+bulk and eager personality.
+
+At last, when the foreman had bullied his lusty understudies into a
+certain degree of sullen system, and the drays began to move away with
+their mysterious burdens, Dennis ventured to address him.
+
+Greatly to his relief, the perturbed countenance of the latter softened
+perceptibly as he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, ha! an' it's there ye are?"
+
+"Yes," replied Dennis with solicitous abnegation.
+
+"Well," returned the other, "roll up yer sleeves; yer job's a-waitin'
+fur ye."
+
+With an agility that betrayed the diplomacy of his countenance into
+ingenuous exultation, Dennis followed the foreman into the warehouse,
+and the latter at once began his instructions as to the system of
+marking, and Dennis mastered its simple mysteries with a quickness that
+was not only flattering to the discernment of his instructor but an
+indorsement of Celtic adjustability in general.
+
+In the course of the morning Dennis discovered that his predecessor had
+put him under obligations by prolonging his debauch, and that his
+arrival upon the scene had been most opportune in consequence.
+
+He was now assured of a position, whose only handicap was the prospect,
+delicately insinuated by the foreman for his consideration, of the
+possible state of mind of the previous incumbent when he realized that
+his niche had been filled, and it did not add to his cheerfulness when
+the foreman examined his biceps with an expert touch and remarked: "I
+guess that ye can take care of yerself."
+
+There was nothing belligerent about Dennis, and he trusted that his
+predecessor would not regard him from that standpoint.
+
+In the meantime Saturday arrived, and Dennis, in possession of his
+proportion of the week's pay, hurried to The Stag by way of Baxter
+Street.
+
+In this locality he began a search for Series B of the dickies, and was
+finally successful, after a number of disappointments and a protracted
+hunt.
+
+With the courage of his recently acquired situation, Dennis proposed to
+indulge in a little improvidence.
+
+He decided that he would follow the singular recital on the dickey backs
+and rip off a chapter at a time.
+
+After a night of fortifying slumber, Dennis arose, breakfasted, and
+boarded an elevated train, which presently conveyed him to the vicinity
+of Central Park.
+
+Here, after securing a seat to his fancy, he withdrew Series B from the
+wrapper, detached bosom No. 1 and began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+When Raikes had parted from the Sepoy, a degree of his customary
+hardness and assurance was evident in his manner.
+
+He had been able to comment sagaciously upon the extraordinary
+narrative, and had appropriated as much of the sapphire as his greedy
+glance and covetous memory could bear away; but now that he pursued his
+way along the dimly lighted hallway which led to his apartment, a
+singularly thoughtful mood oppressed him.
+
+This phenomenon, due, in part, to the cessation of the drowsy cadences
+of the Sepoy and the absence of the fascination and gleam of the
+sapphire, was relegated by Raikes to the overtures of approaching
+drowsiness.
+
+And yet the startling episode which confronted Prince Otondo in the
+evening's instalment of this Oriental complication recurred to his mind
+again and again.
+
+Strangely, too, Raikes did not comment upon the singular fact of the
+narrative itself.
+
+Why should the Sepoy take the trouble to relate it to him, and why
+should he, of all unconcerned and self-centered men, manifest such an
+unusual interest in a recital which lacked every practical feature and
+had nothing but the weird to commend it?
+
+If he asked himself these questions, it was with the impersonality of
+lethargy, for they were dismissed as readily as they presented
+themselves.
+
+With such sedative queries, which were gradually diminishing from fabric
+to ravel, Raikes finally reached his room and, securely bolting the
+door, began to prepare to retire.
+
+This was not an elaborate proceeding.
+
+His outer garments removed, he had only to seek the seclusion of the
+bedclothes, clad in the remainder of his attire.
+
+In this manner he economized on the cost of a night-robe and the time it
+would consume to don and doff such a superfluity.
+
+At all events, if such was not his sordid reasoning, the promptness with
+which he fell asleep indicated that he did not propose to squander
+useless time in wakeful speculation upon the intangible nothings to
+which his recollection of the narrative began to fade.
+
+However, if Raikes had succeeded in passing the boundaries of slumber,
+he had admitted, at the same time, extravagances of which he would never
+have been guilty in his wakeful hours, for he found himself so engaged
+in all sorts of uneasy shiftlessness and inconsiderate expenditure that
+when morning came and he awoke, as usual, with the sunrise, he resumed
+his customary identity, peevish and unrefreshed.
+
+For a moment he sat with his knees huddled to his chin, over which his
+eyes peered like vermin in the wainscoting, and then, urged by an
+impulse whose source he could not determine, he leaped with surprising
+agility to the floor and proceeded to the false radiator.
+
+For a short space of inexplicable indecision he stood with his hands
+resting upon the button which released the fastenings in the rear, an
+uneasy thoughtfulness converging the ugly wrinkles downward to the root
+of his nose and contracting his eyebrows with senile apprehension.
+
+Suddenly his wonted decision asserted itself. He pressed the button and
+the radiator swung toward him; a few moments later the inner
+compartments responded to his manipulation, and the last door opened.
+
+Apparently everything was as he had left it.
+
+To his rapid enumeration the quantity of the small bags, containing his
+beloved coin, remained undisturbed. But, upon nearer regard, one of
+them--that within easiest reach--seemed to betray, through its canvas
+sides, a variety of unusually sharp angles and definite lines.
+
+With a suffocating sensation of impending disaster, Raikes grasped the
+bag.
+
+It pended from his tense grip with a frightful lightness. He caught up
+its neighbor for further confirmation. It responded with reassuring bulk
+and weight. But this one from which all specific gravity seemed to have
+departed--what did it contain?
+
+With trembling hands the terrified man unfastened the cord which bound
+it and inverted the bag over the table.
+
+Instead of the sharp, musical collision and clink of metal, a sodden
+succession of thuds smote his ears.
+
+With a shriek of utter wonderment and alarm, Raikes stood erect and
+petrified.
+
+His hands fell, with inert palsies, to his sides. His eyes seemed about
+to start from his head, for, looming dully to his aching gaze, in place
+of the coin he had so confidently hidden away, was a rayless, squalid
+heap of small, black coals.
+
+A moment he stood lean and limp; every particle of the fever which
+consumed him concentrated in his starting eyes, which turned, with
+savage inquiry, toward the fastenings of the door.
+
+The next instant, with a leap like that of a wild beast, he reached the
+threshold, examined the bolt with vivid glance and searching fingers,
+then raised his hand to his forehead with a gesture of utter
+distraction.
+
+Nothing had been disturbed.
+
+Even the check-pin which he had inserted over the bar for additional
+security was in place.
+
+The only other possible means of entrance was by a window at the other
+extreme of the room.
+
+But this was not to be considered, for it opened, with sheer
+precipitation, upon the unrelieved front of the house.
+
+The windows adjacent were removed at a distance which could afford no
+possible basis from which to reach the one from which Raikes glared so
+grimly.
+
+Moreover, the shutters had been clasped and the inner sash secured.
+
+The conclusion was inevitable.
+
+No one had entered the room during the night. It was impossible for a
+stranger to have access to the apartment during the day unobserved, and
+the recess behind the radiator was known to himself alone.
+
+Nevertheless there was the absurd substitution.
+
+It was incredible!
+
+The secret repository was of his own construction.
+
+The room was secure against intrusion.
+
+And opposed to all this the incontrovertible proof of his loss, a
+catastrophe all the more agonizing since the logic of the situation
+obliged him to eliminate any one from suspicion.
+
+Raikes had always considered a loss of this character the climax of
+malignant fate. He had never been able to contemplate it without the
+mortal shudder which usually communicates its chill to a loving parent
+confronted with the prospect of the departure of a dear one.
+
+The recess in the wall contained all that Raikes held dear in the world;
+every spasm of fear, each contraction of the heart, always began and
+concluded with the button which moved its protecting bolts.
+
+But now a new element added its ugly emphasis; there was something
+supernatural about the episode.
+
+Convinced of the impossibility of thievery in any of its ordinary forms,
+he was bewildered as to the inexplicable means of his present
+predicament.
+
+His sense of security was shaken.
+
+He promised himself to stand guard over his belongings jealously that
+day, and to make assurance doubly sure at night.
+
+In the meantime Raikes decided to confide his misfortune to no one.
+
+There was a meager possibility that the guilty one might be misled by
+his silence; he had heard of such cases; he had known of the culprit
+offering condolences to the silent victim on the assumption that the
+latter had discussed his mishap with others.
+
+He would wait, and with Raikes to determine was to do.
+
+With his obnoxious individuality rendered several degrees more
+unendurable by his catastrophe, if that was possible, Raikes, having
+assumed that portion of his attire in which he had not slept,
+double-locked the door of his room from the outside with a brace of keys
+that, in all likelihood, had not their duplicates in existence, and
+proceeded to the dining-room, whither he had been preceded by his
+parchment of a sister.
+
+At once he began to rustle his exhausted sensibilities with an added
+menace, awakened by a manifest desire on the part of the famished woman
+to satisfy the cravings of an ungratified hunger with an extra help of
+bread and butter.
+
+As he looked upon the attenuated creature, with a morose reflection of
+his loss, the latter, with a rebellion which she could not control,
+selected with trembling fortitude a thick slice of bread, which she
+buttered liberally and began to devour with pathetic haste, despite the
+rebuking gleam of the rat eyes opposite, an episode which, added to his
+already perturbed mind, exasperated his brutal temper to the point of
+snarling remonstrance, which was fortunately denied its utterance by the
+opportune arrival of the Sepoy, who smiled blandly upon the chill
+acknowledgment of the shriveled Raikes.
+
+The Sepoy, at the conclusion of a hearty repast, which the spinster
+witnessed with famished envy and Raikes considered with ascetic
+disapproval, looked, with a scarcely concealed disdain, into the
+furtive, troubled eyes of the miser and said: "I will see you to-night?"
+
+"Yes," replied Raikes promptly. "I will be there."
+
+"Very well; I will not return until the time appointed," said the Sepoy.
+"I expect to show you a rarity."
+
+"Another brilliant aggravation?" asked Raikes.
+
+"Ah!" laughed the Sepoy, "is that your estimation of the sapphire?"
+
+"Yes," returned Raikes with acid frankness. "To be permitted to
+appropriate the gleam and the radiance; to comprehend the cunning of the
+facets; to appraise its magnificent bulk intelligently, and witness the
+careless possession by another of all these beatitudes, I think that
+constitutes an aggravation."
+
+"It has been known to degenerate into a temptation," continued the
+Sepoy, reflecting the cynical humor of the other.
+
+"Aye!" admitted Raikes, "and has concluded in surrender."
+
+With this the strangely assorted trio left the table directly, the Sepoy
+to his problematical business, the spinster to escape the reprimand
+foreshadowed in the eyes of her brother, and Raikes to keep his
+treasures under malicious surveillance.
+
+All that day his diseased mind tortured itself with impossible theories
+and absurd speculations, until his attempts to explain the curious
+substitution degenerated into a perfect chaos of despair and
+bewilderment.
+
+With an impatience he could not explain, Raikes at last presented
+himself at the apartment of the Sepoy as the hour of ten was striking.
+
+He was greeted by the curious individual within with a demeanor which
+somehow offended Raikes with the impression that his prompt eagerness
+was the subject of amused calculation.
+
+His irritation, however, was not permitted to develop, for no sooner had
+he seated himself in the chair indicated by his host than the latter
+placed upon the table, within easy reach of his harassed visitor, a
+small box of leather and directed him to press the spring.
+
+Anticipating something of the nature of the contents of the case from
+the material of which it was made, Raikes, forgetting for the moment the
+futility of the day's researches, pressed his bony thumb upon the
+spring, and at once the lid flew back like a protest, disclosing the
+most superb diamond it had ever been his misfortune to see and not
+possess.
+
+"Ah!" he cried in an ecstasy of tantalized contemplation, "the glass,
+the glass! Anything so precious must have had commensurate treatment.
+What color, what clarity, what bulk!" and as the unhappy creature
+yielded to that species of intoxication which even the grace of God
+seems unable to ameliorate, the Sepoy, with the easy poise and balance
+of intonation and phrase which had served as such facile vehicles for
+the previous instalments, began:
+
+"When the bewildered prince realized the meaning of the worthless heap
+in the recess, and calculated, with familiar appraisement, the immense
+loss represented by the senseless substitution, he stood for a moment
+destitute of all dignity and as impotent as the meanest of his
+household.
+
+"His thin, fine lips, which usually held such firm partnership and
+divided his words with such cynical scission, relaxed separately into
+the inane lines of superstitious fear, and the luster of his restless
+eyes seemed to have degenerated into that surrounding dullness of sickly
+white which would have provided the impressionable Lal Lu with an easy
+fortitude to deny the approaches of this semi-potentate.
+
+"The next instant, like the doubled blade of Toledo steel, the prince
+recoiled to his lithe stature, and the customary brightness of his eyes
+returned shadowed with a degree of crafty reflection.
+
+"One by one, lest a stray gem might be collected with the worthless
+debris, like the crew of Ulysses clinging to the sheep of the Cyclops,
+Prince Otondo removed the pebbles which intruded their sordid presence
+in this scintillant treasure-trove like a motley of base subjects in an
+assemblage of the nobility.
+
+"When the last of these worthless objects had been cleared from the
+recess, the prince closed the panel, and seating himself before the
+rayless heap, surrendered himself to moody reflection, like a disabled
+enthusiast confronted by his disillusions.
+
+"How did these pebbles reach this hiding place?
+
+"In asking himself the question, the prince had absolute assurance that
+it was impossible for any one to enter his sleeping-apartment without
+his knowledge.
+
+"The puzzled man also recollected, with a shudder, which he alone could
+explain, that he had taken radical means of making it impossible for the
+artisan who had contrived the hidden treasury to reveal its existence.
+
+"He was positive, too, when he had retired the night before, that his
+jewels were undisturbed.
+
+"Why just this exchange of a handful?
+
+"For what reason had not double the quantity been removed? Nay, why not
+all, since it was possible to abstract a portion?
+
+"At this question the eerie iteration of the merchant returned to his
+mind:
+
+"'Pebbles for diamonds!'
+
+"At once the distasteful alternative upon which it was based recurred to
+him.
+
+"A quick radiation illumined his mind, and subsided to darkness as
+promptly.
+
+"Ram Lal!
+
+"It was he who had indicated the substitution. But the merchant could no
+more enter the room in which the prince was seated at this moment than
+the most abject menial in the palace.
+
+"Still, the merchant had been able to predict the disaster.
+
+"Some sort of association existed, but what it was, considered with the
+impracticability of unobserved entrance and exit, was beyond his
+comprehension.
+
+"The incredible condition existed.
+
+"In the light of its outrageous improbability, and the insuperable
+obstacles in the way of its accomplishment, the prince found himself
+compelled to dismiss every hypothesis.
+
+"Still, he could subject Ram Lal to an investigation that would, at
+least, extort a confession as to his ability to allude to the episode in
+advance.
+
+"In the meantime, with true Oriental craft, the prince determined to say
+nothing of his loss, and present an impassive demeanor to those by whom
+he was surrounded.
+
+"With this purpose the prince proceeded to the apartment beyond, and was
+about to strike the gong to summon the servant charged with the
+preparation of his morning repast, when his attention was attracted to a
+slip of folded paper fluttering from the edge of the table-top and held
+in place by a diminutive bronze Buddha.
+
+"With the weird certainty that this beckoning paper was another
+unaccountable feature of the savage perplexity he was compelled to
+endure, the prince, approaching, grasped the folded sheet with eager,
+trembling hands and exposed its inner surface to his vivid glance.
+
+"'Ah!' With a burning sensation about his eyes, a fever of harassed
+impatience in his brain, and a sense of suffocation and impotent rage,
+he read:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"'MOST ILLUSTRIOUS!
+
+"'Unless Lal Lu is returned to her father by nightfall, another handful
+of precious stones will be replaced by as many pebbles.
+
+"'And this to warn thee:
+
+"'The native troops at Meerut are in revolt.
+
+"'They have shot the regimental officers, and have put to death every
+European they could find.
+
+"'They are now on their way to Delhi to proclaim Dahbur Dhu, thy
+grandfather, sovereign of Hindustan.
+
+"'The Moghul is old.
+
+"'Thou art next in succession.'
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There was no signature.
+
+"None was needed; the prince had preserved several specimens of that
+chirography at the bottom of various interesting bills of sale.
+
+"As this bizarre scion of an incredibly ancient regime read this
+extraordinary missive, with its exasperating reference to the
+restitution of Lal Lu, and considered the prompt realization of the
+threatened reprisal which had followed his first failure to comply with
+the request of Ram Lal, a sense of fear and futility possessed him.
+
+"With curious apathy, an unaccountable suggestion of impersonality,
+almost, he did not pause to consider the absence of the intolerant
+passion which his loss should have occasioned, or to wonder at his
+bewildered reception of this implication of further dispossession.
+
+"The prince appeared to be moving as in a spell; but as he concluded the
+remainder of the missive and remembered, at its inspiration, that he
+was, indeed, the grandson of the Moghul and the heir-apparent of this
+pageant throne of Delhi, a sensible degree of his customary cynical
+assurance returned.
+
+"Hastening to the ante-room, the prince, with alert reanimation,
+questioned the stalwart official who stood without.
+
+"He indicated to his master that the missive had been left upon the
+outer sill of the threshold leading from the ante-room to the corridor
+which opened upon the courtyard.
+
+"Beyond this nothing could be learned; but other and more absorbing
+information was conveyed to the prince.
+
+"He learned that several bodies of Sepoys had already passed the palace,
+on the highway, in the direction of Delhi.
+
+"Startled at this rapid confirmation of the statement conveyed in the
+strange communication which he had just read, the prince rapidly
+reviewed the singular cause of the mutiny.
+
+"Great Britain had just supplied the native soldiery with the Enfield
+rifle.
+
+"This weapon was rendered formidable by a new cartridge, which, in order
+that it might not bind in the barrel bore, was greased in England with
+the fat of beef or pork.
+
+"With incredible indifference to the prejudices of the Sepoys, the
+military authorities at Calcutta ordered the low-caste Lascars to
+prepare the cartridges in a similar manner.
+
+"To this direct invitation disaster was not slow to respond.
+
+"The fat of pigs was sufficient to make a degenerate of a Mohammedan;
+and to devour the flesh of cows converted a Hindoo into a Mussulman.
+
+"In this manner had Tippu Sultan enforced the faith of Islam on hordes
+of Brahmins, and with the abomination of pork had the Afghans prevailed
+upon the Hindoo Sepoys, captured in the Kabul war, to become
+Mohammedans.
+
+"Exasperated by the unconcealed contempt of the Brahmins, the Lascars,
+with an easily understood rancor, managed to convey the startling
+information to their detested superiors that the cartridges they bit in
+loading the new rifles were greased with the fat of cows, and that they
+were, in consequence, defiled, and their boasted caste supremacy was
+destroyed.
+
+"This revelation, so momentous to the Hindoo, found its way first to
+Barrackpore by reason of its nearness to Calcutta.
+
+"At once an indescribable panic ensued, and in a marvelously short time
+every native regiment in Bengal was confronted with the possibility of
+lost caste, and terrified at the consequent belief that the British
+Government was making an attempt to Anglicize them with beef as they
+had already attempted to do with beer.
+
+"The account of the greased cartridges, embellished as it speeded,
+traveled, with the rapidity which usually expedites evil rumor, along
+the Ganges and Jumna to Benares, Allahabad, Agra, Delhi and Meerut, and
+the British authorities were confronted with a revolt which was to cost
+thousands of men and countless treasure.
+
+"As the prince reflected upon the fever of events, and calculated their
+possible consequence to himself, the ambition--often napping, seldom in
+slumber--which he secretly cherished, awoke to disturbing vividness.
+
+"His allowance was ample; his retinue, all things considered,
+impressive; and the Kutub, although in a state of disrepair in certain
+portions, was still unmistakably a royal residence. But he was
+thoroughly weary of the massive pile, and increasingly exasperated at
+the interdict of Delhi.
+
+"Certain salacious possibilities within its walls still made their
+insidious appeals to him, and he had not forgotten the ceremonious
+deference accorded him in the household of the Moghul.
+
+"At the Kutub he had to contrive his own dissipations and excesses.
+
+"There was no need to be clandestine.
+
+"The very frankness of his privileges discouraged his imagination. There
+was no spice of jeopardy in them; no preludes of intrigue.
+
+"To relieve this surfeit, which is the worst of monotonies, eagerly
+would the prince have joined the revolting troops, detachments of which
+he could perceive from the walls of the Kutub hastening along the
+sun-scorched highway to Delhi.
+
+"But his semi-majesty was cautious.
+
+"It was characteristic of him that his mature reflections should
+frequently place his impulse under obligations; a condition that had
+resulted in many a salutary compromise with some proposed moral abandon.
+
+"Should he show the slightest countenance to the native troops in the
+present emergency, the record of such an attitude would constitute
+anything but a passport to the continued consideration of the British
+Government, upon whose sufferance he not only enjoyed his present
+magnificent residence, but the acknowledgment of his right of succession
+as well.
+
+"The prince was not yet inclined to believe that the Sepoys could make
+headway against his detested patrons.
+
+"However, with his mind stimulated by the hazard of the prospect, this
+picturesque heir-apparent, who had assured himself, since his perusal of
+the unaccountably delivered missive, that Ram Lal had no intention of
+making his appearance that day, at least, returned to the apartment
+where his morning repast awaited him, which he dispatched with the
+preoccupied impersonality of a savant who consults his timepiece in
+order to determine the temperature.
+
+"Advised of the fact that he had finished by a disposition to ignore his
+remaining privileges, the prince, as if to pursue the direction of the
+unseeing gaze which he projected into space, rose slowly, and with that
+moody deliberation which is so often the outward manifestation of an
+ignoble as well as an elevated determination, proceeded to the silken
+arras and disappeared from view between the folds.
+
+"Quickly he traversed the passageway leading to the apartments of Lal
+Lu; and in response to a light touch upon the gong the same servile
+apparition emerged and vanished, with cringing obedience, down the
+passage.
+
+"With a gleam in his eyes, which might have caused a magistrate to
+reflect or a moralist to anticipate, that was both sinister and
+engaging, eager and speculative, the prince, with a gesture that was not
+without its impatient majesty and lithe impressiveness, swept aside the
+curtains which guarded the entrance to the small ante-room and stepped
+within."
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the Sepoy reached this point of the narrative, arranged, perhaps,
+with shrewd malice to tantalize his eager listener, an expression of
+libidinous expectation and depraved absorption deepened upon the
+countenance of the latter, who, like an animal deprived of its prey,
+looked up suddenly as the narrator paused, with an exasperation which he
+made little attempt to conceal.
+
+"Hell!" he muttered, "why do you pause? It is not late. This is an
+irritating trick of yours to leave off at the crucial juncture."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the Sepoy mirthlessly. "You have attended me, then?
+Well, I can't admit you with the prince until to-morrow evening. I have
+much to do ere I retire."
+
+"This is my dismissal, I presume," responded Raikes sourly as he
+replaced the gem, from which he seemed unable to remove his thieving
+eyes.
+
+"Here, take this damned thing; it has demoralized me," and placing the
+shagreen case, with its priceless contents, in the hands of the
+evilly-smiling Sepoy, he disappeared through the doorway.
+
+Arrived at the door which opened upon his room, Raikes was assured, by
+the familiar response of the locks to the pressure of his extraordinary
+keys, that his precautions of a few hours before had been undisturbed.
+
+Moreover, his sister, seated in her room in a chair so placed as to
+command a view of the doorway opposite, and looking more effaced than
+ever from the weary vigil which her heartless brother had imposed upon
+her during his absence, advised him of the customary isolation and
+depression which distinguished this barren household.
+
+Within, Raikes began to make himself secure for the night.
+
+He double-locked the door, placed the heavy bar in the iron shoulders,
+over which he inserted a stout iron pin.
+
+A brief investigation convinced him that it was out of the question to
+open the shutters from without.
+
+Satisfied upon these points, Raikes proceeded to the radiator, which for
+a trembling space of apprehension he forbore to open.
+
+However, since it was certainty he wanted, the valves shortly swung
+toward him, the inner door responded to the sesame of his touch, and the
+recess containing the tenets of his religion was exposed to view.
+
+With trembling hands, which indicated the latent fear which unnerved
+him, and eyes aching with anxiety, the wretched man examined bag after
+bag of his precious coin with the solicitude one sees manifested by
+parents whose children are rendered doubly dear by the taking away of
+one of their number.
+
+"Ah!" With a sigh, the relief of which almost concluded in physical
+collapse, Raikes was able to assure himself that his rapid inventory
+revealed no further loss.
+
+Replacing his treasure with the indisposition he usually manifested to
+leave the vicinity of his hoard, the miser closed the various
+compartments with more than his accustomed certitude and began to
+prepare to respond to the lassitude of sleep which, for some
+unaccountable reason, was unusually insistent.
+
+With the easy partition of attire already noted, Raikes presently found
+himself ready to tuck himself away for the night, which he did after
+rolling his bedstead directly in front of the false radiator.
+
+This unusual measure of precaution consummated, Raikes, with the first
+sense of security he had felt for the last twenty-four hours, presently
+succumbed to a sleep remarkable for its quick approach and its
+subsequent soundness.
+
+Until early dawn, with the relaxation which is commonly the reward of
+innocence, Raikes slept away in unconscious travesty.
+
+And when at last he opened his eyes he was as alertly awake as he had
+been profoundly asleep.
+
+With a promptness due to his retiring forebodings, his habitual unrest
+and suspicion returned to him.
+
+He was as vitally alive to the disturbing conditions of the day before
+as if they had been the subjects of an all-night meditation.
+
+But the confidence of his bolts and bars, the recollection of his
+unusual measures of safety, reassured him somewhat.
+
+It was, therefore, with a degree of composure he approached the door and
+satisfied himself that the bar and the locks had been undisturbed.
+
+With equal assurance he rolled the bedstead from the radiator and
+pressed the button which operated the concealed spring, with a
+deliberation in which no suggestion of uneasiness appeared.
+
+A quick revolution or so and the inner recess was revealed.
+
+To his rapid accounting the quantity of bags was the same, and their
+relative positions, which he had so carefully arranged the night before,
+were undisturbed--but this one, that within easiest reach! What was it
+caused those sharp suggestions in its accustomed rotundity--those
+angular points?
+
+In a quiver the man was transformed.
+
+With a cry such as must have been forced from the Jew of old, compelled
+by the rough levies of his time to part at once with his teeth and his
+treasure, Raikes grasped the bag, which came away in his clutch with the
+agonizing lightness that had preceded his first loss.
+
+Quickly he unfastened the mouth of the fateful packet and inverted it
+over the table.
+
+The next instant there rattled to view a soulless, sodden shower of
+lack-luster, heart-breaking coals.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 2, Series B.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Dennis, "an' it's there ye are again," as the
+familiar phrase at the bottom of bosom No. 1 met his glance.
+
+But it did not exasperate him on this occasion, for the young man, true
+to his determination to be liberal with himself, had still bosoms No. 2
+and No. 3 at his disposal.
+
+As he was about to separate No. 2 from its duplicate, his eyes, glancing
+aimlessly about for the moment, caught sight of a trim female figure
+sitting not far away on a bench diagonally opposite.
+
+Hovering near her, a man, of a species Dennis had not seen before on the
+street corners of New York, seemed determined to intrude upon her
+attention.
+
+Convinced of his purpose, the lady, for such she unmistakably appeared,
+rose from the seat as the fellow was about to raise his hat as a
+preliminary to further overtures, and sought another bench directly
+opposite the one from which Dennis had been a witness to her apparent
+persecution.
+
+The intruder, however, refusing evidently to believe that the action of
+the lady had a personal application, deliberately walked past this new
+resting place and surveyed its occupant with insolent estimation.
+
+A short distance away his pace slackened; he was about to return.
+
+With genuine Irish impulse, Dennis, rising hurriedly, proceeded to the
+bench occupied by the disturbed lady, and, with a bow that was not
+deficient in grace and evident good intention, said:
+
+"Excuse me, but say the wurrd, madam, and I'll see that you are troubled
+no more with that loafer."
+
+For an instant, with an expression of countenance that suggested a fear
+that the flight from one intrusion was but the introduction to another,
+the lady looked upon Dennis with an astonishment that was partly the
+result of his picturesque contrasts of voice and visage.
+
+Then, with fine intuition realizing, in the ingenuous face of the young
+Irishman, the unmistakable evidence of kindly impulse, she said, with a
+modulation in which Dennis was able to detect the accent of good
+breeding:
+
+"I thank you, sir; I am tired; that man annoys me; but I would rather
+move on than be the cause of a disturbance."
+
+"If you will permit me," responded Dennis promptly, "I will sit beside
+you long enough to indicate that you have met a friend; then I think
+that he will move off."
+
+The lady looked at Dennis with an uncertain smile, in which there was
+just enough restraint to urge the young man to add hastily: "An' when he
+is gone for good, I will go too."
+
+"Oh, I was not thinking of that, I assure you!" the lady hastened to
+say. "That would be rather ungrateful on my part. I accept your
+suggestion. May I ask you to be seated?" and Dennis promptly complied.
+
+As he had predicted, the fellow, who had witnessed the conversation, was
+compelled to accept its ostensible suggestion, and departed finally with
+a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and a Tammany tilt of his hat over
+his eyebrows.
+
+In yielding to his gallant impulse, Dennis was unaware of the fact that
+he held, with not exactly picturesque abandon, bosom No. 1 in his right
+hand and the other two in his left, which gave him the appearance of
+having disposed, in some violent way, of the remainder of several
+shirts.
+
+Awakened by the puzzled amusement depicted in the curious gaze with
+which the lady surveyed the various bosoms which he held, and encouraged
+by the impromptu nature of the entire episode, Dennis, as he realized
+the spectacle which he presented, indulged himself in a frank laugh, in
+which his companion seemed inclined to join.
+
+The next moment he apologized, and, yielding to the obligation enforced
+by the situation, explained his possession of the dickey bosoms and the
+curious story which had gone before.
+
+As he proceeded with the candor of genuine enthusiasm, and related the
+incredible narrative in his rich, Irish brogue, which affected his
+hearer, as it did every one else, with such singular sentiments in
+contrast with his remarkable countenance, all traces of punctilious
+restraint and artificial reticence vanished, and with the mien of one
+who proposes to extract all the entertainment possible from an
+undreamed-of experience, the lady urged Dennis to continue.
+
+"I can't do that unless I read the balance from the dickey," said
+Dennis. "Would you mind?"
+
+"I should like it very much," replied the lady with gratifying
+readiness.
+
+"Well, then," said Dennis, "here goes," and with his musical voice,
+which was one of his most inviting characteristics, the young man, on
+the basis of all that had preceded the bosom from which he was about to
+read, and which he had narrated to his auditor with refreshing _verve_
+and an ingenuousness whose vitalizing effect upon her sensibilities he
+was far from suspecting, began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Whoever has witnessed Kean's superb delineation of the ruthless Richard
+in the scene where, in the illusion of his dying agony, swordless, he
+continues to lunge and feint, may comprehend the frightful mental
+overturn which prompted Raikes to sink inertly into a chair near the
+table, and with foam-flecked lips fall to counting, one by one, the
+miserable coals in the dull heap before him.
+
+A silly smile overspread his sharp features like an apologetic sunbeam
+intruding upon a bleak landscape.
+
+A gleam of shrewd transaction shone in his eyes.
+
+The clutch of unwonted acquisition contracted his hands.
+
+Slowly he made partition of the large from the small coals; regretfully
+he acknowledged the presence of the lesser bits as, with a chuckle of
+greedy appreciation, he grouped the relative piles.
+
+"Ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha!" What a laugh! What a frightful mockery of
+mirth! "Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and raising both hands above his head he
+brought them down upon the table with the lax inertia of utter collapse,
+and fell forward upon his extended arms, his face buried in the squalid
+heap beneath.
+
+For a dreary hour he lay there without the twitch of a muscle, the well
+of a sigh.
+
+Like a Cyclop's eye the button at the bottom of the concave in the wall
+seemed to stare with wonder upon this unfamiliar Raikes, who could thus
+permit the radiator to swing open so heedlessly, and the inner recess to
+expose its golden glut.
+
+Suddenly there came a sharp rap upon the door, then a pause; but its
+quick reverberations were unheeded by the prostrate man.
+
+Again the thuds were administered to the echoing panels, and still no
+response.
+
+"Uncle, I say, uncle!" cried a man's voice. "Uncle!" and the shout was
+followed by a vigorous kick upon the woodwork; "Uncle! Uncle!"
+
+At this last appeal Raikes stirred uneasily, and as the assault was
+continued with still greater stress, he managed finally to stagger
+uncertainly to his feet.
+
+As he raised his head to listen to the clamor without, the meanness of
+his face, emphasized by the smudges of the coal in which it had so
+recently reposed, presented itself to the scandalized eye in the wall.
+
+The miserable creature depicted the last degree of absurdity, and yet
+the ugly pathos of it all would have moved to pity.
+
+"Uncle, I say!" and at the sound of the voice, which he recognized as
+that of his lusty nephew, Raikes, with a return of his accustomed
+intelligence, which had received its kindly repairs at the hands of
+nature during his brief coma, cried sharply: "Well, well!"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the voice outside with an unmistakable accent of relief
+in its tone as it added, with unlettered eagerness: "It's me--Bob!"
+
+However, if his reawakened animation had revived his deadened spirit,
+it also restored the appreciation of his disaster, as, with a glance of
+vivid comprehension, he looked from the coal heap to the register,
+toward which he leaped with astonishing agility.
+
+In an instant the inner recess was secure; in another the radiator was
+replaced, and Raikes, proceeding to the door, raised the bar, unlocked
+the catches and exclaimed, "Enter!"
+
+As the breezy Bob crossed the threshold, the question of his eyes was
+instantly transformed to an expression of utter astonishment as he
+beheld the extraordinary blend of soil and pallor upon the countenance
+of his uncle.
+
+"For the Lord's sake!" he cried, "what ails your face?" and strongly
+tempted to laugh at the absurd spectacle, and as urgently impelled to
+restrain himself by the glittering eyes of the raging Raikes, he added,
+by way of apology for his noisy intrusion:
+
+"We knew that you were in here, but could not make you hear us. You are
+almost two hours beyond your usual time."
+
+Directly in the rear of the young man stood the spinster, who gazed
+with widened eyes and parted lips upon her brother's soiled visage.
+
+"Well," snarled Raikes, "I am all right, you see; now leave me until I
+get myself in shape to make an appearance."
+
+As the door closed behind the pair, Raikes hurried to the mirror, and
+above the crack which extended, like a spasm, diagonally across its
+surface he beheld his bloodless cheeks and forehead, and below, the dry
+slit of his mouth and his chin spattered with black and white.
+
+As he witnessed the sorry sight, the unhappy man, unable for the moment
+to account for his plight, stood aghast, until his gaze, penetrating to
+the rear of his smudged physiognomy, beheld the reflection of the coal
+heaps upon the table.
+
+At once a savage grin distorted his features into the degree of ugliness
+not already accomplished by its dusky resting place of the hour
+previous. A grin that was scarcely human and almost diabolical, as if
+the miserable creature had caught sight of the shriveled soul peering
+through the chinks which imprisoned his rat eyes and found a malignant
+enjoyment in the contemplation of its contemptible littleness.
+
+From this debasing inspection Raikes turned slowly to the washstand to
+remove the grime from his face, with an impersonal deliberation that was
+not only unnatural under the circumstances, but which awakened the eerie
+suggestion that he was expending his effort upon another than himself.
+
+From this moment he became strangely calm; the sharp decision of his
+lips was never so pronounced.
+
+A baleful, unwavering gleam distinguished his glance. He had evidently
+arrived at some determination, one that levied upon the last limit of
+his endurance.
+
+All that day the unhappy man sat in his room, sullen and pondering.
+
+The timid offers of nourishment made by his sister were either ignored
+or refused with such an ill grace that she finally forbore further
+overtures and left him to his morose reflections, to improve her
+opportunities of enjoying, unrebuked, the privileges of the table,
+until, by nightfall, an indigestion, which she welcomed on account of
+its occasion, disturbed her with its unfamiliar pangs.
+
+In response to his nephew's concern as to his condition Raikes replied
+by saying: "I may have something to tell you by eleven o'clock to-night;
+will you be on hand?"
+
+"Sure!" answered Bob with breezy goodwill.
+
+From time to time Raikes glanced at the clock.
+
+His last scrutiny had revealed the hour of nine. Sixty interminable
+minutes more remained ere he could see the Sepoy.
+
+Slowly the leaden hands crawled over the indifferent face.
+
+At last the half hour struck.
+
+A strange impatience possessed him.
+
+Perhaps the Sepoy might begin a little earlier than usual. He could, at
+least, suggest such a courtesy by his precipitation; it was far better
+than this unendurable wait.
+
+With this anticipation he decided to proceed to the apartment of this
+singular narrator.
+
+After taking his usual precautions, which seemed more or less of a
+mockery in view of the succession of disasters which had overtaken him,
+and again establishing the spinster in a position where she could
+maintain an unobstructed view of the entrance to his room, Raikes
+proceeded hurriedly along the various passageways, which finally
+concluded in his point of destination.
+
+He rapped gently upon the door, which he discovered to be slightly ajar.
+
+There was no response.
+
+His second attempt to attract attention was pronounced enough to urge
+the door aside and enable him to make a comprehensive survey of the
+interior.
+
+It was unoccupied; and of his last assault upon the panel the only
+recognition was a sullen echo in the hallway.
+
+About to retire, his glance fell upon the table in the center of the
+room.
+
+At once a sudden trembling seized him.
+
+A burning fever surged through his veins; an irresistible impulse
+overwhelmed; for there, in inconceivable negligence, lay the shagreen
+case which he had so reluctantly returned to its owner only the night
+before.
+
+And then--the malign agreement of his outward husk with his inner
+degradation was revealed.
+
+His eyes, already criminal, reflected the kaleidoscopic succession of
+temptation and surrender; desire and thievery.
+
+He scanned the passageway without in either direction.
+
+No one was in sight.
+
+A silence of respectable retirement prevailed that enabled him to hear
+his heartbeats almost, which surged along his veins to his ears and
+stifled the final gasp of the still, small voice within.
+
+The next instant, with a lithe animal leap of astonishing quickness,
+Raikes, darting into the apartment, grasped the precious case and
+retreated as rapidly over the threshold.
+
+Scarcely had the stealthy rogue vanished from the room when the door of
+a closet in the rear opened softly and revealed the Sepoy.
+
+Upon his face a smile, surely evil, otherwise inscrutable, appeared, as
+he proceeded to the chair by the table, turned down the light in the
+lamp a trifle, and abstracted from his waistcoat pocket a small red
+case, the contents of which he examined with absorbed attention.
+
+Arrived at his room, Raikes was elated to discover that he was not due
+at the Sepoy's apartment until twenty minutes later.
+
+"What a providence!" he murmured.
+
+He would arrive late; he would make his approach as ostensible as
+possible; he would apologize for his tardiness.
+
+His alibi would be perfect.
+
+During these proposed depravities Raikes had closed and fastened the
+door, seated himself at the table, and pressed the spring which detained
+the lid of the shagreen case.
+
+In a dazzling instant it flew open.
+
+"Ah!" A very riot of irradiation and gleam met his eyes.
+
+Here was rehabilitation! Here was amendment!
+
+The diamond was a liberal equivalent for his losses.
+
+Another glance at the clock revealed to him that he had exhausted ten
+minutes in his exultation.
+
+This left a balance of ten minutes for a compunction or two.
+
+Apparently he did not realize his opportunity, for half of the remaining
+time was consumed in the intoxication of the facets and the glamor, the
+thrill of intelligent valuation; and the other half to a grim
+calculation as to the usury that might accrue after the account with his
+losses was balanced.
+
+These perjured figures were scarcely arranged to his satisfaction when
+the clock struck ten.
+
+The strokes seemed like as many separate accusations.
+
+"Bah! what are they to me?" he asked himself. He had been robbed; he had
+found a way to restitution; a man's providence must measure to his
+necessities.
+
+To arrive at these conclusions put him five minutes in arrears. Five
+more for a leisurely arrival would be ten; enough to apologize for;
+sufficient for his purposes.
+
+He consumed as much time as possible secreting the stone in the recess.
+That accomplished, Raikes emerged from his room and proceeded down the
+hallway.
+
+When he reached the apartment occupied by the Sepoy he breathed a sigh
+of relief.
+
+The door was closed.
+
+In response to his rap upon the panel, a voice which he recognized as
+that of the Sepoy cried: "Come in!"
+
+With a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, where, with him, the
+only conscience he had was located, Raikes complied with these
+instructions, and, closing the door softly, established himself, in his
+customary expectant attitude, in the chair indicated by his host.
+
+"I have been told," began the latter abruptly, "that there is a flaw in
+the sapphire."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Raikes with genuine concern. Two things he could
+comprehend: a loss and the abuse of property. The announcement of the
+Sepoy awakened the same misgiving which commonly affected his mind at a
+suggestion of defective title.
+
+"Yes," continued the Sepoy; "it was pointed out to me. But I am not
+convinced, or it may be that I refuse to be. A man often elects to be
+blind when confronted with a suggestion of disaster. I want to be candid
+with myself. I require your assistance. While I continue the narrative,
+kindly see if you can discover any sign of blemish."
+
+Raikes, only too willing to engage himself upon anything which would
+assist his attempt at outward poise, seized the glass offered him and
+began a close inspection of the gem, as the Sepoy, with an indescribably
+insinuating modulation, resumed:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As the prince advanced, Lal Lu, advised of his approach by the hasty
+exit of the waiting-woman and the soft alarm of the gong in the
+passageway, stood ready to receive him.
+
+"A slight flush suffused her cheeks, a brighter luster beamed from her
+eyes.
+
+"With a fervor which was evidently unembarrassed by any anticipation of
+denial, the prince approached the trembling Lal Lu, who seemed to his
+enamored glance unspeakably bewitching in the graceful attitude, of
+which she was thoroughly unconscious, which she had naturally assumed,
+and which gave unmistakable expression to the hope, trepidation and
+regard awakened by his presence.
+
+"And yet his eagerness was not reflected.
+
+"There was little in the demeanor of the beautiful girl that was
+responsive; no indication of the sweet surrender that doubly endears,
+and which makes such irresistible appeals for protection and sensitive
+understanding to a man worthy of the name; and what evidences of
+confusion she betrayed were rather those which commonly prelude the
+execution of unwelcome resolution; a suggestion of a lurking disposition
+to readmit the Peri into Paradise, restrained by a knowledge of
+conditions unfulfilled.
+
+"With the rapid interchange and subtle apprehension characteristic of a
+passion which has no definite assurances as to its right to monopolize
+the regard of the object of jealous consideration, the prince was
+compelled to acknowledge, in these vague suggestions, an intangible but
+no less real succession of barriers opposed to his ardent advances, and
+with a scarcely concealed and certainly undiplomatic irritation he
+paused before Lal Lu and demanded:
+
+"'What is it, Lal Lu? Thou art not glad to see me. I expected a
+reception other than this.'
+
+"'My father?' demanded Lal Lu, ignoring the question and the yearning
+intonation of his address, each word of which was like a caress; 'my
+father, what of him?'
+
+"'Ah!' muttered the prince with deepening choler at the disturbing
+conditions introduced by the name, and a gleam strangely suggestive of
+menace. 'Why speak of him now? Is not the present enough?'
+
+"Lal Lu gazed upon the speaker with astonishment. How could he so easily
+forget what he had said the day before? And with a scarcely perceptible
+tightening of her beautiful lips, she said:
+
+"'Dost remember thy promise to give me news of him to-day?'
+
+"'I do,' replied the prince. 'I received word that he will not be here
+to-day.'
+
+"'Who told thee so?' demanded Lal Lu.
+
+"'A writing so informed me.'
+
+"'Is it with thee?'
+
+"'No,' replied the prince. 'It is in my cabinet. Is not my word
+sufficient?'
+
+"To this Lal Lu did not reply, but searched his countenance with a
+scrutiny which he found it difficult to endure, as he cried with renewed
+animation:
+
+"'Oh, Lal Lu, be not so cold! Hearken! The native regiments of Meerut
+are in revolt and on their way to Delhi.
+
+"'It is their purpose to re-establish Dahbur Dhu, my grandfather, upon
+the throne of the moghuls.
+
+"'As thou knowest, I am next in succession, and Dahbur Dhu is feeble and
+decrepit.
+
+"'The British are not in sufficient force to withstand a combined
+attack.
+
+"'See, then, Lal Lu, what this means for me; what it means for thee.'
+
+"'Oh!' repeated the girl with curious emphasis, 'what it means for thee,
+I know; but what it means for me'--and she paused with disconcerting
+deliberation as she added--'thou hast not said.'
+
+"'Everything, my own!' exclaimed the prince with generous
+ardor--'everything! Thou hast but to command and thy will is done.'
+
+"'Everything?' re-echoed Lal Lu with a questioning stress which the
+prince could not ignore--'everything?'
+
+"'I have said,' replied the prince.
+
+"'Am I then to be thy queen?'
+
+"For a moment, a vital moment, the prince hesitated, but brief as the
+pause, scarcely the durance of an eye-flash, Lal Lu saw it, and gazed
+upon the prince with a disconcerting directness as he added, with the
+haste we note in the accused who attempt to distract suspicion by the
+utterance of glib generalities:
+
+"'My queen! Thou art always that!'
+
+"'Hold, Prince Otondo!' exclaimed Lal Lu as the prince seemed about to
+surrender to an impulse to clasp her in his arms--'hold! Thy answers
+suit me not. Reply, then, to this: Thy wife--am I to be thy wedded
+wife?'
+
+"An expression like that of a peevish child tantalized by obstacles
+intruded to enhance its appreciation of favor withheld brightened his
+eyes and sent sullen lines converging in his forehead.
+
+"His hands clenched and opened; a faint suggestion of disdain curled his
+thin lips; the amiable inclination of his figure was transformed to an
+erect intolerance--and Lal Lu was answered.
+
+"When the unfortunate girl could no longer doubt the unlovely evidence
+provided by the prince, and apprehended the humiliating significance of
+his hesitation, a majesty surer than his own, a presence superb in its
+elevation, encompassed her, and she gazed upon the perturbed man with an
+expression from which every trace of tenderness appeared to have
+vanished.
+
+"With an angry sweep of his arm, as if to banish with a peremptory
+gesture the kneeling envoys of compunction, manliness and nobility, the
+prince stepped forward.
+
+"'What is that?' At this moment the gong in the passageway responded to
+three measured strokes.
+
+"'Confusion!' muttered the prince. 'What does this mean?' and turning
+abruptly, he hastened to the doorway, swept aside the curtains, and
+revealed the trembling figure of the wrinkled crone who had quitted the
+apartment at his entrance.
+
+"'What now?' cried the exasperated prince as he fixed his eyes, vivid
+with rage at the unwelcome interruption, upon the miserable creature.
+
+"In reply the woman raised her shriveled hand, with a gesture that was
+not without its weird impressiveness, and pointed to his apartments.
+
+"'Speak!' he demanded with a modification of his intensity, which he
+perceived deprived the waiting-woman of the power of speech.
+
+"'A messenger,' she croaked, 'from the palace of the moghul; he must
+speak with thee at once.'
+
+"With one long glance of such concentrated determination that it caused
+the beautiful girl to tremble anew, the prince vanished through the
+portal and hastened along the passageway.
+
+"Scarcely had he departed when the demeanor of the waiting-woman
+underwent a startling transformation.
+
+"An incredible degree of energy quickened in the recoil of her bent form
+to a disproportionate erectness of stature.
+
+"Beneath level, unwavering lids, her eyes emitted gleams which had
+pierced the retreating figure with deadly viciousness had they been
+poniards.
+
+"The servile vanished, the abject; and she stood, the silent embodiment
+of evil, restrained purpose.
+
+"The next instant, with an angry gesture that was vaguely significant of
+future requital and present impotence, the vindictive creature swept
+aside the curtains and re-entered the room leading to the apartment
+occupied by Lal Lu.
+
+"As she approached the disturbed beauty, the tension in her mien
+relaxed, and she regarded the _distrait_ countenance before her with a
+glance that was anything but unfriendly, in so far as it was possible to
+determine the nature of the sentiment in hiding behind that austere
+visage.
+
+"Directly she stood by the table which Lal Lu had interposed as a sort
+of barricade against advances of her impetuous lover, and with an
+attempt at a smile, which could as readily find acceptance as a
+repentant scowl, this singular being inserted her hand in the folds of
+the tunic which defended her parchment bosom, and produced from that
+barren demesne a folded missive, which she placed in the hands of the
+astonished Lal Lu.
+
+"With trembling haste she exposed the inner surface of the paper, and
+with a glad heart and filial trust read:
+
+"'Be not afraid; relief is at hand.'
+
+"There was no signature; none was needed.
+
+"In a moment Lal Lu recognized her father's familiar chirography, and as
+she reflected upon his well-known sagacity and resourceful boldness, her
+hope and courage renewed their belated assurances.
+
+"'Who gave you this?' she asked.
+
+"The waiting-woman, after a brief hesitation, in which inclination and
+restraint left their disturbing traces, replied:
+
+"'That I must not reveal.'
+
+"'At least,' insisted Lal Lu, whose quick glance had detected the
+irresolution of the instant preceding, 'at least, tell me this: Was it
+my father?'
+
+"'No,' replied the other promptly. With a barely perceptible grin of
+amusement at this ingenuous betrayal of the author of the few words
+which had awakened such animation, she added:
+
+"'One sent by him, it may be.'
+
+"'True,' assented the girl.
+
+"'And now,' exclaimed the woman with a return of her vindictive aspect,
+which the harassed beauty, unaware of its inspiration, witnessed with
+vague misgiving and a futile attempt to associate herself with its ugly
+manifestation; 'and now, I would ask a question of you.'
+
+"'Yes?' responded Lal Lu, perplexed at the baleful emphasis which
+preceded this announcement.
+
+"'Well, then,' continued the woman with startling and uncompromising
+abruptness, 'am I wrong in thinking that you would defend your honor
+with your life?'
+
+"Before the astonished Lal Lu could reply, or encouraged, it may be, by
+some subtle confirmation in the look which shot from the distended eyes
+of the young girl, the eccentric speaker, again inserting her hands in
+the folds of her tunic, withdrew a short, slender poniard, at sight of
+which Lal Lu recoiled.
+
+"'Ha, ha!' laughed the withered creature mirthlessly as she gazed with
+unsmiling eyes upon the shrinking beauty. 'Be not afraid; this weapon is
+intended for you, but not to your hurt.'
+
+"'What, then?' asked Lal Lu breathlessly, unable to adjust the peaceful
+assurance of the grim-visaged woman with the menace of the glittering
+blade.
+
+"'Listen!' exclaimed the woman impressively: 'I know Prince Otondo of
+old; he meditates no good for you. Were I in your place, I would receive
+his detested advances upon the point of this blade. Your protestations
+he will not heed, but this'--and the speaker advanced the dagger with a
+savage gesture which caused a shudder to pervade the trembling frame of
+Lal Lu--'this is an argument he can understand.'
+
+"'Oh,' cried the terrified girl, 'I could not!'
+
+"'You could not?' repeated the other with chilling emphasis. 'Ha, ha!
+you could not! But you will submit to the advances of this monster!
+
+"'Believe me, you are not the sole object of his regard.
+
+"'There have been others caged within these walls who have been less
+obdurate than you, or whose resistance has availed them nothing.'
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Lal Lu with an inexpressibly melancholy accent, as she
+considered the empty pedestal from which her ideal had fallen, and
+recalled with a shudder the caress which she had permitted and bestowed
+in that fervid interview with the prince. 'Can this be true?'
+
+"'Aye!' exclaimed the woman with savage affirmation. 'Do not doubt it.
+Sooner than submit to the embraces of that wretch I would turn that
+weapon against myself.'
+
+"'Oh!' exclaimed Lal Lu with a superb gesture and the light of
+unmistakable resolution in her eyes, 'that I can do; but the other----'
+And the poor girl trembled at the spectacle pictured in her mind.
+
+"'Well,' exclaimed the woman, 'I will leave this dagger here; do as you
+will; I have done for you what I could,' and she turned to depart,
+unmindful, apparently, of Lal Lu's tremulous 'And I am grateful to you.'
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"When the prince arrived at the apartment in which he accorded his
+audiences, if the attention he bestowed upon the meager assemblages
+which presented themselves occasionally can be dignified by that
+description, he found awaiting him a Hindoo, whom he recognized at once,
+and whose presence invariably preceded the recital of important
+information.
+
+"To the degree that Prince Otondo had reason to suspect that his
+grandfather had certain of his servants subsidized at the Kutub, he
+measured secretly by similar secret embassies at the Delhi palace.
+
+"The egotistical old moghul, with a vanity which even his anomalous
+situation with the British had not impaired, wished to assure himself
+that he would be worthily succeeded, and the prince was equally
+solicitous concerning the advancing senility of the moghul.
+
+"In such bloodless intrigues this picturesque pair kept their servants
+engaged, until this germ of mutual distrust infected every dependent in
+the two households with that singular propensity to conspire which the
+studious historian of this mysterious country cannot have failed to
+record.
+
+"On this basis certain shrewd spirits among the British intruders at
+this period were able to discover more of the character of the people
+under their unwelcome rule, in a single establishment of native
+servants, than in the general observations of a hundred English
+households.
+
+"Awaiting, therefore, the conclusion of the ceremonies of approach, upon
+which he always insisted and which were shortly to be rendered so
+absurd, the prince at last, calling the Hindoo by name, demanded the
+occasion of his presence.
+
+"'It is an ill service, O prince,' replied the Hindoo, 'which I am about
+to render you.'
+
+"'What, then?' exclaimed the prince. 'To the point, to the point!'
+
+"'Your grandfather----'
+
+"'Is dead?' inquired the prince with badly disguised eagerness.
+
+"'Nay; worse.'
+
+"'Proceed!' demanded the prince. 'What can be worse?'
+
+"'Your grandfather,' replied the messenger, in evident haste to conclude
+a disagreeable task, 'has taken to himself a young wife.'
+
+"'Ah!' cried the prince, startled into a degrading abandonment of his
+customary elevation of demeanor. 'The dotard, the imbecile! Married? To
+whom?'
+
+"'A daughter of the house of Nadis Shah, Rani Rue.'
+
+"'I know her!' cried the prince savagely. 'Implacable, ambitious,
+unscrupulous. What will she not attempt with that old driveller?' Then,
+evidently impressed by something shadowed in the expression of his
+ill-omened Mercury, he exclaimed: 'You have more to tell me?'
+
+"The Hindoo bowed his head in perturbed affirmation.
+
+"'Quickly, then!' demanded his august listener.
+
+"'The British forces have concentrated at the cantonment without the
+walls of Delhi; a detachment is even now on the way to your palace,
+which they propose to seize and garrison.'
+
+"'Ah!' murmured the prince, 'the freshet is turning to a deluge. Is
+there more?'
+
+"'Yes, O prince,' returned the Hindoo; 'the British intend to hold you as
+a hostage for the safety of the English resident, who is a prisoner at
+the palace in Delhi.'
+
+"'So!' exclaimed this royal reprobate as he reflected upon the
+picturesque possibilities to himself, in view of the sanguinary
+temptation which the helpless resident would present to the ambitious
+Queen Rani Rue. 'How far in advance of the detachment are you?'
+
+"'About one hour's march.'
+
+"'This is short reckoning. You have hastened with leaden feet.'
+
+"'Nay, your highness,' cried the Hindoo, 'I came the instant I heard.
+There is still time to escape, and the way is known to you alone.'
+
+"'So be it,' returned the prince as an expression of savage
+determination compressed his thin lips and ignited baleful fires in his
+restless eyes. 'Await me without; I will join you presently.'
+
+"As the Hindoo turned to obey, the prince darted, with lithe haste, into
+the inner room and pressed the spring in the wall.
+
+"Slowly the panel rolled aside and revealed the glittering pyramid of
+gems within.
+
+"From the depths, just in the rear of the priceless heap, he withdrew a
+sort of jacket, separated upon its upper edge into a series of openings
+similar to the partitions of a cartridge-belt.
+
+"Into these, with a sort of clumsy trepidation, he began to pack the
+almost elusive portions of the gleaming mass of brilliants from the
+recess.
+
+"At the conclusion of fifteen vital minutes the prince had deposited the
+last of the gems in the receptacles of this curious jacket, and, if the
+reports of the Hindoo were to be credited, the advancing British were
+that much nearer the Kutub.
+
+"With desperate rapidity he disengaged the folds of the delicate cambric
+which covered the upper portion of his body, inserting the precious
+jacket beneath, and after adjusting it to his figure, strapped it
+securely in place and rearranged his attire into non-committal contours.
+
+"'And now,' he cried with an expression of savage determination, 'and
+now for the rarest gem of all!' and darting through the silken hangings
+which concealed his extreme of the passageway leading to the apartments
+of Lal Lu, he hastened along that dingy bypath and presently reached the
+threshold from which he had issued but a short time before with such
+little credit to himself.
+
+"Without pausing to announce himself or consider the impropriety of his
+abrupt intrusion and its possible influence upon Lal Lu, the impetuous
+heir-apparent swept aside the curtains and rushed into the room.
+
+"Startled at the rattling rings which held the hangings in place, and
+the impetuous swish of its folds, Lal Lu sprang to her feet and gazed
+with indignant rebuke upon the inconsiderate prince.
+
+"Heedless of the unconcealed disdain of her glance and ignoring the
+presence of the furtive-eyed waiting-woman, he cried:
+
+"'Lal Lu, the time for further parley is past. The Kutub is shortly to
+be attacked by the British. We must fly--come!' and the speaker advanced
+with unreflective haste to the side of the palpitating girl.
+
+"In an instant, however, his headlong progress was checked as Lal Lu,
+with a superb gesture, raised the gleaming dagger above her head and
+cried, encouraged by the lowering eyes of the evilly-expectant
+waiting-woman: 'With thee--never! I will die first!'
+
+"As the prince recoiled a step at sight of the flashing blade, Lal Lu,
+with contemptuous emphasis, exclaimed: 'Be not afraid, Prince Otondo,
+this is not for thee. Advance but a step and it will be but an empty
+casket that awaits thee!'
+
+"Never had Lal Lu appeared so desirable in the eyes of this royal rogue,
+and never had he been more resolute to possess her.
+
+"With misleading quiet, therefore, he gazed upon the upraised hand which
+menaced the one unattained object of his desire. Quickly he measured
+the distance between them. Slowly he removed one foot behind the other.
+Lightly he pressed the slipper's point upon the tessellated floor, and
+then with a leap of incredible quickness, he darted forward, caught the
+descending arm of Lal Lu in his grasp, and, with his disengaged hand,
+wrenched the dagger from her and threw it away from him into the center
+of the apartment.
+
+"But as rapidly as he had moved, the prince had not been able to prevent
+the incision which the dagger's point made in his wrist and from which a
+thin stream of blood issued.
+
+"'Ah, ha, my beauty!' he cried as he released the struggling girl and
+retreated a step, the better to enjoy her discomfiture; 'ah, ha! I like
+thy spirit. I would not have thee mar the lovely casket which contains
+it. Here!' he called to the waiting-woman, who had witnessed the episode
+and into whose quick eyes, which had detected the slight wound upon the
+wrist of the prince, there crept a strange, inexplicable expression of
+leering triumph, 'here, guard this maiden for a space. Your life shall
+pay the penalty if aught befalls her in my absence.
+
+"'I shall return presently with the help I need to overcome such
+elevated objection'; and turning abruptly, the prince hastened toward
+the doorway, pausing a second to regain possession of the dagger which
+he had cast from him during the brief struggle.
+
+"'Alas!' cried the unhappy girl, 'what shall I do? He has gone to get
+some of his creatures to help him in his evil purposes.'
+
+"For a moment a tense silence prevailed.
+
+"The next instant, with eerie, jubilant interruption, the waiting-woman
+made the very air shudder with a laugh of such shrill exultation and
+riotous abandon that Lal Lu, for a moment forgetful of her own
+extremity, gazed with unconcealed amazement and alarm upon the almost
+hysterical creature.
+
+"'Ha, ha!' she raved; 'be not afraid, Lal Lu. This royal pest, this
+insolent prince, will trouble you no more; you will never see him
+again.'
+
+"'Ha!' exclaimed Lal Lu. 'You seem strangely positive. What do you
+mean?'
+
+"'Did you see that scratch which the point of your dagger made upon the
+wrist of the prince?'
+
+"'No,' replied Lal Lu, shrinking from the picture presented to her mind.
+
+"'Well,' returned the grim-visaged woman with a return to her customary
+austerity, 'I did. The wound was slight; only a few easily subdued drops
+of blood followed; but, believe me, maiden, it will be sufficient.'
+
+"'What do you mean?' demanded Lal Lu.
+
+"'This,' returned the weird creature with repulsive, evil joy, which she
+made no attempt to disguise: 'The point of that dagger was steeped in
+the most deadly poison known in India. In twenty minutes, ha, ha! it is
+the prince who will be the empty casket.'"
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the Sepoy reached this point in his narrative he paused with
+startling abruptness.
+
+Raikes, no longer under the influence of the seductive cadences, looked
+up sharply.
+
+"Well?" inquired the Sepoy as he met the inquiring glance of his furtive
+auditor, "what of the flaw in the sapphire? Can you trace the blemish?"
+
+"Devil seize me!" exclaimed Raikes, as he offered, by this apostrophe,
+an invitation which was certain, at no distant date, to be accepted.
+
+"Devil seize me if I have thought of the sapphire!" and he began at once
+an apologetic inspection of the brilliant with the magnifying glass.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the Sepoy. "I must congratulate myself upon my powers
+of narration."
+
+"Aye!" replied Raikes, as he continued his examination of the flaming
+bauble, "and also upon your irritating habit of concluding at the
+anxious moment. But see here," and he held the sapphire up to view; "I
+can see nothing wrong; possibly the light is bad. The searching glare of
+day is required to discover a blemish such as you speak of."
+
+"Suppose you return to-morrow, then, directly after breakfast?"
+suggested the Sepoy.
+
+"I want your judgment. I dare not trust my own; my blindness may be
+voluntary."
+
+"Very well, then," assented Raikes, who, now that he had nothing upon
+which to fasten his eyes, felt an easily comprehended uneasiness to
+leave the Sepoy. "I will be here at that time"; and with his customary
+emotionless adieux the guilty creature slipped through the doorway and
+speeded like a shriveled shadow along the various passages.
+
+As he was about to enter his room he was hailed by his nephew.
+
+"Uncle, you wanted to see me."
+
+"True," replied Raikes, with a start of recollection, "I do; but suppose
+we postpone the interview until to-morrow."
+
+"Very well," replied the young man easily, and Raikes, entering his
+room, fastened the door with his usual elaborate precaution.
+
+His first movement was to disclose the interior of the recess containing
+his coin and his conscience.
+
+A rapid examination convinced him that no further depredations had been
+committed upon the former, and the latter he secreted in the pocket of
+his waistcoat along with the diamond, which flashed its unregarded
+rebuke into his eager eyes.
+
+At this juncture the singular drowsiness which had overtaken him so
+persistently in the past few days began to steep his dulling senses.
+
+Warned by its approach, Raikes began to put into execution a newly
+conceived plan of retiring for the night and effective vigil over his
+treasure-trove.
+
+Hastily drawing a chair before the radiator, and placing directly in
+front of that the table, from which with a savage sweep of the arm he
+swept the dull heap of coals rattling to the floor, Raikes established
+himself in the seat so provided and, leaning forward, awaited the final
+blandishments of the drowsiness which was not long in lulling him into
+that profound degree of slumber which is commonly supposed to be the
+reward of sound morals and Christian resignation.
+
+(To be continued on Dickey No. 3, Series B.)
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the reading of this impossible helter-skelter of unrestrained
+imagination and composite style, the expression in the countenance of
+the listening woman had developed from its original sadness to an
+unmistakable geniality.
+
+The pensive droop of her lips, little by little, nestled away into a
+smiling seriousness, and when Dennis, confronted with the habitual
+conclusion in italics, looked up with a grimace of recognition, his
+glance was met by a pair of kindly blue eyes, in which he believed he
+traced a charming suggestion of unaffected good fellowship.
+
+Altogether unsuspected by himself, Dennis, with his intent, intelligent
+countenance, and the contrasting vivacity of his rich, Irish accent, had
+awakened an interest in the mind of his companion which months of adroit
+approach could not have achieved.
+
+His genuineness was unquestionable.
+
+His entire absorption in the story, his delightful and unconscious
+elimination of self, supplied this tired woman with elements of mental
+refreshment and genuine enjoyment which circumstances had compelled her
+to decide no longer existed.
+
+Encouraged, therefore, by this unmistakable interest and the amiable
+attitude of attention which Dennis, with characteristic ingenuousness,
+accepted as a tribute to the narrative, he exclaimed:
+
+"An' isn't it great, now? Did you ever hear such a tale as that?"
+
+"I never did," was the smiling reply.
+
+"An' wasn't that Raikes a div--a tight one, I mean?"
+
+"He was, indeed," assented the lady, as she reviewed this sordid
+character and the incidents surrounding him, and contrasted the tumult
+of phrase and situation with her genial Addison and her placid Irving.
+
+"An' would you like to hear the rest?" asked Dennis, as he produced the
+remaining bosom of Series B.
+
+"Yes," replied the lady, "I believe I would. But just a moment before
+you begin," and regarding this oblivious young man with an expression in
+which a degree of speculation still lingered to tantalize its suggestion
+of frank indorsement, she hazarded:
+
+"You have not lived in New York long?"
+
+Wondering at the acuteness of this observation, Dennis responded by
+according to her the exact time of his brief residence.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the lady, "I thought so."
+
+"May I ask," inquired Dennis, wondering if, like the visitor from the
+bucolic district, he supplied unconscious data in his appearance for
+classification, "may I ask how you are able to tell that I'm here for a
+short time only?"
+
+"Well," returned his companion with a degree of hesitation exquisitely
+refined as it shadowed through her fine countenance, and which she
+presently conquered as she replied to his question with that shade of
+frankness which, in the well-bred, can never be mistaken for anything
+else: "It requires about a year's residence in this bedlam to replace
+the genuine with the artificial; I see no evidence of such an unhappy
+transformation in you."
+
+"Oh, I see," responded Dennis. "An' you never will, either."
+
+"I am almost prepared to believe that," answered the lady with a
+reassuring cordiality which somehow indicated to this young man that she
+had already become convinced of more than she was willing to
+acknowledge.
+
+"You may do so entirely," said Dennis simply.
+
+"Now, one question more," continued his companion, "and do not consider
+me inquisitive, since I may have something to suggest to your advantage
+if your reply is satisfactory. What is your business?"
+
+Dennis blushed.
+
+"My business?" he repeated with a droll accent and an amusing grimace;
+and then, encouraged by the friendly invitation and subtle encouragement
+in the manner of his sweet-faced listener, with a straightforward
+recital which the lady had expected from him, and which advanced him
+several leagues in her estimation, Dennis recounted his experiences from
+the time of his arrival up to the present moment.
+
+"It isn't much," he concluded apologetically, "not anywhere as
+interesting as the dickey back; but it's all there is, an' it's true,
+every word."
+
+"It is more than you suspect," dissented his hearer. "You have enabled
+me to come to a decision, at least, and may help me to solve a vexed
+problem. In the meantime, let us finish the story. While you are reading
+my mind will clear; I will make my suggestion when you conclude."
+
+Wondering, and yet with a prompt confidence which conveyed an agreeable
+flattery which the cleverest diplomacy could not have achieved, Dennis,
+holding his absurd medium at a level which permitted him to receive the
+stimulation of a sympathetic glance now and then, began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Considering the unaccustomed position in which Raikes had placed himself
+in arranging to retire the night before, he awoke with considerable
+astonishment to the realization that he had passed a night of
+undisturbed slumber.
+
+Aside from a slight disposition to stretch his lean limbs unduly, and a
+feeling of insecurity attending his first efforts to stand, he was not
+aware of any inconvenience from his singular siesta.
+
+At last, after having re-established his creaking equilibrium and
+resumed his accustomed furtive regard of things, he was suddenly
+reminded by the shifted position of the furniture of the purpose of this
+makeshift barricade.
+
+At once the shuddering dread which had attended his recent visits to the
+secret recess returned with numbing chills and sinking spirit.
+
+He advanced his bony hand, gnarled and mean with useless abstemiousness
+and miserable abnegations, and revolved the button in the concave. In
+response, the false register swung back; in another tense moment the
+inner space was revealed, and his treasury laid bare.
+
+For an instant, in the manner of an apprehensive child who postpones as
+long as possible some unwelcome confirmation, Raikes closed his eyes,
+and when he opened them again they rested, with unerring precision, upon
+a bag somewhat detached from the others, which protruded at its sides
+with those frightful points and angles with which he had become so
+unhappily familiar of late.
+
+With a smothered cry he sprang forward, gripped the bag in a trembling,
+faltering clutch, and dropped it with a groan to the floor, where it
+fell with a heart-breaking, distracting lightness, which, nevertheless,
+smote like a mighty weight upon his bursting heart.
+
+"My God!" he cried, "this is incredible!" and the miserable creature
+stood for a moment with an appalling vacancy shadowing in his
+countenance, which was illumed for one fitful moment with a ray of hope
+as he inserted his hand in his waistcoat pocket to assure himself that
+the diamond which he had placed in that receptacle the night before at
+least was safe.
+
+The diamond--ah, yes!
+
+There was still some consolation in that.
+
+Its value still maintained a close proportion to his loss. If there was
+no gain there was, at least, a sort of evil restitution.
+
+But his exploring fingers found only an empty pocket.
+
+In a palsy of fear, and with the demeanor of one who feels the first
+twinge of a mortal affliction and awaits in fearful silence the grewsome
+confirmation of another, he stood without sound or motion, his set,
+staring eyes directed with unseeing intensity upon the vacant air.
+
+The next instant, with feverish animation and impotent apprehension,
+five writhing fingers leaped from their futile search, like scotched
+reptiles, into the opposite pocket and withdrew the two useless keys
+with which he fastened his abortive latch on the door.
+
+And then, with a frightful glitter in his eyes, an ugly ooze about his
+bloodless lips, a flickering effort of his shriveled fingers to adjust
+themselves to some ribald rhythm, Raikes began to sing, with the dry
+rasp and ancient husk of a galvanized sphinx:
+
+    "And her name it was Dinah,
+      Scarce sixteen years old;
+    She'd a very large fortune
+      In greenbacks and gold.
+    Sing turi-li-luri----
+
+Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and supporting himself along the wall he made his way
+slowly to the threshold, unfastened the locks, removed the heavy bar,
+opened the door, and cried out in a voice that was not human, that
+shuddered its way along the chill passage through the shrinking air:
+
+"Robert--Robert!" and then, reeling, stumbling toward a near-by chair,
+he fell ere he could reach it, in utter collapse to the floor, and lay
+there--shriveled, grotesque, in no way pathetic, in all points
+contemptible, as his nephew, in response to his uncle's unearthly
+summons, rushed into the room, followed by the wide-eyed spinster.
+
+For three days during the week that followed Raikes lay oblivious to the
+considerations of loss or gain.
+
+The utmost of the young medical attendant, who had been selected on the
+basis of the small charges incident to a beginning practice, had failed
+to restore the emaciated man to his suspended consciousness, until,
+toward the morning of the fourth day, the spinster, who sat near-by in
+weary vigil, was startled to behold the dull eyes of her brother
+fastened upon her with the faraway, questioning look of one returning
+from the confines of the nether to the sharp realities of existence.
+
+"Rodman?" she inquired with anxious interrogation.
+
+In response the thin lips of the sufferer moved slowly.
+
+Approaching the bed, his sister, leaning over the unfortunate Raikes,
+heard him articulate with difficulty "Water!"
+
+Supporting his head with one hand, the spinster supplied his
+feebly-sighed request, and when the last difficult swallow conveyed the
+refreshing draught along his fevered throat, she restored his head to
+the pillow and awaited developments.
+
+As she sat at the bedside in an attitude of fearful expectation, it was
+evident that some transformation, more wholesome than subtle, had
+manifested itself in the mien and physique of his nurse.
+
+A large degree of her pitiful attenuity had vanished; a legible vestige
+of placid well-being seemed to have replaced the hunger of her eyes;
+there was a vague, unsubstantial promise of possible comeliness in the
+restoration of her cheeks.
+
+Aware of these changes herself, and fearful lest her brother's sharp
+eyes would discover them, the spinster recalled, with a sort of troubled
+gratification, the occasion of the improvement.
+
+Undisturbed by the rebuking glances of the abstemious Raikes, and
+secretly abetted by the amused Sepoy, the poor woman had enjoyed the
+privileges of the table with a relish and surrender which had begun to
+result in the manner indicated.
+
+For several days previous to the catastrophe which had concluded in the
+prostration of her brother, the spinster had supplied the cravings of
+her appetite with a gusto that was a revelation to her, and which would
+have evoked a profound rebuke from the wretched creature on the bed.
+
+It was therefore with secret misgiving and a qualified delight she heard
+her brother at last call feebly: "Sarah!"
+
+In answer to the exhausted interrogation in his utterance of the name,
+his sister hastened to recount to him the incident of his collapse and
+his subsequent unconsciousness.
+
+Little by little his intelligence began to resume its abandoned
+functions, and at last he recalled the whole evil situation.
+
+"Where's Robert?" he said. "I want him."
+
+"I will send him to you," exclaimed his sister, and she hastened from
+the room.
+
+"Well, uncle!" exclaimed Robert as he entered with a cheerfulness he was
+far from feeling as he witnessed that emaciated countenance; "better, I
+see."
+
+"I congratulate you upon your imagination," replied Raikes, with a
+feeble attempt at his customary incivility; "but lock the door and
+listen to me carefully."
+
+These instructions complied with, Robert seated himself in the chair
+just vacated by the spinster, which provided his uncle an unobstructed
+view of the embonpoint and general aspect of well-being which were so
+obnoxious to the singular man on the bed.
+
+"In the first place," resumed Raikes weakly, "move the bed around so
+that I can see the register in the wall."
+
+The wondering Robert did as he was ordered.
+
+"Take hold of the button that moves the valves and pull it toward you."
+
+Robert followed these instructions minutely, and to his astonishment and
+the miser's consternation the radiator itself swung away from the wall.
+
+"What!" cried the startled invalid as he beheld this confirmation of his
+fear that he had neglected to spring the catch that held the radiator
+on the occasion of the mishap which resulted in his confinement to the
+bed, "Look within. Is the inner compartment closed?"
+
+"No!" replied Robert.
+
+"My God!" groaned Raikes as he realized that his treasury had been thus
+unguarded during his illness. "Tell me how many bags there are."
+
+Robert removed them one by one, and deposited them on the table.
+
+As the miser followed the movements of his nephew with anxious notation,
+a sigh of unutterable relief welled from the innermost depths of his
+bosom.
+
+The bags had been untouched!
+
+There was no further loss, and the clinking weight assured him that his
+nocturnal visitor had made no more of his gross substitutions.
+
+"Listen, Robert," said Raikes with laborious amiability, as his
+astonished nephew seated himself near the bedside, "it has been my
+purpose to conceal this hiding place from any living soul, but I find
+that I have not succeeded.
+
+"Some one has made three visits to that recess and helped himself to as
+many bags of coin."
+
+Robert, remembering his uncle's well-known secrecy and the unusual
+precautions taken by him to secure his room from intrusion, looked his
+incredulity, which stimulated Raikes into exclaiming:
+
+"Ah, but you do not know how incredible it is. Wait until you hear all.
+You will wonder what human agency could penetrate these locks, open the
+doors of this hiding place, extract the plunder, restore the locks to
+their original condition, and re-issue into the passageway without
+disturbing the latches or the crossbar. My losses are supernatural. Now
+follow me carefully and confess that you have not heard anything so
+ghastly, so unreal as what I am about to relate."
+
+As Raikes proceeded in his narrative, his nephew was at first inclined
+to receive these weird confidences as features of the unhappy man's
+condition, but as the latter progressed, with a constantly increasing
+degree of his customary emotionless lucidity, his sincerity became
+apparent.
+
+"And now," concluded Raikes, "what have you to say to all this? Is it
+not worthy of a Poe or a Maupassant? I tell you, I must have some
+explanation of this mystery or I shall go mad."
+
+During this singular recital the young man's mind, stimulated by the
+eerie perplexities and the unhappy denouement, had been busy.
+
+It was not difficult to convince himself of the futility of any of his
+own speculations; the nearness of the calamity affected him, in a
+degree, as it did the withered invalid.
+
+He had a sound brain, nourished by a well sustained body; his
+intelligence was apt and rapid, but these unheard-of complications
+demanded a morbid analysis of which he was incapable.
+
+On this basis, however, as his uncle had proceeded, Robert had been able
+to develop a suggestion; he could offer that, at least.
+
+In reply, therefore, to the feverish questions of his uncle, the young
+man said:
+
+"In so far as I am able to see, your disasters have narrowed your range
+of discernment. They are too recent; they affect you too nearly. Under
+such conditions we take counsel of our prejudices instead of our
+judgment. Your thoughts are apt to return to the central feature of your
+loss. It is not natural to expect one to dismiss such a consideration in
+order to make way for others which might help you in your search.
+
+"On my part, the incident is new and stimulating, but the ideas it
+awakens lead to nothing. However, I should not regard the case as
+impossible until I had tried at least one means of solution."
+
+"What is that?" demanded Raikes, diverted, if not convinced, by the
+sensible observations of his nephew.
+
+"You have heard of Gratz?" inquired Robert.
+
+"Of the secret service?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Ah!" cried the old man; "to submit the case to him means another in the
+secret, with little prospect of advantage."
+
+"I am not so sure about that," returned Robert. "Do you recall the
+Dupont mystery?"
+
+Raikes nodded.
+
+"Well," continued Robert, "you must also remember the Belmont scandal.
+Gratz certainly let daylight into that."
+
+"Ah," cried Raikes, "I do not like your suggestions; they encourage me
+and alarm me at the same time. Think of the cost."
+
+Irritated at the intrusion of this frugal proviso at this juncture,
+Robert exclaimed with some warmth: "Yes, but think, also, how
+insignificant that would be if he discovered the thief and recovered the
+money."
+
+"If--if----" repeated Raikes with impatience.
+
+"And I can say this," continued Robert: "It is the ambition of Gratz to
+be appointed chief of the bureau to which he belongs. Whatever can be
+placed to his credit in the meantime will serve as an additional reason
+for his advancement.
+
+"I believe that he would be more persuaded to undertake the case with
+this prospect in view than for a mercenary reason."
+
+"But," interrupted Raikes, "can you get him?"
+
+"I think I can answer for that," replied Robert. "I know him very well.
+If you will consent to leave the matter in my hands, I will attend to
+Gratz."
+
+"Well," exclaimed Raikes, as Robert concluded, "have it your own way;
+anything is better than this killing suspense. I do not believe that I
+could endure a repetition of the incidents of the last few nights. But
+return the bags before you go, and shut the radiator; it will lock in
+closing."
+
+When Robert at last reached the dining-room he discovered his aunt at
+the table, seated opposite the Sepoy.
+
+Instructing the spinster to resume her vigil until his return, Robert
+proceeded to his own table, and from that point of observation occupied
+himself, during the next twenty minutes, partly with his breakfast and
+partly in regarding this illy-assorted duet.
+
+The Sepoy was as gravely urbane as ever; his browns and blacks
+intermingled harmoniously; his eyes were bright; his teeth still
+suggestive of restrained sarcasm in their dull, red sheaths, as, with
+grave courtesy, he made himself agreeable to his companion by abetting
+her newly-awakened appetite with recommendations of the steak and
+eulogies of the butter.
+
+The spinster was no longer ravenous; the advantages she had enjoyed
+during the absence of her domestic Argus had made her cravings more
+equable, and she accepted the edible suggestions of the Sepoy with an
+approach to placid satisfaction that hinted at the imminence of
+repletion.
+
+This disposition to make the most of her privileges, with what composure
+she could assume, would have added the basis of a serious relapse on the
+part of the invalid could he have witnessed the phenomenon.
+
+It was remarkable how promptly the poor creature evinced the effects of
+her nourishment.
+
+Beginning, as already indicated, with a logical indigestion, she
+progressed to the point of a possible filling out of the crevices of her
+countenance, and her eyes certainly had lost the expression of appeal
+characteristic of the mendicant in the doorway.
+
+All this, minutely noted by her watchful nephew, was thoroughly enjoyed
+with a sort of chuckling collusion and vicarious gratification.
+
+On her return to the invalid she was requested by him to provide
+whatever nourishment was needed, and then to leave him alone for a
+couple of hours.
+
+These instructions fulfilled, the spinster sought the retirement of her
+room, surrendered herself to the enjoyment of reminiscent digestion, and
+Raikes began to pull himself together.
+
+His method was characteristic.
+
+On the basis that he could not afford to enjoy himself like any normally
+constituted being, he assured his mind that he could not submit to the
+expense of illness.
+
+According to his rigid logic, sickness was more the result of indulgence
+than self-denial.
+
+He proposed to have the credit of his abnegations.
+
+Therefore he directed his perverse will to the contemplation of the
+rational aspect of his condition, and presently had managed to convince
+himself that if he did not entertain the belief of suffering, this
+untoward condition would cease to exist.
+
+As this singular being combatted all that was unwelcome to this point of
+view, the grim lines tightened about the corners of his mouth, the deep
+fissures in his forehead established a communication with the obstinate
+wrinkles at the root of his nose, and by noon he was well on his way to
+the mastery of his indisposition, and by nightfall he scandalized the
+young medical attendant by standing up to receive him.
+
+Extending to himself a chuckling tribute of his resolution, he received
+the incredulity of his nephew as additional indorsement when the latter
+made his appearance that evening, accompanied by the colorless negation
+of a man whom he could scarcely persuade himself to believe was the
+celebrated Gratz.
+
+However, no more ideal countenance could have been created for the
+purposes to which it was applied by its owner.
+
+Pallid, expressionless, vacant, it was as nearly a canvas upon which to
+delineate almost anything in the range of emotion as it was possible for
+a visage of flesh and blood to be.
+
+As to the details of features, these were altogether subordinate, and as
+devoid of physiognomical meaning as the dull integument which
+encompassed them.
+
+It had about the same amount of character as a bald baby.
+
+One received the impression that a seismic disturbance might awaken some
+show of emotion, but design--never.
+
+And yet, behind that pale disguise, between sleepy, level lids, two
+points of concentrated fire and ceaseless animation gleamed their
+startling significance to any one able to comprehend.
+
+In stature he was adjusted to his visage.
+
+His frame was lean enough to repudiate the incredible agility and
+recuperative strength it housed, and his carriage was consistently "out
+of plumb."
+
+Altogether it was an identity that would have been overlooked in any
+gathering, and was almost nondescript enough to establish an eligibility
+to the most exclusive function.
+
+This unpromising ensemble, however, was not misleading to Raikes, who
+had looked up quickly at the first appearance of the detective, and had
+seen the sharp, penetrating glance with which Gratz had for an instant
+surveyed the apartment.
+
+Moreover, the very leanness of the famous official appealed to him.
+
+Here, at least, were none of the obnoxious evidences of repletion which
+he viewed with such disapprobation in his sturdier nephew.
+
+The man's attire, too, commended him to the starved graces of his spare
+host. It was as characterless as it was possible for fabric to be, and
+considered with his meager physique and vacant physiognomy, was a
+fitting complement to both; an adjustment of component detail too
+consistent to have been the needless aspect it was designed to present.
+
+With a voice in which the character had been trained away as surely as
+the charity from the opinions of the social elite, this descendant of
+Lecocq accosted his patron, and with business-like brevity indicated
+that he was already familiar with the situation as outlined by Robert,
+and if Mr. Raikes would consent to reply to a few questions it would
+facilitate matters.
+
+His hearer indicated that he was entirely at the disposal of the
+detective.
+
+With characteristic concentration, therefore, Gratz began:
+
+"Do you suspect anybody in particular?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That is singular," commented Gratz. "May I ask why? Under such
+circumstances the mind generally proceeds in some unhappy direction."
+
+"Not in this instance," returned Raikes. "Before I suspect any one, I
+must assign to him supernatural powers, almost. I will have to explain
+how it is possible for any one to enter this room, penetrate that
+recess, make the substitution, and retire, leaving the door in the same
+condition, precisely as left by me the night before."
+
+"That is the point," replied Gratz. Then, after a moment's reflection,
+he inquired: "Am I at liberty to nose around this room?"
+
+"Help yourself," answered Raikes.
+
+With this assent, Gratz hurried to the window, examined the sash,
+considered the sheer depths immediately below, its lack of vicinity to
+other windows, and last, the strong fastenings, to disturb which would
+involve a degree of rasp and wrench sufficient to disturb the slumbers
+of a Rip Van Winkle.
+
+With a countenance as impassive as ever, he returned to Raikes and said:
+
+"Now for the hiding place."
+
+With a grimace of reluctant acquiescence, Raikes, closely regarded by
+the detective, proceeded to the button in the concave, which he moved
+with slow manipulation for the edification of the alert watcher, who
+witnessed, without comment, the displacement of the register and the
+subsequent revelation of the inner compartment.
+
+"Remove the bags."
+
+At the conclusion of this labor, this impenetrable being produced a
+small rod of steel from one of his pockets, one end of which concluded
+in a round knob.
+
+With this he proceeded to rap the walls of the inner recess, a
+proceeding of which Raikes inquired the purpose.
+
+"I want to ascertain," replied Gratz, "if there is any vacancy on the
+other side."
+
+"I could have saved you all that trouble," replied Raikes. "This is a
+false radiator, the real flue is on the other side of the room.
+
+"The rear of this small safe backs up against nearly two feet of solid
+brickwork.
+
+"Exactly behind that is a room occupied by one no more burglarious than
+a dressmaker's apprentice."
+
+"Thank you," replied Gratz. "Your information is helpful, but I am never
+satisfied to rely upon description when investigation is possible.
+
+"Whatever deductions I make from this examination I do not want
+disturbed, so all the doubts they dissipate are not likely to intrude
+upon my calculations again."
+
+After a few further taps, in which Raikes could see no better purpose
+than to retire from an embarrassing position with some show of satisfied
+motive, Gratz directed that the bags be returned.
+
+For the next few minutes he busied himself with the locks, upon which he
+experimented with the extraordinary keys which Raikes had given him. He
+shot the bolts backward and forward; noted the stout bar and the
+precautions for keeping it in place, and then resumed the seat near the
+table.
+
+After a few moments he said:
+
+"Tell me what has occurred to you between sunrise and sunset during the
+last three days."
+
+Raikes recounted his usual round of petty detail, which had no possible
+bearing upon the problem.
+
+When he had concluded this meager resume, Gratz continued:
+
+"Now tell me about the nights."
+
+Raikes complied with a statement of his careful precautions; the watch
+of his sister upon the doorway during his absence, and his visits to the
+room of the Sepoy.
+
+"The Sepoy?" inquired Gratz. "Why do you call him that?"
+
+"On account of his swarthy complexion, his bright eyes, and his general
+alien aspect," replied Robert.
+
+"Describe him to me as carefully as you can," said Gratz.
+
+When Robert had concluded his brief delineation, Raikes hastened to
+inquire: "Why do you ask about him so particularly? He could no more
+enter my room, under the conditions I have described to you, than you
+could."
+
+"I realize that," admitted the detective, "but I gather from what you
+have just said that you visit this Sepoy, as you call him, with some
+degree of regularity. May I ask if you have business transactions with
+him?"
+
+"I have not," replied Raikes.
+
+Then, in response to the unchanging look of inquiry in the countenance
+of the detective, he added:
+
+"The Sepoy has been telling me an extraordinary story. It has been too
+elaborate to confine to one sitting, and my purpose in re-visiting him
+was to get at the conclusion. It is most interesting, and apparently
+interminable."
+
+"Would you object to relating it to me?" inquired Gratz.
+
+"Heavens!" cried Raikes, aghast at the prospect of the extended effort
+which this would impose upon him. "Is it necessary?"
+
+"I would not be surprised," replied Gratz. "At any rate, if your story
+is more mysterious than the predicament which confronts us, it must be
+worth hearing."
+
+With an ill grace, after making the elaborate arrangements which usually
+precede a protracted campaign, Raikes hastened to comply with the
+request of the detective.
+
+As he proceeded, he was startled to note, now that he made his first
+conscious effort to review the weird recital of the Sepoy, just how
+vividly the incidents presented themselves.
+
+Aside from the phraseology, he recounted, in precise order, the
+incredible incidents, and by the time he had reached the climax in the
+first division of his effort his hearers were interested enough to
+hasten through a light meal, which, at the suggestion of Gratz, had been
+sent to the room they occupied.
+
+With something of the calculation of the Sepoy, or remembering, perhaps,
+the effect which his abrupt terminations had upon him, Raikes contrived
+his irritating pauses with remorseless enjoyment and the ostensible
+purpose of stimulating his sorely taxed energies with draughts of
+brandy and water.
+
+In this way Raikes consumed the time until the hour of eleven, which
+enabled him to develop the narrative to the point at which the Sepoy had
+concluded.
+
+"And now," exclaimed Raikes with unmistakable relief, as he signified
+that his hearers were in possession of all he knew, "and now will you
+kindly tell me what you expect to gain by this tedious task you have
+imposed upon me?"
+
+Gratz did not reply at once, but after a few moments of reflection, he
+asked, apparently ignoring the question of the narrator: "Will you give
+me the keys of this building you occupy, and indicate to me the means of
+rummaging about the other building on the opposite side of the wall?"
+
+"If it is necessary," replied Raikes with grudging assent.
+
+"Why else should I make the request?" suggested Gratz with emotionless
+directness of speech and a momentary gleam of the eyes.
+
+"True!" responded Raikes.
+
+"Now," exclaimed Gratz, when the various keys were placed in his hand,
+"you can sleep in peace to-night, and bolt your doors with all the
+assurance in the world, for I guarantee that your property will be
+undisturbed."
+
+Then turning to Robert, he said: "I want you to guide me for a short
+while, and as soon as I get my bearings you can retire."
+
+At this the two bade the thoroughly exhausted Raikes good-night and
+departed from the room, which the miser hastily secured with his usual
+precautions.
+
+Without, Robert soon discovered that his services were no longer
+required, and at the suggestion of the detective he retired, after
+indicating to this curious official that when he had concluded his
+investigations he would find a cot in his room which he was at liberty
+to occupy.
+
+As dawn began to make its appearance on the ensuing morning, Robert was
+disturbed by a curious dream.
+
+He appeared to be alone upon a fragile raft in the midst of a
+destructive sea.
+
+Bit by bit the hastily joined structure upon which he rode the waters
+so insecurely began to disintegrate, until but one scarcely sufficing
+plank remained.
+
+To this, however, he clung with rapidly failing strength, shouting at
+intervals with what vim remained, in an attempt to attract the attention
+of the keepers of the light, not far away.
+
+But with devilish perversity, an immense fog-horn sent forth a heavy
+blast seaward precisely at the moments he raised his voice.
+
+No matter how far apart or how near he planned the intervals, he was
+bound to coincide with the deafening horn.
+
+At last in despair he desisted in his efforts, and the monster horn,
+with hoarse mockery, continued its grewsome noises at dismal intervals,
+until one, more stentorian than the others, caused the very tempest to
+hush, and Robert awoke to discover Gratz the cause of his fictitious
+misery, sleeping upon the cot near the foot of his bed, emitting a
+series of snores which had managed to communicate their odious telepathy
+to his slumbering consciousness.
+
+As this singular being lay there in the relaxation and undisguise to
+which the most diplomatic must submit at times, his countenance, so
+impassive in his wakeful hours, depicted singular lines of
+determination.
+
+An expression of tense anxiety contracted his features; resolution held
+the thin lips in rigid partnership; there was a hint of purpose in the
+solitary wrinkle which corrugated his forehead; the general aspect was
+impressive, its suggestion indefatigable.
+
+In this paradoxical fashion, the emotions, concealed during the day,
+revealed themselves at night.
+
+What in others would have concluded in a vacant mien and colorless
+repose, in him expressed all that he was so sedulous to conceal.
+
+Scarcely had Robert placed his feet upon the floor when Gratz opened his
+eyes, awakened partly by the sounds of rising and partly by his tumult
+of snores, and in an instant the flaccid mask descended over his face,
+and Gratz was his apathetic self again.
+
+"Well?" inquired Robert.
+
+"You have said it," replied Gratz; "it is well."
+
+"You have succeeded, then?" demanded Robert breathlessly.
+
+"I believe so; but do not question me further just now. I want to see
+your uncle before I go."
+
+A few moments later the two presented themselves before the closed door
+leading to the apartment occupied by Raikes, whom they fancied they
+could hear stirring about within.
+
+In answer to their raps, he opened the door and they entered.
+
+"What news?" demanded Raikes.
+
+"The best, I hope; but I will not communicate it to you until to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Raikes with manifest disappointment.
+
+"But," continued Gratz, as he noted the expression on the face of the
+other, "at that time I fancy that I shall not only have solved the
+mystery but I will also secure the thief."
+
+"Do you know him, then?" asked Raikes.
+
+"You are wrong," replied Gratz. "Unless I am seriously mistaken, there
+are two."
+
+"Two!" repeated Raikes incredulously.
+
+"Yes--but listen: I am anxious to hear the conclusion of that
+remarkable story you began last night."
+
+"But," objected Raikes, "I have already told you all I know."
+
+"I am aware of that," answered the detective, "but your friend, the
+Sepoy, will doubtless oblige you with the balance. Arrange with him at
+breakfast-time for a continuation. I will return either to-night or
+to-morrow morning to hear it."
+
+"But----" began Raikes.
+
+"Do not refuse to do as I ask," urged Gratz impressively. "It may be
+useful; I'm inclined to think it will."
+
+"Very well," answered Raikes. "I will do as you suggest."
+
+"And," continued Gratz, "I need not assure you that if a living soul
+learns of my presence here last night, I can do nothing for you."
+
+"I understand," said Raikes.
+
+"And I," added Robert.
+
+With this Gratz departed, and Raikes prepared to make his appearance in
+the dining-room.
+
+Advised of the intention of her brother to breakfast at the table, the
+spinster had hastened to precede him, and by the time Raikes presented
+himself she had managed to bestow a couple of furtive biscuits in her
+pocket, and had devoured another couple, lavishly buttered, accompanied
+by a fairly liberal cut of beefsteak.
+
+Consequently, when Raikes conveyed his customary intimation that she was
+at liberty to begin, the spinster obediently proceeded to add a moderate
+breakfast to the one she had already enjoyed.
+
+Trembling lest her brother would remark the developing suggestions of
+well-being which had resulted from her recent regimen, she welcomed with
+genuine relief the advent of the Sepoy, to whom Raikes transferred his
+speculative glance.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed the Sepoy, "you have had quite a siege, I hear."
+
+"I have," replied Raikes shortly; then added with a sort of grim humor:
+"My physician has recommended a little diversion, and I have just
+thought of a simple way of following his advice."
+
+"What is that?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I would like to present myself at the usual hour and hear the
+conclusion of the story, for I judge, from the predicament of Prince
+Otondo, that the end is not far off."
+
+"Ah, you remember?" exclaimed the Sepoy.
+
+"Decidedly!" replied Raikes.
+
+"Very well, then," returned the other. "Come at ten and I will gather
+the tangled threads together."
+
+During the balance of that day Raikes devoted his powers of
+concentration to the consummation of the treatment to which he had
+subjected himself, and this, together with the prospect of the recovery
+of his property, resulted in a condition which made the visits of the
+astonished physician no longer necessary.
+
+With an eagerness intensified to a childish impatience, almost, by the
+vague suggestions of Gratz that the story would be personally
+interesting, and exhausting his mind with futile speculations as to the
+manner of its application to the unnatural conditions which distressed
+him so, Raikes at last concluded his contemplation of the clock, and
+promptly upon the stroke of ten, hastened from his room and hurried to
+the apartment occupied by the Sepoy.
+
+Seating himself in the chair indicated by his host, he shortly found
+that he was unable to avoid recalling his recent guilty appropriation of
+the diamond, and a degree of confusion, which he could not entirely
+disguise, manifested itself in his difficulty of adjusting his eyes to
+the inscrutable gaze of the Sepoy.
+
+On this occasion the narrator, as hitherto, did not provide his auditor
+with a brilliant to look upon during the progress of the story--an
+omission that was radiantly repaired by the two lambent gems in the eyes
+of the former.
+
+Upon these the shifting gaze of the restless listener finally fastened
+itself with a fascination which he found it impossible to resist, and
+the Sepoy, with all the modulated lights and shadows of ardor,
+animation, lethargy, somnolence, peace, with which he complemented his
+sedative phrases, began:
+
+(_The conclusion of this interesting tale will be found on Bosom No. 1,
+Dickey Series C_.)
+
+As Dennis looked up from his reading, a pair of eyes of unclouded blue,
+vivid with interest and altogether friendly, met his animated glance.
+
+With alert intuition his sweet-faced auditor believed that she
+discovered a shadow of vexation in the ingenuous countenance of the
+reader.
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+To Dennis, in his absorption, it seemed impossible that the question
+could refer to anything else than the habitual disability at the end of
+each chapter, and he answered promptly:
+
+"'Tis the way the dickey ends--to be concluded in Series C--an' it's me
+here an' Series C in Baxter Street, so I can't read the rest; it's too
+bad, so it is."
+
+"So it is," repeated the lady softly, with a dexterous parody of his
+concluding words, but with a subtle intimation in her manner that she
+did not consider the inconvenient termination such a misfortune, after
+all, and that it somehow suggested an alternative that was not
+displeasing.
+
+"Do you want to hear the rest?" asked Dennis frankly.
+
+"I do, indeed," replied his companion with an adroitly conveyed
+insinuation of disappointed expectation that seemed to place the
+responsibility of measuring to this agreeable emergency entirely upon
+Dennis.
+
+The same degree of sensitiveness which leaves an Irishman so open to
+offense, enables him, with equal celerity, to comprehend a hint, and
+Dennis, when he realized that the lady understood that the continuation
+of the tale involved a subsequent reading, exclaimed, with a delicious
+paraphrase of Sancho Panza: "God bless the man who first invented
+'_Continued in our next!_'"
+
+Presently the one certain that her telepathy had not miscarried, and the
+other equally convinced that his reception of the message was accredited
+to him, the conversation was given an abrupt direction by an apparently
+alien question:
+
+"Do you know anything about flowers?" asked his companion.
+
+"Only the difference between a rose and a cauliflower," replied Dennis
+with a twinkle in his eye, to which the lady responded with a shade of
+disappointment.
+
+"An' why flowers?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Listen!" answered the lady with a slight return of her original
+sadness.
+
+"Eleven months ago I was left a widow.
+
+"My husband's estate consisted of a moderate amount of life insurance, a
+prosperous business, and no debts.
+
+"He was a florist.
+
+"The establishment is located in the heart of a very fashionable
+district.
+
+"There has scarcely been a function of the elite in this section which
+my husband has not supplied with floral decorations.
+
+"His taste was exquisite, and his taste was his undoing, for he added
+refinement to refinement until he began to lose sight of the practical
+side of existence.
+
+"By degrees he became as attenuated as some of the tendrils he
+cultivated with such absorption, and as frail as an orchid.
+
+"The intrusion of a pronounced scent was sufficient to induce a serious
+nervous disturbance, and he could no more endure disproportionate and
+sharp distinctions of color than a lapidary could tolerate a serious
+unevenness of facets.
+
+"I was compelled to paper his room with a delicate shade of lavender.
+
+"The furniture was stained a light buff, and the upholstering was a
+delicate cretonne livened by exquisite tracings of wisteria.
+
+"The carpet was light blue, surrounded by a border of deeper blue,
+lightly emphasized by suggestions of trailing arbutus.
+
+"Despite all this," continued the lady sadly as she paused to enjoy an
+intentness of interest on the part of the bewildered Dennis, so profound
+that the dickey backs had been permitted to fall unregarded to the
+ground, and their printed extravagances, by contrast with this unusual
+recital, relegated to the most prosaic of occurrences, "despite all
+these precautions, the most carefully guarded recesses are not entirely
+secure.
+
+"For one day an elaborately protected package arrived during my absence,
+and my husband opened it.
+
+"At once a pungent, overpowering sweetness filled the air, and the very
+surfeit of its fragrance threw my husband into a convulsion of delight
+which ended in a stupor so replete that we were able only to restore the
+poor man to consciousness by hypodermics of--what was to him a most
+violent stimulant--Cambric Tea."
+
+Dennis looked his astonishment at these accumulating refinements, and in
+the pause that followed the narration of this last episode he inquired,
+with the appreciative hesitation of one who is reluctant to advance lest
+he destroy the dew-gemmed tracery of a fragile spider's web.
+
+"An' what kind of flowers did all this?"
+
+"Cape Jessamine," replied the lady; "and we were never able to discover
+who sent them.
+
+"His physicians claimed that his disorder was paralleled by similar
+disturbances instanced in pathological records, but that the
+contributing causes were different and that my husband's particular
+debility was not induced by his devotion to flowers but aggravated by
+it.
+
+"To further complicate matters, the physician assured me that to deprive
+the invalid of his floral diversions would be to remove his remaining
+impulse to continued existence.
+
+"He went on to say that he had reached the limit of his skill, and that
+nothing further was to be done than to surround the sufferer with placid
+considerations and neutral odors, and intimated that he disliked to
+contemplate the possible result of a second contact with Cape Jessamine.
+
+"In a short time it became evident that I possessed merely the essence
+of a husband, and one day, as he wafted--that's the word, for his step
+seemed to be almost devoid of specific gravity--so I repeat, one day, as
+he wafted to the room in which he usually experimented with his floral
+attenuations, I happened to be engaged in the dwelling adjoining the
+conservatory and into which it opened.
+
+"Presently, my duties concluded, I proceeded in the direction taken by
+my husband.
+
+"As I advanced I grew momently conscious of a ravishing fragrance which
+seemed to pervade and invite the consciousness to all varieties of
+agreeable surrender.
+
+"Ah!--in a moment I recognized this pungent delight: Cape Jessamine!
+
+"Aware of the consequences to him should he inhale anything so
+transporting, I hastened forward.
+
+"The fragrance grew stronger as I hurried on. It seemed to envelop every
+delicate, fainting scent in the conservatory, and as I placed my hand
+upon the door-latch leading to the section where I was positive my
+husband would be found, I knew that I had traced the occasion to its
+source.
+
+"In another second I had opened the door, and there, a few feet away,
+lay my unfortunate husband.
+
+"I hurried to his side.
+
+"His countenance, which exhibited that singular placidity which
+sometimes comes with death, was as serene as a lily, and gave no
+evidence of the convulsion that must have ensued.
+
+"He was dead.
+
+"All about him, distributed with devilish malignity and criminal intent,
+were various clusters of the flowers that had transported him,
+literally."
+
+"My God!" exclaimed Dennis. "What a situation!"
+
+"Wasn't it?" exclaimed the widow. "It almost equals the story on the
+dickeys."
+
+"Equals!" exclaimed Dennis with profound conviction. "I don't know that
+I care to read the balance of the story after this. Do you know the
+guilty party?"
+
+"I think so," answered the widow; "but you can judge for yourself as I
+proceed.
+
+"Now follow me closely."
+
+There was no need of this advice, for Dennis would not have missed a
+word for the world, and gazed upon the sweet-faced narrator with a sort
+of superstitious admiration as she continued:
+
+"Since his death the patronage is larger than ever.
+
+"I now find myself confronted with what is equivalent to an
+embarrassment of riches on the one hand, and a famine of intelligent
+help on the other."
+
+At this statement Dennis attempted not to appear too deeply interested.
+
+"I employ a manager, the one we have always had, who desires to become
+a partner in the business; but his proposition is handicapped by the
+character of the consideration he is willing to offer for such an
+interest.
+
+"In other words, he considers that a proposal of marriage is an
+equivalent for any financial objection I may suggest."
+
+Despite his efforts, Dennis looked troubled.
+
+The lady smiled and continued:
+
+"I received this proposition two months since. Its suddenness surprised
+a plan which I have been perfecting for a long time.
+
+"In order to avoid any interruption to my purposes, I permitted the
+manager to believe that I was impressed with his offer, but desired a
+little time for consideration."
+
+"An' true, now," asked Dennis with genuine Irish impulse, "an' true,
+now, were you?"
+
+The lady smiled again. "Wait," she urged, "you shall see.
+
+"I have never trusted this man. He is not only personally obnoxious to
+me, but I fear that I cannot rely upon his business integrity.
+
+"Little by little, I have gathered together the threads of the business,
+and I now have a strong legal grip upon the situation, which enables me
+to decline this alliance with no possible jeopardy to the property.
+
+"But one consideration restrains me: I need a man of enterprise and
+address to succeed him. And now," she added with a simple, business-like
+directness, "I have a suggestion to offer:
+
+"You ransack Baxter Street to-morrow for Dickey Series C, and come with
+it to this address," and she placed a small card in his hand.
+
+"We can reach the end of the story, in which I am exceedingly
+interested, and when we have set our minds at rest on that point, I will
+give myself the pleasure of listening to whatever recommendations you
+may offer as to your fitness to take the place of the retiring
+management."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Dennis as he went through an absurd pantomime of
+punching himself, "an' is it awake you are, Dennis Muldoon?"
+
+At this the lady, with a cordial smile, indicated that the interview was
+at an end, and as she turned to depart, said: "You will come, then,
+to-morrow night?"
+
+And Dennis, hat in hand, with an unmistakable deference of attitude and
+demeanor, cheerily responded with a query that required no further
+answer than a rosy acknowledgment:
+
+"Will a duck swim?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+On the succeeding morning it seemed to the foreman of the shipping
+department of the publishers that his new marker did not manifest the
+same enthusiasm for his work which had distinguished his earlier
+efforts.
+
+It looked to him as if Dennis handled his paint-brush with the mien of
+one who considered his occupation a diversion rather than a means of
+livelihood.
+
+As the day advanced and Dennis located an "e" in the spot designed for
+an "i," and concluded an address with Detroit in place of Duluth, the
+foreman was more than ever convinced that something was wrong, and asked
+the young man if he was not feeling well.
+
+"Sure!" exclaimed Dennis, a degree too cheerily, the foreman thought, in
+view of his delinquencies with the brush, "sure; but why do you ask?"
+
+"Well," returned the foreman, "iv'ry thing's wid you this mornin' but
+yure head," and he pointed out several blunders which Dennis had made.
+
+"Sure, an' I'm sorry for that," he said with blushing contriteness; "it
+will not happen again."
+
+The foreman, however, had told the truth only in part, for Dennis had
+left not only his head behind him, but a considerable portion of his
+heart.
+
+All day he continued to think about the sweet-faced woman who had
+listened with such gratifying attention to the story, and more than
+once, in his agreeable preoccupation, had he noted an impulse to
+substitute the address she had provided for the one demanded by the
+shipping invoices.
+
+"To-night at eight," he repeated to himself over and over, like the
+refrain of a popular ballad, invariably concluding, by way of chorus:
+"Oh, I'll be there; oh, I'll be there."
+
+Therefore, as soon as his day's duties were over, Dennis speeded to
+Baxter Street in search of Dickey Series C.
+
+After a foray in a half dozen separate establishments, where neckties,
+collars and all the accessories were offered in place of what he
+required, he succeeded at last in securing the missing series.
+
+At The Stag he was so full of emotion and anticipation that there was
+little room for such a substantial consideration as supper, so,
+dismissing that he proceeded to his room, and after indulging in the
+luxury of one of the few genuine shirts which remained to him, he
+anticipated his appointment a half hour by boarding the elevated, which
+carried him shortly to a point within three blocks of his destination.
+
+In order that he might not appear too anxious or come into a premature
+collision with social usage, Dennis obliged himself to walk slowly in
+the vicinity indicated by the address.
+
+The general aspect of his immediate surroundings looked promising and
+offered a comfortable assurance that his visit would not introduce him
+to a disappointment.
+
+At last, from the opposite side of the street, he was able to measure,
+with an approving glance, a prepossessing dwelling of four stories and
+a mansard.
+
+The front was of brown stone and differed but little from its neighbors,
+but to Dennis it seemed that it possessed an identity which was largely
+the recollection of the lingering presence of its owner.
+
+Directly alongside, a large conservatory extended rearward an indefinite
+length.
+
+The glittering front was picturesque with clusters of ingeniously
+disposed electric lights within, which revealed to advantage a mass of
+varied plants and flowers in prosperous abundance.
+
+Charmed by the glow and color, and stimulated by the dancing lights,
+Dennis presented himself "on the minute" before the door of the adjacent
+dwelling.
+
+In response to his ring, a trim, bright-eyed maid appeared, who,
+accepting his name in place of his card with an amiable lack of
+surprise, instructed him to enter, which he did, with alert, observing
+eyes.
+
+Although Dennis was not much of a judge of the elaborate surroundings in
+which he found himself, he figured it out that the business of a
+florist must be a profitable one, and speculated, with wondering
+calculation, upon the length of time and the degree of application
+demanded to enable him to possess similar advantages.
+
+Acting upon the parting instructions of the widow, Dennis had already
+canvassed his eligible points and was prepared to give an account of
+himself that was little short of eulogy.
+
+At this juncture in his reflections the hangings at the parlor entrance
+parted with a musical swish that was suggestive of feminine approach,
+and the widow advanced into the room, with one slender hand extended in
+cordial informality.
+
+If this woman had seemed charming to him in the park, she was certainly
+bewitching now.
+
+The street costume in which she had first appeared was replaced by a
+gown of some clinging white fabric, which shimmered the light with a
+thousand blending radiations and fitted to every movement and contour
+like an embrace conscious of its privileges.
+
+A delicate collar of filmy lace surrounded her neck like the intricate
+etchings of frost upon frost, and this was fastened with a solitary
+pearl as chaste as the exquisite skin with which it managed to offer
+only the faintest contrast.
+
+Her head, crowned with a wavy nimbus of Titian auburn, was superbly set
+upon her fine, symmetrical shoulders.
+
+As she flashed upon the vision of this palpitating young man through the
+parting curtains, like a dramatic climax or the goddess of reward, or
+denunciation, she seemed to Dennis, whose mythology was centralized from
+that moment, like another Aphrodite churned into lovely being by the
+sea.
+
+At the entrance of this beautiful woman Dennis had risen to his feet,
+and stood for a moment, offering, with his helpless silence, a
+compliment whose genuineness she thoroughly enjoyed.
+
+When at last his tongue resumed its function, Dennis, like many another
+with even more self-possession and experience, uttered just the words
+which were intended for concealment, as he stammered:
+
+"An' it's no wonder, at all, at all."
+
+The exclamation, however, was barely above a whisper, and it was only by
+following the motion of his lips and a shrewd intuition as to the rest
+which enabled the widow to realize what he had uttered, as she asked,
+smiling to note that the young man had neglected to release her hand:
+
+"And what is it that is no wonder?"
+
+At this question, Dennis, deserted for the moment by his customary
+adroitness, was unable to do anything else than respond, without evasion
+or subterfuge:
+
+"Well, I was thinkin' it's no wonder the manager wanted to go into the
+business."
+
+"Ah!" laughed the widow with genuine enjoyment and a sensible
+realization of the spirit which urged his exclamation and its
+explanation, "that is Irish, I am sure"; and with that Dennis began to
+feel more at home, although still subdued by the accumulation of
+practical beatitudes.
+
+"Tell me," he said, when each was agreeably established, Dennis upon a
+comfortable divan and his listener in a chair which supplied its
+fascinating occupant with a sort of solicitous support, which Dennis
+assured himself would be poetry realized if he could be permitted to
+share, "tell me, shall I recite my abilities first or read the story?"
+
+"Suppose," suggested his hearer, "we hear the story first and reserve
+your catalogue as a climax, like the dessert after the banquet."
+
+"All right!" assented Dennis, as he produced a circular bundle, from
+which he extracted his absurd medium.
+
+"One moment," suggested his hearer, as she arranged an electric cluster
+in a manner that enabled her to witness every alternation of expression
+in that mobile countenance--"now."
+
+Withdrawing his gaze from the sweet face of his auditor with a
+reluctance sufficiently marked to advance him several leagues further in
+her good graces, Dennis, directing his attention to the closely-printed
+dickey, began, with racy Irish emphasis, as follows:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"With a bound the prince swept aside the curtains and reached his room.
+
+"Advancing to the gong, which was suspended by silken cords near the
+divan, he struck it sharply several times.
+
+"There was no response.
+
+"He repeated his summons with the added vigor of his irritation at the
+delay.
+
+"Only the sullen echo answered.
+
+"With impatient incredulity the prince was about to hasten to the
+ante-room in which his faithful Sepoy had always been found, when a
+strange trembling seized his limbs.
+
+"A confusion obscured his mind; his sight grew dim.
+
+"Alarmed at this unusual sensation, the prince asserted himself against
+its depressing influence with all his customary resolution, and was
+finally able to reach the ante-room.
+
+"It was deserted!
+
+"He hastened to the passageway outside.
+
+"Not a soul was visible; an unearthly stillness prevailed.
+
+"'Ah!' he cried with sudden realization, 'my messenger has been too
+liberal with his news; they have heard of the British advance.'
+
+"Thirty vital minutes had passed, and away in the dim distance an
+animated spot of red and gleam began to emerge.
+
+"Again that inexplicable numbness and alarming physical weakness.
+
+"With trembling hands he supported himself along the walls and finally
+reached the apartment in which he held his mimic court.
+
+"A burning thirst began to parch his lips and throat; he hastened to the
+carafe in which the water for his use was usually held.
+
+"It was empty.
+
+"'Ah!' the prince groaned aloud; the veins of his forehead knotted; a
+sharp, strained look appeared in his eyes, and he shivered with a mortal
+chill.
+
+"A stinging, sharp surge attracted his attention to his right wrist.
+
+"It was swollen beyond its usual size, and a bluish discoloration
+surrounded the livid line where the dagger point had penetrated.
+
+"He placed his hands together and noted their disproportion, considered
+the wounded arm, and then--he remembered.
+
+"'The dagger!' he gasped, and a new horror charged his bloodshot eyes as
+he recalled the devilish craft employed by the natives to envenom their
+weapons.
+
+"'Poisoned! and by Lal Lu!'
+
+"At this thought the malignant light of a fearful determination illumed
+his features and revealed their frightful distortion.
+
+"'I shall not--go--alone!' he sighed, and repossessing himself of the
+fatal dagger, which he had cast upon the table on entering the room, he
+rose from the chair, looked with fearful purpose upon the curtains which
+disguised the entrance to the secret passageway from which he had
+emerged but a short time before, took one step forward, and then fell
+inertly on to the couch from which he had risen in the excitement of his
+malignant impulse.
+
+"'Ha!' The faint sound of an alien air smote his ears.
+
+"'The bagpipes!' he muttered; 'the Scots, the hellish Highlanders.'
+
+"Nearer and nearer the lively air was borne to him.
+
+"His raging pulse thrummed through his palpitating veins a rhythmic,
+mocking accompaniment to the swelling music.
+
+"His frame stiffened and stretched as though subjected to the distortion
+of the ancient rack.
+
+"The agony was unendurable. With a final conscious effort he reached for
+the poisoned weapon to bring his sufferings to a summary conclusion, but
+his failing will could no longer vitalize his palsied arm, and with a
+gasp that seemed to rend his tortured body, to the weird orchestration
+of that refrain which was destined in the near future to herald such joy
+at Lucknow, 'The Campbells Are Coming, Hi-ay, Hi-ay!' the spirit of
+Prince Otondo returned to Him who gave it, to be put into what repair
+was possible for such a proposition.
+
+"As the last writhing rigor ceased to convulse his frame, the prince
+lurched forward, and his body collapsed into an attitude not unlike that
+of one engaged in some dejecting reflection.
+
+"By a singular nervous caprice he had raised his hands to his face,
+which he had clutched in his agony, and his elbows rested upon the table
+in grewsome support of his head.
+
+"This ghastly calm, however, of which he was the center, was to be
+interrupted.
+
+"A trumpet blast sounded without the gate; a clamor of voices filled the
+air.
+
+"The bagpipes, in anticipation of some show of resistance, had ceased
+their stirring strains; within, the silence of an ambuscade prevailed.
+
+"Suddenly, through the unguarded entrance rushed a body of red-coated
+soldiers; but their advance was unopposed; the courtyard was abandoned.
+
+"One danger alone remained--an attack from within. But there was none to
+receive the detested intruders but the pulseless master, from whom all
+majesty had departed.
+
+"Over the grounds they swarmed, through the doors, along the
+passageways.
+
+"Abreast of the leading officer appeared the turbaned head and
+white-robed figure of Ram Lal.
+
+"As the two entered the apartment and gazed upon its silent occupant,
+with the same impulse both came to a standstill, impressed by the
+unnatural attitude and the chill undemonstration of the richly-clad
+figure.
+
+"'It is the prince!' cried Ram Lal.
+
+"At once the officer turned to command the curious detachment which had
+followed them to remain without, and placing a sergeant on guard in the
+ante-room, he resumed his investigation of the dead man.
+
+"He had not seen the quick approach of Ram Lal, nor the rapid movement
+of his searching hand.
+
+"It was over in an instant, but in that instant Ram Lal had assured
+himself of the presence of the precious jacket beneath the cambric
+folds.
+
+"'He is dead!' he cried to the officer, as the latter approached to
+discover some reason for this shocking sight.
+
+"'He is still warm,' exclaimed the other, as he placed his hand, with
+careless familiarity, upon the cheek of the prince.
+
+"'Let us see,' he continued, 'if his heart still beats.'
+
+"As the officer knelt in order to accommodate his head to the leaning
+position of the body, Ram Lal stood as one transfixed.
+
+"His hand crept slowly to the dagger upon the table, which he grasped
+with an expression of desperate determination as the officer placed his
+ear close to the riches concealed beneath the tunic of the prince.
+
+"Kneeling thus, with scarcely a hand-breadth between him and wealth such
+as he had never dared to dream of, with the menacing figure of the
+merchant directly above him, prepared to strike at the least indication
+of suspicion of the jacket and its priceless contents, the pair
+presented a striking tableau of the sardonic jest in which fate
+sometimes indulges in providing such nearness of opportunity and such a
+threat to its embrace.
+
+"'There is something thick about the body!' exclaimed the kneeling
+officer.
+
+"Ram Lal crept nearer.
+
+"'Yes,' he replied with a stifled voice, as he shot a quick glance
+toward the curtained doorway, on the other side of which the sergeant
+was posted, 'yes, the prince was of a phthisical tendency.
+
+"'He was compelled to protect himself against inequalities of
+temperature.'
+
+"At this instant the quick eye of the merchant detected the livid
+scratch on the dead man's arm. 'Ha!' he cried, with an intonation which
+caused the officer to forego his examination for the moment and regard
+the merchant attentively.
+
+"'Here!' cried the latter, pointing to the discolored and swollen wrist,
+'here! There is no need to look for further sign of life; his heart will
+beat no more. This dagger has been inserted in the poison sac of the
+cobra--and here is the result!'
+
+"As the officer rose to regard the wound, and understood its
+significance, he shuddered and looked upon the hapless heir-apparent
+with a sort of bluff compassion, but he made no further attempt to
+pursue his investigations, and Ram Lal was spared one sanguinary entry
+upon the book of his recording angel.
+
+"'At least,' said the officer, as if in continuation of some unexpressed
+idea, 'let us do ourselves the honor of disposing the prince upon his
+bed'; and Ram Lal supporting the head and shoulders and the officer
+grasping the feet, they carried the stiffened form to the bed.
+
+"'May I ask the privilege,' said Ram Lal, 'of composing the features and
+the body of the prince?'
+
+"'Surely,' replied the officer, as he bestowed a departing glance upon
+this last descendant of the long line of moghuls with a degree of
+deference that was the result of his military training and his own
+subjection to discipline, 'surely he is sadly in need of such a
+service.'
+
+"For his arms, although disengaged somewhat by their efforts, and the
+clutch of the distorted fingers, though not so distended, still pointed
+upward in a sort of eerie, rigid salutation to the subdued watchers.
+
+"The eyes, too, which but a short time before had been so vivid with the
+contentions of restraint and desire, stared with a ghastly lack of
+speculation.
+
+"As the officer turned to leave Ram Lal undisturbed in the performance
+of this last duty to the dead, the merchant, presently assured that he
+would be free from intrusion for a time sufficient for his ostensible
+purposes, approached the body, tore aside the delicate fabric, which
+covered the breast, and with surprising dexterity released the
+fastenings which held the jacket to the body, wrenched it away with
+desperate haste, and in an incredibly short time had secured this
+treasure-trove around his own loins beneath the folds of his linen.
+
+"Then, with a grin of malignant triumph, he murmured: 'This is more
+speedy, O prince, than pebbles for diamonds--and now for Lal Lu.'
+
+"With this the merchant darted to the hangings from which the prince had
+issued with such desperate purpose, cast them ruthlessly aside, hurried
+along the passageway, shouting as he speeded: 'Lal Lu--Lal Lu!'
+
+"A joyful cry responded.
+
+"'Here, father, here!' and Lal Lu, who had recognized her father's call,
+rushed toward the entrance just as the merchant crossed its threshold,
+and in a moment she was enfolded in his protecting embrace."
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is that all?" asked Raikes as the Sepoy paused.
+
+"Isn't it enough?" laughed the narrator. "The villain punished, the
+righteous rewarded, the maiden rescued. It seems to me that all the
+proprieties are preserved."
+
+"True," assented Raikes. "You are to be congratulated upon your
+consistency. But as usual your art is a bit too refined. You still
+discontinue with a question unsolved."
+
+"Name it," replied the Sepoy; "perhaps I can clear up the difficulty at
+once."
+
+"Well," returned Raikes, "there is all that wealth concealed about the
+person of Ram Lal; I am interested to know if he retained it, to what
+use he put it. If it is inconsistent in your narrative to reply to these
+questions, waive your formalities for once."
+
+"Why not?" laughed the Sepoy. "Still, I can only approximate to your
+request. There was a report that Ram Lal and his daughter disappeared
+shortly after the raid upon the Kutub.
+
+"It is also said that a dealer in precious stones opened an
+establishment on the Strand in London, and that his description
+corresponded in so many points with that of Ram Lal that it is safe to
+infer that the twain are identical."
+
+"That is better," sighed Raikes. "I will assume that the report is
+correct since it relieves my mind on one point, at any rate. However,
+there is one question more: Can you tell me how that substitution was
+made?"
+
+"Pebbles for diamonds?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"To do so requires another story, which I cannot tell you to-night,"
+replied the Sepoy. "How about to-morrow evening?"
+
+"If that's the only way?" queried Raikes.
+
+"It is," the Sepoy assured him.
+
+"I will be here, then," said Raikes, "but I must leave you now; I will
+see you at breakfast-time."
+
+With this Raikes departed and made his way along the dim passages to his
+room.
+
+Arrived at this point, and taking his customary precautions for the night,
+Raikes prepared to retire.
+
+Since the process involved such little attention to detail in its almost
+aboriginal readiness, it was not long before Raikes was tucked away in
+his uneasy rest.
+
+Possibly a half hour later a series of labored snores announced his
+successful escape from the disturbing realities of the day and his
+stentorian entrance upon more fictitious complications.
+
+Just across the hallway, in the room occupied by his nephew, conditions
+were more animated, for Robert, giving his admiring and somewhat
+incredulous attention to the alert Gratz, sat with his eyes bright with
+the acknowledgment of the purport of the speaker.
+
+Just a trace of excitement appeared in the manner of the detective.
+
+He had witnessed the return of the sleepy Raikes to his room, and was
+relieved to be able to assure himself that the miser was altogether
+unaware of his presence.
+
+Gratz was about to provide himself with the confirmation of a theory
+which he dared not discuss in advance.
+
+The possibilities of failure were numerous enough to provide him with
+the element of fascination, and its bizarre unfamiliarity piqued his
+imagination.
+
+If he was not mistaken in his calculations, he would be in possession,
+before morning, of some interesting data which would make a startling
+addition to the criminal records to which his past activities had
+contributed.
+
+The suggestion which stimulated him was the last which would occur to a
+wholly sensible man and the first which would be likely to present
+itself to a genius for speculation and morbid analysis.
+
+Consequently silence upon these somewhat abstruse reasonings was his
+safeguard against ridicule in the event of failure.
+
+However, he had intimated to Robert that events would transpire during
+the night which would be illuminative, but he could not be persuaded to
+indicate to the curious youth just what to expect.
+
+Whatever was to occur, Robert was assured that he would witness; in
+fact, he would be a necessary feature to the mysterious plans of the
+detective.
+
+Stimulated, therefore, by these occult hints and the lively prospect
+they introduced, the young man developed a clandestine emotion of weird
+anticipation, which he readily accredited to an unsuspected fitness for
+intrigue.
+
+Gratz, in the meantime, having primed the young enthusiast, maintained
+an irritating silence, and when an hour had passed in this spiritless
+fashion Robert was electrified by the solitary word "Now!" from the lips
+of the enigmatical Gratz.
+
+Unable to comprehend the significance of the subdued exclamation, Robert
+nevertheless followed the detective with confiding docility, and the
+pair hastened down a flight of stairs which conducted them to the main
+hallway.
+
+From this Gratz proceeded to a door directly beneath the stairway which
+they had just traversed, and which opened upon another short series of
+steps that concluded in the cellar.
+
+Descending these, the two hastened along the chill floor and presently
+paused by the main coal-bin in which the widow stored her fuel.
+
+With an impressive injunction to silence, Gratz indicated the course
+which Robert was expected to pursue, and in the recess created by a
+flight of disused stairs the two secreted themselves.
+
+It was pitch dark.
+
+Neither of the watchers could see the other, and communication was only
+maintained by the reassuring pressure of the hand of the detective upon
+the arm of the excited Robert.
+
+At last the latter ventured to inquire in a whisper what it was that
+Gratz expected to discover.
+
+"The solution of the puzzle," replied the other in the same tone.
+
+"The thief?" asked Robert.
+
+"No, the accessory," was the reply; "but do not ask any further
+questions; you will be treated to the surprise of your life in a little
+while, unless I am much mistaken."
+
+Scarcely had the detective uttered these words when the faint click of a
+door-latch was borne to their ears from the direction of the stairway
+they had just descended.
+
+The next moment a dim ray of light flickered into the darkness, and a
+figure vaguely shadowed its grotesque disproportion on the walls just
+behind as it crept, with cautious lightness, step by step down the
+stairs.
+
+At last it reached the floor and moved in the direction of the bin.
+
+The light, which was furnished by a candle, was raised in the air at
+about the height of a man's face, and directly behind it a man's face
+appeared.
+
+"Great heavens!" whispered Robert as the strange figure advanced, "it is
+uncle!"
+
+"Steady, now!" whispered the detective; "not a word or you will ruin
+everything."
+
+Revealed by the weird light, the miserable countenance of the miser had
+never looked so contemptible.
+
+The sputtering flame seemed to have the power to betray all the miserly
+emotions and mean parsimonies usually concealed behind its starved
+pallor.
+
+The lips had fallen inanely apart with an absurd look of silly wonder.
+
+The eyes were wide open and stared directly ahead with the most
+unnatural expression or lack of it that Robert had ever beheld in the
+visage of mortal man.
+
+Even the detective, accustomed as he was to all sorts of uncommon
+spectacles, could not repress a slight disposition to shudder.
+
+One bony hand grasped the candlestick, and the other held some sort of
+round object, to which Robert directed his attention.
+
+By the sudden motion he made the detective knew that the young man had
+discovered what this object was, and pressed his arm warningly.
+
+_It was one of the canvas bags from the recess in the wall._
+
+Just before the opening of the bin his uncle paused, like a speculative
+phantom, as if to consider its next doleful move.
+
+His entire countenance, upon nearer view, like the canvas which the
+painter has roughly outlined, was suggestive of anything, according to
+the fancy of the beholder.
+
+Upon this spiritless blank Robert depicted, with a morbid genius and the
+stimulation of his unnatural surroundings, all that was reminiscent of
+his uncle's littleness.
+
+But this uneasy transit from the room upstairs to the bin below, the
+vacant, irresponsible ensemble, the inscrutable determination to fulfill
+some strange obligation, enforced by what influence or moral unrest he
+could not tell, culminated in the mind of the young man in the only
+possible explanation:
+
+His uncle was engaged in the unaware execution of some fixed idea.
+
+He was responding to an uncontrollable, secret impulse, and Robert,
+guiding himself by the touch of his hand in order to locate his lips as
+close to the ear of the detective as he might, whispered with
+conviction:
+
+"Somnambulist!"
+
+"No," replied Gratz--"worse; be silent."
+
+Amazed and wondering what could possibly be worse, and rummaging through
+the garret of all his unusual experiences, Robert could find nothing to
+correspond to this inexplicable phenomenon; and it was with a sort of
+superstitious distraction that he beheld his uncle discard his transient
+hesitation and proceed with ghostly purpose to the opening of the bin.
+
+Advancing, Raikes placed the candle upon the bed of coals and began to
+unfasten the cord which secured the mouth of the bag which he carried.
+
+Robert had never beheld anything so ghastly as his uncle's eyes, intent
+but unseeing; nor so frightful as his motions, direct but
+unintelligent, like those of a midnight marionette controlled by
+invisible strings.
+
+In a few moments his efforts were successful, and the incredulous Robert
+beheld his uncle invert his precious burden and send a clinking,
+intrinsic shower of coin to the floor.
+
+Apparently this familiar sound had penetrated in some degree to his
+inner consciousness.
+
+An expression of vague uneasiness, of troubled irresolution, clouded his
+eyes, but this semi-intellection and its transient phasis subsided to
+his original apathy as, with a sigh of helpless impersonality, he began
+to collect, with a silly, childish selection, as if to balance, by the
+size of the individual coals, the proportion of the discharged gold,
+handfuls of these dusky diamonds and substitute the sordid heaps in the
+bag.
+
+This weird absurdity concluded, Raikes, repossessing himself of the
+candle, turned wearily and retraced the path of his ghostly journey.
+
+In a little while his shuffling footfalls had concluded with the doorway
+at the top of the cellar stairs, the latch was heard to click into
+place, and all was still.
+
+"Now," whispered Gratz with concentrated emphasis, "not a word--not a
+sound from this moment. We have seen the accessory, now for the
+principal."
+
+In reply Robert pressed his hand upon the arm of the detective to
+indicate that his instructions were understood and would be obeyed, and
+in a silence through which he felt that his heart-throbs must certainly
+be audible, the watchers awaited developments.
+
+The obscurity and silence which prevailed, and the vault-like chill and
+dampness, harmonized so fully with the unnatural spectacle which he had
+just witnessed, and the grim expectation of something untoward still to
+come, that Robert was prepared to reconsider his views of the earlier
+portion of the evening as to his fitness for secret investigation and
+criminal analysis.
+
+He no longer felt the exultation of this association with relentless and
+cunning pursuit, and began to wonder how any normal human being could
+adopt a profession which embraced all these cheerless handicaps when
+there were so many occupations into which a little sunlight and
+geniality penetrated now and then.
+
+He had about decided that such industry was the manifestation of a
+disease, and that his silent companion was a desperate incurable, when
+his diagnosis was suddenly interrupted.
+
+The detective pressed the shoulders of his companion, communicating a
+slight impulse toward the opposite end of the cellar, and Robert, in
+obedience to its intimation, turned and beheld an approaching light.
+
+It had the unreal appearance of a detached eye of some malignant
+Cyclops, glancing in a ghastly, bodiless way, from object to object, and
+concentrating itself at last in a definite course along the floor.
+
+To witness the approach of this stealthy, gleam, without visible means
+of support or guidance, caused the young man's flesh to creep and his
+heart to throb almost to the point of suffocation.
+
+If it requires experience to become a successful narrator, Robert was
+certainly in a way to accumulate a budget of startling data.
+
+Nothing, hitherto, in his life could explain the marvel, but Gratz, with
+trained certainty, knew that he gazed upon the disk of a dark lantern
+which, exposing all else to view, shielded, with its distracting flash,
+the object of this midnight quest.
+
+With an assurance that indicated a definite purpose, the figure at last
+stood within the door of the coal bin.
+
+At once the searching gleam began to dance hither and thither upon the
+floor, and finally, with unerring pause, fell directly upon the heap of
+glittering coin.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed a voice.
+
+In its concentrated emphasis there was the unmistakable accent of
+certitude, of expectation gratified.
+
+The next instant the light was placed upon the floor with a tilt that
+sent its rays upon the treasure, and the unknown began to collect the
+gold with oblivious haste and bestow it in some receptacle near-by.
+
+Suddenly Robert felt his companion move forward noiselessly, at the same
+time he recognized the intimation of a detaining hand; and then he
+stood alone.
+
+Scarcely had he adjusted himself to these startling conditions when he
+heard a sharp, metallic snap, and beheld a sudden flood of light
+directed upon the kneeling figure.
+
+There was a cry of desperate amazement, the quick clink of scattering
+coin, and the next instant a wild, rage-distorted face shot into view.
+
+"My God!" cried Robert.
+
+It was the Sepoy!
+
+"Hands up!" commanded a voice which the young man recognized as that of
+Gratz; "hands up, or you are a dead man. There are five bullets in
+reserve for you if you budge from where you stand."
+
+With an imprecation that was charged with malignant venom, the Sepoy
+looked upon the gleaming barrel of a pistol which was advancing into the
+light, recognized his helplessness, and with snarling obedience elevated
+his arms in the air.
+
+"Robert!" called Gratz.
+
+The young man, trembling, hurried to the opening.
+
+"Get behind me," directed Gratz; "put your hand in my coat pocket;
+you'll find a pair of bracelets there for our friend here."
+
+With shaking hands Robert followed these sharply delivered instructions,
+and withdrew a set of handcuffs, gaping at the fastenings to receive a
+pair of guilty wrists.
+
+"Now move around to the rear of this gentleman," continued the
+relentless Gratz, "and snap them on his wrists."
+
+Somehow Robert managed to obey these commands.
+
+He reached to the uplifted hands of the Sepoy, embraced his wrists with
+the handcuffs, and closed them with a snap.
+
+(To be continued on Bosom No. 2, Series C.)
+
+Unknown to himself, Dennis, stimulated by the lively succession of
+incidents, had spurred his enunciation in a racy adjustment to these
+animated conditions.
+
+His eyes appeared to have appropriated the sparkle which had intensified
+the glance of the Sepoy of whom he had just read, and when he arrived
+at the familiar legend at the bottom of the bosom, his expression, vivid
+with all these communicated emotions, was duplicated in the sweet,
+absorbed face of his bewitching listener, who, in order the better to
+follow his rapid utterance, leaned, with the exquisite intoxication of
+her presence, in rapt nearness to the reader.
+
+Consequently, when Dennis looked up from his reading, he was transported
+along the highway of a sympathetic glance into deeps of dazzling blue.
+
+For a moment he abandoned himself to the enchanting witchery with the
+dreamful enjoyment of the voluptuary inhaling the odors of a scented
+bath.
+
+He seemed to be on the best of terms with some well-disposed harlequin.
+
+Scarcely had the excitement of one series of events developed to its
+climax when he was whisked to another.
+
+His providence was working overtime in his behalf, and being at heart
+sound and genuine, the weight of his obligations to all these auspices
+warned him not to be too prodigal with his privileges; so, with an
+effort, the stress of which communicated some of its rigors to his
+countenance, he closed his eyes for one ascetic moment and came bravely
+to earth again.
+
+Suspecting something of the nature of his confusion, as a lovely woman
+will, and secretly applauding his undemonstrative deference, which, in
+the cynical atmosphere to which she was habituated, came to her like a
+refreshing zephyr, the widow asked him with an engaging smile of
+encouragement:
+
+"Of what were you thinking, Mr. Muldoon?"
+
+"Mr. Muldoon!" he repeated to himself with an endeavor to reflect the
+intonation of personal distinction which issued so entrancingly from the
+Cupid's bow of a mouth. He had not been so ceremoniously addressed since
+he knew not when, and never realized that his homely name had such music
+in it. "Oh!" he thought, "if she would only say 'Dennis,' it would be
+like grand opera."
+
+"Why," replied Dennis with simple frankness. "I was thinking, for one
+thing--for one thing"--but encouraged by her smiling invitation he
+stammered--"how beautiful you are!" and added to himself, or it looked
+as though he might express his sentiments that way: "There, you've done
+it!"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed his companion, with a rosy enjoyment of this unstudied
+situation and frank appreciation, "and what was the other?"
+
+"I don't know how to tell you the other," answered Dennis. Then with an
+unreflective inspiration: "Did you ever read about Launcelot and
+Guinevere?"
+
+"Ye-yes," was the apprehensive answer.
+
+"Well," continued Dennis with a naive remembrance only of the chivalry
+of this idyllic indiscretion, "when I look at you I can understand how a
+knight could battle for a queen."
+
+There was silence for a moment, but in the interval the lady did not
+laugh, though her eyes were bright as she said:
+
+"You are a strange boy."
+
+"Oh!" cried Dennis, "tell me, have I offended? I would not do that for
+the world."
+
+"I am sure of that," replied the widow, "and I believe that you mean
+what you say."
+
+"Oh, I do, I do!" exclaimed Dennis impulsively; then, with a realization
+of the thin surface over which he was making such rapid strides despite
+the danger signals of conventionality, and with a diplomacy born of his
+native good sense, he glided, with cheerful Celtic sagacity, to safer
+footing by asking abruptly: "May I recommend myself"--as if he had not
+already done so--"for the position you offer?"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, from whom no alternation of his mobile
+countenance seemed to escape, "it is your turn now; I must not receive
+all the honors."
+
+"Well," replied Dennis, altogether aware of the graceful courtesy of
+this exquisite woman, and constituted by nature, if not by past
+association, to accord it due appreciation, "well, there isn't much to
+say, but here's my outfit:
+
+"I am sorry to have to begin badly. I don't know anything about flowers.
+I can't tell you, even, the difference between a shamrock and a
+clover."
+
+"All that can be easily remedied," his listener reassured him; "but
+proceed."
+
+"But there's one thing I'm sure about," continued Dennis. "You can rely
+upon me, an' that's better."
+
+"It is, indeed," answered the widow.
+
+"I am anxious to do the best I can for myself," resumed Dennis. "I have
+just one way of doing it, and that is to do the best I can for others."
+
+"That is real business principle," exclaimed his companion, "and very
+rare. What else?"
+
+"I guess that's about all," answered Dennis, "an' it don't sound so very
+much, does it?"
+
+"More than you think," answered the widow. "Now listen to me:
+
+"I need such service as I hope from you very much. Would you like to
+come and help me here?"
+
+"Oh!" cried Dennis.
+
+"I am answered," responded his companion, "When can you come?"
+
+"At once!" cried Dennis--"or no, wait a bit; that wouldn't be fair to
+my present employer. But I can tell him to look out for somebody else
+right away; surely he can fill my place within a week. Suppose I say
+next Monday?"
+
+"Very well, that will suit," answered the widow; "but you have not asked
+me what your salary will be."
+
+Dennis blushed, and his blush was appreciated. To enjoy the genial
+inspiration of such an association would be a perquisite which, other
+things being only approximately even, would repair any possible
+shortage.
+
+"Will twenty dollars a week and your board satisfy you for the present?"
+
+Dennis held his breath and pictured the contrast.
+
+His present employment brought him just ten dollars and the association
+of a barkeeper--would it satisfy him? However, he managed to say,
+without too great a show of emotion: "It is more than I expected."
+
+"Well, then, that point is settled," said the widow with a brisk
+business air, which provided such a sharp contrast to her delightful
+womanly qualities and caused Dennis to wonder at the graceful
+alternation of the one with the other. "Now as to board: In the rear of
+the conservatory is a suite of rooms as cozy as any young man could
+wish. At the end of the week I expect to have them vacated.
+
+"They are occupied just now by the manager, but he has already been
+notified through my attorney, and all will be in readiness for you by
+next Monday.
+
+"It has been somewhat difficult to make him comprehend my purpose; it is
+so different from what he expected. He is incautious enough to demand a
+reason."
+
+"There is one," ventured Dennis boldly, "if I may venture to suggest
+it."
+
+"Surely!" replied the widow, remarking Dennis curiously.
+
+"Well," replied the young man as he recalled the astonishing array of
+details surrounding the death of the aesthetic proprietor, "just enclose
+him a note with two words in it."
+
+"And those?" queried the widow as Dennis paused.
+
+"Cape Jessamine."
+
+For a space Dennis feared that he had offended. A shade of depression
+darkened the lovely features before him, but his companion looked into
+his apprehensive eyes reassuringly as she said: "You have penetration."
+
+His momentary embarrassment, however, introduced another perturbation,
+for in glancing away for an instant to reassemble himself, so to speak,
+his eyes fell upon the clock, which at that very moment chimed the hour
+of eleven.
+
+This was startling!
+
+Dennis was familiar enough with social usage, or, at least, had the
+practical good sense to realize that he had exceeded the limits of good
+taste by an hour, and began to make disconcerted preparations for
+departure.
+
+Perceiving his embarrassment, his companion relieved him with genial
+tact by asking: "And what about bosom No. 2? I want to hear the rest of
+that story."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Dennis, brightening, "when shall it be?"
+
+"How will Wednesday evening suit?" suggested the widow.
+
+And Dennis, with a mien which plainly indicated that he considered the
+time represented in the space that must elapse between the delightful
+present and the evening appointed embodied his views of a brief
+eternity, assured the widow that he would be on hand, and added: "I will
+not read a line until then."
+
+"Leave the story here, then, and I will put it away until you make your
+appearance. I promise, too, that I will not read it in the meantime,"
+and the widow received the remaining bosoms from Dennis with an
+extravagant show of gravity, which caused them both to laugh, in view of
+its absurd occasion, as she bestowed them in a music rack and turned to
+conduct him to the entrance.
+
+"Good-by!" she said, and once more extended her hand, which Dennis
+received with an unmistakable indication of his appreciation of the
+exceptional favor.
+
+"Good-by!" he responded as he prepared to descend the steps, "good-by!"
+and added to himself, with a fervor which conveyed some intimation of
+his sentiments if it did not suggest his words:
+
+"An' may the saints preserve you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+When Dennis retired for the night at The Stag, his transit from his
+room, which had never seemed so contracted as now, to the Land of Nod
+was somewhat delayed by reason of the exhilarating conditions through
+which he had just passed.
+
+Toward midnight, however, his pulse had resumed its normal, and the
+young man, reaching his drowsy destination at last, began a series of
+the most surprising horticultural experiments until, what with orchids
+as big as a barrel, and geraniums which could be reached only by a
+ladder, he had converted the silvery strand of the dreamful domain into
+a forest of atrocious color and floral monstrosity.
+
+Awakening on the succeeding morning, Dennis, accepting the sense of
+general lassitude which oppressed him as an indication of the arduous
+nature of his efforts in his dreams, began to prepare for the activities
+of the day.
+
+On this occasion he was compelled to attire himself in the shirt which
+he had worn on the occasion of his visit the evening before, since his
+remaining bosoms, along with his heart, were in the possession of the
+beautiful widow.
+
+But the extravagance of such indulgence did not alarm him now.
+
+Under the circumstances, what did a shirt more or less matter?
+
+Was he not about to be admitted into paradise and receive twenty dollars
+per week besides?
+
+"Shirt, ha!" he exclaimed with a touch of Celtic wit; "it's a robe of
+white I want." However, he compromised on a new necktie, and almost
+ventured the length of patent leathers.
+
+Stimulated by the prospect of all this beatitude, Dennis proceeded to
+the dining-room and revived the spirit of the discouraged waiter by
+ordering a liberal breakfast.
+
+At the conclusion of the meal he further celebrated his disposition to
+mortgage providence by the bestowal of a gratuity moderate enough to
+renew the waiter's original unflattering estimation.
+
+Had his father witnessed this imprudence he would have been prepared to
+believe that Dennis was under the influence of a danseuse, and the
+proportions of the breakfast could only have indicated a determination
+to commit suicide by repletion.
+
+On his way to the street Dennis paused to inform the barman of his
+intended departure.
+
+As an indication of his sentiments at this announcement, the barman, who
+was engaged in the mixture of a mysterious decoction, said, as he poured
+an amber-colored fluid into the glass: "This wan is fur grief at the
+goin', an' this wan"--pouring from another bottle--"is fur good luck
+when ye git there," and he pushed the mixture toward Dennis.
+
+But the young Irishman, remembering his recent experience, declined with
+thanks.
+
+"No?" queried the barman. "Well, an' that's not a bad idea at all. It's
+the right sthart fur a bad day an' a bad sthart fur a right wan. 'Tis
+th' divil's own way av showin' wan's sintimints." Then, reaching for
+the glass, he added: "I'll do th' honors fur th' two av us"; and with
+the singular tendency, so often noted under such circumstances, to
+swallow with haste that which it required such trouble to prepare, the
+barman bolted the contents of the glass and looked his appreciation
+through moist eyes.
+
+As Dennis neared the establishment of his employer, he recalled his
+obligation.
+
+He must begin the day by informing the foreman of his changed
+intentions.
+
+He disliked the idea of the possible friction involved in the
+performance of this disagreeable duty, but there seemed to be no other
+way out of the dilemma.
+
+His announcement, however, was to be less embarrassing than he
+anticipated.
+
+His providence was about to take a short nap.
+
+As he approached the foreman, he discovered that individual, several
+degrees less breezy than usual, engaged in an animated conversation with
+a young man whose prevailing expression was so penitential that Dennis,
+with prompt Celtic intuition, decided that he was gazing upon his
+predecessor in office.
+
+He was assured of this by the glance of belligerent appraisement with
+which the young fellow surveyed him from head to foot, in response to
+some suggestive indication from the foreman.
+
+He seemed, to the apprehensive eyes of Dennis, to be calculating his
+chances in the event of a physical contest.
+
+And this recalled what the foreman had said about his biceps.
+
+"You want to see me?" queried the latter with an expression in which the
+sunshine seemed overdue.
+
+"Yes," answered Dennis as his employer stepped aside to hear what he had
+to say.
+
+As Dennis proceeded the look of perplexity which he had noted upon the
+face of his listener seemed to give way to one of unmistakable relief,
+and when Dennis had stated his case he exclaimed: "Shure, now, it's an
+aisy way out av a bad muss, so it is. Here, Phil!" he shouted, turning
+to the young fellow in the background, who had witnessed this brief
+interview with scowling interest, "here, you two can t'row th' gloves
+down an' shake; Muldoon here wants to hand yure job back to ye."
+
+At this announcement, the disfavor in the countenance of the other
+disappeared and was replaced by an expression which indicated that he
+regarded such liberality as something in the nature of a freak.
+
+Some evidences of his debauch still clung to him.
+
+His eyes were moist and heavy-lidded; his lips dry and tremulous, and
+the hand which he extended to Dennis shook somewhat.
+
+"Come, now!" exclaimed the foreman, "that's well over"; and addressing
+the one he called Phil he added: "Now get to work."
+
+Dennis looked his astonishment.
+
+He had not calculated upon such a prompt acceptance of his resignation.
+He felt that he presented an absurd appearance, and that the foreman did
+not appear to his usual bluff advantage.
+
+"Come this way," said the latter to Dennis, who followed him into his
+office with a strange sinking at heart.
+
+"I did not mean to hand over everything right off!" exclaimed Dennis.
+
+"Well," replied the foreman, "Phil's wife came here early this mornin'
+an' put up a few tears, an' Phil made all sorts av promises; an' you
+have no children an' he has, an--oh, the divil!" cried the foreman,
+weary of the series of explanations in which he was getting involved. "I
+can't kape th' two av ye, an' Phil there is an ould hand at th'
+paint-pot."
+
+"Then," cried Dennis, "you mean that I must leave at once?"
+
+"That's about th' size of it."
+
+"Why," exclaimed Dennis, indignant at this injustice, "I tried to be
+fair with you, and you haven't----"
+
+"Here," interrupted the foreman, in evident haste to conclude a
+disagreeable interview; "there's no use talking about it, it's got to be
+done"; and turning to a drawer in the desk he extracted Monday's pay and
+placed it in the young man's hand.
+
+At that moment a burly porter filled up the doorway.
+
+"What is it?" asked the foreman, glad of the interruption, as he
+hastened, with unnecessary and suspicious promptness, to attend to the
+wants of the intruder.
+
+In a little while Dennis realized that he waited in vain for the return
+of the foreman, and that, in so far as he was concerned, he was out of a
+job.
+
+Dennis had been, at various times in his life, subjected to some rugged
+experiences, but could not recall any treatment quite so heartless as
+this.
+
+It upset all his calculations.
+
+He must exist somehow between the unhappy realities of the present and
+the blissful expectations of the approaching Monday.
+
+He recalled, with the self-accusation of a repentant prodigal, his
+needlessly elaborate breakfast, the extravagance of the necktie.
+
+His return led him past the cheap amusement district of the Bowery.
+
+Never had their tawdry invitations seemed so alluring.
+
+By that singular perversity which opens up every suggestion of riotous
+expenditure to destitution, the poor fellow felt inclined to indulge
+himself regardless.
+
+An obese nymph pictured in the foam of a beer sign, apparently
+elaborated with a whitewash brush and finished in the throes of an
+epileptic fit, solicited a share of his patronage.
+
+Long rows of slot machines offered all sorts of libidinous suggestions
+in placards, which proposed to debauch his morals for a penny a sight.
+
+And with absurd propriety a vender of shoddy jewels presented the chance
+of his lifetime in bizarre decoration.
+
+But somehow Dennis reached Broadway at last, and faced the unpleasant
+prospect of the next few days with despairing calculation.
+
+As Dennis looked up and down this busy thoroughfare, with its thousands
+speeding oppositely in preoccupied interest, as if all that was vital
+and worthy was to be found at either extreme of its splendid distances,
+he paused for a moment to account his meager finances.
+
+He found that he possessed just four one-dollar bills and about eighty
+cents in small change.
+
+Since he was compelled to pay a half dollar each night in advance for
+his lodgings, a little over two dollars would remain to him.
+
+With rigid economy and almost miserly abstemiousness this sum would
+suffice for his meals, unless he developed a mania for Delmonico's, and
+for his carfare, provided he did not venture outside the possibilities
+of the elevated.
+
+As he was about to return his resources to his pocket there was a rattle
+and clamor up the street, and looking in that direction he beheld a
+glittering engine, drawn by a splendid team of white horses, speed along
+with plunging dash and portent rumble.
+
+Along the sidewalk directly in his rear the usual mob of men and boys
+who have nothing more to do apparently than to attend fires and scramble
+with a morbid curiosity to behold the misery of some victim of accident,
+ran in scuffling uproar.
+
+With a pathetic realization of his own idleness, Dennis turned to join
+the speeding throng, when suddenly he became aware of a desperate clutch
+at his hand, heard the rattle of scattering change at his feet, and
+felt the bills which he held slip away from his grasp and disappear in
+the rush.
+
+It was over in a second. Apparently no one noticed him or his loss. He
+was as abandoned as the unfortunate marooned by rushing waters; as
+unheeded as a lame lamb in the multitude of the flock.
+
+Not a head turned, and by the time he realized precisely what had
+happened and prepared to give chase to the thief, a score of other men
+and boys formed an unconscious barricade between the unfortunate boy and
+the rogue.
+
+His suddenly created interest in the fire vanished and was replaced by
+the despair of his own disaster.
+
+The nap of his providence was developing into a sound slumber, and since
+this deity never gets up before noon Dennis had still two hours of
+despair before him.
+
+And what despair!
+
+Of his pitiful hoard of a few moments since only a few dimes and nickels
+remained.
+
+And just across the street was the Third National Bank with barrels of
+them.
+
+The whimsies of the contrast almost amused him; but there was not enough
+of the Tapley about him to detect its humor.
+
+Again he counted his resources.
+
+Fifty-eight cents!
+
+He could lodge to-night, at any rate, and dine on one of those sidewalk
+pretzels.
+
+"The darkest hour is just before the dawn." Dennis tried to cheer
+himself with this reflection, but the only dawn upon which he could
+calculate was five days off.
+
+In vain the poor fellow adjured his brains for some homely suggestion,
+some meager inspiration.
+
+Nothing responded but his destitution, like the echo of a groan; and
+through such mental straits he arrived, at last, at The Stag.
+
+He decided that he would do nothing radical until the following day.
+
+He could afford a night's rest, at least, and that might revive his
+numbed faculties.
+
+As he reached the office he glanced at the proprietor.
+
+Could he persuade that cynical-visaged individual to trust him until he
+received his first week's pay?
+
+Would he be credited if he related his prospects?
+
+As a measure in this assurance, would not the proprietor feel justified
+in calling upon the widow for indorsement of the statement of the young
+man?
+
+This would never do.
+
+He could not endure the humiliation of such a revelation.
+
+The poor fellow got little encouragement from the face of the
+proprietor.
+
+This was suspicious and hard. It had scarcely the perfunctory smile of
+the professional boniface.
+
+The prospect of having to address that forbidding ensemble was
+disheartening.
+
+Suddenly his reflections were interrupted.
+
+The proprietor waved a beckoning hand to him.
+
+Dennis hurried to the desk.
+
+"A letter for you," said the proprietor, as he placed in the young man's
+hand an envelope addressed in a handwriting which he recognized at
+once.
+
+"'Dennis Muldoon'; yes, that's mine," and hastening to an unoccupied
+seat in a remote portion of the office, Dennis hastily opened the
+envelope and withdrew a short letter, and--ye gods! was it possible?--a
+postal order for twenty-five dollars.
+
+    Philadelphia.
+
+    DEAR DENNIS:
+
+    It's a hard row you have to hoe, I'm a-think-in', and it's a bad
+    spot you have to hoe it in. I know New York of old, and it's a
+    lonesome place for a poor lad.
+
+    I send you the week's wages due you, and an extry five to come
+    back with in case your dreams don't come true.
+
+    I've got over my mad, my boy, and I'll be glad to see you.
+
+    Run over annyhow; it's a dull place without you. The mother misses
+    you bad.
+
+    Come Saturday if you can; I've got a business proposition I want
+    to make.
+
+    Tell me how you're getting on, annyway.
+
+                                                           THE OLD MAN.
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried Dennis. His providence was wide awake now, had made its
+toilet, and was ready for business.
+
+For a long while Dennis sat with the letter in his hand, gazing, with
+unseeing eyes, upon its eccentric chirography.
+
+His exultation had not fully materialized.
+
+To grope in the valley of despair one moment and skip along the summit
+of beatitude the next was a little too much for immediate comprehension.
+
+Somewhat in the manner of the metaphysician, he was inclined to believe,
+since his misfortune was no longer a reality, that his prosperity might
+be equally immaterial, and in unaware corroboration he made a minute
+tear in the edge of the postal order to establish its tangibility.
+
+In the evening, influenced perhaps by his comparative weal, Dennis
+decided that he would purchase a ticket to the Olympus, and climbing the
+rear approach to that elevation, found himself seated shortly with the
+gallery gods, viewing with uncritical contrasts the relative merits of
+the clown, the harlequin and the columbine.
+
+Between the acts his roving glance found a sudden destination and his
+elation went into abrupt decline, for seated in one of the boxes, her
+glass surveying the house in all sorts of disconcerting directions, sat
+the beautiful widow.
+
+Instinctively Dennis crouched into his seat.
+
+Fortunately he was able by thus collapsing within himself, to escape the
+radius of her vision, which was interrupted by the railing extending
+around the balcony.
+
+It would never do to be discovered in his present situation. The
+elevation was degrading, and Dennis understood the unhappy paradox.
+
+It emphasized the social distinctions too much, and caused the distance
+from where he sat to the placid beauty below to appear immeasurable.
+
+But this was not the least of his perturbations.
+
+Near the widow a gentleman sat, solicitous, engaging, persistent.
+
+A certain air of distinction rendered doubly obnoxious the assumption of
+proprietorship which Dennis believed he remarked, and while the young
+man was able to comfort himself with the discovery that his bewitching
+companion devoted more attention to the stage and the house than to her
+escort, still, as Dennis contemplated the faultless attire of the
+gentleman in the box and contrasted it with his own modest apparel, he
+felt unaccountably depressed.
+
+All this was revealed by the furtive glances which the young Irishman
+ventured over the gallery rail.
+
+A strange foreboding overwhelmed him.
+
+The bewildering tinsel of the stage no longer diverted, and he would
+have been astonished to analyze the reason why.
+
+As the last curtain fell and Dennis was no longer able to adjust his
+gloomy contemplation to incongruous orchestration, he hastened from the
+theater, scrambled down the precipitate stairs and hastened to The Stag.
+
+It was midnight before he slept, and scarcely morning when he awoke.
+
+He dressed himself like an automaton, and breakfasted like an anchorite.
+
+He left the hotel without his personal knowledge, and traversed half the
+length of Broadway without volition. His mind was making the visit in
+advance of the appointed time, and his torpid body alone observed the
+social usages.
+
+By noon the patent leathers were a reality; by six-thirty he had assumed
+a clean shirt and his new necktie.
+
+When the clock struck seven he hastened to the elevated; a half hour
+later found him parading the street opposite the conservatory, and at
+eight he arrived with a promptness which, persistently observed,
+commends a young man to a junior partnership.
+
+When the widow finally presented herself, Dennis was more than ever
+convinced, by the richness of her attire, that the business must be in a
+flourishing condition.
+
+For some unknown reason the beautiful woman was dressed entirely in
+black with the exception of some exquisite traceries in white about her
+throat and wrists.
+
+Had his life depended upon it Dennis could never have described the
+fabric of her gown.
+
+He only knew that it was distinguished by a sort of subdued sheen; that
+it rustled with an entrancing swish and suggestion of femininity as she
+moved, and that it was adjusted to her shapely figure as though her
+delightful personality had been moulded into it.
+
+A slim wonder of a white hand was extended to him, a bright smile
+illumed her bewildering eyes and bent the Cupid bow of her lips into a
+curve which sent an intangible arrow into the young man's heart as she
+said with musical simplicity:
+
+"I am glad to see you."
+
+To this Dennis made no direct reply.
+
+His eyes gleamed their idealized eloquence, however; his attitude
+presented unmistakable shades of deference, and to save himself further
+revelation he collapsed into the chair indicated by his hostess.
+
+Apparently the widow extracted the same enjoyment from these ingenuous
+acknowledgments as ever, for she did not immediately resume the
+conversation.
+
+Fortunately, Dennis assembled himself, so to speak, and realized his
+psychological moment.
+
+"Shure," he said as he became aware of his involuntary self-revelations,
+"'shure, an' you would know that I am glad to see you if I was deaf and
+dumb."
+
+The widow laughed heartily at this, as she replied:
+
+"I'm afraid that you have kissed the blarney stone, Mr. Muldoon."
+
+Having no response for this, Dennis substituted: "I saw you at the
+theater last night," and a palpable degree of joy left his countenance
+at the announcement.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, regarding him curiously. "Where were you?"
+
+"In th' lobby," replied Dennis unblushingly.
+
+"What did you think of the performance?" asked his companion after a
+moment.
+
+Dennis looked her directly in the eyes with the light of inspiration in
+his glance as he said:
+
+"I did not see it."
+
+The widow gazed at the young man for one searching moment, reddened
+slightly, and, rising, proceeded to the music rack, from which she
+extracted bosoms Nos. 2 and 3.
+
+"Suppose we read the story," was her reply.
+
+As the widow extended the bosoms toward him, Dennis could not avoid the
+thought which had presented itself to him on the day before, that this
+woman had not only two bosoms of his in her possession, but his heart as
+well; and a certain degree of the animation of this reflection found its
+way into his eyes.
+
+"Well," inquired this observing woman, "what is it?"
+
+Dennis flushed as he replied: "I'll tell you by-and-by," and added:
+"Will you do me a great favor?"
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+"Why," answered Dennis, "I would like to hear you read bosom No. 2."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well," replied the young man, with a sincerity that was unmistakable,
+"I think it would sound like a song then."
+
+"Very well," she assented, "let me have it"; and with a voice that
+reflected, to this young man's ears, at least, at one moment the
+rippling of silver brooks, the trill of woodbirds, the sigh of zephyrs
+scented with daffodils, and the next the full, round resonance of an
+animated day in June, she read:
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Now!" exclaimed Gratz as the familiar click assured him that the
+handcuffs were in place, "now you can lower your hands and come over
+here."
+
+As the Sepoy advanced into the light, Gratz instructed Robert to pick up
+the remaining coins and restore them to the bag.
+
+During all this time the Sepoy had not uttered a word, but his fierce
+eyes, which stared with savage intentness in the direction of the disk
+of light, from the rear of which issued that implacable voice, were
+vital with rage and impotent menace.
+
+As he gazed thus with his distorted countenance concentrated into a look
+of bitter speculation in his futile attempt to discover by whom he was
+addressed in this tone of insolent authority, there was something
+frightful in the quest and uncertainty of the disturbed features.
+
+An unnatural luster, partly the reflection of his somber eyes and partly
+from the tawny hue of his saturnine visage, added an inexpressible
+degree of malignant rancor to his expression.
+
+His hands, which he was compelled by the manacles to hold directly in
+front of him in an absurd travesty of penitential clasp, gripped each
+other in his consuming resentment until the tendons of his wrist stood
+out with the tense distinction of whipcords.
+
+While Robert was engaged in restoring the coins to the bag, the only
+sound came from the derisive click and fall of the gold-pieces as they
+chinked their mockery into the ears of the raging prisoner.
+
+As the last coin joined its fellows a neighboring clock chimed the hour
+of two.
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Gratz; "there is time to settle this business before
+morning"; and turning to the Sepoy he added: "I will trouble you to
+precede me to your room."
+
+There was something unreal in the silence which the Sepoy still
+maintained and the enforced apathy with which he proceeded to obey
+these instructions, and Robert, unaccustomed to such episodes as this,
+in which he was a contributing factor, was more affected than if he had
+witnessed some violent demonstration or listened to a raging
+vituperation.
+
+The transit of the trio from the cellar to the apartment of the Sepoy
+was effected without attracting further regard, and the balance of the
+boarders slept away in snoring oblivion and provided another instance of
+the frail partition which separates the violent from the placid.
+
+Arrived at the room of their swarthy prisoner, Gratz provided the
+uncomfortable Robert with the relief he required by instructing him to
+hasten to his uncle and summon him to the scene, and to avoid giving him
+any of the details of what had transpired.
+
+Glad to escape the depression of the gloomy vicinity, and the unabashed
+directness of the Sepoy's glance, the young man hurried away.
+
+If the terrible concentration which the Sepoy resumed, with his luminous
+eyes upon the countenance of the detective, affected the latter, there
+was certainly no such evidence.
+
+It was as dull and lifeless as ever; the eyelids had fallen to their
+accustomed suggestion of ambush, and it seemed scarcely possible that
+the sharp directions of a few moments since could issue from such
+flaccid lips, and so much determination could dominate such an
+insignificant figure.
+
+Apparently exasperated by the undemonstration of this negative aspect,
+the Sepoy was near the limit of his repression.
+
+The lines about his lips relaxed somewhat, the pupils of his eyes
+reduced their staring diameter, and his head was inclined forward a
+trifle.
+
+Gratz concluded that his companion had decided to speak.
+
+He was not mistaken.
+
+"Can I be spared the humiliation of meeting that old dotard you have
+sent for?"
+
+"I do not see how," replied Gratz.
+
+"What do you gain by it?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I cannot tell that in advance; possibly nothing," replied Gratz.
+
+"That is likely," replied the Sepoy quietly.
+
+"We shall see," exclaimed the detective. "I am working out a theory; I
+need the assistance of all concerned."
+
+"Look at me!" exclaimed the Sepoy abruptly. "I will credit you with
+being something of a physiognomist. Do you see any evidences of
+determination in my face?"
+
+"And if I do?" queried Gratz.
+
+"Only this," was the reply: "No matter what your object may be, I will
+oppose it with all the resolution and dexterity at my command, if you
+conduct your inquiries as you contemplate."
+
+In reply Gratz offered an exasperating shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"There is no mystery to be solved," he said. "I have no further facts to
+discover; I know that you have managed to secure three separate bags of
+coin from Raikes, and I am aware of your process."
+
+"If you know all this," replied the other with curious calmness, "why do
+you----"
+
+The question was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
+
+"Now!" exclaimed Gratz, as if with sudden determination, "I will try to
+grant your request in part. Retire into your bedchamber, leave the door
+open, and listen.
+
+"I will place Raikes and his nephew where they cannot see you, but I
+will sit here where I can note your slightest move."
+
+The Sepoy arose hastily and entered the bedchamber, seating himself
+according to the direction of the detective.
+
+At that moment there was a knock upon the door.
+
+In answer to the salutation of the detective Raikes and his nephew
+entered.
+
+Seating themselves in the chairs indicated, they awaited with intense
+curiosity the proceedings of this enigmatical man.
+
+Noting the alert questioning in the eyes of the young man, and the
+half-awakened inquiry in the sordid countenance of Raikes, Gratz, in
+order to prevent the intrusion of any disturbing remark upon his present
+purpose, said impressively:
+
+"I must ask you both to listen without interruption. When I want you to
+speak I will question you"; and fastening his strange eyes upon the
+blinking Raikes, he added: "Now we will proceed.
+
+"You have lost four bags of coin."
+
+"Three!" corrected Raikes, despite his instructions to silence.
+
+"Pardon me," continued Gratz, "and please do not interrupt. I said
+four--and here is the fourth," and he pointed to the bag upon the table.
+
+The miser's jaw dropped helplessly, and he stared at the bag with a
+superstitious terror.
+
+"But," continued Gratz, "what seems so incredible to you is merely the
+logical outcome of a cunningly established sequence," and the speaker
+shot an incredibly quick glance at the silent figure in the adjoining
+room.
+
+"Now attend me closely.
+
+"During the last few evenings you have heard some very curious
+narratives."
+
+Raikes nodded with gloomy corroboration.
+
+"A series of well-arranged events have introduced a startling
+episode--the substitution of pebbles for diamonds."
+
+Again Raikes nodded.
+
+"At this point in the narrative the first instalment concludes. Am I
+right?"
+
+"Yes," answered Raikes.
+
+"Then," continued Gratz, "you went directly to your room; you retired.
+In the morning you are prompted, with more than your usual eagerness, to
+open your private safe."
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Raikes in indorsement of this relentless resume.
+
+"You find the locks undisturbed; the contents apparently as you left
+them on retiring. Some difference in the conformity of one of the bags
+urges a nearer examination. You discover that this indicates a
+difference in the contents. You grasp it; it comes away in your hands
+with startling lightness. You discharge its deposit upon the table--a
+shower of coals follows."
+
+"Yes, yes!" stammered Raikes with impatient eagerness.
+
+"Well, you are convinced, by an examination of the fastenings of the
+door, an inspection of the window, that no human being could have
+effected an entrance from either direction.
+
+"The next evening is a repetition of the history of the night before.
+
+"The strange Indian narrative, another gem to examine--an additional
+loss on the succeeding morning."
+
+Raikes nodded savagely.
+
+"On the following night the same unhappy series of events occur,
+followed by the loss of the third bag."
+
+"But why all this again?" inquired Raikes.
+
+"That concerns me," exclaimed the detective with another rapid glance at
+the undemonstrative figure in the next room. "You must follow my
+instructions or you will conclude as badly as you have begun. Now,"
+continued Gratz, "it is incredible to me that, with the astuteness with
+which you are credited, that having such a good standpoint to begin
+with, you did not proceed upon that basis."
+
+"I?" questioned the astonished Raikes. "What standpoint had I?"
+
+"Elimination," replied Gratz.
+
+"Several puzzling possibilities were retired permanently.
+
+"Recall the details as we have enumerated them: An impossible door; the
+window equally out of the question; the substitution of the coals for
+the coin.
+
+"It is very simple. The outside agency unfeasible, we must look within.
+There is but one conclusion----"
+
+"And that?" interrupted Raikes.
+
+"An accessory."
+
+"Ah!" cried Raikes, "unthinkable!"
+
+"Not at all," replied Gratz; "there was an accessory--yourself!"
+
+At this announcement Raikes seemed about to collapse into his original
+helplessness. The facts of his losses were extraordinary enough, but
+this was too much.
+
+But Gratz hurried on, explained the unconscious visits of his astounded
+hearer to the cellar, and all that followed.
+
+"Then," exclaimed Raikes, when he had concluded, "I have been the victim
+of hypnotic suggestion."
+
+"Precisely!" replied Gratz. "The story was merely the medium of
+transmission, and through this weird conduit the story-teller conveyed
+his instructions to your subconsciousness."
+
+"But," demanded Raikes, "why this substitution of coals? It strikes me
+that a scheme so clever as all this would scarcely be jeopardized by
+such an absurdity."
+
+"That contingency," answered Gratz, "was never intended. In your
+condition of mind, having discharged the coin upon the floor of the bin,
+a mental idiosyncrasy of years insisted upon recognition.
+
+"In some inexplicable way you retained enough of your mental identity to
+preserve some manifestation of the law of equivalents. In other words,
+having parted with something, you demanded something in return.
+
+"With as much deliberation, therefore, as you manifested in contributing
+to your loss, you attempted to reimburse yourself by filling the bag
+with coal.
+
+"In some occult way you assured yourself that you were engaged in a
+transaction where one commodity took the place of another.
+
+"To this freak of mentality the idea of the pebbles in the story being
+substituted for the diamonds contributed; and what was intended by the
+narrator as a consistency of detail, to be explained later on, made an
+unforeseen appeal to your native cupidity and provided me with a very
+satisfactory clue.
+
+"Moreover, the narrator assisted himself by allowing you to contemplate
+some brilliants--a sapphire, a diamond.
+
+"In such demonstrations a centralizing object is an almost indispensable
+adjunct; and putting the two together, the stories, the brilliants, it
+is not difficult to see that you have received your instructions in the
+manner indicated, and obeyed them with unexpected consistency."
+
+For a moment there was silence, which was sharply disturbed by an
+unexpected and apparently unsuggested query from Gratz.
+
+"Were you ever," he asked, looking directly at Raikes, "in this
+apartment during the absence of its occupant?"
+
+"No!" stammered Raikes, apparently very much astonished at the question.
+
+"You lie!"
+
+Raikes and his nephew sprang to their feet, their eyes bulging in the
+direction of the bedroom.
+
+In the doorway stood the Sepoy.
+
+"You lie!" he repeated, "you miserable husk, you! You were here one
+evening in my absence, or, at least, what you supposed was my absence,"
+and raising his manacled hands the speaker pointed to the closet. "I was
+there," he said.
+
+"Ah--ah!" faltered Raikes chokingly.
+
+"And now," continued the Sepoy, "let us get to the end of this business.
+It ought to be a simple proceeding. You want three missing bags of gold;
+they will be forthcoming on one condition."
+
+"And what is that?" cried Raikes, beginning to withdraw into himself as
+if he expected a sharp bargain.
+
+"That you leave the details of the transaction in the hands of this
+gentleman," answered the Sepoy, pointing to Gratz. "You had better
+consent," he added as he analyzed the hesitation of the startled Raikes,
+"or I shall describe, with photographic minuteness, all that occurred in
+the few short moments of your visit."
+
+Raikes regarded Gratz helplessly.
+
+During all this conversation the detective had been doing some rapid
+thinking and had decided upon his course, so nodding to Raikes, he said:
+"Leave the matter to me; I will restore your coin to you in the morning.
+See that neither of you leaves the house until then, or speak to a soul
+before I see you."
+
+Whatever objections may have been forming in the mind of the miser were
+quickly dissipated by a look from the Sepoy, and without another word
+Raikes and his nephew departed.
+
+"Well," inquired Gratz, when the two were again alone, "what have you to
+say to me that you do not want Raikes to hear?"
+
+"You will know shortly," replied the Sepoy after a few moments of
+reflection, with his eyes directed upon the handcuffs. "I do not have to
+resort to your elaborate reasoning to discover the nature of your
+profession. These," holding up his hands, "are unmistakable."
+
+"Yes," answered Gratz drily, "they require no trope or metaphor to
+illustrate their application."
+
+"However," continued the Sepoy, "I have just listened to the deductions
+of an unusual acumen for analysis along abstract lines."
+
+Gratz bowed his acknowledgments.
+
+"That is simple," he said, "when there is such a liberal supply of
+data."
+
+"True," responded the Sepoy. "That was an oversight on my part. Still,
+your constructive application, too, is no less convincing."
+
+"But to what does all this lead?" inquired Gratz with a degree of
+impatience. "Suppose we admit that there is an exquisite balance
+maintained between my analysis and my synthesis, and have done with it.
+You have some appeal to make to one or both of these faculties."
+
+"Your penetration is the peer of your reasoning. Listen: Will you do me
+the favor of assuming that your comprehensive resume of a few moments
+ago is all I care to hear on the subject?" asked the Sepoy.
+
+"I understand," replied Gratz.
+
+"Very well, then," continued the Sepoy. "I will extend to you the
+courtesy of offering no denial to anything you have said."
+
+"That," laughed Gratz, "is the height of affability, under the
+circumstances; but proceed."
+
+"Good!" responded the Sepoy. "I have a suggestion to make. It is
+understood, in the first place, that Raikes is to recover his coin; on
+that point he will be fully satisfied. But there still remains the
+recognition of your services to him; you will have more difficulty in
+convincing him of his obligation than you had in persuading me of your
+acumen."
+
+"Ah!" murmured Gratz; "it is coming."
+
+"Are you any judge of brilliants?" inquired the Sepoy abruptly.
+
+"Somewhat," answered Gratz; "I have seen a few in my time."
+
+"Well," continued the Sepoy, "kindly put your hand in my right vest
+pocket and withdraw a small case of shagreen which you will find there."
+
+Gratz obeyed.
+
+"Now," continued the Sepoy, "press the spring."
+
+As Gratz complied with this instruction, the lid of the shagreen case
+flew open and revealed the superb sapphire which had radiated such
+insidious depravity into the mind of the miser.
+
+"What do you think of that?" inquired the Sepoy.
+
+For a moment or so Gratz did not reply. The mastery of its cutting, its
+magnificent bulk, its unrivaled purity overwhelmed him. "I have never
+seen one like it," he said finally, "if it is genuine."
+
+"Oh, you need not doubt it!" exclaimed the Sepoy, "or, if you do, you
+can assure yourself on that point. Now follow me. Six bags of Raikes'
+coin could not buy that."
+
+"You set its value high," suggested Gratz.
+
+"Naturally; its like does not exist. Money has never been able to
+purchase it. There is just one consideration I can accept for it."
+
+"And that?" inquired Gratz as the Sepoy paused.
+
+"A lapse of memory," replied the Sepoy.
+
+"A lapse of memory!" repeated Gratz.
+
+"Yes. Unlock these handcuffs and forget that you have done so."
+
+A sudden irradiation seemed to shoot from the gem. It was the impulse
+communicated by the trembling hand of the detective, who, either to
+conceal the flush that was gradually transforming his pallid face, or
+from his reluctance to remove his gaze, continued to hold the brilliant
+in much the same oblivious regard as that bestowed upon it by the
+unhappy Raikes.
+
+Gratz was having the struggle of his life.
+
+The veins fretted through his temples with frightful distinction; his
+forehead was moist with a profuse perspiration; his breath labored with
+intermittent entrance and egress.
+
+His well-known apathy, his exasperating negation of demeanor, where were
+they now?
+
+Gradually, however, in the manner of disheartened stragglers whipped
+again into the firing line, there shadowed in his expression evidences
+of moral recovery which the Sepoy did not like.
+
+The professional instincts of the detective, reinspired by his better
+nature, were making some very obvious appeals.
+
+The eclat of this singular case beckoned. He seemed to brace himself
+morally and physically as he leaned back in his chair and again looked
+at his desperate companion.
+
+At once the Sepoy, upon whom no vestige of this mental tumult was lost,
+again restored the ebbing temptation to its flood by exclaiming:
+
+"Here is a more convincing reason still," and raising his hands to his
+breast, in order to give the detective easier access to the point
+designated beneath his arms, he said: "Reach into the pocket on the
+left."
+
+For a moment Gratz hesitated. If he had found the first subsidy
+difficult to refuse, how might he resist the second, or, he added to
+himself, with a sort of usurious exaltation, the depravity of the two
+combined?
+
+Curiosity, too, without which no detective is truly fit for his calling,
+moved him, so with the impatient impulse we so often witness when
+rectitude is about to subject itself to the persuasions of the evil one
+for the ostensible purpose of combating them and the private
+determination to yield, Gratz extended a trembling hand toward the
+Sepoy, who had drawn himself to the extreme limit of his sinewy height,
+the better to accommodate his figure to the intent search of the
+detective, and then----
+
+Just as Gratz managed to insert his trembling fingers over the edge of
+the pocket rim, a pair of tense, sinewy hands shot upward and with
+incredible dexterity encircled the throat of the detective.
+
+The surprise was complete.
+
+The hands of the unfortunate man flew out wildly, grasping at nothing,
+and the next instant closed upon the wrists of the Sepoy.
+
+But the recoil was too late. The frightful grasp concentrated its deadly
+pressure.
+
+The livid face of the detective grew purple. His eyes seemed about to
+bulge from their sockets. His grip relaxed from the wrists of his
+antagonist, and then all vigor seemed to vanish from his body, and he
+sank inertly to the floor.
+
+As the malignant Sepoy bestowed the stiffening body upon the carpet, he
+released his horrible clutch upon the detective's throat, and, despite
+his manacles, began with desperate agility to search the silent man's
+waistcoat pockets.
+
+From one futile quest his implacable hands leaped to another, the length
+of chain which held the two handcuffs together rattling an eerie
+accompaniment to his eagerness.
+
+At last he withdrew a tiny key.
+
+Grasping the precious bit of steel in his right hand the Sepoy inserted
+it in the latch-hole of the left manacle; a quick turn, and the steel
+clasp relaxed its obnoxious embrace.
+
+It was but the work of a second to repeat these operations on his right
+arm, and the Sepoy was free.
+
+"Ha!" The breath seemed to whistle from his lungs with one sharp,
+exulting impulse.
+
+He stretched his superb figure to its utmost, and with the smile of a
+re-embodied Lucifer restored the sapphire to its case.
+
+For a brief space he gazed upon the man extended upon the floor, and
+then, urged by some devilish impulse, if one might judge from the
+expression of his countenance, he knelt by the prostrate body and placed
+his ear to the pulseless breast.
+
+The next instant, stimulated, apparently, by some unexpected endorsement
+of a vague possibility, he was upon his feet and had darted to a small
+cabinet near-by.
+
+His hasty foray among its drawers was rewarded with a small bottle, the
+stopper of which he removed.
+
+With a quick motion of the head to escape the full force of the pungent
+odor of ammonia which issued, the Sepoy returned to the unfortunate
+Gratz, and wetting the tip of his handkerchief with a few drops from the
+vial, he passed it gently to and fro under the nostrils of the
+detective.
+
+Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he
+remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.
+
+At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic
+breeze upon the drawn face.
+
+Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time
+from the bottle itself.
+
+The result was startling.
+
+There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic
+throb in the throat.
+
+Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he
+saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining
+attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.
+
+From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping
+the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel
+force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.
+
+There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the
+wrists of the detective.
+
+Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the
+stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room,
+could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and
+unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching
+features.
+
+Again he lifted the uneasy figure and placed it upon the reclining
+chair, into which it collapsed helplessly with a nerveless huddle.
+
+A few minutes more of alternate fan and bottle resulted in the opening
+of the eyes and the utterance of a choking gasp.
+
+Assured now, the Sepoy rushed to the bedroom, threw aside the coverlets
+and possessed himself of one of the sheets.
+
+With the aid of his pocket-knife he ripped this into several lengths,
+with which he returned to the rapidly reviving Gratz.
+
+In his grim struggle for reanimation the firm lines about the mouth of
+the unfortunate man had finally relaxed, and into this ugly opening the
+Sepoy inserted a strip of the sheet and secured it in a rigid knot
+behind the neck of his victim.
+
+With a few dexterous turns and knots he bound the body to the chair with
+the remaining lengths of linen, and hastening to the washstand grasped a
+water pitcher and deluged the face of the now thoroughly awakened Gratz.
+
+From the look in his eyes it was evident that his senses had not only
+fully returned, but that he was perfectly aware of the changed
+conditions and their relative humiliations.
+
+For a moment an expression vaguely suggestive of admiration shadowed
+through the slightly flushed countenance, and the next instant it
+returned to its customary apathy, from which it was not again disturbed
+during the bitter ordeal to which the helpless Gratz was subjected.
+
+"And now," exclaimed the Sepoy with a frightful grin of malice, "I trust
+that your senses are sufficiently restored to receive a farewell
+suggestion or two. You will notice," he went on with evil emphasis,
+"that I say 'farewell suggestions,' for I assure you that you will never
+set eyes on me again.
+
+"A little previous to the change which resulted in your present
+predicament, I extended to you the courtesy of all sorts of tribute to
+your acumen.
+
+"Now--note my liberality--I do not insist upon a reciprocal indorsement
+of my dexterity, since I see"--pointing to the gag which he had inserted
+in the mouth of the detective--"since I see, with deep regret, that you
+have an impediment in your speech.
+
+"I excuse you in advance.
+
+"Still, I cannot resist the temptation of chiding your indifference to
+such a brilliant argument as this," and the Sepoy caused the sapphire
+to scintillate its mocking rebuke into the eyes of the wretched Gratz.
+
+"I must also improve the occasion by calling your attention to the
+reprimand offered by your plight to your curiosity, for you see to what
+a pass it has brought you.
+
+"However, since it would be a malice of which I am incapable not to
+gratify it, I will show you what it was I had in reserve," and the Sepoy
+produced the small shagreen case with which Raikes had been on such
+questionable terms of familiarity, and pressing back the lid revealed
+the splendid diamond to the still impassive Gratz.
+
+With a continuation of his elaborate courtesy and his purposely stilted
+phrasing, the Sepoy said: "If the sapphire was argument, this was
+certainly conviction. The moral barrier which could withstand the
+assault of the first, must, unquestionably, have yielded to the
+insidious attack of the second.
+
+"But since you have managed to place yourself beyond the reach of such
+considerations, I will be compelled to discontinue my futile eloquence
+and leave you to your more mature reflections.
+
+"Observe!" he continued, as he replaced the sapphire in the case and
+restored the latter to the right-hand pocket of his waistcoat, "I place
+the argument in this repository"; and treating the diamond in like
+manner, he deposited that in the left-hand pocket and added: "And place
+the conviction on this side.
+
+"It is not often that one is the embodiment of _belles-lettres_, having
+such details of logic so easily within reach."
+
+During all this travesty of demeanor and phrase, with its tantalizing
+mockery and its crafty insinuation, Gratz had betrayed no emotion
+whatever, nor did his eyes lose one whit of their usual placidity as he
+beheld the Sepoy, with a sort of lithe, animal rapidity, produce a small
+traveling-case from the wardrobe and return with it to the bag of coin
+on the table.
+
+"You see," continued the Sepoy as he was about to deposit the bag in the
+case, "I have left room for this. I anticipated its addition to my
+paraphernalia and made preparations accordingly.
+
+"Notice how neatly it fits in. And now I offer you my sympathy for the
+miscarriage of your plans.
+
+"This, to a man of sentiment and enterprise, is always obnoxious. I feel
+myself indebted to you for some exceedingly intelligent mental
+processes, and, believe me, I part with you with a feeling so nearly
+resembling regret that I will not do you the discourtesy of doubting
+that the sentiment is genuine.
+
+"I leave you to make explanations to your clients in whatsoever way you
+may see fit. I salute you!" and the next instant the Sepoy had slipped
+through the doorway into the hall, along which he hurried until he
+reached the main entrance of the house.
+
+To make his way through this into the vestibule and thence into the
+street was the work of the next few moments, and with a grin of
+malicious triumph he descended the steps which led to the pave.
+
+Scarcely had his feet touched the ground when a man from either side of
+the stone balustrade stepped out, and each grasped an arm of the
+scowling Sepoy.
+
+"A moment, please!" exclaimed one of the men, as he snapped back the
+shield of a small lantern he carried and directed its searching light
+into the distorted countenance.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed his captor to the fellow on the other side of the
+prisoner, "this is the chap, Tom."
+
+"Now, mister, you can walk back. Not a word; you may be all right and we
+may be all wrong; it can soon be settled in there."
+
+"One question, please," begged the Sepoy. "Who are you? By what right do
+you detain me?"
+
+"One at a time, mister," replied the man with the lantern. "There's a
+man inside who can answer these questions for you."
+
+A sudden light penetrated the mind of the Sepoy. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "I
+understand."
+
+"That's good, mister; it will save a deal of explanation."
+
+"These men, then," muttered the Sepoy to himself, "are the subordinates
+of the detective within."
+
+At that moment the moon slipped out from behind a mask of cloud and
+silhouetted the three.
+
+By its light the prisoner examined the grim countenances before him.
+"Surely," he decided, "there is nothing in these features to indicate a
+strenuous moral objection to the bribery of the contents of my
+traveling-case," and at the thought of the absurd discrepancy between
+his present predicament and the cynical altitudes of a short time since,
+and as he considered the humiliation awaiting him when he was compelled
+once more to face the detective, he decided to venture on another
+attempt to purchase his freedom.
+
+With this thought he was about to place the case he carried on the
+ground, when one of the men, remarking his movement and mistaking its
+purpose, cried: "Here; none of that!"
+
+"But," expostulated the Sepoy, "you do not----"
+
+"Shut up!" replied the fellow coarsely. "Come inside and show us where
+you have left the chief. You here, the boss in there--something's
+wrong."
+
+With a muttered curse, and urged by no ceremonious hands, the Sepoy
+reascended the steps.
+
+Having in his haste to escape neglected to latch the doors, the raging
+Sepoy had no difficulty in conducting his captors along the hallway to
+his room.
+
+In a few moments this strangely assorted trio reached the apartment in
+which the Sepoy had but a short time before disported himself, so to
+speak, with such waspish reprisal, and delivered such a farrago of
+ridicule and cynicism upon the defenseless head of the silent figure
+bound to the chair.
+
+At sight of this extraordinary spectacle the two understrappers came to
+a standstill and looked upon the Sepoy with a species of respect.
+
+Never before had they beheld their chief in such a predicament; the
+means of its accomplishment must have been amazingly clever, and the
+agent himself somewhat of a marvel.
+
+However, while one of the men stood guard over the Sepoy, with a renewal
+of his watchfulness awakened by what he saw, the other proceeded to
+unfasten the gag and remove the strips which bound the unfortunate
+Gratz.
+
+After a pause of inscrutable regard of the Sepoy, who, despite the
+embarrassing denouement, managed to maintain a fair degree of composure,
+Gratz, addressing the man who had released him, said:
+
+"You will find the key of these handcuffs on the table yonder."
+
+Obedient to the direction of the detective's glance, the man proceeded
+to the table, found the object of his quest, and inserting it in the
+handcuffs detached them from the hands of the still impassive Gratz.
+
+"Now," continued the latter calmly, "I will transfer these ornaments to
+that gentleman. Secure him precisely as you found me, with the exception
+of the gag."
+
+Presently this was done.
+
+At this, turning to his subordinates, the detective said: "Leave me with
+this gentleman for a while; I will call you in case of need."
+
+As the pair passed through the doorway, Gratz, with no intimation of
+triumph or exultation in his manner, addressed the unhappy Sepoy, with
+an emphasis, however, which implied that he had not forgotten the
+experience to which he had been subjected.
+
+"And _now_ what have you to say?"
+
+The Sepoy looked his questioner directly in the eyes, with a glance that
+was subtle in its insinuation and eloquent of collusive suggestion, and
+replied:
+
+"The sapphire is still in my right waistcoat pocket, and the diamond in
+the left."
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+
+As the beautiful reader reached this singular conclusion, which came
+with an abruptness that indicated the decrepit imagination of the author
+and his overworked vocabulary, she looked up from the absurd vehicle of
+all this hectic style and incident and beheld in the eyes of her auditor
+a suggestion of the light that is indigenous to neither land nor sea.
+
+To Dennis, who had in his composition the material of a poet, if not the
+finish, the melodious intonations of the widow had seemed like the
+incongruous orchestration of birds in the treetops to some minor
+tragedy among the denizens of the underbrush.
+
+Her elocution was exquisite and provided the bizarre narrative with a
+refinement which contrasted with its crudities, like Valenciennes lace
+on a background of calico.
+
+"Well," she said smilingly, after she had subjected his ingenuous glance
+to the rapid analysis of her intuition, with a satisfaction which it
+startled her to recognize, "what do you think of it?"
+
+"Is that the end?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Yes, it is the end."
+
+With a shade of emphasis, intended by Dennis to indicate that the words
+of the reply of the widow were suggestive of other finalities which he
+did not like to consider, he said:
+
+"That is no end; it looks to me as though the author has struck his
+limits."
+
+"No," objected the widow, "I fancy that he has left the subject open so
+that the reader can solve the riddle in his own way."
+
+"There is no riddle!" exclaimed Dennis.
+
+"No?" inquired the widow; "and that splendid sapphire, that magnificent
+diamond to tempt the detective?"
+
+"They will not tempt him," said Dennis with simple conviction and a
+degree of feeling that might lead one to suppose that he was an
+indispensable element in the situation. "He will recollect his
+professional pride; he will remember that he is a man."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the widow with an indescribable intonation.
+
+"Don't you think that I am right?" asked Dennis.
+
+"Yes," replied his companion with a pronounced emphasis on the personal
+pronoun which followed, "yes, _you_ are right"; and as she considered
+the frank revelation of character in his reply and contrasted it with
+the possible disclosures of similar situations among the majority of men
+she knew, she added:
+
+"I am glad that we have read the story."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Flaw in the Sapphire, by Charles M. Snyder
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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