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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-07 09:44:56 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-07 09:44:56 -0800 |
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diff --git a/old/54888-h/54888-h.htm b/old/54888-h/54888-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 87dcb0d..0000000 --- a/old/54888-h/54888-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10446 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title>The Clock and the Key, by Arthur Henry Vesey</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } - h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.4em; } - h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em; } - .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; - text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; - border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } - p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } - .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } - .large { font-size: large; } - .xxlarge { font-size: xx-large; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-b { clear: both; } } - .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: left; } - @media handheld { .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } } - .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } - .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } - div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } - div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } - hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } - @media handheld { hr.pb { display: none; } } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } - .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } - .id001 { width:60%; } - .id002 { width:75px; } - @media handheld { .id001 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id002 { margin-left:45%; width:10%; } } - .ig001 { width:100%; } - .table0 { margin: auto; width: 90%; } - .nf-center { text-align: center; } - .nf-center-c0 { text-align: left; margin: 0.5em 0; } - .c000 { margin-top: 1em; } - .c001 { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.0em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c002 { margin-top: 4em; } - .c003 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em; } - .c004 { margin-top: 2em; } - .c005 { text-indent: 5.56%; margin-top: 0.0em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c006 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 45%; width: 10%; margin-right: 45%; - margin-top: 2em; } - .c007 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 4em; } - .c008 { margin-top: 2em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c009 { margin-top: 1em; font-size: 95%; } - .c010 { margin-top: 1em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c011 { vertical-align: top; text-align: left; padding-right: 1em; } - .c012 { vertical-align: top; text-align: left; } - a:link { text-decoration: none; } - div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; - border:1px solid silver; margin:1em 5% 0 5%; text-align: justify; } - .blackletter { font-family: "Old English Text MT", Gothic, serif; } - .epubonly {visibility: hidden; display: none; } - @media handheld { .epubonly { visibility: visible; display: inline; } } - .htmlonly {visibility: visible; display: inline; } - @media handheld { .htmlonly { visibility: hidden; display: none; } } - ins.correction { text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray; } - .quote { font-size: 95%; margin-top: 1.0em; margin-bottom: 1.0em; } - .linegroup .group { margin: 0em auto; } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Clock and the Key, by Arthur Henry Vesey - -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/license - - -Title: The Clock and the Key - -Author: Arthur Henry Vesey - -Release Date: June 11, 2017 [EBook #54888] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CLOCK AND THE KEY *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are -linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A few minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The cover image has been repaired to remove a library sticker that -obscured the beginning of the first words of the title. The leading -T was wholly obscured and could not be copied from the visible -characters, so its form is speculative.</p> - -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Those corrections are indicated using an <ins class='correction' title='original'>underline</ins> -highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the -original text in a small popup.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='epubonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Those corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the -reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the -note at the end of the text.</p> - -</div> - -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'>THE CLOCK AND THE KEY</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c003'>THE CLOCK AND <br /> THE KEY</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>BY</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'>ARTHUR HENRY VESEY</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>AUTHOR OF “A CHEQUE FOR THREE THOUSAND”</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>“A PEDIGREE IN PAWN,” ETC.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i003.jpg' alt='colophon' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>NEW YORK</div> - <div>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</div> - <div>1905</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1905, by</span></span></div> - <div>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'><span class='small'><i>Published February, 1905</i></span></p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>TO</div> - <div><span class="blackletter">M. B. L.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h1 class='c003'>THE CLOCK AND THE KEY</h1> -</div> - -<hr class='c006' /> -<div> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER I</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Our gondola, far out on the lagoon, hardly -moved. But neither Jacqueline nor I, under the -red and white striped awning, cared much, and -Pietro even dared to light a cigarette.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Silver-gray dome, campanile, and spire -gleamed through the golden haze that hung over -the enchanted city. A great stillness was over -all–only the ripple of Pietro’s lazy oar, and -faintly, very faintly, bells chiming.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have dreamed of it,” said Jacqueline. -“Only the dreams were such futile things compared -with the reality. I close my eyes. I open -them quickly. I am afraid it will all be blown -away, vanish in a single moment. But there it -is, your dear, dear Venice–the green garden -away up there; the white Riva, basking in the -sunlight; the rosy palace; and the red and orange -sails, drifting slowly along. We shall return to -the Piazza presently, and St. Mark’s will be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>there, and the pigeons, and the white palaces. -Oh, there is not a false note to destroy the perfect -charm of Venice, not one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I aroused myself. While Jacqueline had been -intoxicated with the beauty of Venice, I had been -intoxicated with the beauty of Jacqueline. I -must say something, and something prosaic, or I -should be forgetting myself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, favored of the gods,” I murmured, “to -be dead to unpleasant sights and sounds. And -yet, not in Paradise, not even in this Paradise, -are they quite shut out. Look, there is a penny -steamer making its blatant way from the Molo -to the Giudecca. And that far-off rumble is the -express crossing the long bridge from Mestre. -And, whew, that’s the twelve-o’clock whistle at -the Arsenal. There you have three notes of -progress and civilization in this city of dead -dreams and dead hopes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline turned in her seat and looked at me -curiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Richard, will you answer me one -question?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gladly, if it is not too difficult. But don’t -forget, Jacqueline, Venice is not exactly an intellectual -center.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then tell me, please, why it is that when you -were in New York, hardly two months ago, you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>talked so charmingly of your Venetian skies and -still lagoons that you quite made me long for -them. But now, when I am at last under one of -your wonderful skies and on your wonderful -lagoon, instead of helping me to love it all, and -sympathizing with me, you insist on the horrible -things that clash–things I would so gladly forget -for the happy moment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because,” I answered gravely, “I must not -allow myself to forget that one happy moment is -not a lifetime.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, I don’t understand you.“</p> - -<p class='c001'>She looked at me frankly–too frankly–that -was the trouble. I hesitated. In spite of the -flimsy excuses her aunt had suspiciously erected, -I had brought Jacqueline alone with me here to -tell her why I must not allow myself to love her; -and, I may add, to hear her laugh to delicious -scorn my reasons. And yet I hesitated. Sometimes -I felt she cared for me. But if I answered -her question truthfully, I risked a cruel awakening.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know how long I have been living in -Venice?” I asked presently, with apparent -irrelevance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Three years, is it not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is a long time to be dreaming and loafing, -isn’t it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>“Yes.” Her eyes looked gravely out on the -lagoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And it seems to you hardly a manly, strenuous -life for a man of–shall we say–thirty years -of age, to spend three years rocking himself to -sleep, as it were, in a gondola?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” she laughed nervously; “hardly a -strenuous life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Such a life as that,” I persisted, “must contrast -rather unfavorably with the lives of men -you know in New York, for example?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose one may spend one’s life well even -here in Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I laughed rather bitterly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One gets up at ten,” I murmured. “One has -coffee in bed, and dawdles over the papers. A -gentle, gentle walk till twelve–to the garden, -perhaps–oh, you can walk miles in Venice, -though most tourists think not. At twelve, breakfast -at Florian’s on the Piazza. A long smoke, -perhaps a row to the Lido and a swim, if it is -summer. At five another long smoke and incidentally -a long drink on the Piazza again, and -the band. At seven, dinner at the Grundewald, -a momentous affair, when one hesitates ten minutes -over the menu. Then another long smoke -out in the lagoon, under the stars, with the lights -of Venice in the distance, and in the distance, too, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>the herd of tourists, splitting their gloves in ecstasy -over the efforts of the tenor robusto under -the balconies of the Grand Hotel. And then, -wicked, dreamless slumber. The next morning, -the same thing over again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline gasped. She looked at me with a -curious intentness, and I was uneasy under her -gaze. I knew she was noting quite ruthlessly that -I was getting fat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is difficult to keep quite fit in Venice,” I -pleaded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you really have done that for three -years,” she said at last, almost in admiration. -It was as if I were a strange animal doing clever -tricks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For three years, barring flights to New York -and London in January and February, and a few -weeks in the Tyrol during July and August,” I -answered steadily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you really like it?” she asked, still wonderingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can never imagine myself liking it again. -I have despised myself since last Tuesday.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since last Tuesday!” she echoed, and then -blushed. It was on Tuesday that Jacqueline and -her aunt had arrived in Venice. “But you are -not answering my first question.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am answering it in a roundabout way,” I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>replied dreamily. Then quite abruptly, “You -didn’t know me until I was at Oxford, did you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was sent to Eton when I was a sickly, timid -little chap of fourteen. I had had a lonely life -of it in New York. My mother was so afraid I -should have a good time like other boys, and -shout and play and talk with an American accent, -that she chained me to a priggish English tutor, -who took me for solemn walks in the park for -recreation. I was hardly any better off than the -pale-faced little idiots you see marching about -Rome and Palermo two by two, dressed up in -ridiculous uniforms of broadcloth, and carrying -canes–not so well off, for there are many of -them, and only one slovenly priest. But my -keeper had me all to himself. Think of it, I never -held a baseball in my little fist. Imagine that -kind of a youngster set down in the midst of half -a thousand lusty young English schoolboys, and -an American at that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor little homesick boy,” she murmured. -“And then?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Just five years of being shunned and moping -and long solitary rows on the river, and -dreams bad for a boy of my years–just a long -stretch of that sort of thing, that was my life at -the public school.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>“At Oxford it was pretty much the same. I -pulled through in a listless sort of fashion and -got my degree. But the habits of boyhood told -now. I found it harder than ever to get into -things. I found myself more and more the mere -spectator of life–not a happy existence, nor a -good foundation for an American to begin the -duties of life with.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should think not,” said Jacqueline severely. -If she had pity for the lonely little boy, she had -no mercy for the man. “And so because you -idled through college and liked it, you came here -to Venice to idle away the rest of your life?” -she asked with some scorn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, it was hardly so deliberate as that,” I -said patiently. “No, I went back to America, -and for the first time came face to face with my -father. At least it was the first time that he -had taken the trouble to speak to me in a heart-to-heart -sort of way. You know my father well, -so I needn’t expatiate on his virtues.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline smiled. But no malice hovered on -her lips as on mine. American women are supposed -to demand much of their husbands and -fathers. But at least they respect the husbands -and fathers who toil that they may play. So -she answered primly:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have always found your father a most interesting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>man, I know he loves you in his way. -That you have so little ambition is the bitter disappointment -of his life. He has often spoken of -you to me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes,” I said hurriedly, “no doubt he -loves me in his own fashion. But we hardly understand -each other. The morning after I landed -from England, after I had taken my degree, he -called me into his office and asked me without -any preliminaries what I thought I was fit for. -I told him that I really hadn’t any idea. He -thumped his great fist on his desk and roared: -‘So far, young man, your mother has had her -turn. She’s mammied you, and made a fool of -you with your English education and English -accent. Now it’s my turn. Go back to Germany. -Stay there two years and come back a chemist. -I want you to help me in the factory.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never dreamed of opposing him. I was -rather relieved to get out of his presence. So I -took the check that he handed to me, and shook -him dutifully by the hand. ‘Good-by,’ he said, -‘and when I say a chemist, I mean a good chemist. -If you aren’t that, you needn’t bother to -come back at all.’ The next morning I engaged -passage for Bremen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The rest I know about,” said Jacqueline -looking at her watch.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>“I dare say, only I should like you to understand -it from my point of view. I went to Berlin. -My name was entered on the roll of students -of the university. I drank a lot of beer, but -I studied very little chemistry. At the end of -my two years’ probation, I began to think with -apprehension of my father’s parting words: -‘And a good chemist, or you needn’t trouble to -come back.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And then, one day, when I was quite at a -loss what to do, I received word that my mother -had died suddenly. She left me a small fortune.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I dreaded more than ever to return to my -father. Why should I? I began to ask myself. -Why should I? echoed my one friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This friend was a wizened, eccentric, boastful -little man, but with an undying enthusiasm -for the rare and the beautiful. He spoke cunning -words to entice me: ‘Your father’s idea of -a successful life is one of work and yet more -work–of tasks and habits that bind one more -and more inexorably as the years go on. This -is not success at all, but the direst failure. A -life made up of habits and tasks that safely -steer one through one’s existence, minute by minute, -is a life with all the excitement and keen delight -and ecstasy left out. To live such a life is -to be a machine and no man.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>“‘Come,’ he said, ‘with me to Venice. I will -show you how to live. Why should you go back -to America and the hideous? There are millions -of fools to labor doggedly–to keep the world -a-going–why should you be dragged into the -ranks of the slaves to the lash? There are thousands -to agonize and strive, to create the beautiful–and -to fail, terribly. Why should you be -dragged into the ranks of those slaves to an ideal? -There are hundreds to make the world better. -Why should you be a slave to conscience? But -there are so few to make a fine art of living. Be -one of them. Enjoy perfectly. Enjoy wisely. -Life may be for you something so rare and beautiful -that the horrible and the vulgar shall not -exist for you.’ I listened to him. I came to -Venice. Here I am.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is something rather fine about it all,” -said Jacqueline wistfully. “But there’s sophistry -somewhere. And it seems brutally selfish.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sophistry! Selfish! How subtle the sophistry -and selfishness I alone can tell. Dear Jacqueline, -I had left one thing out of my calculations -in building this fool’s paradise.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that?” Jacqueline looked troubled. I -know she pitied me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I had forgotten that one may love.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I leaned over toward her. Regardless of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>Pietro, who, I knew, was squinting through the -red and white striped awning, I took her hand. -“Dear Jacqueline, do you think that it is too -late for me to begin again?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline was silent. She withdrew her hand -gently. I had felt it tremble in mine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you see now that I am answering your -question?” I asked. “When I was in New York, -and knew at last that I should always love you, I -had to keep reminding myself that <em>this</em> was my -world. I had set before myself an ideal. I must -be faithful to it. So, now, when you are in Venice, -I have tried to remind myself just as strongly -that you come from the world of the penny steamboat -and factory–a workaday world–a relentless -world. In that world men tear and rend one -another for a name, for a position. Each one is -for himself, ruthless of others, unscrupulous -often. Each one strives madly for something -that is just out of his reach. That is the world -you come from. I have reminded myself of it -over and over. But it’s no use. I can’t keep -silent. I must speak. Jacqueline, I love you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She sat motionless. Her eyes looked out on -the lagoon. Then she clasped her knees, and -looked at me with a curious intentness. When -she did speak, it was so slowly, so decisively that -her words sounded like an inexorable fate.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>“My dear Richard, you are an extraordinary -man. You are one of the rare specimens who -hold a perfectly impossible ideal. When you fail -to attain that ideal, you frankly abandon yourself -to materialism–a materialism that smothers -you. You have not even attempted to play -the man. It is incredible that you should deliberately -lay yourself down to loll on a flowery bed -of ease for three years. Your very last words -about my poor world show how great a gulf is -fixed between you and me. Yes, I am of that -world. I glory in it. But you sneer at the very -qualities you lack. That is so easy, and, forgive -me, so weak. You call my poor world ruthless. -But often ruthlessness, yes, and unscrupulousness -even, go with strength. The man I love must -have a touch of this relentlessness you despise. -Better that he be unscrupulous than weak. And -as for patience, surely to be greatly patient is to -be greatly strong. But you, my dear Dick, you -area piece of bric-à-brac, you and your ideals. -You should be under a glass case. You are too -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>précieux</em></span> for the struggle in the world you shrink -from. Return your love? Impossible. You -have done nothing to deserve it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I could not speak. She had told me the truth. -Presently she looked at me. Then she touched -my arm lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>“I have hurt you,” she pleaded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, why not?” I answered roughly. “It -is the truth. But, Jacqueline, is your answer -quite final? If I plunge into this struggle–if -I show you that I too can strive and achieve -things for the woman I love, if not for myself, -will you let me tell you again that I love -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can the leopard change his spots?” she asked -lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That remains to be seen. Let me prove to -you that I am not merely the dilettante that you -see on the surface. If I have not cared to succeed -before, perhaps it was because there was -nothing or no one to work for. If I show you -that I really have those qualities that you demand -and think I lack, will you let me tell you again -that I love you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What could you do to show that?” asked -Jacqueline softly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I could go back to New York to-morrow. I -could join my father in business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To New York to-morrow!” she said in -dismay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” I cried joyously. I had caught the note -of dismay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I dare not advise you to do that. I could -not take that responsibility unless I loved you. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>I do not love you. But if you are not fitted for -business, you would surely fail.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would you discourage me in the attempt to -do what you have condemned me for not doing?” -I asked with impatience.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It may be that here in Venice is a task.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In Venice? Impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You told me the other day that you had once -thought of writing up the legends of Venice. -You said they had really never been done well. -Why not attempt that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, that!” I exclaimed discontentedly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And why not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It must be an entire change of life–of habits -and ambition and tastes. Why not attempt something -big while I am about it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Richard,” insisted Jacqueline gently, -“it makes no difference how obscure one’s -task is. It may be even a useless task, only one -must show patience and strength in the performance -of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline, you are giving me hope.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She held up her gloved hand, smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I give you no hope. Nor do I give you -reason to despair. I do not love you, now. I -could not love such a one as you. Whether I -could love you if you were different–if you had -ambition and stamina–I can not tell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>“I shall yet make you love me, Jacqueline.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our eyes met for one instant, then hers fell -before my steady gaze.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you please tell the gondolier to row -faster? I shall be late for luncheon, and I have -an appointment at three.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I sha’n’t see you this afternoon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps. If you care to accompany my -aunt and myself on a little expedition.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall be delighted. And where?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To an old Venetian palace on the Grand -Canal. We are to inspect it from garret to basement. -A dealer in antiquities is to take us there. -He is to buy the contents of the palace as they -stand. You know my aunt, Mrs. Gordon, is never -so happy as when buying some useless piece of -bric-à-brac.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Beware of the dealer in bric-à-brac here in -Venice. He is a Jew, your dealer–be sure of -that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, no, he is not. Aunt and I know him well. -He is an American.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“His name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“St. Hilary. He has an immense shop on -Fifth Avenue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“St. Hilary!” I exclaimed, “and he is here -in Venice!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“Why, this St. Hilary is the man I told you -of,” I answered slowly, “who first charmed me -into coming to Venice. He is responsible for my -wasting these past three years. I feel a grudge -against him for that. He owes me some reparation. -Yes; I shall be interested in seeing your -palace with St. Hilary as guide. When shall I -meet you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Outside Florian’s, on the Piazza at three. -But you have not yet aroused your gondolier.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I poked Pietro with my walking-stick. Pietro -flung away his cigarette and bent to his oar. The -gondola, like a thing of life, leaped joyously -toward the Molo.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER II</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>My rooms were in a wonderful old palace in -the unfashionable quarter of the Giudecca. -From the windows, precisely opposite the Salute, -I had the finest view in Venice. That made them -worth while. But the principal charm of the -location for me lay in the fact that here the -ubiquitous tripper rarely puts foot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At a quarter to three I boarded a penny steamer -from the Fondamenta della Croce, the broad -sunny quay in front of my palace, and crossed -over to the Molo. It was the first time in three -years that I had used this humble craft. The -penny steamer, be it understood, was a part of -the new <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>régime</em></span>. It stood for hustle and democratic -haste, the qualities in which dear Jacqueline -had found me so sadly lacking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It gave me an immense satisfaction–this little -voyage. I paid my soldo to the shabby, uniformed -conductor; I watched him uncurl the rope -from the post; I heard the steersman shout down -his hollow tube the directions to the engineer in -his cubby-hole below; I seated myself between -an unshaven priest and a frowsy old woman -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>with a basket of eels; and it all appealed to me -as fresh and interesting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The world was very bright that afternoon. -The sky had never seemed so blue. There was -something for me to do–what, I did not know -precisely (for I had not taken Jacqueline’s suggestion -very seriously), but somewhere I should -find my task, and so win Jacqueline’s complete -love and regard. In the meanwhile I was to -see her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I leaped ashore, the first of the passengers, and -walked briskly across the Piazzetta. I saw them -immediately at one of the little black tables outside -of Florian’s–St. Hilary in the center, and -Mrs. Gordon and Jacqueline on either side. -St. Hilary was talking–as usual.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He evinced no surprise at seeing me. That -was not his way. He did not even shake hands. -He merely saluted me with his rattan cane, and -continued to talk–as usual.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then it is the beauty of Venice that impresses -you both?” he was saying. “The beauty! I am -weary of the cry. Let me tell you that there -is something infinitely more appealing to one -than beauty in Venice, if one knows precisely how -to look for it and where.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what is that?” asked Mrs. Gordon, as -St. Hilary paused.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>“It is its mystery,” he said impressively.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Its mystery!” repeated vaguely Jacqueline’s -aunt. “And why its mystery?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Listen. I wish you to understand. It is -night. You are quite alone–you and your gondolier. -And it is late–very late. All Venice is -asleep. You drift slowly down the Grand Canal. -You hear nothing but the weird cry, ‘<em>stai-li oh</em>,’ -as a gondolier approaches a corner. Above are -the stars, and in the dark waters about you are -stars–a thousand of them–reflected in a thousand -rivulets. On this side and on that–dumb -as the dead–are the despoiled palaces. They -suffer in silence. They are desecrated. Their -glory is departed. Some of them are lodging-houses, -a glass-factory, a post-office, a shop of -cheap and false antiquities. But Pesaro and -Contarini once dwelt in them. Titian and Giorgione -adorned their walls. Within was the splendor -of the Renaissance–cloth of gold–priceless -tapestries–bronzes–pictures–treasures of -the East–of Constantinople, of far-off Tartary. -Everything of beauty in the whole world -found its way at some time within those barred -gates.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But where is it now–all that treasure, that -beauty? Has every temple been ravaged? Has -the vandal prowled in the very holy of holies? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>Are only the bare walls left? Only the very skeletons -of all that pride of the flesh? Or, somewhere, -hidden perhaps centuries ago–in some -dark cranny–in some secret chamber–is there -some forgotten masterpiece–some beauty of cunning -hand, some jewel patiently waiting for one -to pluck it from its obscurity? There must be. -I know there is. Do you hear? I say I <em>know</em>. -There, madame, you have for me the mystery of -Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For you,” placidly replied Mrs. Gordon, -“simply because you are a dealer in antiquities. -But why is Venice in that regard more mysterious -than other great cities?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I thought Mrs. Gordon right. St. Hilary’s -enthusiasm was far-fetched. The dapper little -man, with his black, snapping eyes, his face the -color of parchment, and lined as the palm of one’s -hand, agile as a puppet on strings, neat as a -tailor’s model, was in earnest, absurdly in earnest, -in this idle, quaint fancy of his.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps so,” he sighed. “Say that it is the -passion of the collector that talks and not the -sober judgment of the dealer. And yet, and yet, -it is this hope that sends me to impossible places -in Persia, to Burma. Yes; it has brought me -now to Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To Venice!” I cried, astonished. “You -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>allow yourself to be mastered by a whim, as -vague, as visionary as this?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Hume, perhaps this whim, as you -call it, is not vague or visionary to me,” he replied -quietly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But,” I expostulated, “you have no proofs -of your treasure. Why is it not behind the glass -cases in St. Mark’s yonder? Why are not your -canvases in the museums? Why are not your -antiquities in the shops?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He looked at me with a strangely thoughtful -expression.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What we have never had we do not miss,” -he mused. “No one missed the Venus de Milo, -or the Frieze of the Parthenon, or the Kohinoor. -Yet we call them to-day three of the wonders of -the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because there are but three of them,” I said -<a id='corr21.19'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='impatiently'>impatiently.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_21.19'><ins class='correction' title='impatiently'>impatiently.</ins></a></span> “I am afraid you must look far -and wide before you find the lucky fourth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No doubt,” he said indifferently, “no doubt.” -And then with apparent irrelevance, “Now one -would not think that crowns were so easily -lost.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And have they been?” I asked curiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only the other day eight were found at one -digging, not far from Toledo. They had been -lost for a thousand years. There was a find for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>you. Then the crown of the Emperor of Austria, -the holy crown, the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>szenta korona</em></span>, has been -lost and found no less than three times. The -last time (not half a century ago) it disappeared -after the defeat of Kossuth. Some said it had -been taken to London; some, that it was broken -up and the jewels sold in Constantinople. But -for a few florins a peasant returned it as mysteriously -as it had disappeared. Foolish peasant!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. St. Hilary,” expostulated Mrs. Gordon -severely, “you would not have had him do -otherwise?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose not. But upon my word, sometimes -I think that one might as well go in for big -things as for little. There is the <em>Gnaga Boh</em>, -the Dragon Lord, the most perfect ruby in the -world. A half-witted creature, the widow of -King Theebaw, wears it. We are great friends, -that old hag and I, and I could have stolen it -from her a thousand times. Some day perhaps -she will give it to me. And that notorious Indian -prince, Gwaikor of Baroda, has half a dozen -stones of price. He, too, is a crony of mine. -Nothing would be easier than to steal one of -them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Mr. St. Hilary,” again interrupted -Mrs. Gordon, “surely you do not contemplate -burglary?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>“That is precisely the trouble,” he complained -mournfully, “I have a conscience. But findings -are certainly keepings.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, but it must be so difficult to find one’s -findings,” said Jacqueline quaintly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not always. Have you never heard how the -Hermes of Praxiteles was discovered?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She shook her head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pausanias, an old Greek historian, wrote of -that statue about a thousand years ago–how he -had seen it at Olympia. There was the passage -for all the world to read. He wrote precisely -what there was to dig for–precisely where one -was to dig. But did any one believe him? Not for -a thousand years. But when, after a thousand -years, a party of Germans made up their minds -that perhaps there was something in the story, -and dug in Olympia as he told them, there was -their Hermes waiting for them. You see one -may have information as to where lies one’s -treasure sometimes. But so few of us have -faith.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And have you your information as well as -your abundant faith, St. Hilary?” I inquired -with mock solicitude.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this idle question, his heavily lidded eyes -opened wide. The pupils dilated. A challenge -flashed from their blue depths. I stared at him. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>But almost immediately the heavy lids drooped -again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All this is extremely interesting, Mr. St. -Hilary,” said Jacqueline. “But is it not rather -wide from our Venetian palace? Why do we -wait?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Simply, my dear young lady, because the -owner happens to be of a religious turn of mind; -and at this moment, I believe, is confessing his -sins in San Marco’s yonder.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who is the owner of the palace?” inquired -Mrs. Gordon. “And why does he wish to sell its -contents?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The owner is a duke, the Duca da Sestos, and -he wishes to sell because he is as impecunious -as the rest of his tribe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A duke!” cried Mrs. Gordon. “How interesting! -And what kind of a duke is this gentleman?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of the very flower of the Italian nobility. He -is a prince of good fellows, a dashing cavalier, -handsome as a young god, and twenty-six.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How <em>very</em> interesting,” repeated Mrs. Gordon, -and looked at Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The look troubled me. Jacqueline herself -seemed annoyed at it. She turned to St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And have you any other treasures up your -sleeve, Mr. St. Hilary?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>“My dear young lady, shall I give you an inventory -of one collection I know about? I promise -to make all your mouths water.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To begin with, there is a balas-ruby, known -as El Spigo, or the ear of corn. In the fifteenth -century it was valued at the enormous sum of -two hundred and fifty thousand ducats. Then -there is the jewel, El Lupo, the wolf. It is one -large diamond and three pearls. These two -stones would take the eye of the vulgar. But -imagine a beryl, twice as big as your thumb-nail, -and on it the portrait of the pope, Clement VII, -carved by none other than the great Cellini.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will buy it at any price,” cried Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then,” continued St. Hilary, touching his -forefinger lightly, “there is a pale-red ruby. The -stone is indifferent. But it is a cameo, and the -likeness carved on it is that of Ludovico Il Moro, -the Duke of Milan. Domenico de’ Camei is the -artist, and they called him de’ Camei because he -was the greatest carver of cameos in the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is mine,” said Mrs. Gordon, her eyes on -San Marco.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To continue, there is a turquoise cameo, half -as large as the palm of your hand, and on it -is carved the Triumph of Augustus. Thirty -figures are on that stone. There is an Isis head -in malachite. The only other to compare with it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>is in the Hermitage collection at St. Petersburg. -Few portraits of Beatrice d’Este exist. One of -them is carved on one of my stones, and is known -as a diamond portrait. Imagine a thin plate of -diamonds, evenly polished on both sides with -little facets on the edges. The diamonds make, -as it were, the glass frame of the portrait itself, -which is carved on lapis lazuli by the great Ambrosius -Caradossa.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That,” I interrupted, “must be mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must not forget two curious poison-rings–one -with a sliding panel; the other, still more -dangerous, a lion with sharp claws–the claws -hollowed and communicating with a small poison-receptacle. -We must be careful how we finger -that ring when we take our treasure out of the -casket. Yes; and the casket itself is worth looking -at. By an ingenious system of clockwork, -the cover could not be opened in less than twelve -hours.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And where, where are all these treasures?” -demanded Mrs. Gordon, taking her eyes from -the cathedral for the moment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear lady, so far as I know, they are -here in Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In Venice!” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, unfortunately, they disappeared nearly -five hundred years ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>There was a chorus of disappointment and -reproaches. Mrs. Gordon again impatiently -turned her attention to San Marco.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And there is absolutely no clue to them?” -demanded Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No clue, dear lady,” he murmured, spreading -wide his hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But at least tell us whose the gems were?” -I asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes, that at least I can tell you. The gems -belonged to Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan -and wife of Ludovico Il Moro. She pawned -them to the Doge of Venice to raise money for -her husband’s army.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And they have absolutely disappeared?” I -insisted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As if they had never existed. But they do -exist, and here in Venice. Think of it! In -Venice. And now, perhaps, my dear Hume, you -can understand the fascination of Venice for me.” -He sighed deeply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why are you reminded of them so -particularly this afternoon?” I persisted curiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because we are going to see the box that is -said to have contained the casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In the palace of our duke?” asked Jacqueline’s -aunt.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>St. Hilary bowed. “In the palace of our duke, -madame.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how did it come there?” I asked in my -turn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is said that the duke’s ancestor, a great -goldsmith in Venice––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He ended his sentence abruptly. “Here comes -our duke,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked up. The dealer in antiquities had not -exaggerated his charms. He was tall. His figure -was as noble as his carriage. His hand rested -lightly on his sword-hilt. His bold eyes, of a -piercing blue, searched Jacqueline’s lovely face. -He had the all-conquering air of a young god. -His eyes wandered to mine. We looked steadily -at each other. We measured each other. Instinctively -I distrusted him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary made the introductions. “I have -asked my friends to go with me. I have not taken -too great a liberty?” he said in French.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all,” assured the duke. “I am only -sorry I have kept the ladies waiting. My launch -is waiting at the Molo. Shall we go at once?”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER III</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The Palazzo da Sestos was for many years -one of the sights of the Grand Canal. It is not -more beautiful than a score of others. Its sole -distinction lay in the fact that its faded green -shutters had been barred for something more -than half a century. Other palaces are closed -for a year–for ten years. But for fifty years no -butcher or baker boy had pulled the rusty bell-rope -at the little rear street–no gondola had -paused at its moss-grown steps. It had acquired -something of mystery. It was pointed out to the -tourist as inevitably as the glass-factory of Salviati.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But to-day the wide iron gates stood open. -The steam-launch swept between the palace steps -and the huge spiles, still proud in their very -decrepitude, crowned with the corno and adorned -with the da Sestos coat of arms. A servant, shaking -and bobbing his white old head, stood on the -marble steps that dipped down to the water.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We entered the echoing hall, and an indescribable -odor of damp mortar and dust made us -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>cough. Something scurried across the red and -white marble flags. A bat, blinded by the sudden -light, swirled about the hall in circles. Mrs. -Gordon shivered and clutched the duke’s arm. -Jacqueline gathered up her skirts carefully about -her. There was something unclean and uncanny -about the place.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lofty hall ran through the palace. Beyond -was another iron gate, opening on the garden, -now a wild confusion of clambering grape-vines -and ivy and myrtle, that rioted up the crumbling -walls and choked and twined themselves about -the broken statuary and the yellow-stained well-curb. -On either side of the hall were stone -benches, and over each long seat the da Sestos -coat of arms again, the strange insignia of a protruding -hand clasping a huge key. Doors to the -right and left led to the Magazzini, or store-rooms, -in which, years ago, when Venice was the -mistress of the world in commerce, the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>nobili</em></span> -stored their merchandise. St. Hilary, who had -unconsciously taken the lead, cast a disdainful -eye on the bare walls, and hurried to the stairway.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the landing we paused. Two massively -carved doors faced us, the one opening on the -Sala Grande, the other to a long succession of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>small reception-rooms, leading one out of the -other. Luigi tremblingly unlocked the doors of -the Sala, and threw them back with ceremony, -holding high above his head a flickering candle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We stood without, peering into the darkness, -while the old man tottered across the vast room -and unbarred a shutter. The candle shone pale -in the light of day. He pushed open a window, -and a faint breeze touched our cheeks. One -breathed again. The sun streamed on the shining -floor of colored cement, gaily embedded -with little pieces of marble. I looked about me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Great yellow sheets shrouded everything–the -tapestries, the pictures, the furniture. St. Hilary -tore the sheets down impatiently, Luigi looking -from master to dealer in troubled amazement -and indignation. At last the noble room stood -revealed. The little frivolous company of smartly -dressed men and women in flannels and muslins -seemed strangely like intruders in this great -apartment of faded magnificence and mournful -grandeur.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Flemish tapestries covered the vast expanse -of the walls. Throne-chairs in Genoese velvet -and brocade and stamped leather, each with the -inevitable arms in gold appliqué, were ranged -formally side by side. There was a magnificent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>center-table, the heavy malachite top with its -mosaic center and Etruscan border, supported -by four elaborately carved winged goddesses. -There were antique Spanish and Italian cabinets -of tortoise-shell and ivory and ebony. At either -end of the room were two cavernous fireplaces, -the pilasters covered with exquisitely carved -cherubs and Raphaelesque scrolls. Vases of -verde; trousseau-chests of ebony; consol-tables -of bronze and ormulu; jewel-boxes of jasper and -lapis lazuli; clocks of bronze and Sienna marble; -marble busts; portières of silk and velvet; Florentine -mirrors; Venetian chandeliers of pink -and white and blue Venetian glass–all belonged -to the Venice of the Renaissance–to Venice in -its splendor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose,” said the duke, looking about, -“this old room has had its chairs and tables -standing precisely as you see them for two hundred -years.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And, now,” said Mrs. Gordon reproachfully, -“you dare to despoil it? Were I you, it would -sadden me to sell at a price these dumb things to -that terrible dealer, darting about with his note-book -from treasure to treasure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Per Baccho!</em></span>” laughed the duke. “Why -should I have any sentiment for a place and for -things that are as strange to me as to you? They -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>have only recently become mine, and that by an -accident. If Luigi, now, were having his say, it -might be different, eh, old man?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Luigi had been dogging the footsteps of the -dealer, replacing the coverings. He looked up -anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! his Excellency is to sell this palace?” -he faltered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All,” said the duke lightly, and ignored him. -“You must know, ladies, that the uncle, by whose -timely death I inherited the palace, was the last -Venetian of our name. He never set foot in this -palace, I am told. He lived abroad. The traditions -of these Venetians were not his. Nor are -they mine. I prefer to make traditions of my -own. I am from Turin. There, one is at least in -the world. There, one has ambitions for power -and glory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With ambition you will arrive far,” said -Mrs. Gordon adoringly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But these Venetians, bah, I know them!” he -continued. “To gossip a little, to dawdle over -their silly newspapers at the Café Quadri–to -eat, to drink, to flirt–that is their dream of happiness. -They are rocked to sleep in their wonderful -gondolas. They drift on the smooth surface -of their sluggish canals out to the great sea -of oblivion. No. The silent waterways of this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>melancholy, faded Venice are not exactly paths -of glory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” said Jacqueline, and perhaps unconsciously -she looked at me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I deserved the reproachful glance, no doubt. I -should have borne it meekly enough had not the -duke noticed it as well as myself. As he led the -way through the reception-rooms, he stared curiously -at me, and then at Jacqueline. He smiled. -My vague dislike became more definite.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These reception-rooms were monotonously -alike. Our interest began to flag. But the indefatigable -dealer of antiquities had seen enough -to awaken his enthusiasm. It was natural that -he should peer and pry. It was his business, I -suppose, to finger brocades, to try the springs of -chairs. But there was not a trousseau-chest -whose cover he did not lift, an armoire or cabinet -that he did not look within. I thought his -eagerness bordered almost on vulgarity, until I -remembered the box that held the da Sestos cabinet. -He was looking for it, of course.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last he gave a little cry of satisfaction. He -turned to Mrs. Gordon. We had reached the last -of the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>camerini</em></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will remember, madame, I was telling -you an extraordinary story of the lost gems of -the Beatrice d’Este. It is true that I can not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>show you the jewels. Nor the casket that contained -the jewels. But if it would interest you -to see the box that contained the casket, behold -it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He touched lightly with his cane a steel chest -that stood on a consol-table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how are you to prove this?” asked Mrs. -Gordon, a little skeptically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary pointed to the cover. On it was -engraved: “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><em>Giovanni da Sestos fecit, 1525</em></span>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A da Sestos made the casket for the jewels!” -exclaimed Mrs. Gordon, glancing at the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is a matter of history,” replied St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jewels!” cried the duke. “What is this -about a da Sestos making a casket for jewels?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was amusing the ladies this afternoon with -the story of the mysterious disappearance of the -D’Este gems. As a matter of fact, they did not -merely disappear, Mrs. Gordon. They were -stolen, and stolen, if the legend be true, from one -of his Grace’s ancestors.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An ancestor of mine?” cried the duke. “Impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He was a marvelous artist and clock-maker,” -returned St. Hilary coolly. “He was the first -Venetian of his name to become famous, though -I believe his end was rather tragic.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You seem to know a great deal about the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>affairs of my family, Mr. St. Hilary. It is -strange that I have never heard of this ancestor -and his casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not so strange,” replied the dealer, “seeing -that nearly five hundred years have passed since -then. As to the casket, it is a curiosity, and a -matter of history. There are few curiosities in -the world that escape the notice of us dealers in -antiquities. It is our business to know about -them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps you will enlighten me as to this -strange story,” said the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Some day,” promised St. Hilary carelessly. -“Any day, in fact, that you have half an hour -to smoke a cigar with me at Florian’s.” Then he -turned to old Luigi, who was nervously fumbling -with his keys. “Have we seen everything? All -the rooms?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The old man bowed. “Everything, signore.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That door, where does it lead?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Luigi pressed down the handle and threw it -open.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good heavens, Mr. St. Hilary!” cried the -duke, “are you looking for the gems you have -been romancing about? Surely by this time you -have seen everything.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dealer paid little heed to the duke’s remonstrances. -He was fingering the tapestries. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>duke turned to the ladies with a gesture of annoyance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall we now leave this mad dealer to his -own devices? It would please me very much if -both of you would choose some souvenir of our -delightful afternoon. I am reluctant to let the -terrible American have everything. Shall we go -to the reception-rooms again? It is there that -we shall find the more interesting pieces of bric-à-brac.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke and the ladies left the sala, old -Luigi leading the way. Myself his Grace had -ignored completely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I turned listlessly to join St. Hilary. To my -astonishment he absolutely disappeared. I -walked the full length of the sala, quite mystified; -for I had observed only one exit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As I stood in a dim corner of the vast apartment -one of the tapestries opposite shook. St. -Hilary emerged from behind it. He glanced -around the room an instant, and then, thinking -himself unseen, he walked rapidly into the reception-room -after the others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My curiosity was thoroughly aroused. I lifted -the tapestry in my turn and felt along the wall -behind it.</p> - -<p class='c001'><a id='corr37.25'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Sudddenly'>Suddenly</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_37.25'><ins class='correction' title='Sudddenly'>Suddenly</ins></a></span> this wall gave way to the pressure -of my hand. I had pushed open a door.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>I found myself in a narrow chamber, hardly -larger than a coat-closet. I struck a match. -But before I could explore the interior, the tapestry -was lifted once more, and <a id='corr38.3'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Lugi'>Luigi</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_38.3'><ins class='correction' title='Lugi'>Luigi</ins></a></span> appeared, -the lighted candle still in his hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is the signore doing in there?” he -demanded with an anxiety that seemed to me -rather uncalled for.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought that you had shown all the apartments, -Luigi?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But his Excellency will be annoyed if he sees -you here,” persisted the old servant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all,” said a cold voice, and the duke -entered, followed by the others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Richard,” laughed Jacqueline, “this -is deliciously mysterious. So you have actually -discovered a hidden chamber?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quite what one might expect in an old Venetian -palace,” added Mrs. Gordon. “Now if you -have found Mr. St. Hilary’s jewels, it will be -perfect.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I doubt if my friend Hume has wit enough -to have made the discovery that it is nothing but -a bare chamber,” cried the dealer, darting at me -a look of intense annoyance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, it is no discovery of mine,” I said calmly. -“I have merely followed where St. Hilary led.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As a dealer in antiquities I am naturally interested -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>in curiosities, even in curious chambers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All the same, your knowledge of my palace -is rather extraordinary–even for a dealer in -antiquities,” cried the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary took the lighted candle from the -servant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you were a better Venetian,” he retorted, -“and were familiar with the archives of the -Frari, you would know that the Inquisition of -Venice had plans of every palace in the city. I -happen to have examined them. That is all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But your Excellency will observe,” said old -Luigi unconcernedly, “that the room is quite -empty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes,” agreed the dealer, pushing us -gently without.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, not quite,” I said, looking at him keenly. -“What is this on the shelf here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A clock!” exclaimed Jacqueline.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER IV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>It stood on a stone shelf built out from the wall -as high as one could reach.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tut, tut, a broken-down clock,” cried St. -Hilary contemptuously. “Nothing could be -more useless and uninteresting,” and he blew out -the candle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We trooped into the sala again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now, Duke, having thoroughly explored -your house beautiful, even to the recesses of the -hidden and mysterious chamber, I’m quite prepared -to make you an offer at your convenience.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is all the time in the world for that, -Mr. St. Hilary,” replied the duke impatiently. -“The ladies have not yet chosen their souvenirs. -What gift will you honor me by accepting?” -He turned to Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She hesitated, and looked at Mrs. Gordon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Jacqueline,” encouraged her aunt, -“I am sure Mr. St. Hilary will not make his -offer much less for anything that you might -choose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” said the dealer, making figures in his -note-book, “I have quite decided on the sum. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>Let me recommend to your notice this faience -pitcher. I assure you it is rare. You can see for -yourself that it is beautiful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it is really of no value in itself,” said -Jacqueline, disregarding St. Hilary’s pitcher, -“there is nothing that appeals to me more than -that steel box. Mr. St. Hilary’s story has quite -touched my imagination.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is already yours. And now what will -madame choose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Could I examine that decrepit old clock in -the hidden room again? I happen to be making -a collection of clocks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you can make no mistake about this -superb specimen in Sienna marble,” urged the -dealer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, like Jacqueline,” smilingly protested -Mrs. Gordon, “I prefer something that has a -touch of mystery about it. And that old clock, -shut up in the darkness there, one knows not how -many years, ought to have a history.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it is so very, very old,” cried old Luigi -deprecatingly. “It has not gone for two hundred -years.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That hardly makes it less interesting,” I said -dryly. “Let us see the clock by all means.” The -reluctance of both St. Hilary and Luigi had -struck me as being rather strange.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>“Your Excellency surely does not mean to give -it away? It is an heirloom of the family,” expostulated -old Luigi obstinately.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have told you to bring it out,” commanded -the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Very reluctantly the old man entered the little -chamber.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is too heavy,” he cried from within. “I -can not lift it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Duke da Sestos and myself went to his assistance. -Together we carried it to the sala and -placed it on the center-table. The slight jar set -a number of bells ringing in musical confusion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Certainly it was unique–at least I had never -seen anything like it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Imagine an oblong box of bronze, about as long -as one’s arm, and three-quarters as high. Around -three sides of this box ran a little platform, heavily -gilded. Immediately above this platform -were twelve doors, three at either end, and six at -the face. It was almost bare of ornament, except -that on the top had been three figures. The -heads and arms of all three were now broken off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Its very simplicity and ugliness interest -one,” cried Mrs. Gordon with enthusiasm. “And -those twelve doors certainly mean that it is an -automaton, do they not, Mr. St. Hilary? One -can imagine the stiff little figures that appear, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>each at its hour, and at their respective doors–kings -with their crowns of gold, ginger-bread -Virgins, prelates with their miters, and armored -knights. Each figure in its hour does its devoirs, -I suppose, and disappears again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At every shake of the table,” said Jacqueline, -“its bells clang angrily. You might think it was -offended at being disturbed after its long sleep of -two hundred years.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” confessed the duke, looking at the clock -thoughtfully, “it awakes a fantastic note that -will strike in the fancy of the most dull. Think -what stories of love and intrigue it has listened -to! What deeds of revenge and hate it has looked -down upon! At what hours of agony and ecstasy -have those bells not chimed? What death-knells -to hopes, what peals of love and happiness!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline had been turning the clock slowly -around. Suddenly she sank on her knees to examine -it more closely, and read aloud:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Se mi guardi con cura,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Se mi ascolti con attenzione,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">E se, nell’ intendermi, tu Sei cosi acorto com’ io lo sono nel dirti–</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">T’ arridera la Fortuna.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“Will you translate it for me, please?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘If you guard me carefully, if you listen to -me diligently, if you are as clever in understanding -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>me as I am in telling you, Fortune will smile -on you,’” translated the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The delicious braggart!” cried Mrs. Gordon -delightedly. “Now what do you think that brave -promise means, Mr. St. Hilary?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh, pooh, madame! It promises too much -to mean anything. ‘Early to bed and early to -rise, makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise.’ -‘Time is money’–there are a score of proverbs -as vague and as meaningless.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, but you mustn’t cast any aspersions on -my dear clock. Perhaps Luigi can read the riddle -more cleverly. Do you know if there is any -legend connected with the clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The old man hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, come, speak up,” said the duke -roughly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes, your Excellency,” replied the old -man. “But I implore you not to sell or give away -the clock. You will always regret it. Good luck -goes with the clock, your Excellency.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the motto,” urged Mrs. Gordon. “Has it -any meaning?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes, signora. It means that each hour -brings its own gift, if one can only understand. -One may never suffer, not hunger nor cold, not -poverty nor disappointment, if one can only read -the secret of each hour. For at every hour something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>wonderful is told. And the clock is a charm -against the Evil One. My father told me, and his -father told him. Yes; we have guarded it carefully -in that quiet room. It has stood there as -long as I can remember. And now your Excellency -will give it away! Misfortune will come; -I know it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be still, imbecile. Madame, shall I have the -clock taken to my launch for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, don’t deprive the old man of his charm -against the evil eye, aunt,” said Jacqueline -lightly, half pitying, half mocking the old servant’s -distress.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would remind Miss Quintard that it is I -who am deprived of the charm, if there is any, -and not Luigi,” laughed the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would be the last one to bring you ill fortune,” -jested Mrs. Gordon. Then very slowly, -“But I intend to bring you good fortune, not to -take it away from you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am hoping precisely for that,” said the duke -gravely, and looked at Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline was still kneeling before the clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How I should like to know what you really -mean, foolish legend,” she said wistfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I leaned on the table and stooped toward her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If one were to run down that legend, it would -require patience and perseverance enough to satisfy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>even you, would it not, Jacqueline?” I asked -lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She smiled, but seeing that I was half in earnest, -became serious.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” she said slowly, “I believe it would.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then, Jacqueline, when I begin my legends -of Venice, shall I take up first the legend of this -old clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do,” she said carelessly. “Aunt would -thank you, I know.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked over to the window, and looked gloomily -without. I had hoped Jacqueline was in -earnest when she suggested that I should write -a book on the legends of Venice. But now that -I wished to take her desire seriously, she was -evidently inclined to laugh at me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you clap your hands for the servant in -my launch to come up?” asked the duke. “I -wish him to carry the clock down for Mrs. Gordon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One moment, please,” said St. Hilary. “I -am collector enough to understand Mrs. Gordon’s -enthusiasm. But being a dealer as well as a collector, -I cannot allow this enthusiasm to interfere -with my pocket-book. I know, Mrs. Gordon, -you would never forgive me if I did not say that -my sneers at the value of the clock were the pretense -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>of the dealer who depreciates a thing that -he may get it the cheaper. The clock, madame, is -a valuable antique. The value of the things in -this palace will be lowered considerably if it is -not included in its contents.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was an awkward pause. The duke reddened -with anger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In that case,” said Mrs. Gordon, greatly embarrassed, -“I could not dream, of course––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. St. Hilary,” said the duke coldly, “the -clock is not for sale to you at any price. Madame, -you will not offend me by refusing?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gordon gazed at her niece in perplexity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You would find it rather difficult to carry it -about with you in Europe,” said Jacqueline -lamely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I am afraid I should,” declared Mrs. -Gordon with alacrity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you will entrust the task to me, I shall be -charmed to have it packed and sent to America -for you,” volunteered St. Hilary. He seemed -eager to atone for his ill-timed remarks of a moment -before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But Mr. Hume tells me he is going to write a -book on the legends of Venice,” interrupted -Jacqueline. “A moment ago, aunt, he suggested -that he might be able to discover one about this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>very clock, and I encouraged him to try. Why -not let Mr. Hume take care of it during our -travels?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I professed my willingness joyfully, and -though it was evident that neither the duke nor -St. Hilary welcomed Jacqueline’s suggestion, the -clock was soon placed in a gondola I summoned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To its chimes the fortunes of da Sestos and -myself were to dance merrily.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER V</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The day following I was strangely depressed. -I had run the gantlet of hope and doubt. Jacqueline’s -various moods had baffled me. And the -duke–frankly, I feared him. Jacqueline had so -obviously admired him. He stood for the very -qualities that I lacked. The glamour of his name, -the luxurious environment he scorned so vigorously, -his verve, and, above all, his alliance with -Mrs. Gordon, made him a formidable rival. For -that Mrs. Gordon, in some subtle way, had already -come to a vague understanding with him, I -did not doubt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two letters were on the tray that brought in -my morning coffee. One from Jacqueline; the -other from her brother. They called to me in -quite different directions. Jacqueline to her -side; the brother to his assistance in Rome. -The young fool was in trouble–trouble serious -enough to demand the assistance of one who had -influence with the authorities. I happened to fill -that position. I must go to his aid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Jacqueline’s letter I fancied I read a tenderness -that was altogether new and delightful. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>It was no longer the reserved Jacqueline that -spoke. There was a delightful shyness, but -through the shyness spoke the woman who dared -to be bold for the man she loved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She wished me to call at once. We would discuss -the book together. And she had invited -St. Hilary and myself to dinner that evening. -After I had left them yesterday he had hinted -at a wonderful story about the old clock. She -would make him talk. I should have copy for -one of my legends at least.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But I could not hesitate as to my destination. -For, in assisting her brother, I would be doing -Jacqueline a favor. Unfortunately, I could not -tell her why I had to leave Venice so peremptorily. -Neither she nor her aunt must know that -the youngster had made an ass of himself. I -wrote her merely that an affair of importance -had called me to Rome. I caught the first train -south.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ten days passed before I sniffed once more -the pungent odor of the lagoons. There had been -complications and delays; and in his remorse the -boy had had a touch of Roman fever. I could -not leave him like that.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A letter from Jacqueline awaited me. It had -arrived only a day or two before. Her annoyance -at my sudden flight from Venice was obvious.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>She regretted my absence at her dinner, but I -had not missed much. St. Hilary had refused to -talk. Perhaps there was really no legend, after -all. And, indeed, when one came to think over -the matter calmly, was it worth while attempting -to discover one? And was I really interested in -writing the book–that is, for its own sake? I -ought to be well assured of that. She was afraid -she would not see me again for the present. They -were to leave almost immediately for Bellagio.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked over to my window. I was bitterly -hurt and disappointed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Venice was storm-swept. The Giudecca, deserted, -was lashed by wind and rain. The ships, -moored near the Salute, tossed and swayed at -their anchors. The goddess over the customs-house -spun about on her golden ball and vainly -tried to shield herself behind her flimsy veil.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The brightness and glory of Venice had vanished -as in a dream. The palaces, ivory and gold -in the sunlight, looked sodden and decayed in the -gloom, like an old woman deprived of her rouge-pot -and powder. Venice, in short, was a painting, -a masterpiece, if you wish, which the mischievous -fist of some mawkish infant had smeared and -smudged. The pigeons, the cafés, the gondolas–they -are the creatures of the sun. To-day the -pigeons were huddled under the Dome of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>Salute; the cafés deserted; the gondolas covered -with tarpaulin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But as I looked, a gondola, rowed by two oarsmen, -emerged from the rain and fog. It was -headed directly for the landing outside my windows. -It touched the steps. The old <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>gransieri</em></span>, -shivering in an archway, pattered across the -quay with his hook. The passenger leaped -ashore. It was St. Hilary. And in this weather!</p> - -<p class='c001'>I drew the portière. I walked over to the mantel -and felt for a match to light the gas, for it -was growing late. As I struck it, half a dozen -visiting-cards caught my eye–eight, to be quite -precise. One of the eight was that of the Duke da -Sestos. What humble attraction had I for the -noble gentleman? The seven others bore the -name of St. Hilary. Seven calls in ten days! I -looked at them thoughtfully. And then–why, I -have no idea–I thought of the mysterious clock -that Mrs. Gordon had entrusted to my care, and -that I had left with a jeweler on the Piazza to -see if it was quite beyond repair. It would be -just as well to say nothing of that to the dealer. -I was curious to know precisely the fascination -that the old timepiece had for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was longing for some one to talk to. Just -returned from a little trip to Rome. What’s the -news?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>“Oh, I have just dropped in for a smoke. -Where’s your whisky? I am drenched through. -The felsa of that confounded gondola leaked.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I caught the swift glance that took in every detail -of my room. I waved my hand to the side-board.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Help yourself. I’ll join you presently, when -I have slipped into a bath-robe. You’ll find the -cigarettes by the whisky.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stepped into my room. I heard the fizz of the -siphon. I caught the fumes of his cigarette. I -heard the creak of a wicker-chair as he threw himself -into it. Then there was silence. I was about -to rejoin him, when I happened to look into my -mirror. St. Hilary was reflected in it, and he -was opening a coat-closet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I whistled noisily, and put my eye to a crack in -the door. He was looking into a cabinet. Then -he pulled aside the portière that hid the deep recess -of the window. Another puzzled glance -about the room, and he sank noiselessly into the -chair. It was not difficult to put two and two -together. He was looking for Mrs. Gordon’s -clock. Well, he should satisfy himself thoroughly -that it was not on my premises. Then I -would wait for his next move. I entered my sitting-room, -still whistling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Just a word to my man, and I’m ready for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>our smoke,” I said, and went into the sala. I -banged the door after me, but took pains to leave -it carefully ajar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was as I thought. He promptly slipped into -my bedroom. I waited considerately for him to -resume his seat before joining him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, indefatigable peerer and pryer for the -rare and odd, what is the news of the past ten -days?” I asked, reaching for the Scotch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I knew he was watching me closely. The nouns -were a trifle suggestive.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No news so far as I know. I have been buried -in the palazzo of the duke, making an inventory -of things. Interesting old palace, eh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I nodded, and blew a cloud of cigarette-smoke -into the air.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nice chap, the duke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I nodded again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Extremely gallant to the ladies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again I nodded, but without much enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Rather pretty compliment, his giving them -those souvenirs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No one but an Italian would have thought -of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I must say I was disgusted at the poor -taste of the ladies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why so?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear fellow, did you observe that bowl of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>majolica? Or that superb cloisonné Kioto vase? -With carved ivories galore and a plaque of della -Robbia to choose from, and to pick out a silly -timepiece.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes,” I remarked dryly, “you had an eye -on that clock yourself, hadn’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tut, tut, I have an eye on everything that is -useless and odd. By the way, she asked you to -keep it for her. I should like to have a look at it. -Trot it out, my boy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I gazed into St. Hilary’s innocent blue eyes, and -laughed quietly. “The other day, in Rome,” I -said slowly, “I met on the street a certain Captain -Villari. He’s as poor as the proverbial -mouse, and an acquaintance. He asked me to go -to the opera with him, I did not refuse, though -the invitation, coming from him, surprised me. -And the inevitable happened, of course. At the -very box-office, he discovered with cries of consternation -that he had left all his money in his -other uniform. Might he dare, would I think it -too presuming, if he asked me for the loan of ten -lire until to-morrow?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I assured him with all the warmth in the -world that it would be a privilege, I put my hand -in my pocket to oblige him. <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Accidenti!</em></span> Was -there ever such devilish luck! I had left my -money in my morning clothes!</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>“We looked at each other half a minute; then -we embraced with laughter. It was such an odd -coincidence. And so we went our separate ways, -quite good-naturedly. He knew I was lying. I -knew he had been lying. What do you think of -my story?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What has that story to do with an old timepiece?” -he blustered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I leaned forward and tapped him on the -knee.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only this, my crafty dealer in antiquities. -You, as well as my captain, are too crafty by -half. You know the timepiece is not in these -rooms, just as well as I do myself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t understand you,” he fumed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No? Then what were you looking for a minute -or two ago? In that cabinet, behind the portière -there? By Jove, you had the impertinence -to lift the cover of my trunk in the bedroom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If I had expected him to show shame or confusion, -I was much mistaken. He stared at me -a moment. Then he threw back his head and -laughed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It wasn’t nice of me, I confess,” he said -coolly. “I should have acted with my customary -frankness, and have asked to see it first.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think it would have been the better way. -As to this customary frankness of yours, you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>guard that virtue so closely that I am a stranger -to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well, I’ll give you an instance of it. -Now that my cards are on the table, what have -you done with the clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is that what you call being frank? I fail to -see those cards of yours on the table even now. -Play fair, St. Hilary.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t understand you,” he said, and his -neck took on a purple tinge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You understand me perfectly. Just as my -captain did. And I have both eyes and ears. -Let me remind you, in the first place, you were -perfectly well aware that the clock was in the -palace. You looked for it deliberately, but -slyly. When I was curious in my turn, you -were hardly pleased. You pooh-poohed the -chamber. You made fun of the clock. You -blew out the candle promptly that no one might -examine it. When Mrs. Gordon insisted on -doing so, you vainly attempted to divert her -interest. As a last resort, you tried to make it -impossible for her to accept it by asserting that -it was an antique of great value. Don’t you -think that was in extremely bad taste?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear fellow, desperate cases require desperate -remedies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, then you confess that you were even desperately -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>anxious to have the clock? Why should -you deny it? There is nothing to be ashamed -of. Your eight calls have made me quite certain -of that, and the fact that you played the spy, -looking into my trunk just now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary laughed, a little too boisterously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good, good!” he cried. “I confess I didn’t -credit my dear dilettante with quite so observing -an eye. And if I were to confess that this -old clock interests me beyond belief, why should -you not satisfy my curiosity? Have you any -interest in it? An interest that conflicts with -mine, for instance?” and he looked at me curiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is quite possible,” I answered calmly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And this interest really conflicts with mine?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not?” I answered, smiling at him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I see no reason why I should not go -my way and you yours.” He picked up his hat -in high dudgeon and walked toward the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nor do I,” I answered, reaching for a cigar. -“However, let me remind you that I still have -the clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may seem strange and unreasonable that I -should have assumed so cautious a tone with the -dealer. My interest in the clock was simply that -I wished to write up the legend connected with -it, if legend there was. But I browbeat him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>to punish him. He had not come to me frankly -and openly. He had spied on me and he had lied -to me. The penalty for that must be a full confession -as to why he attached such tremendous -importance to this clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He stood at the door. His eyes devoured my -face with that same searching glance that had so -startled me on the Piazza a few days before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Trust me, St. Hilary,” I said very quietly. -“I am not a man to betray a confidence–certainly -not the confidence of a friend like you. -And it is barely possible I may help you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have thought that, too,” he said, and hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because you are too much of the dilettante, -the dreamer,” he said angrily. “Bah, I need a -man like the Duke da Sestos–a man that has -grit and resource–who can even be unscrupulous -on occasion–yes, look into a friend’s trunk and -not feel too squeamish. I do need help; but -could you go to extreme ends with me patiently -and relentlessly? You hardly fill the bill, -Hume.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He had quoted almost Jacqueline’s words. -He could have said nothing that would have -touched me so deeply. I answered him impetuously:</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“St. Hilary, do you forget that it was you -who made me a dreamer? It is you who first -preached to me impossible ideals of beauty and -art. And when I failed to reach those ideals, -you laughed at me; you consoled me with sneers. -If I had not a soul to appreciate art and beauty, -there was still the sensuous Venice for me to enjoy. -And so, month by month, I have sunk into -the slough of materialism, until, at last, it is -almost too late for me to shake myself free. -First, the woman I love flaunts at the dilettante, -and then it is my friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He stared at me; then, rising, he walked over -to where I sat and put his hand on my shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean–that the woman you -love has flaunted you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I told him quite simply. He passed his hand -across his forehead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear, dear Hume,” he said affectionately, -“forgive me. Love is a thing dead and past -for me. I am in the sere leaf and brown. I had -forgotten that love might come into your life. -So your interest in the clock, after all, is simply -that you wish to write a legend about it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Listen to me. Hume. I have a quest that -demands patience, courage, faith, a will that is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>relentless. If I shared it with you, could you -bring to it these qualities?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Try me,” I said firmly. “If it is a task that -demands action, and if it concerns this clock, I -am with you heart and soul.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It does concern the clock. But it is a hundred-to-one -shot, with the odds all against us. -If you fail, at least you will have your legend. -If you succeed, you will share equally with myself. -I have needed one for this quest in whose -honesty I could have absolute faith. I have -thought of you, but only to mistrust you. If I -trust you now, will you follow where I shall -lead?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Try me,” I said again.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER VI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>He unbuttoned his frock-coat (I had never -seen him wear any garment less formal) and -took out of it a slender little volume in vellum -covers. He passed it to me in silence. I opened -it. It was a manuscript copy, roughly stitched -together. I recognized the handwriting as that -of St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well?” I asked curiously, returning it to -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is a crude translation of certain passages -in the Diary of Marius Sanudo, a Venetian -who lived about the beginning of the sixteenth -century. I made this translation in the -Royal Library at Vienna the other day. The -Diary is one of the rarest books in the world. -You are wide enough awake to listen to it for an -hour or two?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It concerns the clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It concerns the casket and the clock. You -may imagine these extracts as being divided into -two chapters. Chapter I–concerning the jewels -and the casket; Chapter II–the clock. My remarks -may be supposed to constitute a third -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>chapter. You have heard of Beatrice d’Este, -the Duchess of Milan and wife of Ludovico the -Moor?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Practically only what you have told me about -her. I know she lived during the latter part of -the fifteenth century.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I suppose you have never seen her portrait, -attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. It hangs -in the Ambrosiana Library at Milan, the second -room to the left as you enter; and I assure you -that it is well worth a little pilgrimage to Milan -to see. It is a profile of extraordinary charm–a -young girl of eighteen. It is difficult to imagine -this adorable child–for she was only twenty-two -when she died–as an ambassadress to the -most powerful court in Europe.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Her husband, Ludovico, toward the last part -of his reign, was hard pressed by his foes. After -intrigues with two kings and a pope, he found -himself caught in the web of his own treachery. -He needed money to pay his allies. But his wonderful -Sala del Tesoro, with its oak chest of gold -and plate, was empty. Only the jewels were left. -I have already told you that this collection has -never since been equaled in artistic value.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, if you are familiar with the financial -methods of these princes of the Renaissance, you -will know that in times of stress they resorted to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>the rather vulgar expedient of simply putting -their jewels in pawn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Beatrice had conducted these delicate little -transactions at Venice for her husband more -than once. But now, before she had recourse to -this last desperate expedient, she was to plead -before the Signory, as his ambassadress, for help -both of money and men. If the Signory refused -to help Ludovico, her husband, she was to appeal -to the Doge; for the old man had already shown -the utmost regard for this high-spirited young -duchess. If, however, both Doge and Signory -failed her, she was to pawn the jewels with Albani, -the richest goldsmith in Venice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With this introduction, I will read you the -first extract from the Diary of Messer Sanudo:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Of all the cities of the world, Venice is the -one where the greatest honor is paid to strangers. -But never was lord or lady received with greater -joy by the Signory in council. The Doge himself -conducted her to the seat of honor, and all -eyes were turned to her in admiration at her -divine beauty. She wore a gold brocade embroidered -with crimson doves, with a jeweled -feather in her cap, and a rope of pearls and diamonds -around her neck, to which the priceless -ruby, the most glorious stone, I think, man has -ever seen, called El Spigo, is fastened as pendant.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>“‘All were amazed at the words of wisdom -and eloquence that fell from her childish lips. -She set forth her love for Venice, and piteously -implored our help against Milan’s foes. If it -were not possible for us to furnish men, at least -let her not return quite empty of hand to her -dear lord; for she would rather die than cause -him such grief and despair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘The Signory and Doge listened to her courteously. -When she had ended, the Doge rose and -thanked her graciously for the words she had -spoken. He declared that nothing would give -the Signory greater joy than to do all she had -asked. But he reminded her that at this time -Venice was herself at war with Genoa, her hereditary -foe. Her own treasury was empty. There -was hardly to be found in all Venice a noble or -plebeian who had not loaned to the state money -out of his private fortune. When he had said -this, he descended from his dais again, and gently -taking her by the hand, so led her without, -the Signory being moved to admiration at her -dignity and grace.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And of course they denied her petition, since -they were Venetians?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That goes without saying. Have I not said -that the jewels remain in Venice to this day? At -least the more glorious part of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>“I am impatient to hear of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary again read from the Diary of -Sanudo:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘This day the duchess went in state to see -the treasure of San Marco. As the bucentaur, -containing the Doge and one hundred and fifty -of her company, entered the Canale Grande, the -duchess confessed that never before had she beheld -the like. From the windows and the balconies, -hung with the richest tapestries, noble -ladies, glittering with gold chains and gems, -looked down on the sumptuous scene. It was the -finest sight of the whole world. And when they -landed at the Molo, they could hardly force their -way through the press, though the Doge himself -walked in front of them. Every one turned to -look at the magnificent jewels on the duchess. -On every side I heard, “This is the wife of -Signor Ludovico. Look what fine jewels she -wears! What splendid diamonds and rubies!” -And indeed every part of her vest whereon was -embroidered the two towers of the port of Genoa -was covered with them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘And when they came out of the treasure-house, -I myself heard the Doge say, “It is but -a poor sight for you, dear lady, seeing that the -jewels which adorn you are as many and beautiful -as those we guard so carefully.” (Words -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>that had better have been left unsaid, for such -light words bring into discredit the glories of our -Venice.)</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The duchess answered boastingly (and who -indeed could blame her, seeing that the Doge -should not have said what he did?), “Do these -poor stones please your Excellency? To-morrow -I shall show you some gems that are indeed -wonderful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘And the Doge said sorrowfully, “I shall -await to-morrow with the greatest eagerness in -the world.”’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary laid the book face downward on his -knees.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, it is a matter of record, Hume, that she -did show the stones to the Doge. Whether he fell -under the glamour of their beauty, or the charm -and witchery of the lovely ambassadress, does -not concern us. What does concern us is the fact -that the jewels were not locked up in the strong-box -of Albani the Jew, but of the Doge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the gems were never redeemed?” I interrupted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never. Beatrice returned from her mission -only to die a few months later. Ludovico was -taken captive by Louis of France, who dragged -him to Lyons, where, like a wild beast, he perished -miserably in an iron cage.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>“The next extract that I shall read from the -Diary of Sanudo is two years later. During -these two years his pages are full of the troubles -Venice was caused by her enemy Genoa, and the -straits to which she was put to raise funds. -Every citizen, we read, contributed his dole, however -humble. Except the Doge. Sanudo refers -again and again to the increasing distrust at this -strange negligence on the part of the chief officer -of the state. But we know that his fortune was -completely tied up in the jewels.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why did he not pawn the jewels?” -I interrupted. “He must have known that -Beatrice was dead. They could never be redeemed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, that’s a pertinent question. Let our -Diarist answer it for you. This answer, I assure -you, will be of interest:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘This day, the fourteenth of November, in -the year of our blessed Lord fourteen hundred -and ninety-nine, I have heard that which is more -incredible than the travels of Messer Marco Polo -to the great Mogul of Tartary. Scarce an hour -has passed that I was told it by one of the -Signory himself; and I hasten to write it down, -lest any of its wonders escape me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘All Venice knows that though our Doge is -the richest in the state, yet he alone hath contributed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>to the treasury no proportion of the -greatness of his fortune. So that to-day, when -one after another in the Signory bemoaned the -lack of money, and the Doge sat silent and -neither made excuse nor offered aid, murmurs of -discontent and suspicion arose louder than any -that have yet been heard. At first the Doge -smiled bravely and affected to listen as heretofore. -But there were those who saw him tremble -for very fear. And presently, one bolder than -the rest, charged the Doge to his face with -treachery, in thus hiding his wealth in the time -of the state’s direst need. Still the Doge kept -silence, until murmurs and shouts arose on all -sides. Then he arose, half dead for fear, and -declared that he would explain all. And this is -the manner of his speaking:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“My lords of the Signory, I beseech you to -have patience and listen to me; for that I am indeed -the most unfortunate of men you will see -when I have done speaking. The whole of my -wealth did I loan to Ludovico the Moor, at the -entreaty of his wife, when last she visited this -state two years ago. She promised that she -would redeem the gems before a year was passed. -But you, lords, know how she hath died and her -husband Ludovico lies imprisoned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“My lords, I had for the duchess the tenderness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>of a father for a beloved daughter, and -thinking that I would give her pleasure, when -she should come again to redeem her jewels, I -hired Giovanni da Sestos, the goldsmith, whose -renown as an artist you all know, to make a -casket for the gems that should be as beautiful -as the very gems themselves.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“It was to be so small that it could be carried -about. Yet it was to be so strong that the -most skilful thief would be baffled to break it -open. For when it was once closed, certain -springs ingeniously contrived by clockwork made -it impossible even for the man who possessed the -casket to open it till a day of twelve hours should -have passed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“I had made promise to Messer Giovanni -that he should receive three payments for his -task. Two payments I made to him; one, when -he undertook the work; another, that he might -buy the gems with which the cover was to be -richly adorned. The third payment I promised -to make when the casket should be given into my -hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“But hardly had Giovanni finished his task -when Beatrice died. And, my lords of the Signory, -knowing now that the jewels could never -be redeemed, seeing that Ludovico is in prison -and his wife dead, I vowed that I would now -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>pawn them to Albani the Jew, that I might at -last help the state in her need.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“But when Giovanni wrote to me to say -that the casket, which he had at last completed, -was more beautiful than anything like it since -the beginning of the world, I longed greatly to -see the jewels in the glorious box before they -should be out of my possession forever. And -now see how the heavy hand of God hath punished -me for my weakness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“For I had written to Giovanni to bring -to me the casket alone and at night. (For I did -not wish that any should know that I possessed -the gems till I had pawned them and until the -money should be paid into the treasury of the -state.) I bade him come at the hour of twelve -to my bed-chamber. I told him I should receive -him alone. I would let him in by a secret stairway.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“And so, when all Venice slept, I admitted -him to my room, where there was none other -than myself, except the guard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“My lords of the Signory, never did I -dream of anything so rare and beautiful as that -casket. It seemed to me that I should die for -very desire of it. And at last I thought of a -cunning plan. Giovanni himself fell guilelessly -in with this plan. For he was eager to see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>whether the gems would fit the little pockets that -he had made for each of the more costly. And -so we placed the gems in the pocket of the casket, -and then, as if by chance, I closed the cover, -which could not be opened for a whole day of -twelve hours. And now, I thought, Giovanni -must leave both casket and gems; for I had intended -to put him off with smooth promises, -saying that it was late, and that on the morrow -he should have his third payment of money.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“But Giovanni clasped the casket in both -his hands and swore he would not leave it with -me until I should have paid him every ducat I -owed him. But the man’s anger was without -reason, for he knew I could not pay him the -money that he asked until I had first pawned the -jewels. And presently, when I attempted to -soothe him, he became as violent as a wild beast. -(And indeed the goldsmith da Sestos, though a -great artist, was always, I verily believe, half -mad.) The guard at last became afraid for my -life. For Giovanni swore that I had entrapped -him, and obstinately refused to leave the palace -until I should have paid him all.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“Seeing now that nothing would move him -to reason, I made pretense that I could fetch from -the treasury the money he demanded; and leaving -the guard in my bed-chamber to keep watch -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>on the treasure, I left my room. But I was careful -to draw the bolts after me, so that it was -impossible that he should escape with the casket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“And indeed it was my purpose to call the -soldiers of the guard who kept watch at the foot -of the secret stairway, so that the insolent fellow -might be thrust without the palace, for he had -angered me greatly. I was without the chamber -but a few moments, but when I returned with -the guard and the doors were unbolted, a scene -of horror met my eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“The guard lay dead with a dagger in his -breast. Giovanni writhed on the floor in an -agony of pain, grievously wounded, though not -unto death. And the casket was gone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“My lords of the Signory, you will ask how -the casket was gone, seeing that the door had -been locked and the two men were both in my -bed-chamber. But the window, looking out on -the court of the Ducal Palace, was open. From -the balcony hung a rope strong enough to bear -the weight of a man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘“It was many days before Giovanni came -to his senses. Then he told how two men had -been hid in the balcony. No sooner had I gone -from the chamber than they had set on him and -the guard. He accused me of hiding the men -in the balcony. (I much wonder that I did not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>think of it. But, to my cost, I did not, and it is -a man deprived of wealth and honor that speaks -to you this day.)”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘The Signory heard the confession of the -Doge for the most part in silence (though some -there were that jeered). When he had finished, -he who had first accused the Doge of treachery -demanded what proof the senate might have of -this fable, seeing that no doubt the Doge had -caused the death of Giovanni. (And, indeed, it -had been a great mystery, his disappearance.)</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘At that the Doge made a sign, and one -fetched Giovanni from the leads where he had -been languishing since the stealing of the gems. -But Giovanni protested with tears that far from -being guilty himself, it was the Doge who had -caused the gems to be taken, and nothing could -shake him from this belief. So that at last there -were many of the Signory who inclined to it. -And presently, when they had questioned him -closely, they decreed, partly because certain ones -believed him innocent of all evil-doing, and -partly because he was so incomparable an artist, -that he should no longer be held a prisoner under -the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>piombi</em></span> of the Ducal Palace, but should return -to his own house. But lest by any chance -he had been guilty of the loss of the gems, he -was there to be held a prisoner; and guards were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>appointed to have charge over him day and -night.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘This is the truly miraculous story of the -jewels of the Doge; but few in Venice believe -it. For what goldsmith could not be bribed to -swear to such a story? And as for the Doge, it -would seem that the state could find one better -fitted to wear the cap and ermine robe.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that is chapter one?” I asked, taking a -long breath.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is chapter one,” echoed St. Hilary.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER VII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“Shall we now proceed to chapter two?” he -asked presently. “May I assume that I have -awakened your interest?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You may certainly assume that.” I smiled -at his smug assurance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The next extract, then, from our Diarist is -two years later, December, 1501, to be precise. -In the meanwhile, it seems the Doge had regained -the confidence of the republic. At any -rate he had evidently not been removed from -office.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘This day was erected a tablet in the Frari -to Giovanni da Sestos, who died some six weeks -since. He was an incomparable artist in gold -and precious stones, the greatest that Venice has -known, but famous even beyond his just merits -as an artist by reason of the mystery of the wonderful -casket and the more wonderful gems. -And people are saying (though I myself have -not seen it) that he hath left a clock that is a -greater marvel than the lost casket itself, which -only the jeweler and his son (beside the Doge) -set eyes on before it was stolen. And certain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>ones who have seen this clock (before it was -broken) declare that the clock of our Piazza, -though infinitely larger, is but a puerile thing -compared to it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘When first imprisoned in his own house, -Giovanni utterly despaired, for he was watched -by spies day and night, and none might converse -with him without their being present. For days -he did not move, but sat moody and sullen, gazing -at nothing with his terrible, burning eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘So he lived for many weeks. Then one day -he leaped to his feet and shouted aloud for his -tools. Though his adored casket had been stolen -from him, he swore he would make something -more marvelous than that before death came on -him. And because he was so great an artist, not -even the Doge dared to deprive Venice of any -wonder that he might make, though he had sworn -that Giovanni should never again breathe the -fresh air of the Piazza. So they gave to him his -tools, and for certain hours during the day his -son was permitted to aid him, since he suffered -no other to enter his workshop. Two years the -father and son labored at this clock until it was -quite finished.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘And when it was finished, Giovanni sent his -son to that Doge who had caused him to make -the casket and had since imprisoned him, beseeching -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>him to come to him with all haste, for -he had somewhat to say to him, and to show him. -The Doge went straightway to his house. For -he thought he was to hear some confession as to -the missing casket, since he believed steadfastly -that it was the goldsmith who had caused it to -be stolen, and no other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Giovanni met him with all ceremony, and, -taking him courteously by the hand, led him to -his workshop, where stood the wonderful clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘When the Doge saw this clock he was filled -with anger, for the three bronze figures reclining -about the face of the clock were hideous images -of Giovanni’s most bitter foes. Two of them -were a rival goldsmith and the jailer who had -fed him when he was a prisoner in the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>piombi</em></span>. -But the third and most hideous of all was the -Doge himself, such a miracle of ugliness and -horror that to look on it would make a man -shudder. But because he wished to hear what -Giovanni had to say, the Doge spoke Giovanni -fair, and declared himself delighted with his ingenuity. -For they say (though, as I have written -before, neither have I seen the clock nor have -I known any that have) that at every hour a -door opened, and some story out of the history -of Venice was acted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘And as each hour went by the Doge became -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>wearied of watching the antics of the clock as -the hours struck. But Giovanni compelled him -to be patient and besought him to see the antics -of the figures of all of the twelve hours. Between -each hour the Doge kept inquiring of the -goldsmith if he had anything to tell him. And -each time that the question was asked the goldsmith -laughed boisterously, and said, “Though -I did tell thee, thou hast not ears to hear.” This -answer he made several times, till at last the -Doge, seeing at last that he was being ridiculed, -arose in anger and cried: “For the last time, -Messer Giovanni, hast thou anything to say to -me?” And still the goldsmith answered with -jeers, “Though I told thee, thou hast not ears -to hear,” and would say no more.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Then, because he had been answered in this -rude fashion many times, the Doge could no -longer restrain his passion. He lifted his staff, -and furiously smote off the three figures of the -clock, and in doing so the clock fell violently to -the earth, and it was broken in its insides, and -never more will it strike hour, so at least I am -told.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘When Giovanni saw that his marvelous -clock was broken, he raved like a madman, and -spat on the Doge, and belabored him with his -fists so that he was compelled to take flight from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>the house. And as he fled, the goldsmith called -after him very bitterly: “Did I not say thou -wert a fool? For, though the casket were lost, -did I not make a greater marvel? But thou -canst not understand its divine beauty and wonder. -And now, by my oath, though I knew the -secret place of the casket, yet shouldst thou never -know, seeing that thou hast broken my clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘As soon as the Doge reached the Ducal -Palace, he bade the captain of the inquisitorial -guard fetch Giovanni. He determined that he -would once more put him to extremest tortures, -for he remembered the words: “And now, by my -oath, though I knew the secret place of the casket, -yet shouldst thou never know.” But when -they reached the house of Giovanni they found -both his son and himself lying dead, side by side, -and by the look of their faces they saw that they -had taken poison. And now the mystery of the -casket will never be known. As for the clock, it -is said that it had an evil spirit, and no man -cares whether the Inquisition hath destroyed it -or hidden it.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary closed the slim little book and gently -laid it on the table. During the latter part -of his recital I had risen from my seat and was -walking about the room. Now I sat at the table -opposite him, my hands stretched out limply before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>me. I stared at him as the Guest must have -stared at the Ancient Mariner. For the Mariner’s -story was of things that were past and -done with. St. Hilary’s story was of things to -come.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When I spoke, it was almost in a whisper, as -if I were saying something too extravagant to -be spoken out loud.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you believe, St. Hilary, that the clock -holds the secret? You believe that if you could -discover the secret you would have a clue to the -D’Este jewels? I see. Da Sestos was the thief, -and when he saw that he was never to feast his -eyes on the glorious fruit of his rascality, when -he knew he was being watched night and day, -he sank into the apathy of despair, until–until––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I raised both my arms and stretched them -out as if I were groping for something.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Until?” repeated St. Hilary mockingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Before heaven, St. Hilary,” I cried, laughing -loudly, “are you and I the two maddest men -in Venice this evening?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the contrary,” he answered carelessly, -flicking the ash of his cigarette daintily, “I begin -to think I have made no mistake in choosing -you for my companion. But the facts first. You -are ready for chapter three?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>“Your own theories about this extraordinary -mystery? Yes, yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The little man threw himself back in my armchair, -a smirk of satisfaction on his wizened face. -There was something of the actor about St. -Hilary; he loved an appreciative audience, and -he was determined to make the most of the present -one.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER VIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“Did you see the London Times of–let me -see–I believe it was the day before yesterday?” -asked St. Hilary presently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shook my head. The question was apparently -quite irrelevant, but I was accustomed to -his sudden and startling changes of front in the -discussion of any question.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There was a remarkable robbery mentioned -in that issue. A Bond Street jeweler appealed -to his creditors for an extension of time in which -to pay his debts. When he was denied that, he -warned them that he should on a certain day go -into bankruptcy. The night before he was to -declare himself a bankrupt, however, when he -was in his shop very late at night, puzzling out -his accounts, he was attacked by thieves, and -after being bound and gagged, his safe was -blown open and rifled.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A very ordinary robbery,” I commented.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. But the thief was his confidential -clerk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who else should know so well the combination -of the safe?” I asked indifferently.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>“If you would only be a little more patient, -Hume, you would not esteem my words so -lightly. There is generally some intention behind -them. As I was saying, he was robbed by -his own clerk, but the extraordinary feature of -the case is that the confidential clerk robbed the -master with the master’s consent and at his instigation. -Substitute the son for the clerk, and -you have a case of history repeating itself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then the Doge was right. Da Sestos was -the thief?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Consider for a moment the character of this -Messer Giovanni. He is an artist, but an artist -eccentric to the verge of madness. Sanudo -again and again refers to it. Granting, then, -that he is mad, in what form will this madness -manifest itself? Essentially in the very traits -and qualities that make up the artistic temperament. -These traits will be developed abnormally. -They will be pushed just over the narrow -borderland. How would you define the -artistic temperament, Hume?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Answering at random, I suppose the distinguishing -traits of Giovanni’s mind would be love -for his work, irrespective of reward or gain, -pride in it, patient thought, boldness in conceiving -the idea, and skill in the working out of -detail.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>“Excellent. These are the traits of the sane -artist. Now develop them, exaggerate them, -make them abnormal. To take our goldsmith:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For nearly two years he had been working -on this casket. It is a masterpiece. It is his -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>chef d’œuvre</em></span>. He has never made anything -quite so wonderful. Any artist is reluctant to -give up his handiwork. But Giovanni has not -merely the egotism of the artist; his is the egotism -of the madman. He can not bear the -thought of giving up the casket. He longs to -keep it for himself. He at last decides to do so. -But without the jewels it is but a meaningless -thing. It is a mere box. With them, it is one -of the wonders of the world. This longing for -the stones becomes at last insupportable. He -must have them for himself, and at any cost. -For, remember, he is not a common thief. If -the jewels were simply precious jewels, however -priceless, they might not have tempted him. But -a ring of Cellini’s, a cameo of Domenico’s, a -carved gem of Caradossa, they tortured him, -they tempted him, as they tempt me, as they torture -me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And when once he has determined to possess -these jewels, his cunning, his capacity for detail, -his patience, all the qualities of the artist, serve -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>him now as the thief–is that the idea?” I interrupted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary nodded affirmatively and continued:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Doge unconsciously furthers his plans -by his intense fear lest the fact that he possesses -the jewels be made known. Only da Sestos, his -son, and the Doge, indeed, knew the gems were -in Venice. He has been told the very room in -which the Doge is to receive from him the wonderful -casket. He has thoroughly reconnoitered -the ground. He knows that this bed-chamber of -the Doge looks out on a court, which, in the dead -of night, will surely be quite deserted. And so, -with a coil of rope about his waist and a dagger -beneath his blouse, he keeps the appointment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The guard, no doubt, was an unpleasant surprise. -He did not count on him. But, after all, -he has the advantage, for the guard has no suspicion -of treachery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And so, in due time, he picks his quarrel. -He has planned that carefully long ago. The -Doge had written him that he can not make the -last payment until he has disposed of some of -the gems. Da Sestos had professed himself -quite willing to wait.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But now, when once the jewels are in the -box, when once the cover is closed and it can not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>be opened for twelve hours, he quite unexpectedly -demands this last payment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Doge indignantly reminds him that he -had confessed himself willing to wait indefinitely. -But he is obstinate. He refuses to leave -the Ducal Palace without his just wage. If that -is not forthcoming, he takes the casket with him. -The Doge at last (as da Sestos has foreseen) is -compelled to leave the room, under the pretense -of getting the money. But, as he himself confessed -to the Signory, it is really to summon the -guard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hardly has the cautious Doge drawn the -bolts after him, before the dagger of the mad -goldsmith has done its dread work. The rope is -uncurled in the twinkling of an eye. It is lowered -over the balcony, and to it is attached the -casket and its precious contents. Below waits -the confederate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And this confederate?” I asked breathlessly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Again the dagger is lifted,” continued St. -Hilary, ignoring my question. “This time it is -against himself. It is worth a little pain, this -glorious plunder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And so his plan succeeds. The jewels are -his. After a few short weeks he will enjoy the -reward of his cunning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, unfortunately, suspicion is aroused in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>the Doge’s breast. For the old man, as we know, -was not so guileless a fool as the jeweler thought -him. Thief or no thief, da Sestos is imprisoned–at -first in a dungeon, with tortures, then in his -own house. He could stand the tortures. He -could endure the awful heat and thirst under the -leads of the Ducal Palace. But slowly came the -knowledge, the certainty, that he was imprisoned, -not for a month, a year, but for a lifetime. -The vengeance of the Doge was implacable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then if he must perish, was the secret of the -casket to be sealed on his lips forever? The -egotism of the madman made that thought intolerable. -Then must he confess? Is his enemy -to triumph at last? That thought was equally -impossible. But, before he dies, he will indeed -tell where the casket is hidden. Even after his -death the secret shall be told. It shall be told -daily, hourly; but so cunningly that though all -the world listen, it shall not understand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the confederate?” I interrupted again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was his son, of course. He knew. He -had helped to make the casket. He had helped -to purloin it, and he it was who had hidden it. -But not even to his faithful son would the mad -jeweler leave the jewels. His cunning plan had -become infinitely dear to him; and because this -son knew, he must be sacrificed. So that after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>he had worked side by side with his father on -the clock, and had returned from his last errand -in summoning the Doge, it was only to meet -death at last. For we can not doubt that the -father poisoned his son as well as himself. -And so the hiding-place of the casket and the -jewels is hidden in the clock for no man to guess -unless he be such a man as da Sestos–one who -has something of the very madness of desire and -cunning that possessed the goldsmith.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Unless–unless that son played the father -false! There, there is the doubt on which your -ingenious fabric totters!” I cried. I felt myself -grow pale at the thought.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You fool,” he answered violently, “do you -think I have not thought of that? But one never -has a certainty in this world. One must take -something on trust. And, by heaven, I am staking -all on that son’s loyalty to his mad father.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He sat in my armchair, huddled up, his face -very pale and haggard in the dim candle-light. -But his eyes were burning like those of the jeweler -Giovanni. Then he roused himself and began -to walk slowly about the room. At last, in -the most commonplace tone in the world, he -asked:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know anything of automaton -clocks?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>“Nothing, except that they do extraordinary -things.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Things most extraordinary. You have never -heard perhaps of the clock made by Le Denz?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shook my head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really? That was a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>chef d’œuvre</em></span> of the -bizarre and wonderful. An automaton child -wrote everything that was dictated to it–everything.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Impossible!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am telling you facts, my dear fellow, that -you may verify for yourself in any cyclopedia. -Then there was a man called Vancouver, who -amused himself making a clock whose figures at -certain hours played on the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>tambour de flacque</em></span>–droll, -very droll, that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An affair like that I saw once at Maskelyne’s, -I suppose,” I said with assumed indifference. -“I remember it was an automaton -figure called Psyche, a whist-player. I played -a game with her myself one dull afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tut, tut,” exclaimed St. Hilary irritably, “I -am not speaking of the tricks of the music-halls. -There’s the chess-player, for that matter, but all -the world knows that a human being is concealed -inside of those clumsy toys. I am speaking of -veritable automatons, such as the clock you are -to show me presently. Then there was a crazy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>genius who made an automaton that would lull -him to sleep with an air as gentle as spring -zephyrs, and awaken him with a crashing march. -There are automatons that sing and dance and -talk without number. And one clock-maker -wrote a book of instructions for keeping the -mechanism of his clock in order after his death.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All this, I take it,” I said, lighting my cigar, -which had repeatedly gone out, “is apropos of -our clock. At every hour, as old Luigi said, it -tells its secret.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is it,” replied St. Hilary. “And when -you and I, Hume, shall have mastered those -twelve secrets, we shall know where our jewels -are hidden. And now, have you still curiosity -to know whether this is a legend or a fact?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you will help me to look for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good. We may fail.” He looked at me -keenly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I like your monosyllables. I believe you are -really in earnest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; I am in earnest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good again. Then we pool our interests. -If we are successful, we share alike. Is that -fair?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>“It is more than fair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s settled then. And now let us have a -look at your clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Marruchi, the clock-maker on the Piazza, -has it. I left it with him to see if it could be -repaired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He settled himself in the armchair, and pulled -a rug over his knees.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Marruchi, my boy, will be able to do nothing -with it. It is a job above his caliber. And -now to sleep, to sleep. You and I have a long -journey ahead of us to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A journey? Where?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall be off to Amsterdam; you, to St. -Petersburg. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“St. Petersburg?” I demanded stormily. -“St. Petersburg! Why the devil St. Petersburg?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But St. Hilary was already asleep–or pretended -to be.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER IX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The sun was just tipping the dome of the -Salute as I fell asleep in my chair. My compact -with St. Hilary promised great things. It -meant action–a fascinating clue to follow, -whether it led us to the jewels of the Doge or -not. And if this dry chronicle of the past should -prove to be no colorless legend, but a living fact, -palpitating with human interest, I should have -material for a book indeed. A legend of the -Renaissance reincarnated in the twentieth century–that -must appeal to Jacqueline no less -than to me. Besides, the solving of this mystery, -if solution there were, or the proving it to -be but an empty fable, would certainly demand -those qualities she believed I lacked so sadly. -In everything this quest must be to my advantage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was eight o’clock before I could get St. -Hilary into a gondola. As we were rowed rapidly -to the Molo, an indescribable elation of -spirits buoyed me up. Three years had slipped -from my shoulders–three years of inertia and -weariness. I was happy, and I did not play the -fool and analyze too deeply my happiness.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>Perhaps the warm, delicious breeze that came -in puffs, laden with the scent of oleanders and -roses from the royal gardens, had its influence; -and the deep-blue sky, with the pearly clouds -drifting slowly over San Giorgios, and the glorious -sun, flashing on every tip and spire, and -reflected silver-gray and rose-colored in the millions -of little waves that danced and sparkled in -a very ecstasy of color. For the rain had ceased. -The sullen clouds were gone; the muddy streams; -the discolored damp stones. Venice was again -the enchanted city of fairy architecture, floating -in the intangible air.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One would have thought it difficult to believe -this wonderful story in the full light of day, on -the Piazza here, flooded with sun, with the gondoliers -smoking and breaking out into snatches -of song, with the tourists already astir, and the -guides from San Marco’s already on the alert -for them. Last night in my chambers, with the -curtains drawn and the lights of Venice shining -mystically in the distance, there might have been -an excuse for one’s imagination getting a little -the better of one. But with the morning should -have come sober skepticism. I can only say that -there were two reasons that forbade that: one -that I wished to believe; the other, that St. Hilary -did believe.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>A dozen steps on the Piazzetta, and we saw -that Marruchi was not yet opened, so we strolled -toward Florian’s for our morning coffee. As we -passed under the Arcade, St. Hilary paused at -a bookseller’s shop beneath the Libreria Vecchia. -I noticed carelessly in passing that the window -was filled with copies of a book just published.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you looked into that book yet?” asked -St. Hilary, as he bowed to the bookseller within.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” I answered, taking my seat at one of -the round tables. “I did not even read its -title.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is called Annali dell’ Inquisizione in -Venezia. It was published about a month ago. -Organia and Rosen have had it in their windows -for a fortnight at least.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have no doubt that that fact has some pertinency,” -I said irritably. “But before you explain -just in what way, suppose you answer a -few questions that naturally occurred to me -while you were asleep in my chair last night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why the deuce do you want me to go to St. -Petersburg? Why do you intend going to Amsterdam? -How did you come to know about the -Diary of Sanudo? How did you guess that the -clock was in the da Sestos palace? Or did you -not guess? Surely we are not the first to attempt -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>to solve the secret of the hours? And even if no -one has yet attempted it (and that seems incredible), -is it not possible that the clock may be -beyond repair, so that we can not fathom the -significance of the automata, if there be any -significance? And, lastly, how do you know that -you have <em>the</em> clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you had read that book in the shop there, -some of your questions might have been answered,” -retorted St. Hilary placidly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I held the coffee-pot suspended in mid-air. -“It mentions the clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It does.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then it’s there for all the world to read–the -duke, for instance!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The thought was rather startling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose so. Had I known before I saw -you last night that you were to be my criminal -partner in pursuit of the casket and the gems, -I should have brought that book as well as the -Diary which I happened to have in my pocket. -As it is, you might just step over to Rosen’s -and buy a copy. You will find it an amusing -book during your long journey to St. Petersburg.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked at him with some annoyance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You take so much for granted,” I remonstrated. -“I shall need some persuasion. You -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>know, I suppose, that it’s quite necessary for me -to get a passport to travel in Russia. And as -to our criminal pursuit, I take it that findings -are keepings.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very true,” he answered, looking at me -cynically. “Beatrice, who wore some of our -gems when she went into that cathedral over -there, is dust these four hundred years and more. -The line of the D’Estes and Sforzas is extinct. -There is not a man or woman in Venice or Italy -who may boast that a drop of the Doge’s blood -runs in their veins. Legally, I suppose, the -state––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, the state!” I sniffed contemptuously. -“I don’t mind putting my claims against the -state!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Brave man! But let me remind you, my -squeamish friend, that it may be necessary for -you and me to use the jimmy before we get possession -of those gems. Do you think we shall -find them on the pavement? Hardly! They are -hidden in one of these hundreds of palaces, and -they will not be given up for the asking.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose not,” I admitted reluctantly. -“All the same, it has an ugly sound, the word -criminal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I warned you that this was no task for the -dilettante.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>“Yes, yes, I know,” I replied hastily. “But -I am going to show you that I can be a bit unscrupulous, -as well as you, on occasions.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s better,” replied he, grinning at me. -“Now about that book. As I said, it mentions -da Sestos and his clock. But the Inquisition of -Venice, I need not remind you, concerned itself -not so much with the religious conscience of the -individual as with affairs of the state. It is da -Sestos, the criminal, who comes into this book; -and only incidentally, da Sestos, the atheist, who -made a clock that was inhabited by an evil -spirit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the story of Sanudo is substantiated?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fairly well. And in this book we learn what -became of the clock after his death. It was forfeited -by the Inquisition as a thing unclean. It -was hidden away in the Ducal Palace for nearly -two hundred years.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And afterward?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In a long foot-note the editor of the Annals -tells us that at the entry of Napoleon it was -looted by a captain of artillery, who afterward -sold it to a dealer in Paris. It remained in the -shop of the dealer for nearly half a century, -when a learned antiquarian, who was writing an -elaborate monograph on automaton clocks, came -across it. This antiquarian, our editor tells us, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>bought the clock and studied it. How it came -into the possession of the uncle of the present -Duke da Sestos is not known. This uncle, as -the duke himself told us the other day, lived in -Paris. He recognized the timepiece as that made -by his remote ancestor nearly four hundred years -ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Recognized it? But how?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing could be easier. In the first place, -the name of the maker is on every clock. Then -he may have been familiar with the monograph -of the antiquarian. Or the antiquarian may -himself have brought the clock to the attention -of the duke. It is even possible that, as a -Venetian, he may have read the Diary of -Sanudo. At any rate, he sent the clock back -to Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did he guess the significance of the automata, -do you suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It seems probable that he did,” replied St. -Hilary thoughtfully. “Otherwise, why should -the clock have been hidden in the secret chamber? -It is likely that he told the father of old -Luigi to guard it carefully.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And does the editor himself hint at the -automata’s having any significance?” I asked, -alarmed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Luckily not. He dismisses the whole subject -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>as a myth, a mere superstition of the middle -ages.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All the same,” I said, “if we could get hold -of a copy of that monograph we might have a -hint or two.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very true,” quietly answered the dealer. -“That is why you are going to St. Petersburg. -The monograph is in the Imperial Library. -There is only one copy known to be extant, our -editor assures me. Useful man, our editor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very,” and I laughed shortly. “But what -if the duke gets wind of this precious legend, -and feels curious enough to try his hand at solving -the riddle? If, for instance, he asks Mrs. -Gordon for his clock again, we shall have a rival -contestant for honors in mysteries.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is why we have no time to lose. Ah, -the shutters of the clock-maker are down. At -last we can examine your clock, and we shall be -lucky if he hasn’t ruined it,” grumbled St. Hilary. -He lifted the awning of the Arcade, and -we stepped out into the glare of the Piazza.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marruchi met me with apologies. No; he had -not attempted to repair the clock. He had not -even taken it to pieces. The mechanism was too -intricate. In fact, he knew of but one clock-maker -in the world to whom it might safely be -entrusted.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>“And he lives at Amsterdam,” concluded St. -Hilary complacently. “And now, perhaps, you -understand, Hume, why it is necessary for one -of us to go to Amsterdam?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I hesitated. I remembered how he had attempted -to obtain possession of the clock by -subterfuge. How could I be sure that his sending -me off to St. Petersburg was not a ruse to -get me conveniently out of the way? Meanwhile -he would have the clock, and when he had mastered -its secret, he could return it to me with the -assurance that it was but a myth after all. -“Why should I not go to Amsterdam, and you -to St. Petersburg?” That was the question that -I might very pertinently have asked him. But -I did not. I had promised to trust him. I trusted -him now.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you catch the afternoon express, Hume? -It leaves at three-thirty and makes connections -for St. Petersburg.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose so,” I admitted reluctantly, -“though I hardly relish our rushing off to the -ends of the earth in this way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, you of little faith,” he cried testily. “If -you are really going into this affair heart and -soul with me, you will need a great deal more -patience than a journey to St. Petersburg involves. -As to my going to Amsterdam, you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>heard Marruchi say there is just one clock-maker -in the world clever enough to take our clock to -pieces and put it together again without bungling.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well,” I assented soberly, and led the -way to the Bureau Internationale des Wagon-lits -to secure my sleeping-berth. But I must say -St. Hilary’s characterization of me was justified. -I had faith enough to be curious about the clock -here in Venice. But long and tedious journeys -to Amsterdam and St. Petersburg–that was -quite another matter.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER X</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>St. Hilary had given me a letter of introduction -to the director of the Imperial Library. -Heaven knows where he had met him, but he -seemed to know half the celebrities in Europe. -I presented it in person. I have always found -it useful to be referred–if one is to be referred -at all–downward, rather than upward. One is -more apt to strike a higher level of officialdom, -and that means a more intelligent and enthusiastic -service. In this case I was not referred -downward at all. The director himself made -inquiries for the precious volume. He returned -in half an hour with apologies. The book was in -use. To-morrow, no doubt, it would be at my -disposal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mere fact that the volume was in use made -me uneasy. Automaton clocks are not a particularly -popular subject. At once I thought of -the duke. Was it possible that already he had -seen the book St. Hilary had just been speaking -to me about? That seemed unlikely. But the -next morning, when I was crossing the Dworzowy -Bridge, once more on my way to the library, -I met him face to face.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>It is difficult to say who was the more surprised. -Though my curiosity was unbounded to -know if he were the person who had been studying -up automaton clocks yesterday, I should have -passed without speaking. But he advanced to -me with open palm, and greeted me with unnecessary -cordiality in French.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what brings Mr. Hume to St. Petersburg?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I murmured something about studies in the -Imperial Library.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At that he looked even more startled than -when he first saw me:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I, too, have been in the Imperial Library,” -he cried. “I have been reading a rare book -there–one of the rarest in the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! The book I wish to consult is also -one of the rarest in the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was a foolish hint, but I could not forbear -the pleasure of giving it. Already I suspected -that the duke was on the trail of the casket. Instead -of being alarmed or annoyed, it gave me -the keenest delight. Brain against brain. Wit -against wit. Courage against courage. I could -have asked nothing more to my liking. For instinctively -I had felt the mettle of my foe and -measured the chances of my rival for Jacqueline’s -heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>At this bold challenge–it was nothing less–he -started perceptibly. It was impossible to -doubt further. But in an instant the mask had -fallen over his face. He bowed with mock -respect.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, Mr. Hume is a scholar?” he asked mockingly. -“For me, I find the streets–its life and -pleasures and peoples–more instructive than -any books. Especially here in this strange, -frozen north. Is there not an English poet who -has said that the proper study of mankind is -man? If he had said woman, he would have -spoken the absolute truth. Yes, a beautiful -woman is the apotheosis of fascination and interest -for the man of fashion and heart. Leave -the dull books for the priests and the dotards, my -friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had nothing to say to this essentially Italian -summing up of the interests of life. We walked -on a few steps in silence. We had crossed the -bridge now. He took my arm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes,” he continued, “woman is the -proper study of mankind. But when one meets -a woman as lovely as the exquisite Miss Quintard–ah, -knowing her, one knows all there is -for one in life, is it not so?” and he pinched my -arm familiarly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I withdrew my arm angrily. I resented his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>tone and his reference to Jacqueline. But I -said nothing, only walked faster toward the -Library.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have met many beautiful women in my -life, but now I know there are no more worth -seeing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And did you fathom the lady’s charms so -quickly–in the one short hour at the Palazzo?” -I asked, a little spitefully, I am afraid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fathom? Certainly not. But the vivid impressions -of the hour may be deepened by the -careful and delightful study of a week.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stood quite still.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of a week?” I stammered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of a week, my friend,” he cried, enjoying -his triumph. “For you must know that I have -seen much of the fascinating Mrs. Gordon and -her adorable niece at Bellagio. I happen to have -a villa there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>At Bellagio! I drew in a deep breath, and it -seemed to stab me. I had been wrapped up in -the vain pursuit of a shadow, while that magnificent -brute at my side, twirling his mustache up -into his eyes, had been in the very presence of -the goddess. I could not speak. I hope it was -not jealousy that gnawed at my heart. Indeed, -it was not jealousy at all, I think. It was rather -fear–fear for my dear Jacqueline. Not simply -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>that she was to be won from me–had already -been won from me, perhaps. If one whom I respected -had gained her love, I do not think I -should have cried out. But this Duke da Sestos! -I trembled for her happiness. I knew that Jacqueline’s -aunt was the duke’s ally. And Jacqueline -herself? Women are at once so subtle and -so dense. I have seen the noblest of them deceived -by a charming manner–the cleverest -wedded to a villain or a fool.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We reached the Imperial Library. The clock -on a neighboring tower was striking ten when -the doors of the Library opened and the director -came out. I raised my hat. He returned my -greeting courteously, and informed me that the -book I wished was at last at my disposal. Unfortunately -he mentioned it by name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what interest has Mr. Hume in automaton -clocks?” demanded the duke, when the -director had turned his back.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shrugged my shoulders, and bade him good -afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Hume, a moment, if you please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I turned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your hotel is the de l’Europe, I believe?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But unfortunately I am rarely at home,” I -said ungraciously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am disappointed. We might have spent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>an agreeable hour together in this barbarous -capital. Au revoir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I bowed, and went swiftly up the steps. Again -he called me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By the way, Mrs. Gordon tells me, Mr. -Hume, that she has entrusted the old clock to -you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is quite true.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He looked at me keenly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, then, now I understand your interest in -automaton clocks. Your interest awakens mine. -I myself am anxious to see the clock again. -When will you be in Venice?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In a month or two,” I answered airily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A month or two, my dear friend!” he expostulated. -“I must see my clock before that. I -am thinking of having it repaired for Mrs. -Gordon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He emphasized the “my.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have thought of the same thing,” I said -evasively.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Mr. Hume, I beg you to understand that -it is with Mrs. Gordon’s permission that I do so. -Have you asked it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not yet,” I replied coolly, going up a couple -of steps.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His face darkened.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then, since I have Mrs. Gordon’s permission, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>will you kindly write an order to your -servant that he give it me on my return to -Venice?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Unfortunately, that is impossible. You see, -I have forestalled you. I have sent it to be repaired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He stood a moment, twisting his mustache up -into his eyes. Then, to my astonishment, he -leaped up the steps, two at a time.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since, Mr. Hume,” again he took my arm -and almost forced me down the steps, “you -question my word, I will telegraph to Mrs. Gordon -and show you her answer. When I receive -that answer, I shall come to your hotel and insist -that you give me both the name of the maker to -whom you have sent the clock and a written order -to him that he deliver it to me. If you refuse, -I shall be compelled to call in the police, and I -am not unknown here in St. Petersburg.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am afraid I shall find a means to evade your -police, Duke da Sestos,” I said, laughing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A moment he looked at me, puzzled, then, seeing -my contempt for his threat, laughed also.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“La, la, it is true. I am a great fool. I might -know that to threaten Mr. Hume is not the way -to gain one’s ends. Look, I threaten, I demand -no longer. I beg. I throw myself on Mr. Hume’s -mercy. I confess I am most anxious to see the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>clock. I take it for granted that Mr. Hume has -had reasons for my not seeing it. But come, -we will play fair. You have the clock, it is true. -But, after all, I have the right to it. Let us -grant, then, that we stand on even ground. Our -rights to it are equal–your right, that of possession; -mine, the moral and legal right. We -will go together to the telegraph bureau. We -will each of us telegraph to Mrs. Gordon for permission. -She shall decide. Come, is that not -sportsmanlike?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hardly,” I replied, laughing again. “The -result would be too much a matter of certainty–for -you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, you are determined to be unfair,” he -cried angrily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I hesitated a moment. Then I seized his -arm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come along, then,” I said, still laughing, -“we will go to your telegraph bureau.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It seemed the only way to get rid of him; but, -I may say, I had no intention of abiding by the -decision of Mrs. Gordon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We entered the bureau. We stood at the desk, -and each seized pen and paper. But before the -duke had written a line, he had recognized an -acquaintance in the street. I must excuse him -one moment, and would I await his return so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>that we might compare our telegrams and avoid -any misunderstanding?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I waited ten minutes. Then, my telegram in -my hand, I stepped outside the bureau and -looked up and down the street. He was not in -sight. I waited ten minutes more. Still the duke -did not return. My patience was exhausted. I -went back to the Library. But when I called for -my book, to my extreme astonishment, it was -again in use. It had, declared the attendant ungraciously, -been reserved for me, but they could -not hold it all the morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So this Italian duke had tricked me. The telegram -was simply a ruse, a clumsy and senseless -ruse, if you will, but I had been guileless enough -to let it work. But it would not avail him long. -Granted that he had delayed my seeing the book, -all I had to do was to return in the afternoon. -I walked back to my hotel for breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There the second surprise of the day awaited -me. A telegram from Jacqueline had been sent -to me to Venice, and retelegraphed to me at St. -Petersburg by my housekeeper. It was sufficiently -puzzling:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>Please be sure to accept aunt’s invitation for -Friday. I am anxious to see you–most anxious. -I shall expect you Friday–absolutely.</em>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I held it in my hand, astonished and perplexed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>An invitation had been sent to me by Mrs. Gordon -to visit her at Bellagio; I was to come on -Friday; Jacqueline especially wished to see me. -But why? Why should she expect me “absolutely”? -Was it possible she had told Mrs. -Gordon of my love for her? Dare I put the most -favorable meaning into the message? At any -rate, if I were to arrive at Bellagio on Friday, I -must leave that afternoon. Well, after my breakfast, -I could return to the Library, have a look -at the monograph on clocks, and still catch the -train.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But even as I was hurrying to the restaurant, -I paused. Was this another of the duke’s tricks, -a more elaborate one? A moment’s thought -showed that this was most unlikely. I hurried -through my meal, and taking a drosky returned -to the Library, determined to wait there until I -had seen my book.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This time, at any rate, the book was not in use, -and in five minutes I had it in my hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I turned to consult the index. Apparently -there was no index. I went through the volume -carefully to find mention of the da Sestos clock, -and presently I discovered that fourteen pages -of the volume had been completely torn out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stared down at the mutilated book. So at -last the duke’s game was revealed in its beautiful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>and simple entirety. He must have hurried back -to the Library when he left me in the telegraph -office. He, of course, had torn out the leaves. -Score two for the duke. The game was becoming -interesting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When I called the attention of the librarian -to the torn pages, he summoned the assistant -who had given out the book. Did the assistant -know that these fourteen pages were missing? -The young man replied that he had noticed that -yesterday. He had intended to speak to his -chief about it. When asked if he could describe -the reader, he replied that he could not. Pressed -still further, however, he thought he remembered -that the reader of the book had been an old man -and had brown eyes. It was useless to say any -more. It was evident that the assistant had been -bribed and was lying. I might have given the -librarian a hint or two as to what had become of -those fourteen pages, but I wished to keep the -police out of our game. Before long, perhaps, -I might have to trust to the duke’s generosity. -In the meanwhile, I would go to Bellagio to learn -why Jacqueline wished to see me so urgently.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>I saw no reason why I should inform either -Mrs. Gordon or Jacqueline of my little trip to -St. Petersburg. I greeted them both as if I had -just come from Venice, and had duly received -Mrs. Gordon’s invitation. It may be readily -imagined that I was curious to know why -Jacqueline had added her <a id='corr114.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='urgen'>urgent</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_114.8'><ins class='correction' title='urgen'>urgent</ins></a></span> telegram in -addition to her aunt’s note.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Jacqueline was never a primer to be -spelled out with simplicity and accuracy. She -met my anxious and significant glance–and I -took care not to ask questions–with smiling and -open-eyed composure. She was evidently relieved -to see me, but she made no effort to see -me alone. Rather, she seemed to avoid me; at -least, until my visit drew to a close. That close -was sudden and startling. My departure from -the Hotel Grande Bretagne was nothing less than -a dismissal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was not until after dinner that Mrs. Gordon -gave me any clue as to why she had asked me -to spend a few days with Jacqueline and herself -at Lake Como. Just how long my visit was to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>last I was in dubious ignorance. I was smoking -my postprandial cigar on the terrace, wondering -how I might tactfully sound the formidable -Mrs. Gordon for this information, when she appeared -with her niece. Jacqueline was reading -a letter from home. Mrs. Gordon held up a -jeweled hand impressively, and waved it significantly -toward her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear, will you fetch me my shawl? Pray -do not throw away your cigar, Mr. Hume. Be -seated. I am anxious to have a talk with you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My heart thumped ridiculously. Had Jacqueline -confessed to her aunt her love for me?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I professed myself properly at her disposal. -She cleared her throat and folded her arms across -her ample person. Unconsciously she was assuming -the airs of one of the Council of Ten. -But that was Mrs. Gordon’s way, and I waited -expectantly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is a great pleasure to have you with us, -Mr. Hume,” she began with ponderous cordiality.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I hastened to assure her that there was no place -more beautiful than Como in April, and looked -wistfully after Jacqueline, who had brought the -shawl, and was now strolling about the shrubbery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are the only person to whom I can turn -in perplexity, that is, while we are here in Italy. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>It so happens that I am sadly in need of advice -and information.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I assured her that I would do all in my power -to help her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is with regard to Jacqueline.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was careful to show nothing more than a -friendly interest. One needed to be wary with -the worldly Mrs. Gordon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Or, rather, it is with regard to Duke da -Sestos.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Duke da Sestos!” I exclaimed, startled. -“I can not see, Mrs. Gordon, how a matter touching -the Duke da Sestos can affect your niece,” -I said after a pause.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No?” She looked after her niece thoughtfully. -“But if I tell you that the duke is in love -with her, Mr. Hume?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And–and, her feeling toward the duke?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have reason to believe that Jacqueline’s -wishes will coincide with mine,” she answered -complacently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline’s wishes would coincide with hers! -There was little doubt as to what her wishes -were. So the worst had really come. I looked -out toward the lake, hardly trusting myself to -speak. The tender blue of the still waters; the -purple mountains; the song of birds; the cries -of children; the toll of a church-bell; and Jacqueline, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>in white, slipping through the green trees–everything -had charmed me only a moment ago. -But now I saw only Jacqueline–not the laughing -Jacqueline, my Jacqueline, who waved her -hand back at me smiling, but the Duchess da -Sestos, neglected wife, scorning her husband, -and hating him, doomed to a slow and wretched -death in life, sacrificed by this miserable old -worldling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I could imagine nothing more unfortunate -than that she should feel any interest in Duke -da Sestos,” I said with feeling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She looked at me anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know anything derogatory to him, -Mr. Hume?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” I answered bluntly, “I know nothing -of him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She sighed out her relief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A large person, with an English accent carefully -modulated, Mrs. Gordon was not easily -moved to anxiety. Her nerves were padded in -leather. One could not prick them with anything -less formidable than a pitchfork. But my remarks -had ruffled her complacency for the moment, -that colossal complacency as immense as -her wardrobe, and silly and moveless as her -pride. But even she would hesitate to encourage -the duke’s suit if I could show her it was quite -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>impossible. Could I do that? At least, I intended -to try.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She pondered a moment. “So you know nothing. -But it would not be difficult for you to make -inquiries. Understanding Italian life, as you do, -living in Venice so long––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Make inquiries, Mrs. Gordon?” I interrupted -coldly. I should have thought my cool stare -would have disconcerted her somewhat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And,” she continued frostily (evidently the -stare had been wholly in vain, then), “it seems -to me that my appeal to you should be received -in the light of a duty. You are one of our oldest -friends. You ought to have Jacqueline’s interests -at heart.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God knows I have her interests at heart,” I -cried bitterly. “But I fail to see––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of his rank and station,” she continued, -waving my protest aside, “I can judge for myself. -I am told he is a personal friend of the -king. His family antedates the very founding -of Venice. I know not how many quarterings -his coat of arms may boast. As to his finances, -that, naturally, is a serious question. I could -not, as a matter of duty, permit myself to ignore -that important phase of the case. Still, Jacqueline’s -<em>dot</em>, if she has due regard to my wishes, -will not make his lack of means an insurmountable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>obstacle. But, Mr. Hume, his character, -that is of importance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” I said significantly, “it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I do not mean,” she hastened to add, “that–er–he–er–may -not have been guilty of some -of the indiscretions of youth. That is to be expected -of a nobleman of his rank.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then, Mrs. Gordon, may I ask just what you -do mean?” I inquired suavely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That at least there must have been no scandal, -Mr. Hume, no open scandal. I could not -permit dear Jacqueline’s position to be in any -way equivocal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your concern as to that is most sensible,” I -said sarcastically. “Still, I am in ignorance as -to just how I may help you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, Mr. Hume, you are strangely heedless -of my words. Did I not say a moment ago -that I looked to you to make certain inquiries -for me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In other words, Mrs. Gordon,” I said coldly, -“you are asking me to be your private detective, -are you not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She held up her hands in horror.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An office that I can not undertake, even for -you or your niece. I can think of no marriage -for Jacqueline that could possibly be more distasteful -or more disastrous.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>“If you know nothing about Duke da Sestos, -how can you say that his possible marriage with -my niece could be a misfortune? I may be very -dense, but I fail to follow your reasoning, Mr. -Hume.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Mrs. Gordon,” I said earnestly, “can -you not guess something of a man’s character -without knowing all about him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I could,” she answered slowly, “I should -say that you do not appear to me to be quite disinterested -in your statements.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And if that is true, Mrs. Gordon?” I flung -away my cigar and my caution. “If I confess -that I am not disinterested, as you call it? What -then? Say that I love your niece, and I suppose -it is right that you should know that. My love -for Jacqueline is great enough not to grudge her -happiness, even if that happiness is to be with -another man. But to see her persuaded into a -marriage that every instinct tells me is wrong, -that I know must prove unhappy–I can not -allow that to be done without a protest, though -in making that protest I have betrayed my own -love for her. Mrs. Gordon, if I know nothing -of Duke da Sestos, I do know something of his -class. Can I say nothing that will influence -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She gathered her shawl about her, and looked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>at me with stony indifference. I might as well -have appealed to the little waves that lapped the -shore. But I continued desperately:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can not help it that you misjudge me. I -must speak. I must plead Jacqueline’s cause for -her, even though she should resent my doing -that, for I am pleading for her happiness. You -lay emphasis on the rank of this Duke da Sestos. -He is a duke. But, Mrs. Gordon, there are seventy -ducal houses in Sicily alone. There is no -law of primogeniture in Italy. Titles carry no -distinction with them. Princes, dukes, marquises, -counts, they are infinitely more numerous -in Italy than decent men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As to the character of this aristocracy–you -ask me of the duke’s, I will tell you the characteristics -of most. He is an officer in the cavalry, -therefore he lives beyond his pay. He is a gambler, -a spendthrift. His property is mortgaged -to the hilt. A rich marriage is his only hope. -He hunts, shoots, wears English clothes, and -that is as far as he approximates the manly -habits of the Englishman. The Italian’s idea of -a sportsman is to ride to the meet in a dog-cart -with a fat poodle at his side. The smaller the -pony, the fatter the poodle, the more of a sportsman -he is. Cards, gossip, his mistress–they -make up his life, his real life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>“And supposing that all this is true, I do not -forget that you are speaking of a class and not -of an individual, Mr. Hume.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am only imploring you to be very careful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After you have refused to make inquiries? -You are inconsistent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She rose and confronted me with a placidity -as obstinate as if I had not spoken.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All that you have said I will try to put to -the best of motives, but you have not shown a -generous spirit. In my turn I must appear ungenerous, -I fear. I must protect Jacqueline, and -unfortunately, in my opinion, her marriage with -you would be quite as disastrous as you pretend -hers would be with the duke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did not mean to speak ungenerously, Mrs. -Gordon,” I said humbly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And, as I was about to say, though it may -appear ungracious, I am compelled to withdraw -my invitation that you remain our guest here. -Unless, of course, you will give me your promise -that in no way––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I understand,” I said stiffly. “I should not -feel happy to stay under those circumstances. -I shall leave to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I bowed. Then I turned to her for a last -appeal.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>“Mrs. Gordon, it is natural that you should -listen to me with suspicion, but try to believe -that I speak disinterestedly. Do all you can to -discourage Jacqueline. She is very young. She -is romantic, like so many girls. It is so easy for -her to make a mistake, if there is no one to guide, -to advise. Take her away from Italy, at least -for the present. Will you?” I held out my -hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Hume,” she retorted spitefully, “in -these affairs of the heart each must decide for -oneself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes,” I cried eagerly. Then something -in her strange smile made the words die on my -lips, and I faltered, “Jacqueline has already decided -that–that she loves the duke?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have reason to believe so. The duke himself -assures me that she has given him encouragement. -More than that, Jacqueline herself -does not deny it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you,” I said miserably, and went into -the hotel to pack my things. The worst had -come, then, for, much as I disliked Mrs. Gordon, -I did not do her the injustice to suppose that she -was lying.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps I ought to have trusted Jacqueline -more. I should have known that no good woman -listens lightly to a man’s declaration of love; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>she had listened to mine. But, again, Jacqueline -had given me no assurance whatever that she -returned my love. She had found it difficult to -make up her mind, not only as to whether she -really loved me, but whether I were really in -earnest in declaring my love for her. And so -that evening I walked very soberly toward the -steamboat-landing, followed by the porter with -my bag.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The little steamer had given its warning toot, -my bag was aboard, I was about to follow, when -I turned, hoping for one last glimpse of Jacqueline. -To my surprise, she was running toward -me. She was in distress. In an instant I was at -her side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What, what does it mean, you going away -like this?” she panted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am going back to Venice, Jacqueline,” I -answered her gravely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To Venice!” she cried, dismayed. “To -Venice this evening, and without saying good-by -to me? Why?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have had a tiff, dear Jacqueline, with your -aunt, and she has ordered me off. I leave the -field,” I added a little bitterly, “to a handsomer, -and I wish I could say to a better, man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She withdrew the hand she had given me, and -flushed angrily. Then her face became very pale.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>“Forgive me, Jacqueline, I did not mean to -hurt you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what has my aunt told you?” she almost -whispered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She has told me, Jacqueline, that Duke da -Sestos has asked you to be his wife. She wishes -you to consent. She believes that you have not -refused him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her color came and went. She drew in a little -breath, and her brown eyes looked over at the -mountains beyond Cadenabbia. Tears gathered -in them and began to fall slowly down her -cheeks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it is not true,” I cried, and seized her -hand. “It is impossible that you should have -done that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is quite true,” she said almost impassively. -“He has asked me to be his wife. I have encouraged -him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then there is nothing more to be said. Good-by, -dear Jacqueline.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She caught my coat in her eagerness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Listen, Dick. It is because of that I telegraphed -you. You must help me. I need you. -Would you do something for me that was quite -useless–that would give you infinite trouble–that -would bring you no reward except my -thanks?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>“I think it quite possible,” I said, smiling. -“What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is so difficult to make you understand,” -she cried, distressed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will wait till to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, no; if you are to help me in this, you -can not do it too quickly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We began to walk toward the boat, which had -emitted another piercing wail.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I told you that Duke da Sestos has asked me -to marry him, and that I encouraged him. I did. -But, oh, so unconsciously.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You encouraged him unconsciously? Impossible!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is true, Dick,” she insisted tearfully. “I -wished to show him how impossible it was that -I could ever care for him–that nothing but a -miracle could make me love him. It happened -that the steel chest he gave me from the Palazzo -stood on the drawing-room table. Quite impulsively -I said: ‘When you bring me the casket -that fitted into that steel box, I will listen to you.’ -I said it lightly, Dick, as a bitter jest. I thought -I was asking him to do something quite impossible. -To my surprise, to my dismay, instead of -being indignant or angry, he took my words quite -seriously. He refused to see that I had asked -him to accomplish an impossibility. In that intense -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>foreign way of his, he kissed my hand, -bidding me good-by for the present, but he promised -me that, sooner or later, he would return -with the casket. I was so astonished I could say -nothing. Before I could recover myself he had -gone. And if he should find it! Oh, Dick, if he -should!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I laughed joyously–happily. “He shall not,” -I cried, “because I am going to find it myself. -And if I do find it, Jacqueline?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall be so glad,” she said shyly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But my book of legends,” I said with affected -seriousness. “Am I to give up writing the legend -of the clock? I thought I was to persist in my -task. Nothing was to turn me from it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I am giving you this new task, Dick,” -she said, laughing happily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes,” I said, as I leapt aboard at the -last moment. “I think I may find time to do -this new task for you, and my legend of the clock -as well.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not until the boat touched the farther shores -of Lake Como did it occur to me that Jacqueline -would think this promise but a half-hearted one. -That there was any connection between the clock -and the casket she had, of course, no idea.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>I reached Venice by the midnight express. -St. Hilary was waiting for me on the platform.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“St. Hilary!” I cried with affected gaiety, -“what brings you here at two o’clock in the -morning?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, what!” he grumbled. “Have you no -imagination? But wait till we are in my gondola. -You are going to your rooms, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We were scarcely seated when he turned -eagerly toward me. His yellow face was haggard -for want of sleep and lined like an old -carved ivory, but in the pale light of the lamps -of the landing I saw his eyes gleam.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are in good enough spirits to have good -news. Come, no one can hear us now. Tell me -of your little trip to Russia.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I recounted to him the story of my fruitless -journey. He listened to me in silence. When -I had finished, he drew aside the curtains of the -gondola and looked out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I might have known that you would have -just such ill luck,” he said bitterly, and did not -again speak until we had reached the Giudecca.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>We entered the Grand Canal. One thinks of -the Grand Canal as a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>mise en scène</em></span> for endless -processions of tourists. Your true <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>flaneur</em></span> shuns -it. He keeps, as far as possible, to the cool blue -shadows of the little canals.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But to-night this majestic waterway laid a -fresh spell on me. It awed me. This silent -stream, black as death, was full of mystery. A -menace lurked in the deep shadows of the great -palaces, pallid and ghostlike in the darkness. -The steel prow of our gondola, curving upward -proudly, dipped and glided through the inky -waters. Is there in the whole world anything -inanimate so graceful, so almost alive, so light -and so cruelly sharp and strong as the prow of -a gondola? It is the very incarnation of the -spirit of the Venetians of the Renaissance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To-night, as we penetrated the gloom that was -absolute, except for the light of a tiny lantern -on the deck forward, I could put myself back in -the middle ages. I could see the black barge -of the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Fante</em></span>, the captain of the inquisitorial -guard, swiftly rowed with muffled oars to the -palazzo of the unhappy wretch who had offended -against the laws of Venice. The barge stops at -his door; the bolts are slipped by a spy within; -the messenger of torture and imprisonment, somber -as the night, makes his way to the bedside -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>of the doomed man. He starts from his deep -sleep; he is beckoned silently down the echoing -stairs; he seats himself in the black barge; and -so, shivering, he goes to his end.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We shot into one of the narrow, crooked little -canals. And now our gondola scraped the very -walls of the window-barred store-houses that -once overflowed with the wealth of the Orient. -It was impossible to think of myself as a simple -gentleman with a letter of credit at my bankers. -St. Hilary and I were marauders, adventurers, -brawlers, and this prosaic umbrella between my -knees was a long, keen blade, ready for a lively -bout with the watch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We were in the Giudecca now, dodging this -chain and that of the shipping moored along the -Fondamenta della Zattere. As we made for the -shore opposite, the rain, which had been coming -down in a gentle drizzle, fell smartly, and St. -Hilary shouted to the gondolier to row faster.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Giudecca quarter is anything but fashionable. -Gondoliers repeat the word twice with scorn -when the tourist expresses a wish to go there. -Steamers from Greece and America, laden with -corn, are anchored along its quay. From early -dawn to night, hundreds of barefooted stevedores, -each with his sack on his shoulder, patter -up the narrow plank that spans ship and shore. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>An instant they poise their burden on the scale -that stands at the doorway of the magazines, -while an official from the customs-house jealously -notes that it is full weight. Then shouldering it -again, they are swallowed up in the cavernous -interiors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Most of the old palaces of the Giudecca have -degenerated into these store-houses. But here -and there, as a thing so insignificant that it is -overlooked, one finds a low-ceiled <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>trattoria</em></span>, where -at the noon hour the stevedores drink the strong -wines of Chioggia and shout out their lusty -songs; or it may be an infinitesimal shop, where -sharp-faced old women sell fish and cheese and -cherries.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All day long children sprawl and quarrel and -play on the sun-baked pavement; and artists -paint endless pictures of the red and orange -sails drifting slowly by, with the Salute and -Ducal Palace for a background. Yes, the Giudecca -quarter is the quarter of the people. But -to me the stevedores, the children, and the haggling -old women have a charm all their own. -And here, at the Casa Frollo where I lived, no -red-booked tourist sets foot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our gondolier, winded with his long pull -against wind and tide, steered for some steps a -hundred feet this side the Casa Frollo. I called -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>to him to row farther up the quay, but St. Hilary -irritably declared it easier for us to walk the distance -than for him to row.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why walk in the rain?” I expostulated. -“And how are you going to return to your hotel -on the Riva if you dismiss your gondolier? Gondoliers -hereabouts at two o’clock in the morning -are as rare as horses on the Piazza.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It happens that I don’t intend to return to-night -to my hotel. As a matter of fact there will -be no bed for you, my dear Hume.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No bed? It is not possible that you have -already brought back our clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is not only possible, it is true. I returned -this evening in time to get your telegram and -to meet you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have had it repaired in a week?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; so far as it could be repaired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then there could not have been much the -matter with it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As it happened, there was not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then it seems to me that your trip to Amsterdam -was not so very remarkable after all?” -I grumbled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sometimes,” quietly replied St. Hilary, “one -has to go to a great deal of trouble and expense -to get a merely negative result. Sometimes it is -necessary to find out simply what a thing is not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>“And have you found out that it is not, after -all, an automaton clock?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear fellow, be reasonable. In the first -place, this clock had to be set going. It was too -intricate a piece of mechanism to entrust to any -blundering workman. Are you going to find -fault because it has been set going without any -trouble or delay? Every wheel of its works had -to be taken apart.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the object of that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was absolutely necessary that we should -be certain that the secret of the clock, provided -it has a secret, is told by the automata, and that -this secret was not hidden in its works. Now, at -least, we know what <em>not</em> to look for.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The automata themselves, then, hold the -secret?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So far as we can tell at present. The fact -is, I have heard only two of the hours strike.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And were the automata of the hours that you -saw in working order?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One of them at least was, though, I confess, -the result was slightly disappointing. However, -I certainly did not expect the secret of the clock -to be on the surface.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We walked up the quay in silence. Suddenly, -as we were crossing a bridge, St. Hilary seized -my arm, his familiar gesture always for silence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>and caution. He looked over the parapet. Half -a dozen black gondolas, swaying in the wind, -were tied to rings in the wall. In one of them sat -a man. A piece of tarpaulin protected him from -the rain. As we looked at him he struck a match -to light his pipe, and I saw his face.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you ever happen to see that gondolier -before?” demanded St. Hilary as we walked on.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never, so far as I know,” I answered idly, -peering through the rain for the landmark of -Palazzo Frollo, two ridiculously small marble -lions on the rail of the balcony of the second -story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hum, then perhaps I was mistaken. By the -way, I met the duke on the Riva as I was going -to the station to meet you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed?” I said indifferently. I was fumbling -for my night-key. I had insisted on that -essentially Anglo-Saxon convenience, and the -door had been fitted with a lock at my expense. -I glanced up carelessly at the windows of my -sitting-room, after the manner of one who has -been away from home for a few days. A light -was shining through the chink of the shutters. -I pointed it out to St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I remember you told me that you had brought -the clock to my rooms. You left the lamp burning, -I see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>“I? No.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then who can have been in my rooms?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I heard St. Hilary chuckle in the darkness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Rather, say, who is in your room? <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Pianissimo, -mio caro.</em></span> It will be amusing to surprise -this midnight guest. No, no; not a light, and -silence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My rooms were on the second floor. We had -to pass through the sala, a huge apartment, at -least forty feet long, a T-square in shape, and it -extended from the canal to the garden at the -rear, the smaller part of the T-square running -along the side of the canal. The ceiling of immense -beams stretched from wall to wall. Once -these beams had been gaily decorated with geometrical -designs; now they were dingy with a -faded coat of whitewash. The room was lighted -by the feeble rays of a night-lamp in a niche of -the wall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We tiptoed across the cold floor. Softly, very -softly, I pushed down the straight handle of the -door leading into my room. I drew this door -cautiously toward me. A second door still hid -us from the intruder, if intruder there was. -Cautiously I pushed it ajar, and looked through -the crack, St. Hilary squinting over my shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Duke da Sestos was seated in my room, and -on a table immediately in front of him ticked the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>clock. A lighted candle stood on either side of -it. He sat huddled in the deep armchair, his -head sunk on his breast. But he was not asleep. -His elbows rested on the arms of the chair; his -legs were comfortably crossed. A box of cigarettes -was at his elbow, and at his elbow, too, a -decanter of brandy–my brandy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I closed the door, and at that moment we heard -very faintly from within an exquisite chime of -silver bells. Then the hour of one was struck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By Jove, St. Hilary,” I said savagely, “is -that brute to amuse himself all night, drinking -my liquors, listening to the chimes of our clock, -unmolested?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not unmolested,” chuckled St. Hilary softly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, then, we stop his little game!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With all the pleasure in the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He took off his cloak. It was very thick and -dripping with moisture. He nodded at me, -smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes, you get the idea? Could a troublesome -guest cry out indignantly if this fine cloak -kept his head warm, do you think?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He spread out the cloak on one outstretched -arm, and tiptoed to the door again. I followed -at his heels.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But is this necessary?” I expostulated. -“Why not throw him out without any ado?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>St. Hilary looked at me with contempt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you forget the fourteen pages? We must -see them. The chances are they are in his pocket. -We are to be burglars for the nonce, dear Hume, -and this cloak is to go over his head so that he -won’t be too noisy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I nodded. “And the program?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is very simple. His back is toward the -door. When the next quarter chimes, I push -open the door softly. I give a twist to my good -cloak, and, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>voila</em></span>, we shall have caught our prey. -Blow out the candles, then help me. We shall -wrap the cloak comfortably about his head, so -that he can not see or hear. Then I go through -his pockets. If the stolen pages are there, very -good. If not, his keys may be useful. Have -you a rope? We must fasten his arms and legs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, a trunk-strap.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>En garde</em></span>, then. I am extremely -thirsty. My poor lips ache for a smack of that -good liqueur.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The clock chimed the half-hour sweetly. St. -Hilary, holding the dripping cloak before him -like a shield, pushed open the door.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>St. Hilary did not bungle; and the cloak -served admirably. The duke was no mean antagonist. -As I placed my knee on his spine and -twisted his arms back, while St. Hilary adjusted -the bonds and the gag, I made up my mind that -I should have to train down a little.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now?” I whispered, when we had -trussed him up, for all the world like a fat fowl. -It seemed to me rather useless and silly, all this -fuss, and yet, I confess, I found it exciting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary shook his head for silence. One of -the duke’s cigarettes drooping at the corner of his -mouth, he deliberately went through da Sestos’s -pockets. As I watched him, I shook with silent -laughter. St. Hilary played his part with such -boyish gusto. They made a picture, those two: -the duke straining frantically at his bonds; St. -Hilary, deft and cool, quite to the manner born, -tapping this pocket and that, and emptying the -contents of each in a little heap on the table–money, -keys, letters. When he had glanced -through the last, he conscientiously returned each -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>article to its respective pocket. Except the keys -and the copy of a telegram. The keys he calmly -transferred to his own pocket; the telegram he -handed to me. I read it curiously:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please tell Mr. Hume that he is by all means -to give you the clock at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was signed by Mrs. Gordon, and was directed -to the duke. I looked at it thoughtfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Supposing, St. Hilary, that while reading -this telegram the candle’s flame happened to -catch it. Naturally, I should let it go–like -this,” I whispered, and stamped on the burning -paper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wise young man,” commented St. Hilary. -“And now I am going to return the call of the -duke. We are going to play our little game of -tit for tat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He put on his cloak, then, drawing its folds -about him, he beckoned me out into the sala.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I am off to our comedian’s apartment. -We must have those fourteen pages, if possible. -Do you keep your eye on the duke there until four -o’clock. Then let yourself down-stairs softly, -very softly. Return noisily, very noisily. Imagine -you have been dining, as the poet says, not -wisely but too well. You will then be horrified -to discover that our lord duke is blindfolded, -strapped, and gagged. You release him with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>cries of concern. You are all sympathy. We -have done our work skilfully enough so that he -can not know we are the aggressors. It is true, -he may guess. I shall return here to-morrow -morning, probably not before noon. We shall -need a few hours’ sleep. I hope I shall bring -those fourteen pages with me, then we can amuse -ourselves with our <a id='corr140.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='clock.'>clock.”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_140.8'><ins class='correction' title='clock.'>clock.”</ins></a></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>“But our beast of prey in there. Though he -can not see or move, don’t forget he can hear. -Keeping still until four o’clock in the morning -does not appeal to me in the least. Why not shut -him up in my coat-closet until it is time to release -him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We entered my room again, and, in spite of his -struggles, stood the duke upright in the narrow -closet. Then, leaving him standing there like a -mummy, we turned the key on him and left him -to his reflections.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now I’m off,” whispered St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When he had closed the door behind him, I -took the seat in front of the clock. I waited for -the clock to strike the hour of two.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The silver bell struck the three-quarter-hour. -The minutes dragged on. As I sat there, staring -at the clock, my eyes on its face, it seemed a thing -sinister, half alive. Its yellow face took on a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>look that was half human. It made faces at me. -It mocked me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then at last a spring whirred. The little -silver bells, sweet as an elfin chime in fairyland, -shocked me into rigid attention. It was two -o’clock. I watched the doors eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At first I thought none of the twelve doors had -opened. I forgot for the moment that the door -of the second hour was at the side of the clock. -I moved the candle to the side. Yes, the door -was wide open. I thrust the rays of the candle -at the little doorway, and I saw–what?</p> - -<p class='c001'>A circular platform was being pushed slowly -forward. On this platform was a tiny throne in -silver. At the foot of this throne a bronze figure -crouched abjectly. Another figure stood upright -at the base of the throne. In his two hands the -upright figure clutched a sword. As the clock -struck twice, the sword was raised high above -his head, with a droll, mechanical jerk. It descended -twice on the neck of the crouching figure. -Then, very slowly, the platform retreated into -the doorway. The door closed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That was all. A dollar cuckoo clock is hardly -less impressive or more ridiculous. A figure -hacks with a sword at a figure complacently -kneeling to receive the blow–that was all! But -was it all? Was there not, behind the little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>figure, a background of bronze, a drop-curtain, -so to speak? And on the background was there -not something in bas-relief? I felt quite sure -that there was, though the two automata must be -the principal actors in the foolish scene. I jotted -down as much as I could remember, and waited -for three o’clock to strike.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But if the previous hour was disappointing, -this was maddeningly so. This time I had the -two lighted candles standing at the third door, -that not a fraction of a second might be wasted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again the whirr of the spring and the chime -of bells. The third door opened slowly. The -circular platform was pushed out again. A single -figure this time. I watched it, breathless, and -it did–nothing. It stood there motionless. But -at the second glance I saw that it was designedly -motionless. It was not an automaton. It was -simply a piece of bronze cast in the shape of an -old man in a flowing robe. The Doge’s cap was -on his head. His right arm was lifted as if gesticulating. -And as the hours struck, there appeared -from the rear of the platform, in quick -succession, tiny round disks. They sprang into -line from within one after the other. Before the -door closed I counted ten of them. They stood -in a row, facing the immovable figure. There -was again a bronze plate at the back. At first -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>I thought it was ornamented with a geometrical -design. But as I looked at it more closely, I saw -that it was a gate. This scene was more tantalizing -than the last. When the clock had been in -perfect repair the ten disks must have been the -basis for ten automata, much after the fashion -of the Noah’s Ark men of our childhood. Naturally, -the ten figures suggested the Council of -Ten, and the single figure the Doge. But one -would need some imagination to guess their significance. -The clock might have a wonderful -secret to tell, but it would take a genius or extraordinary -luck to puzzle it out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The clock ticked complacently. It seemed to -jeer at me with its clacking rhythm. I lighted -one of the duke’s excellent cigarettes. My nerves -had been spurred to an ecstasy of excitement. I -had expected wonderful things to happen. Nothing -had happened. Nothing, I said to myself, was -going to happen. I was very sleepy. The irritating -tick-tock sounded far away. I nodded in -my chair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The whirr of the spring and the silver chime -aroused me. I leaned forward languidly, cynically, -rubbing my eyes. The first of the six doors -in front opened. This time no automaton appeared. -In the background I made out some -monster, a well-curb, and a tree. The door -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>closed slowly. I laughed aloud. St. Hilary and -myself had been mad to dream that after almost -five centuries the clock could tell its secret, if -indeed it had a secret to tell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I yawned, blew out the candles, put on my -overcoat and hat, and slipped down-stairs. It -was time to let the duke out of his box.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>I walked a few rods from the house, hugging -the wall. Returning noisily, I pulled the bell -half a dozen times. True, I had my key in my -pocket, but just now it would have been as well -to have left it at home. All the world must know -I had just returned from my journey.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had to wait five minutes before the frowsy -head of my housekeeper peered over the balcony. -In the meanwhile, I discovered another head -looking at me from over the edge of the quay. -By the rays of the lantern at my door I recognized -the face staring at me intently as that of -the man whom we had seen smoking under the -bridge. He was the duke’s gondolier. He was -waiting for his master.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then he knew the duke was in my rooms. -That was awkward. Had he seen me come out -of the house? Nothing was more likely. What -if his master should question him, presently, if -he had seen any suspicious characters about? -What if the man told his master that he had seen -me come sneaking out of the house one minute, -to return noisily the next? When he described -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>me, what would the duke naturally infer? And -if, still later, the duke discovered that St. Hilary -had paid this midnight visit to his room? Well, -at any rate, he would be assured that we were -really in earnest. He would know that if the -casket was to be found, he was not the only one -who was looking for it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stepped into the hall and banged the door -after me. I stumbled up the stairs. I clattered -across the sala. I sang. I lurched into a table. -I fell with a crash against the closet-door in -which the duke was imprisoned. There was no -doubt about my having come home this time. -Even the duke in his narrow box must have -heard me. I lighted a candle, and taking off my -coat and waistcoat, I held them in front of me -with one hand and flung open the closet-door -with the other. I was prepared to express surprise. -I had an exclamation conveniently on my -lips. It so happened that my surprise was genuine. -As I opened the door the duke toppled over -limply into my arms. He had fainted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I let him slip to the floor. I unbound his -wrists and legs. I tore off the gag. I chafed -his hands. I poured water over his face. Upon -my word, between us we had well-nigh smothered -the chap.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He opened his eyes presently. Sitting up, he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>blinked at me. Slowly the pallor left his face. -He glanced about the room; he shook himself -together, rose to his feet, laughed lightly, and, -walking over to the table where his cigarettes -lay, he lighted one, and inhaled it deeply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, my friend Hume, that was not a pleasant -half-hour. I must thank you, my deliverer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shook hands rather guiltily. I noticed that -he was curiously examining his cigarettes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The thief has been helping himself,” he said -carelessly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thief?” I cried, alarmed, and rushed to my -bedroom. I threw out the contents of a drawer -or two, and came back into the sitting-room, the -picture of despair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, thieves,” I said feebly, as I sank into a -chair. “A diamond scarf-pin, a watch, a few -hundred lire–all stolen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Mio caro</em></span>,” he cried hypocritically, seizing -my hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how did you get into my closet?” I demanded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Mr. Hume, do you think I walked -in there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose not,” I answered dryly; “but I -suppose you walked into my sitting-room?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was voluble in his excuses. He had come -on a little errand. He must have fallen asleep. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>He remembered nothing till he was seized and -bound and robbed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So they have robbed you, these thieves?” I -asked indiscreetly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; they have taken my keys,” and he -looked at me keenly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your keys!” I expostulated. “What would -they do with your keys? You must have left -them at home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>Eh bien</em></span>, Mr. Hume, I must bid -you good night. I must walk, I suppose, to the -Tragetto Ponte del Piccolo for a gondolier. -Why, my friend, do you dwell in this barbarous -Giudecca?” Then his eyes fell on the table, -where the clock ticked loudly. “Ah ha, my old -clock, and it goes. Capital! I had quite forgotten -my errand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that is?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To deprive you of my clock, my friend. Do -you forget that we were to telegraph Madame -Gordon in St. Petersburg? Oh, la, la, you did -not wait for me at the bureau, I remember. That -was not the act of a sportsman.” He shook his -head reproachfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought it was you who did not wait for -me,” I said dryly. “And have you yet received -an answer to your telegram?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But yes. Behold!” He fumbled in his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>breast-pocket, and sorted rapidly a package of -letters and papers. “<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Accidenti!</em></span>” he cried, “it -is not here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No doubt you left it at home with the keys,” -I said coolly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Eh? At home with the keys?” He looked -at me with half-shut eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not?” I asked, yawning, and casting a -longing eye toward my bedroom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He began to laugh boisterously. “It is a matter -to laugh over that thieves should rob one of -a telegram and one’s keys, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>hein?</em></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Decidedly,” I said uneasily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it will be the simplest thing in the world -for me to get another telegram,” he cried mockingly. -“The thieves will not inconvenience me -in the slightest. And as to their going to my -rooms, bah, I am not so big a fool as to leave -anything of interest there for an intruder to gaze -at. No, Mr. Hume, not so big a fool as that. -By the way, did you find your bibelot, that rare -bibelot in the Imperial Library, interesting?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did not take the trouble to go back for it,” -I lied carelessly. “A telegram from Miss Quintard -recalled me to Bellagio.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I startled him as I had intended to. His face -darkened. He looked at the clock again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He had heard the spring whirr metallically. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>The bells began to strike. Instinctively we both -turned, and watched the fourth door open slowly. -Again the figure on the platform had been broken -off. What the background was I could not see. -I dared not show too great curiosity before the -duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The door closed. The duke and I looked at -each other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is interesting, all the same, my droll old -clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shrugged my shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see that you have had it repaired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was wondering if that fact would dawn on -you,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Am I to understand that because you have -had the clock repaired, my right to it is the less -real?” he inquired, an ugly gleam in his blue -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are to understand precisely that,” I replied. -“And permit me to remind you, first of -all, that this clock is not yours. It is now Mrs. -Gordon’s. She has asked me to keep it for her. -I shall take whatever steps I may think necessary -for its safe keeping. I am beginning to -think that it is valuable when people break into -my rooms to observe it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Break into your rooms?” He looked at me -angrily.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>“I beg your pardon,” I said suavely. “I was -thinking, of course, of the thieves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He bowed. “A very natural mistake. <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Felice -noce.</em></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good night, duke.” We pressed each other’s -hands warmly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But at the door he turned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Hume, do you not think that when people -resort to the extreme measures of binding -one and shutting one up in closets they must be -decidedly anxious that one shall not see things?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Without a doubt,” I retorted airily. “As, -for instance, when they tear leaves out of library-books.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again we bowed. So we understood each -other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I threw open my shutters and looked out. -The duke was stepping into his gondola. Evidently -he saw it was useless to sail longer under -false colors. He waved to me familiarly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was a superb morning. The rain had been -blown away. Venice had robed herself in glory, -and proudly enthroned herself as the great enchantress, -the magician of the seas.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I threw myself wearily on my bed for a few -hours’ sleep. The clock might strike as it would. -I was disgusted with its antics.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>It was long past noon when I was awakened -by St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well,” I asked sleepily, “have you had any -luck?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None whatever. The duke’s belongings were -packed. His rooms were dismantled. If you -remember, he has been living at Bellagio the past -few days. He has a villa there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you have no trace of the missing -papers?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No trace,” he replied gloomily. “But tell -me of your own adventures with the duke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It appears,” he said ruefully, when I had -finished, “that the duke has had the advantage -of us after all. But at least we have the clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” I echoed sarcastically, “we have the -clock. But it seems to me that the childish contrivances -one sees sold on the boulevards of -Paris for ten sous are as ingenious. I have heard -it strike four of the hours, and each hour’s results -were more disappointing than the last.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you expect to find its secret on the surface, -like the pebbles on the sea-shore? There -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>are pebbles on the shore, yes. But, my friend, -a poet has said we must dive for the pearls.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The automata are all more or less broken,” -I grumbled. “We gained precious little by our -trips to Holland and Russia, I think.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t call my trip a failure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But your Dutch clock-maker didn’t repair -the automata,” I insisted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very true. But he was able to assure me -what I had already guessed and hoped might be -true–that the antics of the automata, even when -the clock was in perfect order, could never have -amounted to much. Their various movements, -however droll and amusing, were too simple to -have much significance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The automata have no significance!” I repeated -testily. “Why, I thought the fact that -the clock as an automaton clock was precisely -the significant point. If the automata amount -to no more than a row of pins, how the devil is -the clock to tell its secret?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Hume,” returned St. Hilary quietly, -“they may amount in the end to a row of diamonds. -I did not say that the automata have -no significance whatever. On the contrary, they -are perhaps the principal actors of each scene. -But the chorus of each scene is to be found in the -bas-reliefs that appear on the bronze plates forming -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>the backgrounds. If we grant that, the office -of the automaton figures is chiefly to identify the -twelve scenes in the bas-relief.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But if that is true, shall we be able to identify -the scenes in the backgrounds when the automatic -figures are missing?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It will be difficult to do so, certainly. But -I believe these automata have a purpose more -subtle than that. If my theory is correct, the -mad goldsmith would not tell his secret by the -uncertain means of a lot of dancing and gesticulating -figures. The mechanism would be too -intricate and delicate to stand the test of wear -and time. It is most probable that the automatic -figures, while serving the subsidiary purpose of -identifying the various scenes in the backgrounds, -are really a bluff. They are a blind -to rob the backgrounds of their significance. -They are designed to catch the attention of the -unwary. The unthinking man, held by the -movements of the figures themselves, would look -no farther.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is a really ingenious theory, St. Hilary,” -I said admiringly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be sure of this,” replied the dealer complacently, -“the riddle that man has been ingenious -enough to devise, man is ingenious enough -to solve.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>“Granting always that it is a consistent -riddle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I have enough faith in my goldsmith -to believe that,” said St. Hilary obstinately. -“But it is three minutes to one. The clock is -about to strike.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We watched the first of the doors open, the -circular platform pushed out. A headless figure -stood motionless, its right hand resting on a -lion’s head. At the stroke of the hour, the beast -lifted its paw and dropped it again. The headless -figure wiggled its left hand. Then the platform -solemnly retreated, and the door was noiselessly -shut.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Doesn’t that simply cap the climax for exquisite -inanity?” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is silly enough to bear out my theory. -The raising of that lion’s paw, the ludicrous -wiggling of the solemn figure’s hand, can not -possibly have any meaning.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why are you so sure of that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because the gestures were made but once. -But you observed the background?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was simply the Ducal Palace,” I said indifferently, -“which of itself may mean much or -nothing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Precisely. It is the figure and the lion that -give the scene its vital touch. Any schoolboy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>could have recognized them. They stand, of -course, for San Marco, the patron saint of Venice, -and his lion. And now, let us get to work. -Our first step must be to make ourselves familiar -with every detail of each scene of the hours.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since the automata are useless, and, in most -of the hours, are missing entirely, why should -we not take flashlight snap-shots of the twelve -backgrounds? We could then study them at our -leisure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent. But the camera?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have a very good one with an admirable -lens. I can take the pictures myself. These -photos we can always carry about with us on our -person. There will be no danger of the duke’s -stealing those. But the clock, we can’t keep -guard over it all the time. The duke will surely -insist on its being given up to him sooner or later. -If necessary, he will call in the police.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hume, you are an inspiration. What’s your -idea for getting rid of it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I shipped it to America for Mrs. Gordon, -ought she not to be grateful to me for saving -her that bother!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the duke could readily prevail on her -to cable to America to have it sent back to her. -The ruse would give us a month’s start, it is -true; but what if we shouldn’t find the casket -in a month?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>“I have thought of that. If it were sent to a -wrong address, by mistake, or to your shop, for -example? And if you sent instructions that the -box was to be put carefully away until your -return?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear fellow, you are a jewel of thoughtfulness. -Take your flash-lights immediately; and -when you have made twelve perfect pictures, we -will pack the clock, and see ourselves that it is -safely started on its long journey to America. -Until then, one or the other of us must guard it -day and night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I took the twelve flash-lights. They were a -perfect success. Two days later the clock was -boxed, labeled “Glass, with care,” and on its way -to Genoa, whence it was to be shipped to New -York.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the same steamer was a letter from the -dealer to his partner, advising him that a box -containing an article of value had been shipped -that day, and instructing him to have it stored -away carefully until further orders. All information -concerning it was to be absolutely withheld.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We acted not a day too soon. Our duke appeared -again; this time armed with legal authority. -I expressed the profoundest regret, but -how could I dare to keep so valuable an antique -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>longer in my possession, since I had reason to -know that thieves had already forced their way -into my rooms to steal it? The duke stormed -and threatened. I smiled at him blandly. When -he asked me where I had sent it, I informed him -that I had despatched it to New York, in the -care of St. Hilary’s partner. As to the instructions -St. Hilary had given his partner, the dealer -in antiques would doubtless tell him what they -were, since he had written them. St. Hilary -lied, cheerfully and absolutely, asserting that he -had sent orders to his partner promptly to surrender -the clock to any person bearing a signed -note from Mrs. Gordon.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>For a week St. Hilary scarcely left my room. -He ate little; he smoked boxes of cigarettes; he -consumed pots of black coffee. Such sleep as he -had he snatched for an hour at a time in my armchair. -And always in front of him were the -photographs of the backgrounds of the twelve -hours.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As for me, I waited on him hand and foot. I -was a hewer of wood and a drawer of water. -Now I went to Rosen’s to buy some volume, now -to Organia’s to borrow a collection of rare prints, -now to the Museo Civico to consult the director. -The archives of the Frari, the Academy of Arts, -each of them saw me often. In the morning, -perhaps I looked at a picture of Carpaccio or -Bellini; in the afternoon I explored an obscure -<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>canaletto</em></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was content to take the humbler position. -St. Hilary had a right to command. His had -been the discovery that made the search possible. -Again, it seemed fit that his quicker brain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>should catch the fire, the inspiration. I did not -doubt but that sooner or later from the mass of -lifeless evidence, which he was heaping about -him, he would surely draw forth the secret.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But now, after a week of fruitless searching, -his chin a reproach, his hands trembling, and his -temper a thing to be respected, he leaned back in -the chair and despaired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is useless,” he sighed. “The thing is not -to be done in a day or a week. I have not the -art of divination. Sometimes I feel that I am -on the right track. I grope; I touch something; -I clutch at it, but it eludes me, always. There -stands the ticking, mocking braggart. It laughs -at us with its brazen wheels; it mocks us with -its silver tongue. I believe that the spirit of the -mad goldsmith actually dwells in its hollow -sides.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet, in spite of St. Hilary’s despair, we -had accomplished something.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of the original automata of the twelve hours -we had found four only to be in actual working -order. In three of the hours, some of the figures -were intact, and some were broken. In the five -remaining hours, the figures were completely -lacking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To consider the four hours with the figures -intact, namely, 1, 2, 6, 7:</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>1.–A robed figure and a lion. The lion nods -once.</p> - -<p class='c001'>2.–A figure standing over a kneeling slave in -an attitude of menace, twice strikes the neck of -the slave with a sword.</p> - -<p class='c001'>6.–A dancing figure advances ten steps forward -and retreats ten steps.</p> - -<p class='c001'>7.–A dove appears at the window of a tower.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In hours 3, 8, 9, some of the figures were intact, -some broken:</p> - -<p class='c001'>3.–A robed figure seated in a chair. Before -this figure, designedly motionless, ten disks appear -in succession, and are ranged in a row. The -figures are broken off the disks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>8.–A crowned figure standing on a dais before -a throne. A second figure at the foot of the -throne is broken off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>9.–A seated figure with a scepter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In hours 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 there was not the -slightest fragment of the figures remaining.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So much for the automata.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The scenes of the bas-reliefs of the backgrounds -were as follows:</p> - -<p class='c001'>1.–A palace, plainly the Doge’s palace. -Seven arches of the palace are seen. Beneath -six of these arches groups of men are standing–ten -figures in each group, or sixty in all.</p> - -<p class='c001'>2.–A hanging.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>3.–A gate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>4.–Three trees; a beast of burden, probably -a camel; a well.</p> - -<p class='c001'>5.–Badly mutilated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>6.–Two figures seated on the balcony over the -doorway of San Marco. One figure wears the -Doge’s cap; the other is crowned with a wreath -of laurel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>7.–A barge on a stormy sea.</p> - -<p class='c001'>8.–An empty room in a palace. The door is -open; no figures are seen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>9.–Thirteen kneeling figures with outstretched -hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>10.–Six gondolas in procession; tritons spouting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>11.–Mutilated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>12.–Three figures holding out bags.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such were the automata and the bas-reliefs in -the backgrounds of the twelve hours.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As to the scenes they represented, St. Hilary -had made a rough guess at most of them. Four -or five of the scenes he thought he had identified -unmistakably. All twelve of them were scenes -out of Venetian history. When I urged him for -the results he had gained so far, he declared at -first that they were too meager to be suggestive. -But I was not to be balked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have been running your errands for a week, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>St. Hilary,” I reminded him. “I have been your -obedient messenger–an intelligent messenger, -if you will–and I have left you to do the piecing -together of the different parts of the puzzle. -Now I want to know what you have accomplished.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is very little to tell,” he said sulkily. -“Scene one represents St. Mark and his lion, the -tutelary saint of Venice. As to the second scene, -the story is in every guide-book. The artist Gentile -Bellini visited the Sultan of Turkey, and -painted for him a picture of the daughter of -Herodias bringing in the head of St. John the -Baptist on a charger. The Sultan objected that -the neck was not rightly drawn–that when a -man was beheaded, no neck appeared at all, in -fact. The artist disputed the point. To prove -himself in the right, the Sultan struck off a -slave’s head.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the third hour–the ten disks arranged -in a row?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Council of Ten, I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, well, the fourth, St. Hilary?” I cried -sharply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps you know its significance. I don’t. -The camel doesn’t figure in Venetian history, so -far as I know. It is true, Marco Polo traveled -to the Great Khan of Cathay. The scene might -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>have been a chapter out of his life. But after -wading through his travels I have failed to -find it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the next, I suppose, is too badly mutilated -to be identified?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Absolutely,” he grumbled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the background of the sixth hour?” I -asked, studying the photograph through a powerful -magnifying-glass. “Have you been able -to identify either of the two figures seated on the -balcony?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Both,” he replied with more animation. -“The figure with the Doge’s cap is Dandolo. -The figure crowned with a wreath of laurel by -his side represents the poet Petrarch, who was -his guest. The automatic figure that dances the -ten steps forward and backward symbolizes a -festival held on the Piazza after Venice had subdued -her enemy Crete.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The seventh hour represents,” I ventured, -“the legend of the Doge receiving news of -victory by a carrier-pigeon. Every child who -feeds the creatures on the Piazza knows that -story. The tower must be the Campanile.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quite right. The scene of the eighth hour,” -continued St. Hilary, “you discovered for yourself -in the Academy this morning. The room -of the palace in the background is an exact reproduction -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>of the palace seen in the painting of -Carpaccio.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the ninth?” I demanded, feeling that -our information was meager indeed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here, again, we can only guess. The broken -figure may be Carmagnola, the soldier of fortune. -The thirteen figures kneeling in the background -no doubt typify his conquered enemies. -The procession of the gondolas and the spouting -tritons in the tenth probably represent the going -of the Doge in his bucentaur to wed the Adriatic.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the eleventh hour must be quite hopeless. -The automaton is missing and the plate at -the back is battered beyond all recognition,” I -said moodily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The twelfth is almost as obscure,” concluded -St. Hilary. “The figures holding out the bags -are perhaps conquered Genoese offering ransom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is not very promising,” I confessed, -“Have you any theory whatever as to the meaning -of these scenes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have a dozen. But they are all equally -impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me hear one of them, at least,” I urged.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, if I repeat to you the numbers -10, 4, 7, 21, 1, 10, 3, 40, of what do you at once -think?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>“A cipher,” I cried eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is the theory that seems to me the most -hopeful at present. The numbers I have mentioned -are the figures of the different successive -scenes. It is barely possible that these numbers, -either alone or combined with other numbers, -might bring us to the hiding-place of the casket. -The trouble is that not every scene has figures -in the background. The eighth, for instance. -And in hours five and eleven, the backgrounds -are so mutilated that, even if this theory were -true, we should lack those numbers to make our -cipher complete.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And yet the existence of a cipher seems the -only possible way by which the riddle may be -solved.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe that is true. There are twelve -hours, that is, there are twelve different steps–twelve -different links to the whole chain. Beginning -at hour one, so many steps, paces, or -what not, ought to bring us to hour two. There, -beginning afresh, so many steps, paces, and so -forth, again ought to bring us to hour three, and -so on. Do you get the idea?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It sounds reasonable,” I replied thoughtfully. -“But since two or three scenes are missing, -I can not see much promise in this theory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I told you that they were all impossible,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>growled the dealer. “So far we are quite at sea. -To-morrow, perhaps–” he sighed wearily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To-morrow perhaps we shall have better -luck,” I said cheerfully. “It is always darkest -before the dawn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>Pas de banalités.</em></span> I am not a Sunday-school -scholar to be preached at. Come, let’s to dinner.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Three weeks passed before we made any further -progress. A clue, but always an imaginary -clue, would prick us into feverish activity, which -invariably led us nowhere.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But toward the end of the third week of our -search, St. Hilary came to my rooms one afternoon, -triumphant. He had actually made a discovery. -And this discovery proved, beyond the -peradventure of a doubt, not only that the clock -had a story to tell, not only that the twelve hours -actually did constitute twelve links of a chain, -but that somewhere, in the background of each -hour, there was some mark corresponding to a -like mark in some part of Venice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is only a little clue,” he said with affected -modesty, “a very little one. But who knows that -it may not be the wedge that shall pry open our -treasure-box?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Produce this wedge by all means,” I said -skeptically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This morning, about half past ten, I found -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>myself in the Campo San Salvatore–you know -it, the little square with the house of the gaily -painted balcony and the roses on the north side. -At the left of the square, going toward San -Marco, perhaps you remember, there is a boys’ -school. You may have observed a respectable -old servant who walks solemnly up to the big -bell on the left of the door, leading a little boy -by the hand. He always rings the bell at eight -o’clock in the morning. When the door is opened -he hands the school-books to his charge, shakes -his finger at him, and toddles off to the seller of -sweetened water at the corner for a drink.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has this respectable old man anything to do -with your precious discovery?” I asked impatiently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A great deal to do with it. This morning, -as I was saying, I caught sight of my old man -and the young gentleman. My eyes dwelt on -them affectionately while the servant rang the -big bell, and shook his forefinger at the smiling -boy. Now observe, my dear Hume; if I hadn’t -met my old man, I should have hurried through -the square. In that case I should have missed -the boy with the fish.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, there is a boy with a fish, is there?” I -remarked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” he said severely, “there is a boy with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>a fish. While I stood watching the old man, a -stream of curses and abuse in the Venetian dialect -disturbed my pleasant reflections. I turned, -and there, at the open door of a large house, -stood a barefooted boy with a flat basket of fish. -Two servants were shrieking at him like the very -devil. The fish was bad, perhaps, or the boy -had given the wrong change. I do not know. -The point is that the old servant, the seller of -sweetened water, who left his stand, and the -dark-eyed gipsies at the well, who left their -buckets, came to look on. The bad little boy with -the fish didn’t like this publicity. Especially -when a majestic policeman with a long feather -in his round hat––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I groaned. “Is the majestic policeman with -the long feather in his round hat absolutely -essential?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The majestic policeman with the long feather -in his round hat is absolutely essential”, said St. -Hilary with an amused drawl.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Even the long feather in the round hat!” I -could not resist asking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Especially the long feather in the round hat, -as you will see if you are patient For this majestic -policeman came on the bad little boy quite -unawares, and, seizing his ear, he made him a -prisoner. Then the youngster wrenched himself -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>free, only to run headlong into another policeman -who was coming from the Calle San Rosario. -The <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>spighetti</em></span>, compelled to double on his -tracks, plunged recklessly into the first opening -that offered. This happened to be the gate leading -into the school garden, that chanced to be -wide open. Now, we thought, the youngster will -surely be caught, and when the policeman with -the long feather in his hat languidly strolled after -his prey, the rest of the square pressed respectfully -after to see the fun. But the young ragamuffin -had the policeman now quite at his mercy, -for he lost himself immediately among threescore -of boys at play. So that presently, while -the policeman was vainly searching the garden -for him, the bad little boy regained the entrance. -He cast one cautious eye into the square to be -sure that the second policeman had disappeared, -and then, after the manner of small boys the -world over, he held his thumb and fingers extended -at the majestic policeman, and called him -naughty names.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A beautiful little sketch of low life in Venice,” -I said sarcastically. “But I fail to see -even yet the pertinency of the long feather in -the round hat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Patience, my friend. When he had sufficiently -insulted the majestic policeman in this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>manner, he took one of his mullets, and hurling -it with precision–-–”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Struck the round hat with the long feather.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“–Missed the round hat with the long -feather,” corrected St. Hilary with calm precision, -“but struck the long feather on the round -hat. It hung pitifully, a draggled and wobegone -bit of finery; and those of us who had followed -him into the court naturally regarded it with respectful -sympathy. And then my heart came -into my mouth. The broken feather was pointing, -as it were a human hand, straight to a -round––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not another round hat!” I cried in despair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“–Straight to a round stone let into the wall. -And on this round stone was carved a camel’s -head, the precise image of the camel’s head in -this photograph of the background of the fourth -hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary looked at me in triumph, and, -picking up the photograph, thrust it into my -hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The precise image of the camel’s head in this -photograph,” I repeated, trying to grasp the -significance of that statement. “But why should -you think that the clock-maker copied the head -of that particular camel in the background of -the fourth hour? My dear St. Hilary, your introduction -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>was too elaborate for your news to -be striking. I expected something more startling.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, idiot,” cried the dealer, exasperated, -“look at the photograph. Do you see nothing -peculiar about that camel’s head?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I took the magnifying-glass and studied the -photograph carefully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing–unless it be the eye. Perhaps it -is a defect in the workmanship. But it looks–yes, -it certainly does look as if the camel was -blind.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The camel carved on the stone let into the -wall of the house is blind also.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This <em>is</em> news, if it is not the merest chance,” -I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And before the house was used as a school, -it was called the House of the Blind Camel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The House of the Blind Camel!” I repeated -excitedly. “By Jove, St. Hilary, does that mean -you have stumbled on one of the twelve landmarks?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Patience. Look at your photograph again. -What else do you see in the background of the -fourth hour?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A well,” I answered promptly. “If you -have found the well, there can be no doubt.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I <em>have</em> found the well. Look at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>photograph. What is the design of the beading -round the curb?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A looped wreath with pomegranates between -each loop.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The well in the school garden has a beading -of the same design. But study the photograph -a moment–look carefully at the second and third -pomegranates from the left. Do you notice anything -peculiar?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I see nothing peculiar about them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The more we study the history of this clock, -Hume, the more I am impressed with the fact -that the eye is a most unreliable organ. We -rarely see a thing as it actually is; we see it as -we expect it to be. Take the magnifying-glass -and look at those second and third pomegranates -carefully.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see now,” I cried. “They are not pomegranates; -they are two rosettes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And there are two rosettes between two of -the loops of the well in the garden. You grasp -the importance of the discovery, I hope. It -means that we have to study the photographs -from quite a different point of view. All we -have to do now is to find in the various backgrounds -some significant mark that is paralleled -in the various landmarks about Venice that lead -to the casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>“Are you not a little too sanguine, St. Hilary? -These twelve marks are often most obscure. In -the fifth and the eleventh hours there are no -marks whatever.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is true,” replied St. Hilary thoughtfully. -“This discovery by itself is quite useless. -If we could have found the mark of the fifth -hour we could have begun at this fourth hour. -But since that is missing––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I suppose it is useless for us to think -of beginning with the landmarks of the last -hours, even if we could find them in the background. -The last of the landmarks would be -almost certainly found not in the open air, but -in the interior of some palace.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is another difficulty that has just occurred -to me,” continued St. Hilary. “We have -been taking it for granted that we start from the -Pillar of San Marco in the Piazzetta. I still -think that it is reasonable that the search begins -there. If that be true, we find ourselves in the -fourth hour at the Campo San Salvatore, but -the landmark of the sixth hour brings us back -to the balcony of San Marco in the Piazza again. -In the next hour we simply stroll a few feet away -to the Campanile. In that case the mad clock-maker -has been leading us about in a senseless -circle. He may have been mad, but he was not -as mad as that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>“Then you think the wisest thing is for us to -search for the second landmark? It does not -seem particularly promising. So far as I can -see, it is merely a curtain, with a conventional -decoration of what appears to be more like two -husks of corn than anything else I can think of. -One of these husks is perpendicular; the other -horizontal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see no reason why we should not begin -with the sixth hour,” asserted St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think we may begin at any one of them -with an equal chance of success,” I said hopelessly. -“This search of ours is like nothing so -much as hunting for twelve needles in twenty -thousand haystacks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And it turned out that I was right. For several -days we made no farther progress. We became -so utterly fatigued and weary of looking -for we knew not what that we saw nothing. We -took to wandering vaguely about the canals and -the streets. A restlessness urged us out at all -hours in search of these vague landmarks. -Every morning after breakfast we set out somewhere. -Every evening we returned discouraged. -And so a month passed, and we were no nearer -to the da Sestos casket.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Jacqueline and I had not written to each -other for nearly three weeks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When I first returned from Bellagio I had intended -to explain the apparent flippancy of my -last words to her–that I could write the legend -of the da Sestos clock, as well as search for the -casket. For Jacqueline was, as I have said, quite -ignorant that the casket and the clock were in -any way connected.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But I had not done so. Partly because I -wished to surprise her with that fact, and partly -because success had not crowned our efforts as -soon as I had hoped. I regretted that I had not -told her everything; and yet each day I put off -doing so. And so three weeks passed, and still -I had not told her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fact is, this search for the casket had in -some subtle way raised a barrier between Jacqueline -and myself. At first I had entered into -the quest with enthusiasm. Jacqueline’s entreaty -had given the task a dignity and a certain sacredness. -But, gradually, my motive for finding it -was lost sight of. The madness of St. Hilary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>had also entered my veins. I became more and -more eager for success purely for its own sake, -and not for Jacqueline’s. The quest had become -almost a mania–just such a restless, haunting, -cruel longing as tempts the miner to drag his -aching feet one more burning mile for the gold -he covets. That Jacqueline had asked me to find -the casket for her redeemed the search from -folly. But as soon as I cared for the thing itself -it became a degrading passion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was Sunday morning. St. Hilary had insisted -upon my going once more to the Academy -of Arts to compare the photograph of the eighth -hour with Carpaccio’s picture, the Dismissal of -the Ambassadors, in the series of paintings -known as the Martyrdom of St. Ursula. I was -still in search, of course, of the ever-baffling -landmark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The bell of the English church was solemnly -tolling in the Campo San Agnese. The doors -of the Academy were not yet open, and I began -to watch listlessly the well-dressed throng of -English and American tourists crossing the big -iron bridge on their way to divine service. To -my great surprise I saw Jacqueline among them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a pensive look on her lovely face -that touched me. I realized, now that I saw her, -how great had been my folly. My eyes had been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>bent on the mire, while the goddess herself was -passing by. I sprang up the steps of the bridge, -and met her half-way across.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline,” I cried, “when did you come to -Venice?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She looked at me with a sort of gentle wonder. -I put up my hand guiltily to my chin. St. -Hilary and myself had grown so absorbed in our -search that we had given little thought to what -we ate or drank or what we wore or how we -looked. But Jacqueline, it seemed, was observing -my face and not my scrubby beard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We arrived last night. But you look a -ghost, a shadow of yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The hunt for the casket, Jacqueline, is an -excellent preventive against obesity,” I said -lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this reference to the casket the color slowly -left her cheeks, and her eyes looked into mine -wistfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You–you are still searching for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I am!” I answered almost gruffly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did not know. You have not written,” she -said quietly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I have not written,” I answered, “it is -because there was nothing to write about.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing to write about, Dick?” She smiled -dreamily.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>“Not worth mentioning, Jacqueline.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you are still in the dark?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Absolutely.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And–and you have little hope?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Almost no hope.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Absorbed though I was in my own selfish feeling, -I could not but notice the disappointment of -her tone. We were at the church door now. She -held out her hand. To see her pass thus out of -my sight, to know that my own obstinacy was -raising this barrier between us, that I had -wounded her–I could not let her go like that, -even for a few hours.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline,” I said firmly, “I wish to tell -you about this search. I know a half street, -half campo near here, delightfully shaded with -mulberry trees. There are benches, and one may -sit there and talk quietly. Will you go with me? -I will not keep you long.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Dick, what is it?” she asked when she -was seated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her hands were clasped loosely in her lap. -Her gaze passed me by, and dwelt on the cage -of a thrush hanging on a nail in a doorway. The -feathered prisoner was singing in ecstasy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This mad quest that you have sent me on,” -I broke out impetuously, “I want you to release -me from it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>She was silent a moment, then drew herself -up with a certain hauteur.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I release you from it, of course, since you -wish it,” she answered with dignity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, no, Jacqueline. Not in that way. Do -not misunderstand me. I call it a mad quest not -because it seems a hopeless one. It is mad, because -it is useless. The most rigid sense of -honor could not hold you to your lightly spoken -word. You love the duke, or you do not. You -love me, or you do not. Surely you do not pit -us against each other. This is not a test of love. -And so, I say, this quest is mad. It is leading -me surely away from you. I am beginning to -care for it for its own sake. I want you to release -me from it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is leading you from me?” she repeated -wonderingly. “But you are doing this for me. -Does not that keep me in your thoughts? You -say this is not a test of love. Why should it -not be? And if the lover is weary already of -his task–if–” Her lip trembled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dear Jacqueline, how can I make you understand? -I ask you to release me from this search, -not because I am tired, not merely because I -think the casket can not be found. It is the principle -of the thing. Supposing that the duke -should bring you this casket, could that possibly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>alter your feeling toward him? Could that make -you love him more than you do at present?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why should it not?” she answered, a little -defiantly. “In a sense he has shown himself a -truer lover than you. He is keeping up the -search, cheerfully and patiently. And yet every -day he finds time to write me of his failures and -his successes. Apparently, I asked him to remove -mountains. He attempts the impossible -gladly, and sometimes I think he will accomplish -it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The duke has been searching for the casket? -Here, in Venice?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, and without a moment’s rest, so he -assures me. More than that, he declares he is -on its track–that he will bring it to me soon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was stupefied. Neither St. Hilary nor I had -once seen the duke since he left my rooms. It -seemed incredible that he should have been in -Venice these past three weeks and that we should -not know it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He will bring you the casket soon?” I repeated -blankly. “And if he brings it to you, you -are going to listen to him? Because I have said -nothing, Jacqueline, have you thought me idle -and indifferent? Do you trust him more than -you trust me? If he has the luck to stumble on -this casket, will that prove that he is more worthy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>of your regard than I? Will you marry him -for that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline looked at me a moment in silence. -She laid her hand gently on my arm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has this quest troubled you so much? I -begin to think it a very childish one. I begin to -realize my folly, and yet––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She rose from the bench, and shaking out her -skirts daintily, opened her parasol.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are going, Jacqueline? There is no -more to be said?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I told my aunt that I was going to church. -I think I had better go. But afterward, if you -will walk to the hotel with me, you may stay to -luncheon, and in the afternoon you may take me -out on the lagoon again. Then you shall tell me -everything–just what you have done, and just -what you have failed to do. And perhaps–perhaps, -I may recall you from the task that you -have undertaken for me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline,” I stammered with joy, “you -mean–you mean that you may marry me without -regard to this foolish promise of yours to -the duke?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I mean,” she answered slowly, “that I must -know everything–everything. Then I may be -better able to judge just what I ought to do, -what I wish to do.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>“I shall wait for you at the church door. I -must first go to my rooms to make myself presentable. -Heavens, Jacqueline, if you could know -the relief I feel at abandoning this mad search. -It has been a nightmare; but now we shall go -out into the blessed sunshine again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Dick,” she said wistfully, “you will -need to plead very eloquently this afternoon to -convince me that I may withdraw my word to -Duke da Sestos. If only it had been possible -to find that wretched casket! I shall look for -you after church.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I watched her disappear within the doorway. -In half an hour I had been to my rooms and returned. -I slipped into a pew at the rear of the -church. I wished to think–to dream. It seemed -incredible that the search was ended. What -would St. Hilary say when he knew that I had -abandoned it? And, strange as it may seem, -already I was vaguely sorry. Could I watch St. -Hilary steadily going on with the search and be -quite indifferent as to his success or failure? -Should I never have regrets that I had not kept -at it a little longer? Then I looked at Jacqueline, -kneeling devoutly a few pews in front of -me, and I smiled joyfully. No, with Jacqueline -as my wife, I had no need of the excitement of -a fool’s errand.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>Out of the stillness of my thoughts, as if from -afar off, the text of the preacher fell on my ears, -unheeding and yet strangely receptive. The -text was twice repeated. It was sufficiently fantastic -in itself, but to me it was the finger of -fate.</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>It was pointing to the hiding-place of the da -Sestos casket.</em></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XIX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>This was the text:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>Moreover, the king made a great throne of -ivory, and overlaid the arms of it with fine gold.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'><em>The throne had six steps, and the top of the -throne was round behind, and there were stays -on either side of the place of the seat, and two -lions stood beside the stays.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>At first, as I have said, the words fell quite -idly on my ears. Then, without any effort on -my part, a throne made of ivory, its arms overlaid -with fine gold, seemed to flash before my -eyes. I tried to resume the thread of my thought -again, but the vision of the throne of ivory with -the two lions at the side haunted my excited -brain. All at once, with a shock of surprise, I -knew why it stood before me with such startling -distinctness. The throne of the automaton of -the eighth hour was of ivory, its arms were of -gold, it had six steps, and two lions crouched on -either side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At first I was merely astonished at the similarity -of the throne of the Bible and the throne -of the da Sestos clock. But other scenes of the -hours sprang before my mind in review. I remembered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>the hour of St. Mark and the lion; -the Council of Ten before the Gate; the Sultan -and the kneeling slave. The scenes stopped -abruptly there. In a flash, almost without -thought, certainly without deliberate reasoning, -I had fathomed the secret of the clock:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>The scenes of the twelve hours were not Venetian -scenes. They were Bible scenes disguised -in an environment that was Venetian.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>I could parallel each of the three hours that -had occurred to me with familiar stories of the -Bible. The scene of the first hour, the figure of -St. Mark and the lion, as we had thought, was -really Samson and the lion; the Sultan and the -kneeling slave were David and the prostrate -giant, Goliath. The Doge receiving the news of -victory from the dove in the Campanile became -Noah and the dove. But the other scenes–would -they be equally clear?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I took the first scene that occurred to me, that -in which the ten disks appear in succession, with -the gate in the background. I took a Bible from -the rack of the pew and opened it eagerly at the -Book of Genesis. My knowledge of the Old -Testament was not profound. I turned the leaves -over quickly, scanning each page. I had to look -simply for a passage in which a gate and ten men -figured. I became unconscious of the reverent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>worshipers about me. I was heedless even of -good form. For half an hour I patiently turned -page after page. I had reached the Book of -Judges, and began to despair. Was this theory -that promised so well to be discarded in its turn -like a dozen others? No; I found the passage. -It proved my theory to be a fact beyond peradventure. -The passage was in the Book of Ruth:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>Then went Boaz to the gate and sat him there, -and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spoke, -came by, unto whom he said, Ho, such a one, -turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside -and sat down.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And he took ten men of the elders of the city, -and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>Nothing could be more clear. The Doge became -Boaz; the ten disks, representing, as we -had thought, the Council of Ten, were the elders -of the city.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I read the story of Samson and the lion. It -was indisputably the scene of the first hour. -The very words were a challenge–a clear statement -in black and white–that he who should -solve the riddle of the clock would have his reward. -And he who failed should have his penalty -to pay–the forfeiture of peace of mind and -content–a bitter enough wage for failure:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And Samson said unto them, I will now put -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>forth a riddle unto you: If ye shall certainly -solve it within seven days of the feast, and find -it out, then will I give you thirty sheets and -thirty changes of raiment.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'><em>But if ye solve it not within seven days, then -shall ye give to me thirty sheets and thirty -changes of raiment.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will put forth a riddle unto you!” And -a brave riddle it had been. The mad goldsmith -had taken these old Bible stories for his key–a -key that he knew was as imperishable as time -itself, and yet a key that would guard his secret -well. To the Catholic of that day the Bible was -a sealed book.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But if this were true–if these stories were -indeed the key–was the riddle easier of solution? -Would the Bible stories be more readily -understood than the Venetian stories?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The theory of St. Hilary flashed across my -mind. The cipher–that was the clue. In each -of the scenes of the background a certain number -had been mentioned. Thirty changes of raiment. -Seven days. Six steps to the throne. Two lions. -Thus was my second great discovery made.</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>Each scene from the Bible involved certain -numbers.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>I read the story of David and Goliath:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And there went a champion out of the camp of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>the Philistines named Goliath, whose height was -six cubits and a span.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>There were the numbers again; six cubits and -a span.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I could no longer doubt. And now, having -wrested so much of the madman’s secret, having -surprised from him the key, I should, I felt confident, -solve the rest. I was to cut the last thread -that bound this secret to the grave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly I became conscious of faces turned -frowningly in my direction. In my excitement -I had, I suppose, rustled the leaves. It was an -unusual sight to see a man of discretion frantically -turning over the leaves of his Bible during -a sermon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To sit through the sermon was impossible. I -must get a breath of fresh air. I would wait for -Jacqueline outside.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked to the quay of the Grand Canal. I -scanned the sweep of the palaces, from the Salute -to the Rialto Bridge. To which of them would -these new clues lead?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked back to the church. The sermon was -droning slumberously on. I wandered restlessly -down the Calle San Rio. I found myself at the -steamboat landing. The little steamer was discharging -its quota of passengers. I leaped -aboard. My desire to look on the photographs -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>was intense. I wished to verify the other scenes. -I wished to confound St. Hilary with my discovery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not until the steamer was half-way across the -Giudecca did I remember, with a shock of dismay, -my appointment with Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I persuaded myself that I had time to look at -the photographs just once; I could hurriedly recount -my wonderful discovery to St. Hilary; I -could be rowed across to the Molo in three minutes, -and be at the church in another ten. If I -failed Jacqueline, she would forgive me when -she knew the extraordinary circumstances under -which I had deserted her. Had she not regretted, -with a hint of reproach in her words that still -rankled, that my search for the casket had been -so fruitless of results? And had she not said -that the duke was hunting for it without a moment’s -rest? Then there was no time to be lost.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I did fail Jacqueline. St. Hilary was not in -my rooms, and I waited for him. The temptation -to triumph over him proved too sweet. I -was not the first man to risk his precious birthright -of love for a mess of pottage.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Two hours had passed since I left the church. -St. Hilary and I had spent the time in a diligent -study of the Bible. The result confirmed my -theory beyond a doubt. With the exception of -the scenes of the fifth and tenth hours, we had -identified them all as Bible scenes. We had also -found that in each story certain numbers were -mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To tell which are the significant numbers, -that is the question,” said St. Hilary. “In two -or three of the stories, at least, more than one -set are mentioned. How can we be sure which -numbers count, and which do not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We can not be sure, I suppose,” I replied -thoughtfully. “We can only guess. But at least -we may make a reasonable guess. The goldsmith -had some method in choosing them. What -would be the most obvious?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That he should select the numbers that -really counted in the various stories,” replied St. -Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have observed that the important numbers -are invariably mentioned in the first part of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>story. We may go on that assumption to begin -with, at any rate. Our search for the landmark -of the second hour ought to begin from the Piazzetta, -where the first landmark stands–that is, -the lion of San Marco. Now our first numbers -are 7, 30, 30. If we interpret those rightly, we -shall find ourselves at the second landmark. -Thence we may start for the third.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the meaning of those numbers,” grumbled -St. Hilary, “is extremely doubtful. They -may be added to, or subtracted from, or divided -or multiplied by others, and the landmark of the -second hour is veiled in complete obscurity. If -it were the landmark of the fourth hour, the -House of the Camel, we should know what to -look for.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it is not,” I said impatiently. “Your -precious landmark is quite useless by itself, because -we have not been able to identify the Bible -story of the fifth hour, and so we are ignorant -of the numbers that will lead us to the landmark -of the sixth. We are compelled to start at the -first hour. From that point we go on to the -second, and from the second to the third. As to -the gap in the fifth hour, we won’t attempt to -jump that until we come to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The little man yawned. His dogged skepticism -was maddening. The fact is, he resented my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>having been so fortunate as to make the great -discovery. Because he had not made it himself, -or helped to make it, he sulked and made endless -objections.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you propose to interpret the first -numbers, 7, 30, 30?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well,” I answered patiently, “say that they -represent blocks of buildings. We go down the -Grand Canal until seven blocks are passed. If -we took the seventh canal to our left, and continued -up that canal until thirty blocks had been -passed––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We should find ourselves somewhere out in -the lagoon,” sneered St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If we passed seven blocks on our right, then, -proceeding up the seventh canal until thirty -blocks were passed, took the junction of the two -canals at this point for a new start until thirty -more blocks were passed, where should we find -ourselves?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary consulted the map of Venice that -lay before him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are a little obscure, my dear Hume. -But, so far as I can make it out, after you had -passed your sixty little canals, if you turned to -the left you would find yourself in the Jewish -quarter. If you turned to the right, in the fishermen’s -quarter. You may be sure that da Sestos -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>was not quite so mad as to hide his casket in a -part of the city that would be subject to demolition. -You will have to try again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thirty changes of raiment and thirty sheets,” -I mused. “Thirty plus thirty; why not the sixtieth -palace down the Grand Canal, either left -or right?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Within seven days,” quoted St. Hilary, closing -his eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I had forgotten the seven days,” I admitted. -“Well, then, why not the fifty-third palace?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why the fifty-third?” demanded St. Hilary -in a bored tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Within seven of sixty ought to mean fifty-three,” -I said quickly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary opened his eyes. A look of interest -dawned in them. He drew toward him an old -map of Venice, La Nuova Pianta di Venezia, it -was called, and was published in 1689. It contained -an interesting chart on which were marked -all the palaces of Venice existing at that time. -He began to count these palaces carefully, going -down the Grand Canal toward the Rialto -Bridge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The fifty-third palace is the Palazzo Chettechi. -Look in that French monograph, Les -Palais de Venise Moderne. See if it is mentioned -there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>I turned hurriedly to the index.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, it is mentioned. But, confound it, the -palace was torn down and rebuilt in 1805.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And down with it tumbles your cunning little -house of cards,” commented the dealer cynically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After all, that solution was too obvious to be -reasonable,” I retorted cheerfully, though I felt -the disappointment keenly. “But look here, St. -Hilary”–I was consulting the Bible again–“there -are four thirties mentioned. Perhaps the -second couple of thirties has some significance. -Does the fifty-third palace bring us to a corner -of the Grand Canal, or should we find ourselves -in the middle of the block?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We should find ourselves at the junction of -the Grand Canal and the Rio di Lucca.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! And if you counted sixty palaces up -the Rio di Lucca, will that old chart tell the palace -you would arrive at?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Palazzo Giuliano.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Palazzo Giuliano might contain our -landmark on its wall just as well as any -other.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It might,” he cried, consulting the monograph -on the palaces of modern Venice again, “only it -happens that the façade of that palace was rebuilt -in the eighteenth century. Again your little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>house of cards crumbles about your ears, my -dear Hume.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stared down at the table. In what other way -might I read a meaning into the numbers? I -picked up an envelope and began to toy with it -unconsciously. It was addressed to St. Hilary. -It was literally covered with erasures and directions, -and had followed him half around the -world. But it had found him at last, though -some of the directions were of the vaguest. We -ought to be as clever as a postmaster. Aside -from the extraneous aids of the directory, what -methods would a postmaster use?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mechanically I began to trace the ordinary -and palpable clues to the destination of any letter. -First of all, there is the state or country. -That is as vague as the earth itself. But the -state is narrowed down to the city in the state, -and the city to the street––</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe I have found a solution that will -hold water at last, St. Hilary!” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He blinked at me skeptically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let us hear it by all means.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take the address on the envelope. It has -suggested a possible solution to the numbers. -First of all, there is the country. The country is -narrowed down to the city of the country. Next -comes the number of the street in the city. After -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>that the house in the street. In other words, the -direction of an envelope is narrowed to more and -more defined limits.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An extremely accurate but not a startlingly -original presentation of facts, dear boy. The -connection between this envelope, for instance, -and the da Sestos casket?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Call Venice the state; the city, the Grand -Canal. Your street will then be the seventh -canal; the number of the street will be the house -of the landmark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary’s dark eyes snapped. He was thoroughly -interested at last. He drew toward him -the map of Venice again. He pushed it away -with an exclamation of disgust.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ingenious again, but not conclusive. The -seventh canal flowing into the Grand Canal is a -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>cul-de-sac</em></span>. Its length is not a hundred yards, -and it leads merely to the Campo San Stefano.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are mistaken,” I said calmly. “You are -counting the ditch that surrounds the Giardino -Reale. The seventh canaletto is the Rio di Bocca. -And the sixtieth palace from the junction of the -Rio di Bocca and the Grand Canal will be the -house of the landmark. What palace is that? -Don’t tell me that that is torn down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, this one exists. It is called the Palazzo -Fortunato. Come, it is time for us to do something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>more strenuous than talking. We will test -your theory, and I think it a fairly reasonable -one at last. But first of all, a bite at Florian’s. -It is three o’clock. We may get no dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had unconsciously taken the lead since my -great discovery. Now I hesitated. Though I -had broken my tryst with Jacqueline, I had intended -seeing her this afternoon before we actually -began our search. But I could not let St. -Hilary begin his explorations without me. A -few hours sooner or later, I persuaded myself, -would not make much difference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I know now how specious were my arguments. -A woman’s love is not to be treated lightly. It -is the most sacred and precious thing in the -world, and she knows that it is. It does not come -and go at one’s beck and call. It burns brightly -so long as the flame is fed; to quench that flame -is dangerous, and it is not always easy to revive -it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am quite ready to go with you,” I said -soberly. “My gondolier is waiting below. We -will let him take us to the Molo and then dismiss -him. We want no witnesses or possible spies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent,” he murmured. “And bring -along your Bible; that must be our chart and -compass in our voyage of discovery.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Venetian Marco Polo himself, wide-eyed and -eager, toiling across burning wastes to the Great -Khan of far-off Cathay, was not more imbued -with the very spirit of adventure than were St. -Hilary and I that April afternoon, as we set -forth on our little voyage of discovery in a -prosaic gondola.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We had lunched at the Grundewald. We rose -with a certain deliberation, and walked toward -the Molo. The band was thundering out a -Strauss waltz. The Piazza was filled with its -usual laughing, chattering crowd, eating and -drinking at the hundreds of round little tables -that overflowed a quarter of the square.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I could not help thinking what a sensation I -should cause if the great throng was suddenly -to be stilled, while from the balcony up there by -the four bronze horses I cried aloud for all the -square to hear that we two adventurers of the -twentieth century were about to lay bare one of -the mysteries of Venice–that we were to bring -forth to the light of day a marvelous treasure -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>that had been hid for nearly half a thousand -years. How they would howl me into a shamed -silence with their jeers and laughter! And supposing -that I could tell them the very hiding-place, -would one of all those hundreds, even the -poorest, take the trouble to go and see? Would -the hunchbacked bootblack in the Arcade there, -gnarled and twisted with the cold of winter and -the heat of summer? Would the Jewish shopkeepers, -the antiquarian in the library, the tourists, -who had come three thousand miles to feast -their eyes on wonders? Not the most visionary -would stir in his seat. Only St. Hilary and I, it -appeared, in the whole world were absolute fools -this afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>E dove?</em></span>” demanded the gondolier, after we -had taken our seats.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Canalazzo</em></span>,” I cried, “<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>e presto, molto, molto -presto.</em></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Si, si, signore</em></span>,” he cried with enthusiasm, -scenting a generous tip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sun, just dipping behind the dome of the -Salute, blazed fiercely, but the awning of our -gondola was thrown back. Swiftly we swept -down the sun-kissed stream, cleaving the lake of -gold. The great palaces on either side, ablaze -with riotous color, seemed as unreal as a painted -picture. What had we to do with this mysterious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>Venice, this enchantress of the seas, holding -herself aloof in melancholy disdain? Like curious -savages, we were to prowl in her very holy -of holies. We were to despoil her of her last -glorious treasure, that she had guarded so jealously -these hundreds of years.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fantasy burst as a bubble in thin air. -Behind us raced a boatful of trippers, the two -oarsmen exerting every effort to urge on their -craft to the railway station. There were the -English <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>père de famille</em></span>; the comfortable mamma -with a chick on either side. And about them -were piled high bandboxes and shawls, portmanteaus -and carryalls. It was the twentieth -century after all. It was quite fitting that -we should be seeking to reap where we had not -sown.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We passed the Grand Hotel. Mrs. Gordon, -Jacqueline, and the duke were seated on the balcony. -I raised my hat mechanically. The duke -returned the greeting with a flourish. Mrs. Gordon -was suddenly interested in the customs-house -opposite. Jacqueline smiled, but her greeting -would have been as cordial to the concierge of her -hotel. My face burned. I wished to tell St. -Hilary to continue the search without me, and -yet I hesitated. Even now, one nod to the gondolier -and I could be landed at the steps; but I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>hesitated, and in five seconds we had passed. -Before I had wholly recovered my presence of -mind we were at the Rio di Bocca.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our gondolier uttered his weird cry of warning. -The gondola turned the corner sharply. -We were in cool depths. The smell of damp -mortar, that indefinable moist smell of the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>canaletti</em></span> -of Venice smote our nostrils. We skirted -an old wall, bulging outward with decrepitude; -a narrow quay, bathed in sunlight; the barred -windows of a palace, blackness and gloom within. -A barge of bricks was poled slowly past us, then -a funeral catafalque. A hotel omnibus just -escaped collision. I saw it all, but I saw it all -unheeding. Three years of selfish ease and irresponsibility -had left me incapable of quick decision -at this critical moment. And now another -opportunity to become reconciled to Jacqueline -had passed. I had raised one more barrier between -us.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary shouted sharply to the gondolier. -We came to a sudden stop.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We were at the sixtieth palace, and its façade -was as bare as the sheet of an unsigned hotel -register.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So again we have come on a fool’s errand,” -he groaned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gondolier leaned forward and touched my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>sleeve. He had observed our perplexity. He -pointed to a palace we had just passed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ecco, Signori, the House of the Angel! It -is not this one. It is the third back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The third back?” I repeated mechanically. -I let my glance follow his outstretched finger. -With a twist of the oar he had turned the gondola -again toward the Grand Canal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Behold, Signore, the House of the Angel. -Up there, in the niche over the door.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I raised my eyes dully. I had no idea what the -man was talking about. The palace at whose -steps we had halted was a magnificent structure -of the fourteenth century, so beautiful that in -any other city than Venice it would have been -worth a pilgrimage to see. Over the doorway -was a triangular niche, a kind of shrine. A half -figure of an angel was carved in the niche, and -a kneeling child looked quaintly up into the -angel’s face. The gondolier pointed to the -shrine reverently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The angel is to drive away the evil spirits, -Signore. The evil spirit of a pig once dwelt in -this beautiful palace. I assure the Signore that -I am telling him the truth, though there are many -hundreds of years since the evil soul of the pig -was conjured away by the angel and the little -child. The house is now sweet and clean of all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>evil, and is called the House of the Angel. But -look, Signore, you can see the unclean pigs that -were carved in the wall by the wicked builder. -Before they were broken, the house was called -the House of the Pigs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We looked upward.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The house had a frieze made of a capriciously -carved array of pigs. The posture of each two -of the creatures was the same: the one recumbent, -the other erect. The heads and the feet -and most of the bodies had been stricken off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is very simple,” cried St. Hilary exultingly. -“Our husks of corn have simply become -the bodies of pigs. We have found the second -landmark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He held the photograph of the background of -the second hour before me. That background, it -will be remembered, was a hanging, and on this -hanging a decorative scheme that we had supposed -to be husks of corn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I forgot my folly in passing Jacqueline, and -her cold greeting. Here was proof indisputable -that we were really on the track of the casket -at last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why,” queried St. Hilary, knitting his -forehead in perplexity, “should it be the fifty-seventh -palace, and not the sixtieth?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I opened the Bible, and again read the story. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>I saw our mistake immediately. In our haste -to test this new theory of mine we had not read -the narrative with sufficient care.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is another verse that we have omitted -to read. It follows immediately after.” I read -it aloud:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And within three days they could not declare -the riddle.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>“You observe the expression ‘within.’ That -is to say, we were not to look for the sixtieth -palace, but for the fifty-seventh, or the third -within sixty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, that is quite clear,” cried St. Hilary -with a sigh of relief. “And now for the next -landmark. Read your passage of the second -hour again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And there went forth a champion out of the -camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, whose -height was six cubits and a span.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Six cubits and a span,” he mused. “What -the deuce are the six cubits and a span?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let us look around.” I motioned to the -gondolier to rest on his oars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We drifted slowly past the House of the -Angel. The next house was a warehouse–an -ugly four-story building, set some five paces -back. The upper stories projected over the lowest -story, and were supported by pillars.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>“There are six of those pillars, and there is a -door. Can that be your cubits and a span?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I shook my head. “Those pillars are of wood. -This warehouse could not have been built when -the goldsmith made his casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“True; and it would be a senseless proceeding -to lead us past the fifty-seventh palace, only -to land us at the fifty-eighth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But look, St. Hilary, we have been so close -to the forest that we have failed to see the trees. -Do you observe those circular windows just over -our heads? There are just six of them. As for -the span, isn’t a span half a cubit? The top of -that squat door let into the wall there is semi-circular -in shape; the semi-circle, the exact counterpart -of the upper part of the windows. Nothing -could be more clear.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My only fear is that it is too clear to be -true,” he said anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We shall soon determine that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stood upright on the seat of the gondola, -and, reaching forward, pulled a rusty bell that -hung beside the low door. Our gondola, at a -sign from me, had been rowed up stream once -more.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In response to my vigorous summons a servant -appeared at the main door of the House of -the Angel.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>“What may the Signori desire?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We are architects,” lied St. Hilary glibly. -“We are very desirous to see your garden. We -understand that it is a very curious old garden.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The servant in the shabby livery shook his -head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Signori Inglesi are mistaken,” he answered -politely. “The interesting garden belongs -to the House of the Camel just behind this -palazzina. Our garden has only artichokes and -asparagus and beans and things.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The House of the Camel!” I exclaimed involuntarily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary pinched my arm for silence. “But -there is a passage through your garden that leads -to the garden of the other house, is there not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He jingled insinuatingly some loose coins in -his pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes, Signore, that is true. A long, long -time ago, a great nobleman, dwelt in this house, -and his daughter lived in the house behind. He -had a gate made in the wall that divides the two -gardens. The gate is still there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent! And you will lead us into the -garden of the House of the Camel by that gate?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without further parley, St. Hilary leaped -lightly ashore. I followed his example, and -tossed our fare to the gondolier.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>“Thoughtful of you to send off that chap. -We can’t be too careful,” remarked St. Hilary -as we followed the servant in the shabby livery -into the hall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This hall, as in all Venetian palaces, ran -through the house from front to rear. At its -end was a glass door. The door unlocked, we -were in the garden. A path turned to the right, -joining a broad walk fringed with a well-trimmed -hedge of box. This walk led straight to the gate–our -gate of the third hour. There was no need -to refer to the photograph. It was unmistakable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Signori are of course expected?” asked -the servant hesitatingly, as he unlocked this gate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Naturally,” replied St. Hilary, dropping a -piece of silver in his palm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gate was locked behind us.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How are we to find our way out?” I demanded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary was staring about him as one who -knows his ground.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear Hume,” he grinned, “I know my -way out perfectly. Allow me to point out to you -the Well of the Pomegranates and the Loops, -and immediately over the doorway there the -Sign of the Blind Camel. We are at the landmark -of the fourth hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the ten figures on the disks of the third -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>hour are represented by these busts built in the -wall–five in either wall. We are getting on. -But why, I wonder, did da Sestos lead us to this -landmark by the way of the House of the Angel? -He might have brought us here directly by the -Campo San Salvatore.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because,” commented St. Hilary, “the way -by land would have necessitated a dozen directions. -By water we have come without undue -perplexity in three. But here, I am afraid, our -voyage of discovery must end for to-night. We -shall have to puzzle out the fifth hour before we -can go farther.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had opened the Bible that I had brought with -me from the gondola, and, supported by the curb -of the well, I rested it on my knee, turning to -the Book of Genesis. I read the verse of the -fourth hour:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And it came to pass, as the camels had done -drinking at the well, that the man took a golden -earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets -for her hands of ten shekels’ weight of gold.</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is obscure enough,” I said ruefully. -“This jargon of a golden earring and of half a -shekel weight and two bracelets of ten shekels’ -weight will take some time to reason out, especially -as we have no idea what to look for.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I think.” St. Hilary remarked, “we are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>to be interrupted. Here comes one of the priests -of the seminary to see what business we have -in his garden.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gentlemen,” asked the padre politely, as we -bowed with an assurance that belied my feelings -at least, “you are looking for some one? I saw -you admitted a moment ago by the gate yonder.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” boldly lied St. Hilary once more. -“We were about to ring your bell. We went to -the House of the Angel by mistake. We are -architects, and we have heard that you have a -wonderful old dial. We are making a study of -the curious dials of Venice. Would you show -us yours?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary’s question was not so idle as might -appear. He was ignoring the existence of the -fifth landmark, and was asking for the sixth -landmark, which we had identified in this way. -The Venetian scene of the sixth hour, it will -be remembered, was that of the Doge and the -poet Petrarch seated in the balcony of San -Marco, overlooking the Piazza, and watching the -festivities below, symbolized by the dancing automaton -figure, that advanced ten steps to the -front and ten to the rear. The parallel story -in the Bible we had found by a rather roundabout -process. Some days before I had accidentally -made the discovery that the face of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>Doge bore a remarkable resemblance to the -prophet Isaiah as depicted in one of the mosaics -of San Marco. Naturally, then, when we hunted -up the Biblical stories of the hour, after my -return from church, we looked for a story in -which the prophet Isaiah figured as one of the -characters. The concordance at the back of my -Oxford Bible referred us to the story of the -Jewish King Hezekiah, who, sick unto death, -went to the prophet Isaiah for a sign that he -should recover his strength. And this was the -verse:</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be -the sign? And Isaiah said, Shall the shadow of -the dial go back ten degrees or shall the shadow -go forward?</em></p> - -<p class='c001'>The little automaton figure advancing and retreating -ten steps symbolized plainly the going -forward and backward of the shadow. This -was significant in itself, and might have made us -tolerably sure that a dial was to be the landmark. -But when, in the light of this story, we looked -carefully at the railing of the balcony as photographed -in our snap-shot, we noticed at once that -the ironwork of the railing was of intertwined -circles, intersected by diameters drawn through -each of their centers. The circles, then, stood -for the dial; the diameter, for the needle of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>dial. We might be reasonably certain that our -search would be narrowed to more and more -defined limits. Even without the landmark of -the fifth hour, by which we should be able to -discover the locality of the dial for ourselves -(provided always that we could interpret the -numbers aright), it was not an extravagant hope -of St. Hilary’s that the padre might direct us -to the landmark of the sixth hour. I waited -breathlessly for his answer. Let the gods be -propitious; let fortune smile!</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gaunt but handsome face of the young -priest was lighted up with a charming smile.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it will be an honor,” he said, “to show -our curious dial to the American gentlemen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“English, pardon me,” corrected St. Hilary -readily, and he pinched my arm. “We leave -Venice for London in an hour or so. This is the -last and most curious dial we expect to see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>What a polished and delightful liar the dealer -in antiquities was! But a cautious one withal. -For aught we knew, we might be prowling about -these premises with a jimmy and dark lantern -before many more moons, and it might be convenient -to prove an alibi.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had expected the priest to lead us to an -obscure corner of the garden. To my surprise -and disappointment he took us directly to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>house. Of what use could a dial be under a roof? -The good fathers of the seminary had taken it -from the garden, in all likelihood, and placed it -within doors as an interesting curiosity for their -pupils to gape at.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps you know, gentlemen,” said the -priest, as he led the way up a broad and dreary -stairway, devoid of ornament, but scrupulously -clean, “that this was once the house of the Venetian -astrologer, Jacopo Bembo. Here, some two -hundred years ago, came the flower of the Venetian -aristocracy. They came to consult him–one -for a love philter; another for a talisman -against the plague; another, perhaps, for a -deadly potion to still the beating of a rival’s -heart. Some strange and dark scenes, I suspect, -have taken place in the laboratory of Messer -Bembo. And this is it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We had ascended to the third story. He threw -open the door of a large room. There were some -maps on the wall, desks, and chairs. It was -evidently used now as a school-room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the dial?” I cried impatiently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, the dial is on the roof. Have you ever -heard of a dial being in so strange a place -before?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is precisely that,” I cried joyously, “that -makes it so unique in interest for us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>“And this dial on the roof will make our collection -of curious dials quite complete,” added -St. Hilary gravely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We walked a few steps down the echoing landing. -The worthy padre opened a door. A narrow -wooden stairway led to the roof.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you will pardon me, I will precede you, -gentlemen. There is a trapdoor at the top.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And did the great astrologer Bembo have to -climb out of that hole whenever he wished to consult -the hour of day?” I asked jocosely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will see,” answered the priest smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When first we stepped out on the roof, the -glitter of the fierce sun on the leads blinded -us. We looked in vain for the dial. The priest -walked to the parapet where a stone bench stood -and pointed to a large circle cut deep in the -leads at the foot of the bench.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ecco, Signori, your curious dial, and the -Signs of the Zodiac also. The needle of the -dial is not the truly original one. That was -broken long ago. But the one we have replaced -it with is precisely similar to the antique.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary and I sank on our knees to observe -it the more closely and to whisper to each other -without the good father overhearing us. The -dealer traced a line tremblingly with his forefinger.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>“Here,” he whispered, “is where the shadow -falls at twelve o’clock. Ten degrees before that, -it must point in this direction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He squinted along the imaginary line. It led -him over the parapet, and in either direction it -directed us to nothing more definite than the -blue sky.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But at ten degrees after twelve,” I whispered -hoarsely, “it points with absolute directness to -that square tower, the tower of Noah and his -dove, depend upon it. We have found the seventh -landmark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We stood upright and brushed the dust from -our knees. St. Hilary produced a note-book, -and began to scribble notes and to sketch the -dial with every show of professional interest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, it is a great curiosity, this dial,” purred -the priest with satisfaction. “Here, in the cool -of summer nights, when the sirocco has been -blowing all day, I often come to sit and ponder -the issues of life and death, as, no doubt, the old -astrologer did before me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have a splendid view,” I remarked carelessly. -“What is that square tower over there? -It appears to be the tower of a palace.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, signore, it is the tower of the Palazzo -Cæsarini. If you are architects, you ought to -see that palace. It is full of interest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>“The Cæsarini Palace, you said, I think?” -inquired St. Hilary, still scribbling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Exactly, and it is known popularly as the -Palazzo degli Scrigni.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Palace of the Iron Safes!” I cried, -startled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The signori Inglesi must understand that, -very long ago, when the house of the Cæsarini -was the most powerful in Venice, as it still is one -of the richest, the Prince Cæsarini had two great -iron safes built in the walls of his cellars to keep -his treasure in. These safes were contrived by -a certain goldsmith called da Sestos. Yes, the -palace is worth seeing. But do not attempt to -see it until after Wednesday, because a grand -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>bal masqué</em></span> is to be given on that evening, and -they are busy making great preparations.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes, we must have a look at it some -time,” said St. Hilary carelessly. “A thousand -thanks for your courtesy, father. <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Buona sera.</em></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Buona sera, signori.</em></span>”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>A clock in the church of San Salvatore was -striking the hour of seven as St. Hilary and I, -after bidding good night to our friendly priest, -crossed the Campo. Our search for that night -was ended. I was free to see Jacqueline at last. -Promising to call for my friend early the next -morning, I hastened to the Grand Hotel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It had been a wonderful day. After weeks -of futile wandering, we were going straight to -the goal. But Jacqueline? Would she forgive -me for breaking my appointment, even though -I was at last to bring her the casket? I had -well-nigh drawn from her the gentle confession -of her love. She had left the gate of Paradise -ajar. She had looked at me in such a way that -the very look was an invitation to enter when I -should reappear. And I had failed her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was in vain that I tried to reassure myself. -If I had not kept that sacred tryst, was it not -because in failing to do so I was really serving -her? When once she knew the circumstances she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>must forgive me. She had asked me to find the -casket for her. She had dreaded the possibility -of the duke’s finding it. Could she find fault, -then, because I had taken her at her word?</p> - -<p class='c001'>But because she had asked me to find it, I -should have gone to her at once to tell her that -the forlorn hope had become an actual possibility. -Instead of doing that, I had thought of -myself first–of my own petty triumph. I had -yielded to the cheap excitement of putting my -theory to actual test. I had seen her in the -duke’s company on the balcony of the hotel only -a few hours ago. What if she had turned to -him for the sympathy and confidence that I had -failed to give her? Could I complain if she had -done that? Only a few hours ago I had insisted -upon the uselessness of the search. I had begged -her to bid me relinquish it. I had told her -that she had no right to rest her happiness on -the shifting foundations of chance; that if she -loved the duke, there was nothing more to be -said; but that, if she loved me, she had no right -to permit him to misconstrue her idly spoken -words. Let her cut the Gordian knot by yielding -herself to me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had said all this to her, and my actions this -afternoon had belied my words. Could I explain -away this apparently glaring inconsistency? I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>should find it difficult to prove to her that I was -the loyal lover I had claimed to be. I hardly -dared hope that she would listen and forgive.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was prepared for reproaches, for tears. It -was not unlikely, I thought, that she would even -refuse to see me. But she came into the reception-room -of the hotel almost immediately after -my arrival, and she was smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline!” I held her hand clasped in -mine. I pleaded for forgiveness with my eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She withdrew her hand gently–not with impatience, -or embarrassment either, but quite -naturally, with a frank smile that was altogether -friendly and affectionate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you think of me, Jacqueline? That -I should have failed you?” I murmured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must suspend judgment until you tell me -precisely why you have failed me,” she cried -cheerfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I took heart. I plunged into my story. I -did not make light of my offence. I did not -exaggerate it. I told her the truth, but I spared -her details. I was too eager to hear her say that -she forgave me to bother now with long and -elaborate explanations. I told her that I had -come across unexpected clues that had led me -so far unerringly toward the hiding-place of the -casket. The existence of these new clues had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>occurred to me, very strangely, in church while -I was waiting for her. Just how they had -dawned on me, how I had traced them out, I -would tell her later. For the present, it was -enough that I had found them. I had not met -her after the church service because I had yielded -to the temptation of putting them to the test. -This latter task had taken me all the afternoon. -I reminded her that she had urged the great importance -of haste in accomplishing this task. -Every moment was valuable, if I was to anticipate -the duke. Because I had taken her precisely -at her word, surely she would not find -fault with that? Surely her strong common-sense -must help her to understand, even though -I had caused her some annoyance, perhaps -vexation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This was my plea. But even as I made it I -felt its weakness. The fact remained that I must -have wounded her. The fact remained that love -is not logic. It is a thing so fragile that, like a -sensitive plant exposed to the cold blast, it -withers if not guarded tenderly. It withers none -the less surely because one’s carelessness may -not be deliberate. And I knew that my carelessness -in a way had been deliberate. My vehement -protestations did not ring true.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She heard me through without speaking. At -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>the end of my story she sighed, and I fancied -that for the first time her cheerfulness gave way -to pain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You forgive me?” I asked humbly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” she answered slowly. “If you can say -quite honestly that you feel that there is nothing -for me to forgive, I forgive you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was silent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would be unreasonable that I should blame -you for doing only too well what I had asked -you to do,” she said gently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only too well, Jacqueline?” I repeated -anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A year ago, Dick, I was at a luncheon given -by one of my friends to announce her engagement. -There were twelve of us present. The -talk at the table drifted to a play that most of -us had seen. It was a mediæval play, the hero -a knight, who had had a task given him–a difficult, -seemingly an impossible task, by the woman -whom he professed to love. Some one asked -what the man of the twentieth century would -do if such a task were given him by the woman -he loved. Would he obediently attempt it? Or -would he ridicule it? It was a question of character, -you see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The discussion seemed to me rather silly, but -I nodded gravely.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>“And some one suggested,” continued Jacqueline -dreamily, “that it would be interesting -for one to apply this test. It would be a test of -love. If the man really cared, he would undertake -even the <a id='corr223.5'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='impossible.'>impossible.”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_223.5'><ins class='correction' title='impossible.'>impossible.”</ins></a></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you applied this interesting test to me!” -I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When, some weeks ago,” she went on, “you -told me that you loved me, I could not help remembering -that conversation at the luncheon. -You did not put yourself in the most favorable -light. You confessed that you had been living -only to please yourself. You acknowledged that -you had no ambition, and no energy to fulfil an -ambition.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I <em>had</em> no ambition before I met you, -Jacqueline,” I interrupted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To apply such a test to you would be childish, -I thought then. But I did suggest that you -should do something. In the meantime,” she -added very slowly, her chin resting on her -clasped hands, “Duke da Sestos came into my -life. He, too, professed to love me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see. You saw in him the manly traits you -found lacking in me. He was ambitious; I was -not. He was bold and confident, while I was -only too conscious that I had made rather a -muddle of my life so far. I can imagine that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>the contrast between us was not favorable to -me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She looked at me pleadingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not make it too hard for me, Dick. The -duke interested me, I confess it. I liked him. -Perhaps I even admired him. Every day I saw -something of him. He was untiring in his devotion. -I began to wonder, at last, if he did not -really love me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Had you never been sure that I really loved -you, Jacqueline?” I asked sadly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; not sure,” she answered steadily. “How -could I be? You neglected me. You went to -Rome without excuse. You did not even write -to me. And then the duke asked me to be his -wife, and this in spite of every discouragement -I could throw in his path. For if I admired -him, I was careful not to show him that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She drew herself up proudly, and looked at -me with a calm dignity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You know how, quite involuntarily, I asked -him to do what seemed an impossible thing. If -he would bring me the casket that belonged to -the chest he had given to me, I would listen to his -declaration of love, and not until then. Too -late I realized that he had taken my words to -be a test of his devotion. I was terrified at the -encouragement I had unconsciously given him. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>I had not dreamed that he would take the challenge -seriously. And yet I wondered at his -earnestness. Any woman would be touched at -such faith and courage. Here actually was a -man who dared to undertake the impossible! -Then I thought of you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would I do as much? Is that what you -mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I asked myself naturally that. And it -seemed fair–I wished you to know what I had -said to the duke. I wished you to, because––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You wished to apply a similar test to me,” -I prompted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And so,” continued Jacqueline, very pale, -“I threw the whole issue into the hands of fate. -I sent for you. I told you that you must also -try to find this casket for me. And how did you -receive this request? So lightly that the last -words you said were these: ‘Perhaps I shall -find time to write the legend of the clock as well -as to find the casket.’ You failed to realize that -the finding of this casket was a real crisis in my -life and in yours. You wrote twice, and only -the shortest and most unsatisfactory of notes. -Not unsatisfactory because you were unsuccessful, -but because you were pursuing the search -in so negligent a manner. And when, at last, I -saw you this morning, you met me with reproaches. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>You were weary of the search. It -was actually degrading you. It was leading -you from me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She paused, and looked at me imploringly. I -was silent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You urged me to release you from it. But -you wished me to understand that it was only -reasonable to do so. I was willing to listen. I -wished to understand that so much myself. I -was ready to believe it–oh, so glad to believe -it. I waited for you eagerly. You failed to -wait for me. What was I to think? I do not -reproach you for doing too well what I had -asked you to do. But, Dick, if you could have -done it in a different manner!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In a different manner?” I repeated obstinately, -though I understood only too well what -she meant. “What does the manner signify, so -long as the thing is being done, and being done -successfully?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It signifies to me, Dick,” she insisted gently. -“Right or wrong, I have the right to put on the -facts just the interpretation that seems to me -fair.” She turned to me with sudden passion. -“Supposing I <em>was</em> foolish, even heartless, in imposing -this test, reckless and foolish in putting -my happiness in the hands of fate, yet if it ennobled -the one, and degraded, by his own confession, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>the other, why should I not let the -results plead for themselves? Why should I -not abide by the decision of fate? You have -driven me, you see, in spite of myself, to this -question.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, if it has ennobled the duke!” I could -not help saying.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, ennobled,” she answered defiantly, “if -constant love is ennobling. Don’t, please, sneer -at that. I fought against him. I could not help -feeling a prejudice against him, perhaps because -he was a foreigner. If he interested me, it was -in spite of myself. He had every barrier to -break down. And, I repeat, we women are not -indifferent to a man who sets to work patiently -and courageously to break down these barriers–or, -at least, to attempt to break them down. -Every day, almost every hour, I have been reminded -that he cared for me. A hundred little -thoughtfulnesses and kindnesses that could not -but appeal to a woman he has unceasingly shown -me. While you, Dick, while you––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were tears in her eyes. Unconsciously -she stretched out her hands to me. If I had not -been blind–if I had only taken those dear hands -and drawn her to me–I might have been spared -hours of pain. I might have conquered then. -But I was hurt, indignant, proud. She had not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>judged me fairly. I forgot that I had not given -her the opportunity to do that.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I?” I said quietly, “I have been doing -what you asked me to do, perhaps not in the -most approved way, not so tactfully as Duke da -Sestos has conducted his discreet search, doubtless; -though how he can have been looking for -the casket here in Venice, while he has found -time to play the lover in Bellagio, I fail to see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We arose. Jacqueline looked at me indignantly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are unjust,” she cried proudly, “and -you are quite mistaken. For not only has Duke -da Sestos found time to show me that he loves -me, but this afternoon he brought to me the -casket that belonged to the steel chest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has found the da Sestos casket! Impossible! -It is impossible,” I stammered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It stands on the table there,” she said with -quiet dignity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked unsteadily to the table she indicated, -and I saw the casket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was an exquisite thing, a jewel-case worthy -of holding a prince’s diadem. It was about as -long as my two hands interlocked, and a little -broader than the palm of my hand. Two medallions -were in each of the front and rear panels, -and a medallion at either end. The design of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>the medallions was the loves of the gods in -silver-gilt, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>repoussé</em></span>. The cover rose to an apex, -and on the apex was a nymph embraced by a -satyr. The material was ebony, thickly inlaid -with silver of a quaint design. I lifted the -cover. There were several layers of little drawers. -But I saw no sign of the springs. I saw -no compartments that held the more precious of -the Doge’s jewels. As I looked at it more carefully, -I saw that the workmanship was not Venetian, -but French. In no way did it answer to -the description of the casket in the Diary of -Sanudo.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I understood. The duke had despaired of -finding the casket. It was so much simpler to -pretend that he had found it. Jacqueline would -believe that this was the casket as readily as if -he had brought the real one. Even if she had -any doubts, how could she prove them? He -was a clever rascal, my lord duke. Unfortunately -for the success of his ruse, he had not -counted on my intervention, or perhaps he despised -me too much to care.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline watched me with parted lips, a -slight frown of anxiety on her forehead. Her -eyes seemed to plead with me. What did she -wish me to say? To tell her that the duke was -a liar and a cheat? Or did she wish me to say -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>that this was indeed the casket? Would she be -glad to hear that? Had he conquered her so -surely?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is very beautiful,” I said indifferently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are convinced?” she asked, almost -timidly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is worthy of any museum in Europe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You think it is really the casket?” she persisted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I imagined that there would be gems in the -da Sestos casket,” I said, smiling at her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are not answering my question.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you tell me how the duke happened to -find this–this pretty toy? Did he honor you -with so much information?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He brought it to me only this afternoon. I -was so–so overwhelmed–I should say, astonished–that -I could say nothing. Presently, I -suppose, he will tell me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now that he has brought it, Jacqueline?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If this is the da Sestos casket, I must keep -my word.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I do assure you that it is not. Do you -hear me, Jacqueline? I swear to you that this -is not the da Sestos casket. I will prove to you -that this Duke da Sestos is the liar and cheat -that I have long suspected him to be.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>She looked at me without speaking, but her -face was suddenly transfigured. My courage -came back by leaps and bounds. I felt instinctively -that the day was not yet lost.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how will the ingenious Mr. Hume accomplish -that delightful task?” demanded a cold -voice. The duke walked in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How shall I do that, Duke da Sestos?” I -repeated passionately. “I shall do that by -bringing to Miss Quintard the real da Sestos -casket before the week is over.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are promising a great deal, my friend,” -he sneered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For the second time since we had met on the -Piazza we looked steadily at each other. It was -to be the last grapple now.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you wait that week, Jacqueline, before -you listen to Duke da Sestos?” I pleaded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke made a gesture of entreaty. “Miss -Quintard can not do that without showing that -she doubts my word.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline looked slowly from me to the duke, -and then again at me. She smiled–that same -grave smile that had puzzled me so much the -last half hour.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall wait that week,” she said.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>That night I could not sleep; and, indeed, I -had enough to think about as I lay in my -troubled bed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Now I remembered with joy that strange smile -of Jacqueline’s, a smile as vague and inscrutable -as the immortal smile on the lips of the divine -Gioconda, that withholds so much. My dear -Jacqueline had promised that she would not -pledge herself to the duke for a week. That -assurance was infinitely heartening. But I had -made my promise before the duke, and so it was -but a foolish boast after all. If he had been -villain enough to attempt to impose upon her in -this way, he was quite capable of setting spies -at my heels who would dog my every movement -for the next eventful few days. That would -make my promise more difficult of achievement. -However, the words were spoken. There was -nothing for it now but to bend every effort to -find the casket. I must make good my word at -all costs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If the casket were actually in existence, and -in Venice, I would do that, be the difficulties -what they might. The foppish mantle of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>dilettante had slipped off my willing shoulders. -I was aroused at last. We should see now who -was the better man–this Latin with feline, -sheathed claws, or the Anglo-Saxon with bulldog -grip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When I knew that sleep was quite impossible, -I put on my dressing-gown and went into the -sitting-room to read. But it was impossible for -me to keep my attention on the book. I threw -open the heavy shutters and looked out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lights of Venice the mysterious glowed -dimly in the distance. The newly risen moon -shone on campanile, dome and spire. Here and -there a gondola, a black speck in a lake of silver, -drifted slowly by. I heard the plash of -the oars, the fragment of a song. Then my -attention was drawn to the fondamenta immediately -beneath my window by the sharp, persistent -bark of a dog.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A white poodle was leaping in an ecstasy of -joy at its master, who was doing his utmost to -quiet the beast. He cursed the dog volubly by -the evil spirits of his father and grandfather -and all his numerous relations and ancestors. -At first this little scene only amused me, but my -idle amusement gave way to an eager interest -when presently I heard my name mentioned. -Leaning far out, I saw that Pietro, my gondolier, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>was conversing with the dog’s master. I -tried in vain to hear what they were talking -about, but almost immediately the dog and his -master slunk down the quay, hugging the shadow -of the wall. I had not seen the fellow’s face, -but something in his gait seemed familiar. I -whistled to attract Pietro’s attention, and beckoned -to him. Before he had entered my room -I had made up my mind that I knew who this -prowler was. I was convinced that it was none -other than the duke’s servant, whom St. Hilary -and I had seen that night the duke had paid his -memorable visit to my rooms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pietro,” I said, looking at him steadily, “I -have had you in my service ever since you left -the penitentiary a few rods down the quay. It -was an affair of stabbing, I believe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pietro nodded with unblushing countenance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, monsignore, it was an affair of stabbing. -But that I was innocent as a three-years-old -babe, I swear to you by all the holy saints -in the calendar, including the Blessed Virgin -herself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pietro,” I continued, “I have been a fairly -good master. You have earned many a <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>buona -lira</em></span>.” I paused suggestively.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was voluble in his gratitude. Heaven was -witness that he had been faithful and honest.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>“Then will you tell me who was talking to -you a few minutes ago? Will you tell me exactly -what he said to you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Certainly he would, and with an ease born of -years of careful cultivation he lied as cheerfully -and fluently as St. Hilary himself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The man, monsignore, is the cousin of the -husband of my sister. He is the concierge of -the Pallazzina Baroni on the Rio Santa Barbara. -Perhaps you have seen, monsignore, the wonderful -poodle that is the property of the Principessa -Fini, who lives in that palace. I assure -you, monsignore, that the Principessa adores the -poodle with the woolly coat that hangs in strings -at the tail with a devotion that is as great as if -the wonderful poodle were her own son. But -this poodle, you must understand, is of an intelligence -that is marvelous and a badness that is -lamentable. He is always running away from -his dear mistress. To-night he went for a ride -on the steamboat–oh, he is of an intelligence -that is truly remarkable, and came to our fondamenta -to visit another dog, but a dog of so -plebeian a birth as to be disgraceful. And so -the concierge has come swearing after the wicked -beast, and no doubt the monsignore heard the -barking.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was useless to get anything out of Pietro. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>He lied because he loved to lie, and then there -had been the money that had crossed his palm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That will do,” I said gravely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I did not inform St. Hilary the next morning -of my foolish boast to the duke. Nor did I tell -him that the duke had already been bribing my -servant to spy on me. Hearing that, he would, -I was sure, insist upon our postponing the search -for the casket until the week was over. That -would not suit my plans at all. But I did tell -him of the duke’s pseudo casket. He was delighted -at this turn of affairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So our friend the comedian has discovered -a casket all by himself,” he exclaimed, rubbing -his hands with joy. “His object, of course, is -to gain the consent of Miss Quintard to marry -him. Now that he has obtained that, he will -cease to bother us, if, indeed, he has concerned -himself about us at all. But I forgot,” he added -hypocritically, seizing my hands. “You, my -dear Hume, do not consider this good news -at all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it were true that Miss Quintard were -actually engaged to the duke,” I replied indifferently, -“I should tell you and the casket to -go to the devil. But I happen to know that she -will wait a week, at least, before binding herself -to him or any other.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>“Capital, my dear Hume, capital! In a quarter -of an hour I shall be dressed. A cup of -coffee and a cigarette, and we will continue our -search. It is early, but not too early to interview -a servant mopping a doorstep.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Palace Cæsarini, as every tourist knows, -is one of the most beautiful and historic in -Venice. Its distinguishing mark, however, is -the square tower that stands at its rear. The -campanile, as bare of ornament and as stolid as -one of those towers of defence one sees at -Regensburg, is no more than a case for the stairway -inside. Ugly as it is, it serves to bring into -more striking contrast the lightness and delicacy -of the Gothic jewel-work of the façade of the -palace. Five arches, richly carved with foliage, -support the upper stories. The loggia beneath -is exquisitely proportioned. The broad marble -steps, leading to the water’s edge, extend the -whole width of the palace front. The pointed -windows, Moorish in the profusion of their -carving, are noticeable because of the quaintly -grotesque beasts, with monstrous tails and protruding -tongues, that are carved in niches between -each window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our interest in the palace, however, was centered -in the tower. From this tower we expected -to be led to the eighth landmark. We thought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>it most unlikely that the iron safes had any significance. -For no imaginable reason, surely, -could the clock-maker have chosen so public a -hiding-place. Indeed, the casket might not be in -the Cæsarini Palace at all; yet we expected to -find it there. At first thought this seemed unreasonable. -Why should he have hidden the -gems in another house? The existence of the -iron safes suggests the answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary had read in the Annals of the Inquisition -that the last work Giovanni had undertaken -was the building of these safes. When -once he had determined to steal the casket he -must have thought of a hiding-place. He knew -that his own house was impossible. The mechanism -of these safes was intricate and delicate. -They would require constant attention and repair. -The clock-maker would have, therefore, -frequent access to the palace, and provided that -he was successful in once hiding the casket there, -he could take away the stones at his leisure. -Here, then, if this theory was correct, the son -had hidden the casket. For as his father’s assistant -he would naturally have had access to -the palace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary and I rang the bell at the side door -of the palace on the Calle Bianca Madonna. It -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>was a less conspicuous entrance than that on the -Grand Canal. The majordomo, summoned by -us, peremptorily frowned on our modest request -to be permitted to see the curious tower and the -safes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, signori,” he protested, swelling out a -chest resplendent with gold braid, “this is no -time for tourists to visit the palace.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tourists!” cried St. Hilary indignantly. -“Have I not told you we are distinguished -architects?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because,” continued the majordomo patiently, -closing his eyes, as if he had not heard the -interruption, “all the palace is in confusion. -To-morrow night the Princess Cæsarini gives -the famous <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>bal masqué</em></span>. You can understand, -then, that this is no time to visit our palace.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But we could at least see the safes. They -interest us particularly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The safes, signore! Pooh, pooh, they have -been made into furnaces long ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the tower–we can visit that without -troubling you. We are writing a book on curious -towers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The man shrugged his shoulders obstinately. -“After to-morrow night, perhaps. I do not -know. Certainly not till then. And even then -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>our princess may not care to have the gentlemen -come. She goes to Paris the day after, and the -palace will be closed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This was alarming news.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Closed!” persisted St. Hilary, and it was -impossible to mistake the note of satisfaction in -his voice. “Closed! And does no one stay to -take care of it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But certainly,” replied the servant suspiciously, -“I stay and all the servants; and then, -let me tell the gentlemen, unless the princess -commands, no one, not even the king, has admittance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I thought St. Hilary’s eagerness most indiscreet, -but he was in no way abashed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is to be a very exclusive ball, I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of an exclusiveness that will exclude all -<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>Inglesi</em></span> and <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>forrestieri</em></span>,” cried the servant maliciously, -and shut the door in our faces.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you think your suspicions and vulgar -curiosity quite apropos, St. Hilary?” I demanded -vexatiously, as we turned from the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, thick of head and slow of understanding,” -he retorted in wild good humor. “Do you -think that I asked my questions without reason? -I wanted to know if it were not better for us to -postpone our explorations till after this precious -ball. I have learned definitely that it would be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>quite useless. If Madame La Princesse goes to -Paris immediately after, it is not likely that she -will bother her head giving tourists or architects -permission to explore her palace. As to forcing -our way in afterward, you heard what the man -said. For my part I prefer to enter the palace -as a guest. We must resort to the jimmy and -the dark-lantern as a last extremity. Certainly -we must go to that ball.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Without an invitation, and costumes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Assuredly not. And the costumes I have in -my mind’s eye for you and myself will fit our -figures to a marvel. You, the stolid pig, shall -be resplendent as the Doge. As for me, I shall -be bravely clad in doublet and hose as the captain -of the guard. And behold, in that room -yonder probably repose our costumes this very -moment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary had tossed his head to a window -of a pretentious apartment on the second story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We are going to hire costumes from a -shop?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What!” he cried in horror. “You have -lived in Venice three years, and mistake the -apartments of one of the most aristocratic families -of Venice for a costumer’s shop. Fie, fie!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are not going to steal the costumes and -the tickets?” I cried in dismay. St. Hilary’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>methods were always so beautifully direct and -unscrupulous.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am not going to steal them. I am going, -as it were, to squeeze the costumes off the noble -backs of two gallant cavaliers I know slightly, -and the tickets out of their pockets. Oh, they -will gladly oblige me, those young gentlemen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, my friend? Because it so happens -that I hold a little note that is signed jointly -in the writing of the noble youths. Now if I -were to postpone the necessity of their paying -those notes for a month or two, or if I removed -the necessity of payment altogether, would they -not be duly grateful?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As I have said, St. Hilary’s methods were -always so beautifully direct and unscrupulous.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>St. Hilary and I were smiling at ourselves -before the pier-glass in my bedroom. It seemed -to me quite impossible that we could be recognized.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As a captain of the Inquisitorial Guard St. -Hilary was inimitable. His black eyes, as bright -and piercing as any swashbuckler’s, glowed -through the velvet mask with a ferocity that -was startling. His leanness and agility, the stiff -carriage of his compact and sinewy little body, -the gray goatee and mustachios, all distinctive -of St. Hilary, were quite as distinctive of the -part he had taken. Nothing could be more thoroughly -foreign, more Italian.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was pleased to approve of me. A magnificent -robe of old Genoese velvet, bordered -with ermine, the Doge’s cap, with one great stone -glowing in the front, made of me a most imposing -personage. The velvet mask completed -my disguise. We might or might not be mistaken -for the two gallant young noblemen whose -costumes St. Hilary had “squeezed” from them, -but at least we were not ourselves.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>And so, seated stiffly upright, not to crush -our gorgeous costumes, we started late in the -evening for the ball at the Cæsarini Palace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Propelled with vigorous strokes, we swept -down the Grand Canal. It was impossible not -to enter into the adventure with spirit and -abandon. Our going to the ball was audacious -enough. But the ball itself was a mere bagatelle -to us. We were about to loot a palace. It is -not every day that one has such big game to -key one’s nerves to fighting pitch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We glided silently and swiftly down the broad -stream. Glimmering lanterns of other gondolas -danced about us. Every moment we overtook -and were passed by guests. Every Rio poured -forth its tribute, a doge, a monk, a queen, a -knight. As we neared the palace the gondolas -almost touched, so dense was the throng. A -compact mass, we drifted toward the blaze of -light pouring from the open hall of the Cæsarini -Palace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Slowly, one by one, the gondolas were deftly -guided to the marble steps. St. Hilary grasped -my arm. He whispered his last instructions. I -was not an adept at this sort of thing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must keep together as much as possible. -But first, we shall have to separate. To find our -way to the tower, that is the main thing. If you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>find the way clear thither, you must indicate it to -me by resting your forefinger lightly on your -thigh. I shall show you I have found it by resting -the same finger on the hilt of my dagger. -Once in the tower, we can determine our next -move. The chances are that it will be open -to the guests from the garden. A dark tower -is an admirable retreat for a couple to make -love in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As St. Hilary was whispering these words in -my ear, my attention was distracted by the gondola -floating by our side. Its oarsmen were -vainly attempting to cut across our bows. Our -own gondoliers were unwilling to give way. -Before I could interfere, we had jammed the -other gondola against the variegated red and -blue posts placed before every Venetian palace. -Instantly the curtains of the felsa of the neighboring -gondola were drawn aside. The head of -a cardinal was thrust out. Forgetting that I -was in costume, I drew back to avoid being seen. -The cardinal was Duke da Sestos. He had -doffed his mask while he shouted to our men -to make way. Awed by the ducal coronet on -his gondola, our oarsmen paused. The other -shot forward and drew up at the steps of the -palace. Alighting there, the duke handed out -two ladies. I recognized them as Mrs. Gordon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>and Jacqueline, in spite of their masks and -disguise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In our turn we paused at the water’s edge. -Servants dressed in the costume of the gondoliers -of the fifteenth century stood in a row to -receive us. Two of them steadied the gondola; -another placed his little platform of green baize; -the fourth offered a deferential arm. I gathered -my robe about me, and we stepped from the -platform to the crimson carpet. Surrendering -our tickets to our friend the majordomo, who -bowed to us much more courteously than he had -done the day before, we advanced slowly down -the hall, glowing with a thousand candles. I -noticed with satisfaction that the doors of -glass leading into the garden were wide open. -We should have no difficulty in entering the -tower, then, unless its gates were locked. The -full moon fell with a soft radiance on the playing -fountain, the statues, and the bare whiteness -of Italian seats. But we dared not enter the -garden.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With a Mephistopheles crowding me close on -one side and St. Hilary on the other, the train -of a Lucretia Borgia dragging in front, and the -lance of a Don Quixote poking me in the back, -I ascended a stairway, impressively noble in its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>proportions. Along its entire length at intervals -were placed busts of some great ancestor of the -House of Cæsarini. They stood in niches of the -wall and on the balustrade of each turn of the -stairway.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The grand staircase ended in a great square -hall. A full-length portrait of Prince Cæsarini -on horseback looked down on us. A row of -servants stood at the two open folding-doors -leading into the sala. On either side of the sala -were the usual reception-rooms and card-rooms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This sala of the Cæsarini Palace, one of the -most impressive in Venice, both in size and plan, -is a square apartment, one side facing the Grand -Canal, the other, a little side canal. Quite two-thirds -of the room is raised above the rest of the -floor, and is ascended by three marble steps. -The effect on entering was indescribably brilliant. -Dancing had already commenced on this -immense dais. Every moment a couple descended -and ascended the marble steps. The -air was heavy with perfume. The strange costumes -were reflected in a score of mirrors sunk -in the walls at intervals between the tapestries. -Through the velvet masks gleamed dark and -languorous eyes that beckoned and challenged -seductively. Already here and there a nymph -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>fled with light laughter; a satyr pursued with -eager eyes. One felt that license would go far -before these masks were removed at supper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I missed St. Hilary almost immediately. -Jacqueline and the duke were dancing. I -watched them gloomily. On what mad errand -were St. Hilary and I bent to-night? We had -forced ourselves here by browbeating two weak -young fools, who were no doubt quite ready to -turn and rend us. If we were exposed! And -before Jacqueline! We were absolutely no more -respectable than two thieves whose eyes are fixed -greedily on the silver spoons.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My arm was jogged. St. Hilary stood beside -me. His eyes danced. His forefinger rested -lightly on the hilt of his dagger. I strolled after -him. He led the way directly to one of the -<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>camerini</em></span>. He paused before a Titian. I stared -at a Giorgione. He sauntered on. I kept him -just in sight. We passed through half a dozen -of the square little rooms. We entered the last -of them, where several men were gathered about -a punch-bowl. St. Hilary dropped into a chair -in the corner. I occupied the chair next to him. -Presently, when a burst of loud laughter came -from the men at the punch-bowl, he leaned forward -and picked up an imaginary pin. “I know -where the casket is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>I started violently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have traced it from the tower.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have traced it from the tower!” I repeated -incredulously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To this room,” he whispered. “You remember -the scene of the seventh hour?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>And in the seven and twentieth day of the -month was the earth dried</em>,” I murmured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Precisely. The twenty-seven steps from the -summit of the tower bring one to a door that -opens on a passage. The other door to that -passage is just to the right of your chair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how do you know that?” I demanded, -staring at it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A lady fainted a few minutes ago. She was -carried through that door to the landing for air. -While the door was open I made good use of -my opportunity, and I have taken the precaution -to put the key of the door opening on to -the tower into my pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked about me eagerly for the eighth landmark. -The four walls were not suggestive.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The painted ceiling,” prompted St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked upward. The decoration of the ceiling -represented a king rising from his throne -in the act of greeting a woman who made obeisance -before him. I recognized the figures as -those of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>The throne had six steps. At the base of the -steps crouched two lions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now that we have found the eighth -landmark?” I asked quietly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The numbers are 6 and 2,” he whispered. -Then aloud, in Italian, “Shall we go into the -ball-room?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I took St. Hilary’s arm. We passed through -a succession of reception-rooms, and as we entered -each room I felt the familiar and significant -pressure. Passing through six of these -rooms, we were in the sala again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The decorous dancing of an hour ago had -given way to a rout, a pageant, a scene of childish -abandon and folly. The younger of the aristocracy -of Venice had each assumed some classic -character. Arm in arm, a wild procession of -shepherds crowned with chaplets, bacchantes, -and goddesses romped across the stage. There -was Jason with his golden fleece, Thetis with -her sea-nymphs, Orpheus with a pair of loving-birds -on his wrist.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Round and round the great ball-room, up and -down the marble steps, swept the procession. -Presently it stopped abruptly. With a wild -shout, they swept down on the laughing spectators; -each Jack chose an incongruous Jill. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>Apollo made captive Catherine di Medici; Pomona, -Falstaff; Hebe, Mephistopheles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Too late, St. Hilary and I turned to flee. A -chain of flowers deftly tossed by white arms -made us prisoners, St. Hilary to Diana, myself -to a Mermaid. The grotesque mob again formed -in procession. To the flourish of trumpets and -the beating of drums, after encircling the ball-room -once more, they proceeded to the supper-room. -There, of course, each was expected to -unmask.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was impossible to retreat. Every step -brought us nearer to exposure and disgrace. -This knowledge, disagreeable enough in itself, -was made doubly embarrassing when my fair -jailer whispered coyly in my ear that not all the -disguise in the world could deceive her. It was -evident, of course, that she had taken me for -the man whose costume I wore, and that tender -passages had passed between the two before -now. I muttered some incoherent reply. I followed -miserably after St. Hilary and his inamorata.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But even at the eleventh hour came a reprieve. -St. Hilary had guided his fair unknown past the -supper-room, down the stairway. I followed his -example. At the foot of the stairway we turned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>to the right, and so made our way into the moonlight -of the garden. The shades of Elysium -are not more grateful to perturbed spirits than -was to us the dark bower overgrown with yellow -jessamine and honeysuckle. But the girl at -my side had become suspicious. I had spoken -no word. She drew back in alarm. At that instant -St. Hilary’s Diana discovered her mistake. -There was an hysterical cry from each of the -girls. Together they fled down the path to the -palace, while St. Hilary followed them with -mocking laughter. Then we plunged into the -arbor. We were saved.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>A moment we listened. St. Hilary lighted a -cigarette.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Idiot,” he chuckled, “to intrude on a doting -couple. There might have been kisses, who -knows?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why did she not recognize you sooner?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because I happen to have a figure that is -not unlike her swain’s, I suppose. As to my -voice, have I not heard many times the squeak -of the noble Conti, and am I not a mimic on -occasions?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But surely I do not resemble the other noble -Conti?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In that bulging robe, with that beard and -mask, you might be equally an angel of light -or the very devil himself. I am glad you had -wit enough not to speak.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now?” I asked impatiently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After we have slipped the bolt of that little -gate in the garden wall over there, we will make -our way up the tower and hide until the guests -have gone. We dare not trust ourselves in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>palace again after our escapade. That gate -opens on the side street. We shall be glad to -avail ourselves of it later.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We were about to leave the arbor when a -Punchinello strolled down the garden path, a -poodle at his heels. He was humming a French -song, his hands thrust deep into his pockets. -He passed by a pergola of grapevines without -once turning in our direction. Recognizing the -dog, I guessed the identity of the clown. It was -the man who had been tampering with Pietro’s -honesty a night or two before. His presence at -the palace was alarming, but I said no word to -St. Hilary of my fears. Spies or no spies, I was -going to find that casket to-night!</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the garden was again deserted I drew -the bolts of the gate, then followed St. Hilary -up the steps of the tower. All the guests were -at supper, and we met no one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the summit of the tower the sides were -wide open to the sky. A low parapet ran around -the sides. The roof rose to an apex some ten -or twelve feet above. Two broad timbers, just -out of reach, stretched across the roof. Rusty -rings were still embedded in them. In former -days this had been a bell-tower. I pointed out -the timbers to St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is our hiding-place if any one comes. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>Could you reach those beams if I gave you a -back?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He did not answer. He was looking down the -dark stairway. He rose and leaped on the -parapet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is time to make the attempt. People are -coming up the stairs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In five seconds we were lying side by side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whatever happens, you must not betray -yourself. If you do, remember, you betray me, -and you promised to stand by me, no matter -what happened.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I nodded; then, peering over, I saw my mask -lying on the bench where I had thrown it down. -I pointed it out to St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall I risk jumping down for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, no. There is no logical clue between a -mask on a bench and two gentlemen playing -eavesdroppers a few feet above.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a rustle of silk; a faint sigh of a -woman catching her breath; then a ripple of -light laughter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We are not the first, duke, to enjoy this -wonderful view,” cried a clear voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I leaned recklessly over. Jacqueline was holding -my mask toward Duke da Sestos. And they -were alone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had just given my promise to St. Hilary, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>but I had not reckoned on this. To leap down -now would mean that I must betray him; to remain, -that I must listen. I was in an agony of -indecision. Again I hesitated, and again I was -to pay a bitter penalty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, it is worth the climb,” cried Jacqueline -enthusiastically. “That blaze of lights is the -Piazza San Marco, of course. And the long line -to the north?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are the lights of the Riva,” answered the -moody voice of the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His tone frightened me. I felt that he was -regarding her with burning glances. Jacqueline -must have noticed it had she not been enraptured -with the fairy scene before her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The little splashes of light here and there -are the campos, of course. But the Grand -Canal! I never dreamed of anything so wonderful. -Look, it has just one broad band of -moonlight across its gloom. How fearfully -tragic it must look on a cloudy night! But now, -it is beautiful. And the tiny flickers of dancing -light from the lanterns on the gondolas make -the effect magical. Is it any wonder that, after -all, one is a slave to the beauty of this Venice? -Perhaps,” she added dreamily, “one might have -more ignoble dreams and ambitions than to live -always in the midst of this beauty. I believe -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>there is nothing on earth so beautiful as this -scene.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is yourself,” a hoarse voice broke in -on her revery. “There is yourself, and to-night -you are more beautiful and exquisite than the -very citadels of Paradise.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I trembled. It was to come, then, this declaration -of love; and I must listen. It was now too -late to descend. I could only pray that they -would soon go. To my joy, this time Jacqueline -did recognize the danger of her lingering.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And below, what a mass of gondolas! How -little did I think that I should ever go to a ball -in a gondola! I can not thank you enough for -bringing me here. But my aunt is waiting at -the next landing. She will be wondering.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” broke in the duke’s hoarse voice, “she -will not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And why not, please?” demanded Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have told Mrs. Gordon that I must see you -alone. You have avoided me all the evening–all -the day–ever since Mr. Hume insulted me -by denying that I had found the casket. And -now that I have my opportunity it shall not -escape me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If my aunt has given you permission to detain -me here against my will, she has gone beyond -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>her right. That she is not waiting for me -makes it still more necessary to descend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must not go. You will not be so cruel. -You shall not go. You shall not go, by heaven -until you have told mo why you refuse to listen -to me!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you think that my regard for you will -grow stronger because you detain me here -against my will?” Jacqueline asked indignantly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My glorious one, you are beautiful when you -are angry,” he cried passionately. “I do not -forget that you are only a nun for the hour. -Beneath those funereal robes beats a heart of -passion and fire like mine. Like mine, do you -hear? It is time you were wooed and won.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hardly understand you, Duke da Sestos.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even now there was no fear in her voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, you understand, my white dove,” he -continued in a tone that made my blood boil. -“You understand perfectly. Even in America, -I suppose, young girls do not climb towers alone -at night without first of all counting the cost.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had heard quite enough. St. Hilary and his -casket might go to the devil. I gathered up my -cumbersome robes. St. Hilary, his black eyes -glowing into mine a few feet away, made a fierce -but cautious gesture to lie still If I did so it -was not because of St. Hilary, but consideration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>for my own dignity. Jacqueline would never -forgive me if I appeared now, I thought. And -by his next words the duke seemed to have come -to his senses at last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Heavens,” he cried despairingly, “I am -mad! I have angered you. Forgive me. Say -that you forgive me. You shall go when you -have said that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I forgive you,” answered Jacqueline in -a cold voice, “it is because I have failed to -understand you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But tell me, before we go, why have you -promised only to deny? I have been patient. I -have endured all. But now, to-night, under this -soft moonlight, under these burning stars, with -Venice, the Queen of Loves, to listen, I tell you -that I love you. Pledge your love to me–here–to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I insist that you let me go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In one moment. Tell me why you refuse -to keep your word? Is it because that Mr. Hume -made me ridiculous before you? If he had not -interfered, you would have loved me. I would -have made you love me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, Duke da Sestos, to be quite exact, -you should say if <em>you</em> had not interfered.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But when once you know what I know, when -I have told you that he is a thief––”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>“Thief!” cried my dear Jacqueline with -scorn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is he not a thief who breaks into your rooms, -who binds you hand and foot, who steals from -you––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You dare say that he has done that?” cried -Jacqueline, lingering in spite of herself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I dare say to his face that he has done just -that,” replied the duke hotly. “He has done -more than that. He has stolen your heart from -me, and for that I shall never forgive him. -Never. But I shall yet win you. You are mine. -Give me my reward. I implore you. I command -you. You are in my power. One kiss, -and you shall go. I swear it. No, no, you shall -not escape me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She screamed. I lifted myself on my elbow -to leap down. It was impossible to stay there -longer. My robe caught on a nail. While I -struggled to free myself the duke saw me, and -as I alighted he struck me a violent blow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He flung himself upon me and pinioned my -arms. I struggled furiously, but he had me at -a disadvantage. I was down. The moonlight -fell on my face. He recognized me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bah, it is our American friend; it is your -Mr. Hume,” he cried, with a contempt that was -too careless for indignation. There was almost -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>a note of good-nature in his contempt, as if I -were a loathsome but amusing species of reptile.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I rose panting to my feet. Hell itself can -have no greater torment than I suffered then.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Eavesdropper!” cried the duke, regarding -me cynically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline looked at me in horror. “You -were listening? And you made no effort to -help me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The words were not spoken in reproach. It -was as if she had uttered a simple truth that was -convincing, hopelessly convincing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was silent. I could say nothing without betraying -St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is every one low and despicable? Is there -no honor in any one? You–my aunt–” she -groped her way toward the stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For the third time the duke and I looked into -each others eyes. He was smiling still in his -amused, cynical way, but thoughtfully, too.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So,” he said at last, “you really were listening? -Or had you other motives?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” I said, quite truthfully. “You know -perfectly well that I was not listening.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought so. I am so sorry that I have -disturbed Mr. Hume. And now to-night, I suppose, -it is useless to keep an eye on him longer. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>There will be no adventures to-night, I am -afraid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a note of real regret in his voice. -Had he really known that I was here, or was he -lying as usual? In any case, if I could convince -him that for to-night, at least, I should make no -further attempt to find the casket, he would leave -St. Hilary in peace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have beaten me to-night, it is true, but -there are other nights. Remember that there are -yet five days.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We descended the tower. I walked deliberately -through the palace. The duke pretended -not to watch me, but I knew that I should be -followed. It was some minutes before my gondola -came; for the last of the guests were leaving. -I went at once to my rooms. I lighted the -gas and exchanged the mummery in which I was -clad for a suit of tweeds. Then, with an ulster -and golf-cap for St. Hilary, I turned out the -gas, made my way out into the garden at the -rear, and in ten minutes had pushed open the -little gate in the garden wall.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The garden was dark. Only the bloom of a -cherry tree and a line of lilies planted the length -of the pergola showed white against the gloom. -The waning moon hardly touched the top of the -garden wall now, but fell full on the palace windows -and the tower.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No light was to be seen. The last guest had -departed. The Princess Caesarini was grand -enough lady to have her own ways in spite of -those of the world; and one of them was to be -in bed by two o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The question was, where should I find St. -Hilary? I should look for him first, of course, -in the tower. It was barely possible that he -had waited for me. Scarcely half an hour had -passed since I left the palace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was seated on the parapet, quietly smoking. -He greeted me grimly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you have made a nice mess of things. -I should have known that failure is always the -result of one’s mixing up business and sentiment. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>There can be no search for the casket to-night. -Come, let’s be going.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nonsense, St. Hilary,” I cried sharply. -“You know very well we shall finish our search -to-night. It is natural that you should feel -some annoyance–not with me, but with circumstances. -I promised you I would not betray -myself; but could you have lain quiet in -my place?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I could,” he mumbled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As to there being no further search, why did -you wait here if you intended to relinquish it? -Why did you not go on with it alone? You have -waited, hoping I should return.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you deliberately told the duke that you -were hiding, waiting for a chance to find the -casket. At least you hinted as much. He understood -you to mean that. For aught we know he -has put the palace on its guard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” I answered angrily, “I told him that–deliberately. -What else could I do? He must -have guessed. But after discovering me, would -he think it likely that I should return to continue -the search? No. He has seen me leave the palace. -He has followed me, or had me followed, -to my rooms. He thinks that I am in bed. I -am certain that no one has followed me here. -He has seen me go out of the palace. He has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>not seen me return. There is the matter in a -nutshell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But has he seen me go out?” demanded St. -Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you sure he knows you were at the -ball?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, that’s the question. I think we ought to -fling up our search for to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I do not. The finding of that casket is my -only chance for happiness now. Where is the -key?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is quite useless. It unlocks the outer door -of the passage, but the inner door defies this key -and some skeleton keys I have with me. Confound -these old Italian locks! That round window -over your head is the only chance. If you -give me a leg up, I think I can pry it open and -squeeze through.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>So that was why he had waited! He had -attempted, then, to carry on the search without -me; he had waited for me only because he had -found my help absolutely necessary. Suddenly, -I mistrusted St. Hilary. It seemed difficult for -his mind to work in normal grooves. Deceit and -lying were as natural to him as breathing. And -yet, with one exception, he had been fair and -generous with me. Was it only to discard me -when I was of no further use?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>“But where does the window lead?” I demanded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must take our chances as to that. I am -the slighter. Let me go through first.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stooped down and braced my arms against -the wall. He lightly sprang on my shoulders. -I felt him strain and tug at the casement. Then -I heard a crack. Waiting a moment to be sure -that the slight noise had not aroused any one, -he spurned my shoulders, and leaped upward. -For an instant his body hovered comically in -mid-air. Then it disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I stood motionless against the wall, listening -with all my ears. Five minutes passed, and I -began to wonder if he had deserted me, when -his head appeared through the window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am standing on a bench. Jump, and catch -my hands. This is the only chance to get into -the palace that I can see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I measured the window with my eye. I kicked -a bit of mortar from between two stones in the -wall. Edging my toe in, I sprang up. Twice -I failed to reach his outstretched arms, but the -third time I was successful. A strenuous minute, -and I stood panting beside him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We entered a draughty passage. St. Hilary -went confidently to the door at the end, and pushing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>it open, he struck a match. We were in an -anteroom. Huge presses ran up to the ceiling -on three of the walls. The fourth wall was -paneled, and in spite of my excitement, or perhaps -because of it, I saw that it was covered -with names carved in the oak. In other days -this had undoubtedly been the page’s room. And -now I had another proof of St. Hilary’s keenness. -He opened the door of what I supposed -to be one of the presses, and we were in the sala. -The air was yet heavy with the smell of perfume -and crushed flowers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall I light one of these candles?” I whispered. -“Is it safe?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He nodded, and I took one of the candles from -its sconce. St. Hilary stood by the great fireplace, -where two lions crouched.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“These must be the two lions of the eighth -landmark,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I held the candle high above my head. As -the light flared, vague spectral forms seemed to -spring out of the darkness and to vanish. Our -shadows, gigantic and monstrous, danced grotesquely -on the polished floor. In a dozen mirrors -our figures were dimly reflected.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The ninth hour?” demanded St. Hilary -hoarsely.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>“<em>And Joseph said, Behold, I have dreamed a -dream, and behold, the sun and moon and the -eleven stars made obeisance to me</em>,” I answered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He clutched my arm. He pointed far above -the mantel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At first I did not understand. In front of us -yawned the great fireplace. Two bowed and -wearied giants supported the hooded marble -mantel, their feet braced fantastically against -the two crouching lions. The polished breasts -and thighs of the figures glowed in the faint -candle-light. Above, the space from the mantel -to the very ceiling was filled with paneling, -dark and somber with age and smoke, all -richly and delicately carved, a design infinitely -confusing with its entwined and intricate figures. -A medley of chariots and horses, armored warriors -and banners, all impossibly crowded together, -like a frieze in a Greek temple–that is -my vague impression of the carving.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The sun and the moon and the eleven stars,” -muttered St. Hilary, still pointing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly I understood. It was the scene of -Joshua going forth to battle, commanding the -sun and moon to stand still. On the right -shone the sun, its rays naively depicted; on the -left shone the moon. Joshua held a banner in -his hand, and on the banner were eleven stars.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>“There must be a spring concealed in the paneling. -If we strike one of those stars––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary did not finish his sentence. He carried -a console table toward the mantel. For once -I was the quicker. I caught the mantel, braced -myself on one of the giants, and so lifted myself -up on it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I struck each of the stars in turn sharply with -my palm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here–the dagger,” cried St. Hilary, and -taking the dagger he wore from his belt he tossed -it up to me. Again I struck each of the stars -with the hilt of the dagger. One moment I -was staring at the paneling; the next, the paneling -to the right of the chimney had slid noiselessly -up and I was looking into a square hole -big enough to admit one’s body.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A clock somewhere in the palace struck the -hour of four.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is the hour,” I whispered, staring down at -St. Hilary. “We are to inherit Time’s legacy -at last.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary did not answer. He was scrambling -up on the table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I waved him back imperatively. His lack of -self-control restored mine. Now that I was here -I had no intention of giving way to him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Get down,” I cried. “Are you mad? One -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>of us must keep watch. Before I crawl up -into the shaft I shall lower the paneled door. -Push away the table there. If any one should -come––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sentence died on my lips. His sallow -face, lighted by the feeble flicker of the candle, -was flushed with intense excitement. One thinks -of the taper as standing before holy altars, shining -on meek-eyed Madonnas and saints. But -the candle he held before him revealed something -of the cunning greed of the miser in his -glittering eyes, something of the fierce desire of -the madman. He stood perfectly motionless, -gazing upward at the ceiling. One might have -thought he was in a trance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“St. Hilary! St. Hilary!” I cried, shocked -at this display of emotion. “What is it, man?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>His lips tried hard to speak, but no words -came from them. Then he pointed upward to -the beams above his head. I followed his tense -gaze. Then I understood his strange excitement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As in all Venetian palaces, the ceiling of this -<span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><em>sala grande</em></span> was made of massive beams stretching -from wall to wall. The space between these -sunken beams was covered with boards nailed on -top of them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In one of these sunken beams da Sestos had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>hidden the casket. I could see it as I stood on -the mantel, just out of my reach.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The spring that had released the paneling -must have opened at the same time a tiny door -at the side of this beam. As I moved my candle, -I caught the gleam of shining metal. We -had found the casket. The last three scenes of -the hours, then, were meaningless.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I crawled into the shaft. I stood erect. My -head was on a level with a space hardly more -than a foot high between the ceiling of the sala -and the floor of the apartment above. I drew -myself painfully along this narrow interstice, -St. Hilary’s dagger in one hand and the candle -in the other. When I had reached what I thought -to be the location of the casket, I brushed the -dust away, and I saw several brass nails driven -into the boards, forming a small circle. I struck -at the circle with the sharp dagger until I could -thrust my arm through the aperture I had made. -I felt along the beam immediately below, and I -touched the cold metal. My fingers traveled -lovingly over its smooth surface. Slowly and -carefully I drew the casket from its hiding-place. -It was heavy–incredibly heavy. Very -faintly I heard St. Hilary utter a cry of joy. I -closed the little door of the beam, then I lowered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>myself into the shaft again, the precious casket -clasped in both my hands. But the shaft was -too narrow for me to leave it and still hold the -casket. I must hand it first to St. Hilary. I -stooped down and held it out. I had heard him -step from the table to the mantel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here it is, St. Hilary,” I said hoarsely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was clutched, brutally, out of my lingering -grasp. A sharp blow struck my hand, then -there was darkness. The paneled door had been -closed. I heard the spring click as it shut tight. -St. Hilary had played me false. Too late I -thought of my distrust of him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I pulled myself up into the shaft again to -fetch the dagger I had left on the floor above. -I struck the paneling along the edge of the top -until I had located the spring. Then I hacked -at the hard board till I felt it give way. I raised -it cautiously and stepped out on the mantel. It -had taken me half an hour to free myself.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Closing the panel door after me, I sprang -lightly to the floor. I did not dare attempt -to escape from the palace by the way of the -tower. I stole across the polished floor out to -the landing. I listened at the head of the stairs. -In the hall below I could hear the clatter of -wooden pattens on the marble flags. There was -the swish of a broom. A door slammed, then -all was still. I descended the stairway rapidly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To my joy the double doors of glass leading -out into the garden were open. I might be seen -from the window of the palazzo while crossing -the garden to the little gate, but I had to take -the chance. I stole out into the garden. I -gained the shelter of the pergola. I reached the -gate, slipped out into the street, and closed it -behind me. In two minutes I had lost myself -in the market crowd in the Campo San Bartolomeo.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And now what should I do? It was impossible -to avail myself of the ordinary channels of -the law. I had no more legal right to the casket -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>than had St. Hilary. I must rely on my own -wits.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Would he already have left Venice? Perhaps. -In that case it would be a stern, almost a hopeless, -chase. But if he had not done so, how -would he attempt to escape from me?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked at my watch. It was not quite five. -I knew that the next train leaving Venice was at -eight-thirty. A boat sailed to Trieste three times -a week. One left Venice this evening at seven. -At twelve a P. and O. liner sailed for Brindisi. -These were the regular means of travel. But -nothing could be more simple than for him to -hire a craft. If one pays enough, one can go -anywhere. The search seemed almost hopeless.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Obviously, the first thing for me to do was to -go to St. Hilary’s hotel. I was not so simple as -to expect to find him there, but I might learn if -he had made any plans beforehand to leave -Venice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His hotel was on the Riva, not far from Danielli’s. -The concierge knew me well, and in answer -to my careless inquiry as to whether St. -Hilary had been in his rooms since last night, -he went up-stairs to inquire. There was no -answer to his knock. I bade him open the door, -and told him I would wait for my friend. He -did so, and I entered.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>My worst fears were realized. Two heavy -trunks were strapped and labeled. The address -was simply in the care of a forwarding agent in -London.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His razors and hair-brushes, however, were -still on the dressing-table, and an open bag on -the chair. If he had planned returning to his -rooms he would not imperil the loss of the casket -by bothering about these paltry toilet articles. -That was my first thought. But even as I was -closing the door behind me I paused. Would -he not, indeed? He was still in the fancy costume -of the ball. True, he had my ulster and -golf cap, but the day promised to be warm. -Could he travel thus without attracting attention? -Unless he were to leave Venice by private -boat, he would be almost sure to change his -clothes. I abandoned my intention of going to -the railway station. I would remain here at his -rooms. And yet I must send some one. Whom -could I trust? There was Pietro, of course; he -knew St. Hilary. But Pietro had played me -false; he would play me false again, unless I -made it worth his while not to do so. I must -make it worth his while. I sent one of the hotel -servants to fetch my man. In twenty minutes -he arrived, smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had taken the precaution the night before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>to put a considerable sum of money in my -pockets. I did not know what emergency might -confront us before the dawn, or how soon it -might be convenient for us to leave Venice. I -dangled a hundred-lire note suggestively before -Pietro’s nose. I assured him that I knew he was -an arrant rogue. I sympathized with him (or -pretended to) in his determination to sell his -rascally services to the highest bidder. I hinted -that this hundred-lire note should not be the last -if he could only make up his mind to obey me -implicitly for a few hours or days.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pietro gulped with emotion. He swore by all -his hopes of heaven and with tears that he loved -me dearly. He could not take my money. He -would cheerfully murder any enemy of mine out -of sheer gratitude for my kindness to him; but -he could not take the money. No, no, not for -himself, but–for expenses, yes. He pocketed -the note with an oily smile.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My directions to him were simple. He was -to betake himself to the railway station. He was -first of all to assure himself that St. Hilary was -not on the eight-thirty train. If he were not on -that train, Pietro was to keep watch for him -on the landing of the railway station until six -o’clock in the evening. If the dealer was on the -eight-thirty train, or if he appeared later, Pietro -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>was to go where he went, if that meant to the -ends of the earth. But, above all, he was to keep -out of sight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had still the P. and O. liner and the boat to -Trieste to watch. The liner I could take care of -myself from St. Hilary’s window, or better still, -a seat on the Riva under the hotel awning. She -was anchored not a hundred feet away, and I -could readily make out every passenger who -boarded her. As for the boat to Trieste, it did -not go until seven in the evening, and I could -recall Pietro from his post at six if necessary; -for there was no train between six and nine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I could do nothing more at present except -keep a watchful eye open for St. Hilary, and -that, as I have said, I could do as well, or even -better, from the Riva below. And now that I -was forced to inaction for the present, I was -conscious that I had had nothing to eat since the -evening before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I locked St. Hilary’s door after me. I settled -myself at a little table under the red-and-white -striped awning, where, quite inconspicuous myself, -I could see every one who entered or came -out of the hotel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sun rose higher and higher over San -Georgio’s. The golden angel on the campanile -grew brighter and brighter, until she seemed a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>thing alive, quivering in her eagerness to spring -into that deep lake of blue. The dazzling whiteness -of the pavement toward the Molo gradually -became alive with moving spots of variegated -color. The teeming life of the broad street -amused me for a while. But now that the excitement -was passed, now that I was very near -despair, though I would not acknowledge it, I -found it difficult to be alert. It seemed useless -to make any pretence at watching at all. I felt -very sleepy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The heat of the early afternoon became almost -intolerable. I struggled and fought against an -almost overpowering drowsiness. Suddenly I -was wide awake. Duke da Sestos had just come -out of Danielli’s. He was walking toward me. -He saw me. He raised his hat, and smiled.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, it is my friend Hume,” he purred. “I -had thought that Mr. Hume had left Venice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I ignored the left hand he extended negligently -toward me. He had as many changes of -front as a Russian diplomatist. Then I laughed. -His cool effrontery was downright amusing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And why should I have left Venice?” I -asked easily. “Did you think you had frightened -me off last night?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, ha,” he twirled his mustache with the -utmost good-nature, “I know my friend Hume -too well to think that he is so easily frightened. -But it is a pity that your wit, my friend, is not -as great as your courage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how is my stupidity manifesting itself -just at present?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He threw back his head and laughed silently–at -least, insofar as a cat can laugh. Then he -lowered himself into a chair by my side, leaned -forward, and tapped me lightly on the shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am clairvoyant. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>Par example</em></span>, you are -waiting for a friend, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>n’est ce pas</em></span>? Oh, I do not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>mean myself. Shall we call that friend Mr. St. -Hilary?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And then––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And then,” he continued jocularly, “if this -Mr. St. Hilary should not come–if he had not -a notion of coming?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should be a fool to sit here–is that the -inference?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>His shoulders shook, as if he found the joke -amusing. But how should he know anything of -St. Hilary’s movements? Or, guessing them, -that I could be seriously affected by them?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Am I to understand,” I demanded, sitting -upright, “that you have information as to Mr. -St. Hilary’s whereabouts?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very precise information, I assure you, my -friend,” he cried, his blue eyes dancing. “When -one sees a gondola racing to the railway station, -with two rowers, so great is the hurry, one may -reasonably infer that the gentleman who sits -under the felsa smoking a cigarette is on his -way to take a train, hein?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you saw Mr. St. Hilary on his way to -the railway station?” I said slowly. “And the -time?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was not so late as seven, and certainly -not before half-past six.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My worst fears were realized. Pietro had let -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>him slip through his fingers at the eight-thirty -train. But at least I would not give this Italian -the satisfaction of seeing the consternation the -news gave me, and I answered indifferently:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A little trip to Milan, I suppose. If he had -been going far I should certainly have seen him -before his departure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Mr. Hume,” cried the duke in triumph, -“when the gondola is piled high with boxes, is -it reasonable to think that our friend simply -runs off to Milan? No, no; Naples, perhaps, or -Paris, or London.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! You saw his trunks?” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke held up his five fingers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So many.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I turned easily in my seat and looked him over -coolly. I had every reason to believe that St. -Hilary possessed only two trunks, and that these -two trunks were in his room up-stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, it is strange that he should not have -said good-by to me,” I said musingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>Is</em> it so strange?” queried the duke, and -again he tapped me on the shoulder. “Come, -come, Mr. Hume, have I not said that I am -clairvoyant?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your proofs have not been convincing. -Suppose that you give me a better illustration -of this remarkable gift of yours.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>“Well, then, I could have told you yesterday -that your friend would bear watching.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You seem to know a good deal about the -character of Mr. St. Hilary,” I said, and rose -from my seat with a yawn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke rose and took my arm. He had not -yet done with me, it appeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You walk toward the Piazza? Permit me -to walk with you. Yes, yes, I know a good deal -of your friend’s character. We have had many -interesting talks together before now; and, let -me tell you, Mr. St. Hilary did me the honor -of bidding <em>me</em> good-by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And is that the reason you are so happy?” -I asked, staring at him. My question had been -put seriously. For the first time this afternoon -I was interested in his answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So happy?” he retorted, shrugging his -shoulders; then, with apparent frankness, “But -I am to see Mr. St. Hilary again. Yes; I am to -join him presently at Naples, perhaps, or Paris, -or London. By the way, you have yet three -days in which to prove me a liar,” he added -good-humoredly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And three days are a long time sometimes,” -I said curtly. “Good afternoon; I take a gondola -here to my rooms.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Adieu,” he purred, but he still held my arm. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>“Do you remember that charming afternoon we -spent, all four of us, in my poor palazzo? I -presented to each of the ladies a little souvenir. -To Mrs. Gordon I gave the useless old clock; -to Miss Quintard, the chest that once contained -the casket I have found and given to her. But -to you I gave nothing. Our dealer, I have reason -to think, has consoled himself. To you -alone, my friend, I have been remiss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your regret is touching,” I murmured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But there is a little book I came across the -other day when I was packing up my few belongings. -It is only fourteen pages, but these -fourteen pages are interesting. I have known -travelers go all the way to St. Petersburg to consult -them. Would it amuse you–this little souvenir? -Or am I to infer that since the departure -of your co-laborer in antiquarian studies you are -no longer interested in curiosities?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If I could have flung him into the muddy -waters of the canal I should have been a little -less miserable, but I affected the utmost delight. -In the first place, I was really interested in seeing -those pages. Again, I hoped to understand -a little more clearly the drift of this afternoon’s -talk. His reference to St. Hilary mystified -me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall be charmed to receive it,” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>The duke had watched my momentary indecision -with evident anxiety. Now he seized my -arm again and squeezed it in the warmth of his -satisfaction. His face was radiant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! Good! My rooms are but a few feet -from the Capello Nero.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So St. Hilary informed me,” I said pointedly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, he is a wonderful man, your friend. -Such resource, such imagination! And always -on the lookout for himself, hein?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke’s apartments were almost empty of -furniture. There were no rugs on the floor, -no belongings of a personal nature in sight. -The pictures were covered, and the chairs formally -ranged about the walls. The clock on the -mantelpiece had stopped. Some old newspapers -and magazines heaped on the library table were -the only sign that the room was lived in. Otherwise -the room was bare.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must excuse the appearance of my poor -chambers; I leave Venice this evening.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All the world seems to be leaving Venice to-day,” -I observed lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Absolutely. First of all, your friend Mr. -St. Hilary, and now Mrs. Gordon, her niece, and -myself. My poor friend, you will be lonely, I -fear.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>“Your concern touches me,” I said, and -walked to the window. “When I have received -from you my souvenir, I am going to my rooms -to make preparations for leaving Venice myself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke was turning over the magazines and -papers on the library table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Everything is in confusion. I can not find -my little book. Old Luigi is an imbecile. Perhaps -he has destroyed these precious fourteen -pages. May I trouble you to ring the bell near -that window? We will ask Luigi.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was puzzled, I confess it. Why had he -brought me to his apartment? Simply to gloat -over me? Or had he some purpose more useful -than that?</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a knock at the door. Instead of -bidding the servant enter, the duke himself answered -it, stepping out in the hallway, closing -the door carefully after him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked over to the table, and turned over -carelessly the papers and magazines. The glint -of steel caught my eye. He had hidden a revolver -under the rubbish while pretending to -look for the fourteen pages. In two seconds it -was in my pocket and I had taken my stand at -the window again, one hand in my coat pocket, -the other pulling at my mustache.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That imbecile Luigi had put away the pages -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>for safe keeping in a portfolio. But he is to -fetch the portfolio at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He seated himself carelessly on the table, -swinging one leg. He picked up an illustrated -weekly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you interested in horses? Here are -some capital snap-shots of good riding during -the manœuvers at Asti.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I crossed the room and looked over his shoulder. -When we had exhausted the magazines he -bethought him of the pictures hanging on the -wall. He lifted the muslin coverings and showed -them to me, one by one, expatiating on their -beauties. Evidently he was trying to kill time. -Unconsciously I glanced at the clock, a modern -timepiece about three feet high, standing on the -mantel. I had forgotten that it had stopped. -The hands, I noticed, stood at half-past six.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke now took up his position at the window, -while I stood with my back to the mantel. -It just reached my shoulder. For the first time -it occurred to me that he had wished to get me -away from the window. He wished the post of -observation for himself. I wondered if it were -worth while for me to join him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For perhaps thirty seconds there was silence -between us. I say thirty seconds, and I measured -that interval by thirty ticks. At first I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>heard them listlessly. They were faint, muffled, -and strangely slow. Then I remembered with -a start that the clock had stopped. It was impossible -for them to come from the watch in my -pocket. They sounded close to my ears, and my -ears were not two inches away from the clock -that had stopped.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For a moment the strange phenomenon bewildered -me. Then I understood. The casket was -inside the clock; and the mechanism that would -release the cover in twelve hours had been set -going.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As if the duke were the clairvoyant he had -mockingly pretended to be, he turned sharply -on his heel. I was gazing up at the ceiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Luigi is a long time,” he muttered. “It is -possible that the thieves who broke into my -rooms some months ago stole it after all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thieves!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, my friend, thieves. But I am taking -precautions for my safety in the future.” He -laughed shortly, and looked out of the window -again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That hint was as foolish as my boast a few -days before. So he had sent old Luigi for the -gendarmes. He was holding me here. Well, I -hardly cared to see the gendarmes just now. It -was time for me to act.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>I reached swiftly up. I lifted the clock from -the mantel to the floor. The jar of the wheels -as it touched the floor made him spin about like -a mechanical toy. I was pointing the muzzle -of his useful weapon at him over the clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down,” I said quietly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He clutched the edge of the chair, his mouth -drooping.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And quickly!” I cried sharply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He sank into the chair behind him, his hands -trembling violently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But–but–this is an outrage!” he gasped.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear duke, you are not the only clairvoyant. -In my poor way I can see through a -wooden case. But this propensity of yours to -play the cat with the poor little mouse is dangerous. -Sometimes the little harmless mouse -turns out to be a rat. And rats sometimes bite.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>For the second time I held the casket in my -hand, but even now it was impossible for me to -look at it. I had to keep my eye on the duke. -I picked it up and walked to the table near which -the duke was seated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell me,” I asked laughingly, “did you -bring me to this room for the sheer joy of gloating -over my nearness to this toy that I have been -struggling to possess for the past month, knowing -how impossibly far it was from me? Did -it afford you so much pleasure to play with me, -to tease me, that you pushed your game so dangerously -far? If so, you are an artist, my dear -duke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Hume is generous in his compliments.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Or,” I continued, thrusting my face nearer -to his, “am I mistaken in thinking that most of -your words and deeds are spoken and acted with -some purpose in view?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For example?” he asked lightly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For example,” I repeated, “it was hardly -for love of me that you spoke to me this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>“Hardly,” he sneered, pale with rage and disappointment. -“Rather because I hated you so -much that I wished to amuse myself at your -expense.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Or is there a third possibility?” I continued -scornfully. “That you wished to avenge yourself? -While you were taunting me with St. Hilary’s -perfidy, or his supposed perfidy, the idea -occurred to you that if you could induce me to -come to your rooms, if you could hold me there -while you sent Luigi for the gendarmes, you -might have me committed to jail for assault, -perhaps, or complicity in breaking into your -rooms. On the whole, I am inclined to think -that this view of the case is the most reasonable.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As you will, Mr. Hume,” he answered, his -lips white and trembling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now listen to me, Duke da Sestos. Granting -that I am correct, the gendarmes will be here -presently. Luigi has been gone some time. Before -they come, I wish to put the case clearly -before you. This casket and these jewels belong -neither to me nor to you. They are the property -of the state. When your gendarmes come, -be sure I shall make that clear.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! I have always known that you were -a fool,” he cried contemptuously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, I thought you would listen to reason,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>I said quickly. “Now tell me frankly: Why -have you been so keen on this hunt for the casket? -Was it to please Miss Quintard or to please -yourself?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not both? In pleasing myself perhaps -I should be pleasing Miss Quintard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And perhaps not,” I replied drily. “A -truthful answer, duke, if you please. We have -no time to lose–if you care anything for the -baubles in this casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, for myself,” he said, looking at -me curiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And if I had not surprised you just now, -you would have taken your casketful of jewels -to London or Paris to dispose of them at -leisure?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps,” he assented insolently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Or would you have taken this casket to Miss -Quintard and apologized for making a slight -error?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why could I not have done both?” he cried. -“Yes, Mr. Hume, even if you give it to the gendarmes, -the casket is mine–legally and morally. -The state will grant my claim, and then––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is the point I was coming to. Supposing -you were offered a share of these baubles–I -do not say how great a share–is it possible -that you could be induced to give up the casket?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>“I have heard there is an English proverb -that it is better to have a bird in one’s hand than -two birds in the bushes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But allow me to remind you that in this instance -the bird is in my hands.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For the present,” he interrupted with a -meaning glance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, come,” I cried sharply, “we have had -enough of this quibbling. I make you a sporting -proposition. I will give you a share of these -jewels for the casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am afraid,” he said suspiciously, “my -share would be rather a small one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would be one-third,” I said quietly. “I -am not a thief. I covet no stolen property, and -these stones were stolen. The price of blood is -on them. Whether they were stolen to-day or -five hundred years ago, the moral aspect of the -case is the same. But I want that casket, and I -must have it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who gets the other two-thirds?” demanded -the duke, like a greedy glutton. “St. Hilary, -I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If he can prove to me that he has played -fair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The duke thought a minute. “Very well, I -agree.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I emptied the chambers of the revolver’s cartridges. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>I put them into my pocket. I pushed -the weapon carefully under the newspapers -again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now that the strain of the past five -minutes is over, I suppose I may have a look at -my casket?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With pleasure.” The duke bowed sardonically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In shape and size it was not unlike the pseudo -da Sestos casket with which the duke had attempted -to deceive Jacqueline.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was of bronze, overlaid with plaques of -gold, enriched with cloisonné enameled work -and precious stones, cut for the most part <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>en -cabochon</em></span>. The cover rose to an apex. At the -apex was a knob of wrought gold, in shape a -monster’s head, the eyes formed of minute -rubies. At the four corners of the cover were -large semi-precious stones of chalcedony, rock-crystal, -carbuncle, and turquoise. From these -four stones to the knob of gold ran lines of -pearls.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sides of the casket were composed of -rectangular plaques, alternately covered with -symmetrical designs in colored cloisonné enamel, -partly opaque and partly translucent. These -plaques were studded with pearls framed with -a cunning design of scrolls and filigree work.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>“It would fetch a thousand pounds at Christie’s -any day,” I mused.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you tell me how long that toy must tick -before the cover can be opened?” interrupted -the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When did you set the mechanism?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At precisely twenty-five minutes to seven.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then in half an hour the casket will be -opened.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a loud knock on the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, your gendarmes,” I said coolly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And, as host, may I receive my guests?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do,” I urged, and seated myself in his chair, -the casket on my knees.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He opened the door. Two impossibly solemn -gendarmes entered, precisely alike as two files. -Keeping step, each with each, their hands on -their sword hilts, they advanced to the middle -of the room and saluted. Old Luigi stood discreetly -without. I hope it is no disgrace to confess -that I awaited the duke’s orders with some -trepidation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We have received word,” said the duke -calmly, and he waved his hand toward me, “that -an American gentleman, returning from the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>bal -masqué</em></span> at the Cæsarini Palace, early this morning, -was assaulted by ruffians near the Calle -Bianca Madonna, and knocked insensible. He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>was then carried to an empty house in the Jewish -quarter. It is the third right-hand house on -the quay of the Mestre Canal as you enter it. -Release the gentleman. Tell him that his friend, -Signore Hume, wishes to speak with him here. -See that he comes. That is all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gendarmes saluted as one man, spun about -on their heels and marched from the room, their -red and white plumes nodding.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The gentleman to be found in the Jewish -quarter is, of course, St. Hilary. It requires no -great imagination to guess that you had him -confined there. It would interest me to know -how you managed last night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, believe me, nothing could have been -simpler,” replied the duke. “I knew, you may -be sure, that you were not spying on Miss Quintard -and myself in the tower. As a matter of -fact, I was bitterly disappointed when you -showed yourself; for, frankly, Mr. St. Hilary -and you had been seen ascending the tower, and -it was known that you were concealed somewhere. -But we had not thought of the beams up -there. When you were discovered I had presence -of mind enough not to rout out your friend. -All we had to do, then, was to watch him. We -made our way into the sala after you, and, lying -concealed until the dramatic moment, my Punchinello -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>took care of your friend, while I took care -of your casket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how did you know we were to take the -casket that night?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have been watched for a week. It is -so much easier and more sensible to reap where -others have sown than to dirty one’s own fingers -with the plow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then,” I said with a sigh of relief, “St. Hilary -played fair?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So far as I know,” replied the duke indifferently. -“But I hear him coming up the stairs. -You can ask him for yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The door burst open, and St. Hilary rushed -in. A bandage stained with blood and dirt was -wrapped about his head. He was still in my -ulster and golf cap. He looked as if he had -spent a few bad quarters of an hour.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are just in time, St. Hilary,” I cried, -“to see the casket opened.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! You have beaten him after all!” -He glared at the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With neatness and despatch,” generously -complimented the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Hilary did not answer. He stood looking -down at the casket, holding his watch in his -hand. It was now six-thirty. The clock on the -Piazza told the half-hour.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>“Did you set the mechanism at six thirty-five -precisely?” I asked anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At six thirty-five precisely,” answered the -duke, frowning too in anxiety.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tut, tut! Do you expect the accuracy of a -watch of the twentieth century in this mechanism?” -replied St. Hilary irritably. “It may -be several minutes before the casket opens.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In that case, I fear, Mr. Hume, that you may -have to delay fulfilling your promise to Miss -Quintard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why?” I asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you forget that she leaves Venice at -seven-thirty?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What are you talking about?” asked St. -Hilary roughly, his eyes fixed on the casket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The duke has just been reminding me that -the casket is legally his, and that, if necessary, -he will lay his claim before the state.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But we are not fools enough to care a straw -about his claim,” growled the dealer. “We have -beaten him at his own game. It is too late for -him to cry out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the contrary,” I said coolly, “the duke -has induced me to recognize that claim.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I have exchanged my casket for a share -of its contents,” added the duke suavely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For a moment St. Hilary forgot to keep his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>eye on the casket. He glared at me with bloodshot -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Surrendered his claim! To you? By heavens, -do you think, Hume, that you can ignore -me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have not ignored you, St. Hilary. If you -lose the casket, you have two-thirds of the gems. -It is better, I should think, to have that two-thirds -than to have any trouble with the state.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Precisely,” beamed the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well,” agreed the dealer grudgingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was now a quarter to seven. Still we could -hear the muffled tick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It really looks as if Mr. Hume would miss -his train,” mocked the duke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At that instant there was a loud click. The -duke started perceptibly. St. Hilary, pale with -excitement, flung up his hands. I threw back -the cover.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The room seemed suddenly irradiated with a -flash of multi-colored light. Five great gems -glowed in their compartments of purple velvet -in the topmost tray. St. Hilary and the duke -uttered cries of joy. If I must confess it, these -stones affected me hardly more than a display -in any jeweler’s window in Bond Street or Fifth -Avenue.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The minutes are more precious to me than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>those gems,” I cried. “Take out the trays, or -I shall empty the contents of the casket on the -table.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When once we have closed the shutters,” -said St. Hilary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He started to go to the windows, but noticing -that the duke did not move, he halted suspiciously. -They were like two beasts with their -prey between them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will close the shutters for you,” I said, -laughing grimly at the greed that distorted their -faces.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As I left the room with the casket in a bag -which the duke procured for me, my last look -caught a glimpse of the two men seated one on -each side of the table. A lighted candle was at -each elbow, and the trays of gems lay between -them.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span> - <h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>It was twenty minutes past seven when I paid -my gondolier his fare at the railway station. I -bought a first-class ticket to Milan and hurried -down the long platform. Already the guards -were calling to the passengers to take their -places, and were closing the doors of the carriages.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jacqueline herself I did not see, but her maid -sat at the open window of a compartment reserved -for women. Fortunately, it was a corridor -train.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before taking the casket to Jacqueline I cast -one long look back at Venice. Never had her -fairy architecture looked more entrancing, more -ethereal. She was more mystical in this golden -light than Arthur’s City of Avalon. But this -enchantress of the seas had proved but a siren -after all. For me her beauty had crumbled to -ashes. Like my dreams, she had proved bitterly -disappointing; for these dreams had been as intangible -and difficult to realize as her charm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was turning my face away from the city of -dead hopes and vanished dreams confidently to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>a workaday world; and if I could melt Jacqueline’s -pride, and win her forgiveness, I might -yet look forward to love and happiness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I walked slowly down the corridor to her compartment. -I stood quietly at the door a moment. -She turned from the open window where she had -been standing. There were tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you not think that you have caused me -enough pain and embarrassment without troubling -me further just now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline, you asked me to bring you the -casket. You promised that you would listen to -me when I brought it. There it is. It has cost -me something, that casket–your love and your -respect. In doing precisely what you asked me, -I have lost all that is dearest to me in the world. -But there it is. It is really the casket of da -Sestos.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I placed it on the seat beside her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All this is painfully theatrical, Mr. Hume,” -she said disdainfully. “I can have no possible -use for it. Will you please take it again? I -wish to heaven that I had never heard of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you really be in earnest, Jacqueline?” -I asked sadly. “Are you determined to be unjust? -Are you quite resolved not to listen to -me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am quite resolved,” she answered scornfully, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>“to be just to myself. And now will you -please go?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must go if you insist,” I said gravely, and -I stooped to pick up the casket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then I saw that I was indeed the fool St. Hilary -had so often called me. For her dear eyes -belied her cruel words. They were full of doubt -and despair. They beseeched me to be strong, -to be ruthless, to break down her outraged pride. -She longed to understand, to forgive me, but I -must make her understand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I sat beside her; I held both her hands firmly -in mine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jacqueline, it is impossible for me to go like -this. My happiness, yes, and your happiness as -well, is at stake. You must listen to me. It is -my right. I refuse to go until I have told you -the story of this casket. But I want you to -listen to that story without prejudice. When I -have told you everything, I hope you will see -that I have tried to do just what you wished me -to do. I am trying to be, now, just what you -wished me to be. Though I hurt you by staying, -yet I shall stay; for you told me that the -man you loved must have something of the relentless -about him. I shall remain relentless -until I have gained my happiness and yours.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it were possible for me to dispute the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>evidence of my own eyes, how gladly I would -listen and exonerate you!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then listen, Jacqueline.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I told her of my search for the casket. I let -the story plead for itself. When I had finished, -she sat very still, her face shaded from the dim -lamp in the center of the carriage by the partition -of the seat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was a foolish thing to ask,” she said, -her eyes shining. “But oh, Dick, I am glad I -did ask it. I know now that you are really -strong and patient. You would dare much for -the woman you love. Forgive me that I did -not trust you. I wanted to, but last night it -seemed––”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She leaned toward me, and I caught her in -my arms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without, the moonlight fell on the mulberry -trees, rows and rows of them, their branches -festooned fantastically from tree to tree. They -looked like figures stiffly dancing to an old-time -minuet.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>THE END</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The hyphenation of compound words which occur on a line break are -removed or retained based on other instances.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.</p> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='69%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_21.19'></a><a href='#corr21.19'>21.19</a></td> - <td class='c011'>I said impatiently[.]</td> - <td class='c012'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_37.25'></a><a href='#corr37.25'>37.25</a></td> - <td class='c011'>Sudd[d]enly this wall gave way</td> - <td class='c012'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_38.3'></a><a href='#corr38.3'>38.3</a></td> - <td class='c011'>and Lu[i]gi appeared,</td> - <td class='c012'>Inserted.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_114.8'></a><a href='#corr114.8'>114.8</a></td> - <td class='c011'>Jacqueline had added her urgen[t] telegram</td> - <td class='c012'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_140.8'></a><a href='#corr140.8'>140.8</a></td> - <td class='c011'>we can amuse ourselves with our clock.[”]</td> - <td class='c012'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><a id='c_223.5'></a><a href='#corr223.5'>223.5</a></td> - <td class='c011'>he would undertake even the impossible.[”]</td> - <td class='c012'>Added.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Clock and the Key, by Arthur Henry Vesey - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CLOCK AND THE KEY *** - -***** This file should be named 54888-h.htm or 54888-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/8/8/54888/ - -Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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