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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gamblers, by William Le Queux

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and

-most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you

-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before

-using this eBook.

-

-Title: The Gamblers

-

-Author: William Le Queux

-

-Release Date: June 24, 2023 [eBook #71037]

-

-Language: English

-

-Credits: Al Haines

-

-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-[Frontispiece: "The person who murdered him was none other than

-yourself." _p._ 293.]

-

-

-

-

-[Illustration: Title page]

-

-

-

-

-  THE

-  GAMBLERS

-

-

-  By

-

-  WILLIAM LE QUEUX

-

-

-  Author of

-  "Of Royal Blood," "The Under

-  Secretary," "The Seven Secrets," etc.

-

-

-

-  London:

-  HUTCHINSON & CO.

-  Paternoster Row

-

-

-

-

-  CONTENTS

-

-  Chapter

-

-  I.  Is Purely Personal

-  II.  Tells Something about Love

-  III.  Is a Mystery

-  IV.  Relates some Astounding Facts

-  V.  Deals with a Millionaire

-  VI.  Places Me in a Predicament

-  VII.  Mainly Concerns the Owl

-  VIII.  Narrates a Mysterious Incident

-  IX.  Shows the Bird's Talons

-  X.  Makes One Point Plain

-  XI.  Describes a Meeting and Its Sequel

-  XII.  Carries Me on Board the "_Vispera_"

-  XIII.  Discloses a Millionaire's Secret

-  XIV.  In Which I make a Resolve

-  XV.  In Which We pay a Visit Ashore

-  XVI.  Discusses Several Matters of Moment

-  XVII.  Describes a New Acquaintance

-  XVIII.  Creates Another Problem

-  XIX.  A Millionaire's Manoeuvres

-  XX.  Wherein Captain Davis Speaks his Mind

-  XXI.  Is Astonishing

-  XXII.  Is More Astonishing

-  XXIII.  Confides the Story of a Table

-  XXIV.  In Which Matters Assume a Very Complex Aspect

-  XXV.  Presents a Curious Phase

-  XXVI.  Gives the Key to the Cipher

-  XXVII.  Pieces Together the Puzzle

-  XXVIII.  Reveals the Truth

-  XXIX.  Contains the Conclusion

-

-

-

-

-THE GAMBLERS

-

-

-

-CHAPTER I

-

-IS PURELY PERSONAL

-

-No.  I dare not reveal anything here, lest I may be misjudged.

-

-The narrative is, to say the least, a strange one; so strange,

-indeed, that had I not been one of the actual persons concerned in it

-I would never have believed such things were possible.

-

-Yet these chapters of an eventful personal history, remarkable though

-they may appear, nevertheless form an unusual story--a combination of

-circumstances which will be found startling and curious, idyllic and

-tragic.

-

-Reader, I would confess all, if I dared, but each of us has a

-skeleton in the cupboard, both you and I, for alas! I am no exception

-to the general rule prevailing among women.

-

-If compelled by a natural instinct to suppress one single fact, I may

-add that it has little or nothing to do with the circumstances here

-related.  It concerns only myself, and no woman cares to supply food

-for gossips at her own expense.

-

-To be brief, it is my intention to narrate plainly and

-straightforwardly what occurred, while hoping that all who read may

-approach my story with a perfectly open mind, and afterwards judge me

-fairly, impartially, and without the prejudice likely to be

-entertained against one whose shortcomings are many, and whose

-actions have perhaps not always been tempered by wisdom.

-

-My name is Carmela Rosselli.  I am English, of Italian extraction,

-five-and-twenty years of age, and for many years--yes, I confess it

-freely--I have been utterly world-weary.  I am an only child.  My

-mother, one of the Yorkshire Burnetts, married Romolo Annibale,

-Marchese Rosselli, an impecunious member of the Florentine

-aristocracy, and after a childhood passed in Venice I was sent to the

-Convent of San Paolo della Croce, in the Val d'Ema, near Florence, to

-obtain my education.  My mother's money enabled the Marchese to live

-in the reckless style customary to a gentleman of the Tuscan

-nobility; but, unfortunately for me, both my parents died when I was

-fifteen, and left me in the care of a second cousin, a woman but a

-few years older than myself--kind-hearted, everything that was most

-English and womanly, and in all respects truly devoted to me.

-

-Thus it was that at the age of eighteen I received the maternal kiss

-of the grave-eyed Mother Superior, Suor Maria, and of all the good

-sisters in turn, and then travelled to London, accompanied by my

-guardian, Ulrica Yorke.

-

-Like myself, Ulrica was wealthy; and because she was very smart and

-good-looking she did not want for admirers.  We lived together at

-Queen's Gate for several years, amid that society which circles

-around Kensington Church, until one rather dull afternoon in autumn

-Ulrica made a most welcome suggestion.

-

-"Carmela, I am ruined, morally and physically.  I feel that I want a

-complete change."

-

-I suggested Biarritz or Davos for the winter,

-

-"No," she answered.  "I feel that I must build up my constitution as

-well as my spirits.  The gayer Continent is the only place--say Paris

-for a month, Monte Carlo for January, then Rome till after Easter."

-

-"To Monte Carlo!" I gasped.

-

-"Why not?" she inquired.  "You have money, and we may just as well go

-abroad for a year to enjoy ourselves as vegetate here."

-

-"You are tired of Guy?" I observed.

-

-She shrugged her well-formed shoulders, pursed her lips, and

-contemplated her rings.

-

-"He has become a little too serious," she said simply.

-

-"And you want to escape him?" I remarked.  "Do you know, Ulrica, I

-believe he really loves you."

-

-"Well, and if he does?"

-

-"I thought you told me, only a couple of months ago, that he was the

-best-looking man in London, and that you had utterly lost your heart

-to him."

-

-She laughed.

-

-"I've lost it so many times that I begin to believe I don't nowadays

-possess that very useful portion of the human anatomy.  But," she

-added, "you pity him, eh?  My dear Carmela, you should never pity a

-man.  Not one of them is really worth sympathy.  Nineteen out of

-every twenty are ready to declare love to any good-looking woman with

-money.  Remember your dearest Ernest."

-

-Mention of that name caused me a twinge.

-

-"I have forgotten him!" I cried hotly.  "I have forgiven--all that

-belongs to the past."

-

-She laughed again.

-

-"And you will go on the Continent with me?" she asked.  "You will go

-to commence life afresh.  What a funny thing life is, isn't it?"

-

-I responded in the affirmative.  Truth to tell, I was very glad of

-that opportunity to escape from the eternal shopping in the High

-Street and the round of Kensington life, which daily reminded me of

-the man whom I had loved.  Ulrica knew it, but she was careful to

-avoid all further mention of the grief that was wearing out my heart.

-

-At the outset of our pilgrimage to the South of Europe we went to

-Paris.  In the gay city two women with money and without encumbrances

-can have a really good time.  We stayed at the "Chatham," a hotel

-much resorted to by our compatriots, and met there quite a lot of

-people we knew, including several rather nice men whom we had known

-in London, and who appeared to consider it their duty to show us the

-sights, many of which we had seen before.

-

-Need I describe them?  I think not.  Those who read these lines

-probably know them all, from that sorry exhibition of terpsichorean

-art in the elephant at the Red Windmill down to the so-called

-_cabarets artistiques_ of the Montmartre, "Heaven," "Hell," and the

-other places.

-

-Each evening we dined at six, and went forth pleasure-seeking,

-sometimes unattended, and at others with our friends.  We were

-catholic in our tastes.  We saw _La Bohême_ at the Opera, and

-attended a ball at the Bullier; we strolled along the carpeted

-promenade of Aspasia at the Folies Bergères, and laughed at the

-quadrilles at the Casino, and at that resort of the little

-work-girls, the Moulin la Galette; we listened to the cadence of

-Sarah Bernhardt's wonderful voice, and to the patter of the _revue_

-at La Scala; we watched the dancing of La Belle Otero and the

-statuesque poses of Degaby.  Truly, we had our fill of variety

-theatres.

-

-In common, too, with the foreigner who goes to "see life" in Paris,

-we did the round of the restaurants--from supper at the Cafê de

-Paris, or the Cafê Américain, to the humble two-franc dinner at

-Léon's in the Rue St. Honoré, or the one-franc-fifty lunch at Gazal's

-in the Place du Théâtre Français.  We had our meal, too, one evening

-at that restaurant which is seldom even mentioned in respectable

-circles, the "Rat Mort," in the Place Pigalle.  Yes, with money one

-is seldom _triste_ in Paris, and I was really sorry when, in the last

-week of the year, after Felicita had packed our trunks, we set out

-for the Riviera.

-

-Travelling on those abominable gridirons which on the Continent are

-called railways, is absolutely disgusting after our own English

-lines, with their dining-cars and other comforts.  Of all the

-railways that intersect the Continent, the P.L.M., which has a

-monopoly to the Mediterranean, is the most inconvenient, disobliging,

-and completely abominable.  To obtain the smallest comfort on the

-eighteen-hour journey between Paris and Nice, an addition of three

-pounds is charged upon the first-class fare, and that for a single

-night in a third-rate sleeping-car!  Ulrica said it was termed the

-_train de luxe_ only because it looks swagger to travel by it.  We

-occupied a couple of berths in it, but agreed that the additional

-three pounds were ill-spent indeed, for the badly-cooked food was

-absurdly dear.

-

-Moreover, as the water for toilet purposes gave out before reaching

-Lyons, we had to buy bottles of mineral water, and perform our

-ablutions in a mixture of Vichy Celestins and eau-de-cologne.  It was

-remarked by an old and apparently experienced traveller that the

-water in the _wagons lits_ is purposely scanty in order to increase

-the takings of the restaurant cars; and I certainly believed him.

-

-For a woman young in years I have had considerable experience of

-European railways, from the crawling Midi of France to the lightning

-Nord; but for dirt and dearness, commend me to the great highway to

-the Riviera.  To take a small trunk from Paris to Nice costs more

-than the fare of one's maid; while to those who do not pay for the

-train of luxury, but travel in the ordinary padded horse-boxes, the

-journey means a couple of days of suffocation and semi-starvation.

-

-"My dear Carmela," said Ulrica, while we were on the journey, "I've

-thought of a plan.  Why not go to some cheap hotel, or even _pension_

-at Nice, and play at Monte Carlo with the money we save?"

-

-I had never seen the far-famed Monte Carlo, but as the idea of

-economy seemed an excellent one, I at once endorsed her suggestion,

-and that same night we found ourselves at one of those _pensions_

-which flourish so amazingly well at Nice.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER II

-

-TELLS SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE

-

-Reader, have you ever lived in an English _pension_ on the Riviera?

-Have you ever inhabited a small cubicle containing a chair, a deal

-table, a narrow bed--with mosquito curtains--and a hung-up

-looking-glass, and partaken of that cheap, ill-cooked food, the

-stale-egg omelette and the tough _biftek_, served in the bare

-_salle-à-manger_ by one of those seedy, unshaven waiters who appear

-to be specially bred for the cheap Riviera boarding-houses?  Have you

-ever spent an evening with that mixed crowd of ascetic persons who

-nightly congregate in the fusty _salon_, play upon a cracked piano,

-screech old-fashioned sentimentalities, exhibit their faded finery,

-paste jewels and bony chests, and otherwise make the hours, following

-dinner absolutely hideous?  If not, a week of this life will be found

-to be highly amusing.

-

-"My dear," Ulrica whispered, as we followed the proprietress, a buxom

-Frenchwoman in black satin, along the bare, white-washed corridor to

-our rooms, "hotel or work-house--which?"

-

-There was a comfortless look everywhere, even though the spread of

-the blue sea and the palm-planted Promenade des Anglais were

-magnificent parts of the view, and the warm winter sunshine streamed

-into our tiny rooms--chambers so small that our trunks had to be

-placed in the corridor.

-

-We changed our frocks and went down to dinner, discovering the

-_salle-à-manger_ by its smell.  What a scene presented itself at that

-_table d'hôte_!  The long table was crowded by a host of dowdy women,

-generally wearing caps of soiled lace and faded ribbons, with one or

-two dismal-looking and elderly men.  Of spinsters there were not a

-few, and of widows many, but one and all possessed the stamp of

-persons of small means struggling perseveringly to obtain their fill

-for the ten francs _par jour_ which they paid for their "south rooms."

-

-As new-comers, we were directed to seats at the bottom of the table;

-and after we had suffered from a watery concoction which the menu

-described as _potage_, we proceeded to survey our fellow-guests in

-that cheap and respectable _pension_.

-

-That they were severely respectable there could certainly be no

-doubt.  There were a couple of drawling English clergymen, with their

-wives--typical vicars' wives who patronised their neighbours; two or

-three sad-faced young girls, accompanied by ascetic relatives; a

-young Frenchman who eyed Ulrica all the time; one or two hen-pecked

-husbands of the usual type to be found in such hostelries of the

-aged; and an old lady who sat in state at the extreme end of the

-table, and much amused us by her efforts at juvenility.  Besides

-ourselves, she was apparently the only person who had a maid with

-her; and in order to exhibit that fact, she sent for her

-smelling-salts during dinner.  She was long past sixty, yet dressed

-in a style becoming a girl of eighteen, in bright colours and lace,

-her fair wig being dressed in the latest Parisian style, and the

-wrinkles of her cheeks filled up by various creams and face powders.

-

-"That old crow is an absolute terror!" observed Ulrica to me in an

-undertone, and out of sheer devilry she at once commenced a

-conversation with this rejuvenated hag, who, as we learned later, was

-an exportation from one of the London suburbs.

-

-The conversation, started by Ulrica and continued by myself, proved

-most amusing to us both.  The old woman whose name was Blackett, had

-just enough to live upon, we afterwards discovered, but came each

-year to the _pension_ in order to cut a dash as a _grande dame_.  Her

-fingers were covered with paste jewels, and her finery was all of

-that cheap and tawdry kind which affects the nerves as well as the

-eyes.

-

-"Oh, yes!" she said, in a carefully cultivated voice, intended to

-show good breeding, "if this is your first visit to the Riviera,

-you'll be quite charmed--everyone is charmed with it.  As for

-myself--" and she sighed,--"I have been here each year for I don't

-know how long."

-

-"And there is lots to see?"

-

-"Lots.  Only you must drive, you know.  I myself drive at all hours

-of the day, and when the moon is up I go for moonlight drives into

-the mountains."

-

-How romantic, I thought.

-

-"I have my own coachman, you know," she added.  "I keep him all the

-year round."

-

-She had led up to the conversation merely in order to inform us of

-her generosity.

-

-So throughout the meal, which occupied nearly two hours, by reason of

-inadequate waiting, we continued to draw her out, humour her egotism,

-and cause her to make a most ridiculous display of herself, until at

-last, my sentiment changing, I felt genuinely sorry for her.

-

-"Certainly," I remarked to Ulrica as we left the table, "this is the

-most extraordinary collection of tabbies I've ever met."

-

-"My dear," she said, "what has been puzzling me all the evening is

-their place of origin.  Some, I regret to say, are actually our own

-compatriots.  But where do they come from?"

-

-"It's a special breed peculiar to _pensions_ on the Riviera," I

-remarked; and together we ascended to the frowsy drawing-room, where

-the red plush-covered furniture exuded an odour of mustiness, and the

-carpet was sadly moth-eaten and thread-bare.

-

-Around the central table a dozen angular women of uncertain age

-grouped themselves and formed a sewing-party; a retired colonel, who

-seemed a good fellow, buried himself in the _Contemporary_; a

-decrepit old gentleman wearing a skull-cap and a shawl about his

-shoulders, heaped logs upon the fire and sat with his feet on the

-fender, although the atmosphere was stifling, while somebody else

-induced a young lady with a voice like a file to sing a plaintive

-love-song, accompanied by the untuned piano.

-

-During my previous winters in the South I had stayed at hotels.  In

-my ignorance of the ways of cheap visitors to the Riviera, I believed

-this congregation to be unique, but Ulrica assured me that it was

-typical of all English _pensions_ along the Côte d'Azur, from Cannes

-to Bordighera, and I can now fully endorse her statement.

-

-To describe in detail the many comic scenes enacted is unnecessary.

-The people were too ludicrous for words.  One family in especial

-endeavoured to entice us to friendliness.  Its head was a very tall,

-muscular, black-haired French-woman, who had married an Englishman.

-The latter had died fifteen years ago, leaving her with a son and

-daughter, the former a school boy of sixteen, and the latter a

-fair-haired and very freckled girl of perhaps twenty.  The woman's

-name was Egerton, and she was of that dashing type who can wear

-scarlet dresses at dinner, and whose cheeks dazzle one's eyes on

-account of the rouge upon them.  She was loud, coarse, and vulgar.

-For the benefit of all the others, she spoke daily of the delicacies

-prepared by her own _chef_, sneered at the food of the _pension_, and

-ordered special messes for her own consumption.  Before we had known

-her an hour she had given us a description of the wonderful interior

-of her house in Rome, enumerated her servants, and gave us to

-understand that she was exceedingly well-off, and quite a superior

-person.  The people one meets on the Riviera are really very

-entertaining.

-

-Ulrica was grimly sarcastic.  As we had neither intention nor

-inclination to associate with this superior relict, we politely

-snubbed her, taking care that it should not be done in secret.

-

-"I don't think our effort at economy has met with very much success,"

-I remarked to Ulrica, when about a week later I sat over the cup of

-half-cold coffee, the stale egg, the hunk of bread and the pat of

-rancid butter, which together formed my breakfast.

-

-"No, a week of it is quite sufficient," she laughed.  "We'll leave

-to-morrow."

-

-"Then you've given notice?"

-

-"Of course.  I only came here for a week's amusement.  We'll go on to

-the 'Grand.'"

-

-So on the following day our trunks were called for by the hotel

-omnibus, and we took up our quarters in that well-known hotel on the

-Quai St. Jean Baptiste.  Ulrica had known the Riviera ever since her

-girlhood.  With her parents she had gone abroad each autumn, had seen

-most of the sights, and had thus received her education as a smart

-woman.

-

-We were in the _salon_ of the "Grand" on the night of our arrival,

-when suddenly someone uttered my name.  We both turned quickly, and

-to our surprise saw two men we knew quite well in London standing

-before us.  One was Reginald Thorne, a dark-haired and more than

-usually good-looking youth of about twenty-two or so, while the other

-was Gerald Keppel, a thin, fair-moustached young man, some seven

-years his senior, son of old Benjamin Keppel, the well-known South

-African millionaire.  Gerald was an old friend, but the former I knew

-but slightly, having met him once or twice at dances, for in

-Kensington he was among the chief of the eligibles.

-

-"Why, my dear Miss Rosselli!" he cried enthusiastically as we shook

-hands.  "I'm so awfully glad to meet you!  I had no idea you were

-here.  Gerald was here dining with me, and we caught sight of you

-through the glass doors."

-

-"Then you're staying here?" I asked.

-

-"Yes.  Gerald's staying with his guv'nor.  He has a villa out at

-Fabron.  Have you been here long?"

-

-"We've been in Nice a week," interposed Ulrica, "and we haven't found

-a single soul we know until now.  I feel sure you'll take pity upon

-our loneliness, Mr. Thorne, won't you?"

-

-"Of course!" he laughed.  "I suppose you go to Monte Carlo?"

-

-"You men think of nothing but roulette and dinners at the 'Paris,'"

-she responded reproachfully, adding: "But after all, should we be

-women if we had no soul for gambling?  Have you had any luck this

-season?"

-

-"Can't complain," he smiled.  "I've been staying over there for ten

-days or so.  Gerald has had quite a run of good fortune.  The other

-night he won the maximum on the _zero-trois_ three times."

-

-"Congratulations, my dear Gerald!" exclaimed Ulrica approvingly.

-"You shall both take us over one day and let us try our fortune--if

-Mr. Thorne is agreeable."

-

-"Delighted, I'm sure," answered the latter, glancing at me; and by

-the look he gave me I felt convinced that my suspicions, aroused in

-London about a year before, were not quite groundless.  His glance

-was a convincing proof that he admired me.

-

-The fault of us women is that we so often over-esteem the value of

-our good looks.  To my mind the possession of handsome toilettes is

-quite as essential to a woman's well-being and man's contentment as

-are personal attractions.  A woman, however beautiful she may be,

-loses half her charm to men's eyes if she dresses dowdily, or without

-taste.  Nobody ever saw a really beautiful Parisienne.  For the most

-part, the ladies of the French capital are thin-nosed, thin-lipped,

-scraggy-necked, yellow-faced and absolutely ugly; yet are they not,

-merely by reason of their _chic_ in dress, the most attractive women

-in the world?  I know that many will dissent from this estimate; but

-as my mirror tells me that I have a face more than commonly handsome,

-and as dozens of men have further endorsed the mute evidence of my

-toilet-glass, I can only confess that all my triumphs and all my

-harmless flirtations have had their beginnings in the attraction

-exercised by the dainty creations of my _couturière_.  We hear much

-complaining among women to the effect that there are not a sufficient

-number of nice men to go round; but after all, the woman who knows

-how to dress need have no lack of offers of marriage.  American women

-on the Continent can always be distinguished from the English, and it

-is certain that to their quiet _chic_ in frills and furbelows their

-success in the marriage market is due.

-

-Yes, there was no doubt that Reggie Thorne admired me.  I had

-suspected it on the night when we had waltzed together at the

-Pendyman's, and afterwards gossiped together over ices; but with a

-woman flirtations of the ball-room are soon forgotten, and, truth to

-tell, I had forgotten him until our sudden and unexpected meeting.

-

-"What awfully good luck we've met Gerald and Reggie," Ulrica said,

-when, half-an-hour later, we were seated together in the privacy of

-our sitting-room.  "Gerald, poor boy, was always a bit gone on me in

-London; and as for Reggie--well, he'll make an excellent cavalier for

-you.  Even if Mother Grundy is dead and buried, it isn't very

-respectable to be constantly trotting over to Monte Carlo without

-male escort."

-

-"You mean that they'll be a couple of useful males?"

-

-"Certainly.  Their coming is quite providential.  Some of Gerald's

-luck at the tables may be reflected upon us.  I should dearly like to

-make my expenses at roulette."

-

-"So should I."

-

-"There's no reason why we shouldn't," she went on.  "I know quite a

-lot of people who've won enough to pay for the whole winter on the

-Riviera."

-

-"Reggie has money, hasn't he?"

-

-"Of course.  The old man was on the Stock Exchange and died very

-comfortably off.  All of it went to Reggie, except an annuity settled

-on his mother.  Of course, he's spent a good deal since.  A man

-doesn't live in the Albany as he does, drive tandem, and all that

-sort of thing, on nothing a year."

-

-"They used to say that Gerald Keppel hadn't a shilling beyond what

-the old man allowed him monthly--a most niggardly allowance, I've

-heard."

-

-"That's quite possible, my dear Carmela," she answered.  "But one's

-position might be a good deal worse than the only son of a

-millionaire.  Old Benjamin is eccentric.  I've met the old buffer

-several times.  He's addicted to my pet abomination in a man--paper

-collars."

-

-"Then you'll take Gerald as your cavalier, and allot Reggie to me?" I

-laughed.

-

-"Yes.  I'm self-sacrificing, am I not?"

-

-She was in high spirits, for she had long ago fascinated Gerald

-Keppel, and now intended to make use of him as her escort to that

-Palace of Delight which somebody has suggested might well be known as

-the Sign of the Seven Sins.

-

-Ulrica was a typical woman of the up-to-date type--pretty, with soft,

-wavy, chestnut hair and a pair of brown eyes that had attracted a

-host of men who had bowed down and worshipped at her shrine; yet

-beneath her corsets, as I alone knew, there beat a heart from which,

-alas! all love and sympathy had long ago died out.  To her,

-excitement, change and flirtation were as food and drink; she could

-not live without them.  Neither, indeed, could I, for by living with

-her ever since my convent-days I had copied her smart ideas and

-notions, stimulated by attacks of nerves.

-

-A few days later, having lunched with Reggie and Gerald at the hotel,

-we went over with the usual crowd to Monte Carlo by the two o'clock

-"yellow" express.

-

-Reader, you probably know the panorama of the Riviera--that stretch

-of azure sky, azure sea, rugged coast; purple hills clad with olives

-and pines; rose, heliotrope, and geranium running riot in the gardens

-of the white villas, with their marble terraces.

-

-When I entered for the first time that wild, turbulent,

-close-smelling _salle de jeu_ at Monte Carlo, where the croupiers

-were crying in strident tones, "_Messieurs, faites vos jeux!_" and

-uttering in warning voice, "_Rien ne va plus!_" I gazed around me

-bewildered.  Who were those grabbing crowds of smartly-dressed people

-grouped around the tables?  Were they actually civilised human

-beings--beings who had loved, suffered and lived, as I had loved,

-suffered and lived?

-

-How beautiful it was outside in that gay little place, with the Red

-Hungarian Band playing on the terrace of the Café de Paris, and half

-the _grand monde_ of Europe lounging about and chattering!  How

-enchanting was the grim Dog's Head as a fitting background in dark

-purple against the winter sunset, the brown Grimaldi rock rising

-sheer from the sea to the castellated walls of the Palace; to the

-right, Villefranche and San Juan dark upon the horizon,--the serrated

-Esterels dark and mysterious afar; while to the left, Bordighera was

-sparkling white in the sunshine.  And beyond there was Italy--my own

-fair Italy!  Out in that flower-scented, limpid air earth was a

-paradise; within those stifling gilt saloons, where the light of day

-was tempered by the thick curtains, and the clink of gold mingled

-with the dull hum of the avaricious crowd, it was a veritable hell.

-

-Some years ago--ah! now I am looking back; Ulrica is not at fault

-this time.  No, I must not think.  I have promised myself not to

-think during my work upon this narrative, but to try to forget all

-past unhappiness.  To try!  Ah!  I would that I could calm my

-soul--steep it in a draught of such thoughtlessness that oblivion

-would come!  But I fear that can never, never be!

-

-It is terrible to think how a woman can suffer, and yet live.  What a

-blessing it is that the world cannot read a woman's heart!  Men may

-look upon our faces, but they cannot read the truth.  Even though our

-hearts may be breaking, we may wear a smile; we can conceal our

-sorrows so cleverly that none can suspect, for smiles make a part of

-our physical being; we can hide our grief so completely that none can

-know the burden upon us.  Endurance, resistance, patience, suffering,

-all these belong to woman's heritage.  Even in the few years I have

-lived, I have had my share of them all.

-

-I stood bewildered, watching the revolving red and black

-roulette-wheel, and the eager crowd of faces around it.

-

-"_Vingt!  Rouge, pair et passe!_" the croupier cried, and a couple of

-louis which Ulrica had placed on the last dozen were swept away with

-the silver, notes and gold, to swell the bank.

-

-I thought of my secret grief.  I thought of Ernest Cameron, and

-pursed my lips.  The old Tuscan proverb which the nuns in Firenze had

-taught me so long ago was very true: "_Amore non é senza amaro_."

-

-The millionaire's son at my elbow was explaining to me how the game

-was played, but I was paying no attention.  I only remembered the man

-I had once loved--the man whose slave I was--the man whom I had

-forgiven, even though he had left me so cruelly.  Only three things

-could make life to me worth living--the sight of his face, the sound

-of his voice, the touch of his lips.

-

-But such fine fortune could never be.  We were parted for ever--for

-ever!

-

-"Now, play this time!" I heard Reggie exclaim.

-

-"Where?" I inquired mechanically, his voice awakening me to a sense

-of my surroundings.

-

-"On the line, there--between the numbers 9 and 12."

-

-I took a louis from my purse, and with the rake carelessly pushed it

-upon the line he had indicated.  Then I turned to talk with Gerald.

-

-"_Rien ne va plus!_" cried the croupier.

-

-A hundred necks were craned to watch the result.

-

-The ball fell with a final click into one of the little spaces upon

-the wheel.

-

-"_Neuf!  Rouge, impair et manque!_"

-

-"You've won, my dear!" cried Ulrica excitedly, and in a few moments

-Reggie, who raked up my winnings, gave me quite a handful of gold.

-

-"There now!" he said, "you've made your first _coup_.  Try again."

-

-I crammed the gold into my purse, but it would not hold it all.  The

-three louis upon which the purse would not close I held doubtfully in

-my hand.

-

-"Play on the _treize-dix-huit_ this time!" urged Reggie, and I obeyed

-him blindly.

-

-As the number 18 came up, I again received another little handful of

-gold.  I knew that many envious eyes were cast in my direction, and

-the excitement of winning was an entirely new sensation.

-

-Ulrica fancied the last dozen, and I placed five louis upon it,

-winning a third time.  Having won eight hundred francs in three turns

-of the wheel, I began to think roulette was not such wearying fun as

-I had once believed it to be.

-

-I wanted to continue playing, but the others prevented me.  They knew

-too well that the bank at Monte Carlo only lends its money to the

-players.  With Reggie at my side I went out, strolled through those

-beautiful gardens beside the sea, watched the pigeon-shooting, and

-afterwards sat on the terrace of the Café de Paris, where to the full

-I enjoyed a sunset of extraordinary radiance.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER III

-

-IS A MYSTERY

-

-I was left alone with Reggie, for Ulrica had taken Gerald into the

-orchestral concert.

-

-"What awfully good luck you had!" he observed, after we had been

-chatting some time.  "If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd

-have won over seven hundred pounds."

-

-"There are a good many 'ifs' in gambling," I remarked.  "I've never

-had any luck before in gambles at bazaars and such-like places."

-

-"When you do have luck, follow it, is my motto," he laughed.  "I

-should have advised you to continue playing to-day, only I thought it

-might annoy Ulrica," and he raised his whisky and seltzer to his lips.

-

-"But I might have lost all I won," I remarked.  "No, I prefer to keep

-it.  I'd like to be unique among other people and go away with some

-of the bank's money, I intend to keep what I have, and not to play

-again."

-

-"Never?"

-

-"Never!"

-

-"My dear Miss Rosselli, that's what everyone says here," he laughed.

-"But before you've been on the Riviera long you'll soon discover that

-this is no place for good resolutions.  Gambling is one of the

-sweetest and most insidious of vices, and has the additional

-attraction of being thought _chic_.  Look at the crowd of women here!

-Why, every one of them plays.  If she didn't, others would believe

-her to be hard-up--and poverty, you know, is distinctly bad form

-here.  Even if a woman hasn't sufficient to pay her hotel bill, she

-must wear the regulation gold chatelaine and the gold chain-purse, if

-it only contains a couple of pieces of a hundred sous.  And she must

-play.  Fortunes have been won with only five francs."

-

-"Such stories, I fear, are only fairy tales," I said incredulously.

-

-"No.  At least, one of them is not," he answered, blowing a cloud of

-smoke from his lips and looking at me amusedly.  "I was playing here

-one night last March when a young French girl won three hundred

-thousand francs after having first lost all she had.  She borrowed a

-five-franc piece from a friend, and with it broke the bank.  I was

-present at the table where it occurred.  Fortune is very fickle here."

-

-"So it seems," I said.  "That is why I intend to keep what I've won."

-

-"You might have a necklace made of the louis," he said.  "Many women

-wear coins won at Monte attached to their bangles, along with golden

-pigs and enamelled discs bearing the fatal number thirteen."

-

-"A happy thought!" I exclaimed.  "I'll have one put on my bangle

-to-morrow as a souvenir."

-

-"Are you staying on the Riviera long?" he inquired presently.

-

-"I really don't know.  When Ulrica is tired of it we shall move down

-to Rome, I suppose."

-

-"When she's lost sufficient, you mean," he smiled.  "She's quite

-reckless when she commences.  I remember her here several seasons

-ago.  She lost very heavily.  Luck was entirely against her."

-

-I, too, remember her visit.  She left me in London and went to the

-Riviera for a couple of months, and on her return was constantly

-bewailing her penury.  This, then, was the secret of it.  She had

-never revealed to me the truth.

-

-"And you think that I shall be stricken with the prevalent epidemic?"

-I inquired.

-

-"I hope not," he answered quickly.  "But, after all, the temptation

-is utterly irresistible.  It is sad, indeed, that here, in this

-corner of God's earth, which He has marked as the nearest approach to

-Paradise created, should be allowed to flaunt all the vices which

-render the world horrible.  Monte Carlo is the one blot upon the

-Riviera.  I'm a gambler--I make no secret of it, because I find

-resistance impossible while I have money in my pocket--nevertheless,

-much as I like a fling here each winter, I would gladly welcome the

-closing of the Casino.  It has been well said that those red-carpeted

-steps and the wide doors opposite form the entrance-gate to hell."

-

-I sighed, glancing over to the flight of steps opposite, where all

-sorts of women, wintering among temptations in summer toilettes, were

-passing up and down.  He was possessed of common sense, and spoke the

-truth.  Inside those Rooms the perspiring and perfumed crowds were

-fluttering round the tables as moths round a candle, going headlong

-to ruin, both moral and financial.

-

-"Yes," I observed reflectively, "I suppose you're right.  Thousands

-have been ruined within that place."

-

-"And thousands have ended by committing suicide," he added.  "The

-average number of suicides within this tiny Principality of Monaco is

-more than two a day!"

-

-"More than two a day!" I exclaimed incredulously.

-

-"Yes.  Of course, the authorities bribe the Press to hush it all up,

-but the authentic figures were published not long ago.  The

-Administrator of the Casino finds it cheaper to bury a corpse than to

-pay a ruined gambler's fare to St. Petersburg, London, or New York.

-That's why the poor devils who are cleaned out find the

-much-talked-of _viatique_ so difficult to obtain.  Human life is held

-very cheap here, I can tell you."

-

-"Oh, don't talk like that!" I protested.  "You make one feel quite

-nervous.  Do you mean that murder is often committed?"

-

-"Well--not exactly that.  But one must always remember that here,

-mixing with the best people of Europe, are the very scum of the

-world, both male and female.  Although they dress elegantly, live

-well, play boldly, and give themselves airs and false titles of

-nobility, and wear decorations to which they are not entitled, they

-are a very queer and unscrupulous crowd, I can assure you."

-

-"Do you know any of them by sight?" I inquired, much interested.

-

-"Oh, one or two," he answered, laughing.  "Some of them are, of

-course, eccentric and quite harmless characters."  Then a moment

-later he added: "Do you see that tall, thin old man just ascending

-the steps--the one with the soft white felt hat?  Well, his is a

-curious story.  Twenty years ago he came here as a millionaire, and

-within a month lost everything he possessed at _trente et quarante_.

-So huge were the profits made by the bank that, instead of giving him

-his _viatique_ to London, they allotted him a pension of a louis a

-day for life, on the understanding that he should never again enter

-the Rooms.  For nearly twenty years he lived in Nice, haunting the

-Promenade des Anglais, and brooding over his past foolishness.  Last

-year, however, somebody died unexpectedly, and left him quite

-comfortably off, whereupon he paid back to Monte Carlo all that he

-had received and returned again to gamble.  His luck, however, has

-proved just as bad as before.  Yet each month, as soon as he draws

-his income, he comes over, and in a single day flings it all away

-upon the red, his favourite colour.  His history is only one of many."

-

-With interest I looked at the tall, thin-faced old gambler as he

-painfully ascended the steps; and even as I watched he passed in,

-eager to fling away all that stood between himself and starvation.

-

-Truly, the world of Monte Carlo is a very queer place.

-

-Ulrica and Gerald came laughing across the leafy Place and joined us

-at our table.  It was very pleasant there, with the band playing the

-latest waltzes, the gay promenaders strolling beneath the palms, the

-bright flowers and the pigeons strutting in the roadway.  Indeed, as

-one sat there it seemed hard to believe that this was actually the

-much-talked-of Monte Carlo--the plague-spot of Europe.

-

-I don't think that I ever saw Ulrica look so well as on that

-afternoon in the white serge which she had had made in Paris; for

-white serge is, as you know, always _de rigueur_ at Monte in winter,

-with white hat and white shoes.  I was also in white, but it never

-suited me as it did her, yet one had to be smart, even at the expense

-of one's complexion.  At Monte Carlo one must at least be

-respectable, even in one's vices.

-

-"Come, let's go back to the Rooms," suggested Ulrica, when she had

-finished her tea, flavoured with orange-flower water in accordance

-with the mode at the Café de Paris.

-

-"Miss Rosselli won't play any more," said Reggie.

-

-"My dear Carmela!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, surely, you've the pluck to

-follow your good fortune!"

-

-But I was obdurate, and although I accompanied the others I did not

-risk a single sou.

-

-The place was crowded, and the atmosphere absolutely unbearable, as

-it always becomes about five o'clock.  The Administration appear

-afraid of letting in a little air to cool the heads of the players,

-hence the Rooms are, as it were, hermetically sealed.

-

-As I wandered about with Reggie, he pointed out to me other

-well-known characters in the Rooms--the queer old fellow who carries

-a bag-purse made of coloured beads; the old hag with a moustache who

-always brings her own rake; the bright-eyed, dashing woman known to

-the croupiers as "The Golden Hand"; the thin, wizen-faced little

-hunch-back, who one night a few months before had broken the bank at

-the first roulette table on the left; men working so-called

-"systems," and women trying to snatch up other people's winnings.

-Now and then my companion placed a louis upon a _transversale_ or

-_colonne_, and once or twice he won; but declaring that he had no

-luck that day, he soon grew as tired of it as myself.

-

-Ulrica came up to us flushed with excitement.  She had won three

-hundred francs at the table where she always played.  Her favourite

-croupier was turning the wheel, and he always brought her luck.  We

-had both won, and she declared it to be a happy augury for the future.

-

-While we were standing there the croupier's voice sounded loud and

-clear "Zero!" with that long roll of the "r" which _habitués_ of the

-Rooms know so well.

-

-"Zero!" cried Reggie.  "By Jove!  I must put something on," and

-hurrying toward the table he handed the croupier a hundred-franc

-note, with a request to put it on the number 29.

-

-The game was made and the ball fell.

-

-"_Vingt-neuf!  Rouge, impair et passe!_"

-

-"By Jove!" cried Gerald.  "He's won!  Lucky devil!  How extraordinary

-that after zero the number 29 so frequently follows!"

-

-The croupier handed Reggie three thousand-franc notes and quite a

-handful of gold.  Then the lucky player moved his original stake on

-to the little square marked 36.

-

-Again he won, and again and again.  The three thousand-franc notes he

-had just received he placed upon the middle dozen.  The number 18

-turned up, and the croupier handed him six thousand francs--the

-maximum paid by the bank on a single _coup_.  Every eye around that

-table watched him narrowly.  People began to follow his play, placing

-their money beside his, and time after time he won, making only a few

-unimportant losses.

-

-We stood watching him in silent wonder.  The luck of the man with

-whom I had been flirting was simply marvellous.  Sometimes he

-distributed his stakes on the colour, the dozens and the "pair," and

-thus often won in several places at the same time.  The eager,

-grabbing crowd surged round the table and the excitement quickly rose

-to fever heat.  The assault Reggie was making upon the bank was

-certainly a formidable one.  His inner pockets bulged with the mass

-of notes he had crammed there, and the outer pockets of his jacket

-were heavy with golden louis.

-

-Ulrica stood behind him, but uttered no word.  To speak to a person

-while playing is believed by the gambler at Monte Carlo to bring evil

-fortune.

-

-When he could cram no more notes into his pockets, he passed them to

-Ulrica, who held them in an overflow bundle in her hand.

-

-He tossed a thousand francs on the red, but lost, together with the

-dozens of others who had followed his play.

-

-He played again, with no better result.

-

-A third time he played on the red, which had not been up for nine

-times in succession, a most unusual run.

-

-Black won.

-

-"I've finished," he said, turning to us with a laugh.  "Let's get out

-of this--my luck has changed."

-

-"Marvellous!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, you must have won quite a fortune!"

-

-"We'll go across to the Café and count it," he said, and we all

-walked out together; and while sitting at one of the tables we helped

-him to count the piles of gold and notes.

-

-He had, we found, won over sixty thousand francs.

-

-At his invitation we went along to Gast's, the jeweller's, in the

-Galerie, and he there purchased for each of us a ring as a little

-souvenir of the day.  Then we entered Giro's and dined.

-

-Yes, life at Monte Carlo is absolutely intoxicating.  Now, however,

-that I sit here calmly reflecting on the events of that day when I

-first entered the Sign of the Seven Sins, I find that even though the

-display of such wealth as one sees upon the tables is dazzling, yet

-my first impression of it has never been altered.

-

-I hated Monte Carlo from the first.  I hate it now.

-

-The talk at dinner was, of course, the argot of the Rooms.  At Monte

-Carlo the conversation is always of play.  If you meet an

-acquaintance, you do not ask after her health, but of her luck and

-her latest successes.

-

-The two bejewelled worlds, the _monde_ and the _demi-monde_, ate,

-drank, and chattered in that restaurant of wide renown.  The company

-was cosmopolitan, the conversation polyglot, the dishes marvellous.

-At the table next us there sat the Grand-Duke Michael of Russia, with

-the Countess Torby, and beyond a British earl with a couple of smart

-military men.  The United States Ambassador to Germany was at another

-table with a small party of friends; while La Juniori, Derval, and

-several other well-known Parisian beauties were scattered here and

-there.

-

-I was laughing at a joke of Reggie's, when suddenly I raised my eyes

-and saw a pair of new-comers.  The man was tall, dark, handsome, with

-face a trifle bronzed--a face I knew only too well!

-

-I started, and must have turned pale, for I knew from Ulrica's

-expression that she noticed it.

-

-The man who entered there, as though to taunt me with his presence,

-was Ernest Cameron, the man whom I had loved--nay, whom I still

-loved--the man who had a year ago cast me aside for another and left

-me to wear out my young heart in sorrow and suffering.

-

-That woman was with him--the tow-haired woman whom they told me he

-had promised to make his wife.  I had never seen her before.  She was

-rather _petite_, with a fair, fluffy coiffure, blue-grey eyes and

-pink-and-white cheeks.  She had earned, I afterwards discovered, a

-rather unenviable notoriety in Paris on account of some scandal or

-other, but the real truth about it I could never ascertain.

-

-Our eyes met as she entered, but she was unaware that she gazed upon

-the woman who was her rival, and who hated her.  She had stolen

-Ernest from me, and I felt that I could rise there, in that public

-place, and crush the life from that fragile body.

-

-Ernest himself brushed past my chair, but without recognising me, and

-went down the room gaily with his companion.

-

-"Do you notice who has just entered?" asked Ulrica.

-

-I nodded.  I could not speak.

-

-"Who?" inquired Reggie quickly.

-

-"Some friends of ours," she answered carelessly.

-

-"Oh! everyone meets friends here," he remarked, as he raised his

-champagne unsuspectingly to his lips.

-

-Reader, if you are a woman, you will fully understand how the sight

-of that man who held me by a fatal fascination, caused in my breast a

-whirl of passions.  I hated and loved at the same instant.  Even

-though we were parted, I had never ceased to think of him.  For me

-the world had no longer any charm, since the light of my life had now

-gone out, and I was suffering in silence, just as so many women who

-have become the sport of Fate are bound to do.

-

-Yes.  Ulrica's notion was, after all, very true.  No man whom I had

-ever met was really worth consideration.  All were egoists.  The rich

-believed that woman was a mere toy, while the poor were always

-ineligible.

-

-Reggie spoke to me, but I scarcely heeded him.  Now that the man I

-loved was near me, I felt an increasing desire to get rid of this

-male encumbrance.  True, he was rich, and I knew, by my own feminine

-intuition, that he admired me, but for him I entertained no spark of

-affection.  Alas! that we always sigh for the unattainable.

-

-For myself, the remainder of the meal was utterly without interest.

-I longed to get another glimpse of that man's bronzed face, and of

-the tow-haired woman whom he had preferred to me, but they were

-evidently sitting at a table in the corner out of sight.

-

-Ulrica knew the truth, and took compassion upon me by hastening the

-dinner to its end.  Then we went forth again into the cool, balmy

-night.  The moon shone brightly, and its reflection glittered in a

-long stream of silver brilliance upon the sea; the Place was gaily

-lit and the white façade of the Casino, with its great illuminated

-clock, shone with lights of every hue.

-

-Across to the Hermitage we strolled, and there drank our coffee.

-

-I laughed at Reggie's pockets bulging with notes, for, the banks

-being closed, he was compelled to carry his winnings about with him.

-While we sat there, however, a brilliant idea occurred to him.

-

-"Nearly all these notes are small," he said suddenly.  "I'll go into

-the Rooms and exchange the gold and small notes for large ones.

-They'll be so much easier to carry."

-

-"Ah!" cried Ulrica, "I never thought of that.  Why, of course!"

-

-"Very well," he answered, rising.  "I shan't be ten minutes."

-

-"Don't be tempted to play again, old fellow," urged Gerald.

-

-"No fear of that!" he laughed, and, with a cigarette in his mouth,

-strode away in the direction of the Casino.

-

-We remained there gossiping for fully half an hour, yet he did not

-return.  As it was only a walk of a couple of minutes from the

-Hermitage to the Casino, we concluded that he had met some friend and

-been detained, for, like Gerald, he came there each winter and knew

-quite a host of people.  One makes a large circle of acquaintances on

-the Riviera, many interesting, but the majority undesirable.

-

-"I wonder where he's got to?" Gerald observed presently.  "Surely he

-isn't such an idiot as to resume play!"

-

-"No.  He's well enough aware that there's no luck after dinner,"

-remarked Ulrica.  "We might, however, I think, take a last turn

-through the Rooms and see whether he's there."

-

-This suggestion was carried out, but although we searched every table

-we failed to discover him.  Until ten o'clock we lounged about, then

-returned by the express to Nice.

-

-That he should have left us in that abrupt manner was certainly

-curious; but as Gerald declared he was always erratic in his

-movements, and that his explanation in the morning would undoubtedly

-be found entirely satisfactory, we returned together to the hotel,

-where we wished our companion good-night, and ascended in the

-elevator to our own sitting-room on the second floor.

-

-My good fortune pleased me, but my heart was nevertheless

-overburdened with sorrow.  The sight of Ernest had reopened the

-gaping wound which I had so strenuously striven to heal by the aid of

-lighter woes.  I now thought only of him.

-

-Ulrica, who was in front of me, pushed open the door of our

-sitting-room and switched on the light, but ere she crossed the

-threshold she drew back quickly with a loud cry of horror and

-surprise.

-

-In an instant I was at her side.

-

-"Look!" she gasped, terrified, pointing to the opposite side of the

-room.  "Look!"

-

-The body of a man was lying, face downwards, upon the carpet, half

-hidden by the round table in the centre of the room.

-

-Together we dashed forward to his assistance and tried to raise him,

-but were unable.  We succeeded, however, in turning him upon his

-side, and then his white, hard-set features became suddenly revealed.

-

-"My God!" I cried, awe-stricken.  "What has occurred?  Why--it's

-Reggie!"

-

-"Reggie!" shrieked Ulrica, kneeling quickly and placing her gloved

-hand eagerly upon his heart.  "Reggie!--and he's dead!".

-

-"Impossible!" I gasped, almost petrified by the hideous discovery.

-

-"It is true," she went on, her face white as that of the dead man

-before us.  "Look, there's blood upon his lips.  See--the chair over

-there is thrown down and broken.  There has apparently been a fierce

-struggle."

-

-Next instant a thought occurred to me, and bending, I quickly

-searched his inner pockets.  The bank-notes were not there.

-

-Then the ghastly truth became entirely plain.

-

-Reginald Thorne had been robbed and murdered.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IV

-

-RELATES SOME ASTOUNDING FACTS

-

-The amazing discovery held us in speechless bewilderment.

-

-The favourite of Fortune, who only a couple of hours before had been

-so full of life and buoyant spirits, and who had left us with a

-promise to return within ten minutes, was now lying still and dead in

-the privacy of our own room.  The ghastly truth was so strange and

-unexpected as to utterly stagger belief.  A mysterious and dastardly

-crime had evidently been committed there.

-

-I scarce know what occurred during the quarter of an hour that

-immediately followed our astounding discovery.  All I remember is

-that Ulrica, with face blanched to the lips, ran out into the

-corridor and raised the alarm.  Then there arrived a crowd of

-waiters, chambermaids, and visitors, everyone excitedly asking

-strings of questions, until the hotel manager came and closed the

-door upon them all.  The discovery caused the most profound

-sensation, especially when the police and doctors arrived quickly,

-followed shortly afterwards by two detectives.

-

-The doctor, a short, stout Frenchman, at once pronounced that poor

-Reggie had been dead more than half an hour, but the cursory

-examination he was enabled to make was insufficient to establish the

-cause of death.

-

-"Do you incline to a theory of death through violence?" one of the

-detectives inquired.

-

-"Ah! at present I cannot tell," the other answered dubiously.  "It is

-not at all plain that monsieur has been murdered."

-

-Ulrica and I quickly found ourselves in a most unpleasant position.

-First, a man had been found dead in our apartments, which was

-sufficient to cause a good deal of ill-natured gossip; and secondly,

-the police seemed to entertain some suspicion of us.  We were both

-cross-questioned separately as to Reggie's identity, what we knew of

-him, and of our doings at Monte Carlo that day.  In response, we made

-no secrets of our movements, for we felt that the police might be

-able to trace the culprit--if, indeed, Reggie had been actually

-murdered.  The fact of his having won so much money, and of his

-having left us in order to change the notes into larger ones, seemed

-to puzzle the police.  If robbery had been the object of the crime,

-the murderer would, they argued, no doubt have committed the deed

-either in the train, or in the street.  Why, indeed, should the

-victim have entered our sitting-room at all?

-

-That really seemed the principal problem.  The whole of the

-circumstances formed a complete and puzzling enigma, but his visit to

-our sitting-room was the most curious feature of all.

-

-The thief, whoever he was--for I inclined towards the theory of theft

-and murder--had been enabled to effect his purpose swiftly, and leave

-the hotel without discovery; while another curious fact was that

-neither the _concierge_ nor the elevator-lad recollected the dead

-man's return.  Both agreed that he must have slipped in unobserved.

-And if so, why?

-

-Having concluded their examination of Ulrica, myself and Felicita, my

-Italian maid, who had returned from her evening out, and knew nothing

-at all of the matter, the police made a most vigorous search in our

-rooms.  We were present, and had the dissatisfaction of watching our

-best gowns and other articles tumbled over and mauled by unclean

-hands.  Not a corner was left unexamined, for when the French police

-make a search they at least do it thoroughly.

-

-"Ah! what is this?" exclaimed one of the detectives, picking from the

-open fire-place in the sitting-room a crumpled piece of paper, which

-he smoothed out carefully.

-

-In an instant we were all eager attention.  I saw that it was a sheet

-of my own note-paper, and upon it, in a man's handwriting, was the

-commencement of a letter:

-

-"_My dear Miss Rosselli,--I have----_"

-

-That was all.  It broke off short.  There were no other words.  The

-paper had been crushed and flung away, as though the writer, on

-mature thought, had resolved not to address me by letter.  I had

-never seen Reggie's handwriting, but on comparison with some entries

-in a note-book found in his pocket, the police pronounced it to be

-his.

-

-What did he wish to tell me?

-

-About an hour after midnight we sent up to the Villa Fabron for

-Gerald, who returned in the cab which conveyed our messenger.

-

-When we told him the terrible truth he stood open-mouthed, rooted to

-the spot.

-

-"Reggie dead!" he gasped.  "Murdered?"

-

-"Undoubtedly," answered Ulrica.  "The mystery is inexplicable, but

-with your aid we must solve it."

-

-"With my aid?" he cried.  "I fear I cannot help you.  I know nothing

-whatever about it."

-

-"Of course not," I said.  "But now tell us, what is your theory?  You

-were his best friend and would therefore probably know if he had any

-enemy who desired to wreak revenge upon him."

-

-"He hadn't a single enemy in the world, to my knowledge," Gerald

-answered.  "The motive of the crime was robbery, without a doubt.

-Most probably he was followed from Monte Carlo by someone who watched

-his success at the tables.  There are always some desperate

-characters among the crowd there."

-

-"Do you think, then, that the murderer was actually watching us ever

-since the afternoon?" I inquired in alarm.

-

-"I think it most probable," he responded.  "At Monte Carlo there is a

-crowd of all sorts and conditions of outsiders.  Many of them

-wouldn't hesitate to commit murder for the sum which poor Reggie had

-in his pockets."

-

-"It's terrible!" ejaculated Ulrica.

-

-"Yes," he sighed, as his face grew heavy and thoughtful; "this awful

-news has upset me quite as much as it has you.  I have lost my best

-friend."

-

-"I hope you will spare no effort to clear up the mystery," I said,

-for I had rather liked the poor boy ever since chance had first

-thrown us together in London, and on the renewal of our acquaintance

-a few days previously my estimate of his character and true worth had

-considerably improved.  It was appalling that he should be thus

-struck down so swiftly, and in a manner so strange.

-

-"Of course, I shall at once do all I can," he declared.  "I'll see

-the police, and state all I know.  If this had occurred in England,

-or in America, there might be a chance of tracing the culprit by the

-numbers of the bank-notes.  In France, however, the numbers are never

-taken, and stolen notes cannot be recovered.  However, rest assured,

-both of you, that I'll do my very best."

-

-There was a tap at the door at that moment, and opening it, I was

-confronted by a tall, dark-bearded Frenchman, who explained that he

-was an agent of police.

-

-To him Gerald related all he knew regarding poor Reggie's

-acquaintances and movements while on the Riviera, and afterwards, in

-company with the detective, he went to the rooms we had abandoned,

-where he gazed for the last time upon the dead face of his friend.

-

-This tragic event had naturally cast a gloom over both Ulrica and

-myself.  We were both nervous and apprehensive, ever debating the

-mysterious reason which caused Reggie to enter out sitting-room in

-our absence.  Surely he had some very strong motive, or he would not

-have gone straight there and commenced that mysterious letter of

-explanation.

-

-As far as we could discern, his success at the tables in the

-afternoon had not intoxicated him, for, although young, he was a

-practised, unemotional player, to whom gains and losses were

-alike--at least, he displayed no outward sign of satisfaction other

-than a broad smile when his winning number was announced by the

-croupier.  No.  Of the many theories put forward, that of Gerald

-seemed the most sound, namely, that he had been followed from Monte

-Carlo with evil intent.

-

-The _Petit Niçois_, the _Eclaireur_ and the _Phare du Littoral_ were

-next day full of "The Mystery of the 'Grand Hotel.'"  In the article

-we were referred to as Mademoiselle Y---- and Mademoiselle R----, as

-is usual in French journalism, and certainly the comments made by the

-three organs in question were distinguished by undisguised suspicion

-and sorry sarcasm.  The _Petit Niçois_, a journal which has on so

-many recent occasions given proof of its anti-English and

-anti-American tone, declared its "disbelief of the story that the

-deceased had won the large sum stated," and concluded by urging the

-police to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to discover the

-murderer, who, it added, would probably be found within the hotel.

-This remark was certainly a pleasing reflection to cast upon us.  It

-was as though the journal believed that one of us had conspired to

-murder him.

-

-Gerald was furious, but we were powerless to protect ourselves

-against the cruel calumnies of such _torchons_.

-

-The official inquiry, held next day, after the _post-mortem_

-examination had been made, revealed absolutely nothing.  Even the

-cause of death puzzled the doctors.  There was a slight cut in the

-corner of the mouth, so small that it might have been accidentally

-caused while he had been eating, and beyond a slight scratch behind

-the left ear there was no abrasion of the skin--no wound of any kind.

-On the neck, however, were two strange marks, like the marks of a

-finger and a thumb, which pointed to strangulation, yet the medical

-examination failed to establish that as a fact.  He died from some

-cause which could not be determined.  It might, indeed, the doctors

-admitted, have been almost described as a natural death, but for the

-fact that the notes were missing, which pointed so very markedly to

-murder.

-

-That same evening, as the winter sun was sinking behind the Esterels,

-we followed the dead man's remains to their resting-place in the

-English cemetery, high up in the olive groves of Caucade--perhaps one

-of the most beautiful and picturesque burial-places in the world.

-Winter and summer it is always a blaze of bright flowers, and the

-view over the olive-clad slope and the calm Mediterranean beyond is

-one of the most charming in all the Riviera.

-

-The English chaplain of the Rue de France performed the last rites,

-and then, turning sorrowfully away, we drove back, full of gloomy

-thoughts, to Nice.

-

-The puzzling incident had crushed all gaiety from our hearts.  I

-suggested that we should immediately go on to Mentone, but Ulrica

-declared that it was our duty to remain where we were and give the

-police what assistance we could in aiding them to solve what seemed

-an inscrutable mystery.  Thus the days which followed were days of

-sadness and melancholy.  We ate in our own room to avoid the gaze of

-the curious, for all in Nice now knew the tragic story, and as we

-passed in and out of the hotel we overheard many whisperings.

-

-As for myself, I had a double burden of sorrow.  In those hours of

-deep thought and sadness, I reflected that poor Reggie was a man who

-might, perhaps, have become my husband.  I did not love him in the

-sense that the average woman understands love.  He was a sociable

-companion, clever, smart in dress and gait, and altogether one of

-those easy men of the world who appeal strongly to a woman of my own

-temperament.  When I placed him in comparison with Ernest, however, I

-saw that I could never have actually entertained a real affection for

-him.  I loved Ernest with a wild, passionate love, and all others

-were now, and would ever be, as naught to me.  I cared not that he

-had forsaken me in favour of that ugly, tow-haired witch.  I was his.

-I felt that I must at all hazards see him again.

-

-I was sitting at the open window one afternoon, gazing moodily out

-upon the Square Massena, when Ulrica suddenly said:

-

-"Curious that we've seen nothing more of Ernest.  I suppose, however,

-you've forgotten him."

-

-"Forgotten him!" I cried, starting up.  "I shall never forget

-him--never!"

-

-In that instant I seemed to see his dark, handsome face before me, as

-of old.  It was in the golden blaze of a summer sunset.  I heard his

-rich voice in my ears.  I saw him pluck a sprig of jasmine, emblem of

-purity, and give it to me, at the same time whispering words of love

-and devotion.  Ah, yes, he loved me then--he loved me!

-

-I put up my hand to shut out the vision.  I rose, and staggered.

-Then I felt Ulrica's soft hand upon my waist.

-

-"Carmela!  Carmela!" she cried, "what's the matter?  Tell me, dear!"

-

-"You know," I answered hoarsely.  "You know, Ulrica, that I love

-him!"  My voice was choked within me, so deep was my distress.  "And

-he is to marry--to marry that woman!"

-

-"My dear, take my advice and forget him," she said lightly.  "There

-are lots of other men whom you could love quite as well.  Poor

-Reggie, for instance, might have filled his place in your heart.  He

-was charming--poor fellow!  Your Ernest treated you as he has done

-all women.  Why make yourself miserable and wear out your heart

-remembering a past which it is quite unnecessary to recall.  Live, as

-I do, for the future, without mourning over what must ever be

-bygones."

-

-"Ah! that's all very well," I said sadly.  "But I can't help it.

-That woman loves him--every woman loves him!  You yourself admired

-him long ago."

-

-"Certainly.  I admire lots of men, but I have never committed the

-folly of loving a single one."

-

-"Folly!" I cried angrily.  "You call love folly!"

-

-"Why, of course," she laughed.  "Do dry your eyes, or you'll look an

-awful sight when Gerald comes.  He said he would go for a walk with

-us on the Promenade at four--and it's already half-past three.  Come,

-it's time we dressed."

-

-I sighed heavily.  Yes, it was true that Ulrica was utterly heartless

-towards those who admired her.  I had with regret noticed her

-careless attitude times without number.  She was a smart woman who

-thought only of her own good looks, her own toilettes, her own

-conquests, and her own amusements.  Men pleased her by their

-flattery, and she therefore tolerated them.  She had told me this

-long ago with her own lips, and had urged me to follow her example.

-

-"Ulrica," said I at last, "forgive me, forgive me, but I am so

-unhappy.  Don't let us speak of him again.  I will try and forget,

-indeed I will--I will try to regard him as dead.  I forgot

-myself--forgive me, dear."

-

-"Yes, forget him, there's a dear," she said, kissing me.  "And now

-call Felicita, and let us dress.  Gerald hates to be kept waiting,

-you know," and carelessly she began humming the refrain of the latest

-_chanson_:

-

-      "Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,

-  Viens par-ci, viens par-là, ma brune!

-  Laisse le vieux jaloux qui t'importune,

-      Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,

-      Le temps fuit et voilà la lune,

-  C'est l'heure des baisers au clair de lune."

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER V

-

-DEALS WITH A MILLIONAIRE

-

-One evening, about ten days later, we dined at old Benjamin Keppel's

-invitation at the Villa Fabron.

-

-Visitors to Nice know the great white mansion well.  High up above

-the sea, beyond the Magnan, it stands in the midst of extensive

-grounds, shaded by date palms, olives and oranges, approached by a

-fine eucalyptus avenue, and rendered light with flowers, its

-dazzlingly white walls relieved by the green _persiennes_, a

-residence magnificent even for Nice--the town of princes.  Along the

-whole front of the great place there runs a broad marble terrace,

-from which are obtained marvellous views of Nice, with the gilt-domed

-Jetée Promenade jutting out into the azure bay, the old Château, Mont

-Boron, and the snow-capped Alps on the left, while on the right lies

-the valley of the Var, and that romantic chain of dark purple

-mountains which lie far away beyond Cannes, a panorama almost as

-magnificent as that from the higher Corniche.

-

-The interior was, we found, the acme of luxury and comfort.

-Everywhere was displayed the fact that its owner was wealthy; none on

-entering so splendid a home would have believed him to be so simple

-in taste and so curiously eccentric in manner.  Each winter he came

-to Nice in his splendid steam-yacht, the _Vispera_, which was now

-anchored as usual in Villefranche Harbour, and with his sister, a

-small, wizen-faced old lady, and Mr. Barnes, his secretary, he lived

-there from December until the end of April.

-

-Ulrica had met him several times in London, and he greeted us both

-very affably.  He was, I found, a queer old fellow.  Report had

-certainly not lied about him, and I could hardly believe that this

-absent-minded, rather ordinary-looking old fellow, with disordered

-grey hair and beard and dark, deep-set eyes, was Gerald's father, the

-great Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg.

-

-Dinner, even though rather a stately affair, was quite a pleasant

-function, for the old millionaire was most unassuming and affable.

-One of his eccentricities displayed itself in his dress.  His

-dining-jacket was old, and quite glossy about the back and elbows; he

-wore a paper collar, his white tie showed unmistakable signs of

-having done duty on at least a dozen previous occasions, and across

-his vest was suspended an albert chain, not of gold, but of rusty

-steel.  There had never been any pretence about Ben Keppel in his

-earlier days, as all the world knew, and there was certainly none in

-these days of his affluence.  He had amassed his fabulous fortune by

-shrewdness and sheer hard work, and he despised the whole of that

-chattering little ring which calls itself Society.

-

-Before I had been an hour in this man's society I grew to like him

-for his honest plain-spokenness.  He possessed none of that sarcastic

-arrogance which generally characterises those whose fortunes are

-noteworthy, but in conversation spoke softly, with a carefully

-cultivated air of refinement.  Not that he was refined in the least.

-He had gone to the Transvaal as an emigrant from a little village in

-Norfolk, and had succeeded in amassing the third largest fortune in

-the United Kingdom.

-

-He sat at the head of the table in his great dining-room, while

-Ulrica and myself sat on either hand.  As a matter of course our

-conversation turned upon the mysterious death of poor Reggie, and we

-both gave him the exact version of the story.

-

-"Most extraordinary!" he ejaculated.  "Gerald has already explained

-the painful facts to me.  There seems no doubt whatever that the poor

-fellow was murdered for the money.  Yet, to me, the strangest part of

-the whole affair is why he should have left you so suddenly at the

-Hermitage.  If he changed the money for large notes, as we may

-suppose he did, why didn't he return to you?"

-

-"Because he must in the meantime have met someone," I suggested.

-

-"That's just it," he said.  "If the police could but discover the

-identity of this friend, then I feel convinced that all the rest

-would be plain sailing."

-

-"But, my dear guv'nor, the police hold the theory that he didn't meet

-anyone until he arrived at Nice," Gerald observed.

-

-"The police here are a confounded set of idiots!" cried the old

-millionaire.  "If it had occurred in London, or Chicago, or even in

-Glasgow, they would have arrested the murderer long before this.

-Here, in France, there's too much confounded _contrôle_."

-

-"I expect if the truth were known," observed Miss Keppel, in her

-thin, squeaky voice, "the authorities of Monaco don't relish the idea

-that a man may be followed and murdered after successful play, and

-they won't help the Nice police at all."

-

-"Most likely," her brother said.  "The police of the Prince of Monaco

-are elegant blue and silver persons, who look as though they would

-hesitate to capture a prisoner for fear of soiling their white kid

-gloves.  But surely, Miss Rosselli," he added, turning to me, "the

-Nice police haven't let the affair drop, have they?"

-

-"I cannot say," I responded.  "The last I saw of any of the

-detectives was a week ago.  The man who called upon me then admitted

-that no clue had, so far, been obtained."

-

-"Then all I have to say is that it's a public scandal!" Benjamin

-Keppel cried angrily.  "The authorities here seem to entertain

-absolutely no regard for the personal safety of their visitors.  It

-appears to me that in Nice year by year prices have gone up until

-hotel charges have become unbearable, and people are being driven

-away to Algiers and Cairo.  And I don't blame them.  During these

-past two years absolutely no regard has been paid by the Nice

-authorities to the comfort of the visitors who bring them their

-wherewithal to live.  Look at the state of the streets this season!

-They're all up for new trams, new paving, new watermains and things,

-until they are absolutely impassable.  Even the Promenade des Anglais

-has been up!  Why they can't do it in summer, when there are no

-visitors here, is a mystery.  Again, within the last eight or ten

-years the price of everything has doubled, while the sanitary defects

-have become a disgrace.  Why, down at Beaumettes there were, until

-quite recently, houses which actually drained into a cave!  And then

-they are surprised at an outbreak of typhoid!  The whole thing's

-preposterous!"

-

-"An English newspaper correspondent who had the courage to tell the

-truth about Nice was served with a notice threatening his expulsion

-from France!" observed Gerald.  "A nice way to suppress facts!"

-

-"Oh! that's the French way," observed Ulrica, with a laugh.  "It is,

-however, certain that if Nice is to remain healthy and popular, there

-must be some very radical changes."

-

-"If there are not, I shall sell this place," said the old millionaire

-decisively.  "I shall take the newspaper correspondent's advice and

-pitch my quarters in Cairo, where English-speaking visitors are

-protected, properly treated, and have their comfort looked after."

-

-"Why not try San Remo?" I suggested.

-

-"San Remo!" he cried, with an air of disgust.  "Why, it's the most

-snobbish place on the whole Riviera.  The persons who have villas

-there are mostly those whom we taboo in society at home.  One

-interesting person has had the audacity to name his villa after a

-royal palace.  It's like a fellow putting up 'Buckingham Palace' upon

-his ten-roomed house at Streatham Hill.  No, Miss Rosselli, save me

-from San Remo!  The hotels there are ruinous, and mostly of the

-fourth class, while the tradespeople are as rapacious a set of sharks

-as can be found outside Genoa.  And the visitors are of that angular,

-sailor-hatted type of tea and lawn-tennis Englishwoman who talks

-largely at home of what she calls 'wintering abroad,' and hopes by

-reason of a six-weeks' stay in a cheap _pension_, shivering over an

-impossible fire, to improve her social status on her return to her

-own local surroundings.  San Remo, dull, dear, and dreary, has ever

-been a ghastly failure, and ever will be, as long as it is frequented

-by its present _clientele_ of sharks and spongers.  What the

-newspaper correspondent said about Nice was the truth--the whole

-truth," he went on.  "I know Nice as well as most people, and I bear

-out every charge put forward.  The Riviera has declined terribly

-these past five years.  Why, the people here actually hissed the

-Union Jack at the last Battle of Flowers!"

-

-"Disgraceful!" said Ulrica, rather amused at the old fellow's warmth.

-"If Nice declines in the popular favour, then the Niçois have only

-themselves to blame."

-

-"Exactly.  Foreigners are looked upon here as necessary evils, while

-in Italy, except on the Riviera, they are welcomed.  I built this

-place and spent a fairish sum upon it, but if things don't improve,

-I'll sell it at auction and cart my traps down to Sicily, or over to

-Cairo.  Upon that I'm determined."

-

-"The guv'nor's disgusted," Gerald laughed across to me.  "He's taken

-like this sometimes."

-

-"Yes, my boy, I am disgusted.  All I want in winter is quiet,

-sunshine, and good air.  That's what I come here for.  And I can get

-all that at Palermo or Algiers, for in those places the air is even

-better than here."

-

-"But it isn't so fashionable," I observed.

-

-"To an old man like me it doesn't matter whether a place is

-fashionable or not, my dear Miss Rosselli," he said, with a serious

-look.  "I leave all that sort of thing to Gerald.  He has his clubs,

-his horses, his fine friends and all the rest of it.  But all the

-people know Ben Keppel of Johannesburg.  Even if I belonged to the

-most swagger of the clubs and mixed in good society--among lords and

-ladies of the aristocracy, I mean--I'd still be the same.  I couldn't

-alter myself as some of 'em try to do."

-

-We laughed.  The old man was so blunt that one could not help

-admiring him.  He had the reputation of being niggardly in certain

-matters, especially regarding Gerald's allowance; but, as Ulrica had

-remarked, there were no doubt plenty of people who would be anxious

-to lend money to the millionaire's heir upon post-obits, so that,

-after all, it didn't much matter.

-

-If inclined to be economical in one or two directions, he certainly

-kept a remarkably good table; but although there were choice wines

-for us, he drank only water.

-

-When, with Gerald, he joined us in the great drawing-room, he seated

-himself near me and suddenly said:

-

-"I don't know, Miss Rosselli, whether you'd like to remain here and

-gossip, or whether you'd like to stroll round the place.  You are a

-woman, and there may be something to interest you in it."

-

-"I shall be delighted, I'm sure," I said, and together we went forth

-to wander about the great mansion, which all the world on the Riviera

-knows as the home of the renowned Ben Keppel.

-

-He showed me his library, the boudoirs which were never occupied, the

-gallery of modern French paintings, the Indian tea-room, and the

-great conservatory whence we walked out upon the terrace and looked

-down upon the lights of the gay winter city lying at our feet, and at

-the flash of white brilliance that ever and anon shot across the

-tranquil sea, marking the dangerous headland at Antibes.

-

-The night was lovely--one of those bright and perfect nights which

-occur so often on the Riviera in January.  At sundown the air is

-always damp and treacherous, but when darkness falls it is no longer

-dangerous, even to those with extremely delicate constitutions.

-

-"How beautiful!" I ejaculated, standing at his side and watching the

-great white moon slowly rising from the sea.  "What a fairyland!"

-

-"Yes.  It is beautiful.  The Riviera is, I believe, the fairest spot

-that God has created on this earth," and then he sighed, as though

-world-weary.

-

-Presently, when we had been chatting a few minutes, he suggested that

-we should re-enter the house, as he feared that I, being décolletée,

-might catch a chill.

-

-"I have a hobby," he said; "the only thing which prevents me from

-becoming absolutely melancholy.  Would you care to see it?"

-

-"Oh, do show it me!" I said, at once interested.

-

-"Then come with me," he exclaimed.  He led me through two long

-passages to a door which he unlocked with a tiny master-key upon his

-chain.  "This is my private domain," he laughed.  "No one is allowed

-in here, so you must consider yourself very highly privileged."

-

-"That I certainly do," I responded.

-

-As he entered he switched on the electric light, displaying to my

-astonished gaze a large place fitted as a workshop with lathes,

-tools, wheels, straps and all sorts of mechanical contrivances.

-

-"This room is secret," he said, with a smile.  "If the fine people

-who sometimes patronise me with visits thought that I actually worked

-here they'd be horrified."

-

-"Then do you actually work?" I inquired, surprised.

-

-"Certainly.  Having nothing to occupy my leisure moments after I had

-severed myself from the works, I took to turning.  I was a turner by

-trade years ago, you know."

-

-I looked at him in wonderment.  People had said he was eccentric, and

-this was evidently one of his eccentricities.  He had secretly

-established a great workshop within that princely mansion:

-

-"Would you like to see how I can work?" he asked, noticing my look of

-wonder.  "Well, watch--excuse me."

-

-Thereupon he threw off his jacket, and having raised a lever which

-set one of the lathes at work, he seated himself at it, selected a

-piece of ivory, and placed it in position.

-

-"Now," he laughed, looking towards me, "what shall I make you?  Ah, I

-know, an object useful to all you ladies--a box for your powder-puff,

-eh?"

-

-"You seem to be fully aware of feminine mysteries, Mr. Keppel," I

-laughed.

-

-"Well, you see, I was married once," he answered.  "But in them days

-my poor Mary didn't want face-powder, bless her!"

-

-And that instant his keen chisel cut deeply into the revolving ivory

-with a harsh sawing sound that rendered further conversation

-impossible.

-

-I stood behind and watched him.  His grand old head was bent keenly

-over his work as he hollowed out the box to the desired depth,

-carefully gauged it, finished it, and quickly turned the lid until it

-fitted with precision and exactness.  Then he rubbed it down,

-polished it in several ways, and at last handed it to me complete.

-

-"This is a little souvenir, Miss Rosselli, of your first visit to me."

-

-"Thank you ever so much," I answered, taking it and examining it

-curiously.

-

-Truly he was a skilled workman, this man whose colossal wealth was

-remarkable, even among England's many millionaires.

-

-"I only ask one favour," he said, as we passed out and he locked the

-door of his workshop behind us.  "That you will tell no one of my

-hobby--that I have returned to my own trade.  For Gerald's sake I am

-compelled to keep up an appearance, and some of his friends would

-sneer if they knew that his father still worked and earned money in

-his odd moments."

-

-"Do you earn money?" I inquired, amazed.

-

-"Certainly.  A firm in Bond Street buy all my ivory work, only

-they're not, of course, aware that it comes from me.  It wouldn't do,

-you know.  My work, you see, provides me with a little pocket-money.

-It has done so ever since I left the factory," he added simply.

-

-"I promise you, Mr. Keppel, that I'll tell no one, if you wish it to

-remain a secret.  I had no idea that you actually sold your turnings."

-

-"You don't blame me, surely?" he said.

-

-"Certainly not," I answered.

-

-It seemed, however, ludicrous that this multi-millionaire, with his

-great house in Park Lane, his shooting-box in Scotland, his yacht,

-which was acknowledged to be one of the finest afloat, and his villa

-there on the Riviera, should toil at turning, in order to make a

-pound or two a week as pocket-money.

-

-"When I worked as a turner in the old days, I earned sixteen

-shillings a week, by making butter dishes and bread plates, wooden

-bowls, salad spoons, and such like, and I earn about the same to-day

-when I've paid for the ivory, and the necessary things for the

-'shop,'" he explained.  Then he added: "You seem to think it strange,

-Miss Rosselli.  If you place yourself for a moment in my position,

-that of a man without further aim or ambition, you will not be

-surprised that I have, after nearly forty years, returned to the old

-trade to which I served my apprenticeship."

-

-"I quite understand," I responded, "and I only admire you that you do

-not, like so many other rich men, lead a life of easy indolence."

-

-"I can't do that," he said; "it isn't in me to be still.  I must be

-at work, or I'm never happy.  Only I have to be discreet for Gerald's

-sake," and the old millionaire smiled, though rather sadly, I thought.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VI

-

-PLACES ME IN A PREDICAMENT

-

-"I think him a most sociable old fellow," I answered, in response to

-Ulrica's inquiry when we returned to the hotel.

-

-"But awfully eccentric," she said.  "Gerald always complains that he

-finds it impossible to make both ends meet upon his allowance."

-

-"He may surely be forgiven that," I said.  "After all, he's an

-excellent type of the prosperous worker."

-

-"He showed you his ivory-turning, I suppose?" she observed, with a

-slight sneer.  "I see he's given you a puff-box."

-

-"Yes, he turned it while I waited."

-

-"It's really absurd," she declared, "that a man of his enormous means

-should still continue to work as he does.  Gerald tells me that he

-has secret workshops in all his houses, and spends the greater part

-of his time in turning, just as any workman would do.  No doubt he's

-a bit wrong in the head.  His wealth has crushed him."

-

-"I think you judge him too harshly, my dear," I responded.  "All

-master-minds have their hobbies.  His hobby is quite a harmless one;

-merely to return to the trade to which he was apprenticed long ago."

-

-She smiled with some sarcasm.

-

-Then we parted, and retired to bed.

-

-Day by day for many days we went over to Monte Carlo; why I can

-scarcely tell.  All visitors to Nice drift there, as if by the

-natural law of gravitation, and we were no exception.  Even though

-our memories of the Sign of the Seven Sins were painful on account of

-poor Reggie's mysterious death, we nevertheless found distraction in

-the Rooms, the crowds, and the music.  Sometimes Gerald would act as

-our escort, and at others we went over alone after luncheon and

-risked half-a-dozen louis at the tables with varying success.  We met

-quite a host of people we knew, for the season was proceeding apace,

-and the nearness of the Carnival attracted our compatriots from all

-over Europe.

-

-And as the days passed, my eyes were ever watchful.  Truth to tell,

-Monte Carlo had an attraction for me, not because of its

-picturesqueness or its play, but because I knew that in that feverish

-little world there lived and moved the man who held my future in his

-hands.  In the Rooms, in the "Paris," in the Place, and in the

-Gardens I searched for sight of him, but alas! always in vain.  I

-bought the various visitors' lists, but failed to discover that he

-was staying at any of the villas or hotels.  Yet I knew he was there,

-for had I not seen him with my own eyes--had I not seen him smile

-upon the woman who was my rival?

-

-The papers continued to comment upon the mystery surrounding poor

-Reggie's tragic death, yet beyond a visit from the British Consul,

-who proved to be a nice old gentleman, and who obtained a statement

-from us regarding his friends in London, and who took possession of

-certain effects found in his room, absolutely nothing fresh

-transpired.

-

-It was early in February, that month when Nice puts on its annual air

-of gaiety in preparation for the reign of the King of Folly; when the

-streets are bright with coloured decoration, great stands are erected

-in the Place Massena, and the shops of the Avenue de la Gare are

-ablaze with Carnival costumes in the two colours previously decided

-upon by the Committee.  Though Nice may be defective from a sanitary

-point of view, and her authorities churlish towards foreign visitors,

-nevertheless in early February it is certainly the gayest and most

-charming spot on the whole Riviera.  The very streets, full of life

-and movement, are sweet with the perfume of roses, violets and

-mimosa; and at a time when the rest of Europe is held frost-bound,

-summer costumes and sunshades are the mode, while men wear their

-straw hats and flannels upon that finest of all sea-walks, the

-palm-planted Promenade des Anglais.

-

-Poor Reggie's brother, a doctor in Aberdeen, had arrived to obtain a

-personal account of the mystery, which, of course, we gave.  Gerald

-also conducted him to the grave in the English cemetery, on which he

-laid a beautiful wreath, and, while there, gave orders for a handsome

-monument.  Then after remaining three days, he returned to Scotland.

-

-Meanwhile, we became frequent guests at the Villa Fabron, dining

-there often, and being always received cordially by the old

-millionaire.  The secretary, Barnes, appeared to me to rule the

-household, for he certainly placed himself more in evidence than ever

-did his employer, and I could see that the relations between Gerald

-and this factotum of his father were somewhat strained.  He was a

-round-faced man of about thirty-five, dark, clean-shaven, with a face

-that was quite boyish-looking, but with a pair of small eyes that I

-did not like.  I always distrust persons with small eyes.

-

-From his manner, however, I gathered that he was a shrewd,

-hard-headed man of business, and even Gerald himself had to admit

-that he fulfilled the duties of his post admirably.  Of course, I

-came into contact with him very little.  Now and then we met on the

-Promenade, or in the Quai St. Jean Baptiste, and he raised his hat in

-passing, or he might happen to encounter us at the Villa when we

-visited there, but save on these occasions, I had not spoken to him a

-dozen words.

-

-"He has the face of a village idiot, with eyes like a Scotland Yard

-detective," was Ulrica's terse summary of his appearance, and it was

-an admirable description.

-

-On the Sunday afternoon when the first Battle of Confetti was fought,

-we went out in our satin dominoes of mauve and old gold--the colours

-of that year--and had glorious fun pelting all and sundry with paper

-confetti, or whirling serpentines among the crowd in the Avenue de la

-Gare.  Those who have been in Nice during Carnival know the wild

-gaiety of that Sabbath, the procession of colossal cars and grotesque

-figures, the ear-splitting bands, the ridiculous costumes of the

-maskers, the buoyant fun and the good humour of everybody in that

-huge cosmopolitan crowd.

-

-Gerald was with us, as well as a young American named Fordyce, whom

-we had known in London, and who was now staying at the Beau Site,

-over at Cannes.  With our sacks containing confetti slung over our

-shoulders, and the hoods of our bright dominoes over our heads, and

-wearing half masks of black velvet, we mixed with the crowd the whole

-of that afternoon, heartily enjoying the fun.

-

-I confess that I enjoyed, and shall always, I hope, enjoy the Nice

-Carnival immensely.  Many constant visitors condemn it as a tawdry

-tinsel show, and leave Nice for a fortnight in order to escape the

-uproar and boisterous fun; but after all, even though the air of

-recklessness would perchance shock some of the more puritanical in

-our own land, there is nevertheless an enormous amount of harmless

-and healthy amusement to be derived from it.  It is only sour

-spinsters and the gouty who really object to Carnival.  Regular

-visitors to the Riviera condemn it merely because it is good form to

-condemn everything vulgar.  They used to enjoy it until its annual

-repetition became wearisome.

-

-After the fight with confetti, during which our hair and dominoes got

-sadly tumbled, we struggled through the crowd to the hotel; and while

-Gerald went along to the café outside the Casino to wait for us, we

-dressed.

-

-Felicita was an unconscionable time in doing my hair--her head was

-full of the Carnival fever, I think--and when I entered our

-sitting-room I found Ulrica, ready dressed, seated on a low stool in

-a picturesque attitude, lazily cooling herself with her fan of

-feathers.  The disengaged bare arm, with its jingling bangles, was

-gracefully raised, the taper fingers were endeavouring, without much

-success, to adjust a stray lock of hair.  It was a favourite gesture

-of Ulrica's, for her hands were lovely, white and slender, and

-covered with rings, which she was fond of displaying.  The rosy light

-from the shaded lamp fell kindly upon her, so that she made an

-extremely pretty picture.

-

-She was talking as I entered, and in the dim light I discovered a man

-sitting on the ottoman.  I was about to retreat, when she recalled

-me, and introduced me with a little laugh, to Cecil Ormrod, who had

-called at that rather inconvenient moment.  She appeared to be by no

-means displeased at having been surprised in a _tête-à-tête_ with

-him.  It was a notification that she had pegged out her claim.

-

-He was tall, manly, and well-shaped, and his voice was pleasant.

-Ulrica looked at me with a curious smile, as if to say: "Don't you

-think I have shown good taste?"  Then holding out her hand for his

-aid in rising, she said to him:

-

-"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Ormrod, but we are just going out to dinner.

-I know you'll excuse us.  You'll look in and see us to-morrow.  You

-must, you know--you're staying at the 'Anglais,' and it's close by."

-

-Then, turning to me, she added:

-

-"Come, dear, we must make haste.  It's awfully late, and old Mr.

-Keppel will never forgive us if the soup comes up cold."

-

-So young Cecil Ormrod made his adieux and departed, promising to call

-on us again.

-

-"Cecil is an awfully nice boy," Ulrica remarked.  "I met him at a

-country house-party two years ago.  His father is a stockbroker and

-his sisters are particularly jolly.  We must be nice to him."

-

-"You've already begun," I remarked, rather spitefully perhaps.  But

-she only smiled.

-

-Then we descended by the lift and joined Gerald, whom we found

-walking up and down impatiently in the hall.

-

-Quite a host of smart people dined at the Villa Fabron that evening,

-including several pretty English girls.  A millionaire never lacks

-friends.  Old Benjamin Keppel was something of a recluse.  It was not

-often that he sent out so many invitations, but when he gave a dinner

-he spared no expense, and the one in honour of Carnival was truly a

-gastronomic marvel.  The table was decorated with mauve and old gold,

-the Carnival colours; and the room, which was draped with satin of

-the same shades, presented a mass of blended hues particularly

-striking.

-

-The old millionaire, seated at the head of his table, in his breezy,

-open-hearted manner made everyone happy at once.

-

-Both Ulrica and I wore new frocks, which we considered were the

-latest triumphs of our Nice _couturière_--they certainly ought to

-have been, if they were not, for their cost was ruinous--and there

-were also quite a number of bright dresses and good-looking men.  The

-day is gone, I am glad to say, when a mode, because it is decreed to

-be the fashion, is blindly adopted.  Women realise at last that to

-achieve the happiest results they must make Fashion subservient to

-their requirements, instead of foolishly following in her wake, as

-for years they have been wont to do.

-

-As I sat there amid the gay chatter of the table, I looked at the

-lean, grey-bearded man at its head, and fell into reflection.  How

-strange it was that this man, worth millions, actually toiled in

-secret each day at his lathe to earn a few shillings a week from an

-English firm as pocket-money!  All his gay friends who sat around his

-table were ignorant of that fact.  He only revealed it to those in

-whom he placed trust--and I was one of the latter.

-

-After dinner we all went forth into the gardens, which were

-illuminated everywhere with coloured lights and lanterns, and

-wandered beneath the orange trees, joking and chattering.

-

-A rather insipid young prig was at first my companion, but presently

-I found myself beside old Mr. Keppel, who walked at my side far down

-the slope, till at last we came to the dark belt of olives which

-formed the boundary of his domain.  Villas on the Riviera do not

-usually possess extensive grounds, but the Villa Fabron was an

-exception, for the gardens ran down almost to the well-known white

-sea-road that leads along from Nice to the mouth of the Var.

-

-"How charming!" I exclaimed, as, turning back, we gazed upon the long

-terrace hung with Japanese lanterns, and the moving figures smoking,

-taking their coffee, and chattering.

-

-"Yes," the old man laughed.  "I have to be polite to them now and

-then; but after all, Miss Rosselli, they don't come here to visit

-me--only to spend a pleasant evening.  Society expects me to

-entertain, so I have to.  But I confess that I never feel at home

-among all these folk, as Gerald does."

-

-"I fear you are becoming just a little world-weary," I said, smiling.

-

-"Becoming?  Why, I was tired of it all years ago," he answered,

-glancing at me with a serious expression in his deep-set eyes.  It

-seemed as though he wished to confide in me, and yet dared not do so.

-

-"Why not try a change?" I suggested.  "You have the _Vispera_ lying

-at Villefranche.  Why not take a trip in her up the Mediterranean?"

-

-"No," he sighed.  "I hate yachting, for I have nothing on board

-wherewith to occupy my time.  After a couple of days I always go

-ashore at the nearest port.  The trip round from Portsmouth here each

-winter is always a misery to me."

-

-"And you keep such a beautiful craft idle!" I observed, in a tone of

-reproach.

-

-"You've seen it?"

-

-"Yes, Gerald took us on board a few days ago, and showed us over.

-It's like a small Atlantic liner."

-

-"Everyone says she's a handsome boat," the old fellow remarked

-carelessly.  Then he added: "Are you fond of the sea?"

-

-"Passionately.  I always regret when the Channel passage is finished."

-

-"Perhaps you would like to go on a cruise in the _Vispera_?" he said.

-"If you would, I should be very pleased to take you.  I might invite

-a party for a run, say, to Naples or Smyrna and back."

-

-"I should be delighted," I answered enthusiastically, for yachting

-was one of my favourite pastimes, and on board such a magnificent

-craft, one of the finest private vessels afloat, life would be most

-enjoyable.

-

-"Very well, I'll see what I can arrange," he answered; and then we

-fell to discussing other things.

-

-He smoked thoughtfully as he strolled beside me, his mind evidently

-much preoccupied.  The stars were bright overhead, the night balmy

-and still, and the air was heavy with the scent of flowers.  It was

-hard to believe that it was actually mid-winter.

-

-"I fear," he said at last--"I fear, Miss Rosselli, that you find me a

-rather lonely man, don't you?"

-

-"You have no reason to be lonely," I responded.  "Surrounded by all

-these friends, your life might surely be very gay if you wished."

-

-"Friends?  Bah!" he cried, in a tone of ridicule.  "There's an

-attraction in money that is irresistible.  These people here, all of

-them, bow down before the golden calf.  Sometimes, Miss Rosselli, I

-have thought that there's no real honesty of purpose in the world."

-

-"I'm afraid you are a bit of a cynic," I laughed.

-

-"And if I am, may I not be forgiven?" he urged.  "I can assure you I

-find life very dull indeed."

-

-It was a strange confession coming from the lips of such a man.  If I

-had only a sixteenth part of his wealth I should, I reflected, be a

-very happy woman--unless the common saying were actually true, that

-great wealth only creates unbearable burdens.

-

-"You are not the only one who finds life wearisome," I observed

-frankly, "I also have to plead guilty to the indictment on many

-occasions."

-

-"You?" he cried, halting, and regarding me in surprise.  "You--young,

-pretty, vivacious, with ever so many men in love with you?  And you

-are tired of it all--tired of it while still in your twenties?

-Impossible!"

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VII

-

-MAINLY CONCERNS THE OWL

-

-Late that night Ulrica made merry at my expense.  She had noticed me

-walking _tête-à-tête_ with old Mr. Keppel, and accused me of

-flirtation with him.

-

-Now, I may be given to harmless frivolities with men of my own age,

-but I certainly have never endeavoured to attract those of maturer

-years.  Elderly men may have admired me--that I do not deny--but

-assuredly this has been through no fault of my own.  A woman's gowns

-are always an object of attention among the sterner sex.  If,

-therefore, she dresses smartly she can at once attract a certain

-section of males, even though her features may be the reverse of

-prepossessing.

-

-Truth to tell, a woman's natural _chic_, her taste in dress and her

-style of _coiffure_, are by far the most important factors towards

-her well-being.  The day of the healthful, buxom, pink-and-white

-beauty is long past.  The woman rendered artistic by soft chiffons,

-dainty blouses, and graceful tea-gowns reigns in her stead.  Women

-nowadays are becoming very Continental.  For instance, certain

-illustrated journals tell us that fur coats of every description are

-to be the mode, and a few foolish women think that if they possess

-such a garment, no matter what its shape, so long as it is of fur,

-they will be in the vanguard of Fashion!  The really smart woman

-will, however, think twice before she hides her figure by any such

-bulky covering, merely because she happens to possess the fur, and it

-will take the furrier all the ingenuity at his command to produce the

-neat, short and close-fitting little coat or bolero which she would

-condescend to wear.  Yes, we are yearly becoming more and more

-tasteful--more Parisian.  Ulrica's suggestion caused me to laugh.

-

-"Old Mr. Keppel walked with me because he wanted company, I suppose,"

-I protested.  "I had no idea such a misconstruction would be placed

-upon our conversation, Ulrica."

-

-"Why, my dear, everyone noticed it and remarked upon it.  He

-neglected his guests and walked with you for a whole hour in the

-garden.  Whatever did you find to talk about all that long time?"

-

-"Nothing," I responded simply.  "He only took me round the place.  I

-don't think he cares very much for the people he entertains, or he

-wouldn't have neglected them in that manner."

-

-"No.  But I heard some spiteful things said about yourself," Ulrica

-remarked.

-

-"By whom?"

-

-"By various people.  They said that you had been angling after the

-old man for a long time--that you had followed him to Nice, in fact."

-

-"Oh, Ulrica!" I cried indignantly.  "How can they say such things?

-Why, you know it was yourself who introduced us."

-

-"I know," she answered rather curtly.  "But I didn't expect that

-you'd make such a fool of yourself as you've done to-night."

-

-"I am not aware that I have made a fool of myself, as you choose to

-term it," I responded warmly.  "Mr. Keppel invited me to walk in the

-garden, and as his guest I could not very well refuse."

-

-"You know what an ill-bred, vulgar old fellow he is, and you might

-therefore have had some respect for his guests."

-

-"I know that he is an honest, plain-spoken man," I said calmly.  "He

-may be ill-bred, but, nevertheless, he's more the gentleman than half

-the over-dressed cads who so perpetually hang about us just because

-we happen to be both good-looking."

-

-"If I were in your place I should be ashamed at having made such an

-exhibition of myself!" she exclaimed, with bitter sarcasm.

-

-"I have made no exhibition of myself," I protested.  "I like Mr.

-Keppel for his blunt manliness--but beyond that--why, Ulrica, you

-must be mad to suspect me of flirtation with him!"

-

-"He's old enough to be your father," she snapped.  "Yet Doris Ansell

-whispered in the drawing-room that she had watched him holding your

-hand in lover-like attitude."

-

-"Then Doris Ansell lied!" I exclaimed angrily.  "He never touched my

-hand.  It is a foul libel upon him and upon me."

-

-"I saw you myself walking with him."

-

-"And you were walking with Gerald.  He was, as usual, flirting with

-you," I said spitefully.

-

-Her cheeks crimsoned, and I saw that my words had struck home.  How

-cruel and ill-natured was such gossip as this; how harmful to my good

-name, and to his.  I knew Doris Ansell well--a snub-nosed,

-under-sized little gossip, and had always believed that she

-entertained towards me some ill-will--for what reason I never could

-ascertain.

-

-"And why should you fly into such a rage?" she inquired, with

-affected coolness.  "If you were to change into Mrs. Ben Keppel you

-would at least possess a very substantial income, even if your

-husband was a rough diamond.  You would exact the envy of half the

-women we know, and surely that's quite sufficient success to have

-obtained.  One can't have everything in this world.  Money is always

-synonymous with ugliness where marriage is concerned."

-

-"I don't see any object to be obtained by discussing the matter

-further," I answered, with rising indignation.  "Such a circumstance

-as you suggest will never occur, you may depend upon it."

-

-"My dear Carmela," she said, laughing, "you are still a child, I

-really declare!"

-

-"I am old enough to be mistress of my own actions," I answered

-quickly.  "I shall certainly never marry for money."

-

-"Because of Ernest--eh?"

-

-"It is cruel, Ulrica, to taunt me like this!" I cried, bursting into

-tears.  "Surely I've suffered enough!  You do not suffer because, as

-you have said hundreds of times, you have no heart.  Would that I had

-none!  Love within me is not yet dead.  Would to God it were!  I

-might then be like you, cold and cynical, partaking of the pleasures

-of the world without a thought of its griefs.  As I am, I must love.

-My love for that man is my very life!  Without it I should die!"

-

-"No, no, my dear," she said quickly, in kinder tones.  "Don't cry, or

-your eyes will be a horrid sight to-morrow.  Remember we're lunching

-over at Beaulieu with the Farnells.  Come, dry your eyes and go to

-bed.  I didn't mean anything, you know."  And she drew down my head

-and kissed me tenderly on the brow.

-

-I left her and went to my room, but her words rang constantly in my

-ears.  The idea that the old millionaire had been attracted by me was

-a novel one.  Surely that could not be possible.  True, he had grown

-confidential enough to tell me things that were held secret from all

-his friends, yet I attributed this to his eccentricity.

-

-No, it was surely not true that he was among my admirers.  Through

-the dark hours of that night I thought it all over.  Sometimes I saw

-in all that had occurred a disposition on his part to tell me some

-secret or other.  He had been so preoccupied, and had so earnestly

-told me of the dull loneliness of his life, that colour was certainly

-lent to the theory that he looked upon me with affection.  Yet, after

-all, I reasoned with myself that I could never in my life love a man

-of that age, and determined never to barter myself for money and

-position.  I should even, if he told me the truth, be compelled to

-refuse his offer.

-

-But the whole theory was ridiculous.  It had been started by that

-lying, ill-natured woman for want of something else to gossip about.

-Why should I heed it?  I liked him, it was true, but I could never

-love him--never!

-

-Reader, you may think it strange that we two young women were

-wandering about the Continent together without any male relative.

-The truth is, that terrifying personage, so peculiarly British, known

-as Mrs. Grundy, is dead.  It is her complete downfall in this age of

-emancipation, bicycles and bloomers, that more than anything else

-makes the modern spinster's lot, in many respects, an eminently

-attractive one.

-

-We were discussing this over our coffee on the following morning,

-when Ulrica, referring to our conversation of the previous night,

-said:

-

-"Formerly girls married in order to gain their social liberty; now

-they more often remain single to bring about that desirable

-consummation."

-

-"Certainly," I acquiesced.  "If we are permitted by public opinion to

-go to college, to live alone, to travel, to have a profession, to

-belong to a club, to wear divided skirts--not that I approve of

-them--to give parties, to read and discuss whatsoever seems good to

-us, and go to theatres, and even to Monte Carlo, without a masculine

-escort, then we have most of the privileges--and several others

-thrown in--for which the girl of twenty or thirty years ago was ready

-to sell herself to the first suitor who offered himself and the

-shelter of his name."

-

-"I'm very glad, my dear Carmela, that you are at last becoming so

-very sensible," she answered approvingly.  "Until now you've been far

-too romantic and too old-fashioned in your ideas.  I really think

-that I shall convert you to my views of life in time--if you don't

-marry old Keppel."

-

-"Kindly don't mention him again," I protested firmly.  "To a certain

-extent I entirely agree with you regarding the emancipation of woman.

-A capable woman who has begun a career, and feels certain of

-advancement in it, is often as shy of entangling herself

-matrimonially as ambitious young men have ever shown themselves in

-like circumstances."

-

-"Without doubt.  The disadvantages of marriage to a woman with a

-profession are more obvious than to a man, and it is just the

-question of maternity, with all its duties and responsibilities,

-which is occasionally the cause of many women forswearing the

-privileges of the married state."

-

-"Well, Ulrica," I said, "speaking candidly, would you marry if you

-had a really good offer?"

-

-"Marry?  Certainly not," she answered, with a laugh, as though the

-idea were perfectly preposterous.  "Why should I marry?  I've had a

-host of offers, just as every woman with a little money always has.

-But why should I renounce my freedom?  If I married, my husband would

-forbid this and forbid that--and you know I couldn't live without

-indulging in my little pet vices of smoking and gambling."

-

-"Wouldn't your husband's love fill the void?" I queried.

-

-"It would be but a poor substitute, I'm afraid.  The most ardent love

-nowadays cools within six months, and more often even wanes with the

-honeymoon."

-

-"I've really no patience with you," I said hastily.  "You're far too

-cynical."

-

-She smiled, and then sighed gently.  She looked so young in her pale

-pink _peignoir_.

-

-"Contact with the world has made me what I am, my dear Carmela."

-

-"Well," I said, "to be quite candid, I don't think that the real

-cause why so many women nowadays remain single is to be found in the

-theories we've been airing to one another.  The fact is, after all,

-that we're only a bundle of nerves and emotions, and once our

-affections are involved we are capable of any heroism."

-

-"You may be one of those, my dear," was her rather grave response.

-"I'm afraid, however, that I am not."

-

-I did not pursue the subject further.  She was kind and sympathetic

-in all else, save where my love was concerned.  My affection for

-Ernest was to her merely an amusing incident.  She seemed unable to

-realise how terribly serious I was, or what a crushing blow had

-fallen upon me when he had turned and forsaken me.

-

-Gerald called at eleven, for he had arranged to accompany us to

-Beaulieu.

-

-"Miss Rosselli," he cried, as he greeted me, "you're a brick--that

-you are!"

-

-"A brick!" I echoed.  "Why?"

-

-"Why, you've worked an absolute miracle with the guv'nor.  Nobody

-else could persuade him to set foot on the _Vispera_ except to return

-to England, yet you've induced him to arrange for a cruise up the

-Mediterranean."

-

-Ulrica glanced at me with a confident air.  I knew the thought which

-rose in her mind.

-

-"Are you glad?" I asked him.

-

-"Glad?  I should rather think so!  We shall have a most glorious

-time!  He intends asking the Farnells, Lord Eldersfield, Lord and

-Lady Stoneborough, and quite a lot of people.  We've got you to thank

-for it.  No power on earth would induce him to put to sea--except

-yourself, Miss Rosselli."

-

-"No, Gerald," I said.  "Please don't flatter me.  It's bad form, you

-know.  Your father asked me if I would like a cruise, and I responded

-in the affirmative, that's all."

-

-"Well, at any rate, it's enough," answered the young man

-enthusiastically.  "The guv'nor has sent for Davis, the skipper, and

-when I left him, was poring over a chart of the Eastern

-Mediterranean.  There's only one condition that I've made, and I

-think you'll both agree with me."

-

-"What's that?" inquired Ulrica, as she buttoned her glove.

-

-"That we don't take that cur Barnes.  I hate that fellow."

-

-"So say all of us," Ulrica observed frankly.

-

-"His air is so superior that people believe him to be at least a son

-of the house," Gerald said quickly.  "I know that he tells the

-guv'nor all sorts of false tales about myself.  He knew that I lost

-pretty heavily at Monte when I went over with you the other night,

-and as Mr. Barnes chanced to be there he was, of course, the amiable

-gentleman who told the tale.  I always feel as though I'd like to

-give him a good sound kicking."

-

-"Treat him with contempt," I urged.  "Your father is not the kind of

-man to believe mere tales without proof.  Even if he is a bit

-eccentric, he's the essence of justice--that you'll admit."

-

-"Why, Miss Rosselli, I tell you that my old dad is the very best

-fellow in all the world.  I know all men of his stamp have their

-little eccentricities, and therefore forgive him.  If he's niggardly

-towards me, it's only because he doesn't believe in a young man going

-the pace too fast."

-

-"Quite so," I answered, remembering how very lenient the world is

-towards the son of a millionaire.  "No man should speak ill of his

-father--more especially of such an admirable type as your father is."

-

-But I drew myself up short, for I saw a smile playing in the corners

-of Ulrica's mouth.

-

-"Let's be off," she said.  "We'll take a fiacre to the station.

-Gerald, tell them to get us a cab."

-

-And young Keppel went forth to do her bidding.

-

-The Carnival _bal masqué_ at the Casino--the great event of King

-Carnival's reign--took place on the following Sunday night, and we

-made up a gay party to go to it.  There were seven of us, and we

-looked a grotesque group as we assembled in the vestibule of the

-"Grand," attired in our fantastic costumes and wearing those

-mysterious masks of black velvet which so effectively conceal the

-features.  Ulrica represented a Watteau shepherdess, with wig and

-crook complete, while I was _en bébé_, wearing a simple costume,

-surmounted by a sun-bonnet with a very wide brim.  One of the women

-of the party was a Queen of Folly, and another wore a striking Louis

-XV. dress; while Gerald represented a demon, and wore pins in his

-tail in order to prevent others from pulling that appendage.

-

-As the distance from the hotel to the Casino was only a few hundred

-yards, we walked.  Laughter was abundant, for the novelty of the

-thing was sublime.  Among our party only Gerald had witnessed a

-previous Carnival ball, and he had led us to expect a scene of wild

-merriment.

-

-Certainly we were not disappointed.  Having run the gauntlet of a

-crowd who smothered us with confetti, we entered the great

-winter-garden of the Casino, and found it a blaze of colour--the two

-colours of Carnival.  Suspended from the high glass roof were

-thousands of bannerettes of mauve and gold, while the costumes of the

-revellers were of the self-same shades.  Everywhere flashed coloured

-lights of similar hue, and the fun was already fast and furious.  The

-side-rooms, which, as most readers will remember, are ordinarily

-devoted to gambling--for gambling in a mild form is permitted at

-Nice--were now turned into handsome supper-rooms, and in the

-winter-garden and the theatre beyond the scene was perhaps one of the

-liveliest and most enchanting in the whole world.

-

-Everyone had gone there for full enjoyment.  In the theatre there was

-wild dancing; the boxes were filled by the _grand monde_ of Europe,

-princes and princesses, grand-dukes and grand-duchesses, counts and

-countesses, noted actresses from Paris and London, and well-known

-people of every nationality, all enjoying the scene of uproarious

-merrymaking.  We viewed it first from our own box, but at length

-someone suggested that we should descend and dance, an idea which at

-once found ungrudging favour.

-

-Masked as everyone was, with the little piece of black lace tacked to

-the bottom of the black velvet _loup_, in order to conceal the lower

-part of the features, it was impossible to recognise a single person

-in that whirling crowd.  Therefore, immediately we descended to the

-floor of the theatre we at once became separated.  I stood for a few

-moments bewildered.  The blaze of colour made one's head reel.

-People in all sorts of droll costumes were playing various kinds of

-childish antics.  Out in the winter-garden clowns and devils were

-playing leap-frog, and sylphs and angels, joining hands, were

-whirling round and round in huge rings, playing some game and

-screaming with laughter.  Almost everyone carried miniature

-representations of Punch, with bells attached, large rattles, or

-paper flowers which, when blown, could be elongated to a ridiculous

-extent.

-

-Never before, in all my life, had I been amidst such a merry and

-irresponsible crowd.  The ludicrousness of Carnival reaches its

-climax in the ball at the Casino, and whatever may be said of it, it

-is without doubt one of the annual sights of Europe.  I had heard it

-denounced as a disgraceful exhibition by old ladies, who had been

-compelled to admit that they had never been present; but I must say

-that from first to last, although the fun was absolutely unbridled, I

-saw nothing whatever to offend.

-

-I was standing aside watching the dancers, when suddenly a tall man,

-dressed in a remarkable costume representing an owl, approached, and

-bowing, said in rather good English, in a deep, but not unmusical

-voice:

-

-"Might I have the pleasure of this dance with mademoiselle?"

-

-I looked at him in suspicion.  He was a weird-looking creature in his

-bird-dress of mauve and gold, and the strange mask with two black

-eyes peering out at me.  Besides, it was not my habit to dance with

-strangers.

-

-"Ah!" he laughed.  "You hesitate because we have not been introduced.

-Here in Nice at Carnival one introduces oneself.  Well, I have

-introduced myself, and now I ask you what is your opinion of my

-marvellous get-up.  Don't you think me a real fine bird?"

-

-"Certainly," I laughed.  "You're absolutely hideous."

-

-"Thanks for the compliment," he answered pleasantly.  "To unmask is

-forbidden, or I'd take off this terrible affair, for I confess I am

-half stifled.  But if I'm ugly, you're absolutely charming.  It's a

-case of Beauty and the Bird.  Aren't my wings fetching?"

-

-"Very."

-

-"I knew you were English.  Funny how we Frenchmen can always pick out

-English and Americans."

-

-"How did you know I am English?" I inquired.

-

-"Ah! now that's a secret," he laughed.  "But hark! it's a waltz.

-Come under my wing, and let's dance.  I know you'd dearly love a turn

-round.  For this once throw the introduction farce to the winds, and

-let me take you round.  The owl is never a ferocious bird, you know."

-

-For a moment I hesitated, then consenting, I whirled away among the

-dancers with my unknown partner.

-

-"I saw you up in that box," he said presently.  "I was waiting for

-you to come down."

-

-"Why?"

-

-With woman's innate coquetry, I felt a delight in misleading him,

-just as he was trying to mislead me.  There was a decided air of

-adventure in that curious meeting.  Besides, so many of the dresses

-were absolutely alike that, now we had become separated, it was

-hopeless for me to discover any of our party.  The Nice dressmakers

-make dozens of Carnival dresses exactly similar, and when the wearers

-are masked, it is impossible to distinguish one from the other.

-

-"Well," he said evasively, in answer to my question, "I wanted a

-partner."

-

-"And so you waited for me?  Surely any other would have done as well?"

-

-"No, that's just it.  She wouldn't.  I wanted to dance with you."

-

-The waltz had ended, and we strolled together out of the theatre into

-the great winter-garden, with its bright flower-beds and graceful

-palms--a kind of huge conservatory, which forms a gay promenade each

-evening in the season.

-

-"I don't see why you should entertain such a desire," I said.

-"Besides," and I paused to gain breath for the little untruth, "I

-fear now that my husband will be furious if he has noticed us."

-

-"I might say the same about my wife--if I wished to import fiction

-into the romance," he said.

-

-"Then you have no wife?" I suggested, with a laugh.

-

-"My wife is just as real as your husband," he responded bluntly.

-

-"What do you mean?"

-

-"I mean that if you really have a husband, it is an extremely

-surprising confession."

-

-"Why surprising?"

-

-"Well, it's true that husbands are like Somebody's sewing-machines,

-no home being complete without one," he laughed.  "But I really had

-no idea that Mademoiselle Carmela Rosselli possessed such a useful

-commodity."

-

-"What!" I gasped, glaring at the hideous-looking Owl.  "You know me?"

-

-"Yes," he responded, in a deeper tone, more earnestly than before.

-"I know quite well who you are.  I have come here to-night expressly

-to speak with you."

-

-I started, and stood glaring at him in wonderment.

-

-"I have," he added, in a low, confidential voice, "something

-important to say to you--something most important."

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VIII

-

-NARRATES A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT

-

-"You are a perfect stranger, sir," I said, with considerable hauteur.

-"Until you care to give me your name, and make known who you are, I

-have no wish to hear this important statement of yours."

-

-"No," he answered, "I regret very much that for certain reasons I am

-unfortunately unable to furnish my name.  I am The Owl--that is

-sufficient."

-

-"No, not for me.  As I am not in the habit of thus chattering with

-strangers at a public ball, I must wish you good evening," I said,

-and turned abruptly away.

-

-In an instant he was again at my side.

-

-"Listen, Miss Rosselli," he said, in a deeply earnest tone.  "You

-must listen to me.  I have something to tell you which closely

-concerns yourself--your future welfare."

-

-"Well?" I inquired.

-

-"I cannot speak now, as someone may overhear.  I had to exercise the

-greatest precaution in approaching you for there are spies

-everywhere, and a single blunder would be fatal."

-

-"What do you mean?" I inquired, at once interested.

-

-The manner of this hideously disguised man who spoke such excellent

-English was certainly mysterious, and I could not doubt that he was

-in real earnest.

-

-"Let us walk over there, and sit in that corner," he said, indicating

-a seat half hidden in the bamboos.  "If there is no one near, I will

-explain.  If we are watched, then we must contrive to find some other

-place."

-

-"In our box," I suggested.  "We can sit at the back in the alcove,

-where no one can see us."

-

-"Excellent!" he answered.  "I never thought of that.  But if any of

-your party return there?"

-

-"I can merely say that you invited me to dance, and I, in return,

-invited you there for a few moments' rest.

-

-"Then let's go," he said, and a few minutes later we were sitting far

-back in the shadow of the box on the second tier, high above the

-music and gay revelry.

-

-"Well," I inquired eagerly, when we were seated, "and why did you

-wish to see me to-night?"

-

-"First, I have knowledge--which you will not, I think deny--that you

-loved a man in London--one Ernest Cameron."

-

-"Well?"

-

-"And at this moment there is a second man who, although not your

-lover, is often in your thoughts.  The man's name is Benjamin Keppel.

-Am I correct?"

-

-"I really don't see by what right you submit me to this

-cross-examination upon affairs which only concern myself," I

-responded in a hard voice, although I was eager to determine the

-identity of this masked man.

-

-"Marriage with a millionaire is a temptation which few women can

-resist," he said philosophically, in a voice undisturbed by my harsh

-retort.  "Temptations are the crises which test the strength of one's

-character.  Whether a woman stands or falls at these crises depends

-very largely on what she is before the testing comes."

-

-"And pray what concern have you in my intentions or actions?" I

-demanded.

-

-"You will discover that in due time," he answered.  "I know that to

-the world you, like your companion, Ulrica Yorke, pretend to be a

-woman who prefers her freedom and has no thought of love.  Yet you

-are only acting the part of the free woman.  At heart you love as

-intensely and hate as fiercely as all the others.  Is not that so?"

-

-"You speak remarkably plainly, as though you were well acquainted

-with my private affairs," I remarked resentfully.

-

-"I only say what I know to be the truth," he replied.  "You, Carmela

-Rosselli, are not heartless like that emotionless woman who is your

-friend.  The truth is that you love--you still love Ernest Cameron."

-

-I rose in quick indignation.

-

-"I refuse to hear you further, monsieur!" I cried.  "Kindly let me

-pass."

-

-His hand was on the door of the box, and he kept it there,

-notwithstanding my words.

-

-"No," he said, quite coolly.  "You must hear me--indeed, you shall

-hear me!"

-

-"I have heard you," I answered.  "You have said sufficient."

-

-"I have not finished," he replied.  "When I have done so, you will, I

-think, only be anxious to learn more."  He added quite calmly: "If

-you will kindly be seated, so as not to attract attention, I will go

-on."

-

-I sank back into my seat without further effort to arrest his words.

-The adventure was most extraordinary, and certainly his grotesque

-appearance held me puzzled.

-

-"Here, in Nice, not long ago," he continued, "you met a man who

-believed himself in love with you, yet a few nights later he was

-foully murdered in your sitting-room at the hotel."

-

-"Reginald Thorne," I said quickly, in a strained voice, for the

-memory of that distressing event was very painful.

-

-"Yes, Reginald Thorne," he repeated, in a low, hoarse voice.

-

-"You knew him?" I asked.

-

-"Yes, I knew him," was his response, in a deep, strange tone.  "It is

-to speak of him that I have sought you to-night."

-

-"If you are so well aware who I am, and of all my movements, you

-might surely have called upon me," I remarked dubiously.

-

-"Ah, no!  That would have been impossible.  None must know that we

-have met!"

-

-"Why?"

-

-"Because there are reasons--very strong reasons--why our meeting

-should be kept secret," the voice responded, the pair of sharp black

-eyes peering forth mysteriously from the two holes in the owl's face.

-"We are surrounded by spies.  Here, in France, they have reduced

-espionage to a fine art."

-

-"And yet the police have failed to discover the murderer of poor Mr.

-Thorne," I observed.

-

-"They will never do that."

-

-"Why not?"

-

-"They will never solve the mystery without aid."

-

-"Whose aid?"

-

-"Mine."

-

-"What?" I cried, starting quickly.  "Are you actually in possession

-of some fact that will lead to the arrest of the culprit?  Tell me

-quickly.  Is it really certain that he was murdered, and did not die

-a natural death?"

-

-"Ah!" he laughed.  "I told you a few minutes ago that you would be

-anxious to hear my statement.  Was I not correct?"

-

-"Of course!  I had no idea that you were in possession of any facts

-or evidence regarding the crime.  What do you know about it?

-

-"At present I am not at liberty to say--except that the person who

-committed the deed was no ordinary criminal."

-

-"Then he was murdered, and the motive was robbery?"

-

-"That was the police theory, but I can at once assure you that they

-were entirely mistaken.  Theft was not the motive."

-

-"But the money was stolen from his pockets!" I said.

-

-"How do you prove that?  He might have secreted it somewhere before

-the attack was made upon him."

-

-"I feel certain that the money was stolen," I answered.

-

-"Well, you are, of course, welcome to your own opinion," he answered

-carelessly.  "I can only assure you that, even though the money was

-not found upon him, robbery was not the motive of the crime."

-

-"And you have come to me in order to tell me that?" I said.  "Perhaps

-you will explain further."

-

-"I come to you, Miss Rosselli, because a serious responsibility rests

-upon yourself."

-

-"In what manner?"

-

-"The unfortunate young man was attracted towards you; he accompanied

-you to Monte Carlo on the day of his death, and he was found dead in

-your sitting-room."

-

-"I know," I said.  "But why did he go there?"

-

-"Because he, no doubt, wished to speak with you."

-

-"At that late hour?  I cannot conceive why he should want to speak

-with me.  He might have come to me in the morning."

-

-"No.  The matter was pressing--very pressing."

-

-"Then if you know its nature, as you apparently do, perhaps you will

-tell me."

-

-"I can do nothing," the deep voice responded.  "I only desire to warn

-you."

-

-"To warn me!" I cried, surprised.  "Of what?"

-

-"Of a danger which threatens you."

-

-"A danger?  Explain it."

-

-"Then kindly give me your undivided attention for a moment," the Owl

-said earnestly, at the same time peering into my eyes with that air

-of mystery which so puzzled me.  "Perhaps it will not surprise you to

-know that in this matter of the death of Reginald Thorne there are

-several interests at stake, and the most searching and secret

-inquiries have been made on behalf of the young man's friends by

-detectives sent from London, and from New York.  These inquiries have

-established one or two curious facts, but so far from elucidating the

-mystery, they have only tended to render it more inscrutable.  As I

-have already said, the person actually responsible for the crime is

-no ordinary murderer, and notwithstanding the fact that some of the

-shrewdest and most experienced detectives have been at work, they can

-discover nothing.  You follow me?"

-

-"Perfectly."

-

-"Then I will proceed further.  Has it ever occurred to you that you

-might, if you so desired, become the wife of old Benjamin Keppel?"

-

-"I really don't see what that has to do with the matter under

-discussion," I said, with quick indignation.

-

-"Then you admit that old Mr. Keppel is among your admirers?"

-

-"I admit nothing," I responded.  "I see no reason why you, a perfect

-stranger, should intrude upon my private affairs in this manner."

-

-"The intrusion is for your own safety," he answered ambiguously.

-

-"And what need I fear, pray?  You spoke of some extraordinary

-warning, I believe."

-

-"True, I wish to warn you," said the man in strange disguise.  "I

-came here to-night at considerable risk to do so."

-

-I hesitated.  Then, after a few moments of reflection, I resolved

-upon making a bold shot.

-

-"Those who speak of risk are invariably in fear," I said.  "Your

-words betray that you have some connection with the crime."

-

-I watched him narrowly, and saw him start perceptibly.  Then I

-congratulated myself upon my shrewdness, and was determined to fence

-with him further and endeavour to make him commit himself.  I rather

-prided myself upon smart repartee, and many had told me that at times

-I shone as a brilliant conversationalist.

-

-"Ah!" he said hastily, "I think you mistake me, Miss Rosselli.  I am

-acting in your interests entirely."

-

-"If so, then surely you may give me your name or tell me who you are."

-

-"I prefer to remain unknown," he replied.

-

-"Because you fear exposure."

-

-"I fear no exposure," he protested.  "I came here to speak with you

-secretly to-night, because had I called openly at your hotel my visit

-would have aroused suspicion, and most probably have had the effect

-of thwarting the plans of those who are endeavouring to solve the

-enigma."

-

-"But you give me no proof whatever of your _bona fides_!" I declared.

-

-"Simply because I am unable.  I merely come to give you warning."

-

-"Of what?"

-

-"Of the folly of flirtation."

-

-I sprang to my feet indignantly.

-

-"You insult me!" I cried.  "I will bear it no longer.  Please let me

-pass!"

-

-"I shall not allow you to leave until I have finished," he answered

-determinedly.  "You think that I am not in earnest, but I tell you I

-am.  Your whole future depends upon your acceptance of my suggestion."

-

-"And what is your suggestion, pray?"

-

-"That you should no longer regard old Mr. Keppel as your possible

-husband."

-

-"I have never regarded him as such," I responded, with a contemptuous

-laugh.  "But supposing that I did--supposing that he offered me

-marriage, what then?"

-

-"Then a disaster would fall upon you.  It is of that disaster that I

-came here to-night to warn you," he said, speaking quickly in a

-hoarse voice.  "Recollect that you must never become his wife--never!"

-

-"If I did, what harm could possibly befall me?" I inquired eagerly,

-for the stranger's prophetic words were, to say the least,

-exceedingly strange.

-

-He was silent for a moment, then said slowly:

-

-"Remember the harm that befell Reginald Thorne."

-

-"What?" I cried in alarm.  "Death?"

-

-"Yes," he answered solemnly, "death."

-

-I stood before him for a moment breathless.

-

-"Then, to put it plainly," I said, in an uneven voice, "I am

-threatened with death should I marry Benjamin Keppel?"

-

-"Even to become betrothed to him would be fatal," he answered.

-

-"And by whom am I thus threatened?"

-

-"That is a question I cannot answer.  I am here merely to warn you,

-not to give explanations."

-

-"But the person who takes such an extraordinary interest in my

-private affairs must have some motive for this threat?"

-

-"Of course."

-

-"What is it?"

-

-"How can I tell?  It is not myself who is threatening you.  I have

-only given you warning."

-

-"There is a reason, then, why I should not marry Mr. Keppel?"

-

-"There is even a reason why you should in future refuse to accept his

-invitations to the Villa Fabron," my strange companion replied.  "You

-have been invited to form one of a party on board the _Vispera_, but

-for your personal safety I would presume to advise you not to go."

-

-"I shall certainly please myself," I replied.  "These threats will

-certainly not deter me from acting just as I think proper.  If I go

-upon a cruise with Mr. Keppel and his son, I shall have no fear of my

-personal safety."

-

-"Reginald Thorne was young and athletic.  He had no fear.  But he

-disobeyed a warning.  You know the result."

-

-"Then you wish me to decline Mr. Keppel's invitation and remain in

-Nice?"

-

-"I urge you, for several reasons, to decline his invitation, but I do

-not suggest that you should remain in Nice.  I am the bearer of

-instructions to you.  If you carry them out, they will be distinctly

-to your benefit."

-

-"What are they?"

-

-"To-day," he said, "is the 18th of February.  Those who have your

-welfare at heart desire that you should, after the Riviera season is

-over, go to London, arriving there on the 1st of June next."

-

-"Well?" I exclaimed.

-

-This stranger seemed to possess a good deal of knowledge in regard to

-my antecedents.

-

-"Well, on arrival in London you will go to the Hotel Cecil, and there

-receive a visitor on the following day, the 2nd of June.  You will

-then be given certain instructions, which must be carried out."

-

-"All this is very mysterious," I remarked.  "But I really have no

-intention of returning to London until next autumn."

-

-"I think you will," was his reply, "because, when you fully consider

-all the circumstances, you will keep the appointment in London, and

-learn the truth."

-

-"The truth regarding the death of Reginald Thorne?" I cried.  "Cannot

-I learn it here?"

-

-"No," he replied.  "And further, you will never learn it unless you

-take heed of the plain words I have spoken to-night."

-

-"You tell me that any further friendship between Mr. Keppel and

-myself is forbidden," I exclaimed, laughing.  "Why, the whole thing

-is really too absurd!  I shall, of course, just please myself--as I

-always do."

-

-"In that case, disaster is inevitable," he observed, with a sigh.

-

-"You tell me that I am threatened with death if I disobey.  That is

-certainly extremely comforting."

-

-"You appear to regard what I have said very lightly, Miss Rosselli,"

-said the unknown voice.  "It would be well if you regarded your love

-for Ernest Cameron just as lightly."

-

-"He has nothing whatever to do with this matter," I said quickly.  "I

-am mistress of my own actions, and I refuse to be influenced by any

-threats uttered by a person who fears to reveal his identity."

-

-"As you will," he replied, with an impatient movement.  "I am unknown

-to you, it is true, but I think I have shown an intimate knowledge of

-your private affairs."

-

-"If, as you assure me, you are acting in my interests, you may surely

-tell me the truth regarding the mystery surrounding poor Reginald's

-death," I suggested.

-

-"That is unfortunately not within my power," he responded.  "I am in

-possession only of certain facts, and have risked much in coming here

-to-night to give you warning."

-

-"But how can my affairs affect anyone?" I queried.  "What you have

-told me is, if true, most extraordinary."

-

-"It is true, and it is, as you say, very extraordinary.  Your friend

-Mr. Thorne died mysteriously.  I only hope, Miss Rosselli, that you

-will not share the same fate."

-

-I paused and looked at the curious figure before me.

-

-"In order to avoid doing so, then, I am to hold aloof from Mr.

-Keppel, remain here until May, and then travel back to London, there

-to meet some person unknown?"

-

-"Exactly.  But there is still one thing further.  I am charged to

-offer for your acceptance a small present, as some small recompense

-for the trouble you must be put to by waiting here in the South, and

-then journeying to London," and he drew from beneath his strangely

-grotesque dress a small box, some four or five inches square, wrapped

-in paper, which he handed to me.

-

-I did not take it.  There was something uncanny about it all.

-

-"Do not hesitate, or we may be observed," he said.  "Take it quickly.

-Do not open it until you return to your hotel."

-

-With these words he thrust it into my hand.

-

-"Remember what I have said," he exclaimed, rising quickly.  "I must

-be gone, for I see that suspicion is aroused by those who are

-watching.  Act with prudence, and the disaster against which I have

-warned you will not occur.  Above all, keep the appointment in London

-on the 2nd of June."

-

-"But why?"

-

-"Because for your own safety it is imperative," he responded, and

-with a low bow he opened the door of the box.

-

-The next instant I was alone with the little packet the stranger had

-given me resting in my hand.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IX

-

-SHOWS THE BIRD'S TALONS

-

-For some little time after my mysterious companion had left I sat

-forward in the box, gazing down at the wild revelry below, and hoping

-that one or other of the party would recognise me.

-

-So great a crowd was there, and so many dresses exactly similar, that

-to distinguish Ulrica or Gerald, or indeed any of the others, proved

-absolutely impossible.  They might, of course, be in one or other of

-the supper-rooms, and I saw from the first that there was but little

-chance of finding them.

-

-Leaning my elbows on the edge of the box, I gazed down upon the scene

-of reckless merriment, but my thoughts were full of the strange words

-uttered by the mysterious masker.  The packet he had given me I had

-transferred to my pocket, though with pardonable curiosity I longed

-to open it and see what it contained.

-

-The warning he had given me was extremely disconcerting.  It worried

-me.  No woman likes to think that she has unknown enemies ready to

-take her life.  Yet that was apparently my position.

-

-That life could be taken swiftly and without detection, I had plainly

-seen in the case of poor Reggie.  When I recollected his terrible

-fate I shuddered.  Yet this man had plainly given me to understand

-that the same fate awaited me if I did not adopt the line of conduct

-which he had laid down.

-

-Whoever he might be, he certainly was acquainted with all my

-movements, and knew intimately my feelings.  There was certainly no

-likelihood of my marriage with old Benjamin Keppel.  I scouted the

-idea.  Yet he knew quite well that the millionaire had become

-attracted by me, and reposed in me a confidence which he did not

-extend to others.  The more I reflected, the more I became convinced

-that the stranger's fear of being recognised arose from the fact that

-he himself was either the murderer or an accessory to the murder of

-poor Reggie.

-

-What did the demand that I should return to London denote?  It could

-only mean one thing--namely, that my assistance was required.

-

-Whoever were my enemies, they were, I argued, enemies likewise of old

-Mr. Keppel.  The present which the stranger had pressed upon me was

-nothing less than a bribe to secure either my silence or my services.

-

-However much I tried, it appeared out of the question for me to

-discover the motive guiding the stranger's conduct.  The only certain

-fact was that this man, so cleverly disguised that I could not

-distinguish his real height, much less his form or features, had come

-there, watched for a favourable opportunity to speak with me, and had

-warned me to sever my friendship with the millionaire.

-

-Leaning there, gazing blankly down upon the crowd screaming with

-laughter at the Parisian quadrilles and antics of clown and

-columbine, I coolly analysed my own feeling towards the blunt,

-plain-spoken old gentleman with the melancholy eyes.  I found--as I

-had believed all along--that I admired him for his honest

-good-nature, his utter lack of anything approaching "side," his

-strenuous efforts to assist in good works, and his regard for

-appearances only for his son's sake.  But I did not love him.  No, I

-had loved one man.  I could never love another--never in all my life!

-

-Perhaps Ernest Cameron was present, disguised by a mask and dress of

-parti-coloured satin!  Perhaps he was down there among the dancers,

-escorting that woman who had usurped my place.  The thought held me

-in wonder.

-

-Suddenly, however, I was brought back to a due sense of my

-surroundings by the opening of the door of the box, and the entry of

-one of the theatre attendants, who, addressing me in French, said:

-

-"I beg mademoiselle's pardon, but the Director would esteem it a

-favour if mademoiselle would step down to the bureau at once."

-

-"What do they want with me?" I inquired quickly, with considerable

-surprise.

-

-"Of that I have no knowledge, mademoiselle; I was merely told to ask

-you to go there without delay."

-

-Therefore, in wonder, I rose and followed the man downstairs and

-through the crowd of revellers to the private office of the Director,

-close to the main entrance of the Casino.

-

-In the room I found the Director, an elderly man, with short, stiff

-grey hair, sitting at a table, while near him stood two men dressed

-as pierrots with their masks removed.

-

-When the door was closed, the Director, courteously offering me a

-seat, apologised for disturbing me, but explained that he had done so

-at the request of his two companions.

-

-"I may as well at once explain," said the elder of the two in French,

-"that we desire some information which you can furnish."

-

-"Of what nature?" I inquired, in a tone of marked surprise.

-

-"In the theatre, an hour ago, you were accosted by a masker, wearing

-a dress representing an owl.  You danced with him, but were

-afterwards lost in the crowd.  Search was made through all the rooms

-for you, but you could not be found.  Where have you been?"

-

-"I have been sitting in the box in conversation with the stranger."

-

-"All the time?"

-

-"Yes.  He took precautions against being seen."

-

-"Who was he?"

-

-"I have no idea," I responded, still puzzled by the man's demand.

-

-"I had better, perhaps, explain at once to mademoiselle that we are

-agents of police," he said, with a smile, "and that the movements of

-the individual who met you and chatted with you so affably are of the

-greatest interest to us."

-

-"Then you know who he is?" I exclaimed quickly.

-

-"Yes.  We have discovered that."

-

-"Who is he?"

-

-"Unfortunately, it is not our habit to give details of any case on

-which we are engaged until it is completed."

-

-"The case in question is the murder of Mr. Thorne at the 'Grand

-Hotel,' is it not?"

-

-"Mademoiselle guesses correctly.  She was a friend of the unfortunate

-gentleman's, if I mistake not?"

-

-"Yes," I replied.

-

-"Well," he said, in a confidential tone, while his companion, a

-slightly younger man, stood by regarding me and tugging at his

-moustache, "we should esteem it a favour if you would kindly relate

-all that has transpired this evening.  When we saw him meet you we

-were not certain of his identity.  His disguise was puzzling.

-Afterwards there could be no doubt, but he had then disappeared."

-

-"I had thought that the police had relinquished their inquiries," I

-said, gratified, nevertheless, to know that they were still on the

-alert.

-

-"It is when we relax our efforts slightly that we have the better

-chance of success," the detective replied.  "Did the man give you any

-name?"

-

-"No; he refused to tell me who he was."

-

-"And what was his excuse for accosting you and demanding a

-_tête-à-tête_?"

-

-"He said he wished to warn me of an impending peril.  In brief, he

-told me that my life was in jeopardy."

-

-"Ah!" the man ejaculated, as he exchanged a meaning glance with his

-companion.  "And his pretence was to give you warning of it.  Did he

-tell you by whom your life was threatened?"

-

-"No.  He refused any details, but made certain suggestions as to the

-course I should pursue."

-

-"That sounds interesting.  What did he suggest?"

-

-I hesitated for a few moments.  Then reflecting that the stranger was

-evidently under the observation of the police, and that the latter

-were trying to bring poor Reggie's assassin to justice, I resolved to

-reveal all that had passed between us.

-

-Therefore I gave a brief outline of our conversation just as I have

-written it in the foregoing pages.  Both detectives, at hearing my

-story, seemed very much puzzled.

-

-"You will pardon my intrusion," exclaimed the agent of police who had

-first spoken to me, "but as you will see, this is a clue which must

-be thoroughly investigated.  Will mademoiselle forgive me for asking

-whether there is any truth in this man's surmise that she is about to

-become engaged to marry this Monsieur Keppel?"

-

-"None whatever," I answered frankly.  "I can only suppose that some

-unfounded gossip has arisen, as it so often does, and that it has

-reached his ears."

-

-"Yet he threatens--or at least warns you of peril if you should

-become the wife of this wealthy monsieur!  Ah! there seems to be some

-very deep motive; what it really is, we must seek to discover.  When

-we have found it we shall have, I feel confident, a clue to the

-murderer of Monsieur Thorne."

-

-"But there is still another rather curious fact," I went on, now

-determined to conceal nothing.  "He declared that it was necessary

-for my well-being that I should return to London, and there meet some

-person who would visit me on the 2nd of June next."

-

-"Ah!  And you intend keeping that appointment, I presume?"

-

-"I intend to do nothing of the kind, monsieur," I replied, with a

-laugh.  "The affair is a very ugly one, and I have no desire whatever

-that my name should be linked further with it."

-

-"Of course.  I quite understand the annoyance caused to mademoiselle.

-It is sufficient to have one's friend murdered in that mysterious

-manner, without being pestered by mysterious individuals who mask

-themselves and prophesy all sorts of unpleasant things if their

-orders are not obeyed.  Did you promise to return to London?"

-

-"I said I would consider the advisability of doing so."

-

-"You are diplomatic--eh?" he said, with a laugh.  "It is unfortunate

-that this fellow has slipped through our fingers so cleverly--very

-unfortunate!"

-

-"But if he is known to you, there will surely not be much difficulty

-in rediscovering him."

-

-"Ah! that's just the question, you see.  We are not absolutely

-certain as to his identity."  Then after a slight pause, he glanced

-at me and asked suddenly: "Mademoiselle has a friend--or had a

-friend--named Cameron--a Monsieur Ernest Cameron?  Is that so?"

-

-I think I must have blushed beneath the piece of black velvet which

-hid my cheeks.

-

-"That is correct," I stammered.  "Why?"

-

-"The reason is unimportant," he answered carelessly.  "The fact is

-written in the papers concerning the case, and we like always to

-verify facts in such a case as this--that's all."

-

-"But he has no connection with this tragic business!" I hastened to

-declare.  "I haven't spoken to him for nearly two years--we have been

-apart for quite that time."

-

-"Of course," said the man reassuringly; "the fact has nothing to do

-with the matter.  I merely referred to it in order to obtain

-confirmation of our reports.  You mentioned something of a proposed

-yachting cruise.  What did this mysterious individual say regarding

-that?"

-

-"He warned me not to go on board the _Vispera_----"

-

-"The _Vispera_?" he interrupted.  "The owner of the yacht is monsieur

-the millionaire, is he not?"

-

-I responded in the affirmative.

-

-"And this Monsieur Keppel has invited you to go with others on a

-cruise to Naples?

-

-"Yes.  But how did you know that it was to Naples?" I inquired.

-

-"All yachts sailing from Nice eastward go to Naples," he answered,

-laughing.  "I suppose the programme includes a run to the Greek

-islands.  Constantinople, Smyrna, and Tunis, eh?"

-

-"I think so; but I have not yet heard definitely."

-

-"You have accepted the invitation, I take it?"

-

-I nodded.

-

-"And that, of course, lends colour to the belief that monsieur the

-millionaire is in love with you, for it is well known that although

-he has that magnificent yacht he never goes on a pleasure cruise."

-

-"I can't help what may be thought by gossips," I said hastily.  "Mr.

-Keppel is a friend of mine--nothing further."

-

-"But this friendship has apparently caused certain apprehensions to

-arise in the minds of the persons of whom your mysterious companion

-was the mouthpiece--the people who threaten you with death should you

-disobey them."

-

-"Who are those people, do you imagine?" I inquired, deeply in

-earnest, for the matter seemed to grow increasingly serious.

-

-"Ah!" he answered, with a shrug of his shoulders.  "If we knew that

-we should have no difficulty in arresting the assassin of Monsieur

-Thorne."

-

-"Well, what do you consider my best course?" I asked, utterly

-bewildered by the mysterious events of the evening.

-

-"I should advise you to keep your own counsel, and leave the

-inquiries to us," was the detective's rejoinder.  "If this man again

-approaches you, make an appointment with him later and acquaint us

-with the time and place at once."

-

-"But I don't anticipate that I shall see him again."

-

-Then, determined to render these police agents every assistance, even

-though they had been stupidly blind to allow the stranger to escape,

-I drew from my pocket the small packet which he had given me.

-

-"This," I said, "he handed to me at the last instant, accompanied by

-a hope that I would not fail to keep the appointment in London."

-

-"What is it?"

-

-"I don't know."

-

-"Will you permit us to open it?" he inquired, much interested.

-

-"Certainly," I responded.  "I am anxious to see what it contains."

-

-The detective took it, and cut the string with his pocket-knife;

-then, while his subordinate and the Director of the Casino craned

-their necks to investigate, he unwrapped paper after paper until he

-came to a square jewel-case covered in dark crimson leather.

-

-"An ornament, I suppose!" exclaimed the detective.

-

-Then he opened the box, and from its velvet-lined depths something

-fell to the ground which caused us to utter a loud cry of surprise in

-chorus.

-

-The detective stooped to pick it up.

-

-I stood dumbfounded and aghast.  In his hand was a bundle of folded

-French bank-notes--each for one thousand francs.  They were the notes

-stolen from Reginald Thorne by his assassin.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER X

-

-MAKES ONE POINT PLAIN

-

-"Extraordinary!" ejaculated the detective, whose habitual coolness

-seemed utterly upset by the unexpected discovery.  "This adds an

-entirely new feature to the case!"

-

-"What, I wonder, could have been the motive in giving the notes to

-mademoiselle?" queried his companion.

-

-"How can we tell?" said the other.  "It at least proves one thing,

-namely, that the man in the owl's dress is the person we suspected

-him to be."

-

-"Do you believe him to be the actual assassin?" I gasped.

-

-But the detectives, with the aid of the Director of the Theatre, were

-busy counting the stolen notes.  There were sixty, each for one

-thousand francs.

-

-They examined the leather jewellery case, but found no mark upon it,

-nor upon the paper wrappings.  The box was such as might have once

-contained a bracelet, but the raised velvet-covered spring in the

-interior had been removed in order to admit of the introduction of

-the notes, which, even when folded, formed a rather large packet.

-

-"They are undoubtedly those stolen from Monsieur Thorne," the

-detective said.  "In these circumstances, it is our duty to take

-possession of them as evidence against the criminal.  I shall lodge

-them with the Prefect of Police until we have completed the inquiry."

-

-"Certainly," I answered.  "I have no desire to keep them in my

-possession.  The history connected with them is far too gruesome.

-But whatever motive could there be in handing them over to me?"

-

-"Ah! that we hope to discover later," the detective responded,

-carefully folding them, replacing them in the case, and taking charge

-of the wrappings, which it was believed might form some clue.  "At

-present it would seem very much as though the assassin handed you the

-proceeds of the crime in order to convince you that robbery was not

-the motive."

-

-"Then you do believe that the man in the owl's dress was the real

-culprit?" I cried eagerly.  "If so, I have actually danced to-night

-with poor Reggie's murderer!" I gasped.

-

-"It is more than likely that we shall be able to establish that

-fact," the subordinate observed, in a rather uncertain tone.

-

-"How unfortunate," ejaculated his superior, "that we allowed him to

-slip through our fingers thus--and with the money actually upon him,

-too!"

-

-"Yes," observed the Director of the Casino.  "You have certainly

-to-night lost an excellent opportunity, messieurs.  It is curious

-that neither of you noticed mademoiselle in the box talking with this

-mysterious individual."

-

-"That was, I think, impossible," I remarked.  "We sat quite back in

-the small alcove."

-

-"What number was your box?" the Director asked.

-

-"Fifteen."

-

-"Ah, of course!" he said quickly.  "There is, I remember, a kind of

-alcove at the back.  You sat in there."

-

-"Well," observed the chief detective, "no good can be done by

-remaining here any longer, I suppose, so we had better endeavour to

-trace this interesting person by other means.  The fact that he has

-given up the proceeds of the crime is sufficient to show that he

-means to leave Nice.  Therefore we must lose no time," and he glanced

-at his watch.  "Ten minutes to two," he said.  Then turning to his

-assistant, he ordered him to drive to the station to see whether the

-man who had worn the disguise of the night-bird was among the

-travellers leaving for Marseilles at 2.30.  "Remain on duty at the

-station until I send and relieve you," he said.  "There are several

-special trains to Cannes and to Monte Carlo about three o'clock, on

-account of the ball.  Be careful to watch them all.  It's my opinion

-he may be going to cross the frontier at Ventimiglia.  I'll telephone

-there as soon as I get down to the bureau."

-

-"_Bien, monsieur!_" answered the other.

-

-As they went out, after wishing me good-night, I followed them,

-asking of the senior of the pair:

-

-"Tell me, monsieur, what is my best course of action?  Do you think

-the threats are serious?"

-

-"Not at all," he said reassuringly.  "My dear mademoiselle, don't

-distress yourself in the very least regarding what this man has said.

-He has only endeavoured to frighten you into rendering him

-assistance.  Act just as you think proper.  Your experience to-night

-has certainly been a strange one; but if I were in your place, I

-would return to the hotel, sleep soundly, and forget it all

-until--well, until we make our arrest."

-

-"You expect to do so, then?"

-

-"We, of course, hope so.  In my profession, you know, everything is

-uncertain.  So much depends upon chance," and he smiled pleasantly.

-

-"Then I presume you will communicate with me later as to the further

-result of your investigations?" I suggested.

-

-"Most certainly.  Mademoiselle shall be kept well informed of our

-operations, never fear."

-

-We were at the door of the Casino, where a great crowd had assembled

-to watch the maskers emerging.

-

-"Shall I call you a fiacre?" he asked quite gallantly.

-

-"No, thank you," I responded.  "I'll walk.  It is only a few steps to

-the 'Grand.'"

-

-"Ah, of course," he laughed.  "I had forgotten.  _Bon soir_,

-mademoiselle."

-

-I wished him good-night, and the next moment he was lost in the

-crowd, while, with my mind full of my extraordinary adventure, I

-walked along the Quai St. Jean Baptiste to the hotel.

-

-The incidents had been so strange that they seemed beyond belief.

-

-I found the faithful Felicita dozing, but Ulrica had not returned.

-When she entered, however, a quarter of an hour later, she was in the

-highest of spirits, declaring that she had experienced a most

-delightful time.

-

-"My opinion of the Carnival ball, my dear, is that it's by far the

-jolliest function on the Riviera," she declared.  Then in the same

-breath she proceeded to give me an outline of her movements from the

-time we were lost to one another in the crowd.  She had, it appeared,

-had supper with Gerald and several friends, and the fun had been fast

-and furious.  Her dress was badly torn in places, and certainly her

-dishevelled appearance showed that she had entered very thoroughly

-into the boisterous amusement of Carnival.

-

-"And you?" she inquired presently.  "What in the world became of you?

-We searched everywhere before supper, but couldn't find you."

-

-"I met a rather entertaining partner," I responded briefly.

-

-"A stranger?"

-

-"Yes," and I gave her a look by which she understood that I intended

-to say nothing before Felicita.

-

-Therefore the subject dropped, and as I had promised to tell her of

-my strange adventure later, she left me for the night.

-

-I am seldom troubled by insomnia, but that night little sleep came to

-my eyes.  Lying awake has no attraction for anyone; yet it is an

-experience which many have to suffer constantly, though not gladly.

-That night my brain was troubled by a thousand conflicting thoughts.

-I turned on to the side on which I usually sleep, and closed my eyes.

-But immediately ideas and suggestions of all kinds rushed at me.  It

-was then that I recalled the mistakes of that night.  I noted the

-opportunities missed, thought of the right things that I had left

-unsaid, and groaned at the thought of what really found utterance.

-Round and round went my mental machinery, and I knew well that sleep

-was not to be expected.

-

-A terrible restlessness set in upon me, and turn succeeded turn, till

-I wished myself a polygon, so that the sides to which I could change

-might be more numerous.  Some people have recourse to a small shelf

-of bedside books to lull them to rest.  I think it was Thackeray who

-said, "'Montaigne' and 'Howell's Letters' are my bedside books.  If I

-wake at night I have one or other of them to prattle me off to sleep

-again."  Montaigne seems to have been a favourite author with many

-people for this purpose.  The cheerful, companionable garrulity of

-the Gascon is the ideal pabulum for those suffering from wakeful

-hours at night, for both Pope and Wycherley used to lull themselves

-to sleep by his aid.

-

-Alas!  I had no Montaigne--nothing, indeed, more literary or

-prattling than a couple of the local newspapers of Nice.  Therefore I

-was compelled to lie and endure the thoughts which fled through my

-brain in a noisy whirr, and prevented me falling off into slumber.

-The hotel seemed full of noise.  Strange sounds came from the

-staircase, and stealthy footfalls seemed to make themselves audible.

-From the outer world came other sounds, some familiar, others

-inexplicable--all jarring upon the delicate nerves of hearing.

-

-I lay there thinking it all over.  I had now not the slightest doubt

-that the man in the owl's dress was the actual assassin of poor

-Reggie.  And I had chatted amiably with him.  I had actually danced

-with him!  The very thought held me horrified.

-

-What marvellous self-confidence the fellow had displayed; what cool

-audacity, what unwarrantable interference in my private affairs, and

-what a terrible counter-stroke he had effected in presenting me with

-the actual notes filched from the dead man's pocket!  The incident

-was rendered the more bewildering on account of the entire absence of

-motive.  I lay awake reflecting upon it the whole night long.

-

-When we took our morning coffee together I related to Ulrica all that

-had passed.  She sat, a pretty and dainty figure in her lace-trimmed

-and beribboned _robe de chambre_, leaning her bare elbows upon the

-table, and listening open-mouthed.

-

-"And the police actually allowed him to escape scot-free?" she cried

-indignantly.

-

-"Yes."

-

-"The thing is monstrous.  I begin to think that their failure to

-trace the murderer is because they are in league with him.  Here

-abroad, one never knows."

-

-"No, I think not," I responded.  "He was clever enough to evade

-observation, and took care to make the most of the little alcove in

-the box."

-

-"But the stolen notes!" she cried.  "He evidently wished to get rid

-of them in order to avoid being found with the money in his

-possession.  So he presented you with them.  A grim present,

-certainly.  The fellow apparently has a sense of humour."

-

-"I tell you, my dear Ulrica, I'm terribly upset.  I haven't slept at

-all."

-

-"Enough to upset anyone," she declared.  "We must tell Gerald, and

-ask his advice."

-

-"No, we must not tell him all.  I beg of you to say nothing regarding

-myself and old Mr. Keppel."

-

-"Certainly not.  I shall be discreet, rely upon me.  Gerald will

-advise us how to act."

-

-"Or the old gentleman might give us some advice," I suggested; for

-Gerald was given to fits of frivolity, and this was a matter

-extremely serious.

-

-"You intend to say nothing of the appointment in London?" she

-inquired, looking at me sharply.

-

-"Nothing," I responded.  "That is a secret between us."

-

-"Do you intend to keep it?"

-

-"I scarcely know.  My actions will, of course, be controlled by the

-discoveries of the police."

-

-"The police!" she ejaculated.  "I don't believe in them at all.  They

-make a great pretence, but do nothing."

-

-"They evidently know the individual who came to me last night."

-

-"Certainly.  But why didn't they arrest him when he was under their

-very noses.  No, my dear Carmela, depend upon it, here, in this world

-of Monte Carlo, the police are bribed, just as the Press, the

-railwaymen, and postmen are bribed, by these rulers of the Riviera,

-the Administration of the Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco."

-

-"That may be so," I observed wonderingly.  "But the fact still

-remains that last night I danced with Reggie's assassin."

-

-"Did he dance well?"

-

-"Oh, Ulrica!  Don't treat the thing humorously!" I protested.

-

-"I'm not humorous.  The worst of Carnival balls is that they're such

-mixed affairs.  One meets millionaires and murderers, and rubs

-shoulders with the most notorious women in Europe.  Your adventure,

-however, is absolutely unique.  If it got into the papers, what a

-nice little story it would make, wouldn't it?"

-

-"For Heaven's sake no!" I cried.

-

-"Well, if you don't want it to reach the _Petit Niçois_ or the

-_Eclaireur_, you'd better be pretty close about it.  Poor Reggie's

-murder is a mystery and the public fondly delight to read anything

-about a mystery."

-

-"But we can trust Gerald and Mr. Keppel," I suggested.

-

-"Of course," she answered.  "But what a strange thing it is that this

-man, whoever he is, noticed exactly what I also had noticed, namely,

-that the old gentleman is among your admirers."

-

-"Yes.  It almost seems as though he were actually in our circle of

-friends, doesn't it?"

-

-"My dear Carmela," she said, "the affair of poor Reggie's death was

-curious enough, but its motive is absolutely inscrutable.  This man

-who met you last night was, as the police properly described him, a

-veritable artist.  He disguised himself as an owl because the dress

-of a bird would conceal his real height or any personal deformity,

-while the face was, of course, entirely hidden by the beaked mask.

-Had he gone as a pierrot, or in the more ordinary guises, he might

-have betrayed himself."

-

-"But the return of the stolen money," I observed.  "Can you imagine

-why he ran such a risk?  He condemned himself."

-

-"No, I really can't.  It is an absolute enigma."

-

-We discussed it for a long time, until the entrance of Felicita

-caused us to drop the subject.  Yes, it was, as Ulrica had declared,

-an absolute enigma.

-

-About four o'clock in the afternoon, when we had both dressed ready

-to go out--for we had accepted an invitation to go on an excursion in

-an automobile up to Tourette--the waiter entered with a card, which

-Ulrica took and read.

-

-"Oh!" she sighed.  "Here's another detective.  Don't let him keep us,

-dear.  You know the Allens won't wait for us.  They said four o'clock

-sharp, opposite Vogarde's."

-

-"But we can't refuse to see him," I said.

-

-"Of course not," she replied, and turning to the waiter, ordered him

-to show the caller up.

-

-"There are two gentlemen," he explained.

-

-"Then show them both up," answered Ulrica.  "Be sharp, please, as we

-are in a hurry."

-

-"Yes, madame," responded the waiter, a young Swiss, and went below.

-

-"I suppose they are the pair I saw last night," I said.  "The police

-on the Continent seem always to hunt in couples.  One never sees a

-single gendarme, either in France or in Italy."

-

-"One goes to keep the other cheerful, I believe," Ulrica remarked.

-

-A few moments later the two callers were shown in.

-

-They were not the same as I had seen in the Director's room at the

-Casino.

-

-"I regret this intrusion," said the elder, a dark-bearded, rather

-unwholesome-looking individual with lank black hair.  "I have, I

-believe, the honour of addressing Mademoiselle Rosselli."

-

-"That is my name," I responded briefly, for I did not intend them to

-cause me to lose a most enjoyable trip in that most _chic_ of

-latter-day conveyances, an automobile.

-

-"We are police agents, as you have possibly seen from my card, and

-have called merely to ask whether you can identify either of these

-photographs."  And he took two cabinet pictures from his pocket and

-handed them to me.

-

-One was a prison photograph of an elderly, sad-eyed convict, with a

-rather bald head and a scraggy beard, while the other was a

-well-taken likeness of a foppishly-dressed young man of about

-twenty-eight, the upward trend of his moustache denoting him to be a

-foreigner.

-

-Both were strangers to me.  I had never seen either of them in the

-flesh, at least to my knowledge, and Ulrica was also agreed that she

-had never seen anyone bearing the slightest resemblance to either.

-

-"Mademoiselle is absolutely certain?" the detective asked of me.

-

-"Absolutely," I responded.

-

-"Will mademoiselle have the kindness to allow her memory to go back

-for one moment to the day of the unfortunate gentleman's death?"

-asked the detective, with an amiable air.  "At the time Monsieur

-Thorne was at the table at Monte Carlo and playing with success,

-there were, I believe, many persons around him?"

-

-"Yes, a crowd."

-

-"And near him, almost at his elbow, you did not see this man?" he

-inquired, indicating the bearded convict.

-

-I shook my head.

-

-"I really do not recollect the face of any member of that excited

-crowd," I responded.  "He may have been there, but I certainly did

-not see him."

-

-"Nor did I," chimed in Ulrica.

-

-"Then I much regret troubling you," he said, bowing politely.  "In

-this affair we are, as you of course know, making very searching

-inquiries on account of representations made by the British

-Ambassador in Paris.  We intend, if possible, to solve the mystery."

-

-"And the man who accosted me at the ball last night," I said.  "Do

-you suspect him to be the original of that photograph?"

-

-"At the ball last night?  I do not follow mademoiselle."

-

-"But I made a statement of the whole facts to two agents of your

-department at an early hour this morning--before I left the Casino."

-

-He looked puzzled, and his dark face broadened into a smile.

-

-"Pardon!  But I think mademoiselle must be under some

-misapprehension.  What occurred at the ball?  Anything to arouse your

-suspicion?"

-

-"To arouse my suspicion?" I echoed.  "Why, a man attired in the garb

-of an owl accosted me, gave me a strange warning, and actually placed

-in my hands the sixty thousand francs in notes stolen from the dead

-man!"

-

-"Impossible!" gasped the detective, amazed.  "Where are the notes?

-You should have given us information instantly."

-

-"I handed the notes to two police agents who were in waiting in the

-Director's room, and to whom I made a statement of the whole affair."

-

-"What!" he cried loudly.  "You have parted with the money?"

-

-"Certainly."

-

-"Then mademoiselle has been most cleverly tricked, for the men to

-whom you handed the proceeds of the robbery were certainly not agents

-of police!  They were impostors!"

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XI

-

-DESCRIBES A MEETING AND ITS SEQUEL

-

-His words staggered me.

-

-"Not agents of police!" I cried, dumbfounded.  "Why, they were fully

-cognisant of every detail of the affair.  It was the Director of the

-Casino who presented them."

-

-"Then Monsieur le Directeur was tricked, just as you were," he

-answered gravely.  "You say you actually received from the hand of

-someone who wore an effective disguise the sum stolen from the

-unfortunate monsieur?  Kindly explain the whole circumstances of your

-meeting, and what passed between you."

-

-"My dear Carmela," exclaimed Ulrica, "this fresh complication is

-absolutely bewildering!  You not only danced and chatted with the

-murderer, but you were the victim of a very clever plot."

-

-"That is quite certain," observed the officer.  "The two individuals

-to whom mademoiselle innocently gave the notes upon representation

-that they were agents of police were evidently well acquainted with

-the murderer's intention to give up the proceeds of the robbery, and

-had watched you narrowly all through the evening.  But kindly give us

-exact details."

-

-In obedience to his demand, I recounted the whole story.  It seemed

-to me incredible that the two men who had sent for me were bogus

-detectives, yet such was the actual fact, as was shown later when the

-Director of the Casino explained how they had come to him, telling

-him that they were police agents from Marseilles, and had ordered him

-to send for me, as they wished to interrogate me regarding the affair

-of the "Grand Hotel."  Such, he declared, was their air of authority

-that he never for a moment doubted that they were genuine officers of

-police.

-

-My statement held the two men absolutely speechless.  I told them of

-the strange appointment in London made by the man with the owl's

-face, of the curious warning he had given me, and of the manner in

-which he had presented me with the sum won at the tables by the

-murdered man.

-

-"You can give us absolutely no idea whatever of his personal

-appearance?" he inquired dubiously.

-

-"None whatever," I answered.  "The dress and mask were effectual in

-disguising him."

-

-"And the two men who falsely posed as police agents?  Will you kindly

-describe them?" And at the same time he took out a well-worn

-pocket-book and scribbled in it.

-

-I described their personal appearance as closely as I could, while on

-his part he took down my statement very carefully.

-

-"This is most extraordinary!" Ulrica observed, standing near me in

-wonder.  "The pair who said they were detectives were exceedingly

-clever, and are evidently aware of all that has occurred."

-

-"Marvellous!" exclaimed the man reflectively.  "Only very clever

-thieves would dare to walk into the bureau of the Casino and act as

-they did."

-

-"Have they any connection with the actual assassin, do you think?"

-

-"I'm inclined to believe so," he responded.  "It was a conspiracy on

-their part to obtain possession of the money."

-

-"Of course, I gave it up in entire innocence," I said.  "I never

-dreamt that such a plot could exist."

-

-"Ah, mademoiselle!" observed the detective, "in this affair we have

-evidently to deal with those who have brought crime to a fine art.

-There seems something remarkable regarding the appointment in London

-on the 2nd of June.  It seems as though it were desired to gain time

-with some secret object or another."

-

-"I am absolutely bewildered," I admitted.  "My position in this

-tragic affair is anything but enviable."

-

-"Most certainly, all this must be most annoying and distressing to

-mademoiselle.  I only hope we shall be successful in tracing the real

-perpetrators of the crime."

-

-"You think there were more than one?"

-

-"That is most probable," he replied.  "At present, however, we still

-remain without any tangible clue, save that the proceeds of the crime

-have passed from one person to another, through the agency of

-yourself."

-

-"Their audacity was beyond comprehension!" I cried.  "It really seems

-inconceivable that I should have danced with the actual murderer, and

-afterwards been induced to hand over to a pair of impostors the money

-stolen from the unfortunate young man.  I feel that I am to blame for

-my shortsightedness."

-

-"Not at all, mademoiselle, not at all," declared the detective, with

-his suave Gallic politeness.  "With such a set of ingenious

-malefactors, it is very easy to commit an error, and fall a victim to

-roguery."

-

-"And what can be done?"

-

-"We can only continue our investigations."

-

-"But the man in the owl's dress?  Tell me candidly, do you really

-believe that he was the actual murderer?"

-

-"He may have been.  It is evident that, for some hidden purpose, he

-had an important reason for passing the stolen notes into your

-possession."

-

-"But why?"

-

-"Ah, that is one of the mysteries which we must try to solve.  The

-man was French, you say?"

-

-"He spoke English admirably."

-

-"No word of French?"

-

-"Not a single word.  Yet he possessed an accent rather unusual."

-

-"He might have been a foreigner--an Italian or German, for aught you

-know?" the detective suggested.

-

-"No," I answered reflectively.  "His gestures were French.  I believe

-that he was actually French."

-

-"And the bogus police agents?"

-

-"They, too, were French, undoubtedly.  It would have been impossible

-to deceive the Director of the Casino, himself a Frenchman."

-

-"Mademoiselle is quite right.  I will at once see Monsieur le

-Directeur and hear his statement.  It is best," he added, "that the

-matter should remain a profound secret.  Do not mention it, either of

-you, even to your nearest friends.  Publicity might very probably

-render futile all our inquiries."

-

-"I understand," I said.

-

-"And mademoiselle will say no word to anyone about it?"

-

-I glanced at Ulrica inquiringly.

-

-"Certainly," she answered.  "If monsieur so wishes, the affair shall

-be kept secret."

-

-Then, after some further discussion, the police officer thanked us,

-gave us an assurance of his most profound respect, and, accompanied

-by his silent subordinate, withdrew.

-

-"After all," I remarked, when they had gone, "it will be best,

-perhaps, to say nothing whatever to Gerald.  He might mention it

-incautiously and thus it might get into the papers."

-

-"Yes, my dear," answered Ulrica.  "Perhaps silence is best.  But the

-trick played upon you surpasses comprehension.  I don't like the

-aspect of affairs at all.  If it were not for the fact that we have

-so many friends here, and that it is just the height of the season, I

-should suggest the packing of our trunks."

-

-"We shall leave soon," I said; "as soon as the yachting party is

-complete."

-

-"Gerald told me last night that the old gentleman has ordered great

-preparations to be made for us on board the _Vispera_.  He intends to

-do the thing well, as he always does when he entertains."

-

-"We shall, no doubt, have a most glorious time," I answered, as

-together we went forth to meet the Allens, whom we found with their

-automobile brake outside Vogarde's, that smart confectioner's, where,

-as you, my reader, know, the cosmopolitan world of Nice sips tea at

-four o'clock.  At most Continental health resorts afternoon tea is

-unknown, but with visitors to Nice it is quite a solemn function,

-even though they be Parisians, and never taste tea except in winter

-on the Côte d'Azur.  At Rumpelmayer's, that white and gold tea-shop,

-where many a royal highness or grand duchess descends to sip a cup

-and nibble an appetising piece of confectionery; at the English

-tea-house on the Quai Massena, known familiarly to winter visitors as

-"the muffin shop," and at Vogarde's, famed for crystallised fruits,

-it is usual to meet everyone who is anyone, and gossip pleasantly

-over the tea-cups.  On the Promenade des Anglais there is no really

-fashionable hour, as in other resorts, but the recently-instituted

-"five o'clock" is the reunion of everyone, and the chatter is always

-polyglot.

-

-Our trip to Tourette proved a charming one.  It is a delightful

-sensation to rush along the road at the speed of a railway train in

-an easy vehicle which trumpets like an elephant at every corner and

-passes everything like a flash.  The French have certainly improved

-on the ordinary means of locomotion, and if the automobile is noisy,

-the vibration is never felt in travelling, while the nauseous

-fumes--which, it must be admitted, sometimes half poison the

-passer-by--are always behind.

-

-That same night, after dinner, we accompanied the Allens, a

-middle-aged American, and his wife, who lived in Paris, over to Monte

-Carlo.  The Battle of Flowers had taken place there during the day,

-and that event always marks the zenith of the gaming season.  The

-Rooms were crowded, and the dresses, always magnificent at night,

-were more daring than ever.  Half fashionable Europe seemed there,

-including an English royal highness and a crowd of other notables.

-One of De Lara's operas was being played in the Casino theatre, and

-as this composer is a great favourite there, a very large audience

-was attracted.

-

-The display of jewels at the tables was that night the most dazzling

-I had ever seen.  Some women, mostly gay Parisiennes or arrogant

-Russians, seemed literally covered with diamonds; and as they stood

-round the table risking their louis or five-franc pieces, it seemed

-strange that with jewels of that worth upon them they should descend

-to play with such paltry stakes.  But many women at Monte Carlo play

-merely because it is the correct thing so to do, and very often are

-careless of either loss or gain.

-

-The usual characters were there; the wizened old man with his

-capacious purse; the old hag in black cashmere, with her rouged face,

-playing and winning; and alas! the foolish young man who staked

-always in the wrong place, until he had flung away his last louis.

-In all the world there is no stranger panorama of life than that

-presented at ten o'clock at night at the tables of Monte Carlo.  It

-is unique!  It is indescribable!  It is appalling!

-

-Temptation is spread there before the unwary in all its forms, until

-the fevered atmosphere of gold and avarice throbs with evil, becomes

-nauseous, and one longs for a breath of the fresh night air and a

-refreshing drink to take the bad taste out of one's mouth.

-

-I played merely because Ulrica and Dolly Allen played.  I think I won

-three or four louis, but am not certain of the amount.  You ask why?

-

-Because there was seated at the table, exactly opposite where I

-stood, unnoticed among the crowd, no less a person than Ernest

-Cameron.

-

-At his side was the inevitable red and black card whereon he

-registered each number as it came up; before him were several little

-piles of louis and a few notes, while behind him, leaning now and

-then over his chair and whispering, was _that woman_!

-

-At frequent intervals he played, generally upon the dozens, and even

-then rather uncertainly.  But he often lost.  Once or twice he played

-with fairly large stakes upon a chance which appeared practically

-certain, but he had no fine fortune, and the croupier raked in his

-money.

-

-For fully a dozen times he staked two louis on the last twelve

-numbers, but with that perversity which sometimes seems to seize the

-roulette-ball, the numbers came up between 1 and 24.

-

-Suddenly the tow-haired woman who had replaced myself in his

-affections leaned over, and said in a voice quite audible to me:

-

-"Put the maximum on number 6!"

-

-With blind obedience he counted out the sum sufficient to win the

-maximum of six thousand francs, and pushed it upon the number she had

-named.

-

-"_Rien ne va plus!_" cried the croupier the next instant, and then,

-sure enough, I saw the ball drop into the number the witch had

-prophesied.

-

-The croupier counted the stake quickly, and pushed with his rake

-towards the fortunate player notes for six thousand francs, with the

-simple words:

-

-"_En plein!_"

-

-"Enough!" cried the woman, prompting him.  "Play no more to-night."

-

-He sighed, and with a strange, preoccupied air gathered up his coin,

-notes, and other belongings, while a player tossed over a five-franc

-piece to "mark" his place, or, in other words, to secure his chair

-when he vacated it.  Then, still obedient to her, he rose with a

-faint smile upon his lips.

-

-As he did so, he raised his eyes, and they fell full upon mine, for I

-was standing there watching him.

-

-Our gaze met, suddenly.  Next instant, however, the light died out of

-his countenance, and he stood glaring at me as though I were an

-apparition.  His mouth was slightly opened, his hand trembled, his

-brow contracted, and his face grew ashen.

-

-His attitude was as though he were cowed by my presence.  He

-remembered our last meeting.

-

-In a moment, however, he recovered his self-possession, turned his

-back upon me, and strolled away beside the woman who had usurped my

-place.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XII

-

-CARRIES ME ON BOARD THE "VISPERA"

-

-Faces, even expressions, may lie, but eyes never learn the knack of

-falsehood.  A man may commit follies; but once cured, those follies

-expand his nature.  With a woman, sad to tell, follies are always

-debasing.  It was, I knew, a folly to love Ernest Cameron.

-

-Life is always disappointing.  The shattering of our idols, the

-revelation of the shallowness of friendship, the losing faith in

-those we love, and the witnessing of their fall from that pedestal

-whereon we placed them in our own exalted idealisation--all is

-disappointing.

-

-I stood gazing after him as he strode down the great room with its

-bejewelled and excited crowd, in which the _chevalier d'industrie_

-and the _déclassée_ woman jostled against pickpockets and the men who

-gamble at Aix, Ostend, Namur or Spa, as the seasons come and go--that

-strange assembly of courteous Italians, bearded Russians,

-well-groomed Englishmen, and women painted, powdered and perfumed.

-

-I held my breath; my heart beat so violently that I could hear it

-above the babel of voices about me.  I suffered the most acute agony.

-Of late I had been always thinking of him--asleep, dreaming--always

-dreaming of him.  Always the same pang of regret was within my

-heart--regret that I had allowed him to go away without a word,

-without telling him how madly, how despairingly I loved him.

-

-Life without him was a hopeless blank, yet it was all through my

-vanity, my wretched pride, my invincible self-love.  I was now

-careless, indifferent, inconsequential, my only thought being of him.

-His coldness, his disdain was killing me.  When his eyes had met mine

-in surprise, they were strange, Sphinx-like, and mysterious.

-

-Yet at that moment I did not care what he might say to me.  I only

-wished to hear him speaking to me; to hear the sound of his voice,

-and to know that he cared enough for me to treat me as a human being.

-

-Ah!  I trembled when I realised how madly I loved him, and how fierce

-was my hatred of that woman who issued her orders and whom he obeyed.

-

-I turned away with the Allens, and Ulrica cried delightedly that she

-had won on 16, her favourite number.  But I did not answer.  My heart

-had grown sick, and I went forth into the healing night air and down

-the steps towards the _ascenseurs_.

-

-On the steps a well-dressed young Frenchman was lounging, and as I

-passed down I heard him humming to himself that catchy _chanson_ so

-popular at the café-concert:

-

-  "_A bas la romance et l'idylle,

-  Lea oiseaux, la forêt, le buisson

-  Des marlous, de la grande ville,

-  Nous allons chanter la chanson!

-  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos!

-  C'est les dos les gros,

-      Les beaux,

-  A nous les marmites!

-  Grandes ou petites;

-  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos;

-  C'est les dos les gros,

-      Les beaux,

-  A nous les marmit' et vivent les los!_"

-

-

-I closed my ears to shut out the sound of those words.  I remembered

-Ernest--that look in his eyes, that scorn in his face, that disdain

-in his bearing.

-

-The truth was only too plain.  His love for me was dead.  I was the

-most wretched of women, of all God's creatures.

-

-I prayed that I might regard him--that I might regard the world--with

-indifference.  And yet I was sufficiently acquainted with the world

-and its ways to know that to a woman the word indifference is the

-most evil word in the language; that it bears upon the most fatal of

-all sentiments; that it brings about the most deadly of all mental

-attitudes.

-

-But Ernest, the man whose slave I was, despised me.  He commanded my

-love; why could not I command his?  Ah, because I was a woman--and my

-face had ceased to interest him!

-

-Bitter tears sprang to my eyes, but I managed to preserve my

-self-control and enter the station-lift, making an inward vow that

-never again, in my whole life, would I set foot in that hated hell

-within a paradise called Monte Carlo.

-

-True, I was a woman who, abandoned by the man she loved, amused

-herself wherever amusement could be procured; but I still remained an

-honest woman, as I had always been ever since those sweet and

-well-remembered days spent in the grey old convent outside Florence.

-At Monte Carlo the scum of the earth enjoy the flowers of the earth.

-I detested its crowds; I held in abhorrence that turbulent avarice,

-and felt stifled in that atmosphere of gilded sin.  No!  I would

-never enter there again.  The bitter remembrance of that night would,

-I knew, be too painful.

-

-Thus I returned to Nice with a feeling that for me, now that Ernest

-had drifted away from my side to become a placid gambler, and to live

-careless of my love, life had no further charm.  The recollection of

-the days that followed can never be torn from my memory, my brain, my

-soul.  I smiled, though I was wearing out my heart; I laughed, even

-though bitter tears were ready to start into my eyes, and I made

-pretence of being interested in things to which I was at heart

-supremely indifferent.  I courted forgetfulness, but the oblivion of

-my love would not come.  I never knew till then how great was the

-passion a woman could conceive for a man, or how his memory could

-continually arise as a ghost from the past to terrify the present.

-

-That night, as we drove from the station to the hotel, Ulrica

-accidentally touched my hand.

-

-"How cold you are, dear!" she cried in surprise.

-

-"Yes," I answered, shivering.

-

-I was cold; it was the truth.  At thought of the man who had forsaken

-me an icy chill had struck my heart--the chill of unsatisfied love,

-of desolation, of blank, unutterable despair.

-

-In due course our yachting gowns came home from the

-dressmaker's--accompanied by terrifying bills, of course--and a few

-days later we sailed out of Villefranche Harbour on board the

-_Vispera_.  The party was a well-chosen one, consisting mostly of

-youngish people, several of whom we knew quite well, and before the

-second day was over we had all settled down to the usual routine of

-life on board a yacht.  There was no sensation of being cramped up,

-but on the contrary the decks were broad and spacious, and the cabins

-perfect nests of luxury.  The vessel had been built on the Clyde in

-accordance with its owner's designs, and it certainly was an Atlantic

-liner in miniature.

-

-Our plans had been slightly altered, for since the majority of the

-guests had never been to Algiers, it was resolved to make a run over

-there, and then coast along Algeria and Tunis, and so on to

-Alexandria.  As we steamed away from Villefranche, the receding

-panorama of the Littoral, with its olive-covered slopes and great

-purple snow-capped Alps spread out before us, presenting a perfectly

-enchanting picture.  We all stood grouped on deck watching it slowly

-sink below the horizon.  From the first moment that we went on board,

-indeed, all was gay, all luxurious; for were we not guests of a man

-who, although absurdly economical himself, was always lavish when he

-entertained?  Everyone was loud in praise of the magnificent

-appointments of the vessel; and the dinner at which its owner

-presided was a meal sparkling with merriment.

-

-I was placed next Lord Eldersfield, a pleasant, middle-aged,

-grey-eyed man, who had recently left the Army on succeeding to the

-title.  He was, I found, quite an entertaining companion, full of

-droll stories and clever witticisms; indeed, he shone at once as the

-chief conversationalist of the table.

-

-"Have I been in Algiers before?" he repeated, in answer to a question

-from me.  "Oh, yes.  It's a place where one half the people don't

-know the other half."

-

-I smiled and wondered.  Yet his brief description was, I afterwards

-discovered, very true.  The Arabs and the Europeans live apart, and

-are like oil and water; they never mix.

-

-The day passed merrily, and had it not been for constant thoughts of

-the man who had loved me and forgotten, I should have enjoyed myself.

-

-Save for one day of mistral, the trip across the Mediterranean proved

-delightful; and for six days we remained in the white old City of the

-Corsairs, where we went on excursions, and had a most pleasant time.

-We visited the Kasbah, drove to the Jardin d'Essai and to the pretty

-village of St. Eugène, while several of the party went to visit

-friends who were staying at the big hotels up at Mustapha.

-

-Life in Algiers was, I found, most interesting after the Parisian

-artificiality and the glitter of Nice and Monte Carlo; and with Lord

-Eldersfield as my cavalier, I saw all that was worth seeing.  We

-lounged in those gay French cafés under the date-palms in the Place

-du Gouvernement, strolled up those narrow, ladder-like streets in the

-old city, and mingled with those crowds of mysterious-looking veiled

-Arab women who were bargaining for their purchases in the market.

-All was fresh; all was diverting.

-

-As for Ulrica, she entered thoroughly into the spirit of the new

-sensation, as she always did, and, with Gerald usually as her escort,

-went hither and thither with her true tourist habit of poking about

-everywhere, regardless of contagious diseases or the remarkable

-variety of bad smells which invariably exist in an Oriental town.

-Although each day the party went ashore and enjoyed themselves, old

-Mr. Keppel never accompanied them.  He knew the place, he said, and

-he had some business affairs to attend to in the deck-house, which he

-kept secret to himself.  Therefore he was excused.

-

-"No, Miss Rosselli," he had explained to me in confidence, "I'm no

-sight-seer.  If my guests enjoy seeing a few of the towns on the

-Mediterranean I am quite contented; but I prefer to remain quiet

-here, rather than drive about in brakes and revisit places that I

-have already visited long ago."

-

-"Certainly," I said.  "You are under no obligation to these people.

-They accept your kind hospitality, and the least they can do is to

-allow you to remain in peace where you wish."

-

-"Yes," he sighed.  "I leave them in Gerald's charge.  He knows how to

-look after them."

-

-And his face seemed sad and anxious, as though he were utterly

-forlorn.

-

-Indeed, after a week at sea we saw but very little of him.  He

-lunched and dined with us in the saloon each day, but never joined

-our musical parties after dinner, and seldom, if ever, entered the

-smoking-room.  Because all knew him to be eccentric, this apparent

-disregard of our presence was looked upon as one of his peculiar

-habits.  Upon Gerald devolved the duty of acting as entertainer, and,

-assisted by Ulrica, old Miss Keppel and myself, he endeavoured to

-make everyone happy and comfortable.  Fortunately, the ubiquitous

-Barnes had, by Gerald's desire, been left behind at the Villa Fabron.

-

-As day by day we steamed up that tranquil sea in brilliant weather,

-with our bows ever thrusting themselves toward the dawn, life was one

-continual round of merriment from three bells, when we breakfasted,

-until eight bells sounded for turning in.  A yachting cruise is very

-apt to become monotonous, but on the _Vispera_ one had no time for

-_ennui_.  After Algiers, we put in for a day at Cagliari, then

-visited Tunis, the Greek Islands, Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople.

-

-We had already been a month cruising--and a month in the

-Mediterranean in spring is delightful--when one night an incident

-occurred which was both mysterious and disconcerting.  We were on our

-way from Constantinople, and in the first dog-watch had sighted one

-of the rocky headlands of Corsica.  That evening dinner had been

-followed by an impromptu dance, which had proved a most successful

-affair.  The men were mostly dancers, except Lord Stoneborough, who

-was inclined to obesity, and what with the piano and a couple of

-violins, played by a pair of rather insipid sisters, the dance was

-quite a jolly one.  We persuaded even old Mr. Keppel to dance, and

-although his was a not very graceful feat, nevertheless his

-participation in our fun put everyone in an exceedingly good humour.

-

-Of course, the month had not passed without the usual gossip and

-tittle-tattle inseparable from a yachting cruise.  On board a yacht

-people quickly become inventive, and the most astounding fictions

-about one's neighbours are whispered behind fans and books.  I had

-heard whispers regarding Ulrica and Gerald Keppel.  Rumour had it

-that the old gentleman had actually given his consent to their

-marriage, and as soon as they returned to England the engagement

-would be announced.

-

-Certain of the guests, with an air of extreme confidence, took me

-aside, and questioned me regarding it; but I merely responded that I

-knew nothing, and greatly doubted the accuracy of the rumour.  More

-than once that evening I had been asked whether it were true, and so

-persistent seemed the rumour that I took Ulrica into my cabin, and

-asked her point-blank.

-

-"My dear!" she cried, "have you really taken leave of your senses?

-How absurd!  Of course, there's nothing whatever between Gerald and

-myself.  He is amusing--that's all."

-

-"You might do worse than marry him," I laughed.  "Remember, you've

-known him a long time--four years, isn't it?"

-

-"Marry him?  Never!  Go and tell these prying persons, whoever they

-are, that when I'm engaged I'll put a paragraph in the papers all in

-good time."

-

-"But don't you think, Ulrica," I suggested--"don't you think that if

-such is the case, Gerald is rather too much in your society?"

-

-"I can't help him hanging around me, poor boy," she laughed.  "I

-can't be rude to him."

-

-"Of course not, but you might possibly give him a hint."

-

-"Ah! now, my dear Carmela," she cried impatiently, "you want to

-lecture me, eh?  You know how I hate being lectured.  Let's end the

-discussion before we become bad friends."

-

-And so, with a light laugh, she rearranged her hair and left my cabin

-to return on deck, where dancing was still proceeding beneath the

-great electric lights.  Four bells had rung out sharply, showing it

-to be two o'clock, before I went down to my cabin, attended by

-Felicita.  Very soon, however, I sent her to bed and lay down to rest

-myself.

-

-Somehow, I could not sleep that night.  The monotonous whirr and

-throbbing of the engines sounded like continual thunder in my ears,

-and even the swish of the long waves as they rose and fell at the

-port-hole irritated me.  Of late I had developed insomnia to an

-alarming extent, but whether it was due to the noise of the

-machinery, or to nervousness, I know not.

-

-I turned and turned in my narrow berth, but could not sleep.  The

-atmosphere seemed stifling, in spite of the ventilators; and I dared

-not open the port-hole, fearing a sudden douche, for a wind had

-sprung up and we were rolling heavily.  The jingle of the glasses on

-the toilet-stand, the vibration, the tramping of the sailors

-overhead, the roar of the funnels, all rendered sleep utterly

-impossible.

-

-At last I could stand it no longer.  I rose and dressed, putting on a

-big driving-coat.  Then, with a thick shawl about my head, I went up

-on deck.  The fresh air might perhaps do me good, I thought.  At any

-rate, it was a remedy worth trying.

-

-The night, so brilliant a couple of hours before, had become dark and

-stormy; the wind was so boisterous that I walked with difficulty; and

-the fact that the awnings had been reefed showed that Davis, the

-skipper, anticipated a squall.

-

-The deck was deserted.  Only on the bridge could I see, above the

-strip of sheltering canvas, two shadowy figures in oilskins, keeping

-watch.  Save for those figures, I was utterly alone.  On my way

-towards the stern I passed the small deck-house, which old Mr. Keppel

-had reserved as his own den.

-

-The green silk blinds were always drawn across the port-holes, and

-the door always remained locked.  No one ever entered there, although

-many had been the speculations regarding the private cabin when we

-had first sailed.

-

-The millionaire himself had, however, given an explanation one day at

-luncheon.

-

-"I always reserve, both in my houses and here, on board the

-_Vispera_, one room as my own.  I hope all of you will excuse me

-this.  As you know, I have a good many affairs to attend to, and I

-hate to have my papers thrown into disorder."

-

-Personally, I suspected him of having a lathe there, so that he might

-pursue his hobby of ivory-turning, but the majority of the guests

-accepted his explanation that this deck-house was his study, and that

-he did not wish them to pry there.

-

-More than once Ulrica had expressed to me wonder regarding the reason

-the cabin remained always closed, and its curtains always drawn.

-Every woman dearly loves a mystery, and, like myself, Ulrica, when

-she discovered anything suspicious, never rested until she had found

-some theory or other.

-

-She had one day mentioned the fact to Gerald, who, in my presence,

-had given what appeared to me the true explanation.

-

-"It's merely one of the guv'nor's eccentricities.  The fact is, that

-on the outward voyage from Portsmouth he bought some antique Moorish

-furniture and ivory carvings in Tangier, and has stored all his

-purchases in there until we return.  I've seen them myself--beautiful

-things.  He says he intends to sell them at a profit to a dealer in

-London," whereat we laughed.

-

-Knowing how the old gentleman practised economy sometimes, I had

-accepted this as the truth.

-

-But as, gripping the rail to prevent myself being thrown down by the

-rolling of the ship, I passed along the side of the deck-house, I was

-surprised to see a light within.  The curtains of green silk were

-still drawn, but the light could nevertheless be seen through them,

-and it occurred to me strange that anyone should be there at that

-hour of the night.  I placed my face close to the screwed-down

-port-hole, but the curtain had been so well drawn that it was

-impossible to see within.  Then, moving quietly, I examined the other

-three round brass-bound windows, but all were as closely curtained as

-the first.

-

-I fancied I heard voices as I stood there, and I confess that I

-attempted to distinguish the words, but the roar of the funnels and

-howlings of the wind drowned every other sound.

-

-What if my host caught me prying?  His private affairs were surely no

-business of mine.  Remembering this, I was about to turn away, when

-suddenly I experienced an extraordinary desire to peep inside that

-forbidden chamber.  I walked round it again, stealthily, for, as luck

-would have it, I was in thin slippers.

-

-While standing there in hesitation, I noticed that upon the low roof

-was a small ventilator which had been raised to admit air.  What if I

-could get a peep down there!  It was an adventurous climb for a woman

-hampered by skirts.  But I searched for means to mount, and found

-them in a low iron staple, to which some cords of the rigging were

-attached, and a brass rail which afforded rather insecure foothold.

-After some effort, I succeeded in scrambling to the top, but not

-before I found myself rather too much exposed to the eye of the

-officer on the bridge.  Fortunately, I was behind him, but if he had

-occasion to turn round he would be sure to discover me.

-

-Having risked so much, however, I was determined to make further

-endeavour.  I leaned across the small roof, placed my face close to

-the open ventilator, and peered down into the locked cabin.

-

-Next second I drew back with a start, holding my breath.  A loud

-exclamation of dismay escaped me, but the sound was swallowed up in

-the noises of the boisterous night.  The sight I witnessed below me

-in that small deck-house held me as rigid as if I had been petrified.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIII

-

-DISCLOSES A MILLIONAIRE'S SECRET

-

-So heavily was the yacht rolling that I was compelled to hold firmly,

-lest I should lose my balance and roll down upon the deck.

-

-My foothold was insecure, and the sight which presented itself as I

-peered within was so unexpected and startling, that in the excitement

-of the moment I loosened my grip, and narrowly escaped being pitched

-down headlong.  From my position I unfortunately could not obtain a

-view of the whole interior, the ventilator being open only a couple

-of inches; but what I saw was sufficient to unnerve any woman.

-

-The cabin was lit brilliantly by electricity, but the walls, instead

-of being panelled in satinwood, as were most of the others, were

-decorated in a manner more rich and magnificent than in any other

-part of the vessel.  They were gilt, with white ornamentation in

-curious arabesques, while upon the floor was a thick Turkey carpet

-with a white ground and pattern of turquoise blue.  The effect was

-bright and glaring, and at the first moment it occurred to me that

-the place was really a lady's boudoir.  There was another aft, it was

-true, but this one had evidently been intended as a lounge for female

-guests.  As I looked down, old Benjamin Keppel himself passed into

-that part of the cabin within the zone of my vision.  His hat was

-off, displaying his scanty grey hair, and as he turned I caught a

-glimpse of his face.  His countenance, usually so kind and tranquil,

-was distorted by abject fear; his teeth were set, his cheeks grey and

-bloodless.  Both anger and alarm were depicted upon his rugged

-countenance.  His appearance was mysterious, to say the least; but it

-was another object within that room which held me in speechless

-wonderment.

-

-Near where he stood, lying in a heap at his feet, was a dark-haired,

-handsome woman, in a white silk robe--a stranger.

-

-The old millionaire, with a sudden movement, flung himself upon his

-knees, and touched her face caressingly.  The next instant he drew

-back his hand.

-

-"Dead!" he gasped, in the thick voice of a man grief-stricken.

-"Dead!  And she did not know--she did not know!  It is murder!" he

-gasped, in a terrified whisper.  "Murder!"

-

-The wind howled about me weirdly, tearing at my clothes as if it

-desired to hurl me into the raging sea; while the yacht, steaming on,

-rose and plunged, shipping huge seas each time her bows met the angry

-waves.

-

-For some moments the strange old man bent over the woman in silence.

-I was puzzled to discover her identity.  Why had she been kept

-prisoner in that gilded cabin during the cruise?  Why had we remained

-in total ignorance of her presence?  I alone knew our host's secret.

-We had a dead woman on board.

-

-Keppel touched the woman again, placing his hand upon her face.  When

-he withdrew it, I saw that blood was upon it.  He looked at it, and

-shudderingly wiped it off upon his handkerchief.

-

-At the same instant a voice, that of a man, sounded from the opposite

-side of the cabin, saying:

-

-"Don't you see that the ventilator is open up above?  Shut it, or

-somebody may see us.  They can see down here from the bridge."

-

-"Think of her," the old man exclaimed, in a low voice.  "Not of us."

-

-"Of her?  Why should I?" inquired the gruff voice of the unseen.

-"You've killed her, and must take the consequences."

-

-"I----" gasped the old man, staggering with difficulty to his feet,

-and placing both hands to his eyes, as though to shut out from view

-that hideous evidence of his crime.  "Yes," he cried, in an

-awe-stricken tone, "she is dead!"

-

-"And a good job, too," responded the unseen man, in a hard and

-pitiless tone.

-

-"No," cried Keppel angrily.  "At least respect her memory.  Remember

-who she was!"

-

-"I shall remember nothing of this night's work," the other responded.

-"I leave all memories of it as a legacy to you."

-

-"You coward!" cried Keppel, turning upon the speaker, his eyes

-flashing.  "I have endeavoured to assist you, and this is your

-gratitude."

-

-"Assist me?" sneered his companion.  "Pretty assistance it's been!  I

-tell you what it is, Benjamin Keppel, you're in a very tight place

-just now.  You killed that--that woman there, and you know what the

-penalty is for murder."

-

-"I know!" wailed the white-faced, despairing man.

-

-"Well, if I might be permitted to advise, I'd make a clean sweep of

-the whole affair," said the man.

-

-"What do you mean?"

-

-"Simply this: we can't keep the body very long in this cabin without

-it being discovered.  And when it is found, well, it will be all up

-with both of us.  Of that there's but little doubt.  I suggest this.

-Let us make at once for one of the Italian ports, say Leghorn, where

-you will land to transact some important business, and I'll land

-also.  Then the _Vispera_ will sail for Naples, to which port you

-will go by rail to rejoin her.  On the way, however, the vessel

-disappears--eh?"

-

-"Disappears!  How?  I don't understand."

-

-"Is blown up."

-

-"Blown up!" he cried.  "And how about the guests?"

-

-"Guests be hanged!"

-

-"But there are eleven of them, beside the crew."

-

-"Never mind them.  There are the boats, and no doubt they'll all take

-care of themselves.  Fools if they don't."

-

-"I should feel that I'd murdered them all," the old man responded.

-

-"In this affair we must save ourselves," declared the unseen man,

-very firmly.  "There has been a--well, we'll call it an ugly

-occurrence to-night, and it behoves us to get clear out of it.  If

-the _Vispera_ goes down, the body will go down with it, and the sea

-will hide our secret."

-

-"But I cannot imperil the lives of all in that manner.  Besides, by

-what means do you suggest destroying the ship?"

-

-"Perfectly simple.  Just give orders to Davis in the morning to put

-in at Leghorn with all possible speed, and leave the rest to me.

-I'll guarantee that the _Vispera_ will never reach Naples."  Then he

-added: "But just shut that infernal ventilator.  I don't like it

-being open."

-

-Old Keppel, staggering, reached the cord, and in obedience to his

-companion's wish closed the narrow opening with a sudden bang.  The

-woodwork narrowly escaped coming into contact with my face, and for

-some moments I remained there clutching at my unstable supports, and

-rudely buffeted by the gale.

-

-As at any moment I might be discovered, I made haste to lower myself

-again to the deck, though not without difficulty, and then cautiously

-returned to my own cabin.

-

-I had been soaked to the skin by the rain and spray, but though still

-in my wet things, I sat pondering over the mysterious crime I had

-discovered.

-

-Who was that unseen man?  Whoever he was, he held old Benjamin Keppel

-in his power, and to his diabolical plot would be due the destruction

-of the _Vispera_, and the loss of perhaps every soul on board.

-

-He had suggested an explosion.  He no doubt intended to place on

-board some infernal contrivance which, after the lapse of a certain

-number of hours, would explode, and blow the bottom out of the yacht.

-Whoever that man was, he was a crafty villain.  Providentially,

-however, I had been led to the discovery of the scheme, and I did not

-mean that the lives of my fellow-guests, or of the crew, should be

-sacrificed in order to conceal a crime.

-

-A vision of that white dead face recurred to me.  It was a face very

-handsome, but to my remembrance I had never seen it before.  The

-mystery of the woman's concealment there was altogether

-extraordinary.  Yet it scarcely seemed possible that she should have

-remained in hiding so long without a soul on board, save Keppel,

-being aware of her presence.  She had been fed, of course, and most

-probably the steward knew of her presence in that gilded deck-house.

-But she was dead--murdered by an inoffensive old gentleman, who was

-the very last person in the would I should have suspected of having

-taken human life.

-

-And why had he stroked her dead face so caressingly?  Who, indeed,

-was she?

-

-My wet clothes clung to me coldly and clammily.  I now exchanged them

-for a warm wrap, entered my berth, and tried to rest.  Sleep was,

-however, impossible in that doomed ship, amid the wild roaring of the

-tempest and the thunder of the waves breaking over the deck above.

-Once it occurred to me to go straight to Ulrica and tell her all I

-had seen and heard, but on reflection I resolved to keep my own

-counsel, and narrowly watch the course of events.

-

-The mystery of the hidden man's identity grew upon me, until I

-suddenly resolved to make a further endeavour to discover him.  The

-voice was deep and low, but the roaring of the wind and hissing of

-escaping steam had prevented me hearing it sufficiently well to

-recognise whether it was that of one of our fellow-guests.  I slipped

-on a mackintosh, returned to the deck, and crept towards the cabin,

-wherein reposed the remains of the mysterious woman in white.  But

-soon I saw that the light had been switched off.  All was in

-darkness.  The guilty pair had gone below to their own berths.

-

-Through the whole night the storm continued, but the morning broke

-brightly, and the tempest, as is so frequently the case in the

-Mediterranean, was succeeded by a dead calm, so that when we sat down

-to breakfast we were steaming in comparatively smooth water.

-

-"Have you heard?" said Ulrica to me, after we had been exchanging our

-sleepless experiences.  "Mr. Keppel has altered our course.  He has

-some pressing business to attend to, so we are going into Leghorn."

-

-"Leghorn!" exclaimed Lord Eldersfield at my elbow.  "Horrid place!  I

-was there once.  Narrow streets, dirty people, primitive sanitation,

-and a sorry attempt at a promenade."

-

-"Well, we don't stay there long; that's one comfort," said Ulrica.

-"Mr. Keppel is going ashore and he'll rejoin us at Naples."

-

-I looked down the table and saw that the face of the old millionaire

-was pale, without its usual composure.  He was pretending to be

-busily occupied with his porridge.

-

-"Are we going on straight to Naples, Keppel?" inquired Eldersfield.

-

-"Certainly," answered our host.  "I much regret that I'm compelled to

-take you all out of our original course, but I must exchange some

-telegrams with my agent in London.  We shall be in Leghorn to-night,

-and if you are all agreed, you may sail again at once."

-

-"I'd like to see Leghorn," declared Ulrica.  "People who go to Italy

-always leave it out of their itinerary.  I've heard that it is quite

-charming in many ways.  All the better-class Italians from Florence

-and Rome go there for the bathing in summer."

-

-"Which, I fear, isn't much of a recommendation," observed his

-lordship, who was, I believe, Ulrica's pet aversion.

-

-"The bathing itself is declared by all the guide-books to be the best

-in Europe," she answered.

-

-"And the heat in summer greater than in any other place on the

-Continent of Europe.  Its imports are rags from Constantinople and

-codfish from Newfoundland.  No wonder its scents do not all come from

-roses."

-

-"Certainly not.  Of course, if you know the place you are welcome to

-your own opinion.  I don't know it."

-

-"When you do, Miss Yorke, you'll share my opinion.  Of that I feel

-certain," he laughed; and then continued his meal.

-

-The question was shortly decided by vote whether the _Vispera_ should

-remain at Leghorn or not.  By the majority of the guests, Leghorn was

-supposed to be merely a dirty seaport, and although I, who knew the

-place well, tried to impress upon them that it possessed many charms

-not to be found in other Italian towns, it was decided that the yacht

-should only remain there a day, and then go straight on to Naples.

-

-This decision was disconcerting.  I had to prevent the trip

-southward, and the problem of how to do so without arousing suspicion

-was an extremely difficult one to solve.  If the vessel sailed from

-Leghorn, then she was doomed, together with every soul on board.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIV

-

-IN WHICH I MAKE A RESOLVE

-

-The great broad plain which lies between marble-built Pisa and the

-sea was flooded by the golden Italian sunset, and the background of

-the serrated Apennines loomed a dark purple in the distance as we

-approached the long breakwater which protects Leghorn from the sea.

-

-Leaning over the rail, I gazed upon the white sun-blanched Tuscan

-town, and recognised the gay Passeggio, with its avenue of dusky

-tamarisks, its long rows of high white houses, with their green

-_persiennes_, and Pancaldi's, and other baths, built out upon the

-rocks into the sea.  Years ago, when at the convent, we had gone

-there each summer, a dozen or so girls at a time, under the care of

-Suor Angelica, to obtain fresh air and escape for a fortnight or so

-from the intolerable heat of July in the Val d'Ema.  How well I

-remembered that long promenade, the Viale Regina Margherita, best

-known to those happy, light-hearted, improvident Livornesi by its

-ancient name, the Passeggio!  And what long walks we girls used to

-have over the rocks beyond Antignano, or scrambling climbs up to the

-shrine of the miracle-working Virgin at Montenero!  Happy, indeed,

-were those summer days with my girl friends--girls who had now, like

-myself, grown to be women--who had married, and had experienced all

-the trials and bitterness of life.  I thought of her who was my best

-friend in those past days--pretty, black-haired, unassuming Annetta

-Ceriani, from Arezzo.  She had left the college the same week as

-myself, and our parting had been a very sad one.  In a year, however,

-she had married, and was now a princess, the wife of Romolo Annibale

-Cesare Sigismondo, Prince Regello, who, to give him all his titles,

-was "principe Romano, principe di Pinerolo, conte di Lucca, nobile di

-Monte Catini."  Truly, the Italian nobility do not lack titles.  But

-poor Annetta!  Her life had been the reverse of happy, and the last

-letter I had received from her, dated from Venice, contained the

-story of a woman heart-broken.

-

-Yes, as I stood there on the deck of the _Vispera_, approaching the

-old sun-whitened Tuscan port, many were the recollections of those

-long-past careless days which crowded upon me--days before I had

-known how weary was the world, or how fraught with bitterness was

-woman's love.

-

-Already the light was shining yellow in the square old lighthouse,

-although the sun had not altogether disappeared.  Half-a-dozen fine

-cruisers of the British Mediterranean Squadron were lying at anchor

-in line, and we passed several boats full of sun-tanned men on the

-way to the shore for an evening promenade, for the British sailor is

-always a welcome guest in Leghorn.

-

-The situation was becoming desperate.  How was I to act?  At least, I

-should now ascertain who had been the old man's companion in the

-deck-cabin on the previous night, for he and this stranger would no

-doubt go ashore together.

-

-Old Mr. Keppel was standing near me, speaking again to the captain,

-giving him certain orders, when Gerald, spruce as usual in blue

-serge, came up and leaned at my side.

-

-"Ulrica says you know Leghorn quite well.  You must be our guide.

-We're all going ashore after dinner.  What is there to amuse one in

-the evening?"

-

-"There is opera at the Goldoni always.  One pays only four lire for a

-box to seat six," I said.

-

-"Impossible!" he laughed incredulously.  "I shouldn't care to sit out

-music at that price."

-

-"Ah, there I must differ," I replied.  "It is as good as any you'll

-find in Italy.  Remember, here is the home of opera.  Why, the

-Livornesi love music so intensely that it is no unusual occurrence

-for a poor family to make shift with a piece of bread and an onion

-for dinner, so as to save the fifty centesimi ingresso to the opera.

-Mascagni is Livornese, and Puccini, who composed La Boheme, was also

-born close here.  In 'cara Livorno,' as the Tuscan loves to call it,

-one can hear the best opera for five-pence."

-

-"Compare that with prices in London!"

-

-"And our music, unfortunately, is not so good," I said.

-

-"Shall we go to this delightfully inexpensive opera to-night?  It

-would certainly be an experience."

-

-"I fear I shall not," I answered.  "I'm not feeling very well."

-

-"I'm extremely sorry," he said, with quick apprehension.  "Is there

-anything I can get you?"

-

-"No, nothing, thank you," I answered.  "I feel a little faint, that's

-all."

-

-We had already anchored just inside the breakwater, and those very

-inquisitive gentlemen--the Italian Customs officers--had come on

-board.  A few minutes later the bell rang for dinner, and all

-descended to the saloon, eager to get the meal over and go ashore.

-

-On the way down Ulrica took me aside.

-

-"Gerald has told me you are ill, my dear.  I've noticed how pale and

-unlike yourself you've been all day.  What's the matter?  Tell me."

-

-"I--I can't.  At least, not now," I managed to stammer, as I hastened

-to slip from her side.

-

-I wanted to be alone to think.  Keppel's companion of the previous

-night, the man to whom the conception of that diabolical plot was

-due, was still on board.  But who was he?

-

-I ate nothing, and was ready to take my seat in the first boat that

-went ashore.  I had excused myself from making one of the party at

-the opera, after giving all necessary directions, and, on pretence of

-going to a chemist's to make a purchase, I separated myself from

-Ulrica, Gerald, and Lord Eldersfield in the Via Grande, the principal

-thoroughfare.

-

-How next to act I knew not.  No doubt Keppel's intention was to send

-on board some explosive destined to sink the _Vispera_ to the bottom

-with all on board.  At all hazards, the yacht must not sail.  Yet,

-how was it possible that I could prevent it without making a full

-statement of what I had overheard?

-

-I entered the pharmacy and purchased the first article that came into

-my mind.  Then, returning into the street, I wandered on, plunged in

-my own distracting thoughts.  Keppel had gone alone to the telegraph

-office in a cab.

-

-The soft, balmy Italian night had fallen, and the white streets and

-piazzas of Leghorn were filled, as they always are at evening, with

-the light-hearted crowds of idlers; men with their hats stuck

-jauntily askew, smoking, laughing, gossiping; and women, dark-haired,

-black-eyed, the most handsome in all Italy, each with a mantilla of

-black lace or some light-coloured silk as head-covering, promenading

-and enjoying the _bel fresco_ after the toil and burden of the day.

-None in all the world can surpass in beauty the Tuscan women--dark,

-tragic, with eyes that flash quickly in love or hatred, with figures

-perfect, and each with an easy-swinging gait that a duchess might

-envy.  It was Suor Angelica who had once repeated to me the verse

-written about them by an old Florentine poet:

-

-  "S'è grande, è oziosa,

-  S'è piccola, è viziosa;

-  S'è, bella, è vanitosa;

-  S'è brutta, è fastidiosa."

-

-

-Every type, indeed, is represented in that long, single street at

-night--the dark-haired Jewess, the classic Greek, the thick-lipped

-Tunisian, the pale-cheeked Armenian, and the beautiful Tuscan, the

-purest type of beauty in all the world.

-

-Once again, after several years, I heard, as I walked onward, the

-soft sibilations of the Tuscan tongue about me, the gay chatter of

-that city of sun and sea, where, although half the population is in a

-state of semi-starvation, hearts are still as light as in the days

-when "cara Livorno" was still prosperous.  But alas! it has sadly

-declined.  Its manufactures, never very extensive, have died cut; its

-merchant princes are ruined, or have deserted it, and its trade has

-ebbed until there is no work for those honest, brown-faced men, who

-are forced to idle upon the stone benches in the piazza, even though

-their wives and children are crying for bread.

-

-The splendid band of the garrison was playing in the great Piazza

-Vittorio, in front of the British Consulate, where the Consular flag

-was waving, because the warships were in the port.  The music was in

-acknowledgment of the fact that the British Marine Band had played

-before the Prefecture on the previous evening.  The Consulate was

-illuminated, and on the balcony, in company with a large party, was

-the Consul himself, the popular Jack Hutchinson--known to every

-English and American resident throughout Tuscany as the merriest and

-happiest of good fellows, as well as a distinguished author and

-critic.  I recognised him, looking cool in his suit of white linen,

-but hurried on across the great square, feeling that no time should

-be lost, and yet not knowing what to do.

-

-The mysterious assassination of poor Reggie, and the curious events

-which followed, coupled with the startling discovery I had made on

-the previous night, had completely unnerved me.  As I tried to

-reflect calmly and logically, I came to the conclusion that it was

-eminently necessary to ascertain the identity of the man who held the

-millionaire beneath his thumb--the man who had suggested the blowing

-up of the yacht.  This man intended, without a doubt, to leave the

-vessel under cover of night; or, if he were actually one of the

-guests, he could, of course, easily excuse himself and leave the

-others, as I had done.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XV

-

-IN WHICH WE PAY A VISIT ASHORE

-

-The mystery of the deck cabin was puzzling.

-

-I alone held knowledge of the dastardly plan formed to blow up the

-yacht, and was determined that the vessel should not sail again

-before I had warned my fellow-guests.  But how?

-

-I had watched the old millionaire narrowly, and had plainly detected

-his nervous agitation, and his anxiety for the cruise to be brought

-to an end.  As far as I myself was concerned, I had no intention of

-again sailing in the _Vispera_, and would certainly not allow Ulrica

-to continue the voyage.  That the yacht was doomed was plain.  Even

-at that moment old Mr. Keppel was sending mysterious telegrams, in

-all of which I scented some connection with the tragedy that had

-occurred on board.  It struck me that the wisest course would be to

-attach myself to my host as much as possible, and narrowly watch his

-movements.  With that intention, therefore, I turned back and walked

-as far as the great Piazza Carlo Alberto, where the central telegraph

-office was situated.  On the stone seats around the spacious square

-hundreds of people were sitting and gossiping beneath the stars, for

-the Italian of the working-class loves to gossip at night, when the

-day's toil is over, and the cool breeze comes in from across the sea.

-

-I met Keppel emerging from the office, and with some surprise he

-greeted me.  I told him that I had been making some purchases, while

-the others had gone to the opera, whereupon he suggested that we,

-too, should take a cab to the Goldoni and join the party there.

-

-This we did.  The old man was unusually chatty and affable, and

-during our drive told me he had decided that the _Vispera_ should lie

-in Leghorn for the next five or six days, as he was expecting letters

-from England in reply to the telegrams he had just despatched.

-

-This surprised me.  If he and his unknown accomplice wished to get

-rid of traces of their crime by blowing up the vessel, it seemed only

-probable that they would do so at the earliest possible moment.

-Again, a second point was an enigma.  How was it that the Customs

-officers, who had searched the yacht, and had, of course, entered the

-mysterious deck-house, had not discovered the crime?

-

-Keppel was a very shrewd old fellow, but it was my duty to prevent

-the consummation of the dastardly plot which his accomplice had

-suggested.  With this object in view, I made a point of remaining as

-near him as possible.

-

-In the investigation of matters such as these a woman is in many ways

-handicapped.  A man can go hither and thither in search of truth, and

-act in a manner for which a woman can find no excuse.

-

-At the Goldoni, an enormous theatre, rather dingy with age, but

-nevertheless comfortable, Verdi's _Aida_ was being performed, and

-when we entered the box occupied by our party, Ulrica greeted me with

-enthusiasm.

-

-"You were quite right, Carmela, dear.  The music is really wonderful.

-I had no idea that they had opera of such high quality in a small

-Italian town.  The tenor is a great artist."

-

-"Ah!" I laughed.  "I was sneered at when I dared to say that there

-was anything of interest in Leghorn.  You have at least found an

-evening's amusement equal to any you'll find in London.  Pretty

-toilettes you won't find, as at Covent Garden, but good opera you can

-always hear."

-

-"I quite agree with Miss Rosselli," declared Gerald, as he rose to

-give me his seat.  "Leghorn is a charming place.  And what lovely

-women!  I've never in all my life seen such a galaxy of beauty."

-

-"Oh, then you have noticed them already!" I said, smiling at his

-enthusiasm.

-

-Every Englishman who goes to Leghorn is enthusiastic over the beauty

-of the Livornese women, the well-cut, regular features, the dark

-flashing eyes, the artistically-dressed hair, the great gold-loop

-ear-rings, and the soft santuzza, or silken scarf, with embroidered

-ends, wound about the head and secured by great pins, the finishing

-touch to a thoroughly artistic adornment.

-

-As the Englishman walks down the Via Grande, they, promenading in

-couples or threes, arm in arm, turn and laugh saucily at him as he

-passes.  Yes, they are a light-hearted, careless people, the

-Livornesi, even though the poverty is terrible.  Hundreds would die

-of sheer starvation yearly were it not for those kind Capuchins, Fra

-Antonio, Padre Sisto, Padre Antonino, and the others, who daily

-distribute bread to all who ask for it at the convent gate.  The good

-friars have no funds, but Fra Orazio, a lay brother, and the youngest

-of them, goes daily from house to house of the middle classes and the

-wealthy, begging a trifle here and a trifle there with which to buy

-the bread and the necessaries for soup for the starving.  And who

-does not know Fra Orazio in Leghorn?  In his brown habit, a

-dark-haired, black-bearded man of forty, with a round, jovial face

-tanned by the sun, his rotund figure is as well known as the

-equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza.

-

-The theatre was crowded, the cheaper parts being packed by men and

-women of the poorer classes, who had made that day one of

-semi-fasting in order to be able to pay the _ingresso_, and hear the

-music of their beloved _maestro_.  The audience was an enthusiastic

-one, as it generally is in Italy--as quick to praise as it is to

-condemn--and that night the principal singers were recalled time

-after time.  In the Italian theatre there is a lack of luxury;

-sometimes even the floor is unswept, and there is dust in the boxes;

-nevertheless, all these drawbacks are counterbalanced by the

-excellence of the performance.

-

-To the millionaire's guests that performance was a revelation, and

-when we left on the conclusion of the opera to return to the port and

-go on board, Leghorn was voted by all to be quite an interesting

-place.  Indeed, when our host stated that he intended to remain there

-a few days owing to the necessities of his business, no one demurred.

-

-Ulrica suggested at breakfast next morning that some of us should run

-up to Florence on a flying visit, it being only sixty miles distant,

-while somebody else urged the formation of a party to go and see the

-famed leaning tower at Pisa.  For my part, however, I had resolved

-that I would go wherever my host went.  Several times that morning I

-passed and repassed the deck-cabin, but those green silk blinds were

-closely drawn across the brass-bound port-holes, and the door was

-carefully locked.

-

-What a terrible mystery was contained therein!  If only my

-fellow-guests were aware that on board the vessel was the body of an

-unknown woman who had been foully and brutally murdered!  And yet a

-distinct suspicion had now seized me that the Customs officers,

-having searched and found nothing, the body must have been secretly

-disposed of.  Perhaps it had been weighted and sunk during the silent

-watches of the night.

-

-Yet, if this had actually been done, what possible reason was there

-to destroy the yacht and sacrifice the lives of those on board?  I

-had thought it all over very carefully in the privacy of my own small

-cabin, where the morning sunshine, dancing upon the water lying just

-below my port-hole, cast tremulous reflections upon the roof of the

-cosy little chamber.  No solution of the problem, however, presented

-itself.  I was utterly bewildered.  A thousand times I was tempted to

-confide in Ulrica, yet on reflection I saw how giddy she was, and

-feared that she might blurt it out to one or other of her friends.

-She was sadly indiscreet where secrets were concerned.

-

-About ten o'clock I found the old millionaire lolling back in a

-deck-chair, enjoying his morning cigar according to habit, and in

-order to watch him, I sank into another chair close to his.  The

-_Vispera_ was lying within the semi-circular mole; and so, while

-protected from the sudden gales for which that coast is so noted,

-there was, nevertheless, presented from her deck a magnificent

-panorama of the sun-blanched town and the range of dark mountains

-beyond.

-

-"The young Countess Bonelli, who was at school with me, has invited

-us all to her villa at Ardenza," I said, as I seated myself.  "You

-will accompany us this afternoon, won't you, Mr. Keppel?"

-

-"Ardenza?  Where's that?" he inquired.

-

-"The white village there, along the coast," I answered, pointing it

-out to him.  "I sent a message to the Countess last night, and half

-an hour ago I received a most pressing invitation for all of us to

-drive out to her villa to tea.  You'll come?  We shall accept no

-excuses," I added.

-

-"Ah, Miss Rosselli," he grunted, "I'm getting old and crochety; and

-to tell you the plain truth, I hate tea-parties."

-

-"But you men won't drink tea, of course," I said.  "The Countess is

-most hospitable.  She's one of the best known of the younger

-hostesses in Florence.  You probably know the Bonelli Palace in the

-Via Montebello.  They always spend the spring and autumn at their

-villa at Ardenza."

-

-And so I pressed the old man until he could not refuse.  I watched

-him very narrowly during our conversation, and became more than ever

-convinced that his increased anxiety and fidgety behaviour were due

-to the pricks of conscience.  More than once I felt sorely tempted to

-speak straight out, and demand of him who and where was the woman who

-had been concealed in that gilded deck-house?

-

-But what would it profit to act ridiculously?  Only by patience and

-the exercise of woman's wit could I hope to learn the truth.

-

-His reluctance to go ashore increased my suspicions.  He had at

-breakfast announced his intention of not landing before evening, as

-he had some correspondence to attend to; but this seemed a mere

-excuse to remain behind while the others went out exploring the town.

-Therefore I was determined that he should accompany us, and I had

-urged Ulrica to add her persuasive powers to mine.

-

-The afternoon was one of those brilliant ones which are almost

-incessant on the Tuscan coast.  About three o'clock we all landed,

-including the old millionaire, and in cabs were driven along the

-promenade and out by the city gate along the oleander grove to

-Ardenza, the first village eastward beyond Leghorn on the ancient

-Strada Romana, that long highway which runs from Marseilles to Rome.

-

-All in the party were delighted with the drive along that wide

-sea-road, which for miles is divided from the actual rocks by a belt

-of well-kept gardens of palms and oleanders, forming one of the

-handsomest and most beautiful promenades in the South of Europe.

-

-I have often thought it curious that the ubiquitous British traveller

-has never discovered Ardenza.  He will, no doubt, some day, and then

-the fortune of the charming little retreat will be made.  Time was,

-and not very long ago, when Nervi, Santa Margherita, and Rapallo were

-unknown to those fortunate ones who follow the sun in winter; yet

-already all those little places are rapidly becoming fashionable, and

-big hotels are springing up everywhere.  The fact is, that _habitués_

-of the South, becoming tired of the artificiality and flagrant vice

-of the French Riviera, and of the terrible rapaciousness of

-hotel-keepers and tradesmen in that most ghastly of all Riviera

-resorts, San Remo, are gradually moving farther eastward, where the

-sunshine is the same, but where the people are charming and as yet

-unspoilt by the invading hordes of the wealthy; where the breezes are

-health-giving, where the country is both picturesque and primitive,

-and where the Aspasia of the boulevard and the _chevalier

-d'industrie_ are alike absent.

-

-Ardenza is a large village of great white villas in the Italian

-style--mansions they would be called in England.  Some face the

-splendid tree-lined promenade, but many lie back from the sea in

-their own grounds, shut out from the vulgar gaze by walls high and

-prison-like.  There is no mean street, for it is essentially a

-village of the wealthy, where the great houses, with their wonderful

-mosaic floors, are the acme of comfort and convenience, where both

-streets and houses are lit by electricity, and where society is

-extremely sociable, and yet select.

-

-There is neither shop nor hotel in the place, but a quarter of a mile

-away is the old village called Ardenza di Terra, to distinguish it

-from that by the sea, a typical Italian village, with its old-world

-fountain, round which the women, gay in their bright kerchiefs,

-gossip; its picturesque bridge, and its long white high-road which

-leads up to Montenero, that high, dark hill on which stands the

-church with its miracle-working Virgin.  Both Byron and Shelley knew

-and appreciated the beauties of the place.  The former had a villa

-close by, which is, alas! now falling to decay; while Shelley

-frequently visited Antignano, the next village along the old sea-road.

-

-Better than San Remo, better than Bordighera, better than Alassio,

-Ardenza will one day, when enterprising hotel-keepers discover it,

-and the new direct railway from Genoa to Rome is constructed from

-Viareggio to Cecina, become a rival to Nice.  At present, however,

-the residents are extremely conservative.  They never seek to

-advertise the beauties or advantages of the place, for they have no

-desire that it should become a popular resort.  Nevertheless, I dare

-to assert here that the sea-bathing is perhaps the finest in Europe,

-that no promenade of any English watering-place equals it, and that

-its climate, save in the month of August, is one of the best of any

-place on the Mediterranean shore.

-

-No wonder, then, that rich Italians have built their villas in so

-lovely a spot, or that they go there to escape the fogs of the Arno,

-or the dreaded malaria of Rome.

-

-The Countess Velia met me at the port, and carried Ulrica and myself

-home in her smart victoria.  We had not met for quite three years,

-and I saw that the rather plain Velia of convent days had now grown

-into a strikingly handsome woman.  Her husband, she told us, was

-unfortunately in Venice.

-

-The Villa Bonelli we found to be one of the largest in Ardenza, a

-huge white mansion, with bright green _persiennes_, standing back in

-its own grounds behind a large gate of ornamental iron, the spikes

-being gilded, in accordance with the usual style in Italy.  Velia

-received her guests in the great _salon_ upholstered in azure silk,

-and then we wandered through the ground floor of the spacious

-mansion, passing the smaller _salons_, and at last strolled out into

-the garden, where tea was served in the English style under the

-shadow of the orange trees.  Velia had never been able to master

-English, and, as few of her guests beside myself spoke Italian, her

-conversation was of necessity limited.  Nevertheless, after a five

-weeks' cruise, resulting in the cramped sensation one usually

-experiences while yachting, tea-drinking and rambling in that

-beautiful garden, with its wealth of flowers, were delightful

-occupations enjoyed by all, even by old Mr. Keppel, whose chief

-wonder seemed to be at the magnificence of the house, which appeared

-to be almost entirely constructed of marble.  The mosaic floors, too,

-were splendid, worked in dark green and white, in imitation of those

-in the Thermæ Antoninianæ at Rome.  The Bonellis were an ancient

-family, one of the few Florentine nobles who were still wealthy.

-Their ancestral castello was above Pracchia in the Apennines, between

-Florence and Bologna, and Velia had several times since her marriage

-given me pressing invitations to stay with her there.

-

-At the convent we had always been close friends.  She was the

-daughter of the Marchese Palidoro of Ancona, and once I had spent the

-Easter vacation with her at her home on the Adriatic shore.  Ulrica

-and the others found her a charming little woman, and, of course,

-admired the two-year-old little Count, who was brought down from his

-kingdom in the nursery, to be kissed and admired by us.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVI

-

-DISCUSSES SEVERAL MATTERS OF MOMENT

-

-The men drank Marsala--always offered in the afternoon in an Italian

-house--and smoked in the garden, while we women wandered wherever we

-liked.  Those of my companions who had not before seen the interior

-of an Italian villa were interested in everything, even to the

-culinary arrangements, so different from those in England.  The

-Italian cook makes his dishes over some half-a-dozen small charcoal

-fires about the size of one's hand, which he keeps burning by a kind

-of rush fire-screen, the English grate being unknown.

-

-We had been there a couple of hours, and to all of us the change had

-been pleasant after so long a spell at sea.  Velia was sitting apart

-in the garden, and we were chatting, she telling me of the perfect

-tranquillity of her married life.  Rino was, she declared, a model

-husband, and she was perfectly happy; indeed, her life was a

-realisation of those dreams that we both used to have long ago in the

-old neglected garden of the convent, when we walked together

-hand-in-hand at sundown.

-

-She recalled those days to me--days when I, in my childish ignorance,

-believed the world outside to be filled with pleasant things.  We had

-not met since we had parted at the convent, she to enter Florentine

-society and to marry, and I to drift about the world in search of a

-husband.

-

-"Suor Teresa's counsels were so very true," she said to me, as we

-recalled the grey-eyed Sister who had been our foster-mother.

-"Haven't you found them so, just as I have, even though you have

-lived in England, your cold, undemonstrative England, and I here, in

-Italia?"

-

-"Suor Teresa gave us so much good advice.  To which of her precepts

-do you refer?" I asked.

-

-"Don't you recollect how she was always saying that, as women, the

-first thing of importance was always to be content to be inferior to

-men--inferior in mental power in the same proportion as we are

-inferior in bodily strength.  Facility of movement, aptitude and

-grace, the bodily frame of woman may possess in a higher degree than

-that of man; just as in the softer touches of mental and spiritual

-beauty her character may present a lovelier aspect than his.  Yet the

-woman will find, Suor Teresa used to say, that she is by nature

-endowed with peculiar faculties--with a quickness of perception,

-facility of adaptation, and acuteness of feeling, which fit her

-especially for the part she has to act in life, and which, at the

-same time, render her, in a higher degree than man, susceptible both

-to pain and pleasure.  These, according to our good Sister, are our

-qualifications as mere women."

-

-"Yes," I said, "I remember now.  Some of Suor Teresa's counsels I've

-followed, but others, I fear, I threw to the winds.  She was a good

-woman--a very good woman, Suor Teresa.  Do you remember how she used

-to lecture us girls, and say: 'When you are women of the world, how

-wide is the prospect which opens before you--how various the claims

-upon your attention--how vast your capabilities--how deep the

-responsibility which those capabilities involve!  In the first place,

-you are not alone; you are one of a family--of a social circle--of a

-community--of a nation.  You are a being whose existence will never

-terminate, who must live for ever, and whose happiness or misery

-through that endless future which lies before you will be influenced

-by the choice you are now in the act of making.'  Do you remember the

-kind of lectures she used to give us?"

-

-"Perfectly well," answered Velia.  "But she is dead, poor woman; she

-died of fever last summer."

-

-"Dead!" I echoed

-

-A pang of regret shot through my heart, for I remembered how sweet

-and kind she had always been, how just and how devout in all her

-religion.  To her I owed many stimulating ideas about good and evil,

-few of which, I fear, remained long enough in my memory.  It was she

-who taught me to love the virtuous and the good, and the recollection

-of those early days of her tender guidance formed a bright spot in my

-life, to which, I suppose, the mind will take me back at intervals as

-long as existence lasts.

-

-Velia was about my own age, and at the convent we had treated one

-another as if we were sisters.  Therefore when we fell to talking of

-those old days before the courses of our lives ran so far apart, my

-memory drifted back to those home-truths which Suor Teresa and her

-fellow-nuns had striven to instil into our rather fickle minds.

-

-My fellow-guests left about five o'clock, for they had arranged to

-continue on the sea-road and ascend to the famed pilgrimage church of

-Montenero--one of the sights of Western Tuscany.  As I had made a

-pilgrimage there in my school-days, at Velia's invitation I remained

-behind to dine with her, promising Ulrica to return on board later in

-the evening.

-

-In the glorious blaze of crimson sunset which flooded the broad,

-clear Mediterranean, causing the islands of Gorgona, Capraja, and

-Corsica to stand out in purple grandeur in the infinite blaze of

-gold, I sat upon the marble terrace, lolling in a long cane chair,

-and chatting with the Countess.

-

-How different had been our lives, I reflected.  She, married happily,

-surrounded by every comfort that wealth could provide, a child which

-was her idol, and a husband whom she adored; while I, one of those

-unattached women who form the flotsam of society, world-weary,

-forlorn, and forsaken, was beaten hither and thither up and down

-Europe by every gust of the social wind.

-

-I contrasted our lives, and found my own to be a hollow and empty

-sham.  Of all the passions which take possession of the female

-breast, a passion for society is one of the most inimical to domestic

-enjoyment.  Yet how often does this exist in connection with an

-amiable exterior!  It is not easy to say whether one ought most to

-pity or to blame a woman who lives for society--a woman who reserves

-all her good spirits, all her pretty frocks, her animated looks, her

-interesting conversation, her bland behaviour, her smiles, her

-forbearance, her gentleness, for society.  What imposition does she

-not practise upon those who meet her there!  Follow the same

-individual home; she is impatient, fretful, sullen, weary, oppressed

-with headache, uninterested in all that passes around her, and

-dreaming only of the last evening's excitement, or of what may

-constitute the amusement of the next; while the mortification of her

-friends at home is increased by the contrast her behaviour exhibits

-in the two different situations, and her expenditure upon comparative

-strangers of feelings to which they consider themselves to have a

-natural and inalienable right.  I was terribly conscious of my own

-failings in this respect, and in society Ulrica had been my chief

-example.

-

-I hated it all, and envied the woman who sat there chatting with me

-so merrily.

-

-There, in the fading afterglow, when the sun had disappeared behind

-the distant headland, I told her, in reply to her question, of my

-love and its disillusionment.  I told her his name--Ernest

-Cameron--and at mention of it I thought I detected her dark brows

-grow narrow for an instant.  But surely it was only fancy, for these

-two had certainly never met.

-

-"You have all my sympathy, Carmela," she said, in her soft Italian,

-when I had told her the truth.  "You have suffered, poor child.  Your

-words tell me so."

-

-"Yes," I responded frankly.  "I have suffered, and am still

-suffering.  Another woman stole his love from me, and I am left

-deserted, forlorn; outwardly a smart figure as you see me, but within

-my heart is the canker-worm of hatred."

-

-"He may return to you," she said.  "His fancy may be a mere passing

-one.  Men are so very fickle."

-

-"No," I declared quickly, "it is all ended between us.  I loved only

-once--loved him with all the charm of a first attachment.  She who

-entertains this sentiment lives no longer for herself.  It was so in

-my case.  In all my aspirations, my hopes, my energies; in all my

-confidence, my enthusiasm, my fortitude, my own existence was

-absorbed in his interests.  But now I am despised and forgotten."

-

-She was so sympathetic that more than once I was tempted to confide

-to her the whole of the strange facts and the mysteries that were so

-puzzling to me.  But I hesitated--and in my hesitation resolved to

-keep my own counsel.

-

-We dined together, taking our wine from the big rush-covered _fiasco_

-of Chianti placed in its swinging stand, according to the custom of

-Tuscany; eating various dishes peculiarly Italian, and being waited

-upon by two maids who spoke in that quaint but musical dialect of the

-Tuscan shore.

-

-Throughout the meal my thoughts wandered from my surroundings to the

-dastardly plot formed to destroy the _Vispera_.  Where, I wondered,

-was old Mr. Keppel?  For aught I knew, both he and his unseen

-accomplice were engaged in buying explosives for the purpose of

-causing the contemplated disaster.

-

-Velia believed my preoccupation to be due to our conversation before

-dinner, and I allowed her to continue in that belief.

-

-Dinner in an Italian household is a very different meal to the French

-_table d'hôte_ or the English evening meal.  The courses are varied,

-and from the _anti-pasti_ to the _dolci_, all is new to the English

-palate.  Those who have lived sufficiently long in Italy to become

-imbued with its charm know well how difficult it is to relish the

-substantial English cooking when one goes on a visit to the old

-country; just as difficult as it is to enjoy the grey skies and smoky

-cities of money-making Britain after the brightness and sunshine of

-the garden of Europe.

-

-At ten o'clock, after we had idled in the _salon_ with our coffee and

-certosa--a _liqueur_ made by the old monks of the Certosa, outside

-Florence, and not obtainable beyond the confines of Tuscany--Velia's

-brougham came round, and reluctantly I took leave of her.

-

-Our reunion had certainly been full of charm, for in those hours I

-had allowed myself to forget my present position, and had, in

-thought, drifted back to the placid days of long ago that had been

-passed within the high grey walls of the ancient convent.

-

-"Good-bye, Carmela," Velia said, holding my hand in hers warmly after

-I had entered the carriage.  "Remember your promise to return here

-before you sail.  I shall expect you."

-

-I repeated my promise gaily, and then giving her a final "_Addio, e

-buona notte,_" I was driven out of the great gates and into the night.

-

-The road from Ardenza to Leghorn, a magnificent drive by day, is not

-very safe at night.  The trees lining it form a refuge for any

-thieves or footpads, and because of this it is patrolled continually

-by a pair of mounted carbineers.

-

-At length we came to the great iron gates of the city, which stretch

-across the wide highway, flanked on either side by huge porticos, in

-which are stationed the officers of the dazio, as the _octroi_ in

-Italy is called.

-

-Every article entering an Italian city is inspected with a view to

-the imposition of taxes, hence every conveyance, from the country

-cart of the contadino laden with vegetables for the market, to the

-private brougham, is stopped at the barrier, and the occupant is

-asked to declare what he or she has with him.

-

-In front of the barrier the brougham was brought to a halt, and one

-of the dazio guards, in his peaked cap and long overcoat with silver

-facings, opened the door, inquiring whether I had anything liable to

-be taxed.

-

-"_Niente,_" I responded, and was preparing to resettle myself for the

-journey, when the man, looking rather hard at me in the

-semi-darkness, said:

-

-"The signorina is named Rosselli, I believe?"

-

-"Yes," I replied, surprised at the man's knowledge of my name.

-

-He fumbled in the pocket of his overcoat for a moment, produced a

-letter, and then handed it to me in quite a surreptitious manner,

-saying in a low tone:

-

-"This is for the signorina."

-

-Then he banged to the door with a great show of officiousness,

-without waiting for me to thank him, and we drove forward along the

-deserted promenade.

-

-As it was quite dark within the carriage, I was unable to read the

-communication that had so suddenly been handed to me.

-

-What, I wondered, did it contain?  Who had taken the precaution to

-bribe one of the dazio guards to hand it to me?

-

-Surely it must contain something of the highest importance and

-strictest privacy.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVII

-

-DESCRIBES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE

-

-At the outlying suburb of San Jacopo the street-lamps began, and

-tearing open the strange note, I found it to contain some lines

-penned in a rather uneducated hand.

-

-As the coachman was driving at a good pace, I had some difficulty in

-deciphering the words by the light of the street-lamps as their rays

-flashed in, and as rapidly disappeared.  The words I read, however,

-were decidedly curious.  Written in Italian, rather faintly, be it

-said, the note ran as follows:

-

-

-"The bearer will give you this in strictest secrecy.  Do not return

-on board the yacht, but first call at Number 12, Via Magenta, ground

-floor, where you will meet a friend whose interests are identical

-with your own.  Dismiss your carriage near the port, and take a cab

-to the address indicated.  Come, without fear, and without delay."

-

-

-The invitation was, to say the least of it, a peculiar one.  Although

-a woman, I am not naturally timid, especially in Italy, where I know

-the language, and know the peculiarities of the people.  My first

-feelings, however, were those of suspicion.  Why could not the writer

-have approached me openly, without taking the elaborate precaution of

-sending me the missive by the hand of the dazio guard?  Again, I was

-not acquainted with the Via Magenta, and suspected it to be in a low

-quarter of the city.  There are several parts of Leghorn into which a

-woman would certainly not care to venture after dark.

-

-The suggestion that I should not return to the yacht read to me as a

-warning, especially in the light of the knowledge I had gained of old

-Keppel's intentions.  Could it be possible that it was intended that

-the _Vispera_ should sail before morning and go straight to her doom?

-

-I sat back in the carriage, thinking it all over.  Finally, I came to

-the conclusion that the writer of the letter, whoever he was, must,

-like myself, be aware of the truth.  Our interests, he declared, were

-identical.  That statement was in itself interesting, and filled me

-with a curiosity which increased as I reflected.  I glanced again at

-the sheet of common notepaper in my hand, and my suspicions were

-again aroused by the fact that there was no signature.  The note was

-anonymous, and no one, especially a woman, has any sympathy with

-anonymity.

-

-Should I disregard the warning, cast the letter out of the carriage

-window, and return on board; or should I act according to its

-instructions?

-

-I was engaged in a very serious and difficult inquiry, which had

-baffled experienced police officials, be it remembered.  In every

-direction I scented suspicion, now that the old millionaire, the man

-in whose integrity I had so firmly believed, was proved to be the

-author of a foul and dastardly crime.  The whole affair was as

-startling as it was incomprehensible.  The enigma was complete.

-

-Ever since the time when I had been so cleverly tricked by the

-pseudo-detectives in Nice, I had been on the alert to discover some

-clue which might lead me to a knowledge of the manner in which poor

-Reggie had met with his death.  That there was a deep-laid conspiracy

-on foot was manifest, but in what direction to seek for an

-explanation, I knew not.  The mystery of this strange affair unnerved

-me.

-

-The city of Leghorn is bisected by the Via Grande, its principal

-street, which runs from the great Piazza Carlo Alberto in a straight

-line down to the port.  At the bottom of this thoroughfare I stopped

-the brougham, alighted, and sent the conveyance back to Ardenza.  The

-steps at which I knew the yacht's boat would be awaiting me were a

-considerable distance away, and I had no fear of detection by any

-person who knew me.  At that hour all my fellow-guests would

-undoubtedly be back on board; therefore if I kept the strange

-appointment, I might return to the yacht within an hour, and no one

-need be the wiser.

-

-From the open casement of one of the high, not over-clean houses

-facing the port, where boatmen and dock-labourers lived, sounded the

-sweet twanging of a mandoline, while a voice sang an old Tuscan

-serenade:

-

-  "O!  Nina mia--o giovinetta,

-  Lunica speme--delta mia vita;

-  Deh! perchè vivi--così soletta

-  In questa tetra--stanza romita?

-                    Vieni, vieni!

-    Vieni, deh! vieni a me d'accanto.

-    Io t'amo tauto, io t'amo tanto!"

-

-

-I listened, and as those words of passionate love fell upon my ears I

-tried to shut them out.  They recalled too vividly the days when I

-myself had been wooed by a man whom I loved.

-

-The writer of the mysterious note had declared our interests to be

-mutual.  This fact aroused my interest, causing me, in my eagerness

-to learn the truth, to disregard my usual caution.  Hailing one of

-the small open cabs which are characteristic of every Italian town, I

-gave the man the address mentioned in the letter.

-

-Contrary to my expectations, the Via Magenta proved to be one of the

-principal streets down which the electric tramway passed, and Number

-12 was, I found, a large, old palace of six stories, once the

-residence of some count or marquis, but now, as a result following

-the ruin of its original owners, it was evidently let out in flats.

-The big doors, ponderous and iron-studded, as they nearly always are

-in Italy--a relic of those turbulent days when every palazzo was a

-miniature fortress--were closed when I alighted; but finding a row of

-bells, I rang the one marked "terreno" (ground floor), whereupon the

-door was unbolted by the occupant of the apartment, and I immediately

-found myself just inside a huge, dark hall, where the noise made by

-me in stumbling over a step echoed loudly.  There is always something

-uncanny in the way an Italian door is opened at night by an unseen

-hand, for one naturally expects to see a person standing behind it.

-As a matter of fact, the opening is effected by a mechanical

-contrivance which can be operated at will in any of the apartments.

-Thus the occupants remain undisturbed until the visitor arrives at

-their door.

-

-I had turned, and was about to ask the cabman to give me some wax

-vestas in order that I might find my way, when a door opened at the

-further end of the hall, and against the light from within I saw the

-silhouette of a young Italian girl about fifteen years old.  She came

-forward, looking at me inquiringly, and then, as though she

-recognised my features from a description that had been given her,

-she exclaimed:

-

-"It is the Signorina Rosselli!  Pass, signorina, pass!" and she led

-the way into the apartment, closing the door behind her.  The place

-was spacious, sparely furnished, but not particularly clean.  The

-cheap paraffin lamp upon the table of the small room at the back of

-the house to which I was conducted was smoking, blackening the glass,

-and filling the place with suffocating fumes.  The stone floor of the

-apartment was without carpet, and all the furniture it contained was

-a cheap table, two or three old rush-bottomed chairs, and a tall

-linen-press of a bygone day.  There was a damp, earthy smell, which

-did not help to make the place any more inviting.  Indeed, I had

-scarcely set foot in it before I became seized with suspicion and

-regretted that I had come.

-

-The girl, a tall, black-eyed Livornese, who wore a bodice of

-cream-coloured cotton and a stuff skirt of dark crimson, was

-evidently a serving-maid, for she drew forward one of the chairs,

-inviting me to be seated.

-

-"I presume I am expected here?" I inquired in Italian.

-

-"Si, signorina," was the girl's reply, "the signore will be with you

-in a moment.  Please be seated.  I will tell him."

-

-She disappeared, closing the door after her.

-

-The whole affair was mysterious.  Grim and forbidding by day, an old

-Italian palazzo at night never inspires the stranger with confidence.

-Its great chambers are full of ghosts of the past, and one's

-imagination quickly conjures up visions of those old burghers who

-were such good haters; of the gay young cavaliers who rode to a joust

-or a skirmish with equal nonchalance; and of those richly-clad dames

-who caused all the great tragedies that were enacted within these

-dark, prison-like walls.

-

-Little time was, however, allowed me for reflection, for almost

-immediately the door opened, and there entered a dwarfed and ugly

-little old man, with a queer wizened face, deeply wrinkled, and a

-grey beard, bushy and untrimmed.  His appearance was so comical that

-I could scarcely suppress a smile.

-

-"Ah, signorina!" he cried, in a high-pitched, squeaky voice, "I am

-glad you have come.  I feared that you might not get the letter, and

-the matter is highly important."

-

-"You are the writer of the letter?" I suggested.

-

-"Ah, no, signorina," the old fellow squeaked.  "Unfortunately, I

-cannot write--I can only make a cross."  He spoke Italian, with a

-strong southern accent, and struck me as being of the lower class.

-To me it was strange that the queer old fellow should inhabit part of

-a palace of that description.  "I did not write the letter," he went

-on, "but I wished to speak with you upon an important matter."

-

-"I am all attention," I responded.  "Permit me to mention that I have

-a cab waiting outside, and my time is precious."

-

-"You are anxious to return on board the yacht, eh?" he grunted, with

-a strange expression upon his puckered face.

-

-"I must join my friends within an hour," I said.

-

-"Your friends?" he echoed, with strange emphasis upon the final word.

-"You are best apart from such as they."

-

-"Why?" I inquired, surprised at the old fellow's sudden declaration.

-He was evidently aware of some fact which it was desirable that I

-should know.

-

-"There are strong reasons why the signorina should not return on

-board," he declared, with a mysterious air.

-

-"As well as reasons why I should not number the Signor Keppel and his

-guests among my friends?" I asked.

-

-"The signorina guesses right," he answered, with a sinister smile.

-

-"Then I presume that I may be permitted to know those reasons?" I

-suggested.  "One cannot well break off a friendship without some

-motive."

-

-"Your own safety is sufficient motive, surely?" he argued.

-

-"I am not in fear, and as far as I am aware there is no danger," I

-declared, endeavouring to show a bold front, and hoping that the old

-fellow would soon become more explicit.  He apparently alluded to the

-conspiracy to blow up the yacht in order to hide old Keppel's secret.

-

-"But our interests are mutual," he said, glancing at me sharply.

-

-"How?"

-

-"You are seeking to elucidate a mystery.  So am I.  You are

-endeavouring to discover the person who assassinated the young Signor

-Inglese at the Grand Hotel at Nizza.  So am I."

-

-"You!" I cried in surprise.  "For what reason are you interesting

-yourself in the matter?"

-

-"I have a motive--a very strong one," he answered.  "We ought to

-unite our efforts with a view to solving the mystery."

-

-"The police have already failed," I remarked, inwardly ridiculing the

-idea that any assistance could be rendered by the queer old fellow

-living there in that dismal and silent palazzo.  Surely a man with

-such a grotesque countenance could never act the amateur detective

-with success!

-

-"The police!" he sneered, when I mentioned them.  "They are useless.

-They act by rule, and here, in Italy, may be bribed with a handful of

-cigars.  The police!  They are not worth the value of a dried fig,

-the whole of them."

-

-"Then you favour independent effort, such as I myself am making?"

-

-"Most certainly," croaked the old fellow.  "It may appear strange to

-you that, working in the same direction as yourself, I am aware of

-all you have already done."

-

-"I don't understand," I exclaimed in surprise.

-

-"I mean that I have been watching, just as you have.  I know all that

-has happened--everything.  That is why we should combine our efforts."

-

-"But what can you know of my inquiries?" I exclaimed dubiously.  "We

-have never met before."

-

-"No, signorina, that is true," he laughed.  "And we should not have

-met now, were it not for the fact that events have occurred to render

-our meeting necessary.  To show you that I am aware of the efforts

-you have already made, I will describe to you how the money stolen

-from the young Inglese was returned to you, and then cunningly

-secured by trickery.  I will tell you, too, of certain matters which

-occurred in Nice, and which you, no doubt, believe are only known to

-yourself."

-

-And then he went on to describe to me events and conversations which

-had taken place in Nice, in such detail as to make it plain that the

-old fellow had been well acquainted with my movements, and knew all

-the efforts I had made to solve the tantalising problem.

-

-He spoke of Ernest, too, with a strange familiarity, which made me

-believe that they had been acquainted.  He showed himself to be

-intimate with the doings of the man I loved, knowing both his past

-movements and his present whereabouts.

-

-"He is at Aix-les-Bains," he said, in reply to my question.  "At the

-'Hotel d'Europe.'"

-

-"And she?"

-

-"The signorina pains herself unnecessarily," the old man responded,

-with a slight touch of sympathy in his voice.  "But if she desires to

-know, the person to whom she refers was, perhaps is still, at

-Aix--'Hotel Lamartine.'"

-

-"He has gone there to play, I suppose?"

-

-"Yes.  She assists him, and has wonderful luck, just as she had at

-Monte Carlo.  You remember?"

-

-"Yes," I responded.  "But were you actually there?"

-

-He smiled, and from his face I knew that he also had witnessed that

-woman's fortune.

-

-"And now?" I asked.

-

-"From reports that have reached me, it seems that her luck has not

-deserted her.  They made a _coup_ at baccarat three nights ago, and

-won eighty thousand francs between them."

-

-My teeth met and clenched themselves hard.  The woman who had stolen

-my love held Ernest Cameron in her toils.  He believed that her

-presence at the tables brought him good fortune.  And yet I loved him

-so--better than life!  The old man's words brought to my mind a flood

-of recollections belonging to the idyllic days of a love now dead.

-

-Ah! if we had married, I would have been a much better woman, I

-reflected bitterly.  To love is such a very different thing from a

-desire to be beloved.  To love is woman's nature--to be beloved is

-the consequence of her having properly exercised and controlled that

-nature.  To love is woman's duty--to be beloved is her reward.

-

-But where was my reward?

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVIII

-

-CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM

-

-The queer-looking old man sitting there before me, fidgeting slightly

-in his chair, was indeed a very grotesque figure.  From what he had

-said, I could no longer doubt that he was aware of the whole of the

-curious circumstances at Nice, and was likewise well acquainted with

-the manner in which my relations with Ernest had been broken off.

-

-How he had accomplished his manifestly clever espionage in Nice I

-knew not.  Certainly I had never noticed his presence, either in Nice

-or in the Rooms at Monte Carlo.  Besides, if he had presented himself

-at the bureau of the Casino in such clothes as he wore at that moment

-he would have been refused admission.  A man is not allowed to enter

-if his trousers are turned up in wet weather, while the cycling

-tourist in knickerbockers is promptly shown the door by the

-semi-military janitors.  Yet from words he had let drop, he showed

-himself intimate with all the features of the play of both Ulrica and

-Ernest Cameron, and must have been present in the crowd around the

-table.

-

-The mystery surrounding the affair increased each moment.  And now

-this dwarfed old man, of whose name I was unaware, desired me to

-combine my efforts with his.

-

-With that end in view he settled to talk with me seriously, pointing

-out that poor Reggie had been murdered secretly, and that it was my

-duty to discover the truth, and bring his assassin to justice.  I

-admitted this, of course, but failed entirely to see what connection

-the old fellow could have with it.  To me, in my ignorance of the

-truth, he appeared to have entered into a matter which did not in the

-least concern him.

-

-"From what I have already told the signorina, I think she will be

-convinced that our interests are really identical," he said

-presently, after we had been talking some time.  "My own inquiries

-have been independent of yours, but the result has been the same.  To

-put it plainly, neither of us has discovered any clue whatsoever.  Is

-not that the truth?"

-

-"Unfortunately so," I exclaimed.  "All my efforts have been

-unavailing."

-

-"That is the reason we must combine," he urged.  "A woman cannot hope

-to elucidate such a mystery unaided.  It is impossible."

-

-He was a crafty old fellow, this dwarfed person, with the grotesque

-features.  He eyed me strangely, and more than once I entertained

-misgivings that he was not acting altogether straightforwardly.

-Somehow, his surroundings did not strike me as those of a man who had

-sufficient money to travel hither and thither in order to take up a

-task in which the police had ignominiously failed.  From his rather

-reluctant admissions, I gathered that he was acting at the

-instigation of poor Reggie's friends; yet he was not altogether

-explicit upon that point, and a good deal of doubt existed in my mind.

-

-"Well," I said at last, in order to bring matters to a point, "and

-how do you suggest that we should combine our forces, Signor----" and

-I hesitated purposely, in order to give him an opportunity of telling

-me his name.

-

-"Branca--Francesco Branca," he exclaimed, concluding my sentence.

-

-"Well, Signor Branca, I am ready to listen to any suggestions you may

-make in order successfully to trace the assassin."

-

-"We must first understand each other perfectly," responded the queer

-old man.  "You have not yet told me the full extent of your

-inquiries, or whether you entertain any suspicion of any person.  You

-have been yachting these past five weeks.  Has nothing occurred to

-arouse suspicion during that period?  If we are to combine, we must

-know the extent of each other's investigations, and the result," he

-added.  "What has been the nature of your life on board the

-_Vispera_?"

-

-"Pleasant, on the whole," I responded.

-

-"Has nothing occurred?" he inquired, looking at me with a straight

-and searching glance.

-

-"You speak as though you already have knowledge of something," I

-said, endeavouring to smile.

-

-"I simply ask the question," he squeaked, in his high-pitched voice.

-

-At first I hesitated whether to tell him the truth; yet when I

-reflected upon his statement that he was acting in the interests of

-Reggie's family, I became induced to tell the old fellow the truth

-regarding my discovery in the deck-house, and the plot I had

-overheard.

-

-Contrary to my expectations, my statement did not disturb him in the

-least.  He only raised his grey brows with an expression of surprise,

-and said:

-

-"Then I was correct in my surmise that certain persons on board the

-yacht are not your friends, signorina.  Was I not?"

-

-"You were," I admitted.  "But it is Mr. Keppel himself who will be

-responsible for the blowing up of the vessel, because he has

-acquiesced in a suggestion made by a person unknown."

-

-"You never saw the man who was speaking with this Mr. Keppel?  You

-are certain of that?"

-

-"Quite.  He was very careful not to come within range of the open

-ventilator."

-

-"A wary person, evidently," grunted the old fellow.  "Depend upon it,

-he has some very strong motive for the vessel being sent to the

-bottom with all on board.  The captain suspects nothing, I take it?"

-

-"Absolutely nothing.  Ought we to warn him?"

-

-"Warn him!" cried the old man.  "Why, certainly not.  We must remain

-quite quiet, and be extremely careful not to show our hand.  Their

-secret is ours.  For us that is sufficient at the present juncture,"

-he added, with an air of contentment.

-

-"But delay may result in the catastrophe," I said.  "The yacht may

-sail at any moment when it pleases her owner to cast her away."

-

-"Well," he said, after a few moments of hesitation, "what you have

-told me certainly increases the mystery, and is deeply interesting.

-You have, I suppose, no suspicion that any of the yacht's officers

-are aware of the plot?"

-

-"The unseen originator of the conspiracy may have been an officer,

-for aught I know," I said.  "I have related the occurrence to you

-just as it took place.  I know exactly nothing more."

-

-"But you must discover more," he declared anxiously.  "The matter

-must not rest here.  If what you say is really true, then there has

-been murder done on board.  The mysterious passenger is a perplexing

-feature, to say the least.  Describe her to me as fully as you can."

-

-I acted upon his suggestion.  Unfortunately, however, suspended as I

-had been in that tearing wind on the night of my discovery, I had

-been unable to take in every detail of her features.  But I gave him

-a description as minute as was possible, and it apparently satisfied

-him.

-

-"Strange," he murmured, "very strange!  To me it seems as though your

-discovery leads us into an entirely different channel of inquiry.

-Surely Keppel himself had nothing to do with the assassination of

-young Signor Thorne!" he added slowly, as though the startling theory

-only that moment occurred to him.

-

-More than once already had that same suspicion crossed my mind, but I

-had always laughed it to scorn.  There was an utter absence of

-motive, that convinced me of its impossibility.

-

-And yet, had I not actually heard with my own ears Keppel confess to

-a murder which he himself had committed?

-

-"Do you think that the lady could have come on board at Algiers?" he

-inquired.

-

-"I cannot tell," was my answer.  "The deckhouse has been kept closed

-and curtained during the whole cruise.  It was that fact which

-aroused my feminine curiosity."

-

-"If the fact caused you to investigate, it may also have induced

-others to make inquiry," he remarked.  "Do you think it has?"

-

-"How can I tell?  One fact is certain, namely, that I am the only

-person who was a witness of the crime, or who overheard the unseen

-man's suggestion."

-

-"You would be unable to recognise the voice of that person?" he asked.

-

-"Yes," I responded.  "In that wild hurricane it was difficult to

-distinguish the tone of voice."

-

-He remained thoughtfully silent for a long time.  The muscles of his

-grotesque face worked strangely, and in his eyes was a crafty look

-which somehow gave me the impression that he was aware of more than

-he had told me.

-

-"Well," he exclaimed at last, shifting his position slightly and

-looking me straight in the face, "and what is your present

-suggestion?"

-

-"It seems very plain that if the yacht sails she is doomed, with all

-on board," I said, "therefore, she must not leave Leghorn."

-

-"I quite grant that," responded my companion; "but how can you

-prevent it?  Her owner is a person of many eccentricities.  This

-morning he says he will remain here a week, yet to-night, when you

-are all calmly asleep, he may order his captain to put to sea.  Who

-is to prevent him?  Neither you nor myself."

-

-"My intention is to keep a strict watch upon his movements, and

-ascertain where he goes, and whether any explosive is taken on

-board," I said.

-

-"A most laudable intention, but I fear it is one that you will find

-very difficult to execute," he said.  "If I may be permitted to

-advise, you should leave that matter to me, and turn your attention

-rather to the locked deck-house.  By some means you must gain an

-entry, and see what is really concealed there."

-

-"I am well aware of what secret is hidden there, without gaining an

-entrance," I responded.

-

-"You tell me that the woman is dead," he observed.  "Well, I do not

-doubt you; but I nevertheless consider it strange that if she is

-dead, and the persons concerned in her decease wished to get rid of

-the body, they have not already dropped it overboard.  Such a matter

-would not be at all difficult in the night.  Why would Keppel, a

-parsimonious man, consent to the total destruction of a yacht of the

-costly character of the _Vispera_?  It is utterly unreasonable."

-

-"From one point of view I quite agree with you," I argued; "but there

-may be further reasons why the yacht should be cast away--reasons of

-which we are ignorant."

-

-"But is it reasonable that the owner of a yacht would enter the port

-of Leghorn with a body on board?" he queried.  "No.  The officials

-are too prying.  Depend upon it, the body is no longer on board.

-They've got rid of the evidence of the crime--Keppel and this unknown

-accomplice of his."

-

-"Then if such is the truth, why should they plot to cast the vessel

-away?"

-

-"That is exactly my argument.  I am convinced that although the

-question of blowing up the _Vispera_ may have been mooted, the

-project has now been abandoned.  At first it appeared to me more

-likely that Keppel and his associate would place some explosive on

-board and make an excuse for not sailing in the vessel.  But on

-reflection it seems obvious that the body cannot now be on board, and

-therefore no end would be gained by casting the ship away.  No, there

-is no danger in returning on board--none whatever.  True, Keppel is

-very eccentric, like many man of great wealth, and may sail again at

-any moment; but it is equally certain that the dastardly project is

-not to be put into execution."

-

-"Then you believe that all is quite safe on board?"

-

-"I am quite convinced of it.  Your best plan of action, if you agree

-to combine your efforts with my own, is to return and use every means

-to gain an entrance to the deck-house.  I have not the slightest

-expectation that you will discover any actual trace of the crime, but

-I somehow feel confident that what it contains will give us some

-clue."

-

-"A clue to the mystery in Nice?" I inquired eagerly.

-

-"Yes," he responded, not without some hesitation.  "I believe that we

-shall gain knowledge from that carefully-guarded cabin."

-

-"But it is always locked," I protested, "and Keppel keeps the key

-upon his chain."

-

-"You must exercise your woman's ingenuity," he laughed.  "Already you

-have proved yourself to be as keen and resourceful as any

-professional detector of crime.  Continue, and we shall succeed."

-

-"If, as you appear to anticipate, we sail to-night, we may not meet

-again," I remarked.  "Shall I address you here in case of necessity?"

-

-"No.  Do not write to me.  We know not into whose hands the letter

-might fall," he answered quickly.  "We shall meet again, signorina,

-never fear--in Leghorn, or in some other city.  I shall travel by

-land, you by sea."

-

-"But what causes you to anticipate that the _Vispera_ will leave

-to-night?" I demanded, for he spoke with such authority that I was

-puzzled.

-

-"I read certain telegrams which Keppel sent off to-day.  I followed

-him to the telegraph-office, and watched him write.  He probably

-believed that I could not read English.  From the messages, it

-appeared that the _Vispera_ is to go direct from here to Ragusa, in

-the Adriatic, and thence to Venice."

-

-"Then we are turning back again!" I cried in dismay.  "It was

-understood that we were on our way to Marseilles, where the party was

-to break up."

-

-"Exactly, but the _Vispera's_ itinerary appears to have now been

-altered by its eccentric owner, and as soon as possible you will

-leave for the Adriatic."

-

-"Well," I said frankly, "to tell the truth, I have no desire to go on

-board again."

-

-"But it is imperative," the old fellow declared quickly; "absolutely

-imperative!  You must not drop your inquiries at this the most

-critical moment.  You must find means to enter that deck-house.

-Spare no pains, and use every endeavour and every wile to gain your

-end.  We must know what is hidden there."

-

-"Shall you go to Venice and meet me there?" I inquired anxiously.

-

-"Ah, I cannot tell!  So much depends upon the inquiries I am making,

-and upon future occurrences.  But we shall meet soon, never fear!"

-

-Certainly it was curious to find in that Italian port, into which, as

-far as I could gather, we had put on mere chance, a man who had the

-whole mystery at his fingers' ends, and who, like myself, was sparing

-no pains to elucidate it.  But had we put into Leghorn by mere

-chance; or had it all been cunningly prearranged?

-

-"Then I am not to write to you?" I said, somewhat dissatisfied.

-

-"No, decidedly not," was his response.  "We must in this affair

-exercise every precaution in order to make certain that our

-intentions are not discovered by the guilty parties.  Return on

-board, remain ever watchful, allow nothing to escape you, and make

-Keppel himself your especial study, at the same time seeking for

-means by which to enter the forbidden deck-house."

-

-"I take it, Signor Branca, that this apartment is not your own?" I

-said, as I glanced round the place.

-

-"Mine!" he laughed.  "Oh, dear no!  I am only here temporarily, in

-order to meet you.  In an hour I leave here--whither I know not.  I

-was in Rome last night, I am here to-night; to-morrow night I may be

-in Milan, or Turin, or Nice--who knows?"

-

-He spoke in French for the first time, and I saw by his excellent

-accent that, so far from my first estimate of him being correct, he

-was a thorough cosmopolitan.  It seemed a pity that his personal

-appearance was sufficiently ugly to be remarkable.

-

-I glanced at the watch in my bangle and saw that as it was already

-past eleven o'clock, it was high time for me to return on board.

-Therefore I rose to bid my strange host "_Addio_."

-

-He bowed to me with a courtly grace which rendered his dwarfed figure

-more than usually grotesque, bending so low that his fringe of grey

-beard almost touched his knees.

-

-"_Addio_, signorina," he said.  "Do not relax your efforts for a

-single moment.  Accompany the _Vispera_ on the remainder of its

-cruise, and seek to obtain all the knowledge you can.  For my part, I

-shall do my best; and I have much to do--very much, I assure you.

-But I am confident that before we meet again we shall both have

-obtained a clue to the mysterious death of the young Signor Thorne."

-

-"One moment," I said, after some hesitation, for I was reluctant to

-approach a subject which preyed ever upon my mind.  "Answer me

-truthfully.  Do you entertain suspicion that Mr. Thorne's assassin

-was the man who once loved me--Ernest Cameron?"

-

-He regarded me in profound surprise.

-

-"No," he responded promptly.  "I am convinced of the contrary.  There

-could have been no motive, and besides----"

-

-He paused, not finishing the sentence.

-

-"Well?"

-

-"Besides, the inquiries I made in Nice and Monte Carlo gave a result

-identical with those made by the police, namely, that Signor Cameron

-was innocent."

-

-"If you have no suspicion of him, then I am content," I declared,

-breathing more freely.

-

-My dwarfish companion smiled knowingly, for he was aware that I still

-loved the man who had abandoned me.  Yet there was a strange look in

-his keen dark eyes that I had not before noticed.  As I drove back

-through the silent streets of the Italian city, down to the port, his

-sinister countenance, with its indescribable expression of

-craftiness, haunted me incessantly.  Why that final glance of his had

-produced such an impression upon me I was, even after many hours

-spent in wonderment, utterly at a loss to explain.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIX

-

-A MILLIONAIRE'S MANOEUVRES

-

-Will you, my reader, forgive me if for a few moments I am prosy?  I

-speak only of what is so very near my woman's heart.

-

-When we think of what Society might be to us, it becomes a painful

-thing to speak of what it is.  When we, who are world-weary, think of

-the seasons of mental refreshment which might be enjoyed, the

-possible interchange of mutual trust and kindness, the awakening of

-new ideas, the correction of old ones, the sweeping away of prejudice

-and the establishment of thought, the extension of benevolence and

-the increase of sympathy, confidence, and good faith which might thus

-be brought about amongst the families of mankind, we become filled

-only by regret that the young and the joyous spirit, buoyant with the

-energies of untried life and warm with the generous flow of unchecked

-feeling, must so soon become disillusioned.

-

-You, my reader, know too well how soon we all tire of the eternal

-shams which go to make up our present social life.  You yourself are

-weary of it, though perhaps you hesitate to confess this openly,

-because such a confession would be an offence against the

-_convenances_.  _Convenances!_  Bah!  Society as it now exists is

-such that no mother, once she has launched her daughter into its

-maelstrom by that process known as "coming out," ever hopes to

-receive back to the peaceful nest the wing so lately fledged,

-unruffled by its flight, the snowy breast unstained, or the beating

-heart as true as when it first went forth elated by the glowing hope

-of finding in Society what it never yet was rich enough to yield.

-

-And yet the charge we women bring against Society for its flattery

-and its falsehood is an old-established one, and we go on year after

-year complaining in the same strain; those who have expected most,

-and have been the most deceived, complaining in the bitterest terms.

-

-Having run the whole gamut of Society's follies, I had become

-heartsick; and never was the bald truth more forcibly impressed upon

-me than that night when, on descending to my cabin on board the

-_Vispera_, I found Ulrica there--the gay, careless Ulrica, whose

-_sang-froid_ nothing ever ruffled--examining one of my newest gowns.

-She was an average woman, one of ten thousand or more to be found any

-day during the season between Hyde Park Corner and Kensington Church,

-gay and chic, with just that slight touch of the cosmopolitan which

-always proves so attractive to men.  It is women such as she whose

-sentiments and feelings give tone to Society, and Society--which now

-apes the tone, the manners, and the dress of the modern

-Aspasia--influences the sentiments and feelings of English life.

-

-"Why, how horribly late you are, dear!" Ulrica began, when I entered

-my cabin.  "We've all been thinking that you were lost, or else that

-the Countess had induced you to remain with her.  Gerald has taken a

-cab back to Ardenza to look for you."

-

-This announcement caused me considerable annoyance, but I affected to

-pass it by, laughingly remarking that I had stayed late with my old

-schoolfellow.

-

-"These Italian ports are always cut-throat places, Gerald said; and

-when you were not back at half-past ten, he decided to go and look

-for you."

-

-"Very kind of him," I remarked.  "You all dined on board, I suppose?"

-

-"No.  Mr. Keppel decided upon dining ashore, so we went to a

-thoroughly Italian hotel--the 'Giappone,' I believe it was called.

-It was quite a plain, unpretending place, but the food was really

-extraordinary.  I've never had better cooking, even at the 'Carlton.'"

-

-"I know it well," I said.

-

-Indeed, everyone who knows Leghorn knows the "Giappone."  As the

-"Star and Garter" is to Richmond, so is the "Giappone" to Leghorn.

-Only the "Giappone," clean, plain and comfortable, has never assumed

-the designation of "hotel," but still rejoices in the fact that it is

-merely an _albergo_, or inn.  Of recent years throughout the Italy of

-the tourist there have sprung up great glaring caravanseries, where

-the cooking is a bad imitation of the French style, where the Italian

-waiters are bound to speak French, and the name of the hostelry is

-French (the "o" in hotel always bearing a circumflex), and where the

-accommodation is third-rate, at exorbitant prices.  It is, therefore,

-refreshing to find an _albergo_ like the "Giappone," where not a soul

-speaks either English or French, which still retains its

-old-fashioned character, and is noted throughout the whole kingdom

-for its marvellous cooking and absurdly low charges.  It is perhaps

-fortunate that the Cookite has never discovered that long,

-white-painted _salle-à-manger_ where, upon each small table, stands

-the great flask of Tuscan wine, and where one can dine as a

-millionaire for the Italian equivalent of two shillings.  Some day

-the place will be "discovered," but happy those who know it now,

-before its homelike character is swept away.

-

-"Where is Mr. Keppel?" I inquired, anxious to know whether he had

-come on board.

-

-"In the smoking saloon.  There has been music, and I left him

-chatting with Lord Stoneborough ten minutes ago."

-

-"What are our future movements?  Have you heard?"

-

-"Oh, yes!  I forgot to tell you.  At dinner to-night old Mr. Keppel

-announced that we should remain here another couple of days or so,

-and then go up the Adriatic to Ragusa, and later proceed to Venice.

-We're to land there, instead of at Marseilles."

-

-Her reply surprised me, for it showed that the queer old man I had

-visited had actually spoken the truth and was apparently well up in

-all the millionaire's intentions.

-

-"Why have the plans been changed?" I inquired, as I drew off my

-gloves.

-

-"Oh, because several of the people wanted to go up to Switzerland, I

-believe, and have induced old Keppel to land them at Venice, instead

-of in the South of France.  The Viscera is to lay up at Fiume, it

-seems."

-

-"But only yesterday he told me that he intended to sail home in her

-to Portsmouth," I said.

-

-"My dear, the old fellow is as full of plans as he is of sovereigns,

-and is a most vague person regarding his future movements.  Somehow,

-I can't tell in what manner, to me he seems to have changed

-wonderfully during the past few days."

-

-"Do you think so?" I asked quickly.  It was strange that she should

-have detected a difference in his manner.

-

-"Yes.  I sat next to him at dinner to-night, and couldn't help

-noticing how nervous and queer he seemed.  Perhaps it's one of those

-penalties of wealth which people are so fond of telling us about.  If

-I had wealth I wouldn't heed the so-called penalties, would you,

-dear?  The possession of only another five hundred a year would make

-me one of the happiest women in the world."

-

-"That's the universal cry," I laughed.  "Why aren't you more

-original, Ulrica?"

-

-"Because it's such bad form to be original nowadays, when everything

-has been said before.  There is no further smartness in conversation.

-A woman can only shine by the aid of Paquin, or some other Vendome

-artist."

-

-And so she chattered on merrily, until at length her eye caught my

-little travelling clock, when she saw that it was already an hour

-past midnight.  The tramping of men on deck had ceased, and all had

-grown quiet, save for a low pumping sound from the engine-room.

-

-"Well, dear," she said, "I suppose it's time to turn in.  We all go

-over to Pisa to-morrow to see the sights--Leaning Tower, Cathedral,

-and that sort of thing.  I've seen them all before, and so have you."

-

-I smiled.  When a child, I had stood beneath the campanile,

-marvelling at what Suor Angelica used to say was one of the seven

-wonders of the world; had knelt in reverence in the Duomo, and

-wandered in amazement through the old marble-built Campo Santo--how

-many years ago, I did not care to reflect.

-

-"You will go with them?" I said.

-

-"We must both go, much as it bores us.  For myself, I hate

-sight-seeing at any time, and more especially the re-visitation of

-things one has seen in one's early youth.  Yachting is delightful,

-and I love it.  But the enthusiasm of one's friends when they get

-ashore is always apt to become tiresome.  No, my dear Carmela, we're

-in for a day of self-sacrifice to-morrow."

-

-I sighed.  For myself, I would have preferred to remain in Leghorn,

-for to me Pisa always seems like a marble-built city of the dead.  A

-single visit there in the course of a life-time is sufficient for

-most people, and the modern tourist, _en route_ for Rome, generally

-"does" the sights in a couple of hours, and is glad to get away to

-the Eternal City.  For the archæologist there is much of interest,

-but we women of the world are neither dry-as-dust professors nor

-ten-days-in-Italy tourists, and care nothing for the treasuries of

-its Archivio di Stato, the traditions connected with the

-miracle-working and carefully-veiled "Madonna sotto gli Organi," the

-tattered banners of the Knights of St. Stephen, or why the Messa dei

-Cacciatori was instituted.  To me, as to most people who have once

-set foot in Pisa, its mediæval glories are mouldy.

-

-When Ulrica had left me, I stood before the small mirror of my tiny,

-white-enamelled cabin, gazing blankly at my own reflection.  Why had

-Ernest forsaken me in favour of that tow-haired, doll-like person,

-whose parentage no one knew, and whose manners, as far as I had been

-able to observe them, savoured more of Kennington than Kensington?  I

-was good-looking, still young, still attractive, still sufficiently

-alluring to cause men to turn and glance after me.  That candid

-friend, my mirror, told me so each time I sought its opinion.  And

-yet I who loved him with all my soul was abandoned!

-

-The queer old man's injunctions recurred to me.  It was necessary

-that I should investigate what was contained in that locked

-deck-house over my head.  But how?

-

-Gerald had told us that the place contained curiosities purchased in

-Tangier, an explanation evidently given by his father.  That this was

-not the truth I was already aware.  Yet if the body of the mysterious

-female passenger was still there, it was remarkable that the Customs

-officers had not found it.  Still, the men of the Italian dogana are

-easily bribed.  They get half the fines imposed upon contraband, a

-fact which makes them very eager to discover dutiable articles--and

-nearly everything is liable to taxation in Italy--but a sly douceur

-is to them always preferable to the labour entailed in searching a

-ship and finding nothing to reward them.  Davis, the bluff, red-faced

-captain, or one of his officers, being well aware of this, might, for

-aught I knew, have judiciously dispensed a few paper _lire_.

-

-Though old Branca had given his opinion that there was no longer any

-danger of the dastardly plot being carried into effect, I was not at

-all convinced of the safety of the vessel.  Thus, without removing my

-hat, I sat on the edge of my narrow little berth for a long time,

-thinking.  We were to sail for the Adriatic.  That in itself was

-suspicious; for why should we retrace our course down the Italian

-coast again, when the intention had been to make for Marseilles?

-Keppel had some strong and secret motive for so suddenly altering our

-plans.

-

-The pumping in the engine-room had been succeeded by the low whirr of

-the dynamo.  At that hour all on board were asleep; for lying as we

-were off the Mole, there was no necessity for a night-watch to be

-kept; therefore I decided to venture back on deck, ostensibly to take

-the air and admire the clearness of the magnificent Italian night,

-but really to take observations of the locked deck-house.

-

-Stealthily, on tiptoe, I crept out of my cabin, and up the stairs on

-to the deck.  The night was brilliant--one of those which the dweller

-on the Mediterranean shore knows so well in spring, calm, balmy,

-starlit, with the crescent moon shedding its light over the distant

-range of mountains far inland.  The lights of the harbour were

-reflected by the dark, unsteady waters; and from the ancient

-lighthouse shone the bright rays of warning far across old Neptune's

-highway.

-

-As I emerged on deck, before me extended the long line of electric

-lamps along the Passeggio to Ardenza, and behind me lay the

-brightly-lit City of Leghorn, complex and mysterious.  From across

-the port came the sound of steam winches, interspersed now and then

-with the low rumbling of coal being shot into barges--the produce of

-Cardiff and Newcastle, disembarked by some "tramp" eager for

-departure; and once there came from over the water the hoarse note of

-a steam siren announcing a vessel's immediate sailing.

-

-I lingered for a moment, affecting to enjoy the night air, but really

-to disarm the suspicion of anyone who might be astir.  All on board

-was quiet, however, and the silence reassured me.  I crept forward to

-the deck-house, passing its closed and curtained port-holes.

-

-My heart leaped quickly.  There was a light within.

-

-As I slowly picked my way past I distinctly heard a voice, but could

-not recognise it.  The sound, however, made it apparent that two

-persons were within.  Carefully I walked around, but found all three

-port-holes heavily curtained.  At one I listened, but could

-distinguish nothing.  It was a man's voice; that was all I could tell.

-

-I bethought myself of the ventilator by which I had before been

-enabled to overhear the conversation within, and wondered whether it

-was open.  Without hesitation I swung myself up to the top of the

-deck-cabin, but was dismayed to find the small aperture tightly

-closed.  I listened, but only heard a voice speaking in a gruff tone.

-As to what words were said I could obtain no idea.  The voice sounded

-like that of old Mr. Keppel, but even of this I was not altogether

-certain.

-

-Were the occupants of that locked cabin engaged in perfecting the

-plot to destroy the _Vispera_?  To me it seemed very much as if they

-were.  I slid down from my position, which was rather insecure for a

-woman, and concealed myself in the dark and narrow gangway between

-the deck-house and the covering of a hatchway, in order to watch the

-exit.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XX

-

-WHEREIN CAPTAIN DAVIS SPEAKS HIS MIND

-

-I suppose I must have crouched there for a full half-hour.  When one

-is watching eagerly, however, time always appears longer.

-

-The steamer whose siren had awakened the echoes of the port had swung

-from her moorings, and slowly glided past us to the open sea, making

-a southward course; while work on the collier appeared to be

-finished, and the whole port had settled down to the peace of night.

-

-Suddenly I heard the voices within raised, as if in altercation.  I

-rose at once, and placed my ear to the glass of the curtained

-port-hole.

-

-"I tell you it's a lie--a confounded lie!" I heard a man's voice

-exclaim.  "You can have no basis for any such allegation."

-

-"I only state plainly what I think," responded the other.  "All the

-facts tend to show that such was the case."

-

-The other man laughed a dry, cynical laugh.

-

-"And what do your guests think of this sudden change of plans?" he

-asked.

-

-"Think!" responded Keppel, for one voice I now recognised as his.

-"They are happy enough.  The Adriatic is always more attractive for

-yachting than the Mediterranean."

-

-"Well," responded his companion, "act just as you think fit.  I shall

-not advise."

-

-"It is not for you to advise," answered the owner of the _Vispera_

-sharply.  "You are my servant, and therefore must do my bidding."

-

-"You asked my advice, sir, ten minutes ago, otherwise I should not

-have presumed to speak as I have just spoken."

-

-"You are a great deal too presumptuous on board the _Vispera_,

-Davis," Keppel snapped.  "Please recollect that when I am here I am

-master."

-

-His words proved that the man with whom he was speaking was the

-captain.

-

-"I regret if you've taken any word or action of mine as presumptuous,

-sir," responded the skipper gruffly.  "I'm a seafaring man, sir, and

-ain't much used to polite society."

-

-"When I give my orders I expect them to be obeyed without question,

-Captain Davis."

-

-"I'm ready to obey what orders you give, sir.  I'll take the

-_Vispera_ to any point of the compass you like.  You pay me £28 10s.

-a month, and I'm yours to command."

-

-"Very well, Davis.  Then listen," I heard Keppel say, although he

-lowered his voice somewhat.  "My instructions to you are entirely

-confidential, you understand.  To-morrow I shall send on board a

-small case.  It will be rather heavy, for it contains a piece of

-marble statuary from Pisa.  You'll receive it by the last train, at

-about midnight, and when you've got it aboard you'll sail at once for

-Ragusa."

-

-"Without the guests?"

-

-"No.  You will take them with you," was Keppel's response.  "Mr.

-Gerald is going to Florence in the morning, so he will be absent.  So

-shall I."

-

-"You will join us later, I suppose, sir?"

-

-"Yes.  Perhaps at Venice.  But you'll receive telegraphic orders from

-me at Ragusa."

-

-"Then I'm not to sail before I receive the case?" observed the

-captain.

-

-"No.  It will arrive by the last train, and will be addressed to you.

-Send someone to the station for it, and put it in a safe place in the

-hold.  It is a valuable statuette that has been bought for me.  So

-mind it doesn't get damaged."

-

-"Well, sir," responded the captain, "I can't answer for those Italian

-railways; but you can be sure I'll take good care of it here."

-

-"Very well.  Recollect what I have told you is entirely confidential.

-The party is due at Pisa to-morrow, but will return to dine on board.

-I have a lot of business to attend to on shore, so possibly I may not

-return with them.  If I don't sail with you, don't be surprised."

-

-"I quite understand, sir," replied the captain.  "I shall keep my own

-counsel, and sail as soon as I get the box.  Had I better call at

-Naples if you don't sail with us?"

-

-"No.  If I cannot come, put into Palermo.  I'll wire you there."

-

-"All right, sir," was the response.

-

-Davis, a trustworthy old Mediterranean skipper, who knew the rugged

-Italian coast as well as he did the Thames Embankment, and who had

-spent half a lifetime on colliers and tramps between Gibraltar and

-the Greek Islands, was a short, stout, round-faced man who wore a

-very thick pea-jacket even in the warmest weather, and who was always

-speaking of his "missus an' the kids," kept snug by him at Barking.

-

-I had often had chats with him, for he had initiated me into the

-mysteries of taking sights, and had given me many a lesson in

-nautical affairs.  He was full of droll stories, and had more than

-once delighted us by relating his humorous experiences while cycling

-ashore in company with the engineer, whom he always referred to as

-his "chief."  He was fond of potent drinks, and sometimes was heard

-using strong language to the men, in the usual manner of

-Mediterranean skippers; but he was, nevertheless, a safe man, and had

-commanded several passenger boats of a well-known line.

-

-I discovered that the particular port-hole at which I was listening

-was not screwed down tightly, and therefore I could distinguish the

-voices.

-

-"Recollect," his master went on, "you are not to wait for me.

-To-morrow evening at dinner you must give the guests to understand

-that you have received immediate orders to sail, otherwise they may

-go off to the theatre or somewhere, and you'll experience a

-difficulty in re-collecting them.  Then send for the box, and get

-away as soon as possible."

-

-"I shan't wait a minute for you, sir, depend upon it.  Let me get

-that box, and the _Vispera_ will soon be steaming past Gorgona."

-

-"And I don't want the guests to think this has been arranged between

-you and me, recollect.  They may consider it rather a slight for

-neither myself nor my son to be on board.  But you must explain next

-day how business pressed upon me at the last moment, and prevented me

-from sailing.  Tell them I'll join the yacht at Palermo.  In fact,"

-he added, "tell them any lies you like.  I know you're a glorious

-liar!"

-

-The skipper laughed.

-

-"A captain's first duty, sir, is to know how to lie to consuls and

-Customs officers.  The Board o' Trade ought to examine him in this

-art before granting him his certificate.  A skipper who can't

-lie--and especially here in the Mediterranean--ain't worth the smell

-of an oil-rag.  He's more bother to his owners than he's worth."

-

-"Well, just exercise your untruthful proclivities upon my guests on

-this occasion, Davis, and I shall not forget to find something

-handsome for you at the end of this cruise.  Up to the present I have

-had no cause whatever to complain."

-

-"Glad to hear that, sir.  Very glad, indeed," responded the old

-navigator.  "To handle a boat like the _Vispera_ is different to

-handling a coal barge from Cardiff, for instance.  Aboard of the

-latter you can get work out of your men by swearin' at them, and even

-out o' the boilers by just calling them a few names what ain't

-polite.  But on board of this here yacht I'm always afraid of openin'

-my mouth, and that's the truth.  With ladies about you have to be so

-awful careful.  I know," he added, "that I could have made much

-better time if I might only have given my tongue a bit o' liberty."

-

-"Give it liberty in your own cabin, Davis," laughed the millionaire.

-"The ladies are not used to nautical epithets."

-

-"No, sir.  Not this cruise," was the other's response.  "I'm storing

-of 'em up to be used on the trip home, when we're without passengers.

-The atmosphere'll turn blue round and over this yacht then, I can

-promise you."

-

-His master laughed again, and said:

-

-"Very well.  As long as you perfectly understand my instructions,

-that is sufficient.  Put into Palermo, and if you receive no telegram

-there, go on at once to Ragusa.  Remember to make it plain to the

-guests that I'm very busy, and that I shall rejoin you in Sicily."

-

-"Never fear, sir."

-

-"And recollect the box," was Keppel's injunction.

-

-"I'll send two men who speak Italian up to the railway station to

-meet the last train.  Will it be too heavy to be brought down to the

-port on a cab?"

-

-"Oh, no!  It is quite small--merely a statuette," the millionaire

-explained.  "See that it is stored in a dry place.  Somewhere near

-the engine-room would be best."

-

-"I'll see to that, sir.  Any other orders?"

-

-"No.  Only be very careful that when you put into Palermo those

-confounded Customs officers don't break open the case.  They may

-injure its contents.  Best put it into a cabin and let them seal up

-the door, as they do the wines."

-

-"All right, sir.  They're uncommon handy with their lead seals down

-at Palermo.  I'll have it placed along with the wines, then it'll be

-as safe as in the bank."

-

-"Mr. Barnes is still at the Villa Fabron, so if you want to make any

-communication, and don't know my whereabouts, wire to him," Keppel

-said.  "Just at present my movements are somewhat uncertain."

-

-"I'll remember that, sir," replied the captain.  I heard a movement

-as though he had risen to go back to his berth.  "But I'd like to

-mention one thing, if I may, sir.  Do you know, I was quite surprised

-to find you in here to-night.  This place has been locked up during

-the whole cruise, and the reason of it has been a mystery to both the

-crew and the passengers.  The men are very superstitious, and more

-than once declared that something uncanny was hidden here."

-

-"What nonsense!" cried the owner of the yacht.  "You see what is in

-here.  Only some of that Moorish furniture which I bought at Tangier

-on the voyage out."

-

-"But the men have declared to me that they've seen lights within, and

-heard strange noises," said the bluff skipper dubiously.

-

-"They'll say the _Vispera_ is haunted next," the other laughed.

-"Well," he added, "you can see for yourself that there's nothing

-supernatural here.  You sailors see omens in everything, Davis."

-

-"I'm no believer in ghosts, or anything of that kind myself," was the

-response; "but one night, when we were off Pantalleria, I was on the

-bridge, and saw with my own eyes lights shining through these

-curtains.  I'll swear it!"

-

-"Perhaps I had gone there myself for some purpose," Keppel explained

-rather lamely.

-

-"No, I don't think that, sir, for you were asleep in your own cabin."

-

-"Well, I alone have the key, so no one else could have entered."

-

-"That's just my argument," the captain declared.  "There's something

-uncanny about this deck-house, but what it is I can't quite make out.

-The look-out man one night swore that he heard a scream coming from

-it, and I had the devil's own job to persuade him to the contrary."

-

-"That look-out man had had his grog, I suppose, and mistook the

-whistling of the wind in the rigging," responded the old millionaire,

-with an air of nonchalance.  "All such superstitious fears are

-rubbish."

-

-"To the landsman, yes, but not to the sailor, sir," was the skipper's

-response.  "When we see a light in the port-hole of an empty cabin,

-we know one thing is quite certain," he said gravely.

-

-"And what's that?"

-

-"That the ship will go down before very long."

-

-"That's cheerful," remarked the owner of the _Vispera_.  "And when do

-you and your crew expect that interesting event to occur, pray?"

-

-"Well, sir, of course we can't tell.  Only I, myself, would like to

-get back to Barking once again before the _Vispera_ goes away from

-under me."

-

-"Are you a fool, Davis?"

-

-"I hope not, sir."

-

-"Well, it seems to me that such superstitions don't suit a hard,

-practical man like yourself.  You've held a master's certificate for

-the past twenty years or more, and surely by this time you aren't

-upset or unnerved by the gossip of the forecastle?"

-

-"Not usually, Mr. Keppel.  But in this case I confess I am a bit

-dubious.  I saw the mysterious light myself."

-

-"I might have gone there for some purpose or other, and forgot to

-switch off the light."

-

-"Yes, but it disappeared during the time I watched it," was the

-response.  "To make sure that you were not there I sent a man down to

-your cabin, and he found you asleep there.  So you couldn't have been

-in here."

-

-"Electric lights have queer vagaries," the owner of the vessel

-remarked.  "Perhaps the continual vibration of the engines injured

-the lamp, and extinguished it just at that moment.  That's not at all

-an uncommon circumstance, as you know well."

-

-"No, sir!"  I heard Davis say in a tone of conviction; "there was

-either somebody in here, or else something uncanny.  Of that I'm

-quite certain."

-

-"Stowaways don't usually luxuriate in electric lights," laughed

-Keppel.  "No, Davis, without doubt there is some quite simple

-explanation of what you believe to be a phenomenon.  Think no more

-about it.  Leave omens and all such things to these superstitious

-Italians."

-

-The captain gave vent to a low grunt of dissatisfaction, which marked

-a habit of his.  He was a hale and merry fellow, but from what he had

-said, it was evident he entertained a strong suspicion that he had

-carried a mysterious passenger.  That all traces of the crime had

-been removed was plain, otherwise old Mr. Keppel would not have

-invited his captain to talk with him there.  Of course he had done

-this in order to convince Davis that nothing was amiss.  Indeed, the

-millionaire's coolness surprised me, for it was remarkable.  Yet it

-showed plainly one fact, namely, that by some means or other the body

-of the unfortunate passenger had been got rid of, just as old Branca

-had declared.

-

-Our host now intended to send on board a box said to contain a

-statuette, and at the same time, accompanied by his son, to desert

-his guests and leave the vessel to its fate.

-

-To me there was but one theory: that box he had spoken of would

-contain the explosive which was destined to send the _Vispera_ to the

-bottom.

-

-But what was the motive if, as seemed so probable, all evidence of

-the crime had been completely effaced?

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXI

-

-IS ASTONISHING

-

-We have an ancient proverb in Tuscany which says, "_Rimediare al male

-fin dal suo principio_."  This very excellent maxim I was

-endeavouring to carry out.  But it is always difficult--extremely

-difficult, especially for a woman.

-

-When I had at length crept back to my cabin, fearing discovery by one

-or other of the pair whose interesting conversation I had overheard,

-I bolted my door and gave myself up to reflection.  To act was

-imperative.  The mysterious old man in the Via Magenta, who seemed so

-well informed as to Keppel's movements, and who had even told me the

-whereabouts of Ernest, was wrong in his surmise that the dastardly

-plot to blow up the yacht had been abandoned.  The vessel was to sail

-to her doom.  I alone knew the truth, and upon me devolved the duty

-of saving the lives of all on board.

-

-If I failed, then the millionaire's yacht would be added to that long

-list of vessels which have sailed merrily from port, never to be seen

-or heard of afterwards.  How many of these have been wilfully blown

-up for the sake of insurance money or of private vengeance is a

-question bitter to contemplate, and hard to answer.  Certain it is

-that the elements are not responsible for all the vessels posted at

-Lloyd's as "missing" during recent years.

-

-Slowly I undressed and entered my berth, but was unable to sleep, so

-full was my mind of grave thoughts.  For a full half-hour I heard

-tramping in the deck-cabin above me; then all grew silent, and at

-last I dozed.

-

-The dressing-bell awakened me in the morning, and after I had dressed

-I went along to Ulrica's cabin, where she was preparing herself with

-an ill grace to accompany the party to Pisa.

-

-"I'm awfully tired of this trip!" I exclaimed, seating myself wearily

-upon the edge of the berth, "Five weeks at sea is quite sufficient

-for all purposes, without being taken around the Adriatic merely on

-account of old Keppel's whim."

-

-"So am I terribly tired of it, my dear," Ulrica declared.  "I only

-wish I could make some excuse to stay ashore."

-

-That was exactly what I desired.  I had no intention of sailing again

-in the doomed vessel, and had determined that she should not.

-

-"Why can't we both stay ashore?" I suggested.

-

-"Well, I can't," she responded, "for one simple reason.  Gerald is

-leaving for Florence this morning; and if it were found that I, too,

-were missing, evil tongues would at once begin to wag."

-

-"My dear Ulrica," I said, "I, for one, am very much obliged to old

-Keppel for his hospitality; but, nevertheless, I don't mean to be one

-of a party shipped up and down the Mediterranean like a cargo of

-coals.  I don't intend to sail again."

-

-"What, dear!" she cried.  "Are you really serious?  What's the cause

-of this sudden revolt?

-

-"I'm bored to death," I replied.  "And there are one or two persons

-on board that I intend to avoid in future; Mrs. Langdon, for

-instance--the old tabby!"

-

-"Tabby is the correct term," Ulrica laughed.  "I've never been able

-to find out where old Keppel discovered that rejuvenated skeleton.

-Her paint and powder are absolutely wicked."

-

-"Listen, there's the breakfast bell," I said.  "We'll all go over to

-Pisa and do the amiable with the others, and afterwards we must

-discover some matter which requires our urgent presence on shore--you

-understand?

-

-"Exactly," she said.

-

-"I leave the excuses to you, my dear; you're so excellent at soft

-sawder.  Remember that at all hazards I don't sail.  I hope you are

-equally determined."

-

-"I'm quite with you," she declared.  "Of course, we don't want to

-offend the old gentleman, for he's a useful person to know when one

-winters on the Riviera.  Nevertheless, I quite agree that to be

-shipped up and down the Mediterranean like this is something beyond a

-joke.  I wonder why the others stand it?"

-

-"Why they stand it?  Because he's a millionaire, and nearly all of

-them are indebted to him in some way or other.  They can't demur.  It

-isn't policy on their part to do so."

-

-And so it was agreed between us that by hook or by crook we should

-either forget to sail, or openly present our apologies to our host.

-

-After breakfast, always a merry meal when in port, but sometimes a

-sparsely-attended one when the mistral was blowing, we all took train

-to Pisa, accompanied by Keppel _père et fils_, the latter wishing us

-a temporary farewell and going on to Florence, whence, he told us, he

-should return on the following night to rejoin us on our cruise.

-

-I knew that he had not the least intention of doing so.  He had

-actually told Ulrica privately that he was compelled to go by Milan

-and Bâle to Berlin, on some pressing business for his father.

-

-The day's excursion to see the Leaning Tower and other wonders of the

-marble-built city by the Arno was, as far as the others were

-concerned, a success.  To Ulrica and myself, who acted as guides, it

-was a day of absolute self-sacrifice.  The only redeeming feature was

-the excellence of our lunch at the little unpretending restaurant

-beside the river, called the Nettuno.  Any of my readers who have

-occasion to visit Pisa should remember it, and should carefully avoid

-those glaring hotels near the station, just as they should avoid the

-station-buffet.

-

-At five o'clock we returned to Leghorn, wearied out, and at half-past

-six dined together on board.  During the whole of the day I had

-managed to attach myself to old Mr. Keppel, in order to watch his

-movements; but, quite contrary to my expectations, he did not excuse

-himself by saying that he wished to make purchases; and further,

-instead of remaining in Pisa, as I expected he would do, he actually

-returned and took his usual seat at the head of the dining-table.

-

-There was music after dinner, and several of the men, including the

-millionaire, went to the smoking-room.

-

-Was it possible, I wondered, for him to have again changed his plans?

-I sat in the saloon until nearly eight o'clock, but being anxious, I

-rose and went up on deck, in order to ascertain whether our host was

-still with his friends.

-

-I passed the door of the smoking-room and peered in, uttering some

-chaffing words with affected gaiety.

-

-Keppel was not there.

-

-"They are asking for Mr. Keppel in the saloon," I said.  "I thought

-he was here."

-

-"No," responded Lord Stoneborough.  "He went ashore a little time

-ago."

-

-"Oh, thanks," I said.  "I'll tell them."

-

-The millionaire had escaped me!

-

-I dashed down to my cabin, and without hesitation changed my

-dinner-frock for a dark stuff dress that I had never worn on board;

-then, going again on deck, I induced one of the sailors to row me

-ashore at once, securing the man's silence by a tip of

-half-a-sovereign.

-

-If our eccentric host intended to leave Leghorn, he must leave by

-train and return to Pisa.  Therefore at the corner of the Via Grande

-I entered a tram, and shortly afterwards alighted at the station.

-The great platform was dimly lit and deserted, for no train would

-depart, they told me, for another hour.  It was the mail, and ran to

-Pisa to catch the night express to the French frontier at Modane.

-Most probably Keppel meant to catch this train.

-

-Should I wait and watch?

-

-The idea occurred to me that if that unseen individual who had been

-present in the deck-house, and had suggested the destruction of the

-_Vispera_, had come ashore, he would certainly meet Keppel somewhere.

-

-The time dragged on.  The short train was backed into the station,

-but no passenger appeared.  A controller inquired if I intended to go

-to Pisa, but I replied in the negative.  At last several passengers

-approached leisurely, as is usual in Italy, one or two carrying

-wicker-covered flasks of Chianti to drink in viaggio; the inevitable

-pair of white-gloved carabineers strolled up and down, and the train

-prepared to start.

-

-Of a sudden, almost before I was aware of it, I was conscious of two

-figures approaching.  One was that of old Mr. Keppel, hot and

-hurrying, carrying a small brown hand-bag, and the other the figure

-of a woman, wearing a soft felt hat and long fawn travelling-cloak.

-

-I drew back into the shadow to allow them to pass without recognising

-me.  The miscreant had, it seemed to me, cleverly disguised himself

-as a woman.

-

-Hurrying, the next moment they passed me by in search of an empty

-first-class compartment.  The controller approached them to ask for

-their tickets.  Keppel searched his pockets in a fidgety fashion, and

-said in English, which, of course, the man did not understand:

-

-"We're going to the frontier."

-

-The man glanced leisurely at the tickets, unlocked one of the doors,

-and allowed them to enter.

-

-As the woman mounted into the carriage, however, a ray of light fell

-straight across her face, and revealed to my wondering eyes a

-countenance that held me absolutely bewildered.

-

-The discovery I made at that moment increased the mystery tenfold.

-The countenance disclosed by the lamplight in the badly-lit station

-was not that of a man in female disguise, as I had suspected, but of

-a woman.  Her identity it was that held me in amazement, for in that

-instant I recognised her as none other than the dark-haired, handsome

-woman whom I had seen lying dead upon the floor of the deck-house on

-the previous night.

-

-Why were they leaving the yacht in company?  What fresh conspiracy

-was there in progress?

-

-I had always believed old Benjamin Keppel to be the soul of honour,

-but the revelations of the past few hours caused me utter

-bewilderment.  I stood there in hesitation, and glancing up at the

-clock, saw that there were still three minutes before the departure

-of the train.  Next moment I had made a resolve to follow them and

-ascertain the truth.  I entered the booking-office, obtained a ticket

-to Modane, the French frontier beyond Mont Cenis, and a few moments

-later was sitting alone in a compartment at the rear of the train.  I

-had no luggage, nothing whatever save the small travelling reticule

-suspended from my waist-belt.  And I had set out for an unknown

-destination!

-

-The train moved off, and soon we were tearing through the night

-across that wide plain which had been the sea-bottom in those

-mediæval days when the sculptured town of Pisa was a prosperous

-seaport, the envy of both Florentines and Genoese, and past the spot

-marked by a church where St. Peter is said to have landed.  Well I

-knew that wide Tuscan plain, with its fringe of high, vine-clad

-mountains, for in my girlhood days I had wandered over it, making my

-delighted way through the royal forest and through the gracious

-vinelands.

-

-At last, after three quarters of an hour, we ran into the busy

-station at Pisa, that point so well known to every tourist who visits

-Italy.  It is the highway to Florence, Rome, and Naples, just as it

-is to Genoa, Turin, or Milan; and just as the traveller in

-Switzerland must at some time find himself at Bâle, so does the

-traveller in Italy at some time or other find himself at Pisa.  Yet

-how few strangers who pass through, or who drive down to look at the

-Leaning Tower and the great old Cathedral, white as a marble tomb,

-ever take the trouble to explore the country beyond.  They never go

-up to quiet, grey, old Lucca, a town with walls and gates the same

-to-day as when Dante wandered there, untouched by the hand of the

-vandal, unspoilt by modern progress, undisturbed by tourist invaders.

-Its narrow, old-world streets of decaying palaces, its leafy piazzas,

-its Lily theatre, its proud, handsome people, all are charming to one

-who, like myself, loves Italy and the gay-hearted Tuscan.

-

-Little time was there for reflection, however, for on alighting at

-Pisa I was compelled to conceal myself until the arrival of the

-express on its way from Rome to Paris.  While I waited, the thought

-occurred to me that the _Vispera_ was still in peril, and that I

-alone could save her passengers and crew.  Yet, with the mysterious

-woman still alive, there could, I pondered, be no motive in

-destroying the vessel.  Perhaps the idea had happily been abandoned.

-

-Nevertheless, the non-appearance of the individual whose voice I had

-heard, but whom I had not seen, was disconcerting.  Try as I would, I

-could not get rid of the suspicion aroused by Keppel's flight that

-foul play was still intended.  If it were not, why had the old

-millionaire not continued his cruise?  As the unknown woman had been

-concealed on board for several weeks, there was surely no reason why

-she should not have remained there another three or four days, until

-we reached Marseilles!  No.  That some unusually strange mystery was

-connected with the whole affair, I felt confident.

-

-I peered out from the corner in which I was standing, and saw Keppel

-and his companion enter the buffet.  As soon as they had disappeared,

-I made a sudden resolve, entered the telegraph office, and wrote the

-following message:

-

-

-"_To Captain Davis.  S.Y. 'Vispera' in port, Livorno.--Have altered

-arrangements.  Sail at once for Genoa.  Box I spoke of will join you

-there.  Leave immediately on receipt of this._--KEPPEL."

-

-

-I handed it in to the telegraphist, saying in Italian:

-

-"I want this delivered on board to-night, most particularly."

-

-He looked at it, and shook his head.

-

-"I fear, signorina," he answered, with grave politeness, "that

-delivery is quite impossible.  It is after hours, and the message

-will remain in the office, and be delivered with letters in the

-morning."

-

-"But it must reach the captain to-night," I declared.

-

-The man elevated his shoulders slightly, and showed his palms.  This

-was the Tuscan gesture of regret.

-

-"At Livorno they are not, I am sorry to say, very obliging."

-

-"Then you believe it to be absolutely useless to send the message, in

-the expectation of it being delivered before morning?"

-

-"The signorina understands me exactly."

-

-"But what can I do?" I cried in desperation.  "This message must

-reach the captain before midnight."

-

-The man reflected for a moment.  Then he answered me.

-

-"There is but one way I can suggest."

-

-"What is that?" I cried anxiously, for I heard a train approaching,

-and knew it must be the Paris express.

-

-"To send a special messenger to Livorno.  A train starts in half an

-hour, and the message can then be delivered by 11 o'clock."

-

-"Could you find me one?" I asked.  "I'm willing to bear all expenses."

-

-"My son will go, if the signorina so wishes," he answered.

-

-"Thank you so much," I replied, a great weight lifted from my mind.

-"I leave the matter entirely in your hands.  If you will kindly see

-that the message is delivered, you will be rendering, not only to

-myself, but to a number of other people, a very great service."

-

-"The signorina's instructions shall be obeyed," he answered.

-

-When he had said this I placed some money to cover expenses upon the

-counter, again thanked him, and left, feeling that although I had

-been guilty of forgery, I had saved the yacht from destruction.

-

-The train, with its glaring head-lights, swept into the station from

-its long journey across the fever-stricken Maremma marshes, but I saw

-with considerable dismay that there was but one sleeping-car--the

-only through car for the frontier.  I was therefore compelled to

-travel in this, even at the risk of meeting Keppel in the corridor.

-One cannot well travel in one of those stuffy cars of the Compagnie

-Internationale des Wagons Lits without being seen by all one's

-fellow-travellers.  It was thus my first difficulty presented itself.

-

-I watched my host and his companion enter the car, and from the

-platform saw them shown to their respective berths by the conductor.

-Keppel was given a berth in a two-bed compartment with another man,

-while the tall dark woman was shown to one of the compartments

-reserved for ladies at the other end of the car.

-

-With satisfaction I saw the old millionaire take his companion's hand

-and wish her good-night.  As soon as his door had closed, I mounted

-into the car and demanded a place.

-

-"The signorina is fortunate.  We have just one berth vacant,"

-answered the conductor in Italian.  "This way, please," and taking me

-along the corridor, he rapped at the door of the compartment to which

-he had just shown the mysterious woman.

-

-I left it to the conductor to explain my presence, and after

-entering, closed and bolted the door behind me.

-

-"I regret that I've been compelled to disturb you, but this is the

-only berth vacant," I said in English, in a tone of apology, for when

-I noticed that her black eyes flashed inquiringly at me, I deemed it

-best to be on friendly terms with her.

-

-"Don't mention it; I'm English," she answered, quite affably.  "I'm

-pleased that you're English.  I feared some horrid foreign woman

-would be put in to be my travelling companion.  Are you going far?"

-

-"To the frontier," I responded vaguely.  The extent of my journey

-depended upon the length of hers.

-

-Then, after a further exchange of courtesies, we prepared for the

-night and entered our narrow berths, she choosing the upper one, and

-I the lower.

-

-As far as I could judge, she was fifty, perhaps more, though she was

-still extremely handsome, her beauty being of a Southern type, and

-her black hair and coiffure, with huge tortoise-shell comb, giving

-her a Spanish appearance.  She wore several beautiful rings, and I

-noticed that on her neck, concealed during the day by her bodice, was

-some tiny charm, suspended by a thin gold chain.  Her voice and

-bearing were those of an educated woman, and she was buxom without

-being at all stout.

-

-The roar of the train and the grinding of the wheels as we whirled

-through those seventy odd suffocating tunnels that separate Pisa from

-Genoa rendered sleep utterly impossible, so by mutual agreement we

-continued our conversation.

-

-She seemed, like the "Ancient Mariner," to be needing someone to whom

-she could tell her story.  She wanted an audience able to realise the

-fine points of her play.  From the outset she seemed bursting with

-items about herself, little dreaming that I was acting as spy upon

-her.

-

-I secretly congratulated myself upon my astuteness, and proceeded to

-draw her out.  Her slight accent puzzled me, but it was due, I

-discovered, to the fact that her mother had been Portuguese.  She

-seemed to label everything with her own intellectual acquirements.

-To me, a perfect stranger, she chatted during that night-journey

-about her fine figure and her power over men, about her ambitions and

-her friends.  But her guardian interfered with her friends.  He was

-an old man, and jealous; had her money invested, and would not allow

-her to look at a man.  If she paid the least attention to any man in

-particular, she received no money.  She was not forty, she told me,

-and her guardian, who was also in the train, was over seventy.

-

-When she was not telling me the story of her loves, and her father,

-mother, and step-father, she filled in the time by telling me about

-some man she called Frank, who had a pretty-faced wife addicted to

-the bad habit known as secret drinking.

-

-"Trouble?" she wandered on.  "Oh, I've had such lots and lots of it

-that I'm beginning to feel very old already.  Troubles, I always

-think, are divided into two classes--one controlled by a big-horned,

-cloven-hoofed devil, and the other by the snippy little devil that

-flashes in and out of our hearts.  The big devil is usually placed

-upon us by others.  It follows us.  Sometimes we can evade it, but at

-others it catches us up on its horns and gives us a toss.  We come

-down into the dust, crumpled, with all courage, ambition and hope

-absorbed in despair.  We pick ourselves up in desperation.  All that

-is best in us is so deadened that even our consciences cannot hear a

-whisper; or, on the other hand, we steel ourselves, and make a

-resolve which lifts us to a moral and mental victory, and to all that

-is noblest in ourselves and humanity."

-

-I laughed, admitting that there was much truth in her words.

-

-"And the other--the little imp?" I asked.

-

-"The other--this insane perversity of human nature, gets hold on us

-whether we will or not.  It makes us for the time ignore all that is

-best in ourselves and in others--it is part of us.  Though we know

-well it resides within ourselves, it will cause our tears to flow and

-our sorrows to accumulate, it is a fictitious substance, with

-possibly a mint of happiness underlying it.  We are always conscious

-of it, but insanity makes us ignore it for so long that the little

-imp completes its work, and the opportunity is lost.  But why are we

-moralising?" she added.  "Let's try and get to sleep, shall we?"

-

-To this I willingly acquiesced, for truth to tell, I did not give

-credence to a single word of the rather romantic story she had

-related regarding herself, her friends, and her jealous guardian.  In

-these post-Grundian days I had met women of her stamp many times

-before.  The only way to make them feel is to tell them the truth,

-devoid of all flattery.

-

-She struck me as a woman with a past--her whole appearance pointed to

-this conclusion.  Now a woman with a chequered past and an

-untrammelled present is always more or less interesting to women, as

-well as to men.  She is a mystery.  The mystery is that men cannot

-quite believe a smart woman with knowledge, cut loose from all

-fetters, to be proof against flattery.  She queens it, while they

-study her.  Interest in a woman is only one step from love for her--a

-fact with which we, the fairer sex, are very well acquainted.

-

-Ulrica had once expressed an opinion that pasts were not so bad if it

-were not for the memories that cling to them; not, of course, that

-the pasts of either of us had been anything out of the ordinary.

-Memories that cling to others, or the hints of a "past," certainly

-make you of interest to men, as well as a menace to the imagination

-of other women; but the memories that hover about yourself are

-sometimes like truths--brutal.

-

-Memories!  As I lay there upon my hard and narrow bed, being whirled

-through those suffocating tunnels in the cliffs beside the

-Mediterranean, I could not somehow get away from memory.  The story

-this mysterious woman had related had awakened all the sad

-recollections of my own life.  It seemed as though an avalanche of

-cruel truths was sweeping down upon my heart.  At every instant

-memory struck a blow that left a scar deep and unsightly as any made

-by the knife.  There was tragedy in every one.  The first that came

-to me was a day long ago.  Ah me!  I was young then--a child in

-fears, a novice in experience--on that day when I admitted to Ernest

-my deep and fervent affection.  How brief it all had been!  I had,

-alas! now awakened to the hard realities of life, and to the anguish

-the heart is capable of holding.  The sweetest part of love, the

-absolute trust, had died long ago.  My heart had lost its lightness,

-never to return, for his love toward me was dead.  His fond

-tenderness of those bygone days was only a memory.

-

-Yet he must have loved me!  With me it had been the love of my

-womanhood, the love that is born with youth, that overlooks,

-forgives, and loves again, that gives friendship, truth and loyalty.

-What, I wondered, were his thoughts when we had encountered each

-other at Monte Carlo?  He showed neither interest nor regret.  No.

-He had cast me aside, leaving me to endure that crushing sorrow and

-brain torture which had been the cause of my long illness.  He

-remembered nothing.  To him our love was a mere incident.  It is no

-exaggeration to describe memory as the scar of truth's cruel wound.

-

-I lay there wondering to myself if ever again I should feel any

-uplifting joy or any heartrending sorrow.  Ah, if women could only

-outgrow the child-part of their natures, hearts would not bleed so

-much!  One of the greatest surprises in life is to discover how

-acutely they can ache, how they can be strained to the utmost

-tension, crowded with agony, and yet not break.  This is moralising,

-and smacks of sentiment, but it is true to nature, as many of us are

-forced to learn.

-

-The train roared on; the woman above me slept soundly, and I, with

-tears starting to my eyes, tried hard to burn the bridges leading to

-the past, and seek forgetfulness in sleep.  The process of burning

-can never be accomplished, thanks to our retentive memory; but

-slumber came to me at last, and I must have dozed some time, for when

-I awoke we were in Genoa, and daylight was already showing through

-the chinks of the crimson blinds.

-

-But the woman who had told the curious story slept on.  Probably the

-spinning of so much romantic fiction had wearied her brain.  The

-story she had related could not, of course, be true.  If she were

-really old Keppel's ward, then what motive had he in concealing her

-in that gilded deck-house, which was believed to be stored with

-curios?  Who, too, was that unseen man whom he had apparently taken

-into his confidence--the man who had promised assistance by blowing

-up the yacht, with all hands?

-

-I shuddered at the thought of that dastardly plot.

-

-Yet Keppel had been declared by this unknown person to be the

-murderer of the woman now lying in the berth above me.  Why?

-

-The train was at a standstill, and I rose to peep out.  As I turned

-to re-enter my berth, my eyes fell upon the sleeping form of my

-companion.  Her face was turned towards me, and her opened bodice

-disclosed a delicate white throat and neck.

-

-I bent quickly to examine more closely what I saw there.  Upon the

-throat were two dark marks, one on either side--the marks of a human

-finger and a thumb--an exact repetition of the puzzling marks that

-had been found upon the throat of poor Reggie!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXII

-

-IS MORE ASTONISHING

-

-So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious companion's

-lips, that at the first moment I feared she might be dead.  Her

-appearance was that of a corpse.  But after careful watching I saw

-that she was breathing lightly, but regularly, and thus I became

-satisfied.

-

-The curious marks, as though a man's hand had attempted to strangle

-her, were of a pale yellowish-brown, the colour of disappearing

-bruises.  One was narrow and small, where the finger had pressed; the

-other wide and long, the mark of the thumb.

-

-Again I returned to my berth, and as the express thundered on its way

-northward towards Turin, I tried to form some theory to account for

-my discovery of those curious marks upon her.

-

-The hours of early morning crept slowly by.  The sun rose over the

-beautiful vine-lands of Asti as we whirled forward towards the great

-Alpine barrier which so splendidly divides Italy from France; its

-rays penetrated into our narrow chamber, but the sleeping woman did

-not stir.  She seemed as one in a trance.

-

-Close beside me lay her dress-skirt.  My eyes had been fixed upon it

-a hundred times during the night, and it now occurred to me that by

-searching its pocket I might discover something that would give me a

-clue to her real identity.  Therefore, after ascertaining that she

-was still unconscious of things about her, I slowly turned over the

-skirt, placed my hand in the pocket and drew out the contents.

-

-The first object I opened was a silver-mounted purse of crocodile

-leather, because in this I hoped to discover her visiting-card.  But

-I was disappointed.  The purse contained only a few pieces of French

-money, a couple of receipts from shops in Paris, and a tiny scrap of

-card, an inch square, with several numerals scribbled upon it.

-

-The numbers were unintelligible, but when I chanced to turn the piece

-of thin pasteboard over, its reverse gave me an immediate clue.  It

-was a piece of one of those red-and-black ruled cards used by

-gamblers at Monte Carlo to register the numbers at roulette.  This

-woman, whoever she was, had evidently been to Monte Carlo, and the

-numbers scribbled there were those which she believed would bring her

-fortune.  Every gambler has her strong-rooted fancies, just as she

-has her amusing superstitions, and her belief in unlucky days and

-unlucky croupiers.

-

-Two facts were plain.  First, that she bore marks upon her which were

-the exact counterpart of those found on poor Reggie; secondly, that

-she herself had been to Monte Carlo.

-

-Her handkerchief was of fine lawn, but bore no mark, while the

-crumpled piece of paper--without which no woman's pocket is

-complete--proved, on examination; to contain only the address of some

-person in Brussels.

-

-I carefully replaced all these articles, having failed to ascertain

-her name; and then I dozed again.  She was already up, and dressed,

-when I awoke.

-

-"Ah!" she laughed, "I see you've been sleeping well.  I've had a

-famous night.  I always sleep well when I travel.  But I have a

-secret.  A doctor friend of mine gave me some little tabloids of some

-narcotic--I don't know its name--but if I take one I sleep quite well

-for six or seven hours at a stretch."

-

-"I awoke once, and you were quite sound asleep."

-

-"Oh, yes," she laughed.  "But I wonder where we are?"

-

-I looked forth, and was just able to read the name of a small station

-as we dashed through it at a glorious speed.

-

-"We're nearing Turin," I responded.  Then suddenly recollecting that

-in an hour or so I should be compelled to face old Keppel in the

-corridor, I resolved on a plan, which I immediately proceeded to put

-in force.  "I don't feel at all well this morning," I added.  "I

-think I shall go to sleep again."

-

-"I've some smelling salts here," she said, looking at me with an

-expression of sympathy.  And she took out a small silver-topped

-bottle from her little reticule.

-

-I took it and sniffed it gladly, with a word of thanks.  If I did not

-wish to meet Keppel, I should be compelled to remain in that stuffy

-little den for something like another twenty-four hours, if the

-travellers intended to go on to Paris.  The prospect was certainly

-not inviting, for a single night in a Continental sleeping-car

-running over a badly-laid line gets on one's nerves terribly.

-Compelled, however, to feign illness, I turned in again, and at

-Turin, while my companion went forth and rejoined the man who had

-been my host, the conductor brought me the usual glass of hot coffee

-and a roll.

-

-"I'm not well," I explained to the man who handed it to me.  "Are you

-going through to Paris?"

-

-"Si, signorina."

-

-"Then please don't let me be disturbed, either at the frontier or

-anywhere else."

-

-"Certainly--if the signorina has the keys of her baggage."

-

-"I have no baggage," I replied.  "Only see that I get something to

-eat--and buy me a novel.  Italian, French--anything will do.  And

-also some newspapers--_Stampa_, _Corriere_, and _Secolo_."

-

-"Si, signorina."  And the door was closed.

-

-Five minutes later, just as the train was gliding out of Turin, the

-man returned with a couple of new novels and half a dozen four-paged,

-badly-printed Italian newspapers, by means of which I managed to wile

-away the tedious hours as we sped on through Susa and the beautiful

-Alpine valleys.

-

-From time to time my companion looked in to see how I was, offering

-to do anything for me that she could; then she returned to old

-Keppel, who was sitting on one of the little flap-seats in the

-corridor, smoking.

-

-"The woman in with me is rather young--and quite charming," I heard

-her say to him.  "She's been taken queer this morning.  I expect the

-heat has upset her, poor thing!  The berths here are very hot and

-close."

-

-"Horribly!  I was nearly asphyxiated," he answered.

-

-Then, about half an hour later, I recognised his voice again.  He was

-evidently standing with his companion close to the door of my

-compartment.

-

-"We shall be in Paris about half-past eight to-morrow morning, it

-seems," he said.

-

-"And the _Vispera_ will be awaiting you at Naples?" she laughed.

-

-"Davis is quite used to my erratic movements," he answered.  "A

-reputation for eccentricity is very useful sometimes."

-

-"But shall you rejoin her?"

-

-He hesitated.

-

-"I think it is most unlikely," he answered.  "I've had enough of

-cruising.  You, too, must be very tired of it."

-

-"Tired!" she cried.  "Imprisoned in the cabin all day long, with the

-windows closed and curtained, I felt that if it lasted much longer I

-must go mad.  Besides, it was only by a miracle that I was not

-discovered a dozen times."

-

-"But very fortunately you were not," he said.

-

-"And all to no purpose," she observed, in a tone of weariness and

-discontent.

-

-"Ah! that's another matter--quite another matter."

-

-"I do wish you would satisfy my curiosity by telling me exactly what

-occurred on the night before we landed," she said.  "You know what I

-mean?"

-

-She evidently referred to the attempt upon her life.

-

-"Well," he responded, in hesitation, "I myself am not quite clear as

-to what took place.  I entered the cabin, you know, and found you

-lying unconscious."

-

-"Yes, I know.  I was thrown violently down by a sudden lurching of

-the ship, and must have struck my head against something," she

-replied.  "But afterwards I remember experiencing a most curious

-sensation in my throat, just as though someone with sinewy fingers

-were trying to strangle me."

-

-"Absurd!" he laughed.  "It was only your imagination.  The close

-confinement in that place, together with the rolling of the ship, had

-caused you a little light-headedness, without a doubt."

-

-"But it was more than imagination.  Of that I feel certain.  There

-was blood upon my lips, you remember."

-

-"Because in falling you had cut your lower lip.  I can see the place

-now."

-

-"I believe that someone tried to take my life."

-

-"Rubbish!  Why, who is there to suspect?  I was the only soul on

-board who knew of your presence.  Surely you don't suspect me of

-attempting murder?"

-

-"Of course not," she answered decisively.

-

-"Then don't give way to any wild imaginings of that sort.  Keep a

-cool head in this affair."

-

-The remainder of the conversation was lost to me, although I strained

-my ears to catch every sound.  His words made it plain that she was

-in ignorance of the knowledge possessed by the unseen man whose voice

-I had overheard; and further, that both were acting together in order

-to obtain some object, the nature of which was, to me, a complete

-mystery.

-

-She came a short time afterwards and kindly inquired how I felt.

-They were going to change into the dining-car, and she hoped I would

-not starve altogether.  As I talked to her I recollected the strange

-marks I had seen upon her throat--those distinct impressions of

-finger and thumb.  I looked again for them, but they were concealed

-by the lace of her high-necked bodice.  There seemed a strange,

-half-tragic beauty about her face.  She was certainly fifty, if not

-more, yet in the broad daylight I could detect no thread of silver in

-her hair.  She was extremely well-preserved.

-

-The conductor brought me a cutlet and a bottle of Beaujolais after we

-had passed through the Mont Cenis, and for some hours afterwards I

-lay reading and thinking.  We were on our way to Paris, but with what

-motive I had no idea.

-

-I wondered what they would think on board the _Vispera_ when they

-found me to be missing, and laughed aloud when I reflected that the

-natural conclusion would be that I had eloped with old Mr. Keppel.  I

-rather regretted that I had told Ulrica nothing, but, of course, a

-telegram to her could explain everything on the morrow.  The yacht

-would be lying safely in Genoa harbour awaiting her owner, who never

-intended to return.

-

-And where was that unseen man?  That was a puzzling problem which I

-could not solve.  I could not even form the slightest theory as to

-his share in the mystery.

-

-The day passed slowly, and evening fell.  We were nearing Culoz.  The

-woman with the mysterious marks upon her neck returned, accompanied

-by her escort, from the dining-car, and sat chatting with him in the

-corridor.  Their voices reached me, but I could distinguish little of

-their conversation.  Suddenly, however, I thought I could hear a

-third voice in conversation--the voice of a man.

-

-It sounded familiar.  I listened again.  Yes, it seemed as though I

-had heard that voice somewhere before.  Indeed, I knew its tones

-perfectly well.

-

-For some few minutes I lay listening, trying to catch the words.  But

-the train was roaring through a deep cutting, and I could only hear

-disjointed words, or parts of sentences.

-

-In my determination to see who it was, I carefully opened the door of

-the compartment, so that I could peer through the chink.

-

-I bent forward until my eyes rested upon the speaker, who, lounging

-near, was engaged in serious conversation with Keppel and my

-travelling companion, as though he were an old friend.

-

-In an instant I drew back and held my breath.  Was this the man who

-had suggested the blowing up of the _Vispera_?  Surely not!  Perhaps,

-however, he had actually travelled with us from Pisa in another

-carriage, or perhaps he had joined the train at some intermediate

-station.  But by whatever means he had come there, the fact of his

-identity remained the same.

-

-It was Ernest Cameron, the man I loved!

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIII

-

-CONFIDES THE STORY OF A TABLE

-

-The discovery of Ernest's presence in the car was an entirely fresh

-development of the mystery.  I had been ignorant of his acquaintance

-with Keppel, but that they were really close friends was evident by

-the rapid, rather apprehensive manner in which they were conversing.

-

-I tried, and tried again, to overhear some of the words spoken; but

-in vain!  Therefore I was compelled to remain in wonderment until the

-conclusion of that long and terribly tiring journey half across

-Europe.

-

-Arrived at the Gare de Lyons in Paris, I entered a fiacre, and

-followed them across the city to the "Hôtel Terminus," that big

-caravansery outside the Gare St. Lazare, where they engaged four

-rooms on the first floor--a sitting-room and three bedrooms.  Having

-taken every precaution to avoid being detected by either of them, I

-ascertained that the number of the sitting-room was 206.  I at once

-engaged Number 205, the room adjoining, and ordered a light

-_déjeuner_ to be taken there.  I was faint, nervous, and tired after

-being cramped up for thirty hours, and was resting on the couch, when

-suddenly voices sounded in the next room, causing me to spring up and

-be on the alert in an instant.

-

-Keppel and Ernest were speaking together,

-

-"It's a risk, of course," the millionaire was saying in a low

-tone--"a great risk."

-

-"But we've run greater in the course of this affair," the other

-responded.  "You know how near to arrest I have been."

-

-I held my breath.  Arrest!  What could he mean?

-

-"It was fortunate that you escaped as you did."

-

-"Thanks to you.  Had you not concealed me on the _Vispera_, and taken

-me on that cruise, I should have now been in the hands of the police."

-

-"But they seem to possess no clue," Keppel observed.

-

-"Fortunately for us, they do not," answered the man to whom I had

-given my heart.  And he laughed lightly, as though he were perfectly

-confident of his own safety.  "It was that transfer of the notes at

-the Carnival ball that puzzled them."

-

-They were speaking of poor Reggie's murder!

-

-I held my ear close to the dividing door, straining to catch every

-word.  I was learning their secret.  The two men whom I had least

-suspected were actually implicated in that dastardly crime.  But

-what, I wondered, could have been their motive in taking the poor

-boy's life?  Certainly robbery was not the incentive, for to old

-Keppel sixty thousand francs was but a paltry sum.

-

-Again I listened, but as I did so the woman entered, and shortly

-afterwards the two men left the room and went down the stairs.

-

-In an instant I resolved to follow them.  Before they had gained the

-entrance-hall I had put on my hat and descended.  They took a cab and

-first drove up the hill behind St. Lazare to the Boulevard des

-Battignolles, alighting before a large house where, from an old

-_concierge_ in slippers, Ernest received two letters.  Both men stood

-in the doorway and read the communications through.  I had followed

-in a cab.  From their faces I could see that the letters contained

-serious news, and for some minutes they stood in discussion, as

-though undecided what to do.

-

-At length, however, they re-entered the cab and drove back past the

-Opera, through the Rue Rivoli and across the Pont des Arts, turning

-into a labyrinth of narrow, dirty streets beyond the Seine, and

-stopping before a small, uninviting-looking hairdresser's shop.  They

-were inside for some ten minutes or so, while I stood watching a

-short distance off, my head turned away so that they should not

-recognise me if they came out suddenly.

-

-When they emerged they were laughing good-humouredly, and were

-accompanied to the door by a rather well-dressed man, evidently a

-hairdresser, for a comb protruded from his pocket, and his hair was

-brushed up in that style peculiar to the Parisian _coiffeur_.

-

-"Good-day, messieurs," he said in French, bowing them into the

-fiacre, "I understand quite clearly.  There is nothing to fear, I

-assure you--absolutely nothing!"

-

-In that man's dark eyes, as he stood watching the cab as it drove

-off, was a strangely intense look.  His face was triangular, with

-broad forehead and pointed chin.  I imagined him to have a rather

-curious personality.  Again I looked at his peculiarly brilliant

-eyes, and a strange truth flashed upon me.  Yes, I remembered that

-curious expression quite distinctly.

-

-He was the man who had worn the owl's dress in Carnival--the man who

-had returned to me the notes stolen from poor Reggie!  He was an

-accomplice of the two men of whom I had never entertained the least

-suspicion.

-

-The truth had been revealed in so amazing a fashion that I was

-completely staggered.  Ernest was an assassin!  Had he not admitted

-how near he had been to arrest, and congratulated himself upon his

-escape?  Had not old Keppel aided him by concealing him on board the

-_Vispera_?  Once, alas! I had in the roseate days of youth believed

-in the man who had made love to me; who had flattered and caressed

-me, and who had declared that I should be his always.  Ah! how well I

-remembered it!  How bitterly all the past came back to me.  And yet,

-until that very hour of my discovery that he was an assassin I had

-never ceased to love him--never for a single instant.  We women are

-strange creatures.

-

-I re-entered the cab, but in the Boulevard St. Michel my driver

-unfortunately lost sight of the men I had told him to keep in view.

-They must, I think, have turned suddenly into one of the many side

-streets, and thus reached the Quai.

-

-For a few moments I sat back in hesitation.  Should I return at once

-to the hotel, or should I go boldly to that man whom I had so

-fortunately discovered, and charge him with having had in his

-possession the stolen notes?  If I adopted the latter course, I saw

-that I should only raise an alarm, and the pair I was watching would

-undoubtedly get clear away.  No.  The old proverb that "murder will

-out" had once more asserted its truth.  I had made a most amazing

-discovery, and now my love for Ernest as a man having been

-transformed to hatred of him as an assassin, I meant slowly to weave

-a web about the criminals, and when it was complete, I intended to

-give information to the police, and thus avenge the poor boy's death.

-

-I drove to the nearest telegraph-office and wired to Genoa, urging

-Ulrica to come to Paris without delay, for I sorely needed the

-counsel of the woman who was my best friend.

-

-Then I returned to the "Hôtel Terminus."  As I heard no one in the

-sitting-room adjoining, I lay down to rest, sleeping soundly, for my

-nerves were unstrung, and I was utterly worn out by fatigue and

-constant watchfulness.

-

-When I awoke it was past seven o'clock, and quite dark.  There was

-still no movement in the sitting-room adjoining.  I dressed, and went

-across to dine at the Duval, over at the corner of the Rue du Havre,

-preferring that cheap restaurant to the _table d'hôte_ of the hotel,

-where I might possibly meet the three persons upon whom I was keeping

-watch.

-

-An hour later, just as I was crossing the road to re-enter the hotel,

-I saw a man standing alone on the steps in hesitation.  He wore a

-dark beard, and carried a long drab overcoat, such as men generally

-affect on race-courses; but notwithstanding his disguise, I perceived

-that it was Ernest.  The beard made him look much older, and by the

-addition of a few lines to his face he had entirely altered his

-appearance.  For some moments he puffed pensively at his cigar, then,

-glancing at his watch, descended the steps and strolled slowly along

-past the "Café Terminus," and continued to walk down the Rue du Havre

-as far as the Boulevard Haussmann, where he stopped before that

-popular rendezvous of Parisians, the "Grand Café."

-

-After he had selected one of the tables, the last one towards the

-Madeleine, placed against the wall of the café, he ordered a coffee

-and liqueur.  The night was bright, and the Boulevards, with their

-blazing globes of electricity, were full of life and movement.

-

-From where I was sitting, at a small _brasserie_ on the opposite side

-of the Boulevard, I watched him narrowly.  He glanced up and down as

-though in constant expectation of meeting someone, and looked at his

-watch impatiently.  He tossed off his _liqueur_ at a single gulp, but

-his coffee remained untasted, for it was evident that he was in a

-state of deep agitation.  He had feared arrest for the murder of

-Reginald Thorne, and had taken refuge secretly on the _Vispera_.

-Were not his own words sufficient to convince me of his guilt?

-

-As I looked I saw him, while in the act of pretending to sip his

-coffee, bend down close to the marble table, which, after making

-certain that he was not observed, he scrutinised carefully.  Twice he

-bent to look at it closely.  Surely, I thought, there must be

-something of interest marked on that slab.  Then he glanced at his

-watch again, paid, and strolled off down the Boulevard.

-

-Whether to follow or whether to investigate that table, I was for the

-moment undecided; but I resolved upon the latter course.  I crossed

-the road, made straight for the seat he had occupied, and as soon as

-I had ordered a _dubonnet_, proceeded to examine the table.  Very

-quickly I discovered what had interested him.  Scrawled in pencil

-upon the marble were some letters quite unintelligible, but evidently

-a cipher message.  It was no more than this:

-

-  J. TABAC.  22.

-

-

-Another inscription had been written there, but it had been lately

-erased by some previous customer, who had apparently dipped his

-finger in the drippings of beer or coffee, and smeared it across.

-The writing was not very easy to discern in the half-light, for the

-table was so placed as to be in the deep shadows.  Was it possible

-that the person who had erased the first message had written the

-second?  Could it be that this person was the man whom I had been

-watching?

-

-I had seen him bend over that table mysteriously, first glancing

-round to make certain that no one was watching.  Why had he thus

-betrayed fear, if that message was not one of importance?  Goron, the

-great _chef_ of the Paris _sûreté_, had told me, when I met him at

-dinner once in London, how the criminals of Paris were fond of making

-the tops of the café tables the means of communication, and how many

-a crime had been discovered by the police with the aid of the keys

-they possessed to certain secret codes.

-

-I looked again at the initial, the word "tabac," and the number 22

-scrawled on the marble before me, and was puzzled to know what they

-could convey.  Had Ernest really written them?  The letters were

-printed, in order, no doubt, to prevent any recognition of the

-handwriting.  I remembered that he had sat with his hand upon the

-table, as though toying idly with the matches; and further, I noticed

-that the liquid with which the erasure had been made was not yet

-entirely dry.  I touched it with my gloved finger and placed it to my

-nose.  There was an odour of coffee.

-

-Now, if Ernest had really written that cipher message, he had

-substituted his for the one he had found standing there.  With what

-purpose?  To whom was this unintelligible word addressed?  Having

-regard to the fact that the tables of cafés are usually washed down

-by the waiters every morning, it seemed plain that the person to whom

-he intended to convey the message would come there that night.

-Indeed, he had constantly looked at his watch, as though in

-expectation of the arrival of someone.

-

-I paid the _garçon_ and left, returning some few minutes later to my

-previous place in front of the brasserie opposite, determined to wait

-and watch.  The attendant brought me some illustrated papers, and

-while pretending to be absorbed in them, I kept my eye upon the table

-I had just vacated.  A shabby, small, wizen-faced man in a silk hat,

-with a flat brim, passed and re-passed the spot where I was sitting,

-and, it seemed, eyed me rather suspiciously.  But perhaps it was only

-my fancy, for when one is engaged in the work of bringing home to a

-criminal his crime, one is apt to look with undue suspicion upon all

-and sundry.

-

-I think I must have been there nearly half an hour before a ragged,

-unkempt man, who had slunk past where I was seated and picked up

-several cigar-ends with a stick bearing a sharpened wire point,

-crossed over to the "Grand Café" and recommenced his search beneath

-the tables there.  When he had secured some half-a-dozen cigar-ends,

-he moved quickly to the table in the shadow; and as he stooped,

-feigning to pick up a piece of unconsumed cigar, I saw that he

-glanced eagerly to see what message was written there.

-

-Just at that moment the wizen-faced man who had evinced such an

-extraordinary interest in myself was standing idly upon the kerb

-close by, and was undoubtedly watching him.

-

-The quick eyes of the old collector of cigar-ends apparently

-understood the message in an instant, for with back bent he continued

-his active search, betraying no further interest in that table in the

-shadow.  If he had really gone there in order to ascertain the nature

-of the message, he concealed his real purpose admirably.  Probably he

-was used to being watched by police agents.  I saw him hobble along

-from café to café, his shrewd, deep-set eyes peering from beneath his

-shaggy brows, always in search of the small pieces of tobacco

-discarded by smokers.

-

-With him also disappeared the shabby little man whose interest I had

-unwittingly aroused, and I remained alone, still irresolute and

-wondering.

-

-I had paid, and was just about to rise and go, when of a sudden a

-smart victoria pulled up in front of the "Grand Café," and from it

-stepped a well-dressed woman, wearing a smart hat and an elaborate

-cape of the latest _mode_.  Without hesitation she walked to the

-table in question and seated herself.  In the darkness I could not

-distinguish her face, but I saw that even before the waiter could

-attend to her she had examined the table and read the message there

-written.

-

-Was it, I wondered, intended for her?

-

-The waiter brought what she ordered, a "bock," that favourite

-beverage with both Parisians and Parisiennes.  I watched her

-narrowly, and at once saw something to convince me that the cipher

-was intended for her eye.  She dipped her finger in the beer, and

-when no one was looking, drew it across the writing.

-

-Was she young, or old, I wondered?  She was settling her cape and

-chiffons preparatory to rising and re-entering her carriage; I also

-rose and crossed the road.  As I stepped upon the asphalt on the

-opposite side, she crossed to where her smart carriage stood,

-brushing past me as she did so.

-

-As the light fell across her face there was revealed to me a

-countenance with which I was only too familiar.

-

-She was the woman who had usurped my place in Ernest's heart; the

-woman whom I had seen in his company at Monte Carlo; the woman who

-had laughed at me in triumph across the roulette table, because she

-knew that she held him beneath the spell of her insipid beauty.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIV

-

-IN WHICH MATTERS ASSUME A VERY COMPLEX ASPECT

-

-I started to walk along the Boulevard towards the Opera.  To that

-woman with the tow-coloured hair, the blue eyes and pink cheeks--the

-woman who had replaced me in his affections--Ernest had written that

-strange message in cipher, a message of warning it might be.  I hated

-her.  I really believe that if ever the spirit of murder has entered

-my heart, it was at that moment.  I could have sprung upon her and

-killed her as she stepped into the carriage.

-

-She had said no word to her coachman.  He apparently knew where to

-drive.  That cipher was perhaps an appointment which he had gone

-forward to keep, while she was now following.  The thought convulsed

-me with anger.  This man, Ernest Cameron, the man who had once held

-me in his arms and declared that he loved me, was, upon his own

-admission, an assassin.

-

-I had somehow ceased to think of the old millionaire and the

-chattering woman whom he had concealed on board the _Vispera_.  All

-my thoughts were of the man who had, until then, held me as his

-helpless slave.

-

-It may have been jealousy, or it may possibly have been the revulsion

-of feeling that had seized me on becoming aware of the terrible truth

-of his guilt, that caused me to vow to leave no stone unturned to

-secure his arrest and condemnation.  I would follow her.  She, that

-slim woman with the fair hair, had stolen him from me, but I

-determined that she should not be allowed to enjoy his society much

-longer.  I had discovered the truth, and the blow that I intended to

-deal would be fatal to the happiness of both of them.

-

-I laughed within myself as I got into a fiacre, and told the driver

-to keep her carriage in sight.  I was not impatient.  I would wait

-and watch until I had secured ample proof.  Then I had but to apply

-to the police, and the arrest would be made.  He, Ernest Cameron, had

-murdered and robbed the poor boy who had admired me, and with whom I

-had so foolishly flirted.  It was the attention I had allowed him to

-pay to me that was primarily the cause of his assassination.  Of that

-I had always been convinced.  The moral responsibility rested upon

-myself.

-

-I followed her straight up the Rue Lafayette to the Gare du Nord,

-where she alighted, and after speaking a moment with her coachman,

-dismissed her carriage.  She evidently intended to leave Paris.  I

-crept up quickly behind her in the long booking-office, and followed

-her in order to overhear her destination.

-

-"First-class return to Enghien, please," she asked the girl who sold

-the tickets.

-

-Enghien!  I had heard of the place as being a popular resort near

-Paris, famous for its sulphur baths; but in what direction it lay, I

-had not the slightest idea.  Nevertheless, the fact of her taking a

-return ticket, and having no baggage, showed that she did not intend

-to make a protracted stay.  Therefore, when she was out of hearing, I

-took a ticket for the same destination; the price showed me that the

-distance could not be very great.

-

-Secretly following her, I entered a train, and in half-an-hour

-alighted at a small suburban station, which was rather dimly lit.

-Outside, she entered a fiacre.  Following her quickly, I drove

-through the narrow street of the little French town to the shore of a

-small lake, from which arose a strong and disagreeable odour of

-sulphur.  She disappeared into the gaily-lit entrance of an

-illuminated garden, which I discovered to be the Casino of Enghien,

-an establishment where public gambling was permitted, and where there

-was a celebrated so-called _cercle_ for baccarat.  The place

-consisted of a garden extending along the shore of the lake, together

-with a large open-air café, a big theatre--where a variety

-performance was in progress--and beyond, the public gaming-room, play

-in which proved to be of the usual kind permitted at French and

-Belgian resorts.

-

-It was a decidedly pretty place.  The long festoons of coloured

-lights were reflected in the lake, while out towards the pine-covered

-island were many small boats decorated with paper lanterns.  In the

-garden there was quite a crowd of Parisians, who had gone there in

-the evening to lounge in the fresh air, or to stake their francs upon

-the little horses or upon the miniature railway.  The band was

-playing, and the smart pleasure-seekers were promenading over the

-gravelled walks, laughing gaily, and chatting merrily.

-

-The woman upon whom I was keeping such a close watch strolled through

-the gardens, peering hither and thither, as though in search of

-someone.  It was the _entr'acte_, and the theatre, one side of which

-was open towards the garden, had emptied.  At Enghien the

-_entr'actes_ are long, in order to allow people to go to the

-gaming-room.  Two men I recognised as _habitués_ at Monte Carlo, one

-of them middle-aged, well-dressed and black-bearded, who invariably

-wore white kid gloves.  He was half bald, and his face showed marks

-of premature age brought on by dissipation.  The other, who was

-younger, was his partner.  They were well-known figures at Monte

-Carlo, and had evidently left there and come north, now that, the

-season being over, there were no more pigeons to be plucked in the

-private gaming-rooms of the Riviera.

-

-The woman at length took a seat at one of the café tables, deep in

-the shadow of a tree, and ordered a _consommation_.  I suspected that

-she had an appointment with someone, and therefore resolved to watch.

-As far as I could observe, she had never once detected my presence,

-and if she did now, she most probably would not recognise me, dressed

-as I was in an old stuff gown.  She had seen me, I recollected, in

-the smart Monte Carlo toilettes, in which I presented such a

-different appearance.  I took up a position on one of the seats by

-the lakeside, opposite the café, a spot from which I could see all

-that might come to pass.

-

-I must here admit that my continual search was growing terribly

-wearisome.  Unused to acting the spy, my nerves had been during those

-days of travel and adventure strained to their utmost tension.  For

-five nights sleep had scarcely come to my eyes, so constant was the

-vigil I had kept, and for five days I had existed in feverish anxiety

-on the very horns of a dilemma.  I sat there watching the passing

-crowd of gay Parisiennes, and breathing the fresh evening air from

-across the lake.  On the other shore were large mansions, with their

-lawns sloping down to the water, reminding me of English houses on

-the upper reaches of the Thames.  From time to time a night-bird

-skimmed the placid water, causing it to eddy in the starlight.  From

-across the water came feminine laughter from a passing boat, and a

-girl's voice reached me from far away, trilling the refrain of

-Paulette Darty's "romance-waltz," which I supposed had just been sung

-in the café-concert:

-

-  "Donne-moi ta lèvre, ta lèvre rose,

-  Qu'amoureusement ma lèvre s'y pose

-  Et qu'étroitement tous deux enlacés

-  Nos querelles soient querelles de baisers."

-

-

-Yes, the scene was certainly charming.  I, like thousands of the

-people who go to Paris, and who know the Rue Rivoli better than they

-do Oxford Street, had never troubled to spend an evening at Enghien.

-The Casino would really be a delightful one were it not for the

-presence of that curse to French and Belgian popular resorts--the

-_tapis vert_.  Dozens of similar places are spoilt by the

-introduction of those tables, for play and the _demi-monde_ are

-inseparable, just as are baccarat and blackguards.

-

-The electric bells had rung to announce that the variety

-entertainment was about to be resumed, and the crowd from the

-gaming-room and from the garden was making its way back to the

-theatre, to be entertained by the drolleries of Paulus and the risky

-_chansons_ of Liane de Vries, when, of a sudden, I noticed that the

-woman who had stolen my lover's heart had half-risen and given her

-hand to a stranger, evidently the man she had been expecting.

-

-He was short of stature, and well-dressed, for in the shadow where he

-stood I could see the wide expanse of starched shirt-front displayed

-by his open overcoat, and could tell that he wore an opera-hat.

-

-She re-seated herself, evidently pleased by his arrival, while he

-stood for a moment bending towards her and speaking earnestly.  Then

-he drew back, laughed merrily, and seated himself opposite her.

-

-He sat back in the half-darkness, so that I was unable to distinguish

-his face.  But his presence there was sufficient to tell me that this

-woman, by whom Ernest had been fascinated, was a worthless person,

-who made secret assignations unknown to the unfortunate man, who

-probably believed her to be the very paragon of all the virtues.

-

-How would Ernest act if he were aware of the actual truth?  I

-wondered.  Would he still have confidence in his pink-and-white doll?

-

-Perhaps.  Men are incomprehensible creatures where their love is

-concerned.  When fascinated by a woman's smile, they will lick the

-hand that cuffs them; they will allow Aspasia to drench them with

-_vin mousseux_, to smother them with chiffons, to stifle them with

-_mots_, and to sell them for _rouleaux_, and yet make no audible

-complaint.

-

-To love and to hate seem to be the two things which it is most

-natural and most easy for women to do.  In these two principles how

-many of the actions of our lives originate.  How important is it,

-therefore, that we should learn early in life to love and hate

-aright.  Most women believe that they love virtue and hate vice.  But

-have the majority of them clearly ascertained what virtue and vice

-are?  Have they examined the meaning of these important words?  Have

-they listened to the plausible reasoning of what we call Society,

-where things are spoken of by false names, and where vice is vulgar

-in the common herd, but sanctioned as _chic_ among the select few?

-Or have they gone directly to the eternal and immutable principles of

-good and evil?

-

-I must confess that, tutored by Ulrica, I had long ago listened to

-Society's reasonings, and had thus become a worldly woman.  Now a

-worldly woman is necessarily a woman possessing tact, and able at the

-same time to tell untruths with grace, and successfully to act a part

-whenever necessary.

-

-Woman is gifted by nature with a remarkable quickness of perception,

-by means of which she is able to detect the earliest approach of

-aught tending to destroy that high-toned purity of character for

-which, even in the days of chivalry, she was more reverenced and

-adored than for her beauty itself.  This quickness of perception in

-minute and delicate points, with the power which woman also possesses

-of acting upon it instantaneously, has, in familiar phraseology,

-obtained the name of tact; and when this natural gift is added to

-good taste, the two combined are of more value to a woman in the

-social and domestic affairs of every-day life than the most brilliant

-and intellectual endowments could be without them.

-

-You, my friend and confidante, know well that when a woman is

-possessed of a high degree of tact, she sees, as if by a kind of

-second sight, when any little emergency is likely to occur; or when,

-to use a more familiar expression, things do not seem likely to go

-right.  She is thus aware of any sudden turn in conversation, and

-prepared for what it may lead to; but above all, she can penetrate

-into the state of mind of those with whom she is placed in contact,

-so as to detect the gathering gloom upon another's brow, before the

-mental storm shall have reached any formidable height; to know when

-the tone of voice has altered, when an unwelcome thought has

-presented itself, and when the pulse of feeling is beating higher or

-lower in consequence of some apparently trifling circumstance which

-has just come to pass.

-

-Most women flatter themselves upon this valuable acquirement, and the

-scandal-monger most of all.  In the life of every woman there have

-been critical moments, when this natural intuition has led her into a

-knowledge of the truth.  During the days when I was acting as a spy,

-my quickness of perception was put to the test times without number,

-and again there, in the Casino of Enghien-les-Bains, I was compelled

-to exercise all my woman's cunning.

-

-The man who had just joined the fair lounger beneath the tree was, I

-judged, much beneath middle height, but in the darkness height is

-always deceptive.  All I could see distinctly was that he wore a

-black overcoat, a black tie, and either white or lavender gloves.

-Evidently he was of that type of male elegant commonly to be seen in

-the neighbourhood of public gaming-tables.  Men of this type are

-usually hard-up, live by sponging on friends, affect a rather select

-circle, and are the leaders of masculine fashion.  The Italians call

-a man belonging to this class a _duca senza ducati_.

-

-He was leaning his elbows upon the table, and had entered into an

-earnest conversation.  Both heads were bent together, and he was

-apparently relating some facts which were, to her, of the utmost

-interest, for now and then she shrugged her narrow shoulders, and

-gesticulated with not a little vivacity.  I was, however, too far off

-to overhear a single syllable of the conversation.

-

-The man, I saw, had taken from his pocket some letters, one of which

-she held in her hand, bending forward into the light so as to read

-it.  What she read apparently angered her, for she tossed it back to

-him in disgust, and struck her hand upon the table with a quick

-ejaculation.  This caused some words between them.  I imagined that,

-in her outburst of temper, she had made some charge against him which

-he now stoutly denied, for of a sudden both were gesticulating

-violently.  As most of the promenaders had entered the theatre, the

-garden was at that moment practically deserted; but the orchestra in

-the illuminated bandstand was playing, drowning all their words, and

-preventing attention being directed to their altercation.

-

-I sat there by the lake-side, watching with breathless interest.

-What would I not have given to be sufficiently near to catch the

-drift of their conversation!

-

-Presently, in the height of their argument, he pushed a second letter

-before her face roughly, as though to convince her of his words; but

-she, seeing in his action a desire to insult her, snatched the letter

-from his hands, tore it into fragments, and cast them in his face.

-

-It was done in an instant, and sitting as they were in that secluded

-corner in the shadow, none witnessed the incident save myself.

-

-The man rose quickly, with an air of fierce resentment, bowed to her

-with mock courtesy, and strode off.  But as he passed out into the

-gaslight, I saw his face, and recognising it, could not suppress a

-cry of amazement.

-

-He was not young, as I had supposed, but old and decrepit.  The

-countenance was the ugly, sinister one of Branca, the queer old

-fellow with whom I had had such a strange interview in Leghorn only a

-few days before.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXV

-

-PRESENTS A CURIOUS PHASE

-

-This discovery increased the mystery.  Yet it was plain that he was

-acting according to his promise, and was leaving no effort untried in

-order to solve the problem.  But why?  What possible interest could

-he have in discovering the truth regarding Reggie's assassination?

-

-Certainly his appearance was greatly altered.  Instead of the

-unkempt, shuffling Italian whom I had visited in the Via Magenta, in

-Leghorn, he was spruce, well-shaven, and smartly dressed, although

-his dwarfed and slightly deformed personality could not be disguised.

-

-The look upon his countenance was the reverse of reassuring.  Ugly

-even when smiling, his face was distorted by rage, and absolutely

-forbidding, as he walked hurriedly past within half-a-dozen feet of

-me, and away towards the exit from the garden.  The insult he had

-sustained was one which angered him terribly, and if ever vengeance

-was written upon a man's face it was written upon his.

-

-The queer old fellow had puzzled me greatly ever since that eventful

-evening at Leghorn.  To me there was such an absence of motive that

-his actions were doubly remarkable.  And yet I could never get away

-from the fact that he knew of old Keppel's intention to go to Ragusa

-before it had been announced to us; and he was also well acquainted

-with all the facts of poor Reggie's tragic end, and the subsequent

-action on the part of both the police and myself.  Besides, he had

-told me of Ernest's whereabouts, of which I was in ignorance, and now

-it appeared that he had been, until a moment ago, on friendly terms

-with the woman who had robbed me of the one man who in all the world

-was dear to me.

-

-Utterly dumbfounded by his presence there, I watched him walk down

-the long gravelled path beside the lake, past the landing-stage, and

-out towards the public road.  Indeed, I think I was too astonished at

-that moment to rise and follow the man who had declared our interests

-to be identical.

-

-I turned and glanced across at the woman.  She had risen, shaken out

-her skirts, and hastily drawn her light cape about her shoulders, as

-for a moment she stood in hesitation, looking after her companion.

-

-Her brow was knit, and I seemed to watch determination becoming more

-and more strongly marked upon her face.  Then she hurried quickly

-after him.

-

-I rose, too, but a thought flashed across my mind.  He had not

-gathered up the fragments of the letter before leaving.  They were,

-no doubt, still there.  What could the letter contain that it should

-so incense her?

-

-Without hesitation I moved across to the table so lately occupied,

-and there saw scattered on the ground in the vicinity several pieces

-of torn paper, which I gathered swiftly into my hand.  They were

-portions of a letter written on white-edged, smoke-grey paper of a

-fashionable pattern.  Fortunately, no waiters were in the near

-neighbourhood, and I was enabled to continue my search, for any stray

-scraps might, I reflected, be of importance.  After I had picked up a

-piece that had been blown some distance off, I placed all the

-fragments carefully in my pocket, and made my way toward the

-brightly-lit entrance.

-

-As there were no cabs, I was compelled to walk to the station, which

-occupied me quite a quarter of an hour.  It appeared certain that

-both the man and the woman would return to Paris, and that the woman

-hoped to meet Branca at the railway-station.

-

-When I arrived, however, I found that the train had just departed for

-the Gare du Nord, and that there was not another for nearly an hour.

-If they had both left by the train I had so narrowly missed, then

-they had successfully escaped me.

-

-The bare _salle d'attente_ at Enghien is not a cheerful place at

-night, when the single gas jet is turned low, and the doors leading

-out upon the platform are securely locked.  Here, again, I was

-confronted by a difficulty, namely, that if, perchance, the pair had

-not caught the train, they would probably enter the waiting room.  To

-remain there was manifestly dangerous, if I did not wish my identity

-to be revealed.

-

-My chief regret was that I had missed Branca.  I had no means of

-communicating with him, for I had no idea where he was staying, and

-he certainly did not know my address, or else he would have sent me

-word that he was in Paris.  All I could hope was that the woman had

-caught him up and detained him, and that they would return together

-by the next train.

-

-Deciding that to rest in the waiting-room was injudicious, I went out

-and crossed to the little café opposite, where the tables on the

-pavement were shaded by a row of laurels in tubs, in the usual French

-style.  I wished to piece together the precious letter in my pocket

-without being observed.  I entered the place and sat down.  A

-consumptive waiter and a fat woman presiding over the bottles on the

-small counter were the only occupants, and after ordering a

-"limonade," I drew forth scrap after scrap of the torn letter and

-spread it out upon the table.

-

-It was written in French, in a feminine hand, but it was some time

-before I could piece the fragments together so as to read the whole.

-At last I succeeded, and discovered it to be dated from the "Grand

-Hotel" at Brussels.  It ran as follows:

-

-

-"_My dear Laumont,--See Julie the instant she returns from Moscow,

-and warn her.  Someone has turned traitor.  Tell her to be extremely

-careful, and to lie low for the present.  If she does not, she will

-place us all in jeopardy.  Advise her to go to London.  She would be

-safe there.  So would you.  Bury yourselves.--Hastily, your friend,_

-"SIDONIE."

-

-

-Laumont!  Who, I wondered, was Laumont?

-

-Was it possible that the woman referred to as Julie was actually the

-person who had so fascinated Ernest?  If so, the warning was a

-strange one; and she had disregarded it by tearing up the letter and

-casting it into Branca's face.

-

-"Bury yourselves."  The injunction was expressive, to say the least

-of it.  Some person unknown had turned traitor, and had told the

-truth regarding some matter which had apparently been a secret.  The

-letter was a mysterious one, from every point of view.

-

-A dozen times I read it through, then carefully collected the scraps

-and replaced them in my pocket.

-

-The person to whom the letter was addressed was, without doubt, an

-accomplice of the woman Julie, while their correspondent, who was

-named Sidonie, and who stayed at the "Grand Hotel" in Brussels, was

-anxious that both should escape to London.  The woman Julie had been

-in Moscow.  Was it possible that this woman who had attracted Ernest

-had during my absence in the Mediterranean been in Russia?  Perhaps

-she had.

-

-Yet I had no ground whatever for believing the woman whom I had seen

-at Monte Carlo, and had so recently followed from Paris, to be named

-Julie.  My suspicions might, for aught I knew, be entirely groundless.

-

-From where I sat I could watch all persons entering the station, but

-my heart sank within me when at length it was time for me to cross to

-take the train for Paris, for my search along the platform was a

-fruitless one.

-

-Both had evidently left by the earlier train, and the absence of a

-fiacre at the door of the Casino had caused me to lose sight of them.

-

-Alone in the dimly-lit railway compartment, as the train passed

-through the suburb of St. Denis and on to the Gare du Nord, I

-reflected deeply.  My brain was awhirl with the events which had

-occurred so rapidly since landing at Leghorn.  I knew not whether

-Captain Davis had received my telegram and had left for Genoa, or

-whether the message had been delayed until he had received that

-package which was destined to send the _Vispera_ to the bottom.

-

-On every side I saw plot and counterplot, the most dastardly of them

-all being the determination of Keppel to destroy his yacht.  And

-Ulrica?  What of her?  That she was on board was almost certain; she

-might even then be sailing southward to her doom.

-

-Yet I had warned her, and I hoped that she had come ashore as we had

-arranged.  The only possibility I feared was a disinclination upon

-her part to offend the old millionaire.  If she found the course

-altered to Genoa, a change which I had endeavoured to effect by my

-telegram, she might possibly have gone on there.  All that I prayed

-for was that my wire had reached Davis's hand before the package

-supposed to contain the statuette.

-

-Keppel at that moment no doubt believed the _Vispera_ to have gone

-down, and was prepared for the receipt of the astounding news from

-one or other of the Mediterranean ports.  Possibly he believed that

-he had a perfect answer to the question as to why he had left the

-vessel, but to me it seemed as though he would meet with considerable

-difficulty, if the worst had really happened.

-

-There might, too, be a survivor, and a survivor's testimony in such a

-case would be awkward.

-

-As the train, with its _impériales_, or seats above the third-class

-carriages, rushed on toward Paris, I pondered, too, upon Branca's

-sudden reappearance.  There was something uncanny about the fellow.

-His knowledge was as extensive as his cunning was low and ingenious.

-

-For what reason, I wondered, had he met that tow-haired woman who had

-been Ernest Cameron's good genius at Monte Carlo?  Why, too, had she

-taken the trouble to go out to Enghien for the purpose of seeing him?

-

-One theory alone took possession of my mind, namely, that there was a

-secret between them.  Possibly he had been acquainted with her; they

-might even have been friends.  But it was quite evident that they had

-quarrelled, and he had been gravely offended by the insult offered

-him.

-

-Each night-train from Enghien to the Gare du Nord always brought home

-a large number of returning gamblers and pleasure-seekers, so when we

-came to a standstill, the quai quickly became crowded by persons whom

-I had noticed strolling in the Casino.  In vain, however, I searched

-for the pair whose movements I had been watching.  I was compelled to

-acknowledge myself baffled, and to take a fiacre back to the "Hôtel

-Terminus."

-

-Fearing lest any of the trio might be lounging at the café in front

-of the hotel, where arriving cabs file slowly past, I dismissed the

-vehicle at the corner of the Rue du Havre, and approached the hotel

-on the opposite side of the way.

-

-One of my chief difficulties was the entering and leaving the hotel,

-for I never knew whom I might meet.  I had had several narrow escapes

-from recognition, notwithstanding every possible precaution.

-

-At last, however, after carefully examining all who were lounging

-about the entrance, I managed to slip in, passing the big-moustached

-_concierge_, and ascending by the lift to my own room, utterly worn

-out by anxiety and fatigue.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVI

-

-GIVES THE KEY TO THE CIPHER

-

-Even though tired out, I slept but little that night.  I tried, times

-without number, but in vain, to solve the secret of that cipher

-message--or warning, was it?--written upon the table before the

-"Grand Café."  But neither the initial nor the word "tabac" conveyed

-to me any meaning whatever.  One fact seemed particularly strange,

-namely, the reason why the ragged collector of cigar-ends should have

-searched for it; and, further, why the word written there should have

-been "tabac."  Again, who was the shabby, wizen-faced individual who

-had watched that table with such eagerness and expectancy?

-

-As I reflected, I became impressed by the idea that the table itself

-was one of those known to be a notice-board of criminals, and

-therefore at night it was watched by the police.

-

-The great Goron, that past-master in the detection of crime, had, I

-remembered, told me that in all the quarters of Paris, from the

-_chic_ Avenue des Champs Elysées to the lower parts of Montmartre,

-there were certain tables at certain cafés used by thieves, burglars,

-and other such gentry, for the exchange of messages, the

-dissemination of news, and the issue of warnings.  Indeed, the

-correspondence on the café tables was found to be more rapid, far

-more secret, and likely to attract less notice than the insertion of

-paragraphs in the advertisement columns of the newspapers.  Each gang

-of malefactors had, he told me, its own particular table in its own

-particular café, where any member could sit and read at his leisure

-the cipher notice, or warning, placed there, without risking direct

-communication with his associates in rascality.

-

-Had the man whom I had so fondly loved actually allied himself with

-some criminal band, that he knew their means of communication, and

-was in possession of their cipher?  It certainly seemed as though he

-had.  But that was one of the points I intended to clear up before

-denouncing him to the police.

-

-Next morning I rose early, eager for activity, but there seemed no

-movement in the room adjoining mine.  All three took their coffee in

-their bedrooms, and it was not till nearly eleven o'clock that I

-heard Keppel in conversation with the mysterious woman who had been

-my travelling companion.

-

-"Ernest is running a great risk," he was saying.  "It's quite

-unnecessary, to my mind.  The police are everywhere on the alert, for

-word has, of course, come from Nice.  If he is unfortunate enough to

-fall into their hands, he'll only have himself to blame."

-

-"But surely you don't anticipate such a thing?" she asked, in genuine

-alarm.

-

-"Well, he goes about quite openly, well knowing that his description

-has been circulated through every town and village in France."

-

-"And if he were arrested, where should he be?" inquired the woman, in

-dismay.

-

-"In a very awkward predicament, I fear," he responded.  "That's the

-very reason why I'm trying to persuade Cameron to act with greater

-discretion.  He's well known, you see, and may be recognised at any

-moment in the street.  If he were a stranger here, in Paris, it might

-be different."

-

-"It's certainly ridiculous for him to run his head into a noose.  I

-must speak to him at once."

-

-"He's out.  He went out before six this morning, the chambermaid

-tells me."

-

-"That's odd!  Where's he gone?"

-

-"I don't exactly know.  Somewhere in the country, I should think."

-

-"What if he is already arrested?"

-

-"No, don't let's anticipate such a _contretemps_.  Matters are,

-however, beginning to look serious enough, in all conscience," he

-answered.

-

-"Do you think we shall succeed?" she inquired eagerly.

-

-"We have been successful before," he responded confidently.  "Why not

-now?  We have only to exercise just a little more care and cunning

-than that exercised by the police.  Then, once beyond suspicion, all

-the rest is perfectly plain sailing."

-

-"Which means that we must make a perfect _coup_."

-

-"Exactly.  The whole scheme must be carried out firmly and without a

-hitch, otherwise we shall find ourselves in very hot water."

-

-"Knowing this should make us desperate," she observed.

-

-"I'm desperate already," he replied, in a quiet voice.  "It will not

-go well with anyone who tries to thwart us now.  It's a matter of

-life or death."

-

-What new plot had been hatched I could not guess.  What was this

-fresh conspiracy that was intended?  His carefully-guarded words

-awoke in me an intense curiosity.  I had already overheard many

-things, and still resolved to possess myself in patience, and to

-continue my ever-watchful vigil.  There was, according to the old

-man's own words, a desperate plot in progress, which the conspirators

-were determined to carry out at all hazards, even up to the point of

-taking another human life.

-

-I wrote down on a piece of paper the cipher which I had found

-scrawled upon the table, and tried by several means to reduce it to

-some intelligible message, but without success.  It was evidently in

-one of those secret codes used by criminals, and therefore I had but

-a remote chance of discovering a key to what so often had puzzled the

-cleverest detectives of the sûreté.

-

-The day passed without any important incident.  I remained in my room

-awaiting the return of the man whose strange action had puzzled me on

-the previous night, and who was now running such risk of arrest.  If

-he returned, I hoped to overhear his conversation with his

-companions; but unfortunately he did not come back.  All was quiet in

-the adjoining chamber, for Keppel and the woman with the strange

-marks had evidently gone out in company.

-

-About seven o'clock I myself dressed and went forth, strolling idly

-along until I stood on the pavement at the corner of the Boulevard

-des Italiens, in front of the Opera.  There are always many idlers

-there, mostly sharks on the watch for the unsuspecting foreigner.

-The English and American tourist offices are just opposite, and from

-the corner these polyglot swindlers can easily fix upon persons who

-change cheques as likely victims, and track them down.  Suddenly it

-occurred to me to stroll along and glance at the table before the

-"Grand Café."  This I did, but found only the remains of some cipher

-which had been hastily obliterated, possibly earlier in the day, for

-the surface of the marble was quite dry, and only one or two faint

-pencil-marks remained.

-

-As I sat there, I chanced to glance across the road, and to my

-surprise saw the same shabby, wizen-faced man lounging along the

-kerb.  He was evidently keeping that table under observation.  While

-pretending not to see him, I drank my coffee, paid, rose from my

-seat, and walked away; but as the watcher at once followed me, I

-returned to the hotel.

-

-It is not pleasant for a woman to be followed by a strange man,

-especially if she is bent upon making secret inquiries, or is

-watching another person, so when I had again returned to my room I

-presently bethought myself of the second exit from the hotel--the one

-which leads straight into the booking-office of the Gare St. Lazare.

-By means of this door I managed to escape the little man's vigilance,

-and entering a cab, drove down to the Pont des Arts.  As I had

-nothing particular to do, it occurred to me that if I could find the

-little _coiffeur's_, where I had seen the man with whom I had danced

-on the night of the Carnival ball, I might watch, and perhaps learn

-something.  That this man was on friendly terms with both Keppel and

-Cameron had been proved by that scrap of confidential conversation I

-had chanced to overhear.

-

-The difficulty I experienced in recognising the narrow and crooked

-street was considerable, but after nearly an hour's search through

-the smaller thoroughfares to the left of the Boulevard St. Michel, my

-patience was rewarded, and I slowly passed the little shop on the

-opposite side.  The place was in darkness, apparently closed.

-Scarcely had I passed, however, when someone emerged from the place.

-It was, I felt quite sure, the man who had worn the owl's dress.  He

-was dressed rather elegantly, and seemed to possess quite an air of

-distinction.  Indeed, no one meeting him in the street would have

-believed him to be a barber.

-

-Almost involuntarily, I followed him.  He lit a cigarette, and then

-walked forward at a rapid pace down the Boulevard, across the Pont

-Neuf, and turning through many streets, which were as a bewildering

-maze to me, he suddenly tossed his cigarette away, entered a large

-house, and made some inquiry of the _concierge_.

-

-"Madame Fournereau?" I heard the old man answer gruffly.  "Yes.

-Second floor, on the left."

-

-And the man who had so mysteriously returned to me the stolen notes

-went forward, and up the stairs.

-

-Madame Fournereau!  I had never, as far as I recollected, heard that

-name before.

-

-I strolled along a little farther, hesitating whether to remain there

-until the man emerged again, when, as I lifted my eyes, I happened to

-see the name-plate at the street corner.  It was the Rue du Bac.  In

-an instant the similarity of the word in the cipher, "tabac" occurred

-to me.  Could it be that the woman for whom the message was intended

-lived there?  Could it be that this woman for whose love Ernest had

-forsaken me was named Fournereau?  I entertained a lively suspicion

-that I had at last discovered her name and her abode.

-

-I think at that moment my usual discretion left me utterly.  So many

-and so strange were the mysteries which had surrounded me during the

-past month or so, that I believe my actions were characterised by a

-boldness of which no woman in her right senses would have been

-capable.  Now that I reflect upon it all, I do not think I was in my

-right senses that night, or I should not have dared to act alone and

-unaided as I did.  But the determination to avenge the poor lad's

-death, and at the same time to avenge my own wrongs, was strong upon

-me.  A jealous woman is capable of breaking any of the ten

-commandments.  "_Amor dà per mercede, gelosia e rotta fede._"

-

-Had I remained to reason with myself, I should never have entered

-that house, but fired by a determination to seek the truth, and to

-meet that woman face to face, I entered boldly and, without a word to

-the _concierge_, passed up to the second floor.

-

-The house was, I discovered, like many in Paris, far more handsome

-within than without.  The stairs leading to the flats were thickly

-carpeted and were illuminated by electricity, though, judging by the

-exterior, I had believed it to be a house of quite a fourth-rate

-class.  When I rang at the door on the left a neat Parisian _bonne_

-in a muslin cap answered my summons.

-

-"Madame Fournereau?" I inquired.

-

-"_Oui_, madame," answered the woman, as she admitted me to the narrow

-but well-furnished entrance-hall.  "Madame is expecting you, I

-believe.  Will you please enter?"

-

-I saw in an instant that I was mistaken for a guest, and quickly made

-up my mind to use this mistake to the best possible advantage.

-

-My quick eyes noticed in the hall a number of men's hats and women's

-capes.  From the room beyond came quite a babel of voices.  I walked

-forward in wonderment, but next second knew the truth.  The place was

-a private gambling-house.  Madame's guests, a strange and motley

-crowd, came there to play games of hazard.

-

-In the room I had entered was a roulette table, smaller than those at

-Monte Carlo, and around it were some twenty well-dressed men and

-women, all intent upon the game.  Notes and gold were lying

-everywhere upon the numbers and the single chances, and the fact that

-no silver was there was sufficient testimony that high stakes were

-usual.  The air was close and oppressive, for the windows were closed

-and heavily curtained, and above the sound of excited voices rose

-that well-known cry of the unhealthy-looking, pimply-faced croupier

-in crimped shirt front and greasy black:

-

-"_Messieurs, faites vos jeux!_"

-

-Advancing to the table, I stood there unnoticed in the crowd.  Those

-who saw me enter undoubtedly believed me to be a gambler, like

-themselves, for it appeared as though madame's guests were drawn from

-various classes of society.  Although the atmosphere was so stifling,

-I managed to remain cool, and affected to be interested in the game

-by tossing a louis upon the red.

-

-I won.  It is strange that carelessness at roulette invariably brings

-good fortune.  I glanced about me, eager to discover madame herself,

-but saw neither her nor the barber whom I had followed to this place.

-At the end of the room there were, however, a pair of long sage-green

-curtains, and as one of the players rose from the table and passed

-between them, I saw that another gaming-room lay beyond, and that the

-gamblers were playing baccarat, the bank being held by a

-superior-looking old gentleman who was wearing the crimson ribbon of

-the Legion d'Honneur in the lapel of his dining-jacket.

-

-Boldly I went forward into that room, and in an instant saw that I

-was not mistaken, for there, chatting to a circle of men and women at

-the opposite end of the _salon_, was the small, fair-haired woman

-whom I had seen in Ernest's company at Monte Carlo, and whom I had

-followed to Enghien.  The man who had given me the stolen notes was

-standing near her, listening to her account of a pleasure trip from

-which she had apparently only just returned.

-

-A couple of new-comers, well-dressed men, entered, walked straight up

-to her, shook hands, and expressed their delight that she had

-returned to Paris to resume her entertainments.

-

-"I, too, am glad to return to all my friends, messieurs," she

-laughed.  "I really found Monte Carlo very dull, after all."

-

-"You were not fortunate?  That is to be regretted."

-

-"Ah!" she said.  "With such a maximum, how can one hope to gain?  It

-is impossible."

-

-I stood watching the play.  As far as I could see, it was perfectly

-fair; but some of the players, keen-faced men, were evidently

-practised card-sharpers, swindlers, or men who lived by their wits.

-The amount of money constantly changing hands surprised me.  As I

-stood there, one young man, scarcely more than a lad, lost five

-thousand francs with perfect _sang-froid_.  The women present were

-none of them young, but were mostly elderly and ugly, of that stamp

-so eternally prominent in the Principality of Monaco.  The woman,

-when she turns gambler, always loses her personal beauty.  It may be

-the vitiated atmosphere in which she exists; it may be the constant

-tension of the nerves; or it may, perchance, be the unceasing,

-all-consuming avarice--which, I know not.  All I am certain of is

-that no woman can play and at the same time remain fresh, youthful,

-and interesting.

-

-Until that moment I had remained there unnoticed in the excited

-crowd, for I had turned my back upon Madame Fournereau, lest she

-should recognise in me the woman whom Ernest had undoubtedly pointed

-out to her either in the Rooms, in Giro's, or elsewhere.

-

-But as I began to pass back to the adjoining room, where I considered

-there would be less risk of recognition, the green curtains suddenly

-opened, and Ernest Cameron stood before me.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVII

-

-PIECES TOGETHER THE PUZZLE

-

-I stepped back quickly, while he, with eyes fixed upon that

-fair-haired woman, who seemed the centre of a miniature court, failed

-to notice me.  Upon his face was a dark, anxious look, an expression

-such as I had never before seen upon his countenance.  Perhaps he was

-jealous of the attention shown by that dozen or so of men who were

-chatting and laughing with her.

-

-Her appearance was scarcely that of the keeper of an illicit

-gaming-house.  One would have expected to find some fine, dashing,

-handsome woman, in a striking gown, and with a profuse display of

-jewellery.  On the contrary, she was quietly dressed in a pretty,

-graceful gown of dove-grey cashmere, the bodice cut low and trimmed

-with passementerie, a frock which certainly well became her rather

-tame style of beauty.  The only ornament was a small half-moon of

-diamonds in her hair.

-

-Ernest appeared to take in the situation at a glance, and with his

-back turned to her stood watching the baccarat, just as I had feigned

-to watch it.  Through the great mirror before him, however, he could

-note all her actions.  She was laughing immoderately at some remark

-made by one of her companions, and I noticed how Ernest's face went

-pale with suppressed anger.  How haggard, how thin, how blanched,

-nervous, and ill he looked!  Usually so smart in attire, his dress

-clothes seemed to hang upon him, his cravat was carelessly tied, and

-in place of the diamond solitaire I had bought at Tiffany's for him

-in the early days of our acquaintance--which he had worn when we met

-at Monte Carlo--there was only a plain pearl stud, worth perhaps ten

-centimes.  Alas! he had sadly changed.  His was, indeed, the figure

-of a man haunted by the ever-present shadow of his crime.

-

-It was curious, I thought, that he did not approach her; but the

-reason for this became plain ere long.  I had returned to the

-adjoining room, and was again watching the roulette, when suddenly

-she brushed past me on her way out into the corridor, into which

-several other rooms opened.  Suddenly I heard his well-known voice

-utter her name in a hoarse whisper.

-

-"Julie!"

-

-Julie!  The person mentioned in the letter of warning which she had

-torn up at Enghien!

-

-She stopped, and recognising him for the first time, gasped:

-

-"Ernest!  You here?"

-

-"Yes," he responded.  "I told you that we should meet, and I have

-found you, you see.  I must speak to you alone."

-

-"Impossible," she responded.  "To-morrow."

-

-"No, to-night--now.  What I have to say admits of no delay," and he

-strode resolutely at her side, while she, her face betraying

-displeasure at the encounter, unwillingly went forth into the

-corridor.

-

-"Well," I heard her exclaim in impatience, "what is it you have to

-say to me?  I thought when we parted it was agreed we were not to

-meet again."

-

-"You hoped so, you mean," he answered hardly.  "Come into one of

-these rooms, where we may be alone.  Someone may overhear if we

-remain standing in this passage."

-

-"Is what you want to say so strictly confidential, then?"

-

-"Yes," he answered, "it is."  Then, with every sign of reluctance and

-impatience, she opened a door behind them, and they passed into what

-appeared to be her own _petit salon_.

-

-Again the fire of jealousy consumed me, and without thought of the

-consequences of my act, I went straightway to the door, and entering,

-faced them.

-

-As I entered, Ernest turned quickly, then stood rigid and amazed.

-

-"Carmela!" he gasped.  "How came you here--to this place?"

-

-"How I came here matters not," I answered, in a hard tone.  "It is

-sufficient for you to know that I have entered here to demand an

-explanation from you and this woman--your accomplice."

-

-"What do you mean?" cried his companion, in her broken English.

-"What do you mean by accomplice?"

-

-"I refer to the murder of Reginald Thorne," I said, as quietly as I

-was able.

-

-"The murder of Monsieur Thorne," repeated the woman.  "And what have

-I to do, pray, with the death of that gentleman, whoever he may be?"

-

-Ernest glanced at me strangely, and then addressed her in a firm

-voice.

-

-"The person who murdered him was none other than yourself--Julie

-Fournereau."

-

-I stood dumbfounded.  Was it possible that he intended to endeavour

-to fix the guilt upon her, even though I knew the truth by the words

-I had overheard, which were paramount to an admission?

-

-"What!" she shrieked, in fierce anger, speaking in French.  "You have

-sought me here to charge me with murder--to bring against me a false

-accusation?  It is a lie!  You know that I am innocent."

-

-"That point, madame, must be decided by a judge," he answered, with

-marvellous coolness.

-

-"What do you mean?  I don't understand!" she exclaimed, with a slight

-quiver in her voice which betrayed a sudden fear.

-

-"I mean that during the months which have elapsed since the murder of

-my friend Thorne, at Nice, I have been engaged in tracing the

-assassin--or, to put it plainly, in tracing you."

-

-I stood there, utterly astounded.  If his words were true, why had he

-been concealed on board the _Vispera_ in order to avoid arrest?

-

-She laughed, instantly assuming an attitude of defiance.

-

-"Bah!" she said.  "You bring me here into this room to make this

-absurd and unfounded charge!  You dare not say it before my friends.

-They would thrash you as if you were a mongrel of the streets!"

-

-His cheeks were pale, but there was a fierce and resolute expression

-upon his countenance.  The woman whom I had believed he loved was, it

-seemed, his bitterest enemy.

-

-"I have not the slightest wish to bring upon you any greater exposure

-or disgrace than that which must inevitably come," he said coolly.

-"For months I have been waiting for this opportunity, and by means of

-the cipher fortunately discovered your return.  I was then enabled to

-give the police some highly interesting information."

-

-"The police!" she gasped, her face instantly blanched to the lips.

-"You have told them?"

-

-"Yes," he responded, gazing steadily upon her, "I have told them."

-

-"Then let me pass," she said hoarsely, making towards the door.

-

-But in a moment he had barred her passage, then raised a small

-whistle quickly to his lips, and blew it shrilly.

-

-"So this is your revenge!  I was warned of this from Brussels!" she

-cried, turning upon him with a murderous light in her eyes.  But

-almost before the words had left her mouth there were sounds of

-scuffling and shouting, a smashing of glass, and loud imprecations.

-The whistle had raised the alarm, and the police had entered the

-place, and were preventing the egress of the players.

-

-Outside, in the corridor, there were several fierce scrimmages, but

-next instant the door opened, and there entered three detectives--of

-whom one was the wizen-faced little man who had betrayed such an

-interest in myself when at the Grand Café--accompanied by old Mr.

-Keppel, and the woman who had been my travelling companion in the

-_wagon-lit_.  Certainly the arrangements perfected by the police in

-order that their raid upon the private gaming establishment might be

-successful in all respects had been elaborately prepared, for at the

-signal given by Ernest the _coup_ was instantaneously effected, and

-the players, nearly all of whom were persons known as criminals, fell

-back entrapped and dismayed.

-

-The old millionaire and his companion were just as astounded to find

-me present as Ernest had been.  But there was no time at that

-exciting moment for explanations.  The plan had apparently been

-arranged for the arrest of the white-faced woman, who now stood

-trembling before us.

-

-"I tell you it's a lie!" she cried hoarsely.  "I did not kill him."

-

-But Ernest, turning to the shabby little man, said:

-

-"I demand the arrest of that woman, Julie Fournereau, for the murder

-of Reginald Thorne at the 'Grand Hotel,' in Nice."

-

-"You know her?" inquired the detective.  "Have you evidence to

-justify the arrest?

-

-"I have evidence that she committed the murder--that the sixty

-thousand francs stolen from the dead man's pockets were in her

-possession on the following morning; and, further, that on the night

-on which the murder was committed she was staying under another name

-at the very hotel in which Mr. Thorne was found dead."

-

-"And the witnesses?"

-

-"They are already in Paris, waiting to be called to give evidence."

-

-A dead silence fell for a few moments.  We each looked at one another.

-

-The wretched woman, who had suddenly been denounced by the man with

-whom she had been so friendly at Monte Carlo, was standing in the

-centre of the room, swaying forward, supporting herself by clutching

-the edge of the small table.  Her white lips trembled, but no word

-escaped from them.  She seemed rendered speechless by the suddenness

-of the overwhelming charge.

-

-The detective's voice broke the silence.

-

-"Julie Fournereau," he said in French, advancing a few steps towards

-her, "in the name of the law I arrest you for the murder of Reginald

-Thorne at Nice."

-

-"I am innocent!" she cried hoarsely, her haggard eyes glaring at us

-with a hunted look in them.  "I tell you I am quite innocent!"

-

-"Listen," said Ernest, in a firm tone, although there was a slight

-catch in his voice, which showed how greatly excited he was.  "The

-reasons which have led me to this step are briefly these.  Last

-December, while living here in Paris, I went south to spend the

-winter at Monte Carlo.  I stayed at the 'Metropole,' and amid the

-cosmopolitan crowd there met the woman before you.  One day there

-arrived at the same hotel, from Paris, my friend Reginald Thorne,

-whom I knew well in London, but who had lived in Paris for the past

-year.  We were about together during the day, and in the Rooms that

-evening he encountered me walking beside this woman Fournereau.  That

-same night he came to my room, and in confidence related to me a

-story which at the moment I regarded as somewhat exaggerated, namely,

-that he had been induced to frequent a certain gaming-house in Paris,

-where he had lost almost everything he possessed, and how he had

-ultimately discovered that an elaborate system of sharping had been

-practised upon him by the woman and her male accomplices.  That

-woman, he told me, had left Paris suddenly just at the moment when he

-discovered the truth, and he had encountered her in the Rooms with

-me.  Her name was Julie Fournereau."

-

-I glanced at the wretched woman before us.  Her wild eyes were fixed

-upon the carpet; her fingers were twitching with intense agitation;

-her breath came and went in short quick gasps.  Ernest, in his

-exposure, was merciless.

-

-"Had she seen him in the Rooms?" I inquired.

-

-"Yes," he answered.  "We had come face to face.  He told me that, as

-he had been robbed of nearly all he possessed, he was determined to

-give information against her.  She was, he told me, an associate of

-bad characters in Paris, and urged me to cut her acquaintance.  His

-story was strange and rather romantic, for he gave me to understand

-that this woman had made a pretence of loving him, and had induced

-him to play in her house, with the result that he lost large sums to

-a certain man who was her accomplice.  Personally, I was not very

-much charmed with her," Ernest went on, glancing at me.  "She was

-evidently, as Thorne had declared, acquainted with many of the worst

-characters who frequent Monte Carlo, and I began to think seriously

-that my own reputation would be besmirched by being seen constantly

-in her company.  Still, I tried to dissuade my friend from

-endeavouring to wreak justice upon such a person, arguing that, as he

-had lost the money in a private gaming establishment, he had no

-remedy in law.  But he was young and headstrong--possibly suffering

-from a fit of jealousy.  After several days, however, fearing that he

-might create a scene with this notorious woman, I at last induced him

-to go over to Nice and stay at the 'Grand.'  While there, curiously

-enough, he met the lady who is here present, Miss Rosselli, and at

-once fell deeply in love with her."

-

-"No," I protested, in quick indignation, "there was no love whatever

-between us.  That I strongly deny."

-

-"Carmela," he said, bestowing on me a calm and serious look.  "In

-this affair I must speak plainly and openly.  I myself have a

-confession to make."

-

-"Of what?"

-

-"Listen, and I'll explain everything."  Then turning to the others,

-he went on: "Reginald fell violently in love with Miss Rosselli, not

-knowing that she had been engaged to become my wife.  When, the day

-after meeting her at the hotel, he told me of his infatuation, and

-heard from me the whole truth, he seemed considerably upset.  'She

-loves you still,' he said.  'I feel certain that she does, for she

-has given me no encouragement.'  I affected to take no notice of his

-words, but to me the matter was a very painful one.  I had broken off

-the engagement, it was true, but my heart was now filled by bitter

-remorse.  I had seen Carmela again; all the old love had come back to

-me, and I now despised myself for my mean and unwarrantable action.

-We had met several times, but as strangers; and knowing her proud

-spirit, I feared to approach her, feeling certain that she would

-never forgive."

-

-"Forgive!" I cried.  "I would have gladly forgiven!"

-

-"Carmela," he said, turning again to me with a very serious

-expression on his face, "I regret being compelled to lay bare my

-secret thus before you, but I must tell them everything."

-

-"Yes," I said.  "Now that this woman is to bear the punishment of her

-crime, let us know all."  Then I added bitterly: "Speak without any

-regard for my feelings, or even for my presence."

-

-"A few days prior to his tragic end, poor Reggie had, as I have

-explained, moved over to the 'Grand' at Nice, but strangely enough,

-the same idea had occurred to this woman Fournereau.  She preferred

-to live in Nice during Carnival, she told me, for she liked all the

-fun and gaiety.  Whether it was for that reason, I know not, but at

-all events it seems clear, from inquiries recently completed in Nice,

-that one afternoon he met this woman at Rumpelmayer's, the

-fashionable lounge for afternoon tea, and in a sudden fit of anger

-declared that he would denounce her as an adventuress and swindler.

-Now it appears that his clients, the gamblers who frequent this

-place, number among them some of the most notorious and desperate

-members of the criminal fraternity, and the natural conclusion is

-that, fearing his exposure, she killed him."

-

-"I deny it!" cried the wretched woman.  "It is a false accusation,

-which you cannot prove."

-

-"The extreme care and marvellous ingenuity by which the poor fellow's

-death was encompassed is shown by every detail of the case.  Not a

-single point was apparently overlooked.  Even the means by which he

-was assassinated have remained, until now, a mystery.  But passing to

-the night of the tragedy, it will be remembered that he had won sixty

-thousand francs at roulette, and having left Miss Rosselli and her

-friends, he re-entered the Rooms and changed his winnings into large

-notes.  Half an hour before, this woman, whom I had met earlier in

-the evening, and who had dined with me at Giro's, had wished me

-good-night.  She had previously watched his success at the tables,

-and had followed him into the Casino when he re-entered to change the

-notes.  The interval of about an hour between his leaving Monte Carlo

-and his arrival at the 'Grand Hotel' at Nice is still unaccounted

-for.  Nevertheless, we know that this woman, whom he had threatened,

-travelled by the same train from Monte Carlo to Nice, that she

-entered the hotel a few minutes later and went to her room, and that

-next morning she had in her possession sixty notes, each for a

-thousand francs.  It seems, however, that she quickly became alarmed

-lest suspicion might rest upon her, for the police had commenced

-active inquiries, and therefore she resolved to get rid of the stolen

-notes.  This she did with the aid of an accomplice, a man named

-Vauquelin--a man very well known at Monte Carlo.  This rascal, one of

-the _habitués_ of this place, went to the Carnival ball at the Nice

-Casino, and there gave Miss Rosselli the stolen money, intending that

-its possession should throw suspicion upon her.  Some other members

-of that interesting gang of sharpers, who make this place their

-headquarters, going south in winter in search of pigeons to pluck,

-knowing Vauquelin's intention, posed as detectives, to whom Miss

-Rosselli innocently handed over the notes she had received."

-

-He paused for a moment; then he continued: "Now, however, comes one

-of the most ingenious features of the affair.  This woman, finding

-next day that her plot to throw suspicion upon Miss Rosselli had

-failed, turned her attention to myself.  She was aware that a slight

-quarrel had occurred between Reggie and myself regarding his

-injudicious and futile action in seeking to denounce her, and, with

-others, had overheard some high words between us when we had met on

-the terrace at the Café de Paris on the afternoon previous to his

-death.  She gave information to the police, and then left the Riviera

-suddenly.  Next day I found myself under the observation of the

-police, and in order to escape arrest, induced Mr. Keppel--who has

-taken a great interest in the affair from the first, being one of the

-trustees under the will of Mr. Thorne, senior--to conceal me on board

-his yacht until such time as our inquiries in Paris could be

-completed.  It was ascertained that this woman Fournereau, who had

-gone to Russia, intended to return to her apartment here upon a date

-she had arranged with one of her accomplices, a Corsican named

-Laumont.  This is the reason why it seemed good to me to remain in

-hiding from the police until to-day.  This is her first reception,

-notice of which was circulated among her friends by means of the

-cipher upon certain tables in the cafés on the _grands boulevards_."

-

-"Then you, too, were actually concealed on board the _Vispera_ during

-the whole cruise?" I exclaimed, in great surprise.

-

-"No, I went ashore at Malta, and the vessel returned for me three

-weeks later," he replied.

-

-"But this lady?" I inquired, indicating the handsome woman who had

-been my travelling companion in the _wagon-_.

-

-"I am the mother of Reginald Thorne," she herself explained.

-

-"You!  Reggie's mother!" I cried, scarcely able to believe her words.

-

-"Yes," she answered.  "I was spending the winter in Cairo.  Hearing

-of my poor son's death, I crossed from Alexandria, and arrived in

-Nice, only to find that the _Vispera_ had sailed.  A letter was

-awaiting me with full explanations, asking me to travel to Malta, and

-there join the yacht.  This I did; but in order that my presence

-should not be known to those on board, I was placed secretly in the

-deck-cabin, and never left it.  The blow that had fallen upon me on

-hearing of poor Reggie's death, combined with the constant

-imprisonment in that cabin, I believe upset the balance of my mind,

-for one night--the night before we put into Leghorn--I became

-unconscious.  I was subject to strange hallucinations, and that night

-experienced a sensation as though someone was attempting to take my

-life by strangulation."

-

-"I must explain," said old Mr. Keppel, addressing her.  "It is only

-right that you should now know the truth.  On the night in question

-you were unusually restless, and becoming seized by a fit of

-hysteria, commenced to shout and shriek all sorts of wild words

-regarding your poor son's murder.  Now I had concealed you there, and

-fearing lest some of the guests should hear you, and that a scandal

-might be created, I tried to silence you.  You fought me tooth and

-nail, for I verily believe that the close confinement had driven you

-insane.  In the struggle I had my hands over your mouth, and

-afterwards pressed your throat in order to prevent your hysterical

-shrieks, when suddenly I saw blood upon your lips, and the awful

-truth dawned upon me that I had killed you by strangulation.  Tewson,

-the chief steward--who, with the exception of Cameron, was the only

-person on board who knew of your presence--chancing to enter at that

-moment, made the diabolical suggestion that in order to get rid of

-the evidence of my crime I should allow him to blow up the ship.

-This I refused, and fortunately, half an hour later, I succeeded in

-restoring you to consciousness.  Then we landed at Leghorn on the

-following evening, not, however, before I discovered that the real

-motive of Tewson's suggestion was that he had stolen nearly three

-thousand pounds in cash, notes, and securities from a box in Lord

-Stoneborough's cabin, and wished to destroy the ship so that his

-crime might thus be concealed.  The man, I have discovered, has a

-very bad record, and has now disappeared.  But time was pressing, so

-we all three left Leghorn for Paris, and I gave orders to Davis to

-take the yacht into the Adriatic, where I intended to rejoin it."

-

-Then, briefly, I explained what I had seen and overheard on that

-wild, boisterous night in the Mediterranean; how I had followed the

-millionaire and the woman who was bent upon avenging the murder of

-her son; how I had sent the yacht on to Genoa, and how carefully I

-had watched the movements of all three during those days in Paris.

-All seemed amazed by my story--Ernest most of all.

-

-"During that night in the _wagon-lit_," I said, addressing Mrs.

-Thorne, "I noticed two curious marks upon your neck.  Upon your poor

-son's neck were similar marks."

-

-"Yes," she replied; "they were birth-marks--known as the marks of

-thumb and finger.  Poor Reggie bore them exactly as I do."

-

-"And the woman who murdered him, and who so ingeniously attempted

-first to fasten the guilt upon Miss Rosselli, and then afterwards

-upon myself, is there!" cried Ernest, pointing at the trembling,

-pallid woman before us.  "She killed him, because she feared the

-revelations he could make to the police regarding the place in which

-we are standing."

-

-The woman Fournereau raised her head at Ernest's denunciation, and

-laughed a strange, harsh laugh of defiance.

-

-"_Bien!_" she cried shrilly, with affected carelessness.  "Arrest me,

-if you will!  But I tell you that you are mistaken.  You have been

-clever--very clever, all of you; but the assassin was not myself."

-

-The police-officer now spoke to her:

-

-"Then if you yourself are not guilty, you are aware of the identity

-of the murderer.  Therefore I shall arrest you as being an

-accomplice.  It is the same."

-

-"No; I was not even an accomplice," she protested quickly.  "I may be

-owner of this place; I may be a--a person known to you; but I swear I

-have never been a murderess."

-

-The officer smiled dubiously.

-

-"The decision upon that point must be left to the judges," he

-answered.  "There is evidence against you.  For the present that is

-sufficient."

-

-"Monsieur Cameron has told you that I was threatened with exposure by

-the young Englishman," she said.  "That is perfectly true.  Indeed,

-all that has been said is the truth--save one thing.  Neither did I

-commit the murder, nor had I any knowledge of it until afterwards."

-

-"But the stolen notes were actually in your possession on the

-following morning," the detective observed in a tone of doubt.

-

-"They were given to me for safe keeping."

-

-"By whom?"

-

-"I refuse to say."

-

-The detective shrugged his shoulders, and smiles passed across the

-faces of his two companions.

-

-"You prefer arrest, then?" he said.

-

-"I prefer to keep my own counsel," she answered.  "These persons,"

-she continued, indicating us, "have believed themselves extremely

-ingenious, apparently taking upon themselves the duties of the

-police, and have arrived at quite a wrong conclusion.  You may arrest

-me if you wish.  I have nothing whatever to fear."

-

-And she glanced around at us in open defiance.  Indeed, so

-indifferent was she, that I felt convinced Ernest's theory of the

-committal of the crime had fallen to the ground.

-

-The detective seemed, however, well aware of the woman's character,

-and proceeded to deal with her accordingly.

-

-"You are charged with the murder," he said.  "It is for you to prove

-your innocence."

-

-"Who, pray, is the witness against me?" she demanded indignantly.

-

-"Your accomplice!" cried Ernest quickly.  "The man Laumont."

-

-"Laumont!" she cried.  "He--he has told you that I committed the

-crime; he has denounced me as the murderess?"

-

-"He has," answered Ernest.  "On that fatal night when poor Thorne

-entered the Rooms to change the notes I met him, and although we had

-had a few high words in the Café de Paris on the previous day, he

-approached me, asking my pardon, which I readily gave.  He then

-inquired whether it was really true that Miss Rosselli had been

-engaged to me.  I replied in the affirmative, and he then said that

-he did not intend to meet her again, but should leave for Paris in

-the morning.  I tried to dissuade him, but his only reply was: 'She

-loves you still, my dear fellow.  She can never forget you; of that

-I'm certain.'  Then he left, and travelled to Nice without saying a

-single word to her.  Arrived at the hotel, he went straight to her

-sitting-room and sat down to write her a letter of farewell.  He

-commenced one, but destroyed it.  This was afterwards found in the

-room.  Then, just as he was about to commence a second letter,

-you--you, Julie Fournereau, entered, killed him, and stole the notes

-which you knew he carried in his pockets!"

-

-"How did I kill him?" she demanded, her eyes flashing with anger.

-

-"You yourself know that best."

-

-"Ah!  And Jean Laumont told you this elaborate piece of fiction, did

-he?  It is amusing--very amusing!"

-

-At a word from the chief detective, one of the officers left the

-room.  We heard Laumont's name shouted loudly in the corridor, and a

-few minutes later he was ushered in by two officers.

-

-I stood rooted to the spot at sight of him.  The man was none other

-than Branca, the queer old fellow who had represented to me in

-Leghorn that our interests were identical.  I saw how ingenious had

-been his actions, and how deeply-laid his plot.  He had intended that

-I should sail to the Adriatic after he had obtained from me all the

-information I had collected.

-

-On seeing us, he drew back in quick surprise, but in an instant the

-woman flew at him in fury.

-

-"You have told them!" she shrieked.  "You have led them to believe

-that I murdered the Englishman at Nice; you have declared that it was

-I who gave you the notes; I who killed him!  You white-livered cur!"

-

-His ugly countenance fell.  Indignation had, in an instant, given

-place to fear.  His sinister face was full of evil.

-

-"And did you not give me the notes?" inquired the dwarfed man, now

-well dressed, and presenting a very different appearance from that he

-had shown at Leghorn.  He had evidently been playing baccarat.  "Why,

-there are at least two men in yonder room who were present when you

-handed them to me."

-

-"I do not deny that," she answered.  "I deny that I killed him."

-

-"Then who did?"

-

-"Who did?" she shrieked.  "Who did?  _Why, you yourself!_"

-

-"You lie!" he cried fiercely, his cheeks in an instant ashen pale.

-

-"I would have told them nothing," she went on quickly.  "I would have

-allowed them to arrest me and afterwards discover their mistake, were

-it not that you had endeavoured to give me into their hands in order

-to save yourself.  No, my dear friend, Julie Fournereau is loyal only

-to those who are loyal to her, as many have before found out to their

-cost.  I would have saved you had you not led the police here to raid

-my house, to arrest my friends, and to hurry me away to prison for a

-crime that I did not commit.  But listen!  You deny the murder of the

-young Englishman.  Well, shall I relate to them all that occurred?"

-

-"Tell them what untruths you like," he growled fiercely.  "You cannot

-harm me."

-

-"Yes, madame," urged old Mr. Keppel, "tell us all that you know.  We

-are determined now to get to the bottom of this affair."

-

-"This man," she explained, "was the man who fleeced the unfortunate

-gentleman here in my house.  I am not wishing to shield myself for a

-single moment--I desire only to tell the truth.  Monsieur Thorne,

-when they last met here, accused him of cheating at baccarat; high

-words ensued, and the young man drew a revolver and fired, the bullet

-striking Laumont in the shoulder, whereupon he swore to be avenged.

-I knew well that a vow of vengeance taken by such a desperate

-character as Laumont was something more than mere idle words; and

-when he went to the Riviera, as he did each year, in search of

-inexperienced youths whom he could fleece, I shortly afterwards

-followed.  He stayed first at the 'Hôtel de Paris' at Monte Carlo,

-but meeting young Thorne accidentally one afternoon, he discovered

-that the latter was living at the 'Grand' at Nice, and that same

-night transferred his quarters there.  Now, Thorne had an intimate

-friend at Nice--Mr. Gerald Keppel--and it seemed as though Laumont

-desired to make the latter's acquaintance, with the ulterior motive

-of practising his sharper's tricks upon him.  Be that as it may, I,

-in order to watch the progress of events, moved to the same hotel at

-Nice.  I knew that Laumont was bent on vengeance, and felt certain

-that some terrible _dénouement_ was imminent."

-

-She paused, and glanced around at us.  Then lowering her eyes, she

-went on:

-

-"I am an adventuress, it is true; but I have still a woman's heart.

-I was determined, if possible, to prevent Laumont from wreaking

-vengeance upon the poor boy.  It was for that reason I followed him

-to Nice and took up my abode there.  On the day of the tragedy I was

-in the Rooms at Monte Carlo in the afternoon, and there saw him

-playing and winning; while just as he was leaving with Miss Rosselli,

-young Mr. Keppel and another lady, his pockets bulging with his

-gains, I saw Jean Laumont watching him.  By the evil look he cast in

-his direction, I knew that the spirit of murder was in his heart.

-That evening I dined at Giro's with Monsieur Cameron, and afterwards

-left him in order to watch the movements of Jean and the young

-Englishman.  The latter, after a short conversation with Monsieur

-Cameron in the hall of the Casino, descended by the lift to the

-station, and took train to Nice.  I travelled by the same train, but

-in the crowd at Nice station I lost sight of him.  He must have taken

-a fiacre immediately to the hotel, and furthermore, the Corsican must

-also have followed him, without knowing of my presence.  I met some

-friends at the station, but on arrival at the hotel, twenty minutes

-later, I went straight up to my room.  On the way I had to pass the

-door of Miss Rosselli's sitting-room, and just as I was approaching,

-my feet falling softly on the thick carpet of the corridor, the door

-opened noiselessly, and a man, after looking forth stealthily, came

-out and stole along to the room he occupied.  That man was Jean

-Laumont."

-

-"You saw him?" cried Ernest.  "You actually saw him coming from the

-room?"

-

-"Yes.  Instantly, I suspected something wrong, and wondered for what

-purpose he had been in the ladies' sitting-room.  Therefore, without

-hesitation, I pushed open the door and looked inside.  Imagine my

-surprise when I found the unfortunate man writhing in agony upon the

-ground.  I knelt by him, but recognising me as the woman at whose

-house he had been cheated, he shrank from me.  'That man!' he gasped

-with difficulty.  'That man has killed me!' and a few moments later

-his limbs straightened themselves out in a final paroxysm of agony,

-and he passed away."

-

-Mrs. Thorne burst into a flood of tears.

-

-The tow-haired woman was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed upon the

-face of the man against whom she had uttered that terrible

-denunciation.

-

-"I stood there terrified--unable to move," she went on.  "Laumont

-had, as I anticipated, killed him."

-

-"Killed him?  How can you prove it?" demanded the cunning

-card-sharper, Vauquelin, who had tricked me so cleverly, and who, in

-order to throw the police off the scent, pursued the harmless calling

-of hairdresser in that back street off the Boulevard St. Michel.

-Apparently he was the Corsican's champion.  "How can you prove that

-Jean Laumont killed him?"

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXVIII

-

-REVEALS THE TRUTH

-

-The woman Fournereau crossed the room quickly to a small rosewood

-bureau, and took therefrom a little cardboard box about a couple of

-inches square, such as is often used for containing cheap jewellery.

-

-"I have something here," she said, addressing the man before her,

-"which was lying on the floor.  You alone know its secret--a secret

-which I, too, have lately discovered."

-

-And opening the box carefully, she displayed, lying in a bed of

-cotton-wool, what at first appeared to be a woman's steel thimble.

-Taking it from its hiding-place, and placing it upon the forefinger

-of her right hand, we saw that, instead of being what it at first

-appeared, it rose to a sharply-tempered steel point, about half an

-inch long, protruding from the finger-tip.

-

-I glanced at the man accused.  His face had blanched to the lips at

-sight of it.

-

-"This," she explained, "I discovered on the floor close to where the

-dead man was lying.  It is a diabolical invention of Laumont's, which

-he showed me a year ago, although he did not then explain its use.

-An examination which has been made by my friend, a chemist, has

-plainly indicated the truth.  You will notice that the point is fine

-as a needle, but is hollow, like that of a hypodermic syringe.

-Within, at the point touched by the tip of the finger, is a small

-chamber filled with a most subtle and deadly poison, extracted from a

-small lizard peculiar to the Bambara country on the banks of the

-Upper Niger."

-

-The point would, I saw, act just as the fang of a snake, for the

-thimble, when placed on the finger and pressed against the flesh of

-the victim, would inject the poison into the blood, causing almost

-instantaneous collapse and death.  The puncture made by such a fine

-point would be indistinguishable, and the action of the poison, as we

-afterwards learnt, so similar to several natural complications that

-at the post-mortem examination doctors would fail to distinguish the

-real cause of death.

-

-She held the diabolical thimble out for us to examine, saying:

-

-"The mode in which this was used upon the unfortunate Monsieur Thorne

-was undoubtedly as follows:--He had seated himself at the table with

-his back to the door when the Corsican, Laumont, watching his

-opportunity, crept in with the thimble upon his finger.  Before his

-victim was aware of his presence he had seized him by the collar from

-behind and pressed the point deep into the flesh behind the right

-ear, at a spot where the poison would at once enter the circulation.

-You will remember that the doctors discovered a slight scratch behind

-the ear, which they guessed to be the only mark resulting from the

-struggle which they believed had taken place.  But there was no

-struggle.  As has been proved by the person who examined for me this

-most deadly but inoffensive-looking weapon, anyone struck by it would

-become paralysed almost instantly.  Plainly, then, the chair was

-broken by him as he fell against it in fatal collapse."

-

-"And the stolen notes?  What of them?" asked Mr. Keppel anxiously.

-

-"Ah!" she answered.  "Those accursed notes!  On the following morning

-Laumont came to me and handed me the money, saying that as I knew the

-truth regarding the crime, he would trust me further, and give the

-money into my safe keeping.  I took it, for, truth to tell, I knew

-that he could make some very unwelcome revelations to the police

-regarding this place and the character of the play here.  Therefore I

-decided that, after all, silence was best, even though I held in my

-possession the thimble which, I presume, in his hurry to escape from

-the room, fell upon the floor and rolled away.  I took the notes, and

-for some days kept them; but finding that the police were making such

-active inquiries, I returned them to him, and he then resolved upon

-giving them to Miss Rosselli, through one of his accomplices, either

-in order further to baffle the detectives or else to throw suspicion

-upon her.  She was told some extraordinary story about a meeting in

-London, merely, of course, to put the police off the scent, and cause

-them to believe that the money was stolen by English thieves.  Soon

-afterwards I knew that Monsieur Cameron was aware of the manner in

-which his friend had been cheated here.  This caused me, from fear of

-being arrested on suspicion, to fly to Russia, arranging with my

-friends to return here on the 1st of May--to-day."

-

-"The date of your return I learnt from Laumont himself," explained

-Ernest, "for, in the course of the inquiries I made immediately after

-the tragic affair, I found that he was your intimate associate, and

-in order to divert suspicion from himself he hinted at you being the

-assassin."

-

-"He denounced me, not knowing that I held the actual evidence of his

-guilt in my hand," she cried, holding out the finger with the

-curious-looking thimble upon it.  "Poor Monsieur Thorne is, I fear,

-not the first victim who has fallen beneath the prick of this deadly

-instrument."

-

-"To whom do you refer?" inquired the detective quickly.

-

-"To Monsieur Everton, the young Englishman who was found dead about a

-year ago in the Avenue des Acacias."

-

-In an instant the man whom I had known in Leghorn as Branca sprang at

-her with all the fury of a wild beast, and, clutching her at the

-throat, tried to strangle her.  His eyes were lit by the fierce light

-of uncontrollable anger, his bushy hair giving his white face a wild

-and terrible look, and it really seemed that before the detectives

-could throw themselves upon him, the murderer would tear limb from

-limb the woman who had confessed.

-

-For a moment the detectives and the man and woman were all struggling

-wildly together.  Suddenly a loud yell of pain escaped from the

-wretched Corsican, and releasing his hold, he drew back, with his

-left hand clasped upon his wrist.

-

-He staggered, swayed unevenly, uttering terrible imprecations.

-

-"_Dieu!_" he gasped.  "_You--you've killed me!_"

-

-What had happened was easy to understand.  In the struggle the point

-of his cunning invention, which was still upon the woman's finger,

-had entered deeply the fleshy part of his wrist, injecting that

-poison that was so swift, and for which no antidote had ever been

-discovered.

-

-As he staggered, two detectives sprang forward to seize him, but

-before they could do so, he reeled, clutched at the air, and fell

-heavily backward, overturning a small table beside which he had been

-standing.

-

-Never was there a scene more ghastly.  I shall remember every detail

-of it so long as I have power to draw my breath.

-

-Five minutes later, the wretched man who had thus brought

-card-sharping and murder to a fine art had breathed his last in

-frightful agony, his ignominious career ended by his own diabolical

-invention.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XXIX

-

-CONTAINS THE CONCLUSION

-

-My reader, I have throughout been perfectly frank with you--too

-frank, perhaps.  But need I dwell further upon the stirring events of

-that night?  It is assuredly sufficient to say that the persons

-arrested by the police numbered nearly forty, all of whom were

-charged with various offences, in addition to that of being found in

-an illicit gaming-house.  Many of them, old offenders and desperate

-characters, notwithstanding the fact that they were outwardly

-respectable members of society, in due course received long periods

-of imprisonment, Vauquelin receiving a sentence of seven years.  But

-Julie Fournereau, in view of the information she had given regarding

-poor Reggie's death, was dismissed with a fine of two thousand francs

-for carrying on the house in question.  She has since disappeared

-into obscurity.  Ulrica arrived in Paris next morning from Genoa, and

-was absolutely dumbfounded when we related the whole of the amazing

-story.  That day, too, proved the happiest in all my life.  Need I

-relate how, on the following morning, Ernest sought me and begged me

-to forgive?  Or how, with tears of joy, I allowed him to hold me once

-more in his manly arms, as of old, and shower fervent kisses upon my

-face?  No.  If I were to begin to relate the joys that had now come

-to me, I should far exceed the space of a single volume.  It is

-enough that you, reader, to whom I have made confession, should know

-that within a fortnight we all returned to London, and that while

-Ulrica became engaged to Gerald, and soon afterwards married him,

-with the old man's heartiest approval, Ernest again asked me to

-become his wife.

-

-At Kensington Church, amid great _éclat_, within a month of our

-arrival back in town, my happiness broke into full flower.

-

-Ulrica tells me, in the privacy of her little blue boudoir in Eaton

-Square, that she is no longer world-weary, living only for

-excitement, as in the fevered days gone by, but that her life is full

-of a peaceful happiness that cannot be surpassed.  Nevertheless, I

-cannot really bring myself to believe that she is any happier than I

-am with Ernest in our pretty home at Hyde Park Gate, for the

-estrangement has rendered him all the more dear to me, and we are

-indeed supremely content in each other's perfect love.

-

-Mrs. Thorne, poor Reggie's mother, has returned to Hampshire, fully

-satisfied at having cleared up the mystery surrounding her son's

-tragic death; while old Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg, and

-now of Park Lane and Ulverton Towers, in Hertfordshire, still spends

-his winters in rather lonely grandeur in his great villa amid the

-palms outside Nice, working in secret at his ivory-turning, and

-giving at intervals those princely entertainments for which he has

-become so famous in the cosmopolitan society which suns itself upon

-the Riviera.

-

-As for Ernest and myself, we have not visited Nice since.  We prefer

-Cairo for the winter, with a trip up to Luxor and Assouan, for we

-retain a far too vivid recollection of those dark days of doubt,

-desperation and despair, when it was our strange and tragic lot to be

-so darkly associated with The Gamblers.

-

-

-

-THE END

-

-

-

-_Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey._

-

-

-

-

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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gamblers, by William Le Queux
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Gamblers
+
+Author: William Le Queux
+
+Release Date: June 24, 2023 [eBook #71037]
+
+Language: English
+
+Credits: Al Haines
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: "The person who murdered him was none other than
+yourself." _p._ 293.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Title page]
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+  GAMBLERS
+
+
+  By
+
+  WILLIAM LE QUEUX
+
+
+  Author of
+  "Of Royal Blood," "The Under
+  Secretary," "The Seven Secrets," etc.
+
+
+
+  London:
+  HUTCHINSON & CO.
+  Paternoster Row
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  Chapter
+
+  I.  Is Purely Personal
+  II.  Tells Something about Love
+  III.  Is a Mystery
+  IV.  Relates some Astounding Facts
+  V.  Deals with a Millionaire
+  VI.  Places Me in a Predicament
+  VII.  Mainly Concerns the Owl
+  VIII.  Narrates a Mysterious Incident
+  IX.  Shows the Bird's Talons
+  X.  Makes One Point Plain
+  XI.  Describes a Meeting and Its Sequel
+  XII.  Carries Me on Board the "_Vispera_"
+  XIII.  Discloses a Millionaire's Secret
+  XIV.  In Which I make a Resolve
+  XV.  In Which We pay a Visit Ashore
+  XVI.  Discusses Several Matters of Moment
+  XVII.  Describes a New Acquaintance
+  XVIII.  Creates Another Problem
+  XIX.  A Millionaire's Manoeuvres
+  XX.  Wherein Captain Davis Speaks his Mind
+  XXI.  Is Astonishing
+  XXII.  Is More Astonishing
+  XXIII.  Confides the Story of a Table
+  XXIV.  In Which Matters Assume a Very Complex Aspect
+  XXV.  Presents a Curious Phase
+  XXVI.  Gives the Key to the Cipher
+  XXVII.  Pieces Together the Puzzle
+  XXVIII.  Reveals the Truth
+  XXIX.  Contains the Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+THE GAMBLERS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+IS PURELY PERSONAL
+
+No.  I dare not reveal anything here, lest I may be misjudged.
+
+The narrative is, to say the least, a strange one; so strange,
+indeed, that had I not been one of the actual persons concerned in it
+I would never have believed such things were possible.
+
+Yet these chapters of an eventful personal history, remarkable though
+they may appear, nevertheless form an unusual story--a combination of
+circumstances which will be found startling and curious, idyllic and
+tragic.
+
+Reader, I would confess all, if I dared, but each of us has a
+skeleton in the cupboard, both you and I, for alas! I am no exception
+to the general rule prevailing among women.
+
+If compelled by a natural instinct to suppress one single fact, I may
+add that it has little or nothing to do with the circumstances here
+related.  It concerns only myself, and no woman cares to supply food
+for gossips at her own expense.
+
+To be brief, it is my intention to narrate plainly and
+straightforwardly what occurred, while hoping that all who read may
+approach my story with a perfectly open mind, and afterwards judge me
+fairly, impartially, and without the prejudice likely to be
+entertained against one whose shortcomings are many, and whose
+actions have perhaps not always been tempered by wisdom.
+
+My name is Carmela Rosselli.  I am English, of Italian extraction,
+five-and-twenty years of age, and for many years--yes, I confess it
+freely--I have been utterly world-weary.  I am an only child.  My
+mother, one of the Yorkshire Burnetts, married Romolo Annibale,
+Marchese Rosselli, an impecunious member of the Florentine
+aristocracy, and after a childhood passed in Venice I was sent to the
+Convent of San Paolo della Croce, in the Val d'Ema, near Florence, to
+obtain my education.  My mother's money enabled the Marchese to live
+in the reckless style customary to a gentleman of the Tuscan
+nobility; but, unfortunately for me, both my parents died when I was
+fifteen, and left me in the care of a second cousin, a woman but a
+few years older than myself--kind-hearted, everything that was most
+English and womanly, and in all respects truly devoted to me.
+
+Thus it was that at the age of eighteen I received the maternal kiss
+of the grave-eyed Mother Superior, Suor Maria, and of all the good
+sisters in turn, and then travelled to London, accompanied by my
+guardian, Ulrica Yorke.
+
+Like myself, Ulrica was wealthy; and because she was very smart and
+good-looking she did not want for admirers.  We lived together at
+Queen's Gate for several years, amid that society which circles
+around Kensington Church, until one rather dull afternoon in autumn
+Ulrica made a most welcome suggestion.
+
+"Carmela, I am ruined, morally and physically.  I feel that I want a
+complete change."
+
+I suggested Biarritz or Davos for the winter,
+
+"No," she answered.  "I feel that I must build up my constitution as
+well as my spirits.  The gayer Continent is the only place--say Paris
+for a month, Monte Carlo for January, then Rome till after Easter."
+
+"To Monte Carlo!" I gasped.
+
+"Why not?" she inquired.  "You have money, and we may just as well go
+abroad for a year to enjoy ourselves as vegetate here."
+
+"You are tired of Guy?" I observed.
+
+She shrugged her well-formed shoulders, pursed her lips, and
+contemplated her rings.
+
+"He has become a little too serious," she said simply.
+
+"And you want to escape him?" I remarked.  "Do you know, Ulrica, I
+believe he really loves you."
+
+"Well, and if he does?"
+
+"I thought you told me, only a couple of months ago, that he was the
+best-looking man in London, and that you had utterly lost your heart
+to him."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"I've lost it so many times that I begin to believe I don't nowadays
+possess that very useful portion of the human anatomy.  But," she
+added, "you pity him, eh?  My dear Carmela, you should never pity a
+man.  Not one of them is really worth sympathy.  Nineteen out of
+every twenty are ready to declare love to any good-looking woman with
+money.  Remember your dearest Ernest."
+
+Mention of that name caused me a twinge.
+
+"I have forgotten him!" I cried hotly.  "I have forgiven--all that
+belongs to the past."
+
+She laughed again.
+
+"And you will go on the Continent with me?" she asked.  "You will go
+to commence life afresh.  What a funny thing life is, isn't it?"
+
+I responded in the affirmative.  Truth to tell, I was very glad of
+that opportunity to escape from the eternal shopping in the High
+Street and the round of Kensington life, which daily reminded me of
+the man whom I had loved.  Ulrica knew it, but she was careful to
+avoid all further mention of the grief that was wearing out my heart.
+
+At the outset of our pilgrimage to the South of Europe we went to
+Paris.  In the gay city two women with money and without encumbrances
+can have a really good time.  We stayed at the "Chatham," a hotel
+much resorted to by our compatriots, and met there quite a lot of
+people we knew, including several rather nice men whom we had known
+in London, and who appeared to consider it their duty to show us the
+sights, many of which we had seen before.
+
+Need I describe them?  I think not.  Those who read these lines
+probably know them all, from that sorry exhibition of terpsichorean
+art in the elephant at the Red Windmill down to the so-called
+_cabarets artistiques_ of the Montmartre, "Heaven," "Hell," and the
+other places.
+
+Each evening we dined at six, and went forth pleasure-seeking,
+sometimes unattended, and at others with our friends.  We were
+catholic in our tastes.  We saw _La Bohême_ at the Opera, and
+attended a ball at the Bullier; we strolled along the carpeted
+promenade of Aspasia at the Folies Bergères, and laughed at the
+quadrilles at the Casino, and at that resort of the little
+work-girls, the Moulin la Galette; we listened to the cadence of
+Sarah Bernhardt's wonderful voice, and to the patter of the _revue_
+at La Scala; we watched the dancing of La Belle Otero and the
+statuesque poses of Degaby.  Truly, we had our fill of variety
+theatres.
+
+In common, too, with the foreigner who goes to "see life" in Paris,
+we did the round of the restaurants--from supper at the Cafê de
+Paris, or the Cafê Américain, to the humble two-franc dinner at
+Léon's in the Rue St. Honoré, or the one-franc-fifty lunch at Gazal's
+in the Place du Théâtre Français.  We had our meal, too, one evening
+at that restaurant which is seldom even mentioned in respectable
+circles, the "Rat Mort," in the Place Pigalle.  Yes, with money one
+is seldom _triste_ in Paris, and I was really sorry when, in the last
+week of the year, after Felicita had packed our trunks, we set out
+for the Riviera.
+
+Travelling on those abominable gridirons which on the Continent are
+called railways, is absolutely disgusting after our own English
+lines, with their dining-cars and other comforts.  Of all the
+railways that intersect the Continent, the P.L.M., which has a
+monopoly to the Mediterranean, is the most inconvenient, disobliging,
+and completely abominable.  To obtain the smallest comfort on the
+eighteen-hour journey between Paris and Nice, an addition of three
+pounds is charged upon the first-class fare, and that for a single
+night in a third-rate sleeping-car!  Ulrica said it was termed the
+_train de luxe_ only because it looks swagger to travel by it.  We
+occupied a couple of berths in it, but agreed that the additional
+three pounds were ill-spent indeed, for the badly-cooked food was
+absurdly dear.
+
+Moreover, as the water for toilet purposes gave out before reaching
+Lyons, we had to buy bottles of mineral water, and perform our
+ablutions in a mixture of Vichy Celestins and eau-de-cologne.  It was
+remarked by an old and apparently experienced traveller that the
+water in the _wagons lits_ is purposely scanty in order to increase
+the takings of the restaurant cars; and I certainly believed him.
+
+For a woman young in years I have had considerable experience of
+European railways, from the crawling Midi of France to the lightning
+Nord; but for dirt and dearness, commend me to the great highway to
+the Riviera.  To take a small trunk from Paris to Nice costs more
+than the fare of one's maid; while to those who do not pay for the
+train of luxury, but travel in the ordinary padded horse-boxes, the
+journey means a couple of days of suffocation and semi-starvation.
+
+"My dear Carmela," said Ulrica, while we were on the journey, "I've
+thought of a plan.  Why not go to some cheap hotel, or even _pension_
+at Nice, and play at Monte Carlo with the money we save?"
+
+I had never seen the far-famed Monte Carlo, but as the idea of
+economy seemed an excellent one, I at once endorsed her suggestion,
+and that same night we found ourselves at one of those _pensions_
+which flourish so amazingly well at Nice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+TELLS SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE
+
+Reader, have you ever lived in an English _pension_ on the Riviera?
+Have you ever inhabited a small cubicle containing a chair, a deal
+table, a narrow bed--with mosquito curtains--and a hung-up
+looking-glass, and partaken of that cheap, ill-cooked food, the
+stale-egg omelette and the tough _biftek_, served in the bare
+_salle-à-manger_ by one of those seedy, unshaven waiters who appear
+to be specially bred for the cheap Riviera boarding-houses?  Have you
+ever spent an evening with that mixed crowd of ascetic persons who
+nightly congregate in the fusty _salon_, play upon a cracked piano,
+screech old-fashioned sentimentalities, exhibit their faded finery,
+paste jewels and bony chests, and otherwise make the hours, following
+dinner absolutely hideous?  If not, a week of this life will be found
+to be highly amusing.
+
+"My dear," Ulrica whispered, as we followed the proprietress, a buxom
+Frenchwoman in black satin, along the bare, white-washed corridor to
+our rooms, "hotel or work-house--which?"
+
+There was a comfortless look everywhere, even though the spread of
+the blue sea and the palm-planted Promenade des Anglais were
+magnificent parts of the view, and the warm winter sunshine streamed
+into our tiny rooms--chambers so small that our trunks had to be
+placed in the corridor.
+
+We changed our frocks and went down to dinner, discovering the
+_salle-à-manger_ by its smell.  What a scene presented itself at that
+_table d'hôte_!  The long table was crowded by a host of dowdy women,
+generally wearing caps of soiled lace and faded ribbons, with one or
+two dismal-looking and elderly men.  Of spinsters there were not a
+few, and of widows many, but one and all possessed the stamp of
+persons of small means struggling perseveringly to obtain their fill
+for the ten francs _par jour_ which they paid for their "south rooms."
+
+As new-comers, we were directed to seats at the bottom of the table;
+and after we had suffered from a watery concoction which the menu
+described as _potage_, we proceeded to survey our fellow-guests in
+that cheap and respectable _pension_.
+
+That they were severely respectable there could certainly be no
+doubt.  There were a couple of drawling English clergymen, with their
+wives--typical vicars' wives who patronised their neighbours; two or
+three sad-faced young girls, accompanied by ascetic relatives; a
+young Frenchman who eyed Ulrica all the time; one or two hen-pecked
+husbands of the usual type to be found in such hostelries of the
+aged; and an old lady who sat in state at the extreme end of the
+table, and much amused us by her efforts at juvenility.  Besides
+ourselves, she was apparently the only person who had a maid with
+her; and in order to exhibit that fact, she sent for her
+smelling-salts during dinner.  She was long past sixty, yet dressed
+in a style becoming a girl of eighteen, in bright colours and lace,
+her fair wig being dressed in the latest Parisian style, and the
+wrinkles of her cheeks filled up by various creams and face powders.
+
+"That old crow is an absolute terror!" observed Ulrica to me in an
+undertone, and out of sheer devilry she at once commenced a
+conversation with this rejuvenated hag, who, as we learned later, was
+an exportation from one of the London suburbs.
+
+The conversation, started by Ulrica and continued by myself, proved
+most amusing to us both.  The old woman whose name was Blackett, had
+just enough to live upon, we afterwards discovered, but came each
+year to the _pension_ in order to cut a dash as a _grande dame_.  Her
+fingers were covered with paste jewels, and her finery was all of
+that cheap and tawdry kind which affects the nerves as well as the
+eyes.
+
+"Oh, yes!" she said, in a carefully cultivated voice, intended to
+show good breeding, "if this is your first visit to the Riviera,
+you'll be quite charmed--everyone is charmed with it.  As for
+myself--" and she sighed,--"I have been here each year for I don't
+know how long."
+
+"And there is lots to see?"
+
+"Lots.  Only you must drive, you know.  I myself drive at all hours
+of the day, and when the moon is up I go for moonlight drives into
+the mountains."
+
+How romantic, I thought.
+
+"I have my own coachman, you know," she added.  "I keep him all the
+year round."
+
+She had led up to the conversation merely in order to inform us of
+her generosity.
+
+So throughout the meal, which occupied nearly two hours, by reason of
+inadequate waiting, we continued to draw her out, humour her egotism,
+and cause her to make a most ridiculous display of herself, until at
+last, my sentiment changing, I felt genuinely sorry for her.
+
+"Certainly," I remarked to Ulrica as we left the table, "this is the
+most extraordinary collection of tabbies I've ever met."
+
+"My dear," she said, "what has been puzzling me all the evening is
+their place of origin.  Some, I regret to say, are actually our own
+compatriots.  But where do they come from?"
+
+"It's a special breed peculiar to _pensions_ on the Riviera," I
+remarked; and together we ascended to the frowsy drawing-room, where
+the red plush-covered furniture exuded an odour of mustiness, and the
+carpet was sadly moth-eaten and thread-bare.
+
+Around the central table a dozen angular women of uncertain age
+grouped themselves and formed a sewing-party; a retired colonel, who
+seemed a good fellow, buried himself in the _Contemporary_; a
+decrepit old gentleman wearing a skull-cap and a shawl about his
+shoulders, heaped logs upon the fire and sat with his feet on the
+fender, although the atmosphere was stifling, while somebody else
+induced a young lady with a voice like a file to sing a plaintive
+love-song, accompanied by the untuned piano.
+
+During my previous winters in the South I had stayed at hotels.  In
+my ignorance of the ways of cheap visitors to the Riviera, I believed
+this congregation to be unique, but Ulrica assured me that it was
+typical of all English _pensions_ along the Côte d'Azur, from Cannes
+to Bordighera, and I can now fully endorse her statement.
+
+To describe in detail the many comic scenes enacted is unnecessary.
+The people were too ludicrous for words.  One family in especial
+endeavoured to entice us to friendliness.  Its head was a very tall,
+muscular, black-haired French-woman, who had married an Englishman.
+The latter had died fifteen years ago, leaving her with a son and
+daughter, the former a school boy of sixteen, and the latter a
+fair-haired and very freckled girl of perhaps twenty.  The woman's
+name was Egerton, and she was of that dashing type who can wear
+scarlet dresses at dinner, and whose cheeks dazzle one's eyes on
+account of the rouge upon them.  She was loud, coarse, and vulgar.
+For the benefit of all the others, she spoke daily of the delicacies
+prepared by her own _chef_, sneered at the food of the _pension_, and
+ordered special messes for her own consumption.  Before we had known
+her an hour she had given us a description of the wonderful interior
+of her house in Rome, enumerated her servants, and gave us to
+understand that she was exceedingly well-off, and quite a superior
+person.  The people one meets on the Riviera are really very
+entertaining.
+
+Ulrica was grimly sarcastic.  As we had neither intention nor
+inclination to associate with this superior relict, we politely
+snubbed her, taking care that it should not be done in secret.
+
+"I don't think our effort at economy has met with very much success,"
+I remarked to Ulrica, when about a week later I sat over the cup of
+half-cold coffee, the stale egg, the hunk of bread and the pat of
+rancid butter, which together formed my breakfast.
+
+"No, a week of it is quite sufficient," she laughed.  "We'll leave
+to-morrow."
+
+"Then you've given notice?"
+
+"Of course.  I only came here for a week's amusement.  We'll go on to
+the 'Grand.'"
+
+So on the following day our trunks were called for by the hotel
+omnibus, and we took up our quarters in that well-known hotel on the
+Quai St. Jean Baptiste.  Ulrica had known the Riviera ever since her
+girlhood.  With her parents she had gone abroad each autumn, had seen
+most of the sights, and had thus received her education as a smart
+woman.
+
+We were in the _salon_ of the "Grand" on the night of our arrival,
+when suddenly someone uttered my name.  We both turned quickly, and
+to our surprise saw two men we knew quite well in London standing
+before us.  One was Reginald Thorne, a dark-haired and more than
+usually good-looking youth of about twenty-two or so, while the other
+was Gerald Keppel, a thin, fair-moustached young man, some seven
+years his senior, son of old Benjamin Keppel, the well-known South
+African millionaire.  Gerald was an old friend, but the former I knew
+but slightly, having met him once or twice at dances, for in
+Kensington he was among the chief of the eligibles.
+
+"Why, my dear Miss Rosselli!" he cried enthusiastically as we shook
+hands.  "I'm so awfully glad to meet you!  I had no idea you were
+here.  Gerald was here dining with me, and we caught sight of you
+through the glass doors."
+
+"Then you're staying here?" I asked.
+
+"Yes.  Gerald's staying with his guv'nor.  He has a villa out at
+Fabron.  Have you been here long?"
+
+"We've been in Nice a week," interposed Ulrica, "and we haven't found
+a single soul we know until now.  I feel sure you'll take pity upon
+our loneliness, Mr. Thorne, won't you?"
+
+"Of course!" he laughed.  "I suppose you go to Monte Carlo?"
+
+"You men think of nothing but roulette and dinners at the 'Paris,'"
+she responded reproachfully, adding: "But after all, should we be
+women if we had no soul for gambling?  Have you had any luck this
+season?"
+
+"Can't complain," he smiled.  "I've been staying over there for ten
+days or so.  Gerald has had quite a run of good fortune.  The other
+night he won the maximum on the _zero-trois_ three times."
+
+"Congratulations, my dear Gerald!" exclaimed Ulrica approvingly.
+"You shall both take us over one day and let us try our fortune--if
+Mr. Thorne is agreeable."
+
+"Delighted, I'm sure," answered the latter, glancing at me; and by
+the look he gave me I felt convinced that my suspicions, aroused in
+London about a year before, were not quite groundless.  His glance
+was a convincing proof that he admired me.
+
+The fault of us women is that we so often over-esteem the value of
+our good looks.  To my mind the possession of handsome toilettes is
+quite as essential to a woman's well-being and man's contentment as
+are personal attractions.  A woman, however beautiful she may be,
+loses half her charm to men's eyes if she dresses dowdily, or without
+taste.  Nobody ever saw a really beautiful Parisienne.  For the most
+part, the ladies of the French capital are thin-nosed, thin-lipped,
+scraggy-necked, yellow-faced and absolutely ugly; yet are they not,
+merely by reason of their _chic_ in dress, the most attractive women
+in the world?  I know that many will dissent from this estimate; but
+as my mirror tells me that I have a face more than commonly handsome,
+and as dozens of men have further endorsed the mute evidence of my
+toilet-glass, I can only confess that all my triumphs and all my
+harmless flirtations have had their beginnings in the attraction
+exercised by the dainty creations of my _couturière_.  We hear much
+complaining among women to the effect that there are not a sufficient
+number of nice men to go round; but after all, the woman who knows
+how to dress need have no lack of offers of marriage.  American women
+on the Continent can always be distinguished from the English, and it
+is certain that to their quiet _chic_ in frills and furbelows their
+success in the marriage market is due.
+
+Yes, there was no doubt that Reggie Thorne admired me.  I had
+suspected it on the night when we had waltzed together at the
+Pendyman's, and afterwards gossiped together over ices; but with a
+woman flirtations of the ball-room are soon forgotten, and, truth to
+tell, I had forgotten him until our sudden and unexpected meeting.
+
+"What awfully good luck we've met Gerald and Reggie," Ulrica said,
+when, half-an-hour later, we were seated together in the privacy of
+our sitting-room.  "Gerald, poor boy, was always a bit gone on me in
+London; and as for Reggie--well, he'll make an excellent cavalier for
+you.  Even if Mother Grundy is dead and buried, it isn't very
+respectable to be constantly trotting over to Monte Carlo without
+male escort."
+
+"You mean that they'll be a couple of useful males?"
+
+"Certainly.  Their coming is quite providential.  Some of Gerald's
+luck at the tables may be reflected upon us.  I should dearly like to
+make my expenses at roulette."
+
+"So should I."
+
+"There's no reason why we shouldn't," she went on.  "I know quite a
+lot of people who've won enough to pay for the whole winter on the
+Riviera."
+
+"Reggie has money, hasn't he?"
+
+"Of course.  The old man was on the Stock Exchange and died very
+comfortably off.  All of it went to Reggie, except an annuity settled
+on his mother.  Of course, he's spent a good deal since.  A man
+doesn't live in the Albany as he does, drive tandem, and all that
+sort of thing, on nothing a year."
+
+"They used to say that Gerald Keppel hadn't a shilling beyond what
+the old man allowed him monthly--a most niggardly allowance, I've
+heard."
+
+"That's quite possible, my dear Carmela," she answered.  "But one's
+position might be a good deal worse than the only son of a
+millionaire.  Old Benjamin is eccentric.  I've met the old buffer
+several times.  He's addicted to my pet abomination in a man--paper
+collars."
+
+"Then you'll take Gerald as your cavalier, and allot Reggie to me?" I
+laughed.
+
+"Yes.  I'm self-sacrificing, am I not?"
+
+She was in high spirits, for she had long ago fascinated Gerald
+Keppel, and now intended to make use of him as her escort to that
+Palace of Delight which somebody has suggested might well be known as
+the Sign of the Seven Sins.
+
+Ulrica was a typical woman of the up-to-date type--pretty, with soft,
+wavy, chestnut hair and a pair of brown eyes that had attracted a
+host of men who had bowed down and worshipped at her shrine; yet
+beneath her corsets, as I alone knew, there beat a heart from which,
+alas! all love and sympathy had long ago died out.  To her,
+excitement, change and flirtation were as food and drink; she could
+not live without them.  Neither, indeed, could I, for by living with
+her ever since my convent-days I had copied her smart ideas and
+notions, stimulated by attacks of nerves.
+
+A few days later, having lunched with Reggie and Gerald at the hotel,
+we went over with the usual crowd to Monte Carlo by the two o'clock
+"yellow" express.
+
+Reader, you probably know the panorama of the Riviera--that stretch
+of azure sky, azure sea, rugged coast; purple hills clad with olives
+and pines; rose, heliotrope, and geranium running riot in the gardens
+of the white villas, with their marble terraces.
+
+When I entered for the first time that wild, turbulent,
+close-smelling _salle de jeu_ at Monte Carlo, where the croupiers
+were crying in strident tones, "_Messieurs, faites vos jeux!_" and
+uttering in warning voice, "_Rien ne va plus!_" I gazed around me
+bewildered.  Who were those grabbing crowds of smartly-dressed people
+grouped around the tables?  Were they actually civilised human
+beings--beings who had loved, suffered and lived, as I had loved,
+suffered and lived?
+
+How beautiful it was outside in that gay little place, with the Red
+Hungarian Band playing on the terrace of the Café de Paris, and half
+the _grand monde_ of Europe lounging about and chattering!  How
+enchanting was the grim Dog's Head as a fitting background in dark
+purple against the winter sunset, the brown Grimaldi rock rising
+sheer from the sea to the castellated walls of the Palace; to the
+right, Villefranche and San Juan dark upon the horizon,--the serrated
+Esterels dark and mysterious afar; while to the left, Bordighera was
+sparkling white in the sunshine.  And beyond there was Italy--my own
+fair Italy!  Out in that flower-scented, limpid air earth was a
+paradise; within those stifling gilt saloons, where the light of day
+was tempered by the thick curtains, and the clink of gold mingled
+with the dull hum of the avaricious crowd, it was a veritable hell.
+
+Some years ago--ah! now I am looking back; Ulrica is not at fault
+this time.  No, I must not think.  I have promised myself not to
+think during my work upon this narrative, but to try to forget all
+past unhappiness.  To try!  Ah!  I would that I could calm my
+soul--steep it in a draught of such thoughtlessness that oblivion
+would come!  But I fear that can never, never be!
+
+It is terrible to think how a woman can suffer, and yet live.  What a
+blessing it is that the world cannot read a woman's heart!  Men may
+look upon our faces, but they cannot read the truth.  Even though our
+hearts may be breaking, we may wear a smile; we can conceal our
+sorrows so cleverly that none can suspect, for smiles make a part of
+our physical being; we can hide our grief so completely that none can
+know the burden upon us.  Endurance, resistance, patience, suffering,
+all these belong to woman's heritage.  Even in the few years I have
+lived, I have had my share of them all.
+
+I stood bewildered, watching the revolving red and black
+roulette-wheel, and the eager crowd of faces around it.
+
+"_Vingt!  Rouge, pair et passe!_" the croupier cried, and a couple of
+louis which Ulrica had placed on the last dozen were swept away with
+the silver, notes and gold, to swell the bank.
+
+I thought of my secret grief.  I thought of Ernest Cameron, and
+pursed my lips.  The old Tuscan proverb which the nuns in Firenze had
+taught me so long ago was very true: "_Amore non é senza amaro_."
+
+The millionaire's son at my elbow was explaining to me how the game
+was played, but I was paying no attention.  I only remembered the man
+I had once loved--the man whose slave I was--the man whom I had
+forgiven, even though he had left me so cruelly.  Only three things
+could make life to me worth living--the sight of his face, the sound
+of his voice, the touch of his lips.
+
+But such fine fortune could never be.  We were parted for ever--for
+ever!
+
+"Now, play this time!" I heard Reggie exclaim.
+
+"Where?" I inquired mechanically, his voice awakening me to a sense
+of my surroundings.
+
+"On the line, there--between the numbers 9 and 12."
+
+I took a louis from my purse, and with the rake carelessly pushed it
+upon the line he had indicated.  Then I turned to talk with Gerald.
+
+"_Rien ne va plus!_" cried the croupier.
+
+A hundred necks were craned to watch the result.
+
+The ball fell with a final click into one of the little spaces upon
+the wheel.
+
+"_Neuf!  Rouge, impair et manque!_"
+
+"You've won, my dear!" cried Ulrica excitedly, and in a few moments
+Reggie, who raked up my winnings, gave me quite a handful of gold.
+
+"There now!" he said, "you've made your first _coup_.  Try again."
+
+I crammed the gold into my purse, but it would not hold it all.  The
+three louis upon which the purse would not close I held doubtfully in
+my hand.
+
+"Play on the _treize-dix-huit_ this time!" urged Reggie, and I obeyed
+him blindly.
+
+As the number 18 came up, I again received another little handful of
+gold.  I knew that many envious eyes were cast in my direction, and
+the excitement of winning was an entirely new sensation.
+
+Ulrica fancied the last dozen, and I placed five louis upon it,
+winning a third time.  Having won eight hundred francs in three turns
+of the wheel, I began to think roulette was not such wearying fun as
+I had once believed it to be.
+
+I wanted to continue playing, but the others prevented me.  They knew
+too well that the bank at Monte Carlo only lends its money to the
+players.  With Reggie at my side I went out, strolled through those
+beautiful gardens beside the sea, watched the pigeon-shooting, and
+afterwards sat on the terrace of the Café de Paris, where to the full
+I enjoyed a sunset of extraordinary radiance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IS A MYSTERY
+
+I was left alone with Reggie, for Ulrica had taken Gerald into the
+orchestral concert.
+
+"What awfully good luck you had!" he observed, after we had been
+chatting some time.  "If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd
+have won over seven hundred pounds."
+
+"There are a good many 'ifs' in gambling," I remarked.  "I've never
+had any luck before in gambles at bazaars and such-like places."
+
+"When you do have luck, follow it, is my motto," he laughed.  "I
+should have advised you to continue playing to-day, only I thought it
+might annoy Ulrica," and he raised his whisky and seltzer to his lips.
+
+"But I might have lost all I won," I remarked.  "No, I prefer to keep
+it.  I'd like to be unique among other people and go away with some
+of the bank's money, I intend to keep what I have, and not to play
+again."
+
+"Never?"
+
+"Never!"
+
+"My dear Miss Rosselli, that's what everyone says here," he laughed.
+"But before you've been on the Riviera long you'll soon discover that
+this is no place for good resolutions.  Gambling is one of the
+sweetest and most insidious of vices, and has the additional
+attraction of being thought _chic_.  Look at the crowd of women here!
+Why, every one of them plays.  If she didn't, others would believe
+her to be hard-up--and poverty, you know, is distinctly bad form
+here.  Even if a woman hasn't sufficient to pay her hotel bill, she
+must wear the regulation gold chatelaine and the gold chain-purse, if
+it only contains a couple of pieces of a hundred sous.  And she must
+play.  Fortunes have been won with only five francs."
+
+"Such stories, I fear, are only fairy tales," I said incredulously.
+
+"No.  At least, one of them is not," he answered, blowing a cloud of
+smoke from his lips and looking at me amusedly.  "I was playing here
+one night last March when a young French girl won three hundred
+thousand francs after having first lost all she had.  She borrowed a
+five-franc piece from a friend, and with it broke the bank.  I was
+present at the table where it occurred.  Fortune is very fickle here."
+
+"So it seems," I said.  "That is why I intend to keep what I've won."
+
+"You might have a necklace made of the louis," he said.  "Many women
+wear coins won at Monte attached to their bangles, along with golden
+pigs and enamelled discs bearing the fatal number thirteen."
+
+"A happy thought!" I exclaimed.  "I'll have one put on my bangle
+to-morrow as a souvenir."
+
+"Are you staying on the Riviera long?" he inquired presently.
+
+"I really don't know.  When Ulrica is tired of it we shall move down
+to Rome, I suppose."
+
+"When she's lost sufficient, you mean," he smiled.  "She's quite
+reckless when she commences.  I remember her here several seasons
+ago.  She lost very heavily.  Luck was entirely against her."
+
+I, too, remember her visit.  She left me in London and went to the
+Riviera for a couple of months, and on her return was constantly
+bewailing her penury.  This, then, was the secret of it.  She had
+never revealed to me the truth.
+
+"And you think that I shall be stricken with the prevalent epidemic?"
+I inquired.
+
+"I hope not," he answered quickly.  "But, after all, the temptation
+is utterly irresistible.  It is sad, indeed, that here, in this
+corner of God's earth, which He has marked as the nearest approach to
+Paradise created, should be allowed to flaunt all the vices which
+render the world horrible.  Monte Carlo is the one blot upon the
+Riviera.  I'm a gambler--I make no secret of it, because I find
+resistance impossible while I have money in my pocket--nevertheless,
+much as I like a fling here each winter, I would gladly welcome the
+closing of the Casino.  It has been well said that those red-carpeted
+steps and the wide doors opposite form the entrance-gate to hell."
+
+I sighed, glancing over to the flight of steps opposite, where all
+sorts of women, wintering among temptations in summer toilettes, were
+passing up and down.  He was possessed of common sense, and spoke the
+truth.  Inside those Rooms the perspiring and perfumed crowds were
+fluttering round the tables as moths round a candle, going headlong
+to ruin, both moral and financial.
+
+"Yes," I observed reflectively, "I suppose you're right.  Thousands
+have been ruined within that place."
+
+"And thousands have ended by committing suicide," he added.  "The
+average number of suicides within this tiny Principality of Monaco is
+more than two a day!"
+
+"More than two a day!" I exclaimed incredulously.
+
+"Yes.  Of course, the authorities bribe the Press to hush it all up,
+but the authentic figures were published not long ago.  The
+Administrator of the Casino finds it cheaper to bury a corpse than to
+pay a ruined gambler's fare to St. Petersburg, London, or New York.
+That's why the poor devils who are cleaned out find the
+much-talked-of _viatique_ so difficult to obtain.  Human life is held
+very cheap here, I can tell you."
+
+"Oh, don't talk like that!" I protested.  "You make one feel quite
+nervous.  Do you mean that murder is often committed?"
+
+"Well--not exactly that.  But one must always remember that here,
+mixing with the best people of Europe, are the very scum of the
+world, both male and female.  Although they dress elegantly, live
+well, play boldly, and give themselves airs and false titles of
+nobility, and wear decorations to which they are not entitled, they
+are a very queer and unscrupulous crowd, I can assure you."
+
+"Do you know any of them by sight?" I inquired, much interested.
+
+"Oh, one or two," he answered, laughing.  "Some of them are, of
+course, eccentric and quite harmless characters."  Then a moment
+later he added: "Do you see that tall, thin old man just ascending
+the steps--the one with the soft white felt hat?  Well, his is a
+curious story.  Twenty years ago he came here as a millionaire, and
+within a month lost everything he possessed at _trente et quarante_.
+So huge were the profits made by the bank that, instead of giving him
+his _viatique_ to London, they allotted him a pension of a louis a
+day for life, on the understanding that he should never again enter
+the Rooms.  For nearly twenty years he lived in Nice, haunting the
+Promenade des Anglais, and brooding over his past foolishness.  Last
+year, however, somebody died unexpectedly, and left him quite
+comfortably off, whereupon he paid back to Monte Carlo all that he
+had received and returned again to gamble.  His luck, however, has
+proved just as bad as before.  Yet each month, as soon as he draws
+his income, he comes over, and in a single day flings it all away
+upon the red, his favourite colour.  His history is only one of many."
+
+With interest I looked at the tall, thin-faced old gambler as he
+painfully ascended the steps; and even as I watched he passed in,
+eager to fling away all that stood between himself and starvation.
+
+Truly, the world of Monte Carlo is a very queer place.
+
+Ulrica and Gerald came laughing across the leafy Place and joined us
+at our table.  It was very pleasant there, with the band playing the
+latest waltzes, the gay promenaders strolling beneath the palms, the
+bright flowers and the pigeons strutting in the roadway.  Indeed, as
+one sat there it seemed hard to believe that this was actually the
+much-talked-of Monte Carlo--the plague-spot of Europe.
+
+I don't think that I ever saw Ulrica look so well as on that
+afternoon in the white serge which she had had made in Paris; for
+white serge is, as you know, always _de rigueur_ at Monte in winter,
+with white hat and white shoes.  I was also in white, but it never
+suited me as it did her, yet one had to be smart, even at the expense
+of one's complexion.  At Monte Carlo one must at least be
+respectable, even in one's vices.
+
+"Come, let's go back to the Rooms," suggested Ulrica, when she had
+finished her tea, flavoured with orange-flower water in accordance
+with the mode at the Café de Paris.
+
+"Miss Rosselli won't play any more," said Reggie.
+
+"My dear Carmela!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, surely, you've the pluck to
+follow your good fortune!"
+
+But I was obdurate, and although I accompanied the others I did not
+risk a single sou.
+
+The place was crowded, and the atmosphere absolutely unbearable, as
+it always becomes about five o'clock.  The Administration appear
+afraid of letting in a little air to cool the heads of the players,
+hence the Rooms are, as it were, hermetically sealed.
+
+As I wandered about with Reggie, he pointed out to me other
+well-known characters in the Rooms--the queer old fellow who carries
+a bag-purse made of coloured beads; the old hag with a moustache who
+always brings her own rake; the bright-eyed, dashing woman known to
+the croupiers as "The Golden Hand"; the thin, wizen-faced little
+hunch-back, who one night a few months before had broken the bank at
+the first roulette table on the left; men working so-called
+"systems," and women trying to snatch up other people's winnings.
+Now and then my companion placed a louis upon a _transversale_ or
+_colonne_, and once or twice he won; but declaring that he had no
+luck that day, he soon grew as tired of it as myself.
+
+Ulrica came up to us flushed with excitement.  She had won three
+hundred francs at the table where she always played.  Her favourite
+croupier was turning the wheel, and he always brought her luck.  We
+had both won, and she declared it to be a happy augury for the future.
+
+While we were standing there the croupier's voice sounded loud and
+clear "Zero!" with that long roll of the "r" which _habitués_ of the
+Rooms know so well.
+
+"Zero!" cried Reggie.  "By Jove!  I must put something on," and
+hurrying toward the table he handed the croupier a hundred-franc
+note, with a request to put it on the number 29.
+
+The game was made and the ball fell.
+
+"_Vingt-neuf!  Rouge, impair et passe!_"
+
+"By Jove!" cried Gerald.  "He's won!  Lucky devil!  How extraordinary
+that after zero the number 29 so frequently follows!"
+
+The croupier handed Reggie three thousand-franc notes and quite a
+handful of gold.  Then the lucky player moved his original stake on
+to the little square marked 36.
+
+Again he won, and again and again.  The three thousand-franc notes he
+had just received he placed upon the middle dozen.  The number 18
+turned up, and the croupier handed him six thousand francs--the
+maximum paid by the bank on a single _coup_.  Every eye around that
+table watched him narrowly.  People began to follow his play, placing
+their money beside his, and time after time he won, making only a few
+unimportant losses.
+
+We stood watching him in silent wonder.  The luck of the man with
+whom I had been flirting was simply marvellous.  Sometimes he
+distributed his stakes on the colour, the dozens and the "pair," and
+thus often won in several places at the same time.  The eager,
+grabbing crowd surged round the table and the excitement quickly rose
+to fever heat.  The assault Reggie was making upon the bank was
+certainly a formidable one.  His inner pockets bulged with the mass
+of notes he had crammed there, and the outer pockets of his jacket
+were heavy with golden louis.
+
+Ulrica stood behind him, but uttered no word.  To speak to a person
+while playing is believed by the gambler at Monte Carlo to bring evil
+fortune.
+
+When he could cram no more notes into his pockets, he passed them to
+Ulrica, who held them in an overflow bundle in her hand.
+
+He tossed a thousand francs on the red, but lost, together with the
+dozens of others who had followed his play.
+
+He played again, with no better result.
+
+A third time he played on the red, which had not been up for nine
+times in succession, a most unusual run.
+
+Black won.
+
+"I've finished," he said, turning to us with a laugh.  "Let's get out
+of this--my luck has changed."
+
+"Marvellous!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, you must have won quite a fortune!"
+
+"We'll go across to the Café and count it," he said, and we all
+walked out together; and while sitting at one of the tables we helped
+him to count the piles of gold and notes.
+
+He had, we found, won over sixty thousand francs.
+
+At his invitation we went along to Gast's, the jeweller's, in the
+Galerie, and he there purchased for each of us a ring as a little
+souvenir of the day.  Then we entered Giro's and dined.
+
+Yes, life at Monte Carlo is absolutely intoxicating.  Now, however,
+that I sit here calmly reflecting on the events of that day when I
+first entered the Sign of the Seven Sins, I find that even though the
+display of such wealth as one sees upon the tables is dazzling, yet
+my first impression of it has never been altered.
+
+I hated Monte Carlo from the first.  I hate it now.
+
+The talk at dinner was, of course, the argot of the Rooms.  At Monte
+Carlo the conversation is always of play.  If you meet an
+acquaintance, you do not ask after her health, but of her luck and
+her latest successes.
+
+The two bejewelled worlds, the _monde_ and the _demi-monde_, ate,
+drank, and chattered in that restaurant of wide renown.  The company
+was cosmopolitan, the conversation polyglot, the dishes marvellous.
+At the table next us there sat the Grand-Duke Michael of Russia, with
+the Countess Torby, and beyond a British earl with a couple of smart
+military men.  The United States Ambassador to Germany was at another
+table with a small party of friends; while La Juniori, Derval, and
+several other well-known Parisian beauties were scattered here and
+there.
+
+I was laughing at a joke of Reggie's, when suddenly I raised my eyes
+and saw a pair of new-comers.  The man was tall, dark, handsome, with
+face a trifle bronzed--a face I knew only too well!
+
+I started, and must have turned pale, for I knew from Ulrica's
+expression that she noticed it.
+
+The man who entered there, as though to taunt me with his presence,
+was Ernest Cameron, the man whom I had loved--nay, whom I still
+loved--the man who had a year ago cast me aside for another and left
+me to wear out my young heart in sorrow and suffering.
+
+That woman was with him--the tow-haired woman whom they told me he
+had promised to make his wife.  I had never seen her before.  She was
+rather _petite_, with a fair, fluffy coiffure, blue-grey eyes and
+pink-and-white cheeks.  She had earned, I afterwards discovered, a
+rather unenviable notoriety in Paris on account of some scandal or
+other, but the real truth about it I could never ascertain.
+
+Our eyes met as she entered, but she was unaware that she gazed upon
+the woman who was her rival, and who hated her.  She had stolen
+Ernest from me, and I felt that I could rise there, in that public
+place, and crush the life from that fragile body.
+
+Ernest himself brushed past my chair, but without recognising me, and
+went down the room gaily with his companion.
+
+"Do you notice who has just entered?" asked Ulrica.
+
+I nodded.  I could not speak.
+
+"Who?" inquired Reggie quickly.
+
+"Some friends of ours," she answered carelessly.
+
+"Oh! everyone meets friends here," he remarked, as he raised his
+champagne unsuspectingly to his lips.
+
+Reader, if you are a woman, you will fully understand how the sight
+of that man who held me by a fatal fascination, caused in my breast a
+whirl of passions.  I hated and loved at the same instant.  Even
+though we were parted, I had never ceased to think of him.  For me
+the world had no longer any charm, since the light of my life had now
+gone out, and I was suffering in silence, just as so many women who
+have become the sport of Fate are bound to do.
+
+Yes.  Ulrica's notion was, after all, very true.  No man whom I had
+ever met was really worth consideration.  All were egoists.  The rich
+believed that woman was a mere toy, while the poor were always
+ineligible.
+
+Reggie spoke to me, but I scarcely heeded him.  Now that the man I
+loved was near me, I felt an increasing desire to get rid of this
+male encumbrance.  True, he was rich, and I knew, by my own feminine
+intuition, that he admired me, but for him I entertained no spark of
+affection.  Alas! that we always sigh for the unattainable.
+
+For myself, the remainder of the meal was utterly without interest.
+I longed to get another glimpse of that man's bronzed face, and of
+the tow-haired woman whom he had preferred to me, but they were
+evidently sitting at a table in the corner out of sight.
+
+Ulrica knew the truth, and took compassion upon me by hastening the
+dinner to its end.  Then we went forth again into the cool, balmy
+night.  The moon shone brightly, and its reflection glittered in a
+long stream of silver brilliance upon the sea; the Place was gaily
+lit and the white façade of the Casino, with its great illuminated
+clock, shone with lights of every hue.
+
+Across to the Hermitage we strolled, and there drank our coffee.
+
+I laughed at Reggie's pockets bulging with notes, for, the banks
+being closed, he was compelled to carry his winnings about with him.
+While we sat there, however, a brilliant idea occurred to him.
+
+"Nearly all these notes are small," he said suddenly.  "I'll go into
+the Rooms and exchange the gold and small notes for large ones.
+They'll be so much easier to carry."
+
+"Ah!" cried Ulrica, "I never thought of that.  Why, of course!"
+
+"Very well," he answered, rising.  "I shan't be ten minutes."
+
+"Don't be tempted to play again, old fellow," urged Gerald.
+
+"No fear of that!" he laughed, and, with a cigarette in his mouth,
+strode away in the direction of the Casino.
+
+We remained there gossiping for fully half an hour, yet he did not
+return.  As it was only a walk of a couple of minutes from the
+Hermitage to the Casino, we concluded that he had met some friend and
+been detained, for, like Gerald, he came there each winter and knew
+quite a host of people.  One makes a large circle of acquaintances on
+the Riviera, many interesting, but the majority undesirable.
+
+"I wonder where he's got to?" Gerald observed presently.  "Surely he
+isn't such an idiot as to resume play!"
+
+"No.  He's well enough aware that there's no luck after dinner,"
+remarked Ulrica.  "We might, however, I think, take a last turn
+through the Rooms and see whether he's there."
+
+This suggestion was carried out, but although we searched every table
+we failed to discover him.  Until ten o'clock we lounged about, then
+returned by the express to Nice.
+
+That he should have left us in that abrupt manner was certainly
+curious; but as Gerald declared he was always erratic in his
+movements, and that his explanation in the morning would undoubtedly
+be found entirely satisfactory, we returned together to the hotel,
+where we wished our companion good-night, and ascended in the
+elevator to our own sitting-room on the second floor.
+
+My good fortune pleased me, but my heart was nevertheless
+overburdened with sorrow.  The sight of Ernest had reopened the
+gaping wound which I had so strenuously striven to heal by the aid of
+lighter woes.  I now thought only of him.
+
+Ulrica, who was in front of me, pushed open the door of our
+sitting-room and switched on the light, but ere she crossed the
+threshold she drew back quickly with a loud cry of horror and
+surprise.
+
+In an instant I was at her side.
+
+"Look!" she gasped, terrified, pointing to the opposite side of the
+room.  "Look!"
+
+The body of a man was lying, face downwards, upon the carpet, half
+hidden by the round table in the centre of the room.
+
+Together we dashed forward to his assistance and tried to raise him,
+but were unable.  We succeeded, however, in turning him upon his
+side, and then his white, hard-set features became suddenly revealed.
+
+"My God!" I cried, awe-stricken.  "What has occurred?  Why--it's
+Reggie!"
+
+"Reggie!" shrieked Ulrica, kneeling quickly and placing her gloved
+hand eagerly upon his heart.  "Reggie!--and he's dead!".
+
+"Impossible!" I gasped, almost petrified by the hideous discovery.
+
+"It is true," she went on, her face white as that of the dead man
+before us.  "Look, there's blood upon his lips.  See--the chair over
+there is thrown down and broken.  There has apparently been a fierce
+struggle."
+
+Next instant a thought occurred to me, and bending, I quickly
+searched his inner pockets.  The bank-notes were not there.
+
+Then the ghastly truth became entirely plain.
+
+Reginald Thorne had been robbed and murdered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+RELATES SOME ASTOUNDING FACTS
+
+The amazing discovery held us in speechless bewilderment.
+
+The favourite of Fortune, who only a couple of hours before had been
+so full of life and buoyant spirits, and who had left us with a
+promise to return within ten minutes, was now lying still and dead in
+the privacy of our own room.  The ghastly truth was so strange and
+unexpected as to utterly stagger belief.  A mysterious and dastardly
+crime had evidently been committed there.
+
+I scarce know what occurred during the quarter of an hour that
+immediately followed our astounding discovery.  All I remember is
+that Ulrica, with face blanched to the lips, ran out into the
+corridor and raised the alarm.  Then there arrived a crowd of
+waiters, chambermaids, and visitors, everyone excitedly asking
+strings of questions, until the hotel manager came and closed the
+door upon them all.  The discovery caused the most profound
+sensation, especially when the police and doctors arrived quickly,
+followed shortly afterwards by two detectives.
+
+The doctor, a short, stout Frenchman, at once pronounced that poor
+Reggie had been dead more than half an hour, but the cursory
+examination he was enabled to make was insufficient to establish the
+cause of death.
+
+"Do you incline to a theory of death through violence?" one of the
+detectives inquired.
+
+"Ah! at present I cannot tell," the other answered dubiously.  "It is
+not at all plain that monsieur has been murdered."
+
+Ulrica and I quickly found ourselves in a most unpleasant position.
+First, a man had been found dead in our apartments, which was
+sufficient to cause a good deal of ill-natured gossip; and secondly,
+the police seemed to entertain some suspicion of us.  We were both
+cross-questioned separately as to Reggie's identity, what we knew of
+him, and of our doings at Monte Carlo that day.  In response, we made
+no secrets of our movements, for we felt that the police might be
+able to trace the culprit--if, indeed, Reggie had been actually
+murdered.  The fact of his having won so much money, and of his
+having left us in order to change the notes into larger ones, seemed
+to puzzle the police.  If robbery had been the object of the crime,
+the murderer would, they argued, no doubt have committed the deed
+either in the train, or in the street.  Why, indeed, should the
+victim have entered our sitting-room at all?
+
+That really seemed the principal problem.  The whole of the
+circumstances formed a complete and puzzling enigma, but his visit to
+our sitting-room was the most curious feature of all.
+
+The thief, whoever he was--for I inclined towards the theory of theft
+and murder--had been enabled to effect his purpose swiftly, and leave
+the hotel without discovery; while another curious fact was that
+neither the _concierge_ nor the elevator-lad recollected the dead
+man's return.  Both agreed that he must have slipped in unobserved.
+And if so, why?
+
+Having concluded their examination of Ulrica, myself and Felicita, my
+Italian maid, who had returned from her evening out, and knew nothing
+at all of the matter, the police made a most vigorous search in our
+rooms.  We were present, and had the dissatisfaction of watching our
+best gowns and other articles tumbled over and mauled by unclean
+hands.  Not a corner was left unexamined, for when the French police
+make a search they at least do it thoroughly.
+
+"Ah! what is this?" exclaimed one of the detectives, picking from the
+open fire-place in the sitting-room a crumpled piece of paper, which
+he smoothed out carefully.
+
+In an instant we were all eager attention.  I saw that it was a sheet
+of my own note-paper, and upon it, in a man's handwriting, was the
+commencement of a letter:
+
+"_My dear Miss Rosselli,--I have----_"
+
+That was all.  It broke off short.  There were no other words.  The
+paper had been crushed and flung away, as though the writer, on
+mature thought, had resolved not to address me by letter.  I had
+never seen Reggie's handwriting, but on comparison with some entries
+in a note-book found in his pocket, the police pronounced it to be
+his.
+
+What did he wish to tell me?
+
+About an hour after midnight we sent up to the Villa Fabron for
+Gerald, who returned in the cab which conveyed our messenger.
+
+When we told him the terrible truth he stood open-mouthed, rooted to
+the spot.
+
+"Reggie dead!" he gasped.  "Murdered?"
+
+"Undoubtedly," answered Ulrica.  "The mystery is inexplicable, but
+with your aid we must solve it."
+
+"With my aid?" he cried.  "I fear I cannot help you.  I know nothing
+whatever about it."
+
+"Of course not," I said.  "But now tell us, what is your theory?  You
+were his best friend and would therefore probably know if he had any
+enemy who desired to wreak revenge upon him."
+
+"He hadn't a single enemy in the world, to my knowledge," Gerald
+answered.  "The motive of the crime was robbery, without a doubt.
+Most probably he was followed from Monte Carlo by someone who watched
+his success at the tables.  There are always some desperate
+characters among the crowd there."
+
+"Do you think, then, that the murderer was actually watching us ever
+since the afternoon?" I inquired in alarm.
+
+"I think it most probable," he responded.  "At Monte Carlo there is a
+crowd of all sorts and conditions of outsiders.  Many of them
+wouldn't hesitate to commit murder for the sum which poor Reggie had
+in his pockets."
+
+"It's terrible!" ejaculated Ulrica.
+
+"Yes," he sighed, as his face grew heavy and thoughtful; "this awful
+news has upset me quite as much as it has you.  I have lost my best
+friend."
+
+"I hope you will spare no effort to clear up the mystery," I said,
+for I had rather liked the poor boy ever since chance had first
+thrown us together in London, and on the renewal of our acquaintance
+a few days previously my estimate of his character and true worth had
+considerably improved.  It was appalling that he should be thus
+struck down so swiftly, and in a manner so strange.
+
+"Of course, I shall at once do all I can," he declared.  "I'll see
+the police, and state all I know.  If this had occurred in England,
+or in America, there might be a chance of tracing the culprit by the
+numbers of the bank-notes.  In France, however, the numbers are never
+taken, and stolen notes cannot be recovered.  However, rest assured,
+both of you, that I'll do my very best."
+
+There was a tap at the door at that moment, and opening it, I was
+confronted by a tall, dark-bearded Frenchman, who explained that he
+was an agent of police.
+
+To him Gerald related all he knew regarding poor Reggie's
+acquaintances and movements while on the Riviera, and afterwards, in
+company with the detective, he went to the rooms we had abandoned,
+where he gazed for the last time upon the dead face of his friend.
+
+This tragic event had naturally cast a gloom over both Ulrica and
+myself.  We were both nervous and apprehensive, ever debating the
+mysterious reason which caused Reggie to enter out sitting-room in
+our absence.  Surely he had some very strong motive, or he would not
+have gone straight there and commenced that mysterious letter of
+explanation.
+
+As far as we could discern, his success at the tables in the
+afternoon had not intoxicated him, for, although young, he was a
+practised, unemotional player, to whom gains and losses were
+alike--at least, he displayed no outward sign of satisfaction other
+than a broad smile when his winning number was announced by the
+croupier.  No.  Of the many theories put forward, that of Gerald
+seemed the most sound, namely, that he had been followed from Monte
+Carlo with evil intent.
+
+The _Petit Niçois_, the _Eclaireur_ and the _Phare du Littoral_ were
+next day full of "The Mystery of the 'Grand Hotel.'"  In the article
+we were referred to as Mademoiselle Y---- and Mademoiselle R----, as
+is usual in French journalism, and certainly the comments made by the
+three organs in question were distinguished by undisguised suspicion
+and sorry sarcasm.  The _Petit Niçois_, a journal which has on so
+many recent occasions given proof of its anti-English and
+anti-American tone, declared its "disbelief of the story that the
+deceased had won the large sum stated," and concluded by urging the
+police to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to discover the
+murderer, who, it added, would probably be found within the hotel.
+This remark was certainly a pleasing reflection to cast upon us.  It
+was as though the journal believed that one of us had conspired to
+murder him.
+
+Gerald was furious, but we were powerless to protect ourselves
+against the cruel calumnies of such _torchons_.
+
+The official inquiry, held next day, after the _post-mortem_
+examination had been made, revealed absolutely nothing.  Even the
+cause of death puzzled the doctors.  There was a slight cut in the
+corner of the mouth, so small that it might have been accidentally
+caused while he had been eating, and beyond a slight scratch behind
+the left ear there was no abrasion of the skin--no wound of any kind.
+On the neck, however, were two strange marks, like the marks of a
+finger and a thumb, which pointed to strangulation, yet the medical
+examination failed to establish that as a fact.  He died from some
+cause which could not be determined.  It might, indeed, the doctors
+admitted, have been almost described as a natural death, but for the
+fact that the notes were missing, which pointed so very markedly to
+murder.
+
+That same evening, as the winter sun was sinking behind the Esterels,
+we followed the dead man's remains to their resting-place in the
+English cemetery, high up in the olive groves of Caucade--perhaps one
+of the most beautiful and picturesque burial-places in the world.
+Winter and summer it is always a blaze of bright flowers, and the
+view over the olive-clad slope and the calm Mediterranean beyond is
+one of the most charming in all the Riviera.
+
+The English chaplain of the Rue de France performed the last rites,
+and then, turning sorrowfully away, we drove back, full of gloomy
+thoughts, to Nice.
+
+The puzzling incident had crushed all gaiety from our hearts.  I
+suggested that we should immediately go on to Mentone, but Ulrica
+declared that it was our duty to remain where we were and give the
+police what assistance we could in aiding them to solve what seemed
+an inscrutable mystery.  Thus the days which followed were days of
+sadness and melancholy.  We ate in our own room to avoid the gaze of
+the curious, for all in Nice now knew the tragic story, and as we
+passed in and out of the hotel we overheard many whisperings.
+
+As for myself, I had a double burden of sorrow.  In those hours of
+deep thought and sadness, I reflected that poor Reggie was a man who
+might, perhaps, have become my husband.  I did not love him in the
+sense that the average woman understands love.  He was a sociable
+companion, clever, smart in dress and gait, and altogether one of
+those easy men of the world who appeal strongly to a woman of my own
+temperament.  When I placed him in comparison with Ernest, however, I
+saw that I could never have actually entertained a real affection for
+him.  I loved Ernest with a wild, passionate love, and all others
+were now, and would ever be, as naught to me.  I cared not that he
+had forsaken me in favour of that ugly, tow-haired witch.  I was his.
+I felt that I must at all hazards see him again.
+
+I was sitting at the open window one afternoon, gazing moodily out
+upon the Square Massena, when Ulrica suddenly said:
+
+"Curious that we've seen nothing more of Ernest.  I suppose, however,
+you've forgotten him."
+
+"Forgotten him!" I cried, starting up.  "I shall never forget
+him--never!"
+
+In that instant I seemed to see his dark, handsome face before me, as
+of old.  It was in the golden blaze of a summer sunset.  I heard his
+rich voice in my ears.  I saw him pluck a sprig of jasmine, emblem of
+purity, and give it to me, at the same time whispering words of love
+and devotion.  Ah, yes, he loved me then--he loved me!
+
+I put up my hand to shut out the vision.  I rose, and staggered.
+Then I felt Ulrica's soft hand upon my waist.
+
+"Carmela!  Carmela!" she cried, "what's the matter?  Tell me, dear!"
+
+"You know," I answered hoarsely.  "You know, Ulrica, that I love
+him!"  My voice was choked within me, so deep was my distress.  "And
+he is to marry--to marry that woman!"
+
+"My dear, take my advice and forget him," she said lightly.  "There
+are lots of other men whom you could love quite as well.  Poor
+Reggie, for instance, might have filled his place in your heart.  He
+was charming--poor fellow!  Your Ernest treated you as he has done
+all women.  Why make yourself miserable and wear out your heart
+remembering a past which it is quite unnecessary to recall.  Live, as
+I do, for the future, without mourning over what must ever be
+bygones."
+
+"Ah! that's all very well," I said sadly.  "But I can't help it.
+That woman loves him--every woman loves him!  You yourself admired
+him long ago."
+
+"Certainly.  I admire lots of men, but I have never committed the
+folly of loving a single one."
+
+"Folly!" I cried angrily.  "You call love folly!"
+
+"Why, of course," she laughed.  "Do dry your eyes, or you'll look an
+awful sight when Gerald comes.  He said he would go for a walk with
+us on the Promenade at four--and it's already half-past three.  Come,
+it's time we dressed."
+
+I sighed heavily.  Yes, it was true that Ulrica was utterly heartless
+towards those who admired her.  I had with regret noticed her
+careless attitude times without number.  She was a smart woman who
+thought only of her own good looks, her own toilettes, her own
+conquests, and her own amusements.  Men pleased her by their
+flattery, and she therefore tolerated them.  She had told me this
+long ago with her own lips, and had urged me to follow her example.
+
+"Ulrica," said I at last, "forgive me, forgive me, but I am so
+unhappy.  Don't let us speak of him again.  I will try and forget,
+indeed I will--I will try to regard him as dead.  I forgot
+myself--forgive me, dear."
+
+"Yes, forget him, there's a dear," she said, kissing me.  "And now
+call Felicita, and let us dress.  Gerald hates to be kept waiting,
+you know," and carelessly she began humming the refrain of the latest
+_chanson_:
+
+      "Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,
+  Viens par-ci, viens par-là, ma brune!
+  Laisse le vieux jaloux qui t'importune,
+      Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,
+      Le temps fuit et voilà la lune,
+  C'est l'heure des baisers au clair de lune."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+DEALS WITH A MILLIONAIRE
+
+One evening, about ten days later, we dined at old Benjamin Keppel's
+invitation at the Villa Fabron.
+
+Visitors to Nice know the great white mansion well.  High up above
+the sea, beyond the Magnan, it stands in the midst of extensive
+grounds, shaded by date palms, olives and oranges, approached by a
+fine eucalyptus avenue, and rendered light with flowers, its
+dazzlingly white walls relieved by the green _persiennes_, a
+residence magnificent even for Nice--the town of princes.  Along the
+whole front of the great place there runs a broad marble terrace,
+from which are obtained marvellous views of Nice, with the gilt-domed
+Jetée Promenade jutting out into the azure bay, the old Château, Mont
+Boron, and the snow-capped Alps on the left, while on the right lies
+the valley of the Var, and that romantic chain of dark purple
+mountains which lie far away beyond Cannes, a panorama almost as
+magnificent as that from the higher Corniche.
+
+The interior was, we found, the acme of luxury and comfort.
+Everywhere was displayed the fact that its owner was wealthy; none on
+entering so splendid a home would have believed him to be so simple
+in taste and so curiously eccentric in manner.  Each winter he came
+to Nice in his splendid steam-yacht, the _Vispera_, which was now
+anchored as usual in Villefranche Harbour, and with his sister, a
+small, wizen-faced old lady, and Mr. Barnes, his secretary, he lived
+there from December until the end of April.
+
+Ulrica had met him several times in London, and he greeted us both
+very affably.  He was, I found, a queer old fellow.  Report had
+certainly not lied about him, and I could hardly believe that this
+absent-minded, rather ordinary-looking old fellow, with disordered
+grey hair and beard and dark, deep-set eyes, was Gerald's father, the
+great Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg.
+
+Dinner, even though rather a stately affair, was quite a pleasant
+function, for the old millionaire was most unassuming and affable.
+One of his eccentricities displayed itself in his dress.  His
+dining-jacket was old, and quite glossy about the back and elbows; he
+wore a paper collar, his white tie showed unmistakable signs of
+having done duty on at least a dozen previous occasions, and across
+his vest was suspended an albert chain, not of gold, but of rusty
+steel.  There had never been any pretence about Ben Keppel in his
+earlier days, as all the world knew, and there was certainly none in
+these days of his affluence.  He had amassed his fabulous fortune by
+shrewdness and sheer hard work, and he despised the whole of that
+chattering little ring which calls itself Society.
+
+Before I had been an hour in this man's society I grew to like him
+for his honest plain-spokenness.  He possessed none of that sarcastic
+arrogance which generally characterises those whose fortunes are
+noteworthy, but in conversation spoke softly, with a carefully
+cultivated air of refinement.  Not that he was refined in the least.
+He had gone to the Transvaal as an emigrant from a little village in
+Norfolk, and had succeeded in amassing the third largest fortune in
+the United Kingdom.
+
+He sat at the head of the table in his great dining-room, while
+Ulrica and myself sat on either hand.  As a matter of course our
+conversation turned upon the mysterious death of poor Reggie, and we
+both gave him the exact version of the story.
+
+"Most extraordinary!" he ejaculated.  "Gerald has already explained
+the painful facts to me.  There seems no doubt whatever that the poor
+fellow was murdered for the money.  Yet, to me, the strangest part of
+the whole affair is why he should have left you so suddenly at the
+Hermitage.  If he changed the money for large notes, as we may
+suppose he did, why didn't he return to you?"
+
+"Because he must in the meantime have met someone," I suggested.
+
+"That's just it," he said.  "If the police could but discover the
+identity of this friend, then I feel convinced that all the rest
+would be plain sailing."
+
+"But, my dear guv'nor, the police hold the theory that he didn't meet
+anyone until he arrived at Nice," Gerald observed.
+
+"The police here are a confounded set of idiots!" cried the old
+millionaire.  "If it had occurred in London, or Chicago, or even in
+Glasgow, they would have arrested the murderer long before this.
+Here, in France, there's too much confounded _contrôle_."
+
+"I expect if the truth were known," observed Miss Keppel, in her
+thin, squeaky voice, "the authorities of Monaco don't relish the idea
+that a man may be followed and murdered after successful play, and
+they won't help the Nice police at all."
+
+"Most likely," her brother said.  "The police of the Prince of Monaco
+are elegant blue and silver persons, who look as though they would
+hesitate to capture a prisoner for fear of soiling their white kid
+gloves.  But surely, Miss Rosselli," he added, turning to me, "the
+Nice police haven't let the affair drop, have they?"
+
+"I cannot say," I responded.  "The last I saw of any of the
+detectives was a week ago.  The man who called upon me then admitted
+that no clue had, so far, been obtained."
+
+"Then all I have to say is that it's a public scandal!" Benjamin
+Keppel cried angrily.  "The authorities here seem to entertain
+absolutely no regard for the personal safety of their visitors.  It
+appears to me that in Nice year by year prices have gone up until
+hotel charges have become unbearable, and people are being driven
+away to Algiers and Cairo.  And I don't blame them.  During these
+past two years absolutely no regard has been paid by the Nice
+authorities to the comfort of the visitors who bring them their
+wherewithal to live.  Look at the state of the streets this season!
+They're all up for new trams, new paving, new watermains and things,
+until they are absolutely impassable.  Even the Promenade des Anglais
+has been up!  Why they can't do it in summer, when there are no
+visitors here, is a mystery.  Again, within the last eight or ten
+years the price of everything has doubled, while the sanitary defects
+have become a disgrace.  Why, down at Beaumettes there were, until
+quite recently, houses which actually drained into a cave!  And then
+they are surprised at an outbreak of typhoid!  The whole thing's
+preposterous!"
+
+"An English newspaper correspondent who had the courage to tell the
+truth about Nice was served with a notice threatening his expulsion
+from France!" observed Gerald.  "A nice way to suppress facts!"
+
+"Oh! that's the French way," observed Ulrica, with a laugh.  "It is,
+however, certain that if Nice is to remain healthy and popular, there
+must be some very radical changes."
+
+"If there are not, I shall sell this place," said the old millionaire
+decisively.  "I shall take the newspaper correspondent's advice and
+pitch my quarters in Cairo, where English-speaking visitors are
+protected, properly treated, and have their comfort looked after."
+
+"Why not try San Remo?" I suggested.
+
+"San Remo!" he cried, with an air of disgust.  "Why, it's the most
+snobbish place on the whole Riviera.  The persons who have villas
+there are mostly those whom we taboo in society at home.  One
+interesting person has had the audacity to name his villa after a
+royal palace.  It's like a fellow putting up 'Buckingham Palace' upon
+his ten-roomed house at Streatham Hill.  No, Miss Rosselli, save me
+from San Remo!  The hotels there are ruinous, and mostly of the
+fourth class, while the tradespeople are as rapacious a set of sharks
+as can be found outside Genoa.  And the visitors are of that angular,
+sailor-hatted type of tea and lawn-tennis Englishwoman who talks
+largely at home of what she calls 'wintering abroad,' and hopes by
+reason of a six-weeks' stay in a cheap _pension_, shivering over an
+impossible fire, to improve her social status on her return to her
+own local surroundings.  San Remo, dull, dear, and dreary, has ever
+been a ghastly failure, and ever will be, as long as it is frequented
+by its present _clientele_ of sharks and spongers.  What the
+newspaper correspondent said about Nice was the truth--the whole
+truth," he went on.  "I know Nice as well as most people, and I bear
+out every charge put forward.  The Riviera has declined terribly
+these past five years.  Why, the people here actually hissed the
+Union Jack at the last Battle of Flowers!"
+
+"Disgraceful!" said Ulrica, rather amused at the old fellow's warmth.
+"If Nice declines in the popular favour, then the Niçois have only
+themselves to blame."
+
+"Exactly.  Foreigners are looked upon here as necessary evils, while
+in Italy, except on the Riviera, they are welcomed.  I built this
+place and spent a fairish sum upon it, but if things don't improve,
+I'll sell it at auction and cart my traps down to Sicily, or over to
+Cairo.  Upon that I'm determined."
+
+"The guv'nor's disgusted," Gerald laughed across to me.  "He's taken
+like this sometimes."
+
+"Yes, my boy, I am disgusted.  All I want in winter is quiet,
+sunshine, and good air.  That's what I come here for.  And I can get
+all that at Palermo or Algiers, for in those places the air is even
+better than here."
+
+"But it isn't so fashionable," I observed.
+
+"To an old man like me it doesn't matter whether a place is
+fashionable or not, my dear Miss Rosselli," he said, with a serious
+look.  "I leave all that sort of thing to Gerald.  He has his clubs,
+his horses, his fine friends and all the rest of it.  But all the
+people know Ben Keppel of Johannesburg.  Even if I belonged to the
+most swagger of the clubs and mixed in good society--among lords and
+ladies of the aristocracy, I mean--I'd still be the same.  I couldn't
+alter myself as some of 'em try to do."
+
+We laughed.  The old man was so blunt that one could not help
+admiring him.  He had the reputation of being niggardly in certain
+matters, especially regarding Gerald's allowance; but, as Ulrica had
+remarked, there were no doubt plenty of people who would be anxious
+to lend money to the millionaire's heir upon post-obits, so that,
+after all, it didn't much matter.
+
+If inclined to be economical in one or two directions, he certainly
+kept a remarkably good table; but although there were choice wines
+for us, he drank only water.
+
+When, with Gerald, he joined us in the great drawing-room, he seated
+himself near me and suddenly said:
+
+"I don't know, Miss Rosselli, whether you'd like to remain here and
+gossip, or whether you'd like to stroll round the place.  You are a
+woman, and there may be something to interest you in it."
+
+"I shall be delighted, I'm sure," I said, and together we went forth
+to wander about the great mansion, which all the world on the Riviera
+knows as the home of the renowned Ben Keppel.
+
+He showed me his library, the boudoirs which were never occupied, the
+gallery of modern French paintings, the Indian tea-room, and the
+great conservatory whence we walked out upon the terrace and looked
+down upon the lights of the gay winter city lying at our feet, and at
+the flash of white brilliance that ever and anon shot across the
+tranquil sea, marking the dangerous headland at Antibes.
+
+The night was lovely--one of those bright and perfect nights which
+occur so often on the Riviera in January.  At sundown the air is
+always damp and treacherous, but when darkness falls it is no longer
+dangerous, even to those with extremely delicate constitutions.
+
+"How beautiful!" I ejaculated, standing at his side and watching the
+great white moon slowly rising from the sea.  "What a fairyland!"
+
+"Yes.  It is beautiful.  The Riviera is, I believe, the fairest spot
+that God has created on this earth," and then he sighed, as though
+world-weary.
+
+Presently, when we had been chatting a few minutes, he suggested that
+we should re-enter the house, as he feared that I, being décolletée,
+might catch a chill.
+
+"I have a hobby," he said; "the only thing which prevents me from
+becoming absolutely melancholy.  Would you care to see it?"
+
+"Oh, do show it me!" I said, at once interested.
+
+"Then come with me," he exclaimed.  He led me through two long
+passages to a door which he unlocked with a tiny master-key upon his
+chain.  "This is my private domain," he laughed.  "No one is allowed
+in here, so you must consider yourself very highly privileged."
+
+"That I certainly do," I responded.
+
+As he entered he switched on the electric light, displaying to my
+astonished gaze a large place fitted as a workshop with lathes,
+tools, wheels, straps and all sorts of mechanical contrivances.
+
+"This room is secret," he said, with a smile.  "If the fine people
+who sometimes patronise me with visits thought that I actually worked
+here they'd be horrified."
+
+"Then do you actually work?" I inquired, surprised.
+
+"Certainly.  Having nothing to occupy my leisure moments after I had
+severed myself from the works, I took to turning.  I was a turner by
+trade years ago, you know."
+
+I looked at him in wonderment.  People had said he was eccentric, and
+this was evidently one of his eccentricities.  He had secretly
+established a great workshop within that princely mansion:
+
+"Would you like to see how I can work?" he asked, noticing my look of
+wonder.  "Well, watch--excuse me."
+
+Thereupon he threw off his jacket, and having raised a lever which
+set one of the lathes at work, he seated himself at it, selected a
+piece of ivory, and placed it in position.
+
+"Now," he laughed, looking towards me, "what shall I make you?  Ah, I
+know, an object useful to all you ladies--a box for your powder-puff,
+eh?"
+
+"You seem to be fully aware of feminine mysteries, Mr. Keppel," I
+laughed.
+
+"Well, you see, I was married once," he answered.  "But in them days
+my poor Mary didn't want face-powder, bless her!"
+
+And that instant his keen chisel cut deeply into the revolving ivory
+with a harsh sawing sound that rendered further conversation
+impossible.
+
+I stood behind and watched him.  His grand old head was bent keenly
+over his work as he hollowed out the box to the desired depth,
+carefully gauged it, finished it, and quickly turned the lid until it
+fitted with precision and exactness.  Then he rubbed it down,
+polished it in several ways, and at last handed it to me complete.
+
+"This is a little souvenir, Miss Rosselli, of your first visit to me."
+
+"Thank you ever so much," I answered, taking it and examining it
+curiously.
+
+Truly he was a skilled workman, this man whose colossal wealth was
+remarkable, even among England's many millionaires.
+
+"I only ask one favour," he said, as we passed out and he locked the
+door of his workshop behind us.  "That you will tell no one of my
+hobby--that I have returned to my own trade.  For Gerald's sake I am
+compelled to keep up an appearance, and some of his friends would
+sneer if they knew that his father still worked and earned money in
+his odd moments."
+
+"Do you earn money?" I inquired, amazed.
+
+"Certainly.  A firm in Bond Street buy all my ivory work, only
+they're not, of course, aware that it comes from me.  It wouldn't do,
+you know.  My work, you see, provides me with a little pocket-money.
+It has done so ever since I left the factory," he added simply.
+
+"I promise you, Mr. Keppel, that I'll tell no one, if you wish it to
+remain a secret.  I had no idea that you actually sold your turnings."
+
+"You don't blame me, surely?" he said.
+
+"Certainly not," I answered.
+
+It seemed, however, ludicrous that this multi-millionaire, with his
+great house in Park Lane, his shooting-box in Scotland, his yacht,
+which was acknowledged to be one of the finest afloat, and his villa
+there on the Riviera, should toil at turning, in order to make a
+pound or two a week as pocket-money.
+
+"When I worked as a turner in the old days, I earned sixteen
+shillings a week, by making butter dishes and bread plates, wooden
+bowls, salad spoons, and such like, and I earn about the same to-day
+when I've paid for the ivory, and the necessary things for the
+'shop,'" he explained.  Then he added: "You seem to think it strange,
+Miss Rosselli.  If you place yourself for a moment in my position,
+that of a man without further aim or ambition, you will not be
+surprised that I have, after nearly forty years, returned to the old
+trade to which I served my apprenticeship."
+
+"I quite understand," I responded, "and I only admire you that you do
+not, like so many other rich men, lead a life of easy indolence."
+
+"I can't do that," he said; "it isn't in me to be still.  I must be
+at work, or I'm never happy.  Only I have to be discreet for Gerald's
+sake," and the old millionaire smiled, though rather sadly, I thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+PLACES ME IN A PREDICAMENT
+
+"I think him a most sociable old fellow," I answered, in response to
+Ulrica's inquiry when we returned to the hotel.
+
+"But awfully eccentric," she said.  "Gerald always complains that he
+finds it impossible to make both ends meet upon his allowance."
+
+"He may surely be forgiven that," I said.  "After all, he's an
+excellent type of the prosperous worker."
+
+"He showed you his ivory-turning, I suppose?" she observed, with a
+slight sneer.  "I see he's given you a puff-box."
+
+"Yes, he turned it while I waited."
+
+"It's really absurd," she declared, "that a man of his enormous means
+should still continue to work as he does.  Gerald tells me that he
+has secret workshops in all his houses, and spends the greater part
+of his time in turning, just as any workman would do.  No doubt he's
+a bit wrong in the head.  His wealth has crushed him."
+
+"I think you judge him too harshly, my dear," I responded.  "All
+master-minds have their hobbies.  His hobby is quite a harmless one;
+merely to return to the trade to which he was apprenticed long ago."
+
+She smiled with some sarcasm.
+
+Then we parted, and retired to bed.
+
+Day by day for many days we went over to Monte Carlo; why I can
+scarcely tell.  All visitors to Nice drift there, as if by the
+natural law of gravitation, and we were no exception.  Even though
+our memories of the Sign of the Seven Sins were painful on account of
+poor Reggie's mysterious death, we nevertheless found distraction in
+the Rooms, the crowds, and the music.  Sometimes Gerald would act as
+our escort, and at others we went over alone after luncheon and
+risked half-a-dozen louis at the tables with varying success.  We met
+quite a host of people we knew, for the season was proceeding apace,
+and the nearness of the Carnival attracted our compatriots from all
+over Europe.
+
+And as the days passed, my eyes were ever watchful.  Truth to tell,
+Monte Carlo had an attraction for me, not because of its
+picturesqueness or its play, but because I knew that in that feverish
+little world there lived and moved the man who held my future in his
+hands.  In the Rooms, in the "Paris," in the Place, and in the
+Gardens I searched for sight of him, but alas! always in vain.  I
+bought the various visitors' lists, but failed to discover that he
+was staying at any of the villas or hotels.  Yet I knew he was there,
+for had I not seen him with my own eyes--had I not seen him smile
+upon the woman who was my rival?
+
+The papers continued to comment upon the mystery surrounding poor
+Reggie's tragic death, yet beyond a visit from the British Consul,
+who proved to be a nice old gentleman, and who obtained a statement
+from us regarding his friends in London, and who took possession of
+certain effects found in his room, absolutely nothing fresh
+transpired.
+
+It was early in February, that month when Nice puts on its annual air
+of gaiety in preparation for the reign of the King of Folly; when the
+streets are bright with coloured decoration, great stands are erected
+in the Place Massena, and the shops of the Avenue de la Gare are
+ablaze with Carnival costumes in the two colours previously decided
+upon by the Committee.  Though Nice may be defective from a sanitary
+point of view, and her authorities churlish towards foreign visitors,
+nevertheless in early February it is certainly the gayest and most
+charming spot on the whole Riviera.  The very streets, full of life
+and movement, are sweet with the perfume of roses, violets and
+mimosa; and at a time when the rest of Europe is held frost-bound,
+summer costumes and sunshades are the mode, while men wear their
+straw hats and flannels upon that finest of all sea-walks, the
+palm-planted Promenade des Anglais.
+
+Poor Reggie's brother, a doctor in Aberdeen, had arrived to obtain a
+personal account of the mystery, which, of course, we gave.  Gerald
+also conducted him to the grave in the English cemetery, on which he
+laid a beautiful wreath, and, while there, gave orders for a handsome
+monument.  Then after remaining three days, he returned to Scotland.
+
+Meanwhile, we became frequent guests at the Villa Fabron, dining
+there often, and being always received cordially by the old
+millionaire.  The secretary, Barnes, appeared to me to rule the
+household, for he certainly placed himself more in evidence than ever
+did his employer, and I could see that the relations between Gerald
+and this factotum of his father were somewhat strained.  He was a
+round-faced man of about thirty-five, dark, clean-shaven, with a face
+that was quite boyish-looking, but with a pair of small eyes that I
+did not like.  I always distrust persons with small eyes.
+
+From his manner, however, I gathered that he was a shrewd,
+hard-headed man of business, and even Gerald himself had to admit
+that he fulfilled the duties of his post admirably.  Of course, I
+came into contact with him very little.  Now and then we met on the
+Promenade, or in the Quai St. Jean Baptiste, and he raised his hat in
+passing, or he might happen to encounter us at the Villa when we
+visited there, but save on these occasions, I had not spoken to him a
+dozen words.
+
+"He has the face of a village idiot, with eyes like a Scotland Yard
+detective," was Ulrica's terse summary of his appearance, and it was
+an admirable description.
+
+On the Sunday afternoon when the first Battle of Confetti was fought,
+we went out in our satin dominoes of mauve and old gold--the colours
+of that year--and had glorious fun pelting all and sundry with paper
+confetti, or whirling serpentines among the crowd in the Avenue de la
+Gare.  Those who have been in Nice during Carnival know the wild
+gaiety of that Sabbath, the procession of colossal cars and grotesque
+figures, the ear-splitting bands, the ridiculous costumes of the
+maskers, the buoyant fun and the good humour of everybody in that
+huge cosmopolitan crowd.
+
+Gerald was with us, as well as a young American named Fordyce, whom
+we had known in London, and who was now staying at the Beau Site,
+over at Cannes.  With our sacks containing confetti slung over our
+shoulders, and the hoods of our bright dominoes over our heads, and
+wearing half masks of black velvet, we mixed with the crowd the whole
+of that afternoon, heartily enjoying the fun.
+
+I confess that I enjoyed, and shall always, I hope, enjoy the Nice
+Carnival immensely.  Many constant visitors condemn it as a tawdry
+tinsel show, and leave Nice for a fortnight in order to escape the
+uproar and boisterous fun; but after all, even though the air of
+recklessness would perchance shock some of the more puritanical in
+our own land, there is nevertheless an enormous amount of harmless
+and healthy amusement to be derived from it.  It is only sour
+spinsters and the gouty who really object to Carnival.  Regular
+visitors to the Riviera condemn it merely because it is good form to
+condemn everything vulgar.  They used to enjoy it until its annual
+repetition became wearisome.
+
+After the fight with confetti, during which our hair and dominoes got
+sadly tumbled, we struggled through the crowd to the hotel; and while
+Gerald went along to the café outside the Casino to wait for us, we
+dressed.
+
+Felicita was an unconscionable time in doing my hair--her head was
+full of the Carnival fever, I think--and when I entered our
+sitting-room I found Ulrica, ready dressed, seated on a low stool in
+a picturesque attitude, lazily cooling herself with her fan of
+feathers.  The disengaged bare arm, with its jingling bangles, was
+gracefully raised, the taper fingers were endeavouring, without much
+success, to adjust a stray lock of hair.  It was a favourite gesture
+of Ulrica's, for her hands were lovely, white and slender, and
+covered with rings, which she was fond of displaying.  The rosy light
+from the shaded lamp fell kindly upon her, so that she made an
+extremely pretty picture.
+
+She was talking as I entered, and in the dim light I discovered a man
+sitting on the ottoman.  I was about to retreat, when she recalled
+me, and introduced me with a little laugh, to Cecil Ormrod, who had
+called at that rather inconvenient moment.  She appeared to be by no
+means displeased at having been surprised in a _tête-à-tête_ with
+him.  It was a notification that she had pegged out her claim.
+
+He was tall, manly, and well-shaped, and his voice was pleasant.
+Ulrica looked at me with a curious smile, as if to say: "Don't you
+think I have shown good taste?"  Then holding out her hand for his
+aid in rising, she said to him:
+
+"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Ormrod, but we are just going out to dinner.
+I know you'll excuse us.  You'll look in and see us to-morrow.  You
+must, you know--you're staying at the 'Anglais,' and it's close by."
+
+Then, turning to me, she added:
+
+"Come, dear, we must make haste.  It's awfully late, and old Mr.
+Keppel will never forgive us if the soup comes up cold."
+
+So young Cecil Ormrod made his adieux and departed, promising to call
+on us again.
+
+"Cecil is an awfully nice boy," Ulrica remarked.  "I met him at a
+country house-party two years ago.  His father is a stockbroker and
+his sisters are particularly jolly.  We must be nice to him."
+
+"You've already begun," I remarked, rather spitefully perhaps.  But
+she only smiled.
+
+Then we descended by the lift and joined Gerald, whom we found
+walking up and down impatiently in the hall.
+
+Quite a host of smart people dined at the Villa Fabron that evening,
+including several pretty English girls.  A millionaire never lacks
+friends.  Old Benjamin Keppel was something of a recluse.  It was not
+often that he sent out so many invitations, but when he gave a dinner
+he spared no expense, and the one in honour of Carnival was truly a
+gastronomic marvel.  The table was decorated with mauve and old gold,
+the Carnival colours; and the room, which was draped with satin of
+the same shades, presented a mass of blended hues particularly
+striking.
+
+The old millionaire, seated at the head of his table, in his breezy,
+open-hearted manner made everyone happy at once.
+
+Both Ulrica and I wore new frocks, which we considered were the
+latest triumphs of our Nice _couturière_--they certainly ought to
+have been, if they were not, for their cost was ruinous--and there
+were also quite a number of bright dresses and good-looking men.  The
+day is gone, I am glad to say, when a mode, because it is decreed to
+be the fashion, is blindly adopted.  Women realise at last that to
+achieve the happiest results they must make Fashion subservient to
+their requirements, instead of foolishly following in her wake, as
+for years they have been wont to do.
+
+As I sat there amid the gay chatter of the table, I looked at the
+lean, grey-bearded man at its head, and fell into reflection.  How
+strange it was that this man, worth millions, actually toiled in
+secret each day at his lathe to earn a few shillings a week from an
+English firm as pocket-money!  All his gay friends who sat around his
+table were ignorant of that fact.  He only revealed it to those in
+whom he placed trust--and I was one of the latter.
+
+After dinner we all went forth into the gardens, which were
+illuminated everywhere with coloured lights and lanterns, and
+wandered beneath the orange trees, joking and chattering.
+
+A rather insipid young prig was at first my companion, but presently
+I found myself beside old Mr. Keppel, who walked at my side far down
+the slope, till at last we came to the dark belt of olives which
+formed the boundary of his domain.  Villas on the Riviera do not
+usually possess extensive grounds, but the Villa Fabron was an
+exception, for the gardens ran down almost to the well-known white
+sea-road that leads along from Nice to the mouth of the Var.
+
+"How charming!" I exclaimed, as, turning back, we gazed upon the long
+terrace hung with Japanese lanterns, and the moving figures smoking,
+taking their coffee, and chattering.
+
+"Yes," the old man laughed.  "I have to be polite to them now and
+then; but after all, Miss Rosselli, they don't come here to visit
+me--only to spend a pleasant evening.  Society expects me to
+entertain, so I have to.  But I confess that I never feel at home
+among all these folk, as Gerald does."
+
+"I fear you are becoming just a little world-weary," I said, smiling.
+
+"Becoming?  Why, I was tired of it all years ago," he answered,
+glancing at me with a serious expression in his deep-set eyes.  It
+seemed as though he wished to confide in me, and yet dared not do so.
+
+"Why not try a change?" I suggested.  "You have the _Vispera_ lying
+at Villefranche.  Why not take a trip in her up the Mediterranean?"
+
+"No," he sighed.  "I hate yachting, for I have nothing on board
+wherewith to occupy my time.  After a couple of days I always go
+ashore at the nearest port.  The trip round from Portsmouth here each
+winter is always a misery to me."
+
+"And you keep such a beautiful craft idle!" I observed, in a tone of
+reproach.
+
+"You've seen it?"
+
+"Yes, Gerald took us on board a few days ago, and showed us over.
+It's like a small Atlantic liner."
+
+"Everyone says she's a handsome boat," the old fellow remarked
+carelessly.  Then he added: "Are you fond of the sea?"
+
+"Passionately.  I always regret when the Channel passage is finished."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to go on a cruise in the _Vispera_?" he said.
+"If you would, I should be very pleased to take you.  I might invite
+a party for a run, say, to Naples or Smyrna and back."
+
+"I should be delighted," I answered enthusiastically, for yachting
+was one of my favourite pastimes, and on board such a magnificent
+craft, one of the finest private vessels afloat, life would be most
+enjoyable.
+
+"Very well, I'll see what I can arrange," he answered; and then we
+fell to discussing other things.
+
+He smoked thoughtfully as he strolled beside me, his mind evidently
+much preoccupied.  The stars were bright overhead, the night balmy
+and still, and the air was heavy with the scent of flowers.  It was
+hard to believe that it was actually mid-winter.
+
+"I fear," he said at last--"I fear, Miss Rosselli, that you find me a
+rather lonely man, don't you?"
+
+"You have no reason to be lonely," I responded.  "Surrounded by all
+these friends, your life might surely be very gay if you wished."
+
+"Friends?  Bah!" he cried, in a tone of ridicule.  "There's an
+attraction in money that is irresistible.  These people here, all of
+them, bow down before the golden calf.  Sometimes, Miss Rosselli, I
+have thought that there's no real honesty of purpose in the world."
+
+"I'm afraid you are a bit of a cynic," I laughed.
+
+"And if I am, may I not be forgiven?" he urged.  "I can assure you I
+find life very dull indeed."
+
+It was a strange confession coming from the lips of such a man.  If I
+had only a sixteenth part of his wealth I should, I reflected, be a
+very happy woman--unless the common saying were actually true, that
+great wealth only creates unbearable burdens.
+
+"You are not the only one who finds life wearisome," I observed
+frankly, "I also have to plead guilty to the indictment on many
+occasions."
+
+"You?" he cried, halting, and regarding me in surprise.  "You--young,
+pretty, vivacious, with ever so many men in love with you?  And you
+are tired of it all--tired of it while still in your twenties?
+Impossible!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+MAINLY CONCERNS THE OWL
+
+Late that night Ulrica made merry at my expense.  She had noticed me
+walking _tête-à-tête_ with old Mr. Keppel, and accused me of
+flirtation with him.
+
+Now, I may be given to harmless frivolities with men of my own age,
+but I certainly have never endeavoured to attract those of maturer
+years.  Elderly men may have admired me--that I do not deny--but
+assuredly this has been through no fault of my own.  A woman's gowns
+are always an object of attention among the sterner sex.  If,
+therefore, she dresses smartly she can at once attract a certain
+section of males, even though her features may be the reverse of
+prepossessing.
+
+Truth to tell, a woman's natural _chic_, her taste in dress and her
+style of _coiffure_, are by far the most important factors towards
+her well-being.  The day of the healthful, buxom, pink-and-white
+beauty is long past.  The woman rendered artistic by soft chiffons,
+dainty blouses, and graceful tea-gowns reigns in her stead.  Women
+nowadays are becoming very Continental.  For instance, certain
+illustrated journals tell us that fur coats of every description are
+to be the mode, and a few foolish women think that if they possess
+such a garment, no matter what its shape, so long as it is of fur,
+they will be in the vanguard of Fashion!  The really smart woman
+will, however, think twice before she hides her figure by any such
+bulky covering, merely because she happens to possess the fur, and it
+will take the furrier all the ingenuity at his command to produce the
+neat, short and close-fitting little coat or bolero which she would
+condescend to wear.  Yes, we are yearly becoming more and more
+tasteful--more Parisian.  Ulrica's suggestion caused me to laugh.
+
+"Old Mr. Keppel walked with me because he wanted company, I suppose,"
+I protested.  "I had no idea such a misconstruction would be placed
+upon our conversation, Ulrica."
+
+"Why, my dear, everyone noticed it and remarked upon it.  He
+neglected his guests and walked with you for a whole hour in the
+garden.  Whatever did you find to talk about all that long time?"
+
+"Nothing," I responded simply.  "He only took me round the place.  I
+don't think he cares very much for the people he entertains, or he
+wouldn't have neglected them in that manner."
+
+"No.  But I heard some spiteful things said about yourself," Ulrica
+remarked.
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"By various people.  They said that you had been angling after the
+old man for a long time--that you had followed him to Nice, in fact."
+
+"Oh, Ulrica!" I cried indignantly.  "How can they say such things?
+Why, you know it was yourself who introduced us."
+
+"I know," she answered rather curtly.  "But I didn't expect that
+you'd make such a fool of yourself as you've done to-night."
+
+"I am not aware that I have made a fool of myself, as you choose to
+term it," I responded warmly.  "Mr. Keppel invited me to walk in the
+garden, and as his guest I could not very well refuse."
+
+"You know what an ill-bred, vulgar old fellow he is, and you might
+therefore have had some respect for his guests."
+
+"I know that he is an honest, plain-spoken man," I said calmly.  "He
+may be ill-bred, but, nevertheless, he's more the gentleman than half
+the over-dressed cads who so perpetually hang about us just because
+we happen to be both good-looking."
+
+"If I were in your place I should be ashamed at having made such an
+exhibition of myself!" she exclaimed, with bitter sarcasm.
+
+"I have made no exhibition of myself," I protested.  "I like Mr.
+Keppel for his blunt manliness--but beyond that--why, Ulrica, you
+must be mad to suspect me of flirtation with him!"
+
+"He's old enough to be your father," she snapped.  "Yet Doris Ansell
+whispered in the drawing-room that she had watched him holding your
+hand in lover-like attitude."
+
+"Then Doris Ansell lied!" I exclaimed angrily.  "He never touched my
+hand.  It is a foul libel upon him and upon me."
+
+"I saw you myself walking with him."
+
+"And you were walking with Gerald.  He was, as usual, flirting with
+you," I said spitefully.
+
+Her cheeks crimsoned, and I saw that my words had struck home.  How
+cruel and ill-natured was such gossip as this; how harmful to my good
+name, and to his.  I knew Doris Ansell well--a snub-nosed,
+under-sized little gossip, and had always believed that she
+entertained towards me some ill-will--for what reason I never could
+ascertain.
+
+"And why should you fly into such a rage?" she inquired, with
+affected coolness.  "If you were to change into Mrs. Ben Keppel you
+would at least possess a very substantial income, even if your
+husband was a rough diamond.  You would exact the envy of half the
+women we know, and surely that's quite sufficient success to have
+obtained.  One can't have everything in this world.  Money is always
+synonymous with ugliness where marriage is concerned."
+
+"I don't see any object to be obtained by discussing the matter
+further," I answered, with rising indignation.  "Such a circumstance
+as you suggest will never occur, you may depend upon it."
+
+"My dear Carmela," she said, laughing, "you are still a child, I
+really declare!"
+
+"I am old enough to be mistress of my own actions," I answered
+quickly.  "I shall certainly never marry for money."
+
+"Because of Ernest--eh?"
+
+"It is cruel, Ulrica, to taunt me like this!" I cried, bursting into
+tears.  "Surely I've suffered enough!  You do not suffer because, as
+you have said hundreds of times, you have no heart.  Would that I had
+none!  Love within me is not yet dead.  Would to God it were!  I
+might then be like you, cold and cynical, partaking of the pleasures
+of the world without a thought of its griefs.  As I am, I must love.
+My love for that man is my very life!  Without it I should die!"
+
+"No, no, my dear," she said quickly, in kinder tones.  "Don't cry, or
+your eyes will be a horrid sight to-morrow.  Remember we're lunching
+over at Beaulieu with the Farnells.  Come, dry your eyes and go to
+bed.  I didn't mean anything, you know."  And she drew down my head
+and kissed me tenderly on the brow.
+
+I left her and went to my room, but her words rang constantly in my
+ears.  The idea that the old millionaire had been attracted by me was
+a novel one.  Surely that could not be possible.  True, he had grown
+confidential enough to tell me things that were held secret from all
+his friends, yet I attributed this to his eccentricity.
+
+No, it was surely not true that he was among my admirers.  Through
+the dark hours of that night I thought it all over.  Sometimes I saw
+in all that had occurred a disposition on his part to tell me some
+secret or other.  He had been so preoccupied, and had so earnestly
+told me of the dull loneliness of his life, that colour was certainly
+lent to the theory that he looked upon me with affection.  Yet, after
+all, I reasoned with myself that I could never in my life love a man
+of that age, and determined never to barter myself for money and
+position.  I should even, if he told me the truth, be compelled to
+refuse his offer.
+
+But the whole theory was ridiculous.  It had been started by that
+lying, ill-natured woman for want of something else to gossip about.
+Why should I heed it?  I liked him, it was true, but I could never
+love him--never!
+
+Reader, you may think it strange that we two young women were
+wandering about the Continent together without any male relative.
+The truth is, that terrifying personage, so peculiarly British, known
+as Mrs. Grundy, is dead.  It is her complete downfall in this age of
+emancipation, bicycles and bloomers, that more than anything else
+makes the modern spinster's lot, in many respects, an eminently
+attractive one.
+
+We were discussing this over our coffee on the following morning,
+when Ulrica, referring to our conversation of the previous night,
+said:
+
+"Formerly girls married in order to gain their social liberty; now
+they more often remain single to bring about that desirable
+consummation."
+
+"Certainly," I acquiesced.  "If we are permitted by public opinion to
+go to college, to live alone, to travel, to have a profession, to
+belong to a club, to wear divided skirts--not that I approve of
+them--to give parties, to read and discuss whatsoever seems good to
+us, and go to theatres, and even to Monte Carlo, without a masculine
+escort, then we have most of the privileges--and several others
+thrown in--for which the girl of twenty or thirty years ago was ready
+to sell herself to the first suitor who offered himself and the
+shelter of his name."
+
+"I'm very glad, my dear Carmela, that you are at last becoming so
+very sensible," she answered approvingly.  "Until now you've been far
+too romantic and too old-fashioned in your ideas.  I really think
+that I shall convert you to my views of life in time--if you don't
+marry old Keppel."
+
+"Kindly don't mention him again," I protested firmly.  "To a certain
+extent I entirely agree with you regarding the emancipation of woman.
+A capable woman who has begun a career, and feels certain of
+advancement in it, is often as shy of entangling herself
+matrimonially as ambitious young men have ever shown themselves in
+like circumstances."
+
+"Without doubt.  The disadvantages of marriage to a woman with a
+profession are more obvious than to a man, and it is just the
+question of maternity, with all its duties and responsibilities,
+which is occasionally the cause of many women forswearing the
+privileges of the married state."
+
+"Well, Ulrica," I said, "speaking candidly, would you marry if you
+had a really good offer?"
+
+"Marry?  Certainly not," she answered, with a laugh, as though the
+idea were perfectly preposterous.  "Why should I marry?  I've had a
+host of offers, just as every woman with a little money always has.
+But why should I renounce my freedom?  If I married, my husband would
+forbid this and forbid that--and you know I couldn't live without
+indulging in my little pet vices of smoking and gambling."
+
+"Wouldn't your husband's love fill the void?" I queried.
+
+"It would be but a poor substitute, I'm afraid.  The most ardent love
+nowadays cools within six months, and more often even wanes with the
+honeymoon."
+
+"I've really no patience with you," I said hastily.  "You're far too
+cynical."
+
+She smiled, and then sighed gently.  She looked so young in her pale
+pink _peignoir_.
+
+"Contact with the world has made me what I am, my dear Carmela."
+
+"Well," I said, "to be quite candid, I don't think that the real
+cause why so many women nowadays remain single is to be found in the
+theories we've been airing to one another.  The fact is, after all,
+that we're only a bundle of nerves and emotions, and once our
+affections are involved we are capable of any heroism."
+
+"You may be one of those, my dear," was her rather grave response.
+"I'm afraid, however, that I am not."
+
+I did not pursue the subject further.  She was kind and sympathetic
+in all else, save where my love was concerned.  My affection for
+Ernest was to her merely an amusing incident.  She seemed unable to
+realise how terribly serious I was, or what a crushing blow had
+fallen upon me when he had turned and forsaken me.
+
+Gerald called at eleven, for he had arranged to accompany us to
+Beaulieu.
+
+"Miss Rosselli," he cried, as he greeted me, "you're a brick--that
+you are!"
+
+"A brick!" I echoed.  "Why?"
+
+"Why, you've worked an absolute miracle with the guv'nor.  Nobody
+else could persuade him to set foot on the _Vispera_ except to return
+to England, yet you've induced him to arrange for a cruise up the
+Mediterranean."
+
+Ulrica glanced at me with a confident air.  I knew the thought which
+rose in her mind.
+
+"Are you glad?" I asked him.
+
+"Glad?  I should rather think so!  We shall have a most glorious
+time!  He intends asking the Farnells, Lord Eldersfield, Lord and
+Lady Stoneborough, and quite a lot of people.  We've got you to thank
+for it.  No power on earth would induce him to put to sea--except
+yourself, Miss Rosselli."
+
+"No, Gerald," I said.  "Please don't flatter me.  It's bad form, you
+know.  Your father asked me if I would like a cruise, and I responded
+in the affirmative, that's all."
+
+"Well, at any rate, it's enough," answered the young man
+enthusiastically.  "The guv'nor has sent for Davis, the skipper, and
+when I left him, was poring over a chart of the Eastern
+Mediterranean.  There's only one condition that I've made, and I
+think you'll both agree with me."
+
+"What's that?" inquired Ulrica, as she buttoned her glove.
+
+"That we don't take that cur Barnes.  I hate that fellow."
+
+"So say all of us," Ulrica observed frankly.
+
+"His air is so superior that people believe him to be at least a son
+of the house," Gerald said quickly.  "I know that he tells the
+guv'nor all sorts of false tales about myself.  He knew that I lost
+pretty heavily at Monte when I went over with you the other night,
+and as Mr. Barnes chanced to be there he was, of course, the amiable
+gentleman who told the tale.  I always feel as though I'd like to
+give him a good sound kicking."
+
+"Treat him with contempt," I urged.  "Your father is not the kind of
+man to believe mere tales without proof.  Even if he is a bit
+eccentric, he's the essence of justice--that you'll admit."
+
+"Why, Miss Rosselli, I tell you that my old dad is the very best
+fellow in all the world.  I know all men of his stamp have their
+little eccentricities, and therefore forgive him.  If he's niggardly
+towards me, it's only because he doesn't believe in a young man going
+the pace too fast."
+
+"Quite so," I answered, remembering how very lenient the world is
+towards the son of a millionaire.  "No man should speak ill of his
+father--more especially of such an admirable type as your father is."
+
+But I drew myself up short, for I saw a smile playing in the corners
+of Ulrica's mouth.
+
+"Let's be off," she said.  "We'll take a fiacre to the station.
+Gerald, tell them to get us a cab."
+
+And young Keppel went forth to do her bidding.
+
+The Carnival _bal masqué_ at the Casino--the great event of King
+Carnival's reign--took place on the following Sunday night, and we
+made up a gay party to go to it.  There were seven of us, and we
+looked a grotesque group as we assembled in the vestibule of the
+"Grand," attired in our fantastic costumes and wearing those
+mysterious masks of black velvet which so effectively conceal the
+features.  Ulrica represented a Watteau shepherdess, with wig and
+crook complete, while I was _en bébé_, wearing a simple costume,
+surmounted by a sun-bonnet with a very wide brim.  One of the women
+of the party was a Queen of Folly, and another wore a striking Louis
+XV. dress; while Gerald represented a demon, and wore pins in his
+tail in order to prevent others from pulling that appendage.
+
+As the distance from the hotel to the Casino was only a few hundred
+yards, we walked.  Laughter was abundant, for the novelty of the
+thing was sublime.  Among our party only Gerald had witnessed a
+previous Carnival ball, and he had led us to expect a scene of wild
+merriment.
+
+Certainly we were not disappointed.  Having run the gauntlet of a
+crowd who smothered us with confetti, we entered the great
+winter-garden of the Casino, and found it a blaze of colour--the two
+colours of Carnival.  Suspended from the high glass roof were
+thousands of bannerettes of mauve and gold, while the costumes of the
+revellers were of the self-same shades.  Everywhere flashed coloured
+lights of similar hue, and the fun was already fast and furious.  The
+side-rooms, which, as most readers will remember, are ordinarily
+devoted to gambling--for gambling in a mild form is permitted at
+Nice--were now turned into handsome supper-rooms, and in the
+winter-garden and the theatre beyond the scene was perhaps one of the
+liveliest and most enchanting in the whole world.
+
+Everyone had gone there for full enjoyment.  In the theatre there was
+wild dancing; the boxes were filled by the _grand monde_ of Europe,
+princes and princesses, grand-dukes and grand-duchesses, counts and
+countesses, noted actresses from Paris and London, and well-known
+people of every nationality, all enjoying the scene of uproarious
+merrymaking.  We viewed it first from our own box, but at length
+someone suggested that we should descend and dance, an idea which at
+once found ungrudging favour.
+
+Masked as everyone was, with the little piece of black lace tacked to
+the bottom of the black velvet _loup_, in order to conceal the lower
+part of the features, it was impossible to recognise a single person
+in that whirling crowd.  Therefore, immediately we descended to the
+floor of the theatre we at once became separated.  I stood for a few
+moments bewildered.  The blaze of colour made one's head reel.
+People in all sorts of droll costumes were playing various kinds of
+childish antics.  Out in the winter-garden clowns and devils were
+playing leap-frog, and sylphs and angels, joining hands, were
+whirling round and round in huge rings, playing some game and
+screaming with laughter.  Almost everyone carried miniature
+representations of Punch, with bells attached, large rattles, or
+paper flowers which, when blown, could be elongated to a ridiculous
+extent.
+
+Never before, in all my life, had I been amidst such a merry and
+irresponsible crowd.  The ludicrousness of Carnival reaches its
+climax in the ball at the Casino, and whatever may be said of it, it
+is without doubt one of the annual sights of Europe.  I had heard it
+denounced as a disgraceful exhibition by old ladies, who had been
+compelled to admit that they had never been present; but I must say
+that from first to last, although the fun was absolutely unbridled, I
+saw nothing whatever to offend.
+
+I was standing aside watching the dancers, when suddenly a tall man,
+dressed in a remarkable costume representing an owl, approached, and
+bowing, said in rather good English, in a deep, but not unmusical
+voice:
+
+"Might I have the pleasure of this dance with mademoiselle?"
+
+I looked at him in suspicion.  He was a weird-looking creature in his
+bird-dress of mauve and gold, and the strange mask with two black
+eyes peering out at me.  Besides, it was not my habit to dance with
+strangers.
+
+"Ah!" he laughed.  "You hesitate because we have not been introduced.
+Here in Nice at Carnival one introduces oneself.  Well, I have
+introduced myself, and now I ask you what is your opinion of my
+marvellous get-up.  Don't you think me a real fine bird?"
+
+"Certainly," I laughed.  "You're absolutely hideous."
+
+"Thanks for the compliment," he answered pleasantly.  "To unmask is
+forbidden, or I'd take off this terrible affair, for I confess I am
+half stifled.  But if I'm ugly, you're absolutely charming.  It's a
+case of Beauty and the Bird.  Aren't my wings fetching?"
+
+"Very."
+
+"I knew you were English.  Funny how we Frenchmen can always pick out
+English and Americans."
+
+"How did you know I am English?" I inquired.
+
+"Ah! now that's a secret," he laughed.  "But hark! it's a waltz.
+Come under my wing, and let's dance.  I know you'd dearly love a turn
+round.  For this once throw the introduction farce to the winds, and
+let me take you round.  The owl is never a ferocious bird, you know."
+
+For a moment I hesitated, then consenting, I whirled away among the
+dancers with my unknown partner.
+
+"I saw you up in that box," he said presently.  "I was waiting for
+you to come down."
+
+"Why?"
+
+With woman's innate coquetry, I felt a delight in misleading him,
+just as he was trying to mislead me.  There was a decided air of
+adventure in that curious meeting.  Besides, so many of the dresses
+were absolutely alike that, now we had become separated, it was
+hopeless for me to discover any of our party.  The Nice dressmakers
+make dozens of Carnival dresses exactly similar, and when the wearers
+are masked, it is impossible to distinguish one from the other.
+
+"Well," he said evasively, in answer to my question, "I wanted a
+partner."
+
+"And so you waited for me?  Surely any other would have done as well?"
+
+"No, that's just it.  She wouldn't.  I wanted to dance with you."
+
+The waltz had ended, and we strolled together out of the theatre into
+the great winter-garden, with its bright flower-beds and graceful
+palms--a kind of huge conservatory, which forms a gay promenade each
+evening in the season.
+
+"I don't see why you should entertain such a desire," I said.
+"Besides," and I paused to gain breath for the little untruth, "I
+fear now that my husband will be furious if he has noticed us."
+
+"I might say the same about my wife--if I wished to import fiction
+into the romance," he said.
+
+"Then you have no wife?" I suggested, with a laugh.
+
+"My wife is just as real as your husband," he responded bluntly.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean that if you really have a husband, it is an extremely
+surprising confession."
+
+"Why surprising?"
+
+"Well, it's true that husbands are like Somebody's sewing-machines,
+no home being complete without one," he laughed.  "But I really had
+no idea that Mademoiselle Carmela Rosselli possessed such a useful
+commodity."
+
+"What!" I gasped, glaring at the hideous-looking Owl.  "You know me?"
+
+"Yes," he responded, in a deeper tone, more earnestly than before.
+"I know quite well who you are.  I have come here to-night expressly
+to speak with you."
+
+I started, and stood glaring at him in wonderment.
+
+"I have," he added, in a low, confidential voice, "something
+important to say to you--something most important."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+NARRATES A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT
+
+"You are a perfect stranger, sir," I said, with considerable hauteur.
+"Until you care to give me your name, and make known who you are, I
+have no wish to hear this important statement of yours."
+
+"No," he answered, "I regret very much that for certain reasons I am
+unfortunately unable to furnish my name.  I am The Owl--that is
+sufficient."
+
+"No, not for me.  As I am not in the habit of thus chattering with
+strangers at a public ball, I must wish you good evening," I said,
+and turned abruptly away.
+
+In an instant he was again at my side.
+
+"Listen, Miss Rosselli," he said, in a deeply earnest tone.  "You
+must listen to me.  I have something to tell you which closely
+concerns yourself--your future welfare."
+
+"Well?" I inquired.
+
+"I cannot speak now, as someone may overhear.  I had to exercise the
+greatest precaution in approaching you for there are spies
+everywhere, and a single blunder would be fatal."
+
+"What do you mean?" I inquired, at once interested.
+
+The manner of this hideously disguised man who spoke such excellent
+English was certainly mysterious, and I could not doubt that he was
+in real earnest.
+
+"Let us walk over there, and sit in that corner," he said, indicating
+a seat half hidden in the bamboos.  "If there is no one near, I will
+explain.  If we are watched, then we must contrive to find some other
+place."
+
+"In our box," I suggested.  "We can sit at the back in the alcove,
+where no one can see us."
+
+"Excellent!" he answered.  "I never thought of that.  But if any of
+your party return there?"
+
+"I can merely say that you invited me to dance, and I, in return,
+invited you there for a few moments' rest.
+
+"Then let's go," he said, and a few minutes later we were sitting far
+back in the shadow of the box on the second tier, high above the
+music and gay revelry.
+
+"Well," I inquired eagerly, when we were seated, "and why did you
+wish to see me to-night?"
+
+"First, I have knowledge--which you will not, I think deny--that you
+loved a man in London--one Ernest Cameron."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And at this moment there is a second man who, although not your
+lover, is often in your thoughts.  The man's name is Benjamin Keppel.
+Am I correct?"
+
+"I really don't see by what right you submit me to this
+cross-examination upon affairs which only concern myself," I
+responded in a hard voice, although I was eager to determine the
+identity of this masked man.
+
+"Marriage with a millionaire is a temptation which few women can
+resist," he said philosophically, in a voice undisturbed by my harsh
+retort.  "Temptations are the crises which test the strength of one's
+character.  Whether a woman stands or falls at these crises depends
+very largely on what she is before the testing comes."
+
+"And pray what concern have you in my intentions or actions?" I
+demanded.
+
+"You will discover that in due time," he answered.  "I know that to
+the world you, like your companion, Ulrica Yorke, pretend to be a
+woman who prefers her freedom and has no thought of love.  Yet you
+are only acting the part of the free woman.  At heart you love as
+intensely and hate as fiercely as all the others.  Is not that so?"
+
+"You speak remarkably plainly, as though you were well acquainted
+with my private affairs," I remarked resentfully.
+
+"I only say what I know to be the truth," he replied.  "You, Carmela
+Rosselli, are not heartless like that emotionless woman who is your
+friend.  The truth is that you love--you still love Ernest Cameron."
+
+I rose in quick indignation.
+
+"I refuse to hear you further, monsieur!" I cried.  "Kindly let me
+pass."
+
+His hand was on the door of the box, and he kept it there,
+notwithstanding my words.
+
+"No," he said, quite coolly.  "You must hear me--indeed, you shall
+hear me!"
+
+"I have heard you," I answered.  "You have said sufficient."
+
+"I have not finished," he replied.  "When I have done so, you will, I
+think, only be anxious to learn more."  He added quite calmly: "If
+you will kindly be seated, so as not to attract attention, I will go
+on."
+
+I sank back into my seat without further effort to arrest his words.
+The adventure was most extraordinary, and certainly his grotesque
+appearance held me puzzled.
+
+"Here, in Nice, not long ago," he continued, "you met a man who
+believed himself in love with you, yet a few nights later he was
+foully murdered in your sitting-room at the hotel."
+
+"Reginald Thorne," I said quickly, in a strained voice, for the
+memory of that distressing event was very painful.
+
+"Yes, Reginald Thorne," he repeated, in a low, hoarse voice.
+
+"You knew him?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, I knew him," was his response, in a deep, strange tone.  "It is
+to speak of him that I have sought you to-night."
+
+"If you are so well aware who I am, and of all my movements, you
+might surely have called upon me," I remarked dubiously.
+
+"Ah, no!  That would have been impossible.  None must know that we
+have met!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because there are reasons--very strong reasons--why our meeting
+should be kept secret," the voice responded, the pair of sharp black
+eyes peering forth mysteriously from the two holes in the owl's face.
+"We are surrounded by spies.  Here, in France, they have reduced
+espionage to a fine art."
+
+"And yet the police have failed to discover the murderer of poor Mr.
+Thorne," I observed.
+
+"They will never do that."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"They will never solve the mystery without aid."
+
+"Whose aid?"
+
+"Mine."
+
+"What?" I cried, starting quickly.  "Are you actually in possession
+of some fact that will lead to the arrest of the culprit?  Tell me
+quickly.  Is it really certain that he was murdered, and did not die
+a natural death?"
+
+"Ah!" he laughed.  "I told you a few minutes ago that you would be
+anxious to hear my statement.  Was I not correct?"
+
+"Of course!  I had no idea that you were in possession of any facts
+or evidence regarding the crime.  What do you know about it?
+
+"At present I am not at liberty to say--except that the person who
+committed the deed was no ordinary criminal."
+
+"Then he was murdered, and the motive was robbery?"
+
+"That was the police theory, but I can at once assure you that they
+were entirely mistaken.  Theft was not the motive."
+
+"But the money was stolen from his pockets!" I said.
+
+"How do you prove that?  He might have secreted it somewhere before
+the attack was made upon him."
+
+"I feel certain that the money was stolen," I answered.
+
+"Well, you are, of course, welcome to your own opinion," he answered
+carelessly.  "I can only assure you that, even though the money was
+not found upon him, robbery was not the motive of the crime."
+
+"And you have come to me in order to tell me that?" I said.  "Perhaps
+you will explain further."
+
+"I come to you, Miss Rosselli, because a serious responsibility rests
+upon yourself."
+
+"In what manner?"
+
+"The unfortunate young man was attracted towards you; he accompanied
+you to Monte Carlo on the day of his death, and he was found dead in
+your sitting-room."
+
+"I know," I said.  "But why did he go there?"
+
+"Because he, no doubt, wished to speak with you."
+
+"At that late hour?  I cannot conceive why he should want to speak
+with me.  He might have come to me in the morning."
+
+"No.  The matter was pressing--very pressing."
+
+"Then if you know its nature, as you apparently do, perhaps you will
+tell me."
+
+"I can do nothing," the deep voice responded.  "I only desire to warn
+you."
+
+"To warn me!" I cried, surprised.  "Of what?"
+
+"Of a danger which threatens you."
+
+"A danger?  Explain it."
+
+"Then kindly give me your undivided attention for a moment," the Owl
+said earnestly, at the same time peering into my eyes with that air
+of mystery which so puzzled me.  "Perhaps it will not surprise you to
+know that in this matter of the death of Reginald Thorne there are
+several interests at stake, and the most searching and secret
+inquiries have been made on behalf of the young man's friends by
+detectives sent from London, and from New York.  These inquiries have
+established one or two curious facts, but so far from elucidating the
+mystery, they have only tended to render it more inscrutable.  As I
+have already said, the person actually responsible for the crime is
+no ordinary murderer, and notwithstanding the fact that some of the
+shrewdest and most experienced detectives have been at work, they can
+discover nothing.  You follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"Then I will proceed further.  Has it ever occurred to you that you
+might, if you so desired, become the wife of old Benjamin Keppel?"
+
+"I really don't see what that has to do with the matter under
+discussion," I said, with quick indignation.
+
+"Then you admit that old Mr. Keppel is among your admirers?"
+
+"I admit nothing," I responded.  "I see no reason why you, a perfect
+stranger, should intrude upon my private affairs in this manner."
+
+"The intrusion is for your own safety," he answered ambiguously.
+
+"And what need I fear, pray?  You spoke of some extraordinary
+warning, I believe."
+
+"True, I wish to warn you," said the man in strange disguise.  "I
+came here to-night at considerable risk to do so."
+
+I hesitated.  Then, after a few moments of reflection, I resolved
+upon making a bold shot.
+
+"Those who speak of risk are invariably in fear," I said.  "Your
+words betray that you have some connection with the crime."
+
+I watched him narrowly, and saw him start perceptibly.  Then I
+congratulated myself upon my shrewdness, and was determined to fence
+with him further and endeavour to make him commit himself.  I rather
+prided myself upon smart repartee, and many had told me that at times
+I shone as a brilliant conversationalist.
+
+"Ah!" he said hastily, "I think you mistake me, Miss Rosselli.  I am
+acting in your interests entirely."
+
+"If so, then surely you may give me your name or tell me who you are."
+
+"I prefer to remain unknown," he replied.
+
+"Because you fear exposure."
+
+"I fear no exposure," he protested.  "I came here to speak with you
+secretly to-night, because had I called openly at your hotel my visit
+would have aroused suspicion, and most probably have had the effect
+of thwarting the plans of those who are endeavouring to solve the
+enigma."
+
+"But you give me no proof whatever of your _bona fides_!" I declared.
+
+"Simply because I am unable.  I merely come to give you warning."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"Of the folly of flirtation."
+
+I sprang to my feet indignantly.
+
+"You insult me!" I cried.  "I will bear it no longer.  Please let me
+pass!"
+
+"I shall not allow you to leave until I have finished," he answered
+determinedly.  "You think that I am not in earnest, but I tell you I
+am.  Your whole future depends upon your acceptance of my suggestion."
+
+"And what is your suggestion, pray?"
+
+"That you should no longer regard old Mr. Keppel as your possible
+husband."
+
+"I have never regarded him as such," I responded, with a contemptuous
+laugh.  "But supposing that I did--supposing that he offered me
+marriage, what then?"
+
+"Then a disaster would fall upon you.  It is of that disaster that I
+came here to-night to warn you," he said, speaking quickly in a
+hoarse voice.  "Recollect that you must never become his wife--never!"
+
+"If I did, what harm could possibly befall me?" I inquired eagerly,
+for the stranger's prophetic words were, to say the least,
+exceedingly strange.
+
+He was silent for a moment, then said slowly:
+
+"Remember the harm that befell Reginald Thorne."
+
+"What?" I cried in alarm.  "Death?"
+
+"Yes," he answered solemnly, "death."
+
+I stood before him for a moment breathless.
+
+"Then, to put it plainly," I said, in an uneven voice, "I am
+threatened with death should I marry Benjamin Keppel?"
+
+"Even to become betrothed to him would be fatal," he answered.
+
+"And by whom am I thus threatened?"
+
+"That is a question I cannot answer.  I am here merely to warn you,
+not to give explanations."
+
+"But the person who takes such an extraordinary interest in my
+private affairs must have some motive for this threat?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"How can I tell?  It is not myself who is threatening you.  I have
+only given you warning."
+
+"There is a reason, then, why I should not marry Mr. Keppel?"
+
+"There is even a reason why you should in future refuse to accept his
+invitations to the Villa Fabron," my strange companion replied.  "You
+have been invited to form one of a party on board the _Vispera_, but
+for your personal safety I would presume to advise you not to go."
+
+"I shall certainly please myself," I replied.  "These threats will
+certainly not deter me from acting just as I think proper.  If I go
+upon a cruise with Mr. Keppel and his son, I shall have no fear of my
+personal safety."
+
+"Reginald Thorne was young and athletic.  He had no fear.  But he
+disobeyed a warning.  You know the result."
+
+"Then you wish me to decline Mr. Keppel's invitation and remain in
+Nice?"
+
+"I urge you, for several reasons, to decline his invitation, but I do
+not suggest that you should remain in Nice.  I am the bearer of
+instructions to you.  If you carry them out, they will be distinctly
+to your benefit."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"To-day," he said, "is the 18th of February.  Those who have your
+welfare at heart desire that you should, after the Riviera season is
+over, go to London, arriving there on the 1st of June next."
+
+"Well?" I exclaimed.
+
+This stranger seemed to possess a good deal of knowledge in regard to
+my antecedents.
+
+"Well, on arrival in London you will go to the Hotel Cecil, and there
+receive a visitor on the following day, the 2nd of June.  You will
+then be given certain instructions, which must be carried out."
+
+"All this is very mysterious," I remarked.  "But I really have no
+intention of returning to London until next autumn."
+
+"I think you will," was his reply, "because, when you fully consider
+all the circumstances, you will keep the appointment in London, and
+learn the truth."
+
+"The truth regarding the death of Reginald Thorne?" I cried.  "Cannot
+I learn it here?"
+
+"No," he replied.  "And further, you will never learn it unless you
+take heed of the plain words I have spoken to-night."
+
+"You tell me that any further friendship between Mr. Keppel and
+myself is forbidden," I exclaimed, laughing.  "Why, the whole thing
+is really too absurd!  I shall, of course, just please myself--as I
+always do."
+
+"In that case, disaster is inevitable," he observed, with a sigh.
+
+"You tell me that I am threatened with death if I disobey.  That is
+certainly extremely comforting."
+
+"You appear to regard what I have said very lightly, Miss Rosselli,"
+said the unknown voice.  "It would be well if you regarded your love
+for Ernest Cameron just as lightly."
+
+"He has nothing whatever to do with this matter," I said quickly.  "I
+am mistress of my own actions, and I refuse to be influenced by any
+threats uttered by a person who fears to reveal his identity."
+
+"As you will," he replied, with an impatient movement.  "I am unknown
+to you, it is true, but I think I have shown an intimate knowledge of
+your private affairs."
+
+"If, as you assure me, you are acting in my interests, you may surely
+tell me the truth regarding the mystery surrounding poor Reginald's
+death," I suggested.
+
+"That is unfortunately not within my power," he responded.  "I am in
+possession only of certain facts, and have risked much in coming here
+to-night to give you warning."
+
+"But how can my affairs affect anyone?" I queried.  "What you have
+told me is, if true, most extraordinary."
+
+"It is true, and it is, as you say, very extraordinary.  Your friend
+Mr. Thorne died mysteriously.  I only hope, Miss Rosselli, that you
+will not share the same fate."
+
+I paused and looked at the curious figure before me.
+
+"In order to avoid doing so, then, I am to hold aloof from Mr.
+Keppel, remain here until May, and then travel back to London, there
+to meet some person unknown?"
+
+"Exactly.  But there is still one thing further.  I am charged to
+offer for your acceptance a small present, as some small recompense
+for the trouble you must be put to by waiting here in the South, and
+then journeying to London," and he drew from beneath his strangely
+grotesque dress a small box, some four or five inches square, wrapped
+in paper, which he handed to me.
+
+I did not take it.  There was something uncanny about it all.
+
+"Do not hesitate, or we may be observed," he said.  "Take it quickly.
+Do not open it until you return to your hotel."
+
+With these words he thrust it into my hand.
+
+"Remember what I have said," he exclaimed, rising quickly.  "I must
+be gone, for I see that suspicion is aroused by those who are
+watching.  Act with prudence, and the disaster against which I have
+warned you will not occur.  Above all, keep the appointment in London
+on the 2nd of June."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Because for your own safety it is imperative," he responded, and
+with a low bow he opened the door of the box.
+
+The next instant I was alone with the little packet the stranger had
+given me resting in my hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SHOWS THE BIRD'S TALONS
+
+For some little time after my mysterious companion had left I sat
+forward in the box, gazing down at the wild revelry below, and hoping
+that one or other of the party would recognise me.
+
+So great a crowd was there, and so many dresses exactly similar, that
+to distinguish Ulrica or Gerald, or indeed any of the others, proved
+absolutely impossible.  They might, of course, be in one or other of
+the supper-rooms, and I saw from the first that there was but little
+chance of finding them.
+
+Leaning my elbows on the edge of the box, I gazed down upon the scene
+of reckless merriment, but my thoughts were full of the strange words
+uttered by the mysterious masker.  The packet he had given me I had
+transferred to my pocket, though with pardonable curiosity I longed
+to open it and see what it contained.
+
+The warning he had given me was extremely disconcerting.  It worried
+me.  No woman likes to think that she has unknown enemies ready to
+take her life.  Yet that was apparently my position.
+
+That life could be taken swiftly and without detection, I had plainly
+seen in the case of poor Reggie.  When I recollected his terrible
+fate I shuddered.  Yet this man had plainly given me to understand
+that the same fate awaited me if I did not adopt the line of conduct
+which he had laid down.
+
+Whoever he might be, he certainly was acquainted with all my
+movements, and knew intimately my feelings.  There was certainly no
+likelihood of my marriage with old Benjamin Keppel.  I scouted the
+idea.  Yet he knew quite well that the millionaire had become
+attracted by me, and reposed in me a confidence which he did not
+extend to others.  The more I reflected, the more I became convinced
+that the stranger's fear of being recognised arose from the fact that
+he himself was either the murderer or an accessory to the murder of
+poor Reggie.
+
+What did the demand that I should return to London denote?  It could
+only mean one thing--namely, that my assistance was required.
+
+Whoever were my enemies, they were, I argued, enemies likewise of old
+Mr. Keppel.  The present which the stranger had pressed upon me was
+nothing less than a bribe to secure either my silence or my services.
+
+However much I tried, it appeared out of the question for me to
+discover the motive guiding the stranger's conduct.  The only certain
+fact was that this man, so cleverly disguised that I could not
+distinguish his real height, much less his form or features, had come
+there, watched for a favourable opportunity to speak with me, and had
+warned me to sever my friendship with the millionaire.
+
+Leaning there, gazing blankly down upon the crowd screaming with
+laughter at the Parisian quadrilles and antics of clown and
+columbine, I coolly analysed my own feeling towards the blunt,
+plain-spoken old gentleman with the melancholy eyes.  I found--as I
+had believed all along--that I admired him for his honest
+good-nature, his utter lack of anything approaching "side," his
+strenuous efforts to assist in good works, and his regard for
+appearances only for his son's sake.  But I did not love him.  No, I
+had loved one man.  I could never love another--never in all my life!
+
+Perhaps Ernest Cameron was present, disguised by a mask and dress of
+parti-coloured satin!  Perhaps he was down there among the dancers,
+escorting that woman who had usurped my place.  The thought held me
+in wonder.
+
+Suddenly, however, I was brought back to a due sense of my
+surroundings by the opening of the door of the box, and the entry of
+one of the theatre attendants, who, addressing me in French, said:
+
+"I beg mademoiselle's pardon, but the Director would esteem it a
+favour if mademoiselle would step down to the bureau at once."
+
+"What do they want with me?" I inquired quickly, with considerable
+surprise.
+
+"Of that I have no knowledge, mademoiselle; I was merely told to ask
+you to go there without delay."
+
+Therefore, in wonder, I rose and followed the man downstairs and
+through the crowd of revellers to the private office of the Director,
+close to the main entrance of the Casino.
+
+In the room I found the Director, an elderly man, with short, stiff
+grey hair, sitting at a table, while near him stood two men dressed
+as pierrots with their masks removed.
+
+When the door was closed, the Director, courteously offering me a
+seat, apologised for disturbing me, but explained that he had done so
+at the request of his two companions.
+
+"I may as well at once explain," said the elder of the two in French,
+"that we desire some information which you can furnish."
+
+"Of what nature?" I inquired, in a tone of marked surprise.
+
+"In the theatre, an hour ago, you were accosted by a masker, wearing
+a dress representing an owl.  You danced with him, but were
+afterwards lost in the crowd.  Search was made through all the rooms
+for you, but you could not be found.  Where have you been?"
+
+"I have been sitting in the box in conversation with the stranger."
+
+"All the time?"
+
+"Yes.  He took precautions against being seen."
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"I have no idea," I responded, still puzzled by the man's demand.
+
+"I had better, perhaps, explain at once to mademoiselle that we are
+agents of police," he said, with a smile, "and that the movements of
+the individual who met you and chatted with you so affably are of the
+greatest interest to us."
+
+"Then you know who he is?" I exclaimed quickly.
+
+"Yes.  We have discovered that."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"Unfortunately, it is not our habit to give details of any case on
+which we are engaged until it is completed."
+
+"The case in question is the murder of Mr. Thorne at the 'Grand
+Hotel,' is it not?"
+
+"Mademoiselle guesses correctly.  She was a friend of the unfortunate
+gentleman's, if I mistake not?"
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"Well," he said, in a confidential tone, while his companion, a
+slightly younger man, stood by regarding me and tugging at his
+moustache, "we should esteem it a favour if you would kindly relate
+all that has transpired this evening.  When we saw him meet you we
+were not certain of his identity.  His disguise was puzzling.
+Afterwards there could be no doubt, but he had then disappeared."
+
+"I had thought that the police had relinquished their inquiries," I
+said, gratified, nevertheless, to know that they were still on the
+alert.
+
+"It is when we relax our efforts slightly that we have the better
+chance of success," the detective replied.  "Did the man give you any
+name?"
+
+"No; he refused to tell me who he was."
+
+"And what was his excuse for accosting you and demanding a
+_tête-à-tête_?"
+
+"He said he wished to warn me of an impending peril.  In brief, he
+told me that my life was in jeopardy."
+
+"Ah!" the man ejaculated, as he exchanged a meaning glance with his
+companion.  "And his pretence was to give you warning of it.  Did he
+tell you by whom your life was threatened?"
+
+"No.  He refused any details, but made certain suggestions as to the
+course I should pursue."
+
+"That sounds interesting.  What did he suggest?"
+
+I hesitated for a few moments.  Then reflecting that the stranger was
+evidently under the observation of the police, and that the latter
+were trying to bring poor Reggie's assassin to justice, I resolved to
+reveal all that had passed between us.
+
+Therefore I gave a brief outline of our conversation just as I have
+written it in the foregoing pages.  Both detectives, at hearing my
+story, seemed very much puzzled.
+
+"You will pardon my intrusion," exclaimed the agent of police who had
+first spoken to me, "but as you will see, this is a clue which must
+be thoroughly investigated.  Will mademoiselle forgive me for asking
+whether there is any truth in this man's surmise that she is about to
+become engaged to marry this Monsieur Keppel?"
+
+"None whatever," I answered frankly.  "I can only suppose that some
+unfounded gossip has arisen, as it so often does, and that it has
+reached his ears."
+
+"Yet he threatens--or at least warns you of peril if you should
+become the wife of this wealthy monsieur!  Ah! there seems to be some
+very deep motive; what it really is, we must seek to discover.  When
+we have found it we shall have, I feel confident, a clue to the
+murderer of Monsieur Thorne."
+
+"But there is still another rather curious fact," I went on, now
+determined to conceal nothing.  "He declared that it was necessary
+for my well-being that I should return to London, and there meet some
+person who would visit me on the 2nd of June next."
+
+"Ah!  And you intend keeping that appointment, I presume?"
+
+"I intend to do nothing of the kind, monsieur," I replied, with a
+laugh.  "The affair is a very ugly one, and I have no desire whatever
+that my name should be linked further with it."
+
+"Of course.  I quite understand the annoyance caused to mademoiselle.
+It is sufficient to have one's friend murdered in that mysterious
+manner, without being pestered by mysterious individuals who mask
+themselves and prophesy all sorts of unpleasant things if their
+orders are not obeyed.  Did you promise to return to London?"
+
+"I said I would consider the advisability of doing so."
+
+"You are diplomatic--eh?" he said, with a laugh.  "It is unfortunate
+that this fellow has slipped through our fingers so cleverly--very
+unfortunate!"
+
+"But if he is known to you, there will surely not be much difficulty
+in rediscovering him."
+
+"Ah! that's just the question, you see.  We are not absolutely
+certain as to his identity."  Then after a slight pause, he glanced
+at me and asked suddenly: "Mademoiselle has a friend--or had a
+friend--named Cameron--a Monsieur Ernest Cameron?  Is that so?"
+
+I think I must have blushed beneath the piece of black velvet which
+hid my cheeks.
+
+"That is correct," I stammered.  "Why?"
+
+"The reason is unimportant," he answered carelessly.  "The fact is
+written in the papers concerning the case, and we like always to
+verify facts in such a case as this--that's all."
+
+"But he has no connection with this tragic business!" I hastened to
+declare.  "I haven't spoken to him for nearly two years--we have been
+apart for quite that time."
+
+"Of course," said the man reassuringly; "the fact has nothing to do
+with the matter.  I merely referred to it in order to obtain
+confirmation of our reports.  You mentioned something of a proposed
+yachting cruise.  What did this mysterious individual say regarding
+that?"
+
+"He warned me not to go on board the _Vispera_----"
+
+"The _Vispera_?" he interrupted.  "The owner of the yacht is monsieur
+the millionaire, is he not?"
+
+I responded in the affirmative.
+
+"And this Monsieur Keppel has invited you to go with others on a
+cruise to Naples?
+
+"Yes.  But how did you know that it was to Naples?" I inquired.
+
+"All yachts sailing from Nice eastward go to Naples," he answered,
+laughing.  "I suppose the programme includes a run to the Greek
+islands.  Constantinople, Smyrna, and Tunis, eh?"
+
+"I think so; but I have not yet heard definitely."
+
+"You have accepted the invitation, I take it?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"And that, of course, lends colour to the belief that monsieur the
+millionaire is in love with you, for it is well known that although
+he has that magnificent yacht he never goes on a pleasure cruise."
+
+"I can't help what may be thought by gossips," I said hastily.  "Mr.
+Keppel is a friend of mine--nothing further."
+
+"But this friendship has apparently caused certain apprehensions to
+arise in the minds of the persons of whom your mysterious companion
+was the mouthpiece--the people who threaten you with death should you
+disobey them."
+
+"Who are those people, do you imagine?" I inquired, deeply in
+earnest, for the matter seemed to grow increasingly serious.
+
+"Ah!" he answered, with a shrug of his shoulders.  "If we knew that
+we should have no difficulty in arresting the assassin of Monsieur
+Thorne."
+
+"Well, what do you consider my best course?" I asked, utterly
+bewildered by the mysterious events of the evening.
+
+"I should advise you to keep your own counsel, and leave the
+inquiries to us," was the detective's rejoinder.  "If this man again
+approaches you, make an appointment with him later and acquaint us
+with the time and place at once."
+
+"But I don't anticipate that I shall see him again."
+
+Then, determined to render these police agents every assistance, even
+though they had been stupidly blind to allow the stranger to escape,
+I drew from my pocket the small packet which he had given me.
+
+"This," I said, "he handed to me at the last instant, accompanied by
+a hope that I would not fail to keep the appointment in London."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Will you permit us to open it?" he inquired, much interested.
+
+"Certainly," I responded.  "I am anxious to see what it contains."
+
+The detective took it, and cut the string with his pocket-knife;
+then, while his subordinate and the Director of the Casino craned
+their necks to investigate, he unwrapped paper after paper until he
+came to a square jewel-case covered in dark crimson leather.
+
+"An ornament, I suppose!" exclaimed the detective.
+
+Then he opened the box, and from its velvet-lined depths something
+fell to the ground which caused us to utter a loud cry of surprise in
+chorus.
+
+The detective stooped to pick it up.
+
+I stood dumbfounded and aghast.  In his hand was a bundle of folded
+French bank-notes--each for one thousand francs.  They were the notes
+stolen from Reginald Thorne by his assassin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+MAKES ONE POINT PLAIN
+
+"Extraordinary!" ejaculated the detective, whose habitual coolness
+seemed utterly upset by the unexpected discovery.  "This adds an
+entirely new feature to the case!"
+
+"What, I wonder, could have been the motive in giving the notes to
+mademoiselle?" queried his companion.
+
+"How can we tell?" said the other.  "It at least proves one thing,
+namely, that the man in the owl's dress is the person we suspected
+him to be."
+
+"Do you believe him to be the actual assassin?" I gasped.
+
+But the detectives, with the aid of the Director of the Theatre, were
+busy counting the stolen notes.  There were sixty, each for one
+thousand francs.
+
+They examined the leather jewellery case, but found no mark upon it,
+nor upon the paper wrappings.  The box was such as might have once
+contained a bracelet, but the raised velvet-covered spring in the
+interior had been removed in order to admit of the introduction of
+the notes, which, even when folded, formed a rather large packet.
+
+"They are undoubtedly those stolen from Monsieur Thorne," the
+detective said.  "In these circumstances, it is our duty to take
+possession of them as evidence against the criminal.  I shall lodge
+them with the Prefect of Police until we have completed the inquiry."
+
+"Certainly," I answered.  "I have no desire to keep them in my
+possession.  The history connected with them is far too gruesome.
+But whatever motive could there be in handing them over to me?"
+
+"Ah! that we hope to discover later," the detective responded,
+carefully folding them, replacing them in the case, and taking charge
+of the wrappings, which it was believed might form some clue.  "At
+present it would seem very much as though the assassin handed you the
+proceeds of the crime in order to convince you that robbery was not
+the motive."
+
+"Then you do believe that the man in the owl's dress was the real
+culprit?" I cried eagerly.  "If so, I have actually danced to-night
+with poor Reggie's murderer!" I gasped.
+
+"It is more than likely that we shall be able to establish that
+fact," the subordinate observed, in a rather uncertain tone.
+
+"How unfortunate," ejaculated his superior, "that we allowed him to
+slip through our fingers thus--and with the money actually upon him,
+too!"
+
+"Yes," observed the Director of the Casino.  "You have certainly
+to-night lost an excellent opportunity, messieurs.  It is curious
+that neither of you noticed mademoiselle in the box talking with this
+mysterious individual."
+
+"That was, I think, impossible," I remarked.  "We sat quite back in
+the small alcove."
+
+"What number was your box?" the Director asked.
+
+"Fifteen."
+
+"Ah, of course!" he said quickly.  "There is, I remember, a kind of
+alcove at the back.  You sat in there."
+
+"Well," observed the chief detective, "no good can be done by
+remaining here any longer, I suppose, so we had better endeavour to
+trace this interesting person by other means.  The fact that he has
+given up the proceeds of the crime is sufficient to show that he
+means to leave Nice.  Therefore we must lose no time," and he glanced
+at his watch.  "Ten minutes to two," he said.  Then turning to his
+assistant, he ordered him to drive to the station to see whether the
+man who had worn the disguise of the night-bird was among the
+travellers leaving for Marseilles at 2.30.  "Remain on duty at the
+station until I send and relieve you," he said.  "There are several
+special trains to Cannes and to Monte Carlo about three o'clock, on
+account of the ball.  Be careful to watch them all.  It's my opinion
+he may be going to cross the frontier at Ventimiglia.  I'll telephone
+there as soon as I get down to the bureau."
+
+"_Bien, monsieur!_" answered the other.
+
+As they went out, after wishing me good-night, I followed them,
+asking of the senior of the pair:
+
+"Tell me, monsieur, what is my best course of action?  Do you think
+the threats are serious?"
+
+"Not at all," he said reassuringly.  "My dear mademoiselle, don't
+distress yourself in the very least regarding what this man has said.
+He has only endeavoured to frighten you into rendering him
+assistance.  Act just as you think proper.  Your experience to-night
+has certainly been a strange one; but if I were in your place, I
+would return to the hotel, sleep soundly, and forget it all
+until--well, until we make our arrest."
+
+"You expect to do so, then?"
+
+"We, of course, hope so.  In my profession, you know, everything is
+uncertain.  So much depends upon chance," and he smiled pleasantly.
+
+"Then I presume you will communicate with me later as to the further
+result of your investigations?" I suggested.
+
+"Most certainly.  Mademoiselle shall be kept well informed of our
+operations, never fear."
+
+We were at the door of the Casino, where a great crowd had assembled
+to watch the maskers emerging.
+
+"Shall I call you a fiacre?" he asked quite gallantly.
+
+"No, thank you," I responded.  "I'll walk.  It is only a few steps to
+the 'Grand.'"
+
+"Ah, of course," he laughed.  "I had forgotten.  _Bon soir_,
+mademoiselle."
+
+I wished him good-night, and the next moment he was lost in the
+crowd, while, with my mind full of my extraordinary adventure, I
+walked along the Quai St. Jean Baptiste to the hotel.
+
+The incidents had been so strange that they seemed beyond belief.
+
+I found the faithful Felicita dozing, but Ulrica had not returned.
+When she entered, however, a quarter of an hour later, she was in the
+highest of spirits, declaring that she had experienced a most
+delightful time.
+
+"My opinion of the Carnival ball, my dear, is that it's by far the
+jolliest function on the Riviera," she declared.  Then in the same
+breath she proceeded to give me an outline of her movements from the
+time we were lost to one another in the crowd.  She had, it appeared,
+had supper with Gerald and several friends, and the fun had been fast
+and furious.  Her dress was badly torn in places, and certainly her
+dishevelled appearance showed that she had entered very thoroughly
+into the boisterous amusement of Carnival.
+
+"And you?" she inquired presently.  "What in the world became of you?
+We searched everywhere before supper, but couldn't find you."
+
+"I met a rather entertaining partner," I responded briefly.
+
+"A stranger?"
+
+"Yes," and I gave her a look by which she understood that I intended
+to say nothing before Felicita.
+
+Therefore the subject dropped, and as I had promised to tell her of
+my strange adventure later, she left me for the night.
+
+I am seldom troubled by insomnia, but that night little sleep came to
+my eyes.  Lying awake has no attraction for anyone; yet it is an
+experience which many have to suffer constantly, though not gladly.
+That night my brain was troubled by a thousand conflicting thoughts.
+I turned on to the side on which I usually sleep, and closed my eyes.
+But immediately ideas and suggestions of all kinds rushed at me.  It
+was then that I recalled the mistakes of that night.  I noted the
+opportunities missed, thought of the right things that I had left
+unsaid, and groaned at the thought of what really found utterance.
+Round and round went my mental machinery, and I knew well that sleep
+was not to be expected.
+
+A terrible restlessness set in upon me, and turn succeeded turn, till
+I wished myself a polygon, so that the sides to which I could change
+might be more numerous.  Some people have recourse to a small shelf
+of bedside books to lull them to rest.  I think it was Thackeray who
+said, "'Montaigne' and 'Howell's Letters' are my bedside books.  If I
+wake at night I have one or other of them to prattle me off to sleep
+again."  Montaigne seems to have been a favourite author with many
+people for this purpose.  The cheerful, companionable garrulity of
+the Gascon is the ideal pabulum for those suffering from wakeful
+hours at night, for both Pope and Wycherley used to lull themselves
+to sleep by his aid.
+
+Alas!  I had no Montaigne--nothing, indeed, more literary or
+prattling than a couple of the local newspapers of Nice.  Therefore I
+was compelled to lie and endure the thoughts which fled through my
+brain in a noisy whirr, and prevented me falling off into slumber.
+The hotel seemed full of noise.  Strange sounds came from the
+staircase, and stealthy footfalls seemed to make themselves audible.
+From the outer world came other sounds, some familiar, others
+inexplicable--all jarring upon the delicate nerves of hearing.
+
+I lay there thinking it all over.  I had now not the slightest doubt
+that the man in the owl's dress was the actual assassin of poor
+Reggie.  And I had chatted amiably with him.  I had actually danced
+with him!  The very thought held me horrified.
+
+What marvellous self-confidence the fellow had displayed; what cool
+audacity, what unwarrantable interference in my private affairs, and
+what a terrible counter-stroke he had effected in presenting me with
+the actual notes filched from the dead man's pocket!  The incident
+was rendered the more bewildering on account of the entire absence of
+motive.  I lay awake reflecting upon it the whole night long.
+
+When we took our morning coffee together I related to Ulrica all that
+had passed.  She sat, a pretty and dainty figure in her lace-trimmed
+and beribboned _robe de chambre_, leaning her bare elbows upon the
+table, and listening open-mouthed.
+
+"And the police actually allowed him to escape scot-free?" she cried
+indignantly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The thing is monstrous.  I begin to think that their failure to
+trace the murderer is because they are in league with him.  Here
+abroad, one never knows."
+
+"No, I think not," I responded.  "He was clever enough to evade
+observation, and took care to make the most of the little alcove in
+the box."
+
+"But the stolen notes!" she cried.  "He evidently wished to get rid
+of them in order to avoid being found with the money in his
+possession.  So he presented you with them.  A grim present,
+certainly.  The fellow apparently has a sense of humour."
+
+"I tell you, my dear Ulrica, I'm terribly upset.  I haven't slept at
+all."
+
+"Enough to upset anyone," she declared.  "We must tell Gerald, and
+ask his advice."
+
+"No, we must not tell him all.  I beg of you to say nothing regarding
+myself and old Mr. Keppel."
+
+"Certainly not.  I shall be discreet, rely upon me.  Gerald will
+advise us how to act."
+
+"Or the old gentleman might give us some advice," I suggested; for
+Gerald was given to fits of frivolity, and this was a matter
+extremely serious.
+
+"You intend to say nothing of the appointment in London?" she
+inquired, looking at me sharply.
+
+"Nothing," I responded.  "That is a secret between us."
+
+"Do you intend to keep it?"
+
+"I scarcely know.  My actions will, of course, be controlled by the
+discoveries of the police."
+
+"The police!" she ejaculated.  "I don't believe in them at all.  They
+make a great pretence, but do nothing."
+
+"They evidently know the individual who came to me last night."
+
+"Certainly.  But why didn't they arrest him when he was under their
+very noses.  No, my dear Carmela, depend upon it, here, in this world
+of Monte Carlo, the police are bribed, just as the Press, the
+railwaymen, and postmen are bribed, by these rulers of the Riviera,
+the Administration of the Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco."
+
+"That may be so," I observed wonderingly.  "But the fact still
+remains that last night I danced with Reggie's assassin."
+
+"Did he dance well?"
+
+"Oh, Ulrica!  Don't treat the thing humorously!" I protested.
+
+"I'm not humorous.  The worst of Carnival balls is that they're such
+mixed affairs.  One meets millionaires and murderers, and rubs
+shoulders with the most notorious women in Europe.  Your adventure,
+however, is absolutely unique.  If it got into the papers, what a
+nice little story it would make, wouldn't it?"
+
+"For Heaven's sake no!" I cried.
+
+"Well, if you don't want it to reach the _Petit Niçois_ or the
+_Eclaireur_, you'd better be pretty close about it.  Poor Reggie's
+murder is a mystery and the public fondly delight to read anything
+about a mystery."
+
+"But we can trust Gerald and Mr. Keppel," I suggested.
+
+"Of course," she answered.  "But what a strange thing it is that this
+man, whoever he is, noticed exactly what I also had noticed, namely,
+that the old gentleman is among your admirers."
+
+"Yes.  It almost seems as though he were actually in our circle of
+friends, doesn't it?"
+
+"My dear Carmela," she said, "the affair of poor Reggie's death was
+curious enough, but its motive is absolutely inscrutable.  This man
+who met you last night was, as the police properly described him, a
+veritable artist.  He disguised himself as an owl because the dress
+of a bird would conceal his real height or any personal deformity,
+while the face was, of course, entirely hidden by the beaked mask.
+Had he gone as a pierrot, or in the more ordinary guises, he might
+have betrayed himself."
+
+"But the return of the stolen money," I observed.  "Can you imagine
+why he ran such a risk?  He condemned himself."
+
+"No, I really can't.  It is an absolute enigma."
+
+We discussed it for a long time, until the entrance of Felicita
+caused us to drop the subject.  Yes, it was, as Ulrica had declared,
+an absolute enigma.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon, when we had both dressed ready
+to go out--for we had accepted an invitation to go on an excursion in
+an automobile up to Tourette--the waiter entered with a card, which
+Ulrica took and read.
+
+"Oh!" she sighed.  "Here's another detective.  Don't let him keep us,
+dear.  You know the Allens won't wait for us.  They said four o'clock
+sharp, opposite Vogarde's."
+
+"But we can't refuse to see him," I said.
+
+"Of course not," she replied, and turning to the waiter, ordered him
+to show the caller up.
+
+"There are two gentlemen," he explained.
+
+"Then show them both up," answered Ulrica.  "Be sharp, please, as we
+are in a hurry."
+
+"Yes, madame," responded the waiter, a young Swiss, and went below.
+
+"I suppose they are the pair I saw last night," I said.  "The police
+on the Continent seem always to hunt in couples.  One never sees a
+single gendarme, either in France or in Italy."
+
+"One goes to keep the other cheerful, I believe," Ulrica remarked.
+
+A few moments later the two callers were shown in.
+
+They were not the same as I had seen in the Director's room at the
+Casino.
+
+"I regret this intrusion," said the elder, a dark-bearded, rather
+unwholesome-looking individual with lank black hair.  "I have, I
+believe, the honour of addressing Mademoiselle Rosselli."
+
+"That is my name," I responded briefly, for I did not intend them to
+cause me to lose a most enjoyable trip in that most _chic_ of
+latter-day conveyances, an automobile.
+
+"We are police agents, as you have possibly seen from my card, and
+have called merely to ask whether you can identify either of these
+photographs."  And he took two cabinet pictures from his pocket and
+handed them to me.
+
+One was a prison photograph of an elderly, sad-eyed convict, with a
+rather bald head and a scraggy beard, while the other was a
+well-taken likeness of a foppishly-dressed young man of about
+twenty-eight, the upward trend of his moustache denoting him to be a
+foreigner.
+
+Both were strangers to me.  I had never seen either of them in the
+flesh, at least to my knowledge, and Ulrica was also agreed that she
+had never seen anyone bearing the slightest resemblance to either.
+
+"Mademoiselle is absolutely certain?" the detective asked of me.
+
+"Absolutely," I responded.
+
+"Will mademoiselle have the kindness to allow her memory to go back
+for one moment to the day of the unfortunate gentleman's death?"
+asked the detective, with an amiable air.  "At the time Monsieur
+Thorne was at the table at Monte Carlo and playing with success,
+there were, I believe, many persons around him?"
+
+"Yes, a crowd."
+
+"And near him, almost at his elbow, you did not see this man?" he
+inquired, indicating the bearded convict.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"I really do not recollect the face of any member of that excited
+crowd," I responded.  "He may have been there, but I certainly did
+not see him."
+
+"Nor did I," chimed in Ulrica.
+
+"Then I much regret troubling you," he said, bowing politely.  "In
+this affair we are, as you of course know, making very searching
+inquiries on account of representations made by the British
+Ambassador in Paris.  We intend, if possible, to solve the mystery."
+
+"And the man who accosted me at the ball last night," I said.  "Do
+you suspect him to be the original of that photograph?"
+
+"At the ball last night?  I do not follow mademoiselle."
+
+"But I made a statement of the whole facts to two agents of your
+department at an early hour this morning--before I left the Casino."
+
+He looked puzzled, and his dark face broadened into a smile.
+
+"Pardon!  But I think mademoiselle must be under some
+misapprehension.  What occurred at the ball?  Anything to arouse your
+suspicion?"
+
+"To arouse my suspicion?" I echoed.  "Why, a man attired in the garb
+of an owl accosted me, gave me a strange warning, and actually placed
+in my hands the sixty thousand francs in notes stolen from the dead
+man!"
+
+"Impossible!" gasped the detective, amazed.  "Where are the notes?
+You should have given us information instantly."
+
+"I handed the notes to two police agents who were in waiting in the
+Director's room, and to whom I made a statement of the whole affair."
+
+"What!" he cried loudly.  "You have parted with the money?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Then mademoiselle has been most cleverly tricked, for the men to
+whom you handed the proceeds of the robbery were certainly not agents
+of police!  They were impostors!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DESCRIBES A MEETING AND ITS SEQUEL
+
+His words staggered me.
+
+"Not agents of police!" I cried, dumbfounded.  "Why, they were fully
+cognisant of every detail of the affair.  It was the Director of the
+Casino who presented them."
+
+"Then Monsieur le Directeur was tricked, just as you were," he
+answered gravely.  "You say you actually received from the hand of
+someone who wore an effective disguise the sum stolen from the
+unfortunate monsieur?  Kindly explain the whole circumstances of your
+meeting, and what passed between you."
+
+"My dear Carmela," exclaimed Ulrica, "this fresh complication is
+absolutely bewildering!  You not only danced and chatted with the
+murderer, but you were the victim of a very clever plot."
+
+"That is quite certain," observed the officer.  "The two individuals
+to whom mademoiselle innocently gave the notes upon representation
+that they were agents of police were evidently well acquainted with
+the murderer's intention to give up the proceeds of the robbery, and
+had watched you narrowly all through the evening.  But kindly give us
+exact details."
+
+In obedience to his demand, I recounted the whole story.  It seemed
+to me incredible that the two men who had sent for me were bogus
+detectives, yet such was the actual fact, as was shown later when the
+Director of the Casino explained how they had come to him, telling
+him that they were police agents from Marseilles, and had ordered him
+to send for me, as they wished to interrogate me regarding the affair
+of the "Grand Hotel."  Such, he declared, was their air of authority
+that he never for a moment doubted that they were genuine officers of
+police.
+
+My statement held the two men absolutely speechless.  I told them of
+the strange appointment in London made by the man with the owl's
+face, of the curious warning he had given me, and of the manner in
+which he had presented me with the sum won at the tables by the
+murdered man.
+
+"You can give us absolutely no idea whatever of his personal
+appearance?" he inquired dubiously.
+
+"None whatever," I answered.  "The dress and mask were effectual in
+disguising him."
+
+"And the two men who falsely posed as police agents?  Will you kindly
+describe them?" And at the same time he took out a well-worn
+pocket-book and scribbled in it.
+
+I described their personal appearance as closely as I could, while on
+his part he took down my statement very carefully.
+
+"This is most extraordinary!" Ulrica observed, standing near me in
+wonder.  "The pair who said they were detectives were exceedingly
+clever, and are evidently aware of all that has occurred."
+
+"Marvellous!" exclaimed the man reflectively.  "Only very clever
+thieves would dare to walk into the bureau of the Casino and act as
+they did."
+
+"Have they any connection with the actual assassin, do you think?"
+
+"I'm inclined to believe so," he responded.  "It was a conspiracy on
+their part to obtain possession of the money."
+
+"Of course, I gave it up in entire innocence," I said.  "I never
+dreamt that such a plot could exist."
+
+"Ah, mademoiselle!" observed the detective, "in this affair we have
+evidently to deal with those who have brought crime to a fine art.
+There seems something remarkable regarding the appointment in London
+on the 2nd of June.  It seems as though it were desired to gain time
+with some secret object or another."
+
+"I am absolutely bewildered," I admitted.  "My position in this
+tragic affair is anything but enviable."
+
+"Most certainly, all this must be most annoying and distressing to
+mademoiselle.  I only hope we shall be successful in tracing the real
+perpetrators of the crime."
+
+"You think there were more than one?"
+
+"That is most probable," he replied.  "At present, however, we still
+remain without any tangible clue, save that the proceeds of the crime
+have passed from one person to another, through the agency of
+yourself."
+
+"Their audacity was beyond comprehension!" I cried.  "It really seems
+inconceivable that I should have danced with the actual murderer, and
+afterwards been induced to hand over to a pair of impostors the money
+stolen from the unfortunate young man.  I feel that I am to blame for
+my shortsightedness."
+
+"Not at all, mademoiselle, not at all," declared the detective, with
+his suave Gallic politeness.  "With such a set of ingenious
+malefactors, it is very easy to commit an error, and fall a victim to
+roguery."
+
+"And what can be done?"
+
+"We can only continue our investigations."
+
+"But the man in the owl's dress?  Tell me candidly, do you really
+believe that he was the actual murderer?"
+
+"He may have been.  It is evident that, for some hidden purpose, he
+had an important reason for passing the stolen notes into your
+possession."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Ah, that is one of the mysteries which we must try to solve.  The
+man was French, you say?"
+
+"He spoke English admirably."
+
+"No word of French?"
+
+"Not a single word.  Yet he possessed an accent rather unusual."
+
+"He might have been a foreigner--an Italian or German, for aught you
+know?" the detective suggested.
+
+"No," I answered reflectively.  "His gestures were French.  I believe
+that he was actually French."
+
+"And the bogus police agents?"
+
+"They, too, were French, undoubtedly.  It would have been impossible
+to deceive the Director of the Casino, himself a Frenchman."
+
+"Mademoiselle is quite right.  I will at once see Monsieur le
+Directeur and hear his statement.  It is best," he added, "that the
+matter should remain a profound secret.  Do not mention it, either of
+you, even to your nearest friends.  Publicity might very probably
+render futile all our inquiries."
+
+"I understand," I said.
+
+"And mademoiselle will say no word to anyone about it?"
+
+I glanced at Ulrica inquiringly.
+
+"Certainly," she answered.  "If monsieur so wishes, the affair shall
+be kept secret."
+
+Then, after some further discussion, the police officer thanked us,
+gave us an assurance of his most profound respect, and, accompanied
+by his silent subordinate, withdrew.
+
+"After all," I remarked, when they had gone, "it will be best,
+perhaps, to say nothing whatever to Gerald.  He might mention it
+incautiously and thus it might get into the papers."
+
+"Yes, my dear," answered Ulrica.  "Perhaps silence is best.  But the
+trick played upon you surpasses comprehension.  I don't like the
+aspect of affairs at all.  If it were not for the fact that we have
+so many friends here, and that it is just the height of the season, I
+should suggest the packing of our trunks."
+
+"We shall leave soon," I said; "as soon as the yachting party is
+complete."
+
+"Gerald told me last night that the old gentleman has ordered great
+preparations to be made for us on board the _Vispera_.  He intends to
+do the thing well, as he always does when he entertains."
+
+"We shall, no doubt, have a most glorious time," I answered, as
+together we went forth to meet the Allens, whom we found with their
+automobile brake outside Vogarde's, that smart confectioner's, where,
+as you, my reader, know, the cosmopolitan world of Nice sips tea at
+four o'clock.  At most Continental health resorts afternoon tea is
+unknown, but with visitors to Nice it is quite a solemn function,
+even though they be Parisians, and never taste tea except in winter
+on the Côte d'Azur.  At Rumpelmayer's, that white and gold tea-shop,
+where many a royal highness or grand duchess descends to sip a cup
+and nibble an appetising piece of confectionery; at the English
+tea-house on the Quai Massena, known familiarly to winter visitors as
+"the muffin shop," and at Vogarde's, famed for crystallised fruits,
+it is usual to meet everyone who is anyone, and gossip pleasantly
+over the tea-cups.  On the Promenade des Anglais there is no really
+fashionable hour, as in other resorts, but the recently-instituted
+"five o'clock" is the reunion of everyone, and the chatter is always
+polyglot.
+
+Our trip to Tourette proved a charming one.  It is a delightful
+sensation to rush along the road at the speed of a railway train in
+an easy vehicle which trumpets like an elephant at every corner and
+passes everything like a flash.  The French have certainly improved
+on the ordinary means of locomotion, and if the automobile is noisy,
+the vibration is never felt in travelling, while the nauseous
+fumes--which, it must be admitted, sometimes half poison the
+passer-by--are always behind.
+
+That same night, after dinner, we accompanied the Allens, a
+middle-aged American, and his wife, who lived in Paris, over to Monte
+Carlo.  The Battle of Flowers had taken place there during the day,
+and that event always marks the zenith of the gaming season.  The
+Rooms were crowded, and the dresses, always magnificent at night,
+were more daring than ever.  Half fashionable Europe seemed there,
+including an English royal highness and a crowd of other notables.
+One of De Lara's operas was being played in the Casino theatre, and
+as this composer is a great favourite there, a very large audience
+was attracted.
+
+The display of jewels at the tables was that night the most dazzling
+I had ever seen.  Some women, mostly gay Parisiennes or arrogant
+Russians, seemed literally covered with diamonds; and as they stood
+round the table risking their louis or five-franc pieces, it seemed
+strange that with jewels of that worth upon them they should descend
+to play with such paltry stakes.  But many women at Monte Carlo play
+merely because it is the correct thing so to do, and very often are
+careless of either loss or gain.
+
+The usual characters were there; the wizened old man with his
+capacious purse; the old hag in black cashmere, with her rouged face,
+playing and winning; and alas! the foolish young man who staked
+always in the wrong place, until he had flung away his last louis.
+In all the world there is no stranger panorama of life than that
+presented at ten o'clock at night at the tables of Monte Carlo.  It
+is unique!  It is indescribable!  It is appalling!
+
+Temptation is spread there before the unwary in all its forms, until
+the fevered atmosphere of gold and avarice throbs with evil, becomes
+nauseous, and one longs for a breath of the fresh night air and a
+refreshing drink to take the bad taste out of one's mouth.
+
+I played merely because Ulrica and Dolly Allen played.  I think I won
+three or four louis, but am not certain of the amount.  You ask why?
+
+Because there was seated at the table, exactly opposite where I
+stood, unnoticed among the crowd, no less a person than Ernest
+Cameron.
+
+At his side was the inevitable red and black card whereon he
+registered each number as it came up; before him were several little
+piles of louis and a few notes, while behind him, leaning now and
+then over his chair and whispering, was _that woman_!
+
+At frequent intervals he played, generally upon the dozens, and even
+then rather uncertainly.  But he often lost.  Once or twice he played
+with fairly large stakes upon a chance which appeared practically
+certain, but he had no fine fortune, and the croupier raked in his
+money.
+
+For fully a dozen times he staked two louis on the last twelve
+numbers, but with that perversity which sometimes seems to seize the
+roulette-ball, the numbers came up between 1 and 24.
+
+Suddenly the tow-haired woman who had replaced myself in his
+affections leaned over, and said in a voice quite audible to me:
+
+"Put the maximum on number 6!"
+
+With blind obedience he counted out the sum sufficient to win the
+maximum of six thousand francs, and pushed it upon the number she had
+named.
+
+"_Rien ne va plus!_" cried the croupier the next instant, and then,
+sure enough, I saw the ball drop into the number the witch had
+prophesied.
+
+The croupier counted the stake quickly, and pushed with his rake
+towards the fortunate player notes for six thousand francs, with the
+simple words:
+
+"_En plein!_"
+
+"Enough!" cried the woman, prompting him.  "Play no more to-night."
+
+He sighed, and with a strange, preoccupied air gathered up his coin,
+notes, and other belongings, while a player tossed over a five-franc
+piece to "mark" his place, or, in other words, to secure his chair
+when he vacated it.  Then, still obedient to her, he rose with a
+faint smile upon his lips.
+
+As he did so, he raised his eyes, and they fell full upon mine, for I
+was standing there watching him.
+
+Our gaze met, suddenly.  Next instant, however, the light died out of
+his countenance, and he stood glaring at me as though I were an
+apparition.  His mouth was slightly opened, his hand trembled, his
+brow contracted, and his face grew ashen.
+
+His attitude was as though he were cowed by my presence.  He
+remembered our last meeting.
+
+In a moment, however, he recovered his self-possession, turned his
+back upon me, and strolled away beside the woman who had usurped my
+place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CARRIES ME ON BOARD THE "VISPERA"
+
+Faces, even expressions, may lie, but eyes never learn the knack of
+falsehood.  A man may commit follies; but once cured, those follies
+expand his nature.  With a woman, sad to tell, follies are always
+debasing.  It was, I knew, a folly to love Ernest Cameron.
+
+Life is always disappointing.  The shattering of our idols, the
+revelation of the shallowness of friendship, the losing faith in
+those we love, and the witnessing of their fall from that pedestal
+whereon we placed them in our own exalted idealisation--all is
+disappointing.
+
+I stood gazing after him as he strode down the great room with its
+bejewelled and excited crowd, in which the _chevalier d'industrie_
+and the _déclassée_ woman jostled against pickpockets and the men who
+gamble at Aix, Ostend, Namur or Spa, as the seasons come and go--that
+strange assembly of courteous Italians, bearded Russians,
+well-groomed Englishmen, and women painted, powdered and perfumed.
+
+I held my breath; my heart beat so violently that I could hear it
+above the babel of voices about me.  I suffered the most acute agony.
+Of late I had been always thinking of him--asleep, dreaming--always
+dreaming of him.  Always the same pang of regret was within my
+heart--regret that I had allowed him to go away without a word,
+without telling him how madly, how despairingly I loved him.
+
+Life without him was a hopeless blank, yet it was all through my
+vanity, my wretched pride, my invincible self-love.  I was now
+careless, indifferent, inconsequential, my only thought being of him.
+His coldness, his disdain was killing me.  When his eyes had met mine
+in surprise, they were strange, Sphinx-like, and mysterious.
+
+Yet at that moment I did not care what he might say to me.  I only
+wished to hear him speaking to me; to hear the sound of his voice,
+and to know that he cared enough for me to treat me as a human being.
+
+Ah!  I trembled when I realised how madly I loved him, and how fierce
+was my hatred of that woman who issued her orders and whom he obeyed.
+
+I turned away with the Allens, and Ulrica cried delightedly that she
+had won on 16, her favourite number.  But I did not answer.  My heart
+had grown sick, and I went forth into the healing night air and down
+the steps towards the _ascenseurs_.
+
+On the steps a well-dressed young Frenchman was lounging, and as I
+passed down I heard him humming to himself that catchy _chanson_ so
+popular at the café-concert:
+
+  "_A bas la romance et l'idylle,
+  Lea oiseaux, la forêt, le buisson
+  Des marlous, de la grande ville,
+  Nous allons chanter la chanson!
+  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos!
+  C'est les dos les gros,
+      Les beaux,
+  A nous les marmites!
+  Grandes ou petites;
+  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos;
+  C'est les dos les gros,
+      Les beaux,
+  A nous les marmit' et vivent les los!_"
+
+
+I closed my ears to shut out the sound of those words.  I remembered
+Ernest--that look in his eyes, that scorn in his face, that disdain
+in his bearing.
+
+The truth was only too plain.  His love for me was dead.  I was the
+most wretched of women, of all God's creatures.
+
+I prayed that I might regard him--that I might regard the world--with
+indifference.  And yet I was sufficiently acquainted with the world
+and its ways to know that to a woman the word indifference is the
+most evil word in the language; that it bears upon the most fatal of
+all sentiments; that it brings about the most deadly of all mental
+attitudes.
+
+But Ernest, the man whose slave I was, despised me.  He commanded my
+love; why could not I command his?  Ah, because I was a woman--and my
+face had ceased to interest him!
+
+Bitter tears sprang to my eyes, but I managed to preserve my
+self-control and enter the station-lift, making an inward vow that
+never again, in my whole life, would I set foot in that hated hell
+within a paradise called Monte Carlo.
+
+True, I was a woman who, abandoned by the man she loved, amused
+herself wherever amusement could be procured; but I still remained an
+honest woman, as I had always been ever since those sweet and
+well-remembered days spent in the grey old convent outside Florence.
+At Monte Carlo the scum of the earth enjoy the flowers of the earth.
+I detested its crowds; I held in abhorrence that turbulent avarice,
+and felt stifled in that atmosphere of gilded sin.  No!  I would
+never enter there again.  The bitter remembrance of that night would,
+I knew, be too painful.
+
+Thus I returned to Nice with a feeling that for me, now that Ernest
+had drifted away from my side to become a placid gambler, and to live
+careless of my love, life had no further charm.  The recollection of
+the days that followed can never be torn from my memory, my brain, my
+soul.  I smiled, though I was wearing out my heart; I laughed, even
+though bitter tears were ready to start into my eyes, and I made
+pretence of being interested in things to which I was at heart
+supremely indifferent.  I courted forgetfulness, but the oblivion of
+my love would not come.  I never knew till then how great was the
+passion a woman could conceive for a man, or how his memory could
+continually arise as a ghost from the past to terrify the present.
+
+That night, as we drove from the station to the hotel, Ulrica
+accidentally touched my hand.
+
+"How cold you are, dear!" she cried in surprise.
+
+"Yes," I answered, shivering.
+
+I was cold; it was the truth.  At thought of the man who had forsaken
+me an icy chill had struck my heart--the chill of unsatisfied love,
+of desolation, of blank, unutterable despair.
+
+In due course our yachting gowns came home from the
+dressmaker's--accompanied by terrifying bills, of course--and a few
+days later we sailed out of Villefranche Harbour on board the
+_Vispera_.  The party was a well-chosen one, consisting mostly of
+youngish people, several of whom we knew quite well, and before the
+second day was over we had all settled down to the usual routine of
+life on board a yacht.  There was no sensation of being cramped up,
+but on the contrary the decks were broad and spacious, and the cabins
+perfect nests of luxury.  The vessel had been built on the Clyde in
+accordance with its owner's designs, and it certainly was an Atlantic
+liner in miniature.
+
+Our plans had been slightly altered, for since the majority of the
+guests had never been to Algiers, it was resolved to make a run over
+there, and then coast along Algeria and Tunis, and so on to
+Alexandria.  As we steamed away from Villefranche, the receding
+panorama of the Littoral, with its olive-covered slopes and great
+purple snow-capped Alps spread out before us, presenting a perfectly
+enchanting picture.  We all stood grouped on deck watching it slowly
+sink below the horizon.  From the first moment that we went on board,
+indeed, all was gay, all luxurious; for were we not guests of a man
+who, although absurdly economical himself, was always lavish when he
+entertained?  Everyone was loud in praise of the magnificent
+appointments of the vessel; and the dinner at which its owner
+presided was a meal sparkling with merriment.
+
+I was placed next Lord Eldersfield, a pleasant, middle-aged,
+grey-eyed man, who had recently left the Army on succeeding to the
+title.  He was, I found, quite an entertaining companion, full of
+droll stories and clever witticisms; indeed, he shone at once as the
+chief conversationalist of the table.
+
+"Have I been in Algiers before?" he repeated, in answer to a question
+from me.  "Oh, yes.  It's a place where one half the people don't
+know the other half."
+
+I smiled and wondered.  Yet his brief description was, I afterwards
+discovered, very true.  The Arabs and the Europeans live apart, and
+are like oil and water; they never mix.
+
+The day passed merrily, and had it not been for constant thoughts of
+the man who had loved me and forgotten, I should have enjoyed myself.
+
+Save for one day of mistral, the trip across the Mediterranean proved
+delightful; and for six days we remained in the white old City of the
+Corsairs, where we went on excursions, and had a most pleasant time.
+We visited the Kasbah, drove to the Jardin d'Essai and to the pretty
+village of St. Eugène, while several of the party went to visit
+friends who were staying at the big hotels up at Mustapha.
+
+Life in Algiers was, I found, most interesting after the Parisian
+artificiality and the glitter of Nice and Monte Carlo; and with Lord
+Eldersfield as my cavalier, I saw all that was worth seeing.  We
+lounged in those gay French cafés under the date-palms in the Place
+du Gouvernement, strolled up those narrow, ladder-like streets in the
+old city, and mingled with those crowds of mysterious-looking veiled
+Arab women who were bargaining for their purchases in the market.
+All was fresh; all was diverting.
+
+As for Ulrica, she entered thoroughly into the spirit of the new
+sensation, as she always did, and, with Gerald usually as her escort,
+went hither and thither with her true tourist habit of poking about
+everywhere, regardless of contagious diseases or the remarkable
+variety of bad smells which invariably exist in an Oriental town.
+Although each day the party went ashore and enjoyed themselves, old
+Mr. Keppel never accompanied them.  He knew the place, he said, and
+he had some business affairs to attend to in the deck-house, which he
+kept secret to himself.  Therefore he was excused.
+
+"No, Miss Rosselli," he had explained to me in confidence, "I'm no
+sight-seer.  If my guests enjoy seeing a few of the towns on the
+Mediterranean I am quite contented; but I prefer to remain quiet
+here, rather than drive about in brakes and revisit places that I
+have already visited long ago."
+
+"Certainly," I said.  "You are under no obligation to these people.
+They accept your kind hospitality, and the least they can do is to
+allow you to remain in peace where you wish."
+
+"Yes," he sighed.  "I leave them in Gerald's charge.  He knows how to
+look after them."
+
+And his face seemed sad and anxious, as though he were utterly
+forlorn.
+
+Indeed, after a week at sea we saw but very little of him.  He
+lunched and dined with us in the saloon each day, but never joined
+our musical parties after dinner, and seldom, if ever, entered the
+smoking-room.  Because all knew him to be eccentric, this apparent
+disregard of our presence was looked upon as one of his peculiar
+habits.  Upon Gerald devolved the duty of acting as entertainer, and,
+assisted by Ulrica, old Miss Keppel and myself, he endeavoured to
+make everyone happy and comfortable.  Fortunately, the ubiquitous
+Barnes had, by Gerald's desire, been left behind at the Villa Fabron.
+
+As day by day we steamed up that tranquil sea in brilliant weather,
+with our bows ever thrusting themselves toward the dawn, life was one
+continual round of merriment from three bells, when we breakfasted,
+until eight bells sounded for turning in.  A yachting cruise is very
+apt to become monotonous, but on the _Vispera_ one had no time for
+_ennui_.  After Algiers, we put in for a day at Cagliari, then
+visited Tunis, the Greek Islands, Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople.
+
+We had already been a month cruising--and a month in the
+Mediterranean in spring is delightful--when one night an incident
+occurred which was both mysterious and disconcerting.  We were on our
+way from Constantinople, and in the first dog-watch had sighted one
+of the rocky headlands of Corsica.  That evening dinner had been
+followed by an impromptu dance, which had proved a most successful
+affair.  The men were mostly dancers, except Lord Stoneborough, who
+was inclined to obesity, and what with the piano and a couple of
+violins, played by a pair of rather insipid sisters, the dance was
+quite a jolly one.  We persuaded even old Mr. Keppel to dance, and
+although his was a not very graceful feat, nevertheless his
+participation in our fun put everyone in an exceedingly good humour.
+
+Of course, the month had not passed without the usual gossip and
+tittle-tattle inseparable from a yachting cruise.  On board a yacht
+people quickly become inventive, and the most astounding fictions
+about one's neighbours are whispered behind fans and books.  I had
+heard whispers regarding Ulrica and Gerald Keppel.  Rumour had it
+that the old gentleman had actually given his consent to their
+marriage, and as soon as they returned to England the engagement
+would be announced.
+
+Certain of the guests, with an air of extreme confidence, took me
+aside, and questioned me regarding it; but I merely responded that I
+knew nothing, and greatly doubted the accuracy of the rumour.  More
+than once that evening I had been asked whether it were true, and so
+persistent seemed the rumour that I took Ulrica into my cabin, and
+asked her point-blank.
+
+"My dear!" she cried, "have you really taken leave of your senses?
+How absurd!  Of course, there's nothing whatever between Gerald and
+myself.  He is amusing--that's all."
+
+"You might do worse than marry him," I laughed.  "Remember, you've
+known him a long time--four years, isn't it?"
+
+"Marry him?  Never!  Go and tell these prying persons, whoever they
+are, that when I'm engaged I'll put a paragraph in the papers all in
+good time."
+
+"But don't you think, Ulrica," I suggested--"don't you think that if
+such is the case, Gerald is rather too much in your society?"
+
+"I can't help him hanging around me, poor boy," she laughed.  "I
+can't be rude to him."
+
+"Of course not, but you might possibly give him a hint."
+
+"Ah! now, my dear Carmela," she cried impatiently, "you want to
+lecture me, eh?  You know how I hate being lectured.  Let's end the
+discussion before we become bad friends."
+
+And so, with a light laugh, she rearranged her hair and left my cabin
+to return on deck, where dancing was still proceeding beneath the
+great electric lights.  Four bells had rung out sharply, showing it
+to be two o'clock, before I went down to my cabin, attended by
+Felicita.  Very soon, however, I sent her to bed and lay down to rest
+myself.
+
+Somehow, I could not sleep that night.  The monotonous whirr and
+throbbing of the engines sounded like continual thunder in my ears,
+and even the swish of the long waves as they rose and fell at the
+port-hole irritated me.  Of late I had developed insomnia to an
+alarming extent, but whether it was due to the noise of the
+machinery, or to nervousness, I know not.
+
+I turned and turned in my narrow berth, but could not sleep.  The
+atmosphere seemed stifling, in spite of the ventilators; and I dared
+not open the port-hole, fearing a sudden douche, for a wind had
+sprung up and we were rolling heavily.  The jingle of the glasses on
+the toilet-stand, the vibration, the tramping of the sailors
+overhead, the roar of the funnels, all rendered sleep utterly
+impossible.
+
+At last I could stand it no longer.  I rose and dressed, putting on a
+big driving-coat.  Then, with a thick shawl about my head, I went up
+on deck.  The fresh air might perhaps do me good, I thought.  At any
+rate, it was a remedy worth trying.
+
+The night, so brilliant a couple of hours before, had become dark and
+stormy; the wind was so boisterous that I walked with difficulty; and
+the fact that the awnings had been reefed showed that Davis, the
+skipper, anticipated a squall.
+
+The deck was deserted.  Only on the bridge could I see, above the
+strip of sheltering canvas, two shadowy figures in oilskins, keeping
+watch.  Save for those figures, I was utterly alone.  On my way
+towards the stern I passed the small deck-house, which old Mr. Keppel
+had reserved as his own den.
+
+The green silk blinds were always drawn across the port-holes, and
+the door always remained locked.  No one ever entered there, although
+many had been the speculations regarding the private cabin when we
+had first sailed.
+
+The millionaire himself had, however, given an explanation one day at
+luncheon.
+
+"I always reserve, both in my houses and here, on board the
+_Vispera_, one room as my own.  I hope all of you will excuse me
+this.  As you know, I have a good many affairs to attend to, and I
+hate to have my papers thrown into disorder."
+
+Personally, I suspected him of having a lathe there, so that he might
+pursue his hobby of ivory-turning, but the majority of the guests
+accepted his explanation that this deck-house was his study, and that
+he did not wish them to pry there.
+
+More than once Ulrica had expressed to me wonder regarding the reason
+the cabin remained always closed, and its curtains always drawn.
+Every woman dearly loves a mystery, and, like myself, Ulrica, when
+she discovered anything suspicious, never rested until she had found
+some theory or other.
+
+She had one day mentioned the fact to Gerald, who, in my presence,
+had given what appeared to me the true explanation.
+
+"It's merely one of the guv'nor's eccentricities.  The fact is, that
+on the outward voyage from Portsmouth he bought some antique Moorish
+furniture and ivory carvings in Tangier, and has stored all his
+purchases in there until we return.  I've seen them myself--beautiful
+things.  He says he intends to sell them at a profit to a dealer in
+London," whereat we laughed.
+
+Knowing how the old gentleman practised economy sometimes, I had
+accepted this as the truth.
+
+But as, gripping the rail to prevent myself being thrown down by the
+rolling of the ship, I passed along the side of the deck-house, I was
+surprised to see a light within.  The curtains of green silk were
+still drawn, but the light could nevertheless be seen through them,
+and it occurred to me strange that anyone should be there at that
+hour of the night.  I placed my face close to the screwed-down
+port-hole, but the curtain had been so well drawn that it was
+impossible to see within.  Then, moving quietly, I examined the other
+three round brass-bound windows, but all were as closely curtained as
+the first.
+
+I fancied I heard voices as I stood there, and I confess that I
+attempted to distinguish the words, but the roar of the funnels and
+howlings of the wind drowned every other sound.
+
+What if my host caught me prying?  His private affairs were surely no
+business of mine.  Remembering this, I was about to turn away, when
+suddenly I experienced an extraordinary desire to peep inside that
+forbidden chamber.  I walked round it again, stealthily, for, as luck
+would have it, I was in thin slippers.
+
+While standing there in hesitation, I noticed that upon the low roof
+was a small ventilator which had been raised to admit air.  What if I
+could get a peep down there!  It was an adventurous climb for a woman
+hampered by skirts.  But I searched for means to mount, and found
+them in a low iron staple, to which some cords of the rigging were
+attached, and a brass rail which afforded rather insecure foothold.
+After some effort, I succeeded in scrambling to the top, but not
+before I found myself rather too much exposed to the eye of the
+officer on the bridge.  Fortunately, I was behind him, but if he had
+occasion to turn round he would be sure to discover me.
+
+Having risked so much, however, I was determined to make further
+endeavour.  I leaned across the small roof, placed my face close to
+the open ventilator, and peered down into the locked cabin.
+
+Next second I drew back with a start, holding my breath.  A loud
+exclamation of dismay escaped me, but the sound was swallowed up in
+the noises of the boisterous night.  The sight I witnessed below me
+in that small deck-house held me as rigid as if I had been petrified.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+DISCLOSES A MILLIONAIRE'S SECRET
+
+So heavily was the yacht rolling that I was compelled to hold firmly,
+lest I should lose my balance and roll down upon the deck.
+
+My foothold was insecure, and the sight which presented itself as I
+peered within was so unexpected and startling, that in the excitement
+of the moment I loosened my grip, and narrowly escaped being pitched
+down headlong.  From my position I unfortunately could not obtain a
+view of the whole interior, the ventilator being open only a couple
+of inches; but what I saw was sufficient to unnerve any woman.
+
+The cabin was lit brilliantly by electricity, but the walls, instead
+of being panelled in satinwood, as were most of the others, were
+decorated in a manner more rich and magnificent than in any other
+part of the vessel.  They were gilt, with white ornamentation in
+curious arabesques, while upon the floor was a thick Turkey carpet
+with a white ground and pattern of turquoise blue.  The effect was
+bright and glaring, and at the first moment it occurred to me that
+the place was really a lady's boudoir.  There was another aft, it was
+true, but this one had evidently been intended as a lounge for female
+guests.  As I looked down, old Benjamin Keppel himself passed into
+that part of the cabin within the zone of my vision.  His hat was
+off, displaying his scanty grey hair, and as he turned I caught a
+glimpse of his face.  His countenance, usually so kind and tranquil,
+was distorted by abject fear; his teeth were set, his cheeks grey and
+bloodless.  Both anger and alarm were depicted upon his rugged
+countenance.  His appearance was mysterious, to say the least; but it
+was another object within that room which held me in speechless
+wonderment.
+
+Near where he stood, lying in a heap at his feet, was a dark-haired,
+handsome woman, in a white silk robe--a stranger.
+
+The old millionaire, with a sudden movement, flung himself upon his
+knees, and touched her face caressingly.  The next instant he drew
+back his hand.
+
+"Dead!" he gasped, in the thick voice of a man grief-stricken.
+"Dead!  And she did not know--she did not know!  It is murder!" he
+gasped, in a terrified whisper.  "Murder!"
+
+The wind howled about me weirdly, tearing at my clothes as if it
+desired to hurl me into the raging sea; while the yacht, steaming on,
+rose and plunged, shipping huge seas each time her bows met the angry
+waves.
+
+For some moments the strange old man bent over the woman in silence.
+I was puzzled to discover her identity.  Why had she been kept
+prisoner in that gilded cabin during the cruise?  Why had we remained
+in total ignorance of her presence?  I alone knew our host's secret.
+We had a dead woman on board.
+
+Keppel touched the woman again, placing his hand upon her face.  When
+he withdrew it, I saw that blood was upon it.  He looked at it, and
+shudderingly wiped it off upon his handkerchief.
+
+At the same instant a voice, that of a man, sounded from the opposite
+side of the cabin, saying:
+
+"Don't you see that the ventilator is open up above?  Shut it, or
+somebody may see us.  They can see down here from the bridge."
+
+"Think of her," the old man exclaimed, in a low voice.  "Not of us."
+
+"Of her?  Why should I?" inquired the gruff voice of the unseen.
+"You've killed her, and must take the consequences."
+
+"I----" gasped the old man, staggering with difficulty to his feet,
+and placing both hands to his eyes, as though to shut out from view
+that hideous evidence of his crime.  "Yes," he cried, in an
+awe-stricken tone, "she is dead!"
+
+"And a good job, too," responded the unseen man, in a hard and
+pitiless tone.
+
+"No," cried Keppel angrily.  "At least respect her memory.  Remember
+who she was!"
+
+"I shall remember nothing of this night's work," the other responded.
+"I leave all memories of it as a legacy to you."
+
+"You coward!" cried Keppel, turning upon the speaker, his eyes
+flashing.  "I have endeavoured to assist you, and this is your
+gratitude."
+
+"Assist me?" sneered his companion.  "Pretty assistance it's been!  I
+tell you what it is, Benjamin Keppel, you're in a very tight place
+just now.  You killed that--that woman there, and you know what the
+penalty is for murder."
+
+"I know!" wailed the white-faced, despairing man.
+
+"Well, if I might be permitted to advise, I'd make a clean sweep of
+the whole affair," said the man.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Simply this: we can't keep the body very long in this cabin without
+it being discovered.  And when it is found, well, it will be all up
+with both of us.  Of that there's but little doubt.  I suggest this.
+Let us make at once for one of the Italian ports, say Leghorn, where
+you will land to transact some important business, and I'll land
+also.  Then the _Vispera_ will sail for Naples, to which port you
+will go by rail to rejoin her.  On the way, however, the vessel
+disappears--eh?"
+
+"Disappears!  How?  I don't understand."
+
+"Is blown up."
+
+"Blown up!" he cried.  "And how about the guests?"
+
+"Guests be hanged!"
+
+"But there are eleven of them, beside the crew."
+
+"Never mind them.  There are the boats, and no doubt they'll all take
+care of themselves.  Fools if they don't."
+
+"I should feel that I'd murdered them all," the old man responded.
+
+"In this affair we must save ourselves," declared the unseen man,
+very firmly.  "There has been a--well, we'll call it an ugly
+occurrence to-night, and it behoves us to get clear out of it.  If
+the _Vispera_ goes down, the body will go down with it, and the sea
+will hide our secret."
+
+"But I cannot imperil the lives of all in that manner.  Besides, by
+what means do you suggest destroying the ship?"
+
+"Perfectly simple.  Just give orders to Davis in the morning to put
+in at Leghorn with all possible speed, and leave the rest to me.
+I'll guarantee that the _Vispera_ will never reach Naples."  Then he
+added: "But just shut that infernal ventilator.  I don't like it
+being open."
+
+Old Keppel, staggering, reached the cord, and in obedience to his
+companion's wish closed the narrow opening with a sudden bang.  The
+woodwork narrowly escaped coming into contact with my face, and for
+some moments I remained there clutching at my unstable supports, and
+rudely buffeted by the gale.
+
+As at any moment I might be discovered, I made haste to lower myself
+again to the deck, though not without difficulty, and then cautiously
+returned to my own cabin.
+
+I had been soaked to the skin by the rain and spray, but though still
+in my wet things, I sat pondering over the mysterious crime I had
+discovered.
+
+Who was that unseen man?  Whoever he was, he held old Benjamin Keppel
+in his power, and to his diabolical plot would be due the destruction
+of the _Vispera_, and the loss of perhaps every soul on board.
+
+He had suggested an explosion.  He no doubt intended to place on
+board some infernal contrivance which, after the lapse of a certain
+number of hours, would explode, and blow the bottom out of the yacht.
+Whoever that man was, he was a crafty villain.  Providentially,
+however, I had been led to the discovery of the scheme, and I did not
+mean that the lives of my fellow-guests, or of the crew, should be
+sacrificed in order to conceal a crime.
+
+A vision of that white dead face recurred to me.  It was a face very
+handsome, but to my remembrance I had never seen it before.  The
+mystery of the woman's concealment there was altogether
+extraordinary.  Yet it scarcely seemed possible that she should have
+remained in hiding so long without a soul on board, save Keppel,
+being aware of her presence.  She had been fed, of course, and most
+probably the steward knew of her presence in that gilded deck-house.
+But she was dead--murdered by an inoffensive old gentleman, who was
+the very last person in the would I should have suspected of having
+taken human life.
+
+And why had he stroked her dead face so caressingly?  Who, indeed,
+was she?
+
+My wet clothes clung to me coldly and clammily.  I now exchanged them
+for a warm wrap, entered my berth, and tried to rest.  Sleep was,
+however, impossible in that doomed ship, amid the wild roaring of the
+tempest and the thunder of the waves breaking over the deck above.
+Once it occurred to me to go straight to Ulrica and tell her all I
+had seen and heard, but on reflection I resolved to keep my own
+counsel, and narrowly watch the course of events.
+
+The mystery of the hidden man's identity grew upon me, until I
+suddenly resolved to make a further endeavour to discover him.  The
+voice was deep and low, but the roaring of the wind and hissing of
+escaping steam had prevented me hearing it sufficiently well to
+recognise whether it was that of one of our fellow-guests.  I slipped
+on a mackintosh, returned to the deck, and crept towards the cabin,
+wherein reposed the remains of the mysterious woman in white.  But
+soon I saw that the light had been switched off.  All was in
+darkness.  The guilty pair had gone below to their own berths.
+
+Through the whole night the storm continued, but the morning broke
+brightly, and the tempest, as is so frequently the case in the
+Mediterranean, was succeeded by a dead calm, so that when we sat down
+to breakfast we were steaming in comparatively smooth water.
+
+"Have you heard?" said Ulrica to me, after we had been exchanging our
+sleepless experiences.  "Mr. Keppel has altered our course.  He has
+some pressing business to attend to, so we are going into Leghorn."
+
+"Leghorn!" exclaimed Lord Eldersfield at my elbow.  "Horrid place!  I
+was there once.  Narrow streets, dirty people, primitive sanitation,
+and a sorry attempt at a promenade."
+
+"Well, we don't stay there long; that's one comfort," said Ulrica.
+"Mr. Keppel is going ashore and he'll rejoin us at Naples."
+
+I looked down the table and saw that the face of the old millionaire
+was pale, without its usual composure.  He was pretending to be
+busily occupied with his porridge.
+
+"Are we going on straight to Naples, Keppel?" inquired Eldersfield.
+
+"Certainly," answered our host.  "I much regret that I'm compelled to
+take you all out of our original course, but I must exchange some
+telegrams with my agent in London.  We shall be in Leghorn to-night,
+and if you are all agreed, you may sail again at once."
+
+"I'd like to see Leghorn," declared Ulrica.  "People who go to Italy
+always leave it out of their itinerary.  I've heard that it is quite
+charming in many ways.  All the better-class Italians from Florence
+and Rome go there for the bathing in summer."
+
+"Which, I fear, isn't much of a recommendation," observed his
+lordship, who was, I believe, Ulrica's pet aversion.
+
+"The bathing itself is declared by all the guide-books to be the best
+in Europe," she answered.
+
+"And the heat in summer greater than in any other place on the
+Continent of Europe.  Its imports are rags from Constantinople and
+codfish from Newfoundland.  No wonder its scents do not all come from
+roses."
+
+"Certainly not.  Of course, if you know the place you are welcome to
+your own opinion.  I don't know it."
+
+"When you do, Miss Yorke, you'll share my opinion.  Of that I feel
+certain," he laughed; and then continued his meal.
+
+The question was shortly decided by vote whether the _Vispera_ should
+remain at Leghorn or not.  By the majority of the guests, Leghorn was
+supposed to be merely a dirty seaport, and although I, who knew the
+place well, tried to impress upon them that it possessed many charms
+not to be found in other Italian towns, it was decided that the yacht
+should only remain there a day, and then go straight on to Naples.
+
+This decision was disconcerting.  I had to prevent the trip
+southward, and the problem of how to do so without arousing suspicion
+was an extremely difficult one to solve.  If the vessel sailed from
+Leghorn, then she was doomed, together with every soul on board.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+IN WHICH I MAKE A RESOLVE
+
+The great broad plain which lies between marble-built Pisa and the
+sea was flooded by the golden Italian sunset, and the background of
+the serrated Apennines loomed a dark purple in the distance as we
+approached the long breakwater which protects Leghorn from the sea.
+
+Leaning over the rail, I gazed upon the white sun-blanched Tuscan
+town, and recognised the gay Passeggio, with its avenue of dusky
+tamarisks, its long rows of high white houses, with their green
+_persiennes_, and Pancaldi's, and other baths, built out upon the
+rocks into the sea.  Years ago, when at the convent, we had gone
+there each summer, a dozen or so girls at a time, under the care of
+Suor Angelica, to obtain fresh air and escape for a fortnight or so
+from the intolerable heat of July in the Val d'Ema.  How well I
+remembered that long promenade, the Viale Regina Margherita, best
+known to those happy, light-hearted, improvident Livornesi by its
+ancient name, the Passeggio!  And what long walks we girls used to
+have over the rocks beyond Antignano, or scrambling climbs up to the
+shrine of the miracle-working Virgin at Montenero!  Happy, indeed,
+were those summer days with my girl friends--girls who had now, like
+myself, grown to be women--who had married, and had experienced all
+the trials and bitterness of life.  I thought of her who was my best
+friend in those past days--pretty, black-haired, unassuming Annetta
+Ceriani, from Arezzo.  She had left the college the same week as
+myself, and our parting had been a very sad one.  In a year, however,
+she had married, and was now a princess, the wife of Romolo Annibale
+Cesare Sigismondo, Prince Regello, who, to give him all his titles,
+was "principe Romano, principe di Pinerolo, conte di Lucca, nobile di
+Monte Catini."  Truly, the Italian nobility do not lack titles.  But
+poor Annetta!  Her life had been the reverse of happy, and the last
+letter I had received from her, dated from Venice, contained the
+story of a woman heart-broken.
+
+Yes, as I stood there on the deck of the _Vispera_, approaching the
+old sun-whitened Tuscan port, many were the recollections of those
+long-past careless days which crowded upon me--days before I had
+known how weary was the world, or how fraught with bitterness was
+woman's love.
+
+Already the light was shining yellow in the square old lighthouse,
+although the sun had not altogether disappeared.  Half-a-dozen fine
+cruisers of the British Mediterranean Squadron were lying at anchor
+in line, and we passed several boats full of sun-tanned men on the
+way to the shore for an evening promenade, for the British sailor is
+always a welcome guest in Leghorn.
+
+The situation was becoming desperate.  How was I to act?  At least, I
+should now ascertain who had been the old man's companion in the
+deck-cabin on the previous night, for he and this stranger would no
+doubt go ashore together.
+
+Old Mr. Keppel was standing near me, speaking again to the captain,
+giving him certain orders, when Gerald, spruce as usual in blue
+serge, came up and leaned at my side.
+
+"Ulrica says you know Leghorn quite well.  You must be our guide.
+We're all going ashore after dinner.  What is there to amuse one in
+the evening?"
+
+"There is opera at the Goldoni always.  One pays only four lire for a
+box to seat six," I said.
+
+"Impossible!" he laughed incredulously.  "I shouldn't care to sit out
+music at that price."
+
+"Ah, there I must differ," I replied.  "It is as good as any you'll
+find in Italy.  Remember, here is the home of opera.  Why, the
+Livornesi love music so intensely that it is no unusual occurrence
+for a poor family to make shift with a piece of bread and an onion
+for dinner, so as to save the fifty centesimi ingresso to the opera.
+Mascagni is Livornese, and Puccini, who composed La Boheme, was also
+born close here.  In 'cara Livorno,' as the Tuscan loves to call it,
+one can hear the best opera for five-pence."
+
+"Compare that with prices in London!"
+
+"And our music, unfortunately, is not so good," I said.
+
+"Shall we go to this delightfully inexpensive opera to-night?  It
+would certainly be an experience."
+
+"I fear I shall not," I answered.  "I'm not feeling very well."
+
+"I'm extremely sorry," he said, with quick apprehension.  "Is there
+anything I can get you?"
+
+"No, nothing, thank you," I answered.  "I feel a little faint, that's
+all."
+
+We had already anchored just inside the breakwater, and those very
+inquisitive gentlemen--the Italian Customs officers--had come on
+board.  A few minutes later the bell rang for dinner, and all
+descended to the saloon, eager to get the meal over and go ashore.
+
+On the way down Ulrica took me aside.
+
+"Gerald has told me you are ill, my dear.  I've noticed how pale and
+unlike yourself you've been all day.  What's the matter?  Tell me."
+
+"I--I can't.  At least, not now," I managed to stammer, as I hastened
+to slip from her side.
+
+I wanted to be alone to think.  Keppel's companion of the previous
+night, the man to whom the conception of that diabolical plot was
+due, was still on board.  But who was he?
+
+I ate nothing, and was ready to take my seat in the first boat that
+went ashore.  I had excused myself from making one of the party at
+the opera, after giving all necessary directions, and, on pretence of
+going to a chemist's to make a purchase, I separated myself from
+Ulrica, Gerald, and Lord Eldersfield in the Via Grande, the principal
+thoroughfare.
+
+How next to act I knew not.  No doubt Keppel's intention was to send
+on board some explosive destined to sink the _Vispera_ to the bottom
+with all on board.  At all hazards, the yacht must not sail.  Yet,
+how was it possible that I could prevent it without making a full
+statement of what I had overheard?
+
+I entered the pharmacy and purchased the first article that came into
+my mind.  Then, returning into the street, I wandered on, plunged in
+my own distracting thoughts.  Keppel had gone alone to the telegraph
+office in a cab.
+
+The soft, balmy Italian night had fallen, and the white streets and
+piazzas of Leghorn were filled, as they always are at evening, with
+the light-hearted crowds of idlers; men with their hats stuck
+jauntily askew, smoking, laughing, gossiping; and women, dark-haired,
+black-eyed, the most handsome in all Italy, each with a mantilla of
+black lace or some light-coloured silk as head-covering, promenading
+and enjoying the _bel fresco_ after the toil and burden of the day.
+None in all the world can surpass in beauty the Tuscan women--dark,
+tragic, with eyes that flash quickly in love or hatred, with figures
+perfect, and each with an easy-swinging gait that a duchess might
+envy.  It was Suor Angelica who had once repeated to me the verse
+written about them by an old Florentine poet:
+
+  "S'è grande, è oziosa,
+  S'è piccola, è viziosa;
+  S'è, bella, è vanitosa;
+  S'è brutta, è fastidiosa."
+
+
+Every type, indeed, is represented in that long, single street at
+night--the dark-haired Jewess, the classic Greek, the thick-lipped
+Tunisian, the pale-cheeked Armenian, and the beautiful Tuscan, the
+purest type of beauty in all the world.
+
+Once again, after several years, I heard, as I walked onward, the
+soft sibilations of the Tuscan tongue about me, the gay chatter of
+that city of sun and sea, where, although half the population is in a
+state of semi-starvation, hearts are still as light as in the days
+when "cara Livorno" was still prosperous.  But alas! it has sadly
+declined.  Its manufactures, never very extensive, have died cut; its
+merchant princes are ruined, or have deserted it, and its trade has
+ebbed until there is no work for those honest, brown-faced men, who
+are forced to idle upon the stone benches in the piazza, even though
+their wives and children are crying for bread.
+
+The splendid band of the garrison was playing in the great Piazza
+Vittorio, in front of the British Consulate, where the Consular flag
+was waving, because the warships were in the port.  The music was in
+acknowledgment of the fact that the British Marine Band had played
+before the Prefecture on the previous evening.  The Consulate was
+illuminated, and on the balcony, in company with a large party, was
+the Consul himself, the popular Jack Hutchinson--known to every
+English and American resident throughout Tuscany as the merriest and
+happiest of good fellows, as well as a distinguished author and
+critic.  I recognised him, looking cool in his suit of white linen,
+but hurried on across the great square, feeling that no time should
+be lost, and yet not knowing what to do.
+
+The mysterious assassination of poor Reggie, and the curious events
+which followed, coupled with the startling discovery I had made on
+the previous night, had completely unnerved me.  As I tried to
+reflect calmly and logically, I came to the conclusion that it was
+eminently necessary to ascertain the identity of the man who held the
+millionaire beneath his thumb--the man who had suggested the blowing
+up of the yacht.  This man intended, without a doubt, to leave the
+vessel under cover of night; or, if he were actually one of the
+guests, he could, of course, easily excuse himself and leave the
+others, as I had done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+IN WHICH WE PAY A VISIT ASHORE
+
+The mystery of the deck cabin was puzzling.
+
+I alone held knowledge of the dastardly plan formed to blow up the
+yacht, and was determined that the vessel should not sail again
+before I had warned my fellow-guests.  But how?
+
+I had watched the old millionaire narrowly, and had plainly detected
+his nervous agitation, and his anxiety for the cruise to be brought
+to an end.  As far as I myself was concerned, I had no intention of
+again sailing in the _Vispera_, and would certainly not allow Ulrica
+to continue the voyage.  That the yacht was doomed was plain.  Even
+at that moment old Mr. Keppel was sending mysterious telegrams, in
+all of which I scented some connection with the tragedy that had
+occurred on board.  It struck me that the wisest course would be to
+attach myself to my host as much as possible, and narrowly watch his
+movements.  With that intention, therefore, I turned back and walked
+as far as the great Piazza Carlo Alberto, where the central telegraph
+office was situated.  On the stone seats around the spacious square
+hundreds of people were sitting and gossiping beneath the stars, for
+the Italian of the working-class loves to gossip at night, when the
+day's toil is over, and the cool breeze comes in from across the sea.
+
+I met Keppel emerging from the office, and with some surprise he
+greeted me.  I told him that I had been making some purchases, while
+the others had gone to the opera, whereupon he suggested that we,
+too, should take a cab to the Goldoni and join the party there.
+
+This we did.  The old man was unusually chatty and affable, and
+during our drive told me he had decided that the _Vispera_ should lie
+in Leghorn for the next five or six days, as he was expecting letters
+from England in reply to the telegrams he had just despatched.
+
+This surprised me.  If he and his unknown accomplice wished to get
+rid of traces of their crime by blowing up the vessel, it seemed only
+probable that they would do so at the earliest possible moment.
+Again, a second point was an enigma.  How was it that the Customs
+officers, who had searched the yacht, and had, of course, entered the
+mysterious deck-house, had not discovered the crime?
+
+Keppel was a very shrewd old fellow, but it was my duty to prevent
+the consummation of the dastardly plot which his accomplice had
+suggested.  With this object in view, I made a point of remaining as
+near him as possible.
+
+In the investigation of matters such as these a woman is in many ways
+handicapped.  A man can go hither and thither in search of truth, and
+act in a manner for which a woman can find no excuse.
+
+At the Goldoni, an enormous theatre, rather dingy with age, but
+nevertheless comfortable, Verdi's _Aida_ was being performed, and
+when we entered the box occupied by our party, Ulrica greeted me with
+enthusiasm.
+
+"You were quite right, Carmela, dear.  The music is really wonderful.
+I had no idea that they had opera of such high quality in a small
+Italian town.  The tenor is a great artist."
+
+"Ah!" I laughed.  "I was sneered at when I dared to say that there
+was anything of interest in Leghorn.  You have at least found an
+evening's amusement equal to any you'll find in London.  Pretty
+toilettes you won't find, as at Covent Garden, but good opera you can
+always hear."
+
+"I quite agree with Miss Rosselli," declared Gerald, as he rose to
+give me his seat.  "Leghorn is a charming place.  And what lovely
+women!  I've never in all my life seen such a galaxy of beauty."
+
+"Oh, then you have noticed them already!" I said, smiling at his
+enthusiasm.
+
+Every Englishman who goes to Leghorn is enthusiastic over the beauty
+of the Livornese women, the well-cut, regular features, the dark
+flashing eyes, the artistically-dressed hair, the great gold-loop
+ear-rings, and the soft santuzza, or silken scarf, with embroidered
+ends, wound about the head and secured by great pins, the finishing
+touch to a thoroughly artistic adornment.
+
+As the Englishman walks down the Via Grande, they, promenading in
+couples or threes, arm in arm, turn and laugh saucily at him as he
+passes.  Yes, they are a light-hearted, careless people, the
+Livornesi, even though the poverty is terrible.  Hundreds would die
+of sheer starvation yearly were it not for those kind Capuchins, Fra
+Antonio, Padre Sisto, Padre Antonino, and the others, who daily
+distribute bread to all who ask for it at the convent gate.  The good
+friars have no funds, but Fra Orazio, a lay brother, and the youngest
+of them, goes daily from house to house of the middle classes and the
+wealthy, begging a trifle here and a trifle there with which to buy
+the bread and the necessaries for soup for the starving.  And who
+does not know Fra Orazio in Leghorn?  In his brown habit, a
+dark-haired, black-bearded man of forty, with a round, jovial face
+tanned by the sun, his rotund figure is as well known as the
+equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza.
+
+The theatre was crowded, the cheaper parts being packed by men and
+women of the poorer classes, who had made that day one of
+semi-fasting in order to be able to pay the _ingresso_, and hear the
+music of their beloved _maestro_.  The audience was an enthusiastic
+one, as it generally is in Italy--as quick to praise as it is to
+condemn--and that night the principal singers were recalled time
+after time.  In the Italian theatre there is a lack of luxury;
+sometimes even the floor is unswept, and there is dust in the boxes;
+nevertheless, all these drawbacks are counterbalanced by the
+excellence of the performance.
+
+To the millionaire's guests that performance was a revelation, and
+when we left on the conclusion of the opera to return to the port and
+go on board, Leghorn was voted by all to be quite an interesting
+place.  Indeed, when our host stated that he intended to remain there
+a few days owing to the necessities of his business, no one demurred.
+
+Ulrica suggested at breakfast next morning that some of us should run
+up to Florence on a flying visit, it being only sixty miles distant,
+while somebody else urged the formation of a party to go and see the
+famed leaning tower at Pisa.  For my part, however, I had resolved
+that I would go wherever my host went.  Several times that morning I
+passed and repassed the deck-cabin, but those green silk blinds were
+closely drawn across the brass-bound port-holes, and the door was
+carefully locked.
+
+What a terrible mystery was contained therein!  If only my
+fellow-guests were aware that on board the vessel was the body of an
+unknown woman who had been foully and brutally murdered!  And yet a
+distinct suspicion had now seized me that the Customs officers,
+having searched and found nothing, the body must have been secretly
+disposed of.  Perhaps it had been weighted and sunk during the silent
+watches of the night.
+
+Yet, if this had actually been done, what possible reason was there
+to destroy the yacht and sacrifice the lives of those on board?  I
+had thought it all over very carefully in the privacy of my own small
+cabin, where the morning sunshine, dancing upon the water lying just
+below my port-hole, cast tremulous reflections upon the roof of the
+cosy little chamber.  No solution of the problem, however, presented
+itself.  I was utterly bewildered.  A thousand times I was tempted to
+confide in Ulrica, yet on reflection I saw how giddy she was, and
+feared that she might blurt it out to one or other of her friends.
+She was sadly indiscreet where secrets were concerned.
+
+About ten o'clock I found the old millionaire lolling back in a
+deck-chair, enjoying his morning cigar according to habit, and in
+order to watch him, I sank into another chair close to his.  The
+_Vispera_ was lying within the semi-circular mole; and so, while
+protected from the sudden gales for which that coast is so noted,
+there was, nevertheless, presented from her deck a magnificent
+panorama of the sun-blanched town and the range of dark mountains
+beyond.
+
+"The young Countess Bonelli, who was at school with me, has invited
+us all to her villa at Ardenza," I said, as I seated myself.  "You
+will accompany us this afternoon, won't you, Mr. Keppel?"
+
+"Ardenza?  Where's that?" he inquired.
+
+"The white village there, along the coast," I answered, pointing it
+out to him.  "I sent a message to the Countess last night, and half
+an hour ago I received a most pressing invitation for all of us to
+drive out to her villa to tea.  You'll come?  We shall accept no
+excuses," I added.
+
+"Ah, Miss Rosselli," he grunted, "I'm getting old and crochety; and
+to tell you the plain truth, I hate tea-parties."
+
+"But you men won't drink tea, of course," I said.  "The Countess is
+most hospitable.  She's one of the best known of the younger
+hostesses in Florence.  You probably know the Bonelli Palace in the
+Via Montebello.  They always spend the spring and autumn at their
+villa at Ardenza."
+
+And so I pressed the old man until he could not refuse.  I watched
+him very narrowly during our conversation, and became more than ever
+convinced that his increased anxiety and fidgety behaviour were due
+to the pricks of conscience.  More than once I felt sorely tempted to
+speak straight out, and demand of him who and where was the woman who
+had been concealed in that gilded deck-house?
+
+But what would it profit to act ridiculously?  Only by patience and
+the exercise of woman's wit could I hope to learn the truth.
+
+His reluctance to go ashore increased my suspicions.  He had at
+breakfast announced his intention of not landing before evening, as
+he had some correspondence to attend to; but this seemed a mere
+excuse to remain behind while the others went out exploring the town.
+Therefore I was determined that he should accompany us, and I had
+urged Ulrica to add her persuasive powers to mine.
+
+The afternoon was one of those brilliant ones which are almost
+incessant on the Tuscan coast.  About three o'clock we all landed,
+including the old millionaire, and in cabs were driven along the
+promenade and out by the city gate along the oleander grove to
+Ardenza, the first village eastward beyond Leghorn on the ancient
+Strada Romana, that long highway which runs from Marseilles to Rome.
+
+All in the party were delighted with the drive along that wide
+sea-road, which for miles is divided from the actual rocks by a belt
+of well-kept gardens of palms and oleanders, forming one of the
+handsomest and most beautiful promenades in the South of Europe.
+
+I have often thought it curious that the ubiquitous British traveller
+has never discovered Ardenza.  He will, no doubt, some day, and then
+the fortune of the charming little retreat will be made.  Time was,
+and not very long ago, when Nervi, Santa Margherita, and Rapallo were
+unknown to those fortunate ones who follow the sun in winter; yet
+already all those little places are rapidly becoming fashionable, and
+big hotels are springing up everywhere.  The fact is, that _habitués_
+of the South, becoming tired of the artificiality and flagrant vice
+of the French Riviera, and of the terrible rapaciousness of
+hotel-keepers and tradesmen in that most ghastly of all Riviera
+resorts, San Remo, are gradually moving farther eastward, where the
+sunshine is the same, but where the people are charming and as yet
+unspoilt by the invading hordes of the wealthy; where the breezes are
+health-giving, where the country is both picturesque and primitive,
+and where the Aspasia of the boulevard and the _chevalier
+d'industrie_ are alike absent.
+
+Ardenza is a large village of great white villas in the Italian
+style--mansions they would be called in England.  Some face the
+splendid tree-lined promenade, but many lie back from the sea in
+their own grounds, shut out from the vulgar gaze by walls high and
+prison-like.  There is no mean street, for it is essentially a
+village of the wealthy, where the great houses, with their wonderful
+mosaic floors, are the acme of comfort and convenience, where both
+streets and houses are lit by electricity, and where society is
+extremely sociable, and yet select.
+
+There is neither shop nor hotel in the place, but a quarter of a mile
+away is the old village called Ardenza di Terra, to distinguish it
+from that by the sea, a typical Italian village, with its old-world
+fountain, round which the women, gay in their bright kerchiefs,
+gossip; its picturesque bridge, and its long white high-road which
+leads up to Montenero, that high, dark hill on which stands the
+church with its miracle-working Virgin.  Both Byron and Shelley knew
+and appreciated the beauties of the place.  The former had a villa
+close by, which is, alas! now falling to decay; while Shelley
+frequently visited Antignano, the next village along the old sea-road.
+
+Better than San Remo, better than Bordighera, better than Alassio,
+Ardenza will one day, when enterprising hotel-keepers discover it,
+and the new direct railway from Genoa to Rome is constructed from
+Viareggio to Cecina, become a rival to Nice.  At present, however,
+the residents are extremely conservative.  They never seek to
+advertise the beauties or advantages of the place, for they have no
+desire that it should become a popular resort.  Nevertheless, I dare
+to assert here that the sea-bathing is perhaps the finest in Europe,
+that no promenade of any English watering-place equals it, and that
+its climate, save in the month of August, is one of the best of any
+place on the Mediterranean shore.
+
+No wonder, then, that rich Italians have built their villas in so
+lovely a spot, or that they go there to escape the fogs of the Arno,
+or the dreaded malaria of Rome.
+
+The Countess Velia met me at the port, and carried Ulrica and myself
+home in her smart victoria.  We had not met for quite three years,
+and I saw that the rather plain Velia of convent days had now grown
+into a strikingly handsome woman.  Her husband, she told us, was
+unfortunately in Venice.
+
+The Villa Bonelli we found to be one of the largest in Ardenza, a
+huge white mansion, with bright green _persiennes_, standing back in
+its own grounds behind a large gate of ornamental iron, the spikes
+being gilded, in accordance with the usual style in Italy.  Velia
+received her guests in the great _salon_ upholstered in azure silk,
+and then we wandered through the ground floor of the spacious
+mansion, passing the smaller _salons_, and at last strolled out into
+the garden, where tea was served in the English style under the
+shadow of the orange trees.  Velia had never been able to master
+English, and, as few of her guests beside myself spoke Italian, her
+conversation was of necessity limited.  Nevertheless, after a five
+weeks' cruise, resulting in the cramped sensation one usually
+experiences while yachting, tea-drinking and rambling in that
+beautiful garden, with its wealth of flowers, were delightful
+occupations enjoyed by all, even by old Mr. Keppel, whose chief
+wonder seemed to be at the magnificence of the house, which appeared
+to be almost entirely constructed of marble.  The mosaic floors, too,
+were splendid, worked in dark green and white, in imitation of those
+in the Thermæ Antoninianæ at Rome.  The Bonellis were an ancient
+family, one of the few Florentine nobles who were still wealthy.
+Their ancestral castello was above Pracchia in the Apennines, between
+Florence and Bologna, and Velia had several times since her marriage
+given me pressing invitations to stay with her there.
+
+At the convent we had always been close friends.  She was the
+daughter of the Marchese Palidoro of Ancona, and once I had spent the
+Easter vacation with her at her home on the Adriatic shore.  Ulrica
+and the others found her a charming little woman, and, of course,
+admired the two-year-old little Count, who was brought down from his
+kingdom in the nursery, to be kissed and admired by us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+DISCUSSES SEVERAL MATTERS OF MOMENT
+
+The men drank Marsala--always offered in the afternoon in an Italian
+house--and smoked in the garden, while we women wandered wherever we
+liked.  Those of my companions who had not before seen the interior
+of an Italian villa were interested in everything, even to the
+culinary arrangements, so different from those in England.  The
+Italian cook makes his dishes over some half-a-dozen small charcoal
+fires about the size of one's hand, which he keeps burning by a kind
+of rush fire-screen, the English grate being unknown.
+
+We had been there a couple of hours, and to all of us the change had
+been pleasant after so long a spell at sea.  Velia was sitting apart
+in the garden, and we were chatting, she telling me of the perfect
+tranquillity of her married life.  Rino was, she declared, a model
+husband, and she was perfectly happy; indeed, her life was a
+realisation of those dreams that we both used to have long ago in the
+old neglected garden of the convent, when we walked together
+hand-in-hand at sundown.
+
+She recalled those days to me--days when I, in my childish ignorance,
+believed the world outside to be filled with pleasant things.  We had
+not met since we had parted at the convent, she to enter Florentine
+society and to marry, and I to drift about the world in search of a
+husband.
+
+"Suor Teresa's counsels were so very true," she said to me, as we
+recalled the grey-eyed Sister who had been our foster-mother.
+"Haven't you found them so, just as I have, even though you have
+lived in England, your cold, undemonstrative England, and I here, in
+Italia?"
+
+"Suor Teresa gave us so much good advice.  To which of her precepts
+do you refer?" I asked.
+
+"Don't you recollect how she was always saying that, as women, the
+first thing of importance was always to be content to be inferior to
+men--inferior in mental power in the same proportion as we are
+inferior in bodily strength.  Facility of movement, aptitude and
+grace, the bodily frame of woman may possess in a higher degree than
+that of man; just as in the softer touches of mental and spiritual
+beauty her character may present a lovelier aspect than his.  Yet the
+woman will find, Suor Teresa used to say, that she is by nature
+endowed with peculiar faculties--with a quickness of perception,
+facility of adaptation, and acuteness of feeling, which fit her
+especially for the part she has to act in life, and which, at the
+same time, render her, in a higher degree than man, susceptible both
+to pain and pleasure.  These, according to our good Sister, are our
+qualifications as mere women."
+
+"Yes," I said, "I remember now.  Some of Suor Teresa's counsels I've
+followed, but others, I fear, I threw to the winds.  She was a good
+woman--a very good woman, Suor Teresa.  Do you remember how she used
+to lecture us girls, and say: 'When you are women of the world, how
+wide is the prospect which opens before you--how various the claims
+upon your attention--how vast your capabilities--how deep the
+responsibility which those capabilities involve!  In the first place,
+you are not alone; you are one of a family--of a social circle--of a
+community--of a nation.  You are a being whose existence will never
+terminate, who must live for ever, and whose happiness or misery
+through that endless future which lies before you will be influenced
+by the choice you are now in the act of making.'  Do you remember the
+kind of lectures she used to give us?"
+
+"Perfectly well," answered Velia.  "But she is dead, poor woman; she
+died of fever last summer."
+
+"Dead!" I echoed
+
+A pang of regret shot through my heart, for I remembered how sweet
+and kind she had always been, how just and how devout in all her
+religion.  To her I owed many stimulating ideas about good and evil,
+few of which, I fear, remained long enough in my memory.  It was she
+who taught me to love the virtuous and the good, and the recollection
+of those early days of her tender guidance formed a bright spot in my
+life, to which, I suppose, the mind will take me back at intervals as
+long as existence lasts.
+
+Velia was about my own age, and at the convent we had treated one
+another as if we were sisters.  Therefore when we fell to talking of
+those old days before the courses of our lives ran so far apart, my
+memory drifted back to those home-truths which Suor Teresa and her
+fellow-nuns had striven to instil into our rather fickle minds.
+
+My fellow-guests left about five o'clock, for they had arranged to
+continue on the sea-road and ascend to the famed pilgrimage church of
+Montenero--one of the sights of Western Tuscany.  As I had made a
+pilgrimage there in my school-days, at Velia's invitation I remained
+behind to dine with her, promising Ulrica to return on board later in
+the evening.
+
+In the glorious blaze of crimson sunset which flooded the broad,
+clear Mediterranean, causing the islands of Gorgona, Capraja, and
+Corsica to stand out in purple grandeur in the infinite blaze of
+gold, I sat upon the marble terrace, lolling in a long cane chair,
+and chatting with the Countess.
+
+How different had been our lives, I reflected.  She, married happily,
+surrounded by every comfort that wealth could provide, a child which
+was her idol, and a husband whom she adored; while I, one of those
+unattached women who form the flotsam of society, world-weary,
+forlorn, and forsaken, was beaten hither and thither up and down
+Europe by every gust of the social wind.
+
+I contrasted our lives, and found my own to be a hollow and empty
+sham.  Of all the passions which take possession of the female
+breast, a passion for society is one of the most inimical to domestic
+enjoyment.  Yet how often does this exist in connection with an
+amiable exterior!  It is not easy to say whether one ought most to
+pity or to blame a woman who lives for society--a woman who reserves
+all her good spirits, all her pretty frocks, her animated looks, her
+interesting conversation, her bland behaviour, her smiles, her
+forbearance, her gentleness, for society.  What imposition does she
+not practise upon those who meet her there!  Follow the same
+individual home; she is impatient, fretful, sullen, weary, oppressed
+with headache, uninterested in all that passes around her, and
+dreaming only of the last evening's excitement, or of what may
+constitute the amusement of the next; while the mortification of her
+friends at home is increased by the contrast her behaviour exhibits
+in the two different situations, and her expenditure upon comparative
+strangers of feelings to which they consider themselves to have a
+natural and inalienable right.  I was terribly conscious of my own
+failings in this respect, and in society Ulrica had been my chief
+example.
+
+I hated it all, and envied the woman who sat there chatting with me
+so merrily.
+
+There, in the fading afterglow, when the sun had disappeared behind
+the distant headland, I told her, in reply to her question, of my
+love and its disillusionment.  I told her his name--Ernest
+Cameron--and at mention of it I thought I detected her dark brows
+grow narrow for an instant.  But surely it was only fancy, for these
+two had certainly never met.
+
+"You have all my sympathy, Carmela," she said, in her soft Italian,
+when I had told her the truth.  "You have suffered, poor child.  Your
+words tell me so."
+
+"Yes," I responded frankly.  "I have suffered, and am still
+suffering.  Another woman stole his love from me, and I am left
+deserted, forlorn; outwardly a smart figure as you see me, but within
+my heart is the canker-worm of hatred."
+
+"He may return to you," she said.  "His fancy may be a mere passing
+one.  Men are so very fickle."
+
+"No," I declared quickly, "it is all ended between us.  I loved only
+once--loved him with all the charm of a first attachment.  She who
+entertains this sentiment lives no longer for herself.  It was so in
+my case.  In all my aspirations, my hopes, my energies; in all my
+confidence, my enthusiasm, my fortitude, my own existence was
+absorbed in his interests.  But now I am despised and forgotten."
+
+She was so sympathetic that more than once I was tempted to confide
+to her the whole of the strange facts and the mysteries that were so
+puzzling to me.  But I hesitated--and in my hesitation resolved to
+keep my own counsel.
+
+We dined together, taking our wine from the big rush-covered _fiasco_
+of Chianti placed in its swinging stand, according to the custom of
+Tuscany; eating various dishes peculiarly Italian, and being waited
+upon by two maids who spoke in that quaint but musical dialect of the
+Tuscan shore.
+
+Throughout the meal my thoughts wandered from my surroundings to the
+dastardly plot formed to destroy the _Vispera_.  Where, I wondered,
+was old Mr. Keppel?  For aught I knew, both he and his unseen
+accomplice were engaged in buying explosives for the purpose of
+causing the contemplated disaster.
+
+Velia believed my preoccupation to be due to our conversation before
+dinner, and I allowed her to continue in that belief.
+
+Dinner in an Italian household is a very different meal to the French
+_table d'hôte_ or the English evening meal.  The courses are varied,
+and from the _anti-pasti_ to the _dolci_, all is new to the English
+palate.  Those who have lived sufficiently long in Italy to become
+imbued with its charm know well how difficult it is to relish the
+substantial English cooking when one goes on a visit to the old
+country; just as difficult as it is to enjoy the grey skies and smoky
+cities of money-making Britain after the brightness and sunshine of
+the garden of Europe.
+
+At ten o'clock, after we had idled in the _salon_ with our coffee and
+certosa--a _liqueur_ made by the old monks of the Certosa, outside
+Florence, and not obtainable beyond the confines of Tuscany--Velia's
+brougham came round, and reluctantly I took leave of her.
+
+Our reunion had certainly been full of charm, for in those hours I
+had allowed myself to forget my present position, and had, in
+thought, drifted back to the placid days of long ago that had been
+passed within the high grey walls of the ancient convent.
+
+"Good-bye, Carmela," Velia said, holding my hand in hers warmly after
+I had entered the carriage.  "Remember your promise to return here
+before you sail.  I shall expect you."
+
+I repeated my promise gaily, and then giving her a final "_Addio, e
+buona notte,_" I was driven out of the great gates and into the night.
+
+The road from Ardenza to Leghorn, a magnificent drive by day, is not
+very safe at night.  The trees lining it form a refuge for any
+thieves or footpads, and because of this it is patrolled continually
+by a pair of mounted carbineers.
+
+At length we came to the great iron gates of the city, which stretch
+across the wide highway, flanked on either side by huge porticos, in
+which are stationed the officers of the dazio, as the _octroi_ in
+Italy is called.
+
+Every article entering an Italian city is inspected with a view to
+the imposition of taxes, hence every conveyance, from the country
+cart of the contadino laden with vegetables for the market, to the
+private brougham, is stopped at the barrier, and the occupant is
+asked to declare what he or she has with him.
+
+In front of the barrier the brougham was brought to a halt, and one
+of the dazio guards, in his peaked cap and long overcoat with silver
+facings, opened the door, inquiring whether I had anything liable to
+be taxed.
+
+"_Niente,_" I responded, and was preparing to resettle myself for the
+journey, when the man, looking rather hard at me in the
+semi-darkness, said:
+
+"The signorina is named Rosselli, I believe?"
+
+"Yes," I replied, surprised at the man's knowledge of my name.
+
+He fumbled in the pocket of his overcoat for a moment, produced a
+letter, and then handed it to me in quite a surreptitious manner,
+saying in a low tone:
+
+"This is for the signorina."
+
+Then he banged to the door with a great show of officiousness,
+without waiting for me to thank him, and we drove forward along the
+deserted promenade.
+
+As it was quite dark within the carriage, I was unable to read the
+communication that had so suddenly been handed to me.
+
+What, I wondered, did it contain?  Who had taken the precaution to
+bribe one of the dazio guards to hand it to me?
+
+Surely it must contain something of the highest importance and
+strictest privacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+DESCRIBES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE
+
+At the outlying suburb of San Jacopo the street-lamps began, and
+tearing open the strange note, I found it to contain some lines
+penned in a rather uneducated hand.
+
+As the coachman was driving at a good pace, I had some difficulty in
+deciphering the words by the light of the street-lamps as their rays
+flashed in, and as rapidly disappeared.  The words I read, however,
+were decidedly curious.  Written in Italian, rather faintly, be it
+said, the note ran as follows:
+
+
+"The bearer will give you this in strictest secrecy.  Do not return
+on board the yacht, but first call at Number 12, Via Magenta, ground
+floor, where you will meet a friend whose interests are identical
+with your own.  Dismiss your carriage near the port, and take a cab
+to the address indicated.  Come, without fear, and without delay."
+
+
+The invitation was, to say the least of it, a peculiar one.  Although
+a woman, I am not naturally timid, especially in Italy, where I know
+the language, and know the peculiarities of the people.  My first
+feelings, however, were those of suspicion.  Why could not the writer
+have approached me openly, without taking the elaborate precaution of
+sending me the missive by the hand of the dazio guard?  Again, I was
+not acquainted with the Via Magenta, and suspected it to be in a low
+quarter of the city.  There are several parts of Leghorn into which a
+woman would certainly not care to venture after dark.
+
+The suggestion that I should not return to the yacht read to me as a
+warning, especially in the light of the knowledge I had gained of old
+Keppel's intentions.  Could it be possible that it was intended that
+the _Vispera_ should sail before morning and go straight to her doom?
+
+I sat back in the carriage, thinking it all over.  Finally, I came to
+the conclusion that the writer of the letter, whoever he was, must,
+like myself, be aware of the truth.  Our interests, he declared, were
+identical.  That statement was in itself interesting, and filled me
+with a curiosity which increased as I reflected.  I glanced again at
+the sheet of common notepaper in my hand, and my suspicions were
+again aroused by the fact that there was no signature.  The note was
+anonymous, and no one, especially a woman, has any sympathy with
+anonymity.
+
+Should I disregard the warning, cast the letter out of the carriage
+window, and return on board; or should I act according to its
+instructions?
+
+I was engaged in a very serious and difficult inquiry, which had
+baffled experienced police officials, be it remembered.  In every
+direction I scented suspicion, now that the old millionaire, the man
+in whose integrity I had so firmly believed, was proved to be the
+author of a foul and dastardly crime.  The whole affair was as
+startling as it was incomprehensible.  The enigma was complete.
+
+Ever since the time when I had been so cleverly tricked by the
+pseudo-detectives in Nice, I had been on the alert to discover some
+clue which might lead me to a knowledge of the manner in which poor
+Reggie had met with his death.  That there was a deep-laid conspiracy
+on foot was manifest, but in what direction to seek for an
+explanation, I knew not.  The mystery of this strange affair unnerved
+me.
+
+The city of Leghorn is bisected by the Via Grande, its principal
+street, which runs from the great Piazza Carlo Alberto in a straight
+line down to the port.  At the bottom of this thoroughfare I stopped
+the brougham, alighted, and sent the conveyance back to Ardenza.  The
+steps at which I knew the yacht's boat would be awaiting me were a
+considerable distance away, and I had no fear of detection by any
+person who knew me.  At that hour all my fellow-guests would
+undoubtedly be back on board; therefore if I kept the strange
+appointment, I might return to the yacht within an hour, and no one
+need be the wiser.
+
+From the open casement of one of the high, not over-clean houses
+facing the port, where boatmen and dock-labourers lived, sounded the
+sweet twanging of a mandoline, while a voice sang an old Tuscan
+serenade:
+
+  "O!  Nina mia--o giovinetta,
+  Lunica speme--delta mia vita;
+  Deh! perchè vivi--così soletta
+  In questa tetra--stanza romita?
+                    Vieni, vieni!
+    Vieni, deh! vieni a me d'accanto.
+    Io t'amo tauto, io t'amo tanto!"
+
+
+I listened, and as those words of passionate love fell upon my ears I
+tried to shut them out.  They recalled too vividly the days when I
+myself had been wooed by a man whom I loved.
+
+The writer of the mysterious note had declared our interests to be
+mutual.  This fact aroused my interest, causing me, in my eagerness
+to learn the truth, to disregard my usual caution.  Hailing one of
+the small open cabs which are characteristic of every Italian town, I
+gave the man the address mentioned in the letter.
+
+Contrary to my expectations, the Via Magenta proved to be one of the
+principal streets down which the electric tramway passed, and Number
+12 was, I found, a large, old palace of six stories, once the
+residence of some count or marquis, but now, as a result following
+the ruin of its original owners, it was evidently let out in flats.
+The big doors, ponderous and iron-studded, as they nearly always are
+in Italy--a relic of those turbulent days when every palazzo was a
+miniature fortress--were closed when I alighted; but finding a row of
+bells, I rang the one marked "terreno" (ground floor), whereupon the
+door was unbolted by the occupant of the apartment, and I immediately
+found myself just inside a huge, dark hall, where the noise made by
+me in stumbling over a step echoed loudly.  There is always something
+uncanny in the way an Italian door is opened at night by an unseen
+hand, for one naturally expects to see a person standing behind it.
+As a matter of fact, the opening is effected by a mechanical
+contrivance which can be operated at will in any of the apartments.
+Thus the occupants remain undisturbed until the visitor arrives at
+their door.
+
+I had turned, and was about to ask the cabman to give me some wax
+vestas in order that I might find my way, when a door opened at the
+further end of the hall, and against the light from within I saw the
+silhouette of a young Italian girl about fifteen years old.  She came
+forward, looking at me inquiringly, and then, as though she
+recognised my features from a description that had been given her,
+she exclaimed:
+
+"It is the Signorina Rosselli!  Pass, signorina, pass!" and she led
+the way into the apartment, closing the door behind her.  The place
+was spacious, sparely furnished, but not particularly clean.  The
+cheap paraffin lamp upon the table of the small room at the back of
+the house to which I was conducted was smoking, blackening the glass,
+and filling the place with suffocating fumes.  The stone floor of the
+apartment was without carpet, and all the furniture it contained was
+a cheap table, two or three old rush-bottomed chairs, and a tall
+linen-press of a bygone day.  There was a damp, earthy smell, which
+did not help to make the place any more inviting.  Indeed, I had
+scarcely set foot in it before I became seized with suspicion and
+regretted that I had come.
+
+The girl, a tall, black-eyed Livornese, who wore a bodice of
+cream-coloured cotton and a stuff skirt of dark crimson, was
+evidently a serving-maid, for she drew forward one of the chairs,
+inviting me to be seated.
+
+"I presume I am expected here?" I inquired in Italian.
+
+"Si, signorina," was the girl's reply, "the signore will be with you
+in a moment.  Please be seated.  I will tell him."
+
+She disappeared, closing the door after her.
+
+The whole affair was mysterious.  Grim and forbidding by day, an old
+Italian palazzo at night never inspires the stranger with confidence.
+Its great chambers are full of ghosts of the past, and one's
+imagination quickly conjures up visions of those old burghers who
+were such good haters; of the gay young cavaliers who rode to a joust
+or a skirmish with equal nonchalance; and of those richly-clad dames
+who caused all the great tragedies that were enacted within these
+dark, prison-like walls.
+
+Little time was, however, allowed me for reflection, for almost
+immediately the door opened, and there entered a dwarfed and ugly
+little old man, with a queer wizened face, deeply wrinkled, and a
+grey beard, bushy and untrimmed.  His appearance was so comical that
+I could scarcely suppress a smile.
+
+"Ah, signorina!" he cried, in a high-pitched, squeaky voice, "I am
+glad you have come.  I feared that you might not get the letter, and
+the matter is highly important."
+
+"You are the writer of the letter?" I suggested.
+
+"Ah, no, signorina," the old fellow squeaked.  "Unfortunately, I
+cannot write--I can only make a cross."  He spoke Italian, with a
+strong southern accent, and struck me as being of the lower class.
+To me it was strange that the queer old fellow should inhabit part of
+a palace of that description.  "I did not write the letter," he went
+on, "but I wished to speak with you upon an important matter."
+
+"I am all attention," I responded.  "Permit me to mention that I have
+a cab waiting outside, and my time is precious."
+
+"You are anxious to return on board the yacht, eh?" he grunted, with
+a strange expression upon his puckered face.
+
+"I must join my friends within an hour," I said.
+
+"Your friends?" he echoed, with strange emphasis upon the final word.
+"You are best apart from such as they."
+
+"Why?" I inquired, surprised at the old fellow's sudden declaration.
+He was evidently aware of some fact which it was desirable that I
+should know.
+
+"There are strong reasons why the signorina should not return on
+board," he declared, with a mysterious air.
+
+"As well as reasons why I should not number the Signor Keppel and his
+guests among my friends?" I asked.
+
+"The signorina guesses right," he answered, with a sinister smile.
+
+"Then I presume that I may be permitted to know those reasons?" I
+suggested.  "One cannot well break off a friendship without some
+motive."
+
+"Your own safety is sufficient motive, surely?" he argued.
+
+"I am not in fear, and as far as I am aware there is no danger," I
+declared, endeavouring to show a bold front, and hoping that the old
+fellow would soon become more explicit.  He apparently alluded to the
+conspiracy to blow up the yacht in order to hide old Keppel's secret.
+
+"But our interests are mutual," he said, glancing at me sharply.
+
+"How?"
+
+"You are seeking to elucidate a mystery.  So am I.  You are
+endeavouring to discover the person who assassinated the young Signor
+Inglese at the Grand Hotel at Nizza.  So am I."
+
+"You!" I cried in surprise.  "For what reason are you interesting
+yourself in the matter?"
+
+"I have a motive--a very strong one," he answered.  "We ought to
+unite our efforts with a view to solving the mystery."
+
+"The police have already failed," I remarked, inwardly ridiculing the
+idea that any assistance could be rendered by the queer old fellow
+living there in that dismal and silent palazzo.  Surely a man with
+such a grotesque countenance could never act the amateur detective
+with success!
+
+"The police!" he sneered, when I mentioned them.  "They are useless.
+They act by rule, and here, in Italy, may be bribed with a handful of
+cigars.  The police!  They are not worth the value of a dried fig,
+the whole of them."
+
+"Then you favour independent effort, such as I myself am making?"
+
+"Most certainly," croaked the old fellow.  "It may appear strange to
+you that, working in the same direction as yourself, I am aware of
+all you have already done."
+
+"I don't understand," I exclaimed in surprise.
+
+"I mean that I have been watching, just as you have.  I know all that
+has happened--everything.  That is why we should combine our efforts."
+
+"But what can you know of my inquiries?" I exclaimed dubiously.  "We
+have never met before."
+
+"No, signorina, that is true," he laughed.  "And we should not have
+met now, were it not for the fact that events have occurred to render
+our meeting necessary.  To show you that I am aware of the efforts
+you have already made, I will describe to you how the money stolen
+from the young Inglese was returned to you, and then cunningly
+secured by trickery.  I will tell you, too, of certain matters which
+occurred in Nice, and which you, no doubt, believe are only known to
+yourself."
+
+And then he went on to describe to me events and conversations which
+had taken place in Nice, in such detail as to make it plain that the
+old fellow had been well acquainted with my movements, and knew all
+the efforts I had made to solve the tantalising problem.
+
+He spoke of Ernest, too, with a strange familiarity, which made me
+believe that they had been acquainted.  He showed himself to be
+intimate with the doings of the man I loved, knowing both his past
+movements and his present whereabouts.
+
+"He is at Aix-les-Bains," he said, in reply to my question.  "At the
+'Hotel d'Europe.'"
+
+"And she?"
+
+"The signorina pains herself unnecessarily," the old man responded,
+with a slight touch of sympathy in his voice.  "But if she desires to
+know, the person to whom she refers was, perhaps is still, at
+Aix--'Hotel Lamartine.'"
+
+"He has gone there to play, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes.  She assists him, and has wonderful luck, just as she had at
+Monte Carlo.  You remember?"
+
+"Yes," I responded.  "But were you actually there?"
+
+He smiled, and from his face I knew that he also had witnessed that
+woman's fortune.
+
+"And now?" I asked.
+
+"From reports that have reached me, it seems that her luck has not
+deserted her.  They made a _coup_ at baccarat three nights ago, and
+won eighty thousand francs between them."
+
+My teeth met and clenched themselves hard.  The woman who had stolen
+my love held Ernest Cameron in her toils.  He believed that her
+presence at the tables brought him good fortune.  And yet I loved him
+so--better than life!  The old man's words brought to my mind a flood
+of recollections belonging to the idyllic days of a love now dead.
+
+Ah! if we had married, I would have been a much better woman, I
+reflected bitterly.  To love is such a very different thing from a
+desire to be beloved.  To love is woman's nature--to be beloved is
+the consequence of her having properly exercised and controlled that
+nature.  To love is woman's duty--to be beloved is her reward.
+
+But where was my reward?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM
+
+The queer-looking old man sitting there before me, fidgeting slightly
+in his chair, was indeed a very grotesque figure.  From what he had
+said, I could no longer doubt that he was aware of the whole of the
+curious circumstances at Nice, and was likewise well acquainted with
+the manner in which my relations with Ernest had been broken off.
+
+How he had accomplished his manifestly clever espionage in Nice I
+knew not.  Certainly I had never noticed his presence, either in Nice
+or in the Rooms at Monte Carlo.  Besides, if he had presented himself
+at the bureau of the Casino in such clothes as he wore at that moment
+he would have been refused admission.  A man is not allowed to enter
+if his trousers are turned up in wet weather, while the cycling
+tourist in knickerbockers is promptly shown the door by the
+semi-military janitors.  Yet from words he had let drop, he showed
+himself intimate with all the features of the play of both Ulrica and
+Ernest Cameron, and must have been present in the crowd around the
+table.
+
+The mystery surrounding the affair increased each moment.  And now
+this dwarfed old man, of whose name I was unaware, desired me to
+combine my efforts with his.
+
+With that end in view he settled to talk with me seriously, pointing
+out that poor Reggie had been murdered secretly, and that it was my
+duty to discover the truth, and bring his assassin to justice.  I
+admitted this, of course, but failed entirely to see what connection
+the old fellow could have with it.  To me, in my ignorance of the
+truth, he appeared to have entered into a matter which did not in the
+least concern him.
+
+"From what I have already told the signorina, I think she will be
+convinced that our interests are really identical," he said
+presently, after we had been talking some time.  "My own inquiries
+have been independent of yours, but the result has been the same.  To
+put it plainly, neither of us has discovered any clue whatsoever.  Is
+not that the truth?"
+
+"Unfortunately so," I exclaimed.  "All my efforts have been
+unavailing."
+
+"That is the reason we must combine," he urged.  "A woman cannot hope
+to elucidate such a mystery unaided.  It is impossible."
+
+He was a crafty old fellow, this dwarfed person, with the grotesque
+features.  He eyed me strangely, and more than once I entertained
+misgivings that he was not acting altogether straightforwardly.
+Somehow, his surroundings did not strike me as those of a man who had
+sufficient money to travel hither and thither in order to take up a
+task in which the police had ignominiously failed.  From his rather
+reluctant admissions, I gathered that he was acting at the
+instigation of poor Reggie's friends; yet he was not altogether
+explicit upon that point, and a good deal of doubt existed in my mind.
+
+"Well," I said at last, in order to bring matters to a point, "and
+how do you suggest that we should combine our forces, Signor----" and
+I hesitated purposely, in order to give him an opportunity of telling
+me his name.
+
+"Branca--Francesco Branca," he exclaimed, concluding my sentence.
+
+"Well, Signor Branca, I am ready to listen to any suggestions you may
+make in order successfully to trace the assassin."
+
+"We must first understand each other perfectly," responded the queer
+old man.  "You have not yet told me the full extent of your
+inquiries, or whether you entertain any suspicion of any person.  You
+have been yachting these past five weeks.  Has nothing occurred to
+arouse suspicion during that period?  If we are to combine, we must
+know the extent of each other's investigations, and the result," he
+added.  "What has been the nature of your life on board the
+_Vispera_?"
+
+"Pleasant, on the whole," I responded.
+
+"Has nothing occurred?" he inquired, looking at me with a straight
+and searching glance.
+
+"You speak as though you already have knowledge of something," I
+said, endeavouring to smile.
+
+"I simply ask the question," he squeaked, in his high-pitched voice.
+
+At first I hesitated whether to tell him the truth; yet when I
+reflected upon his statement that he was acting in the interests of
+Reggie's family, I became induced to tell the old fellow the truth
+regarding my discovery in the deck-house, and the plot I had
+overheard.
+
+Contrary to my expectations, my statement did not disturb him in the
+least.  He only raised his grey brows with an expression of surprise,
+and said:
+
+"Then I was correct in my surmise that certain persons on board the
+yacht are not your friends, signorina.  Was I not?"
+
+"You were," I admitted.  "But it is Mr. Keppel himself who will be
+responsible for the blowing up of the vessel, because he has
+acquiesced in a suggestion made by a person unknown."
+
+"You never saw the man who was speaking with this Mr. Keppel?  You
+are certain of that?"
+
+"Quite.  He was very careful not to come within range of the open
+ventilator."
+
+"A wary person, evidently," grunted the old fellow.  "Depend upon it,
+he has some very strong motive for the vessel being sent to the
+bottom with all on board.  The captain suspects nothing, I take it?"
+
+"Absolutely nothing.  Ought we to warn him?"
+
+"Warn him!" cried the old man.  "Why, certainly not.  We must remain
+quite quiet, and be extremely careful not to show our hand.  Their
+secret is ours.  For us that is sufficient at the present juncture,"
+he added, with an air of contentment.
+
+"But delay may result in the catastrophe," I said.  "The yacht may
+sail at any moment when it pleases her owner to cast her away."
+
+"Well," he said, after a few moments of hesitation, "what you have
+told me certainly increases the mystery, and is deeply interesting.
+You have, I suppose, no suspicion that any of the yacht's officers
+are aware of the plot?"
+
+"The unseen originator of the conspiracy may have been an officer,
+for aught I know," I said.  "I have related the occurrence to you
+just as it took place.  I know exactly nothing more."
+
+"But you must discover more," he declared anxiously.  "The matter
+must not rest here.  If what you say is really true, then there has
+been murder done on board.  The mysterious passenger is a perplexing
+feature, to say the least.  Describe her to me as fully as you can."
+
+I acted upon his suggestion.  Unfortunately, however, suspended as I
+had been in that tearing wind on the night of my discovery, I had
+been unable to take in every detail of her features.  But I gave him
+a description as minute as was possible, and it apparently satisfied
+him.
+
+"Strange," he murmured, "very strange!  To me it seems as though your
+discovery leads us into an entirely different channel of inquiry.
+Surely Keppel himself had nothing to do with the assassination of
+young Signor Thorne!" he added slowly, as though the startling theory
+only that moment occurred to him.
+
+More than once already had that same suspicion crossed my mind, but I
+had always laughed it to scorn.  There was an utter absence of
+motive, that convinced me of its impossibility.
+
+And yet, had I not actually heard with my own ears Keppel confess to
+a murder which he himself had committed?
+
+"Do you think that the lady could have come on board at Algiers?" he
+inquired.
+
+"I cannot tell," was my answer.  "The deckhouse has been kept closed
+and curtained during the whole cruise.  It was that fact which
+aroused my feminine curiosity."
+
+"If the fact caused you to investigate, it may also have induced
+others to make inquiry," he remarked.  "Do you think it has?"
+
+"How can I tell?  One fact is certain, namely, that I am the only
+person who was a witness of the crime, or who overheard the unseen
+man's suggestion."
+
+"You would be unable to recognise the voice of that person?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," I responded.  "In that wild hurricane it was difficult to
+distinguish the tone of voice."
+
+He remained thoughtfully silent for a long time.  The muscles of his
+grotesque face worked strangely, and in his eyes was a crafty look
+which somehow gave me the impression that he was aware of more than
+he had told me.
+
+"Well," he exclaimed at last, shifting his position slightly and
+looking me straight in the face, "and what is your present
+suggestion?"
+
+"It seems very plain that if the yacht sails she is doomed, with all
+on board," I said, "therefore, she must not leave Leghorn."
+
+"I quite grant that," responded my companion; "but how can you
+prevent it?  Her owner is a person of many eccentricities.  This
+morning he says he will remain here a week, yet to-night, when you
+are all calmly asleep, he may order his captain to put to sea.  Who
+is to prevent him?  Neither you nor myself."
+
+"My intention is to keep a strict watch upon his movements, and
+ascertain where he goes, and whether any explosive is taken on
+board," I said.
+
+"A most laudable intention, but I fear it is one that you will find
+very difficult to execute," he said.  "If I may be permitted to
+advise, you should leave that matter to me, and turn your attention
+rather to the locked deck-house.  By some means you must gain an
+entry, and see what is really concealed there."
+
+"I am well aware of what secret is hidden there, without gaining an
+entrance," I responded.
+
+"You tell me that the woman is dead," he observed.  "Well, I do not
+doubt you; but I nevertheless consider it strange that if she is
+dead, and the persons concerned in her decease wished to get rid of
+the body, they have not already dropped it overboard.  Such a matter
+would not be at all difficult in the night.  Why would Keppel, a
+parsimonious man, consent to the total destruction of a yacht of the
+costly character of the _Vispera_?  It is utterly unreasonable."
+
+"From one point of view I quite agree with you," I argued; "but there
+may be further reasons why the yacht should be cast away--reasons of
+which we are ignorant."
+
+"But is it reasonable that the owner of a yacht would enter the port
+of Leghorn with a body on board?" he queried.  "No.  The officials
+are too prying.  Depend upon it, the body is no longer on board.
+They've got rid of the evidence of the crime--Keppel and this unknown
+accomplice of his."
+
+"Then if such is the truth, why should they plot to cast the vessel
+away?"
+
+"That is exactly my argument.  I am convinced that although the
+question of blowing up the _Vispera_ may have been mooted, the
+project has now been abandoned.  At first it appeared to me more
+likely that Keppel and his associate would place some explosive on
+board and make an excuse for not sailing in the vessel.  But on
+reflection it seems obvious that the body cannot now be on board, and
+therefore no end would be gained by casting the ship away.  No, there
+is no danger in returning on board--none whatever.  True, Keppel is
+very eccentric, like many man of great wealth, and may sail again at
+any moment; but it is equally certain that the dastardly project is
+not to be put into execution."
+
+"Then you believe that all is quite safe on board?"
+
+"I am quite convinced of it.  Your best plan of action, if you agree
+to combine your efforts with my own, is to return and use every means
+to gain an entrance to the deck-house.  I have not the slightest
+expectation that you will discover any actual trace of the crime, but
+I somehow feel confident that what it contains will give us some
+clue."
+
+"A clue to the mystery in Nice?" I inquired eagerly.
+
+"Yes," he responded, not without some hesitation.  "I believe that we
+shall gain knowledge from that carefully-guarded cabin."
+
+"But it is always locked," I protested, "and Keppel keeps the key
+upon his chain."
+
+"You must exercise your woman's ingenuity," he laughed.  "Already you
+have proved yourself to be as keen and resourceful as any
+professional detector of crime.  Continue, and we shall succeed."
+
+"If, as you appear to anticipate, we sail to-night, we may not meet
+again," I remarked.  "Shall I address you here in case of necessity?"
+
+"No.  Do not write to me.  We know not into whose hands the letter
+might fall," he answered quickly.  "We shall meet again, signorina,
+never fear--in Leghorn, or in some other city.  I shall travel by
+land, you by sea."
+
+"But what causes you to anticipate that the _Vispera_ will leave
+to-night?" I demanded, for he spoke with such authority that I was
+puzzled.
+
+"I read certain telegrams which Keppel sent off to-day.  I followed
+him to the telegraph-office, and watched him write.  He probably
+believed that I could not read English.  From the messages, it
+appeared that the _Vispera_ is to go direct from here to Ragusa, in
+the Adriatic, and thence to Venice."
+
+"Then we are turning back again!" I cried in dismay.  "It was
+understood that we were on our way to Marseilles, where the party was
+to break up."
+
+"Exactly, but the _Vispera's_ itinerary appears to have now been
+altered by its eccentric owner, and as soon as possible you will
+leave for the Adriatic."
+
+"Well," I said frankly, "to tell the truth, I have no desire to go on
+board again."
+
+"But it is imperative," the old fellow declared quickly; "absolutely
+imperative!  You must not drop your inquiries at this the most
+critical moment.  You must find means to enter that deck-house.
+Spare no pains, and use every endeavour and every wile to gain your
+end.  We must know what is hidden there."
+
+"Shall you go to Venice and meet me there?" I inquired anxiously.
+
+"Ah, I cannot tell!  So much depends upon the inquiries I am making,
+and upon future occurrences.  But we shall meet soon, never fear!"
+
+Certainly it was curious to find in that Italian port, into which, as
+far as I could gather, we had put on mere chance, a man who had the
+whole mystery at his fingers' ends, and who, like myself, was sparing
+no pains to elucidate it.  But had we put into Leghorn by mere
+chance; or had it all been cunningly prearranged?
+
+"Then I am not to write to you?" I said, somewhat dissatisfied.
+
+"No, decidedly not," was his response.  "We must in this affair
+exercise every precaution in order to make certain that our
+intentions are not discovered by the guilty parties.  Return on
+board, remain ever watchful, allow nothing to escape you, and make
+Keppel himself your especial study, at the same time seeking for
+means by which to enter the forbidden deck-house."
+
+"I take it, Signor Branca, that this apartment is not your own?" I
+said, as I glanced round the place.
+
+"Mine!" he laughed.  "Oh, dear no!  I am only here temporarily, in
+order to meet you.  In an hour I leave here--whither I know not.  I
+was in Rome last night, I am here to-night; to-morrow night I may be
+in Milan, or Turin, or Nice--who knows?"
+
+He spoke in French for the first time, and I saw by his excellent
+accent that, so far from my first estimate of him being correct, he
+was a thorough cosmopolitan.  It seemed a pity that his personal
+appearance was sufficiently ugly to be remarkable.
+
+I glanced at the watch in my bangle and saw that as it was already
+past eleven o'clock, it was high time for me to return on board.
+Therefore I rose to bid my strange host "_Addio_."
+
+He bowed to me with a courtly grace which rendered his dwarfed figure
+more than usually grotesque, bending so low that his fringe of grey
+beard almost touched his knees.
+
+"_Addio_, signorina," he said.  "Do not relax your efforts for a
+single moment.  Accompany the _Vispera_ on the remainder of its
+cruise, and seek to obtain all the knowledge you can.  For my part, I
+shall do my best; and I have much to do--very much, I assure you.
+But I am confident that before we meet again we shall both have
+obtained a clue to the mysterious death of the young Signor Thorne."
+
+"One moment," I said, after some hesitation, for I was reluctant to
+approach a subject which preyed ever upon my mind.  "Answer me
+truthfully.  Do you entertain suspicion that Mr. Thorne's assassin
+was the man who once loved me--Ernest Cameron?"
+
+He regarded me in profound surprise.
+
+"No," he responded promptly.  "I am convinced of the contrary.  There
+could have been no motive, and besides----"
+
+He paused, not finishing the sentence.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Besides, the inquiries I made in Nice and Monte Carlo gave a result
+identical with those made by the police, namely, that Signor Cameron
+was innocent."
+
+"If you have no suspicion of him, then I am content," I declared,
+breathing more freely.
+
+My dwarfish companion smiled knowingly, for he was aware that I still
+loved the man who had abandoned me.  Yet there was a strange look in
+his keen dark eyes that I had not before noticed.  As I drove back
+through the silent streets of the Italian city, down to the port, his
+sinister countenance, with its indescribable expression of
+craftiness, haunted me incessantly.  Why that final glance of his had
+produced such an impression upon me I was, even after many hours
+spent in wonderment, utterly at a loss to explain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+A MILLIONAIRE'S MANOEUVRES
+
+Will you, my reader, forgive me if for a few moments I am prosy?  I
+speak only of what is so very near my woman's heart.
+
+When we think of what Society might be to us, it becomes a painful
+thing to speak of what it is.  When we, who are world-weary, think of
+the seasons of mental refreshment which might be enjoyed, the
+possible interchange of mutual trust and kindness, the awakening of
+new ideas, the correction of old ones, the sweeping away of prejudice
+and the establishment of thought, the extension of benevolence and
+the increase of sympathy, confidence, and good faith which might thus
+be brought about amongst the families of mankind, we become filled
+only by regret that the young and the joyous spirit, buoyant with the
+energies of untried life and warm with the generous flow of unchecked
+feeling, must so soon become disillusioned.
+
+You, my reader, know too well how soon we all tire of the eternal
+shams which go to make up our present social life.  You yourself are
+weary of it, though perhaps you hesitate to confess this openly,
+because such a confession would be an offence against the
+_convenances_.  _Convenances!_  Bah!  Society as it now exists is
+such that no mother, once she has launched her daughter into its
+maelstrom by that process known as "coming out," ever hopes to
+receive back to the peaceful nest the wing so lately fledged,
+unruffled by its flight, the snowy breast unstained, or the beating
+heart as true as when it first went forth elated by the glowing hope
+of finding in Society what it never yet was rich enough to yield.
+
+And yet the charge we women bring against Society for its flattery
+and its falsehood is an old-established one, and we go on year after
+year complaining in the same strain; those who have expected most,
+and have been the most deceived, complaining in the bitterest terms.
+
+Having run the whole gamut of Society's follies, I had become
+heartsick; and never was the bald truth more forcibly impressed upon
+me than that night when, on descending to my cabin on board the
+_Vispera_, I found Ulrica there--the gay, careless Ulrica, whose
+_sang-froid_ nothing ever ruffled--examining one of my newest gowns.
+She was an average woman, one of ten thousand or more to be found any
+day during the season between Hyde Park Corner and Kensington Church,
+gay and chic, with just that slight touch of the cosmopolitan which
+always proves so attractive to men.  It is women such as she whose
+sentiments and feelings give tone to Society, and Society--which now
+apes the tone, the manners, and the dress of the modern
+Aspasia--influences the sentiments and feelings of English life.
+
+"Why, how horribly late you are, dear!" Ulrica began, when I entered
+my cabin.  "We've all been thinking that you were lost, or else that
+the Countess had induced you to remain with her.  Gerald has taken a
+cab back to Ardenza to look for you."
+
+This announcement caused me considerable annoyance, but I affected to
+pass it by, laughingly remarking that I had stayed late with my old
+schoolfellow.
+
+"These Italian ports are always cut-throat places, Gerald said; and
+when you were not back at half-past ten, he decided to go and look
+for you."
+
+"Very kind of him," I remarked.  "You all dined on board, I suppose?"
+
+"No.  Mr. Keppel decided upon dining ashore, so we went to a
+thoroughly Italian hotel--the 'Giappone,' I believe it was called.
+It was quite a plain, unpretending place, but the food was really
+extraordinary.  I've never had better cooking, even at the 'Carlton.'"
+
+"I know it well," I said.
+
+Indeed, everyone who knows Leghorn knows the "Giappone."  As the
+"Star and Garter" is to Richmond, so is the "Giappone" to Leghorn.
+Only the "Giappone," clean, plain and comfortable, has never assumed
+the designation of "hotel," but still rejoices in the fact that it is
+merely an _albergo_, or inn.  Of recent years throughout the Italy of
+the tourist there have sprung up great glaring caravanseries, where
+the cooking is a bad imitation of the French style, where the Italian
+waiters are bound to speak French, and the name of the hostelry is
+French (the "o" in hotel always bearing a circumflex), and where the
+accommodation is third-rate, at exorbitant prices.  It is, therefore,
+refreshing to find an _albergo_ like the "Giappone," where not a soul
+speaks either English or French, which still retains its
+old-fashioned character, and is noted throughout the whole kingdom
+for its marvellous cooking and absurdly low charges.  It is perhaps
+fortunate that the Cookite has never discovered that long,
+white-painted _salle-à-manger_ where, upon each small table, stands
+the great flask of Tuscan wine, and where one can dine as a
+millionaire for the Italian equivalent of two shillings.  Some day
+the place will be "discovered," but happy those who know it now,
+before its homelike character is swept away.
+
+"Where is Mr. Keppel?" I inquired, anxious to know whether he had
+come on board.
+
+"In the smoking saloon.  There has been music, and I left him
+chatting with Lord Stoneborough ten minutes ago."
+
+"What are our future movements?  Have you heard?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I forgot to tell you.  At dinner to-night old Mr. Keppel
+announced that we should remain here another couple of days or so,
+and then go up the Adriatic to Ragusa, and later proceed to Venice.
+We're to land there, instead of at Marseilles."
+
+Her reply surprised me, for it showed that the queer old man I had
+visited had actually spoken the truth and was apparently well up in
+all the millionaire's intentions.
+
+"Why have the plans been changed?" I inquired, as I drew off my
+gloves.
+
+"Oh, because several of the people wanted to go up to Switzerland, I
+believe, and have induced old Keppel to land them at Venice, instead
+of in the South of France.  The Viscera is to lay up at Fiume, it
+seems."
+
+"But only yesterday he told me that he intended to sail home in her
+to Portsmouth," I said.
+
+"My dear, the old fellow is as full of plans as he is of sovereigns,
+and is a most vague person regarding his future movements.  Somehow,
+I can't tell in what manner, to me he seems to have changed
+wonderfully during the past few days."
+
+"Do you think so?" I asked quickly.  It was strange that she should
+have detected a difference in his manner.
+
+"Yes.  I sat next to him at dinner to-night, and couldn't help
+noticing how nervous and queer he seemed.  Perhaps it's one of those
+penalties of wealth which people are so fond of telling us about.  If
+I had wealth I wouldn't heed the so-called penalties, would you,
+dear?  The possession of only another five hundred a year would make
+me one of the happiest women in the world."
+
+"That's the universal cry," I laughed.  "Why aren't you more
+original, Ulrica?"
+
+"Because it's such bad form to be original nowadays, when everything
+has been said before.  There is no further smartness in conversation.
+A woman can only shine by the aid of Paquin, or some other Vendome
+artist."
+
+And so she chattered on merrily, until at length her eye caught my
+little travelling clock, when she saw that it was already an hour
+past midnight.  The tramping of men on deck had ceased, and all had
+grown quiet, save for a low pumping sound from the engine-room.
+
+"Well, dear," she said, "I suppose it's time to turn in.  We all go
+over to Pisa to-morrow to see the sights--Leaning Tower, Cathedral,
+and that sort of thing.  I've seen them all before, and so have you."
+
+I smiled.  When a child, I had stood beneath the campanile,
+marvelling at what Suor Angelica used to say was one of the seven
+wonders of the world; had knelt in reverence in the Duomo, and
+wandered in amazement through the old marble-built Campo Santo--how
+many years ago, I did not care to reflect.
+
+"You will go with them?" I said.
+
+"We must both go, much as it bores us.  For myself, I hate
+sight-seeing at any time, and more especially the re-visitation of
+things one has seen in one's early youth.  Yachting is delightful,
+and I love it.  But the enthusiasm of one's friends when they get
+ashore is always apt to become tiresome.  No, my dear Carmela, we're
+in for a day of self-sacrifice to-morrow."
+
+I sighed.  For myself, I would have preferred to remain in Leghorn,
+for to me Pisa always seems like a marble-built city of the dead.  A
+single visit there in the course of a life-time is sufficient for
+most people, and the modern tourist, _en route_ for Rome, generally
+"does" the sights in a couple of hours, and is glad to get away to
+the Eternal City.  For the archæologist there is much of interest,
+but we women of the world are neither dry-as-dust professors nor
+ten-days-in-Italy tourists, and care nothing for the treasuries of
+its Archivio di Stato, the traditions connected with the
+miracle-working and carefully-veiled "Madonna sotto gli Organi," the
+tattered banners of the Knights of St. Stephen, or why the Messa dei
+Cacciatori was instituted.  To me, as to most people who have once
+set foot in Pisa, its mediæval glories are mouldy.
+
+When Ulrica had left me, I stood before the small mirror of my tiny,
+white-enamelled cabin, gazing blankly at my own reflection.  Why had
+Ernest forsaken me in favour of that tow-haired, doll-like person,
+whose parentage no one knew, and whose manners, as far as I had been
+able to observe them, savoured more of Kennington than Kensington?  I
+was good-looking, still young, still attractive, still sufficiently
+alluring to cause men to turn and glance after me.  That candid
+friend, my mirror, told me so each time I sought its opinion.  And
+yet I who loved him with all my soul was abandoned!
+
+The queer old man's injunctions recurred to me.  It was necessary
+that I should investigate what was contained in that locked
+deck-house over my head.  But how?
+
+Gerald had told us that the place contained curiosities purchased in
+Tangier, an explanation evidently given by his father.  That this was
+not the truth I was already aware.  Yet if the body of the mysterious
+female passenger was still there, it was remarkable that the Customs
+officers had not found it.  Still, the men of the Italian dogana are
+easily bribed.  They get half the fines imposed upon contraband, a
+fact which makes them very eager to discover dutiable articles--and
+nearly everything is liable to taxation in Italy--but a sly douceur
+is to them always preferable to the labour entailed in searching a
+ship and finding nothing to reward them.  Davis, the bluff, red-faced
+captain, or one of his officers, being well aware of this, might, for
+aught I knew, have judiciously dispensed a few paper _lire_.
+
+Though old Branca had given his opinion that there was no longer any
+danger of the dastardly plot being carried into effect, I was not at
+all convinced of the safety of the vessel.  Thus, without removing my
+hat, I sat on the edge of my narrow little berth for a long time,
+thinking.  We were to sail for the Adriatic.  That in itself was
+suspicious; for why should we retrace our course down the Italian
+coast again, when the intention had been to make for Marseilles?
+Keppel had some strong and secret motive for so suddenly altering our
+plans.
+
+The pumping in the engine-room had been succeeded by the low whirr of
+the dynamo.  At that hour all on board were asleep; for lying as we
+were off the Mole, there was no necessity for a night-watch to be
+kept; therefore I decided to venture back on deck, ostensibly to take
+the air and admire the clearness of the magnificent Italian night,
+but really to take observations of the locked deck-house.
+
+Stealthily, on tiptoe, I crept out of my cabin, and up the stairs on
+to the deck.  The night was brilliant--one of those which the dweller
+on the Mediterranean shore knows so well in spring, calm, balmy,
+starlit, with the crescent moon shedding its light over the distant
+range of mountains far inland.  The lights of the harbour were
+reflected by the dark, unsteady waters; and from the ancient
+lighthouse shone the bright rays of warning far across old Neptune's
+highway.
+
+As I emerged on deck, before me extended the long line of electric
+lamps along the Passeggio to Ardenza, and behind me lay the
+brightly-lit City of Leghorn, complex and mysterious.  From across
+the port came the sound of steam winches, interspersed now and then
+with the low rumbling of coal being shot into barges--the produce of
+Cardiff and Newcastle, disembarked by some "tramp" eager for
+departure; and once there came from over the water the hoarse note of
+a steam siren announcing a vessel's immediate sailing.
+
+I lingered for a moment, affecting to enjoy the night air, but really
+to disarm the suspicion of anyone who might be astir.  All on board
+was quiet, however, and the silence reassured me.  I crept forward to
+the deck-house, passing its closed and curtained port-holes.
+
+My heart leaped quickly.  There was a light within.
+
+As I slowly picked my way past I distinctly heard a voice, but could
+not recognise it.  The sound, however, made it apparent that two
+persons were within.  Carefully I walked around, but found all three
+port-holes heavily curtained.  At one I listened, but could
+distinguish nothing.  It was a man's voice; that was all I could tell.
+
+I bethought myself of the ventilator by which I had before been
+enabled to overhear the conversation within, and wondered whether it
+was open.  Without hesitation I swung myself up to the top of the
+deck-cabin, but was dismayed to find the small aperture tightly
+closed.  I listened, but only heard a voice speaking in a gruff tone.
+As to what words were said I could obtain no idea.  The voice sounded
+like that of old Mr. Keppel, but even of this I was not altogether
+certain.
+
+Were the occupants of that locked cabin engaged in perfecting the
+plot to destroy the _Vispera_?  To me it seemed very much as if they
+were.  I slid down from my position, which was rather insecure for a
+woman, and concealed myself in the dark and narrow gangway between
+the deck-house and the covering of a hatchway, in order to watch the
+exit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+WHEREIN CAPTAIN DAVIS SPEAKS HIS MIND
+
+I suppose I must have crouched there for a full half-hour.  When one
+is watching eagerly, however, time always appears longer.
+
+The steamer whose siren had awakened the echoes of the port had swung
+from her moorings, and slowly glided past us to the open sea, making
+a southward course; while work on the collier appeared to be
+finished, and the whole port had settled down to the peace of night.
+
+Suddenly I heard the voices within raised, as if in altercation.  I
+rose at once, and placed my ear to the glass of the curtained
+port-hole.
+
+"I tell you it's a lie--a confounded lie!" I heard a man's voice
+exclaim.  "You can have no basis for any such allegation."
+
+"I only state plainly what I think," responded the other.  "All the
+facts tend to show that such was the case."
+
+The other man laughed a dry, cynical laugh.
+
+"And what do your guests think of this sudden change of plans?" he
+asked.
+
+"Think!" responded Keppel, for one voice I now recognised as his.
+"They are happy enough.  The Adriatic is always more attractive for
+yachting than the Mediterranean."
+
+"Well," responded his companion, "act just as you think fit.  I shall
+not advise."
+
+"It is not for you to advise," answered the owner of the _Vispera_
+sharply.  "You are my servant, and therefore must do my bidding."
+
+"You asked my advice, sir, ten minutes ago, otherwise I should not
+have presumed to speak as I have just spoken."
+
+"You are a great deal too presumptuous on board the _Vispera_,
+Davis," Keppel snapped.  "Please recollect that when I am here I am
+master."
+
+His words proved that the man with whom he was speaking was the
+captain.
+
+"I regret if you've taken any word or action of mine as presumptuous,
+sir," responded the skipper gruffly.  "I'm a seafaring man, sir, and
+ain't much used to polite society."
+
+"When I give my orders I expect them to be obeyed without question,
+Captain Davis."
+
+"I'm ready to obey what orders you give, sir.  I'll take the
+_Vispera_ to any point of the compass you like.  You pay me £28 10s.
+a month, and I'm yours to command."
+
+"Very well, Davis.  Then listen," I heard Keppel say, although he
+lowered his voice somewhat.  "My instructions to you are entirely
+confidential, you understand.  To-morrow I shall send on board a
+small case.  It will be rather heavy, for it contains a piece of
+marble statuary from Pisa.  You'll receive it by the last train, at
+about midnight, and when you've got it aboard you'll sail at once for
+Ragusa."
+
+"Without the guests?"
+
+"No.  You will take them with you," was Keppel's response.  "Mr.
+Gerald is going to Florence in the morning, so he will be absent.  So
+shall I."
+
+"You will join us later, I suppose, sir?"
+
+"Yes.  Perhaps at Venice.  But you'll receive telegraphic orders from
+me at Ragusa."
+
+"Then I'm not to sail before I receive the case?" observed the
+captain.
+
+"No.  It will arrive by the last train, and will be addressed to you.
+Send someone to the station for it, and put it in a safe place in the
+hold.  It is a valuable statuette that has been bought for me.  So
+mind it doesn't get damaged."
+
+"Well, sir," responded the captain, "I can't answer for those Italian
+railways; but you can be sure I'll take good care of it here."
+
+"Very well.  Recollect what I have told you is entirely confidential.
+The party is due at Pisa to-morrow, but will return to dine on board.
+I have a lot of business to attend to on shore, so possibly I may not
+return with them.  If I don't sail with you, don't be surprised."
+
+"I quite understand, sir," replied the captain.  "I shall keep my own
+counsel, and sail as soon as I get the box.  Had I better call at
+Naples if you don't sail with us?"
+
+"No.  If I cannot come, put into Palermo.  I'll wire you there."
+
+"All right, sir," was the response.
+
+Davis, a trustworthy old Mediterranean skipper, who knew the rugged
+Italian coast as well as he did the Thames Embankment, and who had
+spent half a lifetime on colliers and tramps between Gibraltar and
+the Greek Islands, was a short, stout, round-faced man who wore a
+very thick pea-jacket even in the warmest weather, and who was always
+speaking of his "missus an' the kids," kept snug by him at Barking.
+
+I had often had chats with him, for he had initiated me into the
+mysteries of taking sights, and had given me many a lesson in
+nautical affairs.  He was full of droll stories, and had more than
+once delighted us by relating his humorous experiences while cycling
+ashore in company with the engineer, whom he always referred to as
+his "chief."  He was fond of potent drinks, and sometimes was heard
+using strong language to the men, in the usual manner of
+Mediterranean skippers; but he was, nevertheless, a safe man, and had
+commanded several passenger boats of a well-known line.
+
+I discovered that the particular port-hole at which I was listening
+was not screwed down tightly, and therefore I could distinguish the
+voices.
+
+"Recollect," his master went on, "you are not to wait for me.
+To-morrow evening at dinner you must give the guests to understand
+that you have received immediate orders to sail, otherwise they may
+go off to the theatre or somewhere, and you'll experience a
+difficulty in re-collecting them.  Then send for the box, and get
+away as soon as possible."
+
+"I shan't wait a minute for you, sir, depend upon it.  Let me get
+that box, and the _Vispera_ will soon be steaming past Gorgona."
+
+"And I don't want the guests to think this has been arranged between
+you and me, recollect.  They may consider it rather a slight for
+neither myself nor my son to be on board.  But you must explain next
+day how business pressed upon me at the last moment, and prevented me
+from sailing.  Tell them I'll join the yacht at Palermo.  In fact,"
+he added, "tell them any lies you like.  I know you're a glorious
+liar!"
+
+The skipper laughed.
+
+"A captain's first duty, sir, is to know how to lie to consuls and
+Customs officers.  The Board o' Trade ought to examine him in this
+art before granting him his certificate.  A skipper who can't
+lie--and especially here in the Mediterranean--ain't worth the smell
+of an oil-rag.  He's more bother to his owners than he's worth."
+
+"Well, just exercise your untruthful proclivities upon my guests on
+this occasion, Davis, and I shall not forget to find something
+handsome for you at the end of this cruise.  Up to the present I have
+had no cause whatever to complain."
+
+"Glad to hear that, sir.  Very glad, indeed," responded the old
+navigator.  "To handle a boat like the _Vispera_ is different to
+handling a coal barge from Cardiff, for instance.  Aboard of the
+latter you can get work out of your men by swearin' at them, and even
+out o' the boilers by just calling them a few names what ain't
+polite.  But on board of this here yacht I'm always afraid of openin'
+my mouth, and that's the truth.  With ladies about you have to be so
+awful careful.  I know," he added, "that I could have made much
+better time if I might only have given my tongue a bit o' liberty."
+
+"Give it liberty in your own cabin, Davis," laughed the millionaire.
+"The ladies are not used to nautical epithets."
+
+"No, sir.  Not this cruise," was the other's response.  "I'm storing
+of 'em up to be used on the trip home, when we're without passengers.
+The atmosphere'll turn blue round and over this yacht then, I can
+promise you."
+
+His master laughed again, and said:
+
+"Very well.  As long as you perfectly understand my instructions,
+that is sufficient.  Put into Palermo, and if you receive no telegram
+there, go on at once to Ragusa.  Remember to make it plain to the
+guests that I'm very busy, and that I shall rejoin you in Sicily."
+
+"Never fear, sir."
+
+"And recollect the box," was Keppel's injunction.
+
+"I'll send two men who speak Italian up to the railway station to
+meet the last train.  Will it be too heavy to be brought down to the
+port on a cab?"
+
+"Oh, no!  It is quite small--merely a statuette," the millionaire
+explained.  "See that it is stored in a dry place.  Somewhere near
+the engine-room would be best."
+
+"I'll see to that, sir.  Any other orders?"
+
+"No.  Only be very careful that when you put into Palermo those
+confounded Customs officers don't break open the case.  They may
+injure its contents.  Best put it into a cabin and let them seal up
+the door, as they do the wines."
+
+"All right, sir.  They're uncommon handy with their lead seals down
+at Palermo.  I'll have it placed along with the wines, then it'll be
+as safe as in the bank."
+
+"Mr. Barnes is still at the Villa Fabron, so if you want to make any
+communication, and don't know my whereabouts, wire to him," Keppel
+said.  "Just at present my movements are somewhat uncertain."
+
+"I'll remember that, sir," replied the captain.  I heard a movement
+as though he had risen to go back to his berth.  "But I'd like to
+mention one thing, if I may, sir.  Do you know, I was quite surprised
+to find you in here to-night.  This place has been locked up during
+the whole cruise, and the reason of it has been a mystery to both the
+crew and the passengers.  The men are very superstitious, and more
+than once declared that something uncanny was hidden here."
+
+"What nonsense!" cried the owner of the yacht.  "You see what is in
+here.  Only some of that Moorish furniture which I bought at Tangier
+on the voyage out."
+
+"But the men have declared to me that they've seen lights within, and
+heard strange noises," said the bluff skipper dubiously.
+
+"They'll say the _Vispera_ is haunted next," the other laughed.
+"Well," he added, "you can see for yourself that there's nothing
+supernatural here.  You sailors see omens in everything, Davis."
+
+"I'm no believer in ghosts, or anything of that kind myself," was the
+response; "but one night, when we were off Pantalleria, I was on the
+bridge, and saw with my own eyes lights shining through these
+curtains.  I'll swear it!"
+
+"Perhaps I had gone there myself for some purpose," Keppel explained
+rather lamely.
+
+"No, I don't think that, sir, for you were asleep in your own cabin."
+
+"Well, I alone have the key, so no one else could have entered."
+
+"That's just my argument," the captain declared.  "There's something
+uncanny about this deck-house, but what it is I can't quite make out.
+The look-out man one night swore that he heard a scream coming from
+it, and I had the devil's own job to persuade him to the contrary."
+
+"That look-out man had had his grog, I suppose, and mistook the
+whistling of the wind in the rigging," responded the old millionaire,
+with an air of nonchalance.  "All such superstitious fears are
+rubbish."
+
+"To the landsman, yes, but not to the sailor, sir," was the skipper's
+response.  "When we see a light in the port-hole of an empty cabin,
+we know one thing is quite certain," he said gravely.
+
+"And what's that?"
+
+"That the ship will go down before very long."
+
+"That's cheerful," remarked the owner of the _Vispera_.  "And when do
+you and your crew expect that interesting event to occur, pray?"
+
+"Well, sir, of course we can't tell.  Only I, myself, would like to
+get back to Barking once again before the _Vispera_ goes away from
+under me."
+
+"Are you a fool, Davis?"
+
+"I hope not, sir."
+
+"Well, it seems to me that such superstitions don't suit a hard,
+practical man like yourself.  You've held a master's certificate for
+the past twenty years or more, and surely by this time you aren't
+upset or unnerved by the gossip of the forecastle?"
+
+"Not usually, Mr. Keppel.  But in this case I confess I am a bit
+dubious.  I saw the mysterious light myself."
+
+"I might have gone there for some purpose or other, and forgot to
+switch off the light."
+
+"Yes, but it disappeared during the time I watched it," was the
+response.  "To make sure that you were not there I sent a man down to
+your cabin, and he found you asleep there.  So you couldn't have been
+in here."
+
+"Electric lights have queer vagaries," the owner of the vessel
+remarked.  "Perhaps the continual vibration of the engines injured
+the lamp, and extinguished it just at that moment.  That's not at all
+an uncommon circumstance, as you know well."
+
+"No, sir!"  I heard Davis say in a tone of conviction; "there was
+either somebody in here, or else something uncanny.  Of that I'm
+quite certain."
+
+"Stowaways don't usually luxuriate in electric lights," laughed
+Keppel.  "No, Davis, without doubt there is some quite simple
+explanation of what you believe to be a phenomenon.  Think no more
+about it.  Leave omens and all such things to these superstitious
+Italians."
+
+The captain gave vent to a low grunt of dissatisfaction, which marked
+a habit of his.  He was a hale and merry fellow, but from what he had
+said, it was evident he entertained a strong suspicion that he had
+carried a mysterious passenger.  That all traces of the crime had
+been removed was plain, otherwise old Mr. Keppel would not have
+invited his captain to talk with him there.  Of course he had done
+this in order to convince Davis that nothing was amiss.  Indeed, the
+millionaire's coolness surprised me, for it was remarkable.  Yet it
+showed plainly one fact, namely, that by some means or other the body
+of the unfortunate passenger had been got rid of, just as old Branca
+had declared.
+
+Our host now intended to send on board a box said to contain a
+statuette, and at the same time, accompanied by his son, to desert
+his guests and leave the vessel to its fate.
+
+To me there was but one theory: that box he had spoken of would
+contain the explosive which was destined to send the _Vispera_ to the
+bottom.
+
+But what was the motive if, as seemed so probable, all evidence of
+the crime had been completely effaced?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+IS ASTONISHING
+
+We have an ancient proverb in Tuscany which says, "_Rimediare al male
+fin dal suo principio_."  This very excellent maxim I was
+endeavouring to carry out.  But it is always difficult--extremely
+difficult, especially for a woman.
+
+When I had at length crept back to my cabin, fearing discovery by one
+or other of the pair whose interesting conversation I had overheard,
+I bolted my door and gave myself up to reflection.  To act was
+imperative.  The mysterious old man in the Via Magenta, who seemed so
+well informed as to Keppel's movements, and who had even told me the
+whereabouts of Ernest, was wrong in his surmise that the dastardly
+plot to blow up the yacht had been abandoned.  The vessel was to sail
+to her doom.  I alone knew the truth, and upon me devolved the duty
+of saving the lives of all on board.
+
+If I failed, then the millionaire's yacht would be added to that long
+list of vessels which have sailed merrily from port, never to be seen
+or heard of afterwards.  How many of these have been wilfully blown
+up for the sake of insurance money or of private vengeance is a
+question bitter to contemplate, and hard to answer.  Certain it is
+that the elements are not responsible for all the vessels posted at
+Lloyd's as "missing" during recent years.
+
+Slowly I undressed and entered my berth, but was unable to sleep, so
+full was my mind of grave thoughts.  For a full half-hour I heard
+tramping in the deck-cabin above me; then all grew silent, and at
+last I dozed.
+
+The dressing-bell awakened me in the morning, and after I had dressed
+I went along to Ulrica's cabin, where she was preparing herself with
+an ill grace to accompany the party to Pisa.
+
+"I'm awfully tired of this trip!" I exclaimed, seating myself wearily
+upon the edge of the berth, "Five weeks at sea is quite sufficient
+for all purposes, without being taken around the Adriatic merely on
+account of old Keppel's whim."
+
+"So am I terribly tired of it, my dear," Ulrica declared.  "I only
+wish I could make some excuse to stay ashore."
+
+That was exactly what I desired.  I had no intention of sailing again
+in the doomed vessel, and had determined that she should not.
+
+"Why can't we both stay ashore?" I suggested.
+
+"Well, I can't," she responded, "for one simple reason.  Gerald is
+leaving for Florence this morning; and if it were found that I, too,
+were missing, evil tongues would at once begin to wag."
+
+"My dear Ulrica," I said, "I, for one, am very much obliged to old
+Keppel for his hospitality; but, nevertheless, I don't mean to be one
+of a party shipped up and down the Mediterranean like a cargo of
+coals.  I don't intend to sail again."
+
+"What, dear!" she cried.  "Are you really serious?  What's the cause
+of this sudden revolt?
+
+"I'm bored to death," I replied.  "And there are one or two persons
+on board that I intend to avoid in future; Mrs. Langdon, for
+instance--the old tabby!"
+
+"Tabby is the correct term," Ulrica laughed.  "I've never been able
+to find out where old Keppel discovered that rejuvenated skeleton.
+Her paint and powder are absolutely wicked."
+
+"Listen, there's the breakfast bell," I said.  "We'll all go over to
+Pisa and do the amiable with the others, and afterwards we must
+discover some matter which requires our urgent presence on shore--you
+understand?
+
+"Exactly," she said.
+
+"I leave the excuses to you, my dear; you're so excellent at soft
+sawder.  Remember that at all hazards I don't sail.  I hope you are
+equally determined."
+
+"I'm quite with you," she declared.  "Of course, we don't want to
+offend the old gentleman, for he's a useful person to know when one
+winters on the Riviera.  Nevertheless, I quite agree that to be
+shipped up and down the Mediterranean like this is something beyond a
+joke.  I wonder why the others stand it?"
+
+"Why they stand it?  Because he's a millionaire, and nearly all of
+them are indebted to him in some way or other.  They can't demur.  It
+isn't policy on their part to do so."
+
+And so it was agreed between us that by hook or by crook we should
+either forget to sail, or openly present our apologies to our host.
+
+After breakfast, always a merry meal when in port, but sometimes a
+sparsely-attended one when the mistral was blowing, we all took train
+to Pisa, accompanied by Keppel _père et fils_, the latter wishing us
+a temporary farewell and going on to Florence, whence, he told us, he
+should return on the following night to rejoin us on our cruise.
+
+I knew that he had not the least intention of doing so.  He had
+actually told Ulrica privately that he was compelled to go by Milan
+and Bâle to Berlin, on some pressing business for his father.
+
+The day's excursion to see the Leaning Tower and other wonders of the
+marble-built city by the Arno was, as far as the others were
+concerned, a success.  To Ulrica and myself, who acted as guides, it
+was a day of absolute self-sacrifice.  The only redeeming feature was
+the excellence of our lunch at the little unpretending restaurant
+beside the river, called the Nettuno.  Any of my readers who have
+occasion to visit Pisa should remember it, and should carefully avoid
+those glaring hotels near the station, just as they should avoid the
+station-buffet.
+
+At five o'clock we returned to Leghorn, wearied out, and at half-past
+six dined together on board.  During the whole of the day I had
+managed to attach myself to old Mr. Keppel, in order to watch his
+movements; but, quite contrary to my expectations, he did not excuse
+himself by saying that he wished to make purchases; and further,
+instead of remaining in Pisa, as I expected he would do, he actually
+returned and took his usual seat at the head of the dining-table.
+
+There was music after dinner, and several of the men, including the
+millionaire, went to the smoking-room.
+
+Was it possible, I wondered, for him to have again changed his plans?
+I sat in the saloon until nearly eight o'clock, but being anxious, I
+rose and went up on deck, in order to ascertain whether our host was
+still with his friends.
+
+I passed the door of the smoking-room and peered in, uttering some
+chaffing words with affected gaiety.
+
+Keppel was not there.
+
+"They are asking for Mr. Keppel in the saloon," I said.  "I thought
+he was here."
+
+"No," responded Lord Stoneborough.  "He went ashore a little time
+ago."
+
+"Oh, thanks," I said.  "I'll tell them."
+
+The millionaire had escaped me!
+
+I dashed down to my cabin, and without hesitation changed my
+dinner-frock for a dark stuff dress that I had never worn on board;
+then, going again on deck, I induced one of the sailors to row me
+ashore at once, securing the man's silence by a tip of
+half-a-sovereign.
+
+If our eccentric host intended to leave Leghorn, he must leave by
+train and return to Pisa.  Therefore at the corner of the Via Grande
+I entered a tram, and shortly afterwards alighted at the station.
+The great platform was dimly lit and deserted, for no train would
+depart, they told me, for another hour.  It was the mail, and ran to
+Pisa to catch the night express to the French frontier at Modane.
+Most probably Keppel meant to catch this train.
+
+Should I wait and watch?
+
+The idea occurred to me that if that unseen individual who had been
+present in the deck-house, and had suggested the destruction of the
+_Vispera_, had come ashore, he would certainly meet Keppel somewhere.
+
+The time dragged on.  The short train was backed into the station,
+but no passenger appeared.  A controller inquired if I intended to go
+to Pisa, but I replied in the negative.  At last several passengers
+approached leisurely, as is usual in Italy, one or two carrying
+wicker-covered flasks of Chianti to drink in viaggio; the inevitable
+pair of white-gloved carabineers strolled up and down, and the train
+prepared to start.
+
+Of a sudden, almost before I was aware of it, I was conscious of two
+figures approaching.  One was that of old Mr. Keppel, hot and
+hurrying, carrying a small brown hand-bag, and the other the figure
+of a woman, wearing a soft felt hat and long fawn travelling-cloak.
+
+I drew back into the shadow to allow them to pass without recognising
+me.  The miscreant had, it seemed to me, cleverly disguised himself
+as a woman.
+
+Hurrying, the next moment they passed me by in search of an empty
+first-class compartment.  The controller approached them to ask for
+their tickets.  Keppel searched his pockets in a fidgety fashion, and
+said in English, which, of course, the man did not understand:
+
+"We're going to the frontier."
+
+The man glanced leisurely at the tickets, unlocked one of the doors,
+and allowed them to enter.
+
+As the woman mounted into the carriage, however, a ray of light fell
+straight across her face, and revealed to my wondering eyes a
+countenance that held me absolutely bewildered.
+
+The discovery I made at that moment increased the mystery tenfold.
+The countenance disclosed by the lamplight in the badly-lit station
+was not that of a man in female disguise, as I had suspected, but of
+a woman.  Her identity it was that held me in amazement, for in that
+instant I recognised her as none other than the dark-haired, handsome
+woman whom I had seen lying dead upon the floor of the deck-house on
+the previous night.
+
+Why were they leaving the yacht in company?  What fresh conspiracy
+was there in progress?
+
+I had always believed old Benjamin Keppel to be the soul of honour,
+but the revelations of the past few hours caused me utter
+bewilderment.  I stood there in hesitation, and glancing up at the
+clock, saw that there were still three minutes before the departure
+of the train.  Next moment I had made a resolve to follow them and
+ascertain the truth.  I entered the booking-office, obtained a ticket
+to Modane, the French frontier beyond Mont Cenis, and a few moments
+later was sitting alone in a compartment at the rear of the train.  I
+had no luggage, nothing whatever save the small travelling reticule
+suspended from my waist-belt.  And I had set out for an unknown
+destination!
+
+The train moved off, and soon we were tearing through the night
+across that wide plain which had been the sea-bottom in those
+mediæval days when the sculptured town of Pisa was a prosperous
+seaport, the envy of both Florentines and Genoese, and past the spot
+marked by a church where St. Peter is said to have landed.  Well I
+knew that wide Tuscan plain, with its fringe of high, vine-clad
+mountains, for in my girlhood days I had wandered over it, making my
+delighted way through the royal forest and through the gracious
+vinelands.
+
+At last, after three quarters of an hour, we ran into the busy
+station at Pisa, that point so well known to every tourist who visits
+Italy.  It is the highway to Florence, Rome, and Naples, just as it
+is to Genoa, Turin, or Milan; and just as the traveller in
+Switzerland must at some time find himself at Bâle, so does the
+traveller in Italy at some time or other find himself at Pisa.  Yet
+how few strangers who pass through, or who drive down to look at the
+Leaning Tower and the great old Cathedral, white as a marble tomb,
+ever take the trouble to explore the country beyond.  They never go
+up to quiet, grey, old Lucca, a town with walls and gates the same
+to-day as when Dante wandered there, untouched by the hand of the
+vandal, unspoilt by modern progress, undisturbed by tourist invaders.
+Its narrow, old-world streets of decaying palaces, its leafy piazzas,
+its Lily theatre, its proud, handsome people, all are charming to one
+who, like myself, loves Italy and the gay-hearted Tuscan.
+
+Little time was there for reflection, however, for on alighting at
+Pisa I was compelled to conceal myself until the arrival of the
+express on its way from Rome to Paris.  While I waited, the thought
+occurred to me that the _Vispera_ was still in peril, and that I
+alone could save her passengers and crew.  Yet, with the mysterious
+woman still alive, there could, I pondered, be no motive in
+destroying the vessel.  Perhaps the idea had happily been abandoned.
+
+Nevertheless, the non-appearance of the individual whose voice I had
+heard, but whom I had not seen, was disconcerting.  Try as I would, I
+could not get rid of the suspicion aroused by Keppel's flight that
+foul play was still intended.  If it were not, why had the old
+millionaire not continued his cruise?  As the unknown woman had been
+concealed on board for several weeks, there was surely no reason why
+she should not have remained there another three or four days, until
+we reached Marseilles!  No.  That some unusually strange mystery was
+connected with the whole affair, I felt confident.
+
+I peered out from the corner in which I was standing, and saw Keppel
+and his companion enter the buffet.  As soon as they had disappeared,
+I made a sudden resolve, entered the telegraph office, and wrote the
+following message:
+
+
+"_To Captain Davis.  S.Y. 'Vispera' in port, Livorno.--Have altered
+arrangements.  Sail at once for Genoa.  Box I spoke of will join you
+there.  Leave immediately on receipt of this._--KEPPEL."
+
+
+I handed it in to the telegraphist, saying in Italian:
+
+"I want this delivered on board to-night, most particularly."
+
+He looked at it, and shook his head.
+
+"I fear, signorina," he answered, with grave politeness, "that
+delivery is quite impossible.  It is after hours, and the message
+will remain in the office, and be delivered with letters in the
+morning."
+
+"But it must reach the captain to-night," I declared.
+
+The man elevated his shoulders slightly, and showed his palms.  This
+was the Tuscan gesture of regret.
+
+"At Livorno they are not, I am sorry to say, very obliging."
+
+"Then you believe it to be absolutely useless to send the message, in
+the expectation of it being delivered before morning?"
+
+"The signorina understands me exactly."
+
+"But what can I do?" I cried in desperation.  "This message must
+reach the captain before midnight."
+
+The man reflected for a moment.  Then he answered me.
+
+"There is but one way I can suggest."
+
+"What is that?" I cried anxiously, for I heard a train approaching,
+and knew it must be the Paris express.
+
+"To send a special messenger to Livorno.  A train starts in half an
+hour, and the message can then be delivered by 11 o'clock."
+
+"Could you find me one?" I asked.  "I'm willing to bear all expenses."
+
+"My son will go, if the signorina so wishes," he answered.
+
+"Thank you so much," I replied, a great weight lifted from my mind.
+"I leave the matter entirely in your hands.  If you will kindly see
+that the message is delivered, you will be rendering, not only to
+myself, but to a number of other people, a very great service."
+
+"The signorina's instructions shall be obeyed," he answered.
+
+When he had said this I placed some money to cover expenses upon the
+counter, again thanked him, and left, feeling that although I had
+been guilty of forgery, I had saved the yacht from destruction.
+
+The train, with its glaring head-lights, swept into the station from
+its long journey across the fever-stricken Maremma marshes, but I saw
+with considerable dismay that there was but one sleeping-car--the
+only through car for the frontier.  I was therefore compelled to
+travel in this, even at the risk of meeting Keppel in the corridor.
+One cannot well travel in one of those stuffy cars of the Compagnie
+Internationale des Wagons Lits without being seen by all one's
+fellow-travellers.  It was thus my first difficulty presented itself.
+
+I watched my host and his companion enter the car, and from the
+platform saw them shown to their respective berths by the conductor.
+Keppel was given a berth in a two-bed compartment with another man,
+while the tall dark woman was shown to one of the compartments
+reserved for ladies at the other end of the car.
+
+With satisfaction I saw the old millionaire take his companion's hand
+and wish her good-night.  As soon as his door had closed, I mounted
+into the car and demanded a place.
+
+"The signorina is fortunate.  We have just one berth vacant,"
+answered the conductor in Italian.  "This way, please," and taking me
+along the corridor, he rapped at the door of the compartment to which
+he had just shown the mysterious woman.
+
+I left it to the conductor to explain my presence, and after
+entering, closed and bolted the door behind me.
+
+"I regret that I've been compelled to disturb you, but this is the
+only berth vacant," I said in English, in a tone of apology, for when
+I noticed that her black eyes flashed inquiringly at me, I deemed it
+best to be on friendly terms with her.
+
+"Don't mention it; I'm English," she answered, quite affably.  "I'm
+pleased that you're English.  I feared some horrid foreign woman
+would be put in to be my travelling companion.  Are you going far?"
+
+"To the frontier," I responded vaguely.  The extent of my journey
+depended upon the length of hers.
+
+Then, after a further exchange of courtesies, we prepared for the
+night and entered our narrow berths, she choosing the upper one, and
+I the lower.
+
+As far as I could judge, she was fifty, perhaps more, though she was
+still extremely handsome, her beauty being of a Southern type, and
+her black hair and coiffure, with huge tortoise-shell comb, giving
+her a Spanish appearance.  She wore several beautiful rings, and I
+noticed that on her neck, concealed during the day by her bodice, was
+some tiny charm, suspended by a thin gold chain.  Her voice and
+bearing were those of an educated woman, and she was buxom without
+being at all stout.
+
+The roar of the train and the grinding of the wheels as we whirled
+through those seventy odd suffocating tunnels that separate Pisa from
+Genoa rendered sleep utterly impossible, so by mutual agreement we
+continued our conversation.
+
+She seemed, like the "Ancient Mariner," to be needing someone to whom
+she could tell her story.  She wanted an audience able to realise the
+fine points of her play.  From the outset she seemed bursting with
+items about herself, little dreaming that I was acting as spy upon
+her.
+
+I secretly congratulated myself upon my astuteness, and proceeded to
+draw her out.  Her slight accent puzzled me, but it was due, I
+discovered, to the fact that her mother had been Portuguese.  She
+seemed to label everything with her own intellectual acquirements.
+To me, a perfect stranger, she chatted during that night-journey
+about her fine figure and her power over men, about her ambitions and
+her friends.  But her guardian interfered with her friends.  He was
+an old man, and jealous; had her money invested, and would not allow
+her to look at a man.  If she paid the least attention to any man in
+particular, she received no money.  She was not forty, she told me,
+and her guardian, who was also in the train, was over seventy.
+
+When she was not telling me the story of her loves, and her father,
+mother, and step-father, she filled in the time by telling me about
+some man she called Frank, who had a pretty-faced wife addicted to
+the bad habit known as secret drinking.
+
+"Trouble?" she wandered on.  "Oh, I've had such lots and lots of it
+that I'm beginning to feel very old already.  Troubles, I always
+think, are divided into two classes--one controlled by a big-horned,
+cloven-hoofed devil, and the other by the snippy little devil that
+flashes in and out of our hearts.  The big devil is usually placed
+upon us by others.  It follows us.  Sometimes we can evade it, but at
+others it catches us up on its horns and gives us a toss.  We come
+down into the dust, crumpled, with all courage, ambition and hope
+absorbed in despair.  We pick ourselves up in desperation.  All that
+is best in us is so deadened that even our consciences cannot hear a
+whisper; or, on the other hand, we steel ourselves, and make a
+resolve which lifts us to a moral and mental victory, and to all that
+is noblest in ourselves and humanity."
+
+I laughed, admitting that there was much truth in her words.
+
+"And the other--the little imp?" I asked.
+
+"The other--this insane perversity of human nature, gets hold on us
+whether we will or not.  It makes us for the time ignore all that is
+best in ourselves and in others--it is part of us.  Though we know
+well it resides within ourselves, it will cause our tears to flow and
+our sorrows to accumulate, it is a fictitious substance, with
+possibly a mint of happiness underlying it.  We are always conscious
+of it, but insanity makes us ignore it for so long that the little
+imp completes its work, and the opportunity is lost.  But why are we
+moralising?" she added.  "Let's try and get to sleep, shall we?"
+
+To this I willingly acquiesced, for truth to tell, I did not give
+credence to a single word of the rather romantic story she had
+related regarding herself, her friends, and her jealous guardian.  In
+these post-Grundian days I had met women of her stamp many times
+before.  The only way to make them feel is to tell them the truth,
+devoid of all flattery.
+
+She struck me as a woman with a past--her whole appearance pointed to
+this conclusion.  Now a woman with a chequered past and an
+untrammelled present is always more or less interesting to women, as
+well as to men.  She is a mystery.  The mystery is that men cannot
+quite believe a smart woman with knowledge, cut loose from all
+fetters, to be proof against flattery.  She queens it, while they
+study her.  Interest in a woman is only one step from love for her--a
+fact with which we, the fairer sex, are very well acquainted.
+
+Ulrica had once expressed an opinion that pasts were not so bad if it
+were not for the memories that cling to them; not, of course, that
+the pasts of either of us had been anything out of the ordinary.
+Memories that cling to others, or the hints of a "past," certainly
+make you of interest to men, as well as a menace to the imagination
+of other women; but the memories that hover about yourself are
+sometimes like truths--brutal.
+
+Memories!  As I lay there upon my hard and narrow bed, being whirled
+through those suffocating tunnels in the cliffs beside the
+Mediterranean, I could not somehow get away from memory.  The story
+this mysterious woman had related had awakened all the sad
+recollections of my own life.  It seemed as though an avalanche of
+cruel truths was sweeping down upon my heart.  At every instant
+memory struck a blow that left a scar deep and unsightly as any made
+by the knife.  There was tragedy in every one.  The first that came
+to me was a day long ago.  Ah me!  I was young then--a child in
+fears, a novice in experience--on that day when I admitted to Ernest
+my deep and fervent affection.  How brief it all had been!  I had,
+alas! now awakened to the hard realities of life, and to the anguish
+the heart is capable of holding.  The sweetest part of love, the
+absolute trust, had died long ago.  My heart had lost its lightness,
+never to return, for his love toward me was dead.  His fond
+tenderness of those bygone days was only a memory.
+
+Yet he must have loved me!  With me it had been the love of my
+womanhood, the love that is born with youth, that overlooks,
+forgives, and loves again, that gives friendship, truth and loyalty.
+What, I wondered, were his thoughts when we had encountered each
+other at Monte Carlo?  He showed neither interest nor regret.  No.
+He had cast me aside, leaving me to endure that crushing sorrow and
+brain torture which had been the cause of my long illness.  He
+remembered nothing.  To him our love was a mere incident.  It is no
+exaggeration to describe memory as the scar of truth's cruel wound.
+
+I lay there wondering to myself if ever again I should feel any
+uplifting joy or any heartrending sorrow.  Ah, if women could only
+outgrow the child-part of their natures, hearts would not bleed so
+much!  One of the greatest surprises in life is to discover how
+acutely they can ache, how they can be strained to the utmost
+tension, crowded with agony, and yet not break.  This is moralising,
+and smacks of sentiment, but it is true to nature, as many of us are
+forced to learn.
+
+The train roared on; the woman above me slept soundly, and I, with
+tears starting to my eyes, tried hard to burn the bridges leading to
+the past, and seek forgetfulness in sleep.  The process of burning
+can never be accomplished, thanks to our retentive memory; but
+slumber came to me at last, and I must have dozed some time, for when
+I awoke we were in Genoa, and daylight was already showing through
+the chinks of the crimson blinds.
+
+But the woman who had told the curious story slept on.  Probably the
+spinning of so much romantic fiction had wearied her brain.  The
+story she had related could not, of course, be true.  If she were
+really old Keppel's ward, then what motive had he in concealing her
+in that gilded deck-house, which was believed to be stored with
+curios?  Who, too, was that unseen man whom he had apparently taken
+into his confidence--the man who had promised assistance by blowing
+up the yacht, with all hands?
+
+I shuddered at the thought of that dastardly plot.
+
+Yet Keppel had been declared by this unknown person to be the
+murderer of the woman now lying in the berth above me.  Why?
+
+The train was at a standstill, and I rose to peep out.  As I turned
+to re-enter my berth, my eyes fell upon the sleeping form of my
+companion.  Her face was turned towards me, and her opened bodice
+disclosed a delicate white throat and neck.
+
+I bent quickly to examine more closely what I saw there.  Upon the
+throat were two dark marks, one on either side--the marks of a human
+finger and a thumb--an exact repetition of the puzzling marks that
+had been found upon the throat of poor Reggie!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+IS MORE ASTONISHING
+
+So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious companion's
+lips, that at the first moment I feared she might be dead.  Her
+appearance was that of a corpse.  But after careful watching I saw
+that she was breathing lightly, but regularly, and thus I became
+satisfied.
+
+The curious marks, as though a man's hand had attempted to strangle
+her, were of a pale yellowish-brown, the colour of disappearing
+bruises.  One was narrow and small, where the finger had pressed; the
+other wide and long, the mark of the thumb.
+
+Again I returned to my berth, and as the express thundered on its way
+northward towards Turin, I tried to form some theory to account for
+my discovery of those curious marks upon her.
+
+The hours of early morning crept slowly by.  The sun rose over the
+beautiful vine-lands of Asti as we whirled forward towards the great
+Alpine barrier which so splendidly divides Italy from France; its
+rays penetrated into our narrow chamber, but the sleeping woman did
+not stir.  She seemed as one in a trance.
+
+Close beside me lay her dress-skirt.  My eyes had been fixed upon it
+a hundred times during the night, and it now occurred to me that by
+searching its pocket I might discover something that would give me a
+clue to her real identity.  Therefore, after ascertaining that she
+was still unconscious of things about her, I slowly turned over the
+skirt, placed my hand in the pocket and drew out the contents.
+
+The first object I opened was a silver-mounted purse of crocodile
+leather, because in this I hoped to discover her visiting-card.  But
+I was disappointed.  The purse contained only a few pieces of French
+money, a couple of receipts from shops in Paris, and a tiny scrap of
+card, an inch square, with several numerals scribbled upon it.
+
+The numbers were unintelligible, but when I chanced to turn the piece
+of thin pasteboard over, its reverse gave me an immediate clue.  It
+was a piece of one of those red-and-black ruled cards used by
+gamblers at Monte Carlo to register the numbers at roulette.  This
+woman, whoever she was, had evidently been to Monte Carlo, and the
+numbers scribbled there were those which she believed would bring her
+fortune.  Every gambler has her strong-rooted fancies, just as she
+has her amusing superstitions, and her belief in unlucky days and
+unlucky croupiers.
+
+Two facts were plain.  First, that she bore marks upon her which were
+the exact counterpart of those found on poor Reggie; secondly, that
+she herself had been to Monte Carlo.
+
+Her handkerchief was of fine lawn, but bore no mark, while the
+crumpled piece of paper--without which no woman's pocket is
+complete--proved, on examination; to contain only the address of some
+person in Brussels.
+
+I carefully replaced all these articles, having failed to ascertain
+her name; and then I dozed again.  She was already up, and dressed,
+when I awoke.
+
+"Ah!" she laughed, "I see you've been sleeping well.  I've had a
+famous night.  I always sleep well when I travel.  But I have a
+secret.  A doctor friend of mine gave me some little tabloids of some
+narcotic--I don't know its name--but if I take one I sleep quite well
+for six or seven hours at a stretch."
+
+"I awoke once, and you were quite sound asleep."
+
+"Oh, yes," she laughed.  "But I wonder where we are?"
+
+I looked forth, and was just able to read the name of a small station
+as we dashed through it at a glorious speed.
+
+"We're nearing Turin," I responded.  Then suddenly recollecting that
+in an hour or so I should be compelled to face old Keppel in the
+corridor, I resolved on a plan, which I immediately proceeded to put
+in force.  "I don't feel at all well this morning," I added.  "I
+think I shall go to sleep again."
+
+"I've some smelling salts here," she said, looking at me with an
+expression of sympathy.  And she took out a small silver-topped
+bottle from her little reticule.
+
+I took it and sniffed it gladly, with a word of thanks.  If I did not
+wish to meet Keppel, I should be compelled to remain in that stuffy
+little den for something like another twenty-four hours, if the
+travellers intended to go on to Paris.  The prospect was certainly
+not inviting, for a single night in a Continental sleeping-car
+running over a badly-laid line gets on one's nerves terribly.
+Compelled, however, to feign illness, I turned in again, and at
+Turin, while my companion went forth and rejoined the man who had
+been my host, the conductor brought me the usual glass of hot coffee
+and a roll.
+
+"I'm not well," I explained to the man who handed it to me.  "Are you
+going through to Paris?"
+
+"Si, signorina."
+
+"Then please don't let me be disturbed, either at the frontier or
+anywhere else."
+
+"Certainly--if the signorina has the keys of her baggage."
+
+"I have no baggage," I replied.  "Only see that I get something to
+eat--and buy me a novel.  Italian, French--anything will do.  And
+also some newspapers--_Stampa_, _Corriere_, and _Secolo_."
+
+"Si, signorina."  And the door was closed.
+
+Five minutes later, just as the train was gliding out of Turin, the
+man returned with a couple of new novels and half a dozen four-paged,
+badly-printed Italian newspapers, by means of which I managed to wile
+away the tedious hours as we sped on through Susa and the beautiful
+Alpine valleys.
+
+From time to time my companion looked in to see how I was, offering
+to do anything for me that she could; then she returned to old
+Keppel, who was sitting on one of the little flap-seats in the
+corridor, smoking.
+
+"The woman in with me is rather young--and quite charming," I heard
+her say to him.  "She's been taken queer this morning.  I expect the
+heat has upset her, poor thing!  The berths here are very hot and
+close."
+
+"Horribly!  I was nearly asphyxiated," he answered.
+
+Then, about half an hour later, I recognised his voice again.  He was
+evidently standing with his companion close to the door of my
+compartment.
+
+"We shall be in Paris about half-past eight to-morrow morning, it
+seems," he said.
+
+"And the _Vispera_ will be awaiting you at Naples?" she laughed.
+
+"Davis is quite used to my erratic movements," he answered.  "A
+reputation for eccentricity is very useful sometimes."
+
+"But shall you rejoin her?"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"I think it is most unlikely," he answered.  "I've had enough of
+cruising.  You, too, must be very tired of it."
+
+"Tired!" she cried.  "Imprisoned in the cabin all day long, with the
+windows closed and curtained, I felt that if it lasted much longer I
+must go mad.  Besides, it was only by a miracle that I was not
+discovered a dozen times."
+
+"But very fortunately you were not," he said.
+
+"And all to no purpose," she observed, in a tone of weariness and
+discontent.
+
+"Ah! that's another matter--quite another matter."
+
+"I do wish you would satisfy my curiosity by telling me exactly what
+occurred on the night before we landed," she said.  "You know what I
+mean?"
+
+She evidently referred to the attempt upon her life.
+
+"Well," he responded, in hesitation, "I myself am not quite clear as
+to what took place.  I entered the cabin, you know, and found you
+lying unconscious."
+
+"Yes, I know.  I was thrown violently down by a sudden lurching of
+the ship, and must have struck my head against something," she
+replied.  "But afterwards I remember experiencing a most curious
+sensation in my throat, just as though someone with sinewy fingers
+were trying to strangle me."
+
+"Absurd!" he laughed.  "It was only your imagination.  The close
+confinement in that place, together with the rolling of the ship, had
+caused you a little light-headedness, without a doubt."
+
+"But it was more than imagination.  Of that I feel certain.  There
+was blood upon my lips, you remember."
+
+"Because in falling you had cut your lower lip.  I can see the place
+now."
+
+"I believe that someone tried to take my life."
+
+"Rubbish!  Why, who is there to suspect?  I was the only soul on
+board who knew of your presence.  Surely you don't suspect me of
+attempting murder?"
+
+"Of course not," she answered decisively.
+
+"Then don't give way to any wild imaginings of that sort.  Keep a
+cool head in this affair."
+
+The remainder of the conversation was lost to me, although I strained
+my ears to catch every sound.  His words made it plain that she was
+in ignorance of the knowledge possessed by the unseen man whose voice
+I had overheard; and further, that both were acting together in order
+to obtain some object, the nature of which was, to me, a complete
+mystery.
+
+She came a short time afterwards and kindly inquired how I felt.
+They were going to change into the dining-car, and she hoped I would
+not starve altogether.  As I talked to her I recollected the strange
+marks I had seen upon her throat--those distinct impressions of
+finger and thumb.  I looked again for them, but they were concealed
+by the lace of her high-necked bodice.  There seemed a strange,
+half-tragic beauty about her face.  She was certainly fifty, if not
+more, yet in the broad daylight I could detect no thread of silver in
+her hair.  She was extremely well-preserved.
+
+The conductor brought me a cutlet and a bottle of Beaujolais after we
+had passed through the Mont Cenis, and for some hours afterwards I
+lay reading and thinking.  We were on our way to Paris, but with what
+motive I had no idea.
+
+I wondered what they would think on board the _Vispera_ when they
+found me to be missing, and laughed aloud when I reflected that the
+natural conclusion would be that I had eloped with old Mr. Keppel.  I
+rather regretted that I had told Ulrica nothing, but, of course, a
+telegram to her could explain everything on the morrow.  The yacht
+would be lying safely in Genoa harbour awaiting her owner, who never
+intended to return.
+
+And where was that unseen man?  That was a puzzling problem which I
+could not solve.  I could not even form the slightest theory as to
+his share in the mystery.
+
+The day passed slowly, and evening fell.  We were nearing Culoz.  The
+woman with the mysterious marks upon her neck returned, accompanied
+by her escort, from the dining-car, and sat chatting with him in the
+corridor.  Their voices reached me, but I could distinguish little of
+their conversation.  Suddenly, however, I thought I could hear a
+third voice in conversation--the voice of a man.
+
+It sounded familiar.  I listened again.  Yes, it seemed as though I
+had heard that voice somewhere before.  Indeed, I knew its tones
+perfectly well.
+
+For some few minutes I lay listening, trying to catch the words.  But
+the train was roaring through a deep cutting, and I could only hear
+disjointed words, or parts of sentences.
+
+In my determination to see who it was, I carefully opened the door of
+the compartment, so that I could peer through the chink.
+
+I bent forward until my eyes rested upon the speaker, who, lounging
+near, was engaged in serious conversation with Keppel and my
+travelling companion, as though he were an old friend.
+
+In an instant I drew back and held my breath.  Was this the man who
+had suggested the blowing up of the _Vispera_?  Surely not!  Perhaps,
+however, he had actually travelled with us from Pisa in another
+carriage, or perhaps he had joined the train at some intermediate
+station.  But by whatever means he had come there, the fact of his
+identity remained the same.
+
+It was Ernest Cameron, the man I loved!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+CONFIDES THE STORY OF A TABLE
+
+The discovery of Ernest's presence in the car was an entirely fresh
+development of the mystery.  I had been ignorant of his acquaintance
+with Keppel, but that they were really close friends was evident by
+the rapid, rather apprehensive manner in which they were conversing.
+
+I tried, and tried again, to overhear some of the words spoken; but
+in vain!  Therefore I was compelled to remain in wonderment until the
+conclusion of that long and terribly tiring journey half across
+Europe.
+
+Arrived at the Gare de Lyons in Paris, I entered a fiacre, and
+followed them across the city to the "Hôtel Terminus," that big
+caravansery outside the Gare St. Lazare, where they engaged four
+rooms on the first floor--a sitting-room and three bedrooms.  Having
+taken every precaution to avoid being detected by either of them, I
+ascertained that the number of the sitting-room was 206.  I at once
+engaged Number 205, the room adjoining, and ordered a light
+_déjeuner_ to be taken there.  I was faint, nervous, and tired after
+being cramped up for thirty hours, and was resting on the couch, when
+suddenly voices sounded in the next room, causing me to spring up and
+be on the alert in an instant.
+
+Keppel and Ernest were speaking together,
+
+"It's a risk, of course," the millionaire was saying in a low
+tone--"a great risk."
+
+"But we've run greater in the course of this affair," the other
+responded.  "You know how near to arrest I have been."
+
+I held my breath.  Arrest!  What could he mean?
+
+"It was fortunate that you escaped as you did."
+
+"Thanks to you.  Had you not concealed me on the _Vispera_, and taken
+me on that cruise, I should have now been in the hands of the police."
+
+"But they seem to possess no clue," Keppel observed.
+
+"Fortunately for us, they do not," answered the man to whom I had
+given my heart.  And he laughed lightly, as though he were perfectly
+confident of his own safety.  "It was that transfer of the notes at
+the Carnival ball that puzzled them."
+
+They were speaking of poor Reggie's murder!
+
+I held my ear close to the dividing door, straining to catch every
+word.  I was learning their secret.  The two men whom I had least
+suspected were actually implicated in that dastardly crime.  But
+what, I wondered, could have been their motive in taking the poor
+boy's life?  Certainly robbery was not the incentive, for to old
+Keppel sixty thousand francs was but a paltry sum.
+
+Again I listened, but as I did so the woman entered, and shortly
+afterwards the two men left the room and went down the stairs.
+
+In an instant I resolved to follow them.  Before they had gained the
+entrance-hall I had put on my hat and descended.  They took a cab and
+first drove up the hill behind St. Lazare to the Boulevard des
+Battignolles, alighting before a large house where, from an old
+_concierge_ in slippers, Ernest received two letters.  Both men stood
+in the doorway and read the communications through.  I had followed
+in a cab.  From their faces I could see that the letters contained
+serious news, and for some minutes they stood in discussion, as
+though undecided what to do.
+
+At length, however, they re-entered the cab and drove back past the
+Opera, through the Rue Rivoli and across the Pont des Arts, turning
+into a labyrinth of narrow, dirty streets beyond the Seine, and
+stopping before a small, uninviting-looking hairdresser's shop.  They
+were inside for some ten minutes or so, while I stood watching a
+short distance off, my head turned away so that they should not
+recognise me if they came out suddenly.
+
+When they emerged they were laughing good-humouredly, and were
+accompanied to the door by a rather well-dressed man, evidently a
+hairdresser, for a comb protruded from his pocket, and his hair was
+brushed up in that style peculiar to the Parisian _coiffeur_.
+
+"Good-day, messieurs," he said in French, bowing them into the
+fiacre, "I understand quite clearly.  There is nothing to fear, I
+assure you--absolutely nothing!"
+
+In that man's dark eyes, as he stood watching the cab as it drove
+off, was a strangely intense look.  His face was triangular, with
+broad forehead and pointed chin.  I imagined him to have a rather
+curious personality.  Again I looked at his peculiarly brilliant
+eyes, and a strange truth flashed upon me.  Yes, I remembered that
+curious expression quite distinctly.
+
+He was the man who had worn the owl's dress in Carnival--the man who
+had returned to me the notes stolen from poor Reggie!  He was an
+accomplice of the two men of whom I had never entertained the least
+suspicion.
+
+The truth had been revealed in so amazing a fashion that I was
+completely staggered.  Ernest was an assassin!  Had he not admitted
+how near he had been to arrest, and congratulated himself upon his
+escape?  Had not old Keppel aided him by concealing him on board the
+_Vispera_?  Once, alas! I had in the roseate days of youth believed
+in the man who had made love to me; who had flattered and caressed
+me, and who had declared that I should be his always.  Ah! how well I
+remembered it!  How bitterly all the past came back to me.  And yet,
+until that very hour of my discovery that he was an assassin I had
+never ceased to love him--never for a single instant.  We women are
+strange creatures.
+
+I re-entered the cab, but in the Boulevard St. Michel my driver
+unfortunately lost sight of the men I had told him to keep in view.
+They must, I think, have turned suddenly into one of the many side
+streets, and thus reached the Quai.
+
+For a few moments I sat back in hesitation.  Should I return at once
+to the hotel, or should I go boldly to that man whom I had so
+fortunately discovered, and charge him with having had in his
+possession the stolen notes?  If I adopted the latter course, I saw
+that I should only raise an alarm, and the pair I was watching would
+undoubtedly get clear away.  No.  The old proverb that "murder will
+out" had once more asserted its truth.  I had made a most amazing
+discovery, and now my love for Ernest as a man having been
+transformed to hatred of him as an assassin, I meant slowly to weave
+a web about the criminals, and when it was complete, I intended to
+give information to the police, and thus avenge the poor boy's death.
+
+I drove to the nearest telegraph-office and wired to Genoa, urging
+Ulrica to come to Paris without delay, for I sorely needed the
+counsel of the woman who was my best friend.
+
+Then I returned to the "Hôtel Terminus."  As I heard no one in the
+sitting-room adjoining, I lay down to rest, sleeping soundly, for my
+nerves were unstrung, and I was utterly worn out by fatigue and
+constant watchfulness.
+
+When I awoke it was past seven o'clock, and quite dark.  There was
+still no movement in the sitting-room adjoining.  I dressed, and went
+across to dine at the Duval, over at the corner of the Rue du Havre,
+preferring that cheap restaurant to the _table d'hôte_ of the hotel,
+where I might possibly meet the three persons upon whom I was keeping
+watch.
+
+An hour later, just as I was crossing the road to re-enter the hotel,
+I saw a man standing alone on the steps in hesitation.  He wore a
+dark beard, and carried a long drab overcoat, such as men generally
+affect on race-courses; but notwithstanding his disguise, I perceived
+that it was Ernest.  The beard made him look much older, and by the
+addition of a few lines to his face he had entirely altered his
+appearance.  For some moments he puffed pensively at his cigar, then,
+glancing at his watch, descended the steps and strolled slowly along
+past the "Café Terminus," and continued to walk down the Rue du Havre
+as far as the Boulevard Haussmann, where he stopped before that
+popular rendezvous of Parisians, the "Grand Café."
+
+After he had selected one of the tables, the last one towards the
+Madeleine, placed against the wall of the café, he ordered a coffee
+and liqueur.  The night was bright, and the Boulevards, with their
+blazing globes of electricity, were full of life and movement.
+
+From where I was sitting, at a small _brasserie_ on the opposite side
+of the Boulevard, I watched him narrowly.  He glanced up and down as
+though in constant expectation of meeting someone, and looked at his
+watch impatiently.  He tossed off his _liqueur_ at a single gulp, but
+his coffee remained untasted, for it was evident that he was in a
+state of deep agitation.  He had feared arrest for the murder of
+Reginald Thorne, and had taken refuge secretly on the _Vispera_.
+Were not his own words sufficient to convince me of his guilt?
+
+As I looked I saw him, while in the act of pretending to sip his
+coffee, bend down close to the marble table, which, after making
+certain that he was not observed, he scrutinised carefully.  Twice he
+bent to look at it closely.  Surely, I thought, there must be
+something of interest marked on that slab.  Then he glanced at his
+watch again, paid, and strolled off down the Boulevard.
+
+Whether to follow or whether to investigate that table, I was for the
+moment undecided; but I resolved upon the latter course.  I crossed
+the road, made straight for the seat he had occupied, and as soon as
+I had ordered a _dubonnet_, proceeded to examine the table.  Very
+quickly I discovered what had interested him.  Scrawled in pencil
+upon the marble were some letters quite unintelligible, but evidently
+a cipher message.  It was no more than this:
+
+  J. TABAC.  22.
+
+
+Another inscription had been written there, but it had been lately
+erased by some previous customer, who had apparently dipped his
+finger in the drippings of beer or coffee, and smeared it across.
+The writing was not very easy to discern in the half-light, for the
+table was so placed as to be in the deep shadows.  Was it possible
+that the person who had erased the first message had written the
+second?  Could it be that this person was the man whom I had been
+watching?
+
+I had seen him bend over that table mysteriously, first glancing
+round to make certain that no one was watching.  Why had he thus
+betrayed fear, if that message was not one of importance?  Goron, the
+great _chef_ of the Paris _sûreté_, had told me, when I met him at
+dinner once in London, how the criminals of Paris were fond of making
+the tops of the café tables the means of communication, and how many
+a crime had been discovered by the police with the aid of the keys
+they possessed to certain secret codes.
+
+I looked again at the initial, the word "tabac," and the number 22
+scrawled on the marble before me, and was puzzled to know what they
+could convey.  Had Ernest really written them?  The letters were
+printed, in order, no doubt, to prevent any recognition of the
+handwriting.  I remembered that he had sat with his hand upon the
+table, as though toying idly with the matches; and further, I noticed
+that the liquid with which the erasure had been made was not yet
+entirely dry.  I touched it with my gloved finger and placed it to my
+nose.  There was an odour of coffee.
+
+Now, if Ernest had really written that cipher message, he had
+substituted his for the one he had found standing there.  With what
+purpose?  To whom was this unintelligible word addressed?  Having
+regard to the fact that the tables of cafés are usually washed down
+by the waiters every morning, it seemed plain that the person to whom
+he intended to convey the message would come there that night.
+Indeed, he had constantly looked at his watch, as though in
+expectation of the arrival of someone.
+
+I paid the _garçon_ and left, returning some few minutes later to my
+previous place in front of the brasserie opposite, determined to wait
+and watch.  The attendant brought me some illustrated papers, and
+while pretending to be absorbed in them, I kept my eye upon the table
+I had just vacated.  A shabby, small, wizen-faced man in a silk hat,
+with a flat brim, passed and re-passed the spot where I was sitting,
+and, it seemed, eyed me rather suspiciously.  But perhaps it was only
+my fancy, for when one is engaged in the work of bringing home to a
+criminal his crime, one is apt to look with undue suspicion upon all
+and sundry.
+
+I think I must have been there nearly half an hour before a ragged,
+unkempt man, who had slunk past where I was seated and picked up
+several cigar-ends with a stick bearing a sharpened wire point,
+crossed over to the "Grand Café" and recommenced his search beneath
+the tables there.  When he had secured some half-a-dozen cigar-ends,
+he moved quickly to the table in the shadow; and as he stooped,
+feigning to pick up a piece of unconsumed cigar, I saw that he
+glanced eagerly to see what message was written there.
+
+Just at that moment the wizen-faced man who had evinced such an
+extraordinary interest in myself was standing idly upon the kerb
+close by, and was undoubtedly watching him.
+
+The quick eyes of the old collector of cigar-ends apparently
+understood the message in an instant, for with back bent he continued
+his active search, betraying no further interest in that table in the
+shadow.  If he had really gone there in order to ascertain the nature
+of the message, he concealed his real purpose admirably.  Probably he
+was used to being watched by police agents.  I saw him hobble along
+from café to café, his shrewd, deep-set eyes peering from beneath his
+shaggy brows, always in search of the small pieces of tobacco
+discarded by smokers.
+
+With him also disappeared the shabby little man whose interest I had
+unwittingly aroused, and I remained alone, still irresolute and
+wondering.
+
+I had paid, and was just about to rise and go, when of a sudden a
+smart victoria pulled up in front of the "Grand Café," and from it
+stepped a well-dressed woman, wearing a smart hat and an elaborate
+cape of the latest _mode_.  Without hesitation she walked to the
+table in question and seated herself.  In the darkness I could not
+distinguish her face, but I saw that even before the waiter could
+attend to her she had examined the table and read the message there
+written.
+
+Was it, I wondered, intended for her?
+
+The waiter brought what she ordered, a "bock," that favourite
+beverage with both Parisians and Parisiennes.  I watched her
+narrowly, and at once saw something to convince me that the cipher
+was intended for her eye.  She dipped her finger in the beer, and
+when no one was looking, drew it across the writing.
+
+Was she young, or old, I wondered?  She was settling her cape and
+chiffons preparatory to rising and re-entering her carriage; I also
+rose and crossed the road.  As I stepped upon the asphalt on the
+opposite side, she crossed to where her smart carriage stood,
+brushing past me as she did so.
+
+As the light fell across her face there was revealed to me a
+countenance with which I was only too familiar.
+
+She was the woman who had usurped my place in Ernest's heart; the
+woman whom I had seen in his company at Monte Carlo; the woman who
+had laughed at me in triumph across the roulette table, because she
+knew that she held him beneath the spell of her insipid beauty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+IN WHICH MATTERS ASSUME A VERY COMPLEX ASPECT
+
+I started to walk along the Boulevard towards the Opera.  To that
+woman with the tow-coloured hair, the blue eyes and pink cheeks--the
+woman who had replaced me in his affections--Ernest had written that
+strange message in cipher, a message of warning it might be.  I hated
+her.  I really believe that if ever the spirit of murder has entered
+my heart, it was at that moment.  I could have sprung upon her and
+killed her as she stepped into the carriage.
+
+She had said no word to her coachman.  He apparently knew where to
+drive.  That cipher was perhaps an appointment which he had gone
+forward to keep, while she was now following.  The thought convulsed
+me with anger.  This man, Ernest Cameron, the man who had once held
+me in his arms and declared that he loved me, was, upon his own
+admission, an assassin.
+
+I had somehow ceased to think of the old millionaire and the
+chattering woman whom he had concealed on board the _Vispera_.  All
+my thoughts were of the man who had, until then, held me as his
+helpless slave.
+
+It may have been jealousy, or it may possibly have been the revulsion
+of feeling that had seized me on becoming aware of the terrible truth
+of his guilt, that caused me to vow to leave no stone unturned to
+secure his arrest and condemnation.  I would follow her.  She, that
+slim woman with the fair hair, had stolen him from me, but I
+determined that she should not be allowed to enjoy his society much
+longer.  I had discovered the truth, and the blow that I intended to
+deal would be fatal to the happiness of both of them.
+
+I laughed within myself as I got into a fiacre, and told the driver
+to keep her carriage in sight.  I was not impatient.  I would wait
+and watch until I had secured ample proof.  Then I had but to apply
+to the police, and the arrest would be made.  He, Ernest Cameron, had
+murdered and robbed the poor boy who had admired me, and with whom I
+had so foolishly flirted.  It was the attention I had allowed him to
+pay to me that was primarily the cause of his assassination.  Of that
+I had always been convinced.  The moral responsibility rested upon
+myself.
+
+I followed her straight up the Rue Lafayette to the Gare du Nord,
+where she alighted, and after speaking a moment with her coachman,
+dismissed her carriage.  She evidently intended to leave Paris.  I
+crept up quickly behind her in the long booking-office, and followed
+her in order to overhear her destination.
+
+"First-class return to Enghien, please," she asked the girl who sold
+the tickets.
+
+Enghien!  I had heard of the place as being a popular resort near
+Paris, famous for its sulphur baths; but in what direction it lay, I
+had not the slightest idea.  Nevertheless, the fact of her taking a
+return ticket, and having no baggage, showed that she did not intend
+to make a protracted stay.  Therefore, when she was out of hearing, I
+took a ticket for the same destination; the price showed me that the
+distance could not be very great.
+
+Secretly following her, I entered a train, and in half-an-hour
+alighted at a small suburban station, which was rather dimly lit.
+Outside, she entered a fiacre.  Following her quickly, I drove
+through the narrow street of the little French town to the shore of a
+small lake, from which arose a strong and disagreeable odour of
+sulphur.  She disappeared into the gaily-lit entrance of an
+illuminated garden, which I discovered to be the Casino of Enghien,
+an establishment where public gambling was permitted, and where there
+was a celebrated so-called _cercle_ for baccarat.  The place
+consisted of a garden extending along the shore of the lake, together
+with a large open-air café, a big theatre--where a variety
+performance was in progress--and beyond, the public gaming-room, play
+in which proved to be of the usual kind permitted at French and
+Belgian resorts.
+
+It was a decidedly pretty place.  The long festoons of coloured
+lights were reflected in the lake, while out towards the pine-covered
+island were many small boats decorated with paper lanterns.  In the
+garden there was quite a crowd of Parisians, who had gone there in
+the evening to lounge in the fresh air, or to stake their francs upon
+the little horses or upon the miniature railway.  The band was
+playing, and the smart pleasure-seekers were promenading over the
+gravelled walks, laughing gaily, and chatting merrily.
+
+The woman upon whom I was keeping such a close watch strolled through
+the gardens, peering hither and thither, as though in search of
+someone.  It was the _entr'acte_, and the theatre, one side of which
+was open towards the garden, had emptied.  At Enghien the
+_entr'actes_ are long, in order to allow people to go to the
+gaming-room.  Two men I recognised as _habitués_ at Monte Carlo, one
+of them middle-aged, well-dressed and black-bearded, who invariably
+wore white kid gloves.  He was half bald, and his face showed marks
+of premature age brought on by dissipation.  The other, who was
+younger, was his partner.  They were well-known figures at Monte
+Carlo, and had evidently left there and come north, now that, the
+season being over, there were no more pigeons to be plucked in the
+private gaming-rooms of the Riviera.
+
+The woman at length took a seat at one of the café tables, deep in
+the shadow of a tree, and ordered a _consommation_.  I suspected that
+she had an appointment with someone, and therefore resolved to watch.
+As far as I could observe, she had never once detected my presence,
+and if she did now, she most probably would not recognise me, dressed
+as I was in an old stuff gown.  She had seen me, I recollected, in
+the smart Monte Carlo toilettes, in which I presented such a
+different appearance.  I took up a position on one of the seats by
+the lakeside, opposite the café, a spot from which I could see all
+that might come to pass.
+
+I must here admit that my continual search was growing terribly
+wearisome.  Unused to acting the spy, my nerves had been during those
+days of travel and adventure strained to their utmost tension.  For
+five nights sleep had scarcely come to my eyes, so constant was the
+vigil I had kept, and for five days I had existed in feverish anxiety
+on the very horns of a dilemma.  I sat there watching the passing
+crowd of gay Parisiennes, and breathing the fresh evening air from
+across the lake.  On the other shore were large mansions, with their
+lawns sloping down to the water, reminding me of English houses on
+the upper reaches of the Thames.  From time to time a night-bird
+skimmed the placid water, causing it to eddy in the starlight.  From
+across the water came feminine laughter from a passing boat, and a
+girl's voice reached me from far away, trilling the refrain of
+Paulette Darty's "romance-waltz," which I supposed had just been sung
+in the café-concert:
+
+  "Donne-moi ta lèvre, ta lèvre rose,
+  Qu'amoureusement ma lèvre s'y pose
+  Et qu'étroitement tous deux enlacés
+  Nos querelles soient querelles de baisers."
+
+
+Yes, the scene was certainly charming.  I, like thousands of the
+people who go to Paris, and who know the Rue Rivoli better than they
+do Oxford Street, had never troubled to spend an evening at Enghien.
+The Casino would really be a delightful one were it not for the
+presence of that curse to French and Belgian popular resorts--the
+_tapis vert_.  Dozens of similar places are spoilt by the
+introduction of those tables, for play and the _demi-monde_ are
+inseparable, just as are baccarat and blackguards.
+
+The electric bells had rung to announce that the variety
+entertainment was about to be resumed, and the crowd from the
+gaming-room and from the garden was making its way back to the
+theatre, to be entertained by the drolleries of Paulus and the risky
+_chansons_ of Liane de Vries, when, of a sudden, I noticed that the
+woman who had stolen my lover's heart had half-risen and given her
+hand to a stranger, evidently the man she had been expecting.
+
+He was short of stature, and well-dressed, for in the shadow where he
+stood I could see the wide expanse of starched shirt-front displayed
+by his open overcoat, and could tell that he wore an opera-hat.
+
+She re-seated herself, evidently pleased by his arrival, while he
+stood for a moment bending towards her and speaking earnestly.  Then
+he drew back, laughed merrily, and seated himself opposite her.
+
+He sat back in the half-darkness, so that I was unable to distinguish
+his face.  But his presence there was sufficient to tell me that this
+woman, by whom Ernest had been fascinated, was a worthless person,
+who made secret assignations unknown to the unfortunate man, who
+probably believed her to be the very paragon of all the virtues.
+
+How would Ernest act if he were aware of the actual truth?  I
+wondered.  Would he still have confidence in his pink-and-white doll?
+
+Perhaps.  Men are incomprehensible creatures where their love is
+concerned.  When fascinated by a woman's smile, they will lick the
+hand that cuffs them; they will allow Aspasia to drench them with
+_vin mousseux_, to smother them with chiffons, to stifle them with
+_mots_, and to sell them for _rouleaux_, and yet make no audible
+complaint.
+
+To love and to hate seem to be the two things which it is most
+natural and most easy for women to do.  In these two principles how
+many of the actions of our lives originate.  How important is it,
+therefore, that we should learn early in life to love and hate
+aright.  Most women believe that they love virtue and hate vice.  But
+have the majority of them clearly ascertained what virtue and vice
+are?  Have they examined the meaning of these important words?  Have
+they listened to the plausible reasoning of what we call Society,
+where things are spoken of by false names, and where vice is vulgar
+in the common herd, but sanctioned as _chic_ among the select few?
+Or have they gone directly to the eternal and immutable principles of
+good and evil?
+
+I must confess that, tutored by Ulrica, I had long ago listened to
+Society's reasonings, and had thus become a worldly woman.  Now a
+worldly woman is necessarily a woman possessing tact, and able at the
+same time to tell untruths with grace, and successfully to act a part
+whenever necessary.
+
+Woman is gifted by nature with a remarkable quickness of perception,
+by means of which she is able to detect the earliest approach of
+aught tending to destroy that high-toned purity of character for
+which, even in the days of chivalry, she was more reverenced and
+adored than for her beauty itself.  This quickness of perception in
+minute and delicate points, with the power which woman also possesses
+of acting upon it instantaneously, has, in familiar phraseology,
+obtained the name of tact; and when this natural gift is added to
+good taste, the two combined are of more value to a woman in the
+social and domestic affairs of every-day life than the most brilliant
+and intellectual endowments could be without them.
+
+You, my friend and confidante, know well that when a woman is
+possessed of a high degree of tact, she sees, as if by a kind of
+second sight, when any little emergency is likely to occur; or when,
+to use a more familiar expression, things do not seem likely to go
+right.  She is thus aware of any sudden turn in conversation, and
+prepared for what it may lead to; but above all, she can penetrate
+into the state of mind of those with whom she is placed in contact,
+so as to detect the gathering gloom upon another's brow, before the
+mental storm shall have reached any formidable height; to know when
+the tone of voice has altered, when an unwelcome thought has
+presented itself, and when the pulse of feeling is beating higher or
+lower in consequence of some apparently trifling circumstance which
+has just come to pass.
+
+Most women flatter themselves upon this valuable acquirement, and the
+scandal-monger most of all.  In the life of every woman there have
+been critical moments, when this natural intuition has led her into a
+knowledge of the truth.  During the days when I was acting as a spy,
+my quickness of perception was put to the test times without number,
+and again there, in the Casino of Enghien-les-Bains, I was compelled
+to exercise all my woman's cunning.
+
+The man who had just joined the fair lounger beneath the tree was, I
+judged, much beneath middle height, but in the darkness height is
+always deceptive.  All I could see distinctly was that he wore a
+black overcoat, a black tie, and either white or lavender gloves.
+Evidently he was of that type of male elegant commonly to be seen in
+the neighbourhood of public gaming-tables.  Men of this type are
+usually hard-up, live by sponging on friends, affect a rather select
+circle, and are the leaders of masculine fashion.  The Italians call
+a man belonging to this class a _duca senza ducati_.
+
+He was leaning his elbows upon the table, and had entered into an
+earnest conversation.  Both heads were bent together, and he was
+apparently relating some facts which were, to her, of the utmost
+interest, for now and then she shrugged her narrow shoulders, and
+gesticulated with not a little vivacity.  I was, however, too far off
+to overhear a single syllable of the conversation.
+
+The man, I saw, had taken from his pocket some letters, one of which
+she held in her hand, bending forward into the light so as to read
+it.  What she read apparently angered her, for she tossed it back to
+him in disgust, and struck her hand upon the table with a quick
+ejaculation.  This caused some words between them.  I imagined that,
+in her outburst of temper, she had made some charge against him which
+he now stoutly denied, for of a sudden both were gesticulating
+violently.  As most of the promenaders had entered the theatre, the
+garden was at that moment practically deserted; but the orchestra in
+the illuminated bandstand was playing, drowning all their words, and
+preventing attention being directed to their altercation.
+
+I sat there by the lake-side, watching with breathless interest.
+What would I not have given to be sufficiently near to catch the
+drift of their conversation!
+
+Presently, in the height of their argument, he pushed a second letter
+before her face roughly, as though to convince her of his words; but
+she, seeing in his action a desire to insult her, snatched the letter
+from his hands, tore it into fragments, and cast them in his face.
+
+It was done in an instant, and sitting as they were in that secluded
+corner in the shadow, none witnessed the incident save myself.
+
+The man rose quickly, with an air of fierce resentment, bowed to her
+with mock courtesy, and strode off.  But as he passed out into the
+gaslight, I saw his face, and recognising it, could not suppress a
+cry of amazement.
+
+He was not young, as I had supposed, but old and decrepit.  The
+countenance was the ugly, sinister one of Branca, the queer old
+fellow with whom I had had such a strange interview in Leghorn only a
+few days before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+PRESENTS A CURIOUS PHASE
+
+This discovery increased the mystery.  Yet it was plain that he was
+acting according to his promise, and was leaving no effort untried in
+order to solve the problem.  But why?  What possible interest could
+he have in discovering the truth regarding Reggie's assassination?
+
+Certainly his appearance was greatly altered.  Instead of the
+unkempt, shuffling Italian whom I had visited in the Via Magenta, in
+Leghorn, he was spruce, well-shaven, and smartly dressed, although
+his dwarfed and slightly deformed personality could not be disguised.
+
+The look upon his countenance was the reverse of reassuring.  Ugly
+even when smiling, his face was distorted by rage, and absolutely
+forbidding, as he walked hurriedly past within half-a-dozen feet of
+me, and away towards the exit from the garden.  The insult he had
+sustained was one which angered him terribly, and if ever vengeance
+was written upon a man's face it was written upon his.
+
+The queer old fellow had puzzled me greatly ever since that eventful
+evening at Leghorn.  To me there was such an absence of motive that
+his actions were doubly remarkable.  And yet I could never get away
+from the fact that he knew of old Keppel's intention to go to Ragusa
+before it had been announced to us; and he was also well acquainted
+with all the facts of poor Reggie's tragic end, and the subsequent
+action on the part of both the police and myself.  Besides, he had
+told me of Ernest's whereabouts, of which I was in ignorance, and now
+it appeared that he had been, until a moment ago, on friendly terms
+with the woman who had robbed me of the one man who in all the world
+was dear to me.
+
+Utterly dumbfounded by his presence there, I watched him walk down
+the long gravelled path beside the lake, past the landing-stage, and
+out towards the public road.  Indeed, I think I was too astonished at
+that moment to rise and follow the man who had declared our interests
+to be identical.
+
+I turned and glanced across at the woman.  She had risen, shaken out
+her skirts, and hastily drawn her light cape about her shoulders, as
+for a moment she stood in hesitation, looking after her companion.
+
+Her brow was knit, and I seemed to watch determination becoming more
+and more strongly marked upon her face.  Then she hurried quickly
+after him.
+
+I rose, too, but a thought flashed across my mind.  He had not
+gathered up the fragments of the letter before leaving.  They were,
+no doubt, still there.  What could the letter contain that it should
+so incense her?
+
+Without hesitation I moved across to the table so lately occupied,
+and there saw scattered on the ground in the vicinity several pieces
+of torn paper, which I gathered swiftly into my hand.  They were
+portions of a letter written on white-edged, smoke-grey paper of a
+fashionable pattern.  Fortunately, no waiters were in the near
+neighbourhood, and I was enabled to continue my search, for any stray
+scraps might, I reflected, be of importance.  After I had picked up a
+piece that had been blown some distance off, I placed all the
+fragments carefully in my pocket, and made my way toward the
+brightly-lit entrance.
+
+As there were no cabs, I was compelled to walk to the station, which
+occupied me quite a quarter of an hour.  It appeared certain that
+both the man and the woman would return to Paris, and that the woman
+hoped to meet Branca at the railway-station.
+
+When I arrived, however, I found that the train had just departed for
+the Gare du Nord, and that there was not another for nearly an hour.
+If they had both left by the train I had so narrowly missed, then
+they had successfully escaped me.
+
+The bare _salle d'attente_ at Enghien is not a cheerful place at
+night, when the single gas jet is turned low, and the doors leading
+out upon the platform are securely locked.  Here, again, I was
+confronted by a difficulty, namely, that if, perchance, the pair had
+not caught the train, they would probably enter the waiting room.  To
+remain there was manifestly dangerous, if I did not wish my identity
+to be revealed.
+
+My chief regret was that I had missed Branca.  I had no means of
+communicating with him, for I had no idea where he was staying, and
+he certainly did not know my address, or else he would have sent me
+word that he was in Paris.  All I could hope was that the woman had
+caught him up and detained him, and that they would return together
+by the next train.
+
+Deciding that to rest in the waiting-room was injudicious, I went out
+and crossed to the little café opposite, where the tables on the
+pavement were shaded by a row of laurels in tubs, in the usual French
+style.  I wished to piece together the precious letter in my pocket
+without being observed.  I entered the place and sat down.  A
+consumptive waiter and a fat woman presiding over the bottles on the
+small counter were the only occupants, and after ordering a
+"limonade," I drew forth scrap after scrap of the torn letter and
+spread it out upon the table.
+
+It was written in French, in a feminine hand, but it was some time
+before I could piece the fragments together so as to read the whole.
+At last I succeeded, and discovered it to be dated from the "Grand
+Hotel" at Brussels.  It ran as follows:
+
+
+"_My dear Laumont,--See Julie the instant she returns from Moscow,
+and warn her.  Someone has turned traitor.  Tell her to be extremely
+careful, and to lie low for the present.  If she does not, she will
+place us all in jeopardy.  Advise her to go to London.  She would be
+safe there.  So would you.  Bury yourselves.--Hastily, your friend,_
+"SIDONIE."
+
+
+Laumont!  Who, I wondered, was Laumont?
+
+Was it possible that the woman referred to as Julie was actually the
+person who had so fascinated Ernest?  If so, the warning was a
+strange one; and she had disregarded it by tearing up the letter and
+casting it into Branca's face.
+
+"Bury yourselves."  The injunction was expressive, to say the least
+of it.  Some person unknown had turned traitor, and had told the
+truth regarding some matter which had apparently been a secret.  The
+letter was a mysterious one, from every point of view.
+
+A dozen times I read it through, then carefully collected the scraps
+and replaced them in my pocket.
+
+The person to whom the letter was addressed was, without doubt, an
+accomplice of the woman Julie, while their correspondent, who was
+named Sidonie, and who stayed at the "Grand Hotel" in Brussels, was
+anxious that both should escape to London.  The woman Julie had been
+in Moscow.  Was it possible that this woman who had attracted Ernest
+had during my absence in the Mediterranean been in Russia?  Perhaps
+she had.
+
+Yet I had no ground whatever for believing the woman whom I had seen
+at Monte Carlo, and had so recently followed from Paris, to be named
+Julie.  My suspicions might, for aught I knew, be entirely groundless.
+
+From where I sat I could watch all persons entering the station, but
+my heart sank within me when at length it was time for me to cross to
+take the train for Paris, for my search along the platform was a
+fruitless one.
+
+Both had evidently left by the earlier train, and the absence of a
+fiacre at the door of the Casino had caused me to lose sight of them.
+
+Alone in the dimly-lit railway compartment, as the train passed
+through the suburb of St. Denis and on to the Gare du Nord, I
+reflected deeply.  My brain was awhirl with the events which had
+occurred so rapidly since landing at Leghorn.  I knew not whether
+Captain Davis had received my telegram and had left for Genoa, or
+whether the message had been delayed until he had received that
+package which was destined to send the _Vispera_ to the bottom.
+
+On every side I saw plot and counterplot, the most dastardly of them
+all being the determination of Keppel to destroy his yacht.  And
+Ulrica?  What of her?  That she was on board was almost certain; she
+might even then be sailing southward to her doom.
+
+Yet I had warned her, and I hoped that she had come ashore as we had
+arranged.  The only possibility I feared was a disinclination upon
+her part to offend the old millionaire.  If she found the course
+altered to Genoa, a change which I had endeavoured to effect by my
+telegram, she might possibly have gone on there.  All that I prayed
+for was that my wire had reached Davis's hand before the package
+supposed to contain the statuette.
+
+Keppel at that moment no doubt believed the _Vispera_ to have gone
+down, and was prepared for the receipt of the astounding news from
+one or other of the Mediterranean ports.  Possibly he believed that
+he had a perfect answer to the question as to why he had left the
+vessel, but to me it seemed as though he would meet with considerable
+difficulty, if the worst had really happened.
+
+There might, too, be a survivor, and a survivor's testimony in such a
+case would be awkward.
+
+As the train, with its _impériales_, or seats above the third-class
+carriages, rushed on toward Paris, I pondered, too, upon Branca's
+sudden reappearance.  There was something uncanny about the fellow.
+His knowledge was as extensive as his cunning was low and ingenious.
+
+For what reason, I wondered, had he met that tow-haired woman who had
+been Ernest Cameron's good genius at Monte Carlo?  Why, too, had she
+taken the trouble to go out to Enghien for the purpose of seeing him?
+
+One theory alone took possession of my mind, namely, that there was a
+secret between them.  Possibly he had been acquainted with her; they
+might even have been friends.  But it was quite evident that they had
+quarrelled, and he had been gravely offended by the insult offered
+him.
+
+Each night-train from Enghien to the Gare du Nord always brought home
+a large number of returning gamblers and pleasure-seekers, so when we
+came to a standstill, the quai quickly became crowded by persons whom
+I had noticed strolling in the Casino.  In vain, however, I searched
+for the pair whose movements I had been watching.  I was compelled to
+acknowledge myself baffled, and to take a fiacre back to the "Hôtel
+Terminus."
+
+Fearing lest any of the trio might be lounging at the café in front
+of the hotel, where arriving cabs file slowly past, I dismissed the
+vehicle at the corner of the Rue du Havre, and approached the hotel
+on the opposite side of the way.
+
+One of my chief difficulties was the entering and leaving the hotel,
+for I never knew whom I might meet.  I had had several narrow escapes
+from recognition, notwithstanding every possible precaution.
+
+At last, however, after carefully examining all who were lounging
+about the entrance, I managed to slip in, passing the big-moustached
+_concierge_, and ascending by the lift to my own room, utterly worn
+out by anxiety and fatigue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+GIVES THE KEY TO THE CIPHER
+
+Even though tired out, I slept but little that night.  I tried, times
+without number, but in vain, to solve the secret of that cipher
+message--or warning, was it?--written upon the table before the
+"Grand Café."  But neither the initial nor the word "tabac" conveyed
+to me any meaning whatever.  One fact seemed particularly strange,
+namely, the reason why the ragged collector of cigar-ends should have
+searched for it; and, further, why the word written there should have
+been "tabac."  Again, who was the shabby, wizen-faced individual who
+had watched that table with such eagerness and expectancy?
+
+As I reflected, I became impressed by the idea that the table itself
+was one of those known to be a notice-board of criminals, and
+therefore at night it was watched by the police.
+
+The great Goron, that past-master in the detection of crime, had, I
+remembered, told me that in all the quarters of Paris, from the
+_chic_ Avenue des Champs Elysées to the lower parts of Montmartre,
+there were certain tables at certain cafés used by thieves, burglars,
+and other such gentry, for the exchange of messages, the
+dissemination of news, and the issue of warnings.  Indeed, the
+correspondence on the café tables was found to be more rapid, far
+more secret, and likely to attract less notice than the insertion of
+paragraphs in the advertisement columns of the newspapers.  Each gang
+of malefactors had, he told me, its own particular table in its own
+particular café, where any member could sit and read at his leisure
+the cipher notice, or warning, placed there, without risking direct
+communication with his associates in rascality.
+
+Had the man whom I had so fondly loved actually allied himself with
+some criminal band, that he knew their means of communication, and
+was in possession of their cipher?  It certainly seemed as though he
+had.  But that was one of the points I intended to clear up before
+denouncing him to the police.
+
+Next morning I rose early, eager for activity, but there seemed no
+movement in the room adjoining mine.  All three took their coffee in
+their bedrooms, and it was not till nearly eleven o'clock that I
+heard Keppel in conversation with the mysterious woman who had been
+my travelling companion.
+
+"Ernest is running a great risk," he was saying.  "It's quite
+unnecessary, to my mind.  The police are everywhere on the alert, for
+word has, of course, come from Nice.  If he is unfortunate enough to
+fall into their hands, he'll only have himself to blame."
+
+"But surely you don't anticipate such a thing?" she asked, in genuine
+alarm.
+
+"Well, he goes about quite openly, well knowing that his description
+has been circulated through every town and village in France."
+
+"And if he were arrested, where should he be?" inquired the woman, in
+dismay.
+
+"In a very awkward predicament, I fear," he responded.  "That's the
+very reason why I'm trying to persuade Cameron to act with greater
+discretion.  He's well known, you see, and may be recognised at any
+moment in the street.  If he were a stranger here, in Paris, it might
+be different."
+
+"It's certainly ridiculous for him to run his head into a noose.  I
+must speak to him at once."
+
+"He's out.  He went out before six this morning, the chambermaid
+tells me."
+
+"That's odd!  Where's he gone?"
+
+"I don't exactly know.  Somewhere in the country, I should think."
+
+"What if he is already arrested?"
+
+"No, don't let's anticipate such a _contretemps_.  Matters are,
+however, beginning to look serious enough, in all conscience," he
+answered.
+
+"Do you think we shall succeed?" she inquired eagerly.
+
+"We have been successful before," he responded confidently.  "Why not
+now?  We have only to exercise just a little more care and cunning
+than that exercised by the police.  Then, once beyond suspicion, all
+the rest is perfectly plain sailing."
+
+"Which means that we must make a perfect _coup_."
+
+"Exactly.  The whole scheme must be carried out firmly and without a
+hitch, otherwise we shall find ourselves in very hot water."
+
+"Knowing this should make us desperate," she observed.
+
+"I'm desperate already," he replied, in a quiet voice.  "It will not
+go well with anyone who tries to thwart us now.  It's a matter of
+life or death."
+
+What new plot had been hatched I could not guess.  What was this
+fresh conspiracy that was intended?  His carefully-guarded words
+awoke in me an intense curiosity.  I had already overheard many
+things, and still resolved to possess myself in patience, and to
+continue my ever-watchful vigil.  There was, according to the old
+man's own words, a desperate plot in progress, which the conspirators
+were determined to carry out at all hazards, even up to the point of
+taking another human life.
+
+I wrote down on a piece of paper the cipher which I had found
+scrawled upon the table, and tried by several means to reduce it to
+some intelligible message, but without success.  It was evidently in
+one of those secret codes used by criminals, and therefore I had but
+a remote chance of discovering a key to what so often had puzzled the
+cleverest detectives of the sûreté.
+
+The day passed without any important incident.  I remained in my room
+awaiting the return of the man whose strange action had puzzled me on
+the previous night, and who was now running such risk of arrest.  If
+he returned, I hoped to overhear his conversation with his
+companions; but unfortunately he did not come back.  All was quiet in
+the adjoining chamber, for Keppel and the woman with the strange
+marks had evidently gone out in company.
+
+About seven o'clock I myself dressed and went forth, strolling idly
+along until I stood on the pavement at the corner of the Boulevard
+des Italiens, in front of the Opera.  There are always many idlers
+there, mostly sharks on the watch for the unsuspecting foreigner.
+The English and American tourist offices are just opposite, and from
+the corner these polyglot swindlers can easily fix upon persons who
+change cheques as likely victims, and track them down.  Suddenly it
+occurred to me to stroll along and glance at the table before the
+"Grand Café."  This I did, but found only the remains of some cipher
+which had been hastily obliterated, possibly earlier in the day, for
+the surface of the marble was quite dry, and only one or two faint
+pencil-marks remained.
+
+As I sat there, I chanced to glance across the road, and to my
+surprise saw the same shabby, wizen-faced man lounging along the
+kerb.  He was evidently keeping that table under observation.  While
+pretending not to see him, I drank my coffee, paid, rose from my
+seat, and walked away; but as the watcher at once followed me, I
+returned to the hotel.
+
+It is not pleasant for a woman to be followed by a strange man,
+especially if she is bent upon making secret inquiries, or is
+watching another person, so when I had again returned to my room I
+presently bethought myself of the second exit from the hotel--the one
+which leads straight into the booking-office of the Gare St. Lazare.
+By means of this door I managed to escape the little man's vigilance,
+and entering a cab, drove down to the Pont des Arts.  As I had
+nothing particular to do, it occurred to me that if I could find the
+little _coiffeur's_, where I had seen the man with whom I had danced
+on the night of the Carnival ball, I might watch, and perhaps learn
+something.  That this man was on friendly terms with both Keppel and
+Cameron had been proved by that scrap of confidential conversation I
+had chanced to overhear.
+
+The difficulty I experienced in recognising the narrow and crooked
+street was considerable, but after nearly an hour's search through
+the smaller thoroughfares to the left of the Boulevard St. Michel, my
+patience was rewarded, and I slowly passed the little shop on the
+opposite side.  The place was in darkness, apparently closed.
+Scarcely had I passed, however, when someone emerged from the place.
+It was, I felt quite sure, the man who had worn the owl's dress.  He
+was dressed rather elegantly, and seemed to possess quite an air of
+distinction.  Indeed, no one meeting him in the street would have
+believed him to be a barber.
+
+Almost involuntarily, I followed him.  He lit a cigarette, and then
+walked forward at a rapid pace down the Boulevard, across the Pont
+Neuf, and turning through many streets, which were as a bewildering
+maze to me, he suddenly tossed his cigarette away, entered a large
+house, and made some inquiry of the _concierge_.
+
+"Madame Fournereau?" I heard the old man answer gruffly.  "Yes.
+Second floor, on the left."
+
+And the man who had so mysteriously returned to me the stolen notes
+went forward, and up the stairs.
+
+Madame Fournereau!  I had never, as far as I recollected, heard that
+name before.
+
+I strolled along a little farther, hesitating whether to remain there
+until the man emerged again, when, as I lifted my eyes, I happened to
+see the name-plate at the street corner.  It was the Rue du Bac.  In
+an instant the similarity of the word in the cipher, "tabac" occurred
+to me.  Could it be that the woman for whom the message was intended
+lived there?  Could it be that this woman for whose love Ernest had
+forsaken me was named Fournereau?  I entertained a lively suspicion
+that I had at last discovered her name and her abode.
+
+I think at that moment my usual discretion left me utterly.  So many
+and so strange were the mysteries which had surrounded me during the
+past month or so, that I believe my actions were characterised by a
+boldness of which no woman in her right senses would have been
+capable.  Now that I reflect upon it all, I do not think I was in my
+right senses that night, or I should not have dared to act alone and
+unaided as I did.  But the determination to avenge the poor lad's
+death, and at the same time to avenge my own wrongs, was strong upon
+me.  A jealous woman is capable of breaking any of the ten
+commandments.  "_Amor dà per mercede, gelosia e rotta fede._"
+
+Had I remained to reason with myself, I should never have entered
+that house, but fired by a determination to seek the truth, and to
+meet that woman face to face, I entered boldly and, without a word to
+the _concierge_, passed up to the second floor.
+
+The house was, I discovered, like many in Paris, far more handsome
+within than without.  The stairs leading to the flats were thickly
+carpeted and were illuminated by electricity, though, judging by the
+exterior, I had believed it to be a house of quite a fourth-rate
+class.  When I rang at the door on the left a neat Parisian _bonne_
+in a muslin cap answered my summons.
+
+"Madame Fournereau?" I inquired.
+
+"_Oui_, madame," answered the woman, as she admitted me to the narrow
+but well-furnished entrance-hall.  "Madame is expecting you, I
+believe.  Will you please enter?"
+
+I saw in an instant that I was mistaken for a guest, and quickly made
+up my mind to use this mistake to the best possible advantage.
+
+My quick eyes noticed in the hall a number of men's hats and women's
+capes.  From the room beyond came quite a babel of voices.  I walked
+forward in wonderment, but next second knew the truth.  The place was
+a private gambling-house.  Madame's guests, a strange and motley
+crowd, came there to play games of hazard.
+
+In the room I had entered was a roulette table, smaller than those at
+Monte Carlo, and around it were some twenty well-dressed men and
+women, all intent upon the game.  Notes and gold were lying
+everywhere upon the numbers and the single chances, and the fact that
+no silver was there was sufficient testimony that high stakes were
+usual.  The air was close and oppressive, for the windows were closed
+and heavily curtained, and above the sound of excited voices rose
+that well-known cry of the unhealthy-looking, pimply-faced croupier
+in crimped shirt front and greasy black:
+
+"_Messieurs, faites vos jeux!_"
+
+Advancing to the table, I stood there unnoticed in the crowd.  Those
+who saw me enter undoubtedly believed me to be a gambler, like
+themselves, for it appeared as though madame's guests were drawn from
+various classes of society.  Although the atmosphere was so stifling,
+I managed to remain cool, and affected to be interested in the game
+by tossing a louis upon the red.
+
+I won.  It is strange that carelessness at roulette invariably brings
+good fortune.  I glanced about me, eager to discover madame herself,
+but saw neither her nor the barber whom I had followed to this place.
+At the end of the room there were, however, a pair of long sage-green
+curtains, and as one of the players rose from the table and passed
+between them, I saw that another gaming-room lay beyond, and that the
+gamblers were playing baccarat, the bank being held by a
+superior-looking old gentleman who was wearing the crimson ribbon of
+the Legion d'Honneur in the lapel of his dining-jacket.
+
+Boldly I went forward into that room, and in an instant saw that I
+was not mistaken, for there, chatting to a circle of men and women at
+the opposite end of the _salon_, was the small, fair-haired woman
+whom I had seen in Ernest's company at Monte Carlo, and whom I had
+followed to Enghien.  The man who had given me the stolen notes was
+standing near her, listening to her account of a pleasure trip from
+which she had apparently only just returned.
+
+A couple of new-comers, well-dressed men, entered, walked straight up
+to her, shook hands, and expressed their delight that she had
+returned to Paris to resume her entertainments.
+
+"I, too, am glad to return to all my friends, messieurs," she
+laughed.  "I really found Monte Carlo very dull, after all."
+
+"You were not fortunate?  That is to be regretted."
+
+"Ah!" she said.  "With such a maximum, how can one hope to gain?  It
+is impossible."
+
+I stood watching the play.  As far as I could see, it was perfectly
+fair; but some of the players, keen-faced men, were evidently
+practised card-sharpers, swindlers, or men who lived by their wits.
+The amount of money constantly changing hands surprised me.  As I
+stood there, one young man, scarcely more than a lad, lost five
+thousand francs with perfect _sang-froid_.  The women present were
+none of them young, but were mostly elderly and ugly, of that stamp
+so eternally prominent in the Principality of Monaco.  The woman,
+when she turns gambler, always loses her personal beauty.  It may be
+the vitiated atmosphere in which she exists; it may be the constant
+tension of the nerves; or it may, perchance, be the unceasing,
+all-consuming avarice--which, I know not.  All I am certain of is
+that no woman can play and at the same time remain fresh, youthful,
+and interesting.
+
+Until that moment I had remained there unnoticed in the excited
+crowd, for I had turned my back upon Madame Fournereau, lest she
+should recognise in me the woman whom Ernest had undoubtedly pointed
+out to her either in the Rooms, in Giro's, or elsewhere.
+
+But as I began to pass back to the adjoining room, where I considered
+there would be less risk of recognition, the green curtains suddenly
+opened, and Ernest Cameron stood before me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+PIECES TOGETHER THE PUZZLE
+
+I stepped back quickly, while he, with eyes fixed upon that
+fair-haired woman, who seemed the centre of a miniature court, failed
+to notice me.  Upon his face was a dark, anxious look, an expression
+such as I had never before seen upon his countenance.  Perhaps he was
+jealous of the attention shown by that dozen or so of men who were
+chatting and laughing with her.
+
+Her appearance was scarcely that of the keeper of an illicit
+gaming-house.  One would have expected to find some fine, dashing,
+handsome woman, in a striking gown, and with a profuse display of
+jewellery.  On the contrary, she was quietly dressed in a pretty,
+graceful gown of dove-grey cashmere, the bodice cut low and trimmed
+with passementerie, a frock which certainly well became her rather
+tame style of beauty.  The only ornament was a small half-moon of
+diamonds in her hair.
+
+Ernest appeared to take in the situation at a glance, and with his
+back turned to her stood watching the baccarat, just as I had feigned
+to watch it.  Through the great mirror before him, however, he could
+note all her actions.  She was laughing immoderately at some remark
+made by one of her companions, and I noticed how Ernest's face went
+pale with suppressed anger.  How haggard, how thin, how blanched,
+nervous, and ill he looked!  Usually so smart in attire, his dress
+clothes seemed to hang upon him, his cravat was carelessly tied, and
+in place of the diamond solitaire I had bought at Tiffany's for him
+in the early days of our acquaintance--which he had worn when we met
+at Monte Carlo--there was only a plain pearl stud, worth perhaps ten
+centimes.  Alas! he had sadly changed.  His was, indeed, the figure
+of a man haunted by the ever-present shadow of his crime.
+
+It was curious, I thought, that he did not approach her; but the
+reason for this became plain ere long.  I had returned to the
+adjoining room, and was again watching the roulette, when suddenly
+she brushed past me on her way out into the corridor, into which
+several other rooms opened.  Suddenly I heard his well-known voice
+utter her name in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"Julie!"
+
+Julie!  The person mentioned in the letter of warning which she had
+torn up at Enghien!
+
+She stopped, and recognising him for the first time, gasped:
+
+"Ernest!  You here?"
+
+"Yes," he responded.  "I told you that we should meet, and I have
+found you, you see.  I must speak to you alone."
+
+"Impossible," she responded.  "To-morrow."
+
+"No, to-night--now.  What I have to say admits of no delay," and he
+strode resolutely at her side, while she, her face betraying
+displeasure at the encounter, unwillingly went forth into the
+corridor.
+
+"Well," I heard her exclaim in impatience, "what is it you have to
+say to me?  I thought when we parted it was agreed we were not to
+meet again."
+
+"You hoped so, you mean," he answered hardly.  "Come into one of
+these rooms, where we may be alone.  Someone may overhear if we
+remain standing in this passage."
+
+"Is what you want to say so strictly confidential, then?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, "it is."  Then, with every sign of reluctance and
+impatience, she opened a door behind them, and they passed into what
+appeared to be her own _petit salon_.
+
+Again the fire of jealousy consumed me, and without thought of the
+consequences of my act, I went straightway to the door, and entering,
+faced them.
+
+As I entered, Ernest turned quickly, then stood rigid and amazed.
+
+"Carmela!" he gasped.  "How came you here--to this place?"
+
+"How I came here matters not," I answered, in a hard tone.  "It is
+sufficient for you to know that I have entered here to demand an
+explanation from you and this woman--your accomplice."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried his companion, in her broken English.
+"What do you mean by accomplice?"
+
+"I refer to the murder of Reginald Thorne," I said, as quietly as I
+was able.
+
+"The murder of Monsieur Thorne," repeated the woman.  "And what have
+I to do, pray, with the death of that gentleman, whoever he may be?"
+
+Ernest glanced at me strangely, and then addressed her in a firm
+voice.
+
+"The person who murdered him was none other than yourself--Julie
+Fournereau."
+
+I stood dumbfounded.  Was it possible that he intended to endeavour
+to fix the guilt upon her, even though I knew the truth by the words
+I had overheard, which were paramount to an admission?
+
+"What!" she shrieked, in fierce anger, speaking in French.  "You have
+sought me here to charge me with murder--to bring against me a false
+accusation?  It is a lie!  You know that I am innocent."
+
+"That point, madame, must be decided by a judge," he answered, with
+marvellous coolness.
+
+"What do you mean?  I don't understand!" she exclaimed, with a slight
+quiver in her voice which betrayed a sudden fear.
+
+"I mean that during the months which have elapsed since the murder of
+my friend Thorne, at Nice, I have been engaged in tracing the
+assassin--or, to put it plainly, in tracing you."
+
+I stood there, utterly astounded.  If his words were true, why had he
+been concealed on board the _Vispera_ in order to avoid arrest?
+
+She laughed, instantly assuming an attitude of defiance.
+
+"Bah!" she said.  "You bring me here into this room to make this
+absurd and unfounded charge!  You dare not say it before my friends.
+They would thrash you as if you were a mongrel of the streets!"
+
+His cheeks were pale, but there was a fierce and resolute expression
+upon his countenance.  The woman whom I had believed he loved was, it
+seemed, his bitterest enemy.
+
+"I have not the slightest wish to bring upon you any greater exposure
+or disgrace than that which must inevitably come," he said coolly.
+"For months I have been waiting for this opportunity, and by means of
+the cipher fortunately discovered your return.  I was then enabled to
+give the police some highly interesting information."
+
+"The police!" she gasped, her face instantly blanched to the lips.
+"You have told them?"
+
+"Yes," he responded, gazing steadily upon her, "I have told them."
+
+"Then let me pass," she said hoarsely, making towards the door.
+
+But in a moment he had barred her passage, then raised a small
+whistle quickly to his lips, and blew it shrilly.
+
+"So this is your revenge!  I was warned of this from Brussels!" she
+cried, turning upon him with a murderous light in her eyes.  But
+almost before the words had left her mouth there were sounds of
+scuffling and shouting, a smashing of glass, and loud imprecations.
+The whistle had raised the alarm, and the police had entered the
+place, and were preventing the egress of the players.
+
+Outside, in the corridor, there were several fierce scrimmages, but
+next instant the door opened, and there entered three detectives--of
+whom one was the wizen-faced little man who had betrayed such an
+interest in myself when at the Grand Café--accompanied by old Mr.
+Keppel, and the woman who had been my travelling companion in the
+_wagon-lit_.  Certainly the arrangements perfected by the police in
+order that their raid upon the private gaming establishment might be
+successful in all respects had been elaborately prepared, for at the
+signal given by Ernest the _coup_ was instantaneously effected, and
+the players, nearly all of whom were persons known as criminals, fell
+back entrapped and dismayed.
+
+The old millionaire and his companion were just as astounded to find
+me present as Ernest had been.  But there was no time at that
+exciting moment for explanations.  The plan had apparently been
+arranged for the arrest of the white-faced woman, who now stood
+trembling before us.
+
+"I tell you it's a lie!" she cried hoarsely.  "I did not kill him."
+
+But Ernest, turning to the shabby little man, said:
+
+"I demand the arrest of that woman, Julie Fournereau, for the murder
+of Reginald Thorne at the 'Grand Hotel,' in Nice."
+
+"You know her?" inquired the detective.  "Have you evidence to
+justify the arrest?
+
+"I have evidence that she committed the murder--that the sixty
+thousand francs stolen from the dead man's pockets were in her
+possession on the following morning; and, further, that on the night
+on which the murder was committed she was staying under another name
+at the very hotel in which Mr. Thorne was found dead."
+
+"And the witnesses?"
+
+"They are already in Paris, waiting to be called to give evidence."
+
+A dead silence fell for a few moments.  We each looked at one another.
+
+The wretched woman, who had suddenly been denounced by the man with
+whom she had been so friendly at Monte Carlo, was standing in the
+centre of the room, swaying forward, supporting herself by clutching
+the edge of the small table.  Her white lips trembled, but no word
+escaped from them.  She seemed rendered speechless by the suddenness
+of the overwhelming charge.
+
+The detective's voice broke the silence.
+
+"Julie Fournereau," he said in French, advancing a few steps towards
+her, "in the name of the law I arrest you for the murder of Reginald
+Thorne at Nice."
+
+"I am innocent!" she cried hoarsely, her haggard eyes glaring at us
+with a hunted look in them.  "I tell you I am quite innocent!"
+
+"Listen," said Ernest, in a firm tone, although there was a slight
+catch in his voice, which showed how greatly excited he was.  "The
+reasons which have led me to this step are briefly these.  Last
+December, while living here in Paris, I went south to spend the
+winter at Monte Carlo.  I stayed at the 'Metropole,' and amid the
+cosmopolitan crowd there met the woman before you.  One day there
+arrived at the same hotel, from Paris, my friend Reginald Thorne,
+whom I knew well in London, but who had lived in Paris for the past
+year.  We were about together during the day, and in the Rooms that
+evening he encountered me walking beside this woman Fournereau.  That
+same night he came to my room, and in confidence related to me a
+story which at the moment I regarded as somewhat exaggerated, namely,
+that he had been induced to frequent a certain gaming-house in Paris,
+where he had lost almost everything he possessed, and how he had
+ultimately discovered that an elaborate system of sharping had been
+practised upon him by the woman and her male accomplices.  That
+woman, he told me, had left Paris suddenly just at the moment when he
+discovered the truth, and he had encountered her in the Rooms with
+me.  Her name was Julie Fournereau."
+
+I glanced at the wretched woman before us.  Her wild eyes were fixed
+upon the carpet; her fingers were twitching with intense agitation;
+her breath came and went in short quick gasps.  Ernest, in his
+exposure, was merciless.
+
+"Had she seen him in the Rooms?" I inquired.
+
+"Yes," he answered.  "We had come face to face.  He told me that, as
+he had been robbed of nearly all he possessed, he was determined to
+give information against her.  She was, he told me, an associate of
+bad characters in Paris, and urged me to cut her acquaintance.  His
+story was strange and rather romantic, for he gave me to understand
+that this woman had made a pretence of loving him, and had induced
+him to play in her house, with the result that he lost large sums to
+a certain man who was her accomplice.  Personally, I was not very
+much charmed with her," Ernest went on, glancing at me.  "She was
+evidently, as Thorne had declared, acquainted with many of the worst
+characters who frequent Monte Carlo, and I began to think seriously
+that my own reputation would be besmirched by being seen constantly
+in her company.  Still, I tried to dissuade my friend from
+endeavouring to wreak justice upon such a person, arguing that, as he
+had lost the money in a private gaming establishment, he had no
+remedy in law.  But he was young and headstrong--possibly suffering
+from a fit of jealousy.  After several days, however, fearing that he
+might create a scene with this notorious woman, I at last induced him
+to go over to Nice and stay at the 'Grand.'  While there, curiously
+enough, he met the lady who is here present, Miss Rosselli, and at
+once fell deeply in love with her."
+
+"No," I protested, in quick indignation, "there was no love whatever
+between us.  That I strongly deny."
+
+"Carmela," he said, bestowing on me a calm and serious look.  "In
+this affair I must speak plainly and openly.  I myself have a
+confession to make."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"Listen, and I'll explain everything."  Then turning to the others,
+he went on: "Reginald fell violently in love with Miss Rosselli, not
+knowing that she had been engaged to become my wife.  When, the day
+after meeting her at the hotel, he told me of his infatuation, and
+heard from me the whole truth, he seemed considerably upset.  'She
+loves you still,' he said.  'I feel certain that she does, for she
+has given me no encouragement.'  I affected to take no notice of his
+words, but to me the matter was a very painful one.  I had broken off
+the engagement, it was true, but my heart was now filled by bitter
+remorse.  I had seen Carmela again; all the old love had come back to
+me, and I now despised myself for my mean and unwarrantable action.
+We had met several times, but as strangers; and knowing her proud
+spirit, I feared to approach her, feeling certain that she would
+never forgive."
+
+"Forgive!" I cried.  "I would have gladly forgiven!"
+
+"Carmela," he said, turning again to me with a very serious
+expression on his face, "I regret being compelled to lay bare my
+secret thus before you, but I must tell them everything."
+
+"Yes," I said.  "Now that this woman is to bear the punishment of her
+crime, let us know all."  Then I added bitterly: "Speak without any
+regard for my feelings, or even for my presence."
+
+"A few days prior to his tragic end, poor Reggie had, as I have
+explained, moved over to the 'Grand' at Nice, but strangely enough,
+the same idea had occurred to this woman Fournereau.  She preferred
+to live in Nice during Carnival, she told me, for she liked all the
+fun and gaiety.  Whether it was for that reason, I know not, but at
+all events it seems clear, from inquiries recently completed in Nice,
+that one afternoon he met this woman at Rumpelmayer's, the
+fashionable lounge for afternoon tea, and in a sudden fit of anger
+declared that he would denounce her as an adventuress and swindler.
+Now it appears that his clients, the gamblers who frequent this
+place, number among them some of the most notorious and desperate
+members of the criminal fraternity, and the natural conclusion is
+that, fearing his exposure, she killed him."
+
+"I deny it!" cried the wretched woman.  "It is a false accusation,
+which you cannot prove."
+
+"The extreme care and marvellous ingenuity by which the poor fellow's
+death was encompassed is shown by every detail of the case.  Not a
+single point was apparently overlooked.  Even the means by which he
+was assassinated have remained, until now, a mystery.  But passing to
+the night of the tragedy, it will be remembered that he had won sixty
+thousand francs at roulette, and having left Miss Rosselli and her
+friends, he re-entered the Rooms and changed his winnings into large
+notes.  Half an hour before, this woman, whom I had met earlier in
+the evening, and who had dined with me at Giro's, had wished me
+good-night.  She had previously watched his success at the tables,
+and had followed him into the Casino when he re-entered to change the
+notes.  The interval of about an hour between his leaving Monte Carlo
+and his arrival at the 'Grand Hotel' at Nice is still unaccounted
+for.  Nevertheless, we know that this woman, whom he had threatened,
+travelled by the same train from Monte Carlo to Nice, that she
+entered the hotel a few minutes later and went to her room, and that
+next morning she had in her possession sixty notes, each for a
+thousand francs.  It seems, however, that she quickly became alarmed
+lest suspicion might rest upon her, for the police had commenced
+active inquiries, and therefore she resolved to get rid of the stolen
+notes.  This she did with the aid of an accomplice, a man named
+Vauquelin--a man very well known at Monte Carlo.  This rascal, one of
+the _habitués_ of this place, went to the Carnival ball at the Nice
+Casino, and there gave Miss Rosselli the stolen money, intending that
+its possession should throw suspicion upon her.  Some other members
+of that interesting gang of sharpers, who make this place their
+headquarters, going south in winter in search of pigeons to pluck,
+knowing Vauquelin's intention, posed as detectives, to whom Miss
+Rosselli innocently handed over the notes she had received."
+
+He paused for a moment; then he continued: "Now, however, comes one
+of the most ingenious features of the affair.  This woman, finding
+next day that her plot to throw suspicion upon Miss Rosselli had
+failed, turned her attention to myself.  She was aware that a slight
+quarrel had occurred between Reggie and myself regarding his
+injudicious and futile action in seeking to denounce her, and, with
+others, had overheard some high words between us when we had met on
+the terrace at the Café de Paris on the afternoon previous to his
+death.  She gave information to the police, and then left the Riviera
+suddenly.  Next day I found myself under the observation of the
+police, and in order to escape arrest, induced Mr. Keppel--who has
+taken a great interest in the affair from the first, being one of the
+trustees under the will of Mr. Thorne, senior--to conceal me on board
+his yacht until such time as our inquiries in Paris could be
+completed.  It was ascertained that this woman Fournereau, who had
+gone to Russia, intended to return to her apartment here upon a date
+she had arranged with one of her accomplices, a Corsican named
+Laumont.  This is the reason why it seemed good to me to remain in
+hiding from the police until to-day.  This is her first reception,
+notice of which was circulated among her friends by means of the
+cipher upon certain tables in the cafés on the _grands boulevards_."
+
+"Then you, too, were actually concealed on board the _Vispera_ during
+the whole cruise?" I exclaimed, in great surprise.
+
+"No, I went ashore at Malta, and the vessel returned for me three
+weeks later," he replied.
+
+"But this lady?" I inquired, indicating the handsome woman who had
+been my travelling companion in the _wagon-_.
+
+"I am the mother of Reginald Thorne," she herself explained.
+
+"You!  Reggie's mother!" I cried, scarcely able to believe her words.
+
+"Yes," she answered.  "I was spending the winter in Cairo.  Hearing
+of my poor son's death, I crossed from Alexandria, and arrived in
+Nice, only to find that the _Vispera_ had sailed.  A letter was
+awaiting me with full explanations, asking me to travel to Malta, and
+there join the yacht.  This I did; but in order that my presence
+should not be known to those on board, I was placed secretly in the
+deck-cabin, and never left it.  The blow that had fallen upon me on
+hearing of poor Reggie's death, combined with the constant
+imprisonment in that cabin, I believe upset the balance of my mind,
+for one night--the night before we put into Leghorn--I became
+unconscious.  I was subject to strange hallucinations, and that night
+experienced a sensation as though someone was attempting to take my
+life by strangulation."
+
+"I must explain," said old Mr. Keppel, addressing her.  "It is only
+right that you should now know the truth.  On the night in question
+you were unusually restless, and becoming seized by a fit of
+hysteria, commenced to shout and shriek all sorts of wild words
+regarding your poor son's murder.  Now I had concealed you there, and
+fearing lest some of the guests should hear you, and that a scandal
+might be created, I tried to silence you.  You fought me tooth and
+nail, for I verily believe that the close confinement had driven you
+insane.  In the struggle I had my hands over your mouth, and
+afterwards pressed your throat in order to prevent your hysterical
+shrieks, when suddenly I saw blood upon your lips, and the awful
+truth dawned upon me that I had killed you by strangulation.  Tewson,
+the chief steward--who, with the exception of Cameron, was the only
+person on board who knew of your presence--chancing to enter at that
+moment, made the diabolical suggestion that in order to get rid of
+the evidence of my crime I should allow him to blow up the ship.
+This I refused, and fortunately, half an hour later, I succeeded in
+restoring you to consciousness.  Then we landed at Leghorn on the
+following evening, not, however, before I discovered that the real
+motive of Tewson's suggestion was that he had stolen nearly three
+thousand pounds in cash, notes, and securities from a box in Lord
+Stoneborough's cabin, and wished to destroy the ship so that his
+crime might thus be concealed.  The man, I have discovered, has a
+very bad record, and has now disappeared.  But time was pressing, so
+we all three left Leghorn for Paris, and I gave orders to Davis to
+take the yacht into the Adriatic, where I intended to rejoin it."
+
+Then, briefly, I explained what I had seen and overheard on that
+wild, boisterous night in the Mediterranean; how I had followed the
+millionaire and the woman who was bent upon avenging the murder of
+her son; how I had sent the yacht on to Genoa, and how carefully I
+had watched the movements of all three during those days in Paris.
+All seemed amazed by my story--Ernest most of all.
+
+"During that night in the _wagon-lit_," I said, addressing Mrs.
+Thorne, "I noticed two curious marks upon your neck.  Upon your poor
+son's neck were similar marks."
+
+"Yes," she replied; "they were birth-marks--known as the marks of
+thumb and finger.  Poor Reggie bore them exactly as I do."
+
+"And the woman who murdered him, and who so ingeniously attempted
+first to fasten the guilt upon Miss Rosselli, and then afterwards
+upon myself, is there!" cried Ernest, pointing at the trembling,
+pallid woman before us.  "She killed him, because she feared the
+revelations he could make to the police regarding the place in which
+we are standing."
+
+The woman Fournereau raised her head at Ernest's denunciation, and
+laughed a strange, harsh laugh of defiance.
+
+"_Bien!_" she cried shrilly, with affected carelessness.  "Arrest me,
+if you will!  But I tell you that you are mistaken.  You have been
+clever--very clever, all of you; but the assassin was not myself."
+
+The police-officer now spoke to her:
+
+"Then if you yourself are not guilty, you are aware of the identity
+of the murderer.  Therefore I shall arrest you as being an
+accomplice.  It is the same."
+
+"No; I was not even an accomplice," she protested quickly.  "I may be
+owner of this place; I may be a--a person known to you; but I swear I
+have never been a murderess."
+
+The officer smiled dubiously.
+
+"The decision upon that point must be left to the judges," he
+answered.  "There is evidence against you.  For the present that is
+sufficient."
+
+"Monsieur Cameron has told you that I was threatened with exposure by
+the young Englishman," she said.  "That is perfectly true.  Indeed,
+all that has been said is the truth--save one thing.  Neither did I
+commit the murder, nor had I any knowledge of it until afterwards."
+
+"But the stolen notes were actually in your possession on the
+following morning," the detective observed in a tone of doubt.
+
+"They were given to me for safe keeping."
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"I refuse to say."
+
+The detective shrugged his shoulders, and smiles passed across the
+faces of his two companions.
+
+"You prefer arrest, then?" he said.
+
+"I prefer to keep my own counsel," she answered.  "These persons,"
+she continued, indicating us, "have believed themselves extremely
+ingenious, apparently taking upon themselves the duties of the
+police, and have arrived at quite a wrong conclusion.  You may arrest
+me if you wish.  I have nothing whatever to fear."
+
+And she glanced around at us in open defiance.  Indeed, so
+indifferent was she, that I felt convinced Ernest's theory of the
+committal of the crime had fallen to the ground.
+
+The detective seemed, however, well aware of the woman's character,
+and proceeded to deal with her accordingly.
+
+"You are charged with the murder," he said.  "It is for you to prove
+your innocence."
+
+"Who, pray, is the witness against me?" she demanded indignantly.
+
+"Your accomplice!" cried Ernest quickly.  "The man Laumont."
+
+"Laumont!" she cried.  "He--he has told you that I committed the
+crime; he has denounced me as the murderess?"
+
+"He has," answered Ernest.  "On that fatal night when poor Thorne
+entered the Rooms to change the notes I met him, and although we had
+had a few high words in the Café de Paris on the previous day, he
+approached me, asking my pardon, which I readily gave.  He then
+inquired whether it was really true that Miss Rosselli had been
+engaged to me.  I replied in the affirmative, and he then said that
+he did not intend to meet her again, but should leave for Paris in
+the morning.  I tried to dissuade him, but his only reply was: 'She
+loves you still, my dear fellow.  She can never forget you; of that
+I'm certain.'  Then he left, and travelled to Nice without saying a
+single word to her.  Arrived at the hotel, he went straight to her
+sitting-room and sat down to write her a letter of farewell.  He
+commenced one, but destroyed it.  This was afterwards found in the
+room.  Then, just as he was about to commence a second letter,
+you--you, Julie Fournereau, entered, killed him, and stole the notes
+which you knew he carried in his pockets!"
+
+"How did I kill him?" she demanded, her eyes flashing with anger.
+
+"You yourself know that best."
+
+"Ah!  And Jean Laumont told you this elaborate piece of fiction, did
+he?  It is amusing--very amusing!"
+
+At a word from the chief detective, one of the officers left the
+room.  We heard Laumont's name shouted loudly in the corridor, and a
+few minutes later he was ushered in by two officers.
+
+I stood rooted to the spot at sight of him.  The man was none other
+than Branca, the queer old fellow who had represented to me in
+Leghorn that our interests were identical.  I saw how ingenious had
+been his actions, and how deeply-laid his plot.  He had intended that
+I should sail to the Adriatic after he had obtained from me all the
+information I had collected.
+
+On seeing us, he drew back in quick surprise, but in an instant the
+woman flew at him in fury.
+
+"You have told them!" she shrieked.  "You have led them to believe
+that I murdered the Englishman at Nice; you have declared that it was
+I who gave you the notes; I who killed him!  You white-livered cur!"
+
+His ugly countenance fell.  Indignation had, in an instant, given
+place to fear.  His sinister face was full of evil.
+
+"And did you not give me the notes?" inquired the dwarfed man, now
+well dressed, and presenting a very different appearance from that he
+had shown at Leghorn.  He had evidently been playing baccarat.  "Why,
+there are at least two men in yonder room who were present when you
+handed them to me."
+
+"I do not deny that," she answered.  "I deny that I killed him."
+
+"Then who did?"
+
+"Who did?" she shrieked.  "Who did?  _Why, you yourself!_"
+
+"You lie!" he cried fiercely, his cheeks in an instant ashen pale.
+
+"I would have told them nothing," she went on quickly.  "I would have
+allowed them to arrest me and afterwards discover their mistake, were
+it not that you had endeavoured to give me into their hands in order
+to save yourself.  No, my dear friend, Julie Fournereau is loyal only
+to those who are loyal to her, as many have before found out to their
+cost.  I would have saved you had you not led the police here to raid
+my house, to arrest my friends, and to hurry me away to prison for a
+crime that I did not commit.  But listen!  You deny the murder of the
+young Englishman.  Well, shall I relate to them all that occurred?"
+
+"Tell them what untruths you like," he growled fiercely.  "You cannot
+harm me."
+
+"Yes, madame," urged old Mr. Keppel, "tell us all that you know.  We
+are determined now to get to the bottom of this affair."
+
+"This man," she explained, "was the man who fleeced the unfortunate
+gentleman here in my house.  I am not wishing to shield myself for a
+single moment--I desire only to tell the truth.  Monsieur Thorne,
+when they last met here, accused him of cheating at baccarat; high
+words ensued, and the young man drew a revolver and fired, the bullet
+striking Laumont in the shoulder, whereupon he swore to be avenged.
+I knew well that a vow of vengeance taken by such a desperate
+character as Laumont was something more than mere idle words; and
+when he went to the Riviera, as he did each year, in search of
+inexperienced youths whom he could fleece, I shortly afterwards
+followed.  He stayed first at the 'Hôtel de Paris' at Monte Carlo,
+but meeting young Thorne accidentally one afternoon, he discovered
+that the latter was living at the 'Grand' at Nice, and that same
+night transferred his quarters there.  Now, Thorne had an intimate
+friend at Nice--Mr. Gerald Keppel--and it seemed as though Laumont
+desired to make the latter's acquaintance, with the ulterior motive
+of practising his sharper's tricks upon him.  Be that as it may, I,
+in order to watch the progress of events, moved to the same hotel at
+Nice.  I knew that Laumont was bent on vengeance, and felt certain
+that some terrible _dénouement_ was imminent."
+
+She paused, and glanced around at us.  Then lowering her eyes, she
+went on:
+
+"I am an adventuress, it is true; but I have still a woman's heart.
+I was determined, if possible, to prevent Laumont from wreaking
+vengeance upon the poor boy.  It was for that reason I followed him
+to Nice and took up my abode there.  On the day of the tragedy I was
+in the Rooms at Monte Carlo in the afternoon, and there saw him
+playing and winning; while just as he was leaving with Miss Rosselli,
+young Mr. Keppel and another lady, his pockets bulging with his
+gains, I saw Jean Laumont watching him.  By the evil look he cast in
+his direction, I knew that the spirit of murder was in his heart.
+That evening I dined at Giro's with Monsieur Cameron, and afterwards
+left him in order to watch the movements of Jean and the young
+Englishman.  The latter, after a short conversation with Monsieur
+Cameron in the hall of the Casino, descended by the lift to the
+station, and took train to Nice.  I travelled by the same train, but
+in the crowd at Nice station I lost sight of him.  He must have taken
+a fiacre immediately to the hotel, and furthermore, the Corsican must
+also have followed him, without knowing of my presence.  I met some
+friends at the station, but on arrival at the hotel, twenty minutes
+later, I went straight up to my room.  On the way I had to pass the
+door of Miss Rosselli's sitting-room, and just as I was approaching,
+my feet falling softly on the thick carpet of the corridor, the door
+opened noiselessly, and a man, after looking forth stealthily, came
+out and stole along to the room he occupied.  That man was Jean
+Laumont."
+
+"You saw him?" cried Ernest.  "You actually saw him coming from the
+room?"
+
+"Yes.  Instantly, I suspected something wrong, and wondered for what
+purpose he had been in the ladies' sitting-room.  Therefore, without
+hesitation, I pushed open the door and looked inside.  Imagine my
+surprise when I found the unfortunate man writhing in agony upon the
+ground.  I knelt by him, but recognising me as the woman at whose
+house he had been cheated, he shrank from me.  'That man!' he gasped
+with difficulty.  'That man has killed me!' and a few moments later
+his limbs straightened themselves out in a final paroxysm of agony,
+and he passed away."
+
+Mrs. Thorne burst into a flood of tears.
+
+The tow-haired woman was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed upon the
+face of the man against whom she had uttered that terrible
+denunciation.
+
+"I stood there terrified--unable to move," she went on.  "Laumont
+had, as I anticipated, killed him."
+
+"Killed him?  How can you prove it?" demanded the cunning
+card-sharper, Vauquelin, who had tricked me so cleverly, and who, in
+order to throw the police off the scent, pursued the harmless calling
+of hairdresser in that back street off the Boulevard St. Michel.
+Apparently he was the Corsican's champion.  "How can you prove that
+Jean Laumont killed him?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+REVEALS THE TRUTH
+
+The woman Fournereau crossed the room quickly to a small rosewood
+bureau, and took therefrom a little cardboard box about a couple of
+inches square, such as is often used for containing cheap jewellery.
+
+"I have something here," she said, addressing the man before her,
+"which was lying on the floor.  You alone know its secret--a secret
+which I, too, have lately discovered."
+
+And opening the box carefully, she displayed, lying in a bed of
+cotton-wool, what at first appeared to be a woman's steel thimble.
+Taking it from its hiding-place, and placing it upon the forefinger
+of her right hand, we saw that, instead of being what it at first
+appeared, it rose to a sharply-tempered steel point, about half an
+inch long, protruding from the finger-tip.
+
+I glanced at the man accused.  His face had blanched to the lips at
+sight of it.
+
+"This," she explained, "I discovered on the floor close to where the
+dead man was lying.  It is a diabolical invention of Laumont's, which
+he showed me a year ago, although he did not then explain its use.
+An examination which has been made by my friend, a chemist, has
+plainly indicated the truth.  You will notice that the point is fine
+as a needle, but is hollow, like that of a hypodermic syringe.
+Within, at the point touched by the tip of the finger, is a small
+chamber filled with a most subtle and deadly poison, extracted from a
+small lizard peculiar to the Bambara country on the banks of the
+Upper Niger."
+
+The point would, I saw, act just as the fang of a snake, for the
+thimble, when placed on the finger and pressed against the flesh of
+the victim, would inject the poison into the blood, causing almost
+instantaneous collapse and death.  The puncture made by such a fine
+point would be indistinguishable, and the action of the poison, as we
+afterwards learnt, so similar to several natural complications that
+at the post-mortem examination doctors would fail to distinguish the
+real cause of death.
+
+She held the diabolical thimble out for us to examine, saying:
+
+"The mode in which this was used upon the unfortunate Monsieur Thorne
+was undoubtedly as follows:--He had seated himself at the table with
+his back to the door when the Corsican, Laumont, watching his
+opportunity, crept in with the thimble upon his finger.  Before his
+victim was aware of his presence he had seized him by the collar from
+behind and pressed the point deep into the flesh behind the right
+ear, at a spot where the poison would at once enter the circulation.
+You will remember that the doctors discovered a slight scratch behind
+the ear, which they guessed to be the only mark resulting from the
+struggle which they believed had taken place.  But there was no
+struggle.  As has been proved by the person who examined for me this
+most deadly but inoffensive-looking weapon, anyone struck by it would
+become paralysed almost instantly.  Plainly, then, the chair was
+broken by him as he fell against it in fatal collapse."
+
+"And the stolen notes?  What of them?" asked Mr. Keppel anxiously.
+
+"Ah!" she answered.  "Those accursed notes!  On the following morning
+Laumont came to me and handed me the money, saying that as I knew the
+truth regarding the crime, he would trust me further, and give the
+money into my safe keeping.  I took it, for, truth to tell, I knew
+that he could make some very unwelcome revelations to the police
+regarding this place and the character of the play here.  Therefore I
+decided that, after all, silence was best, even though I held in my
+possession the thimble which, I presume, in his hurry to escape from
+the room, fell upon the floor and rolled away.  I took the notes, and
+for some days kept them; but finding that the police were making such
+active inquiries, I returned them to him, and he then resolved upon
+giving them to Miss Rosselli, through one of his accomplices, either
+in order further to baffle the detectives or else to throw suspicion
+upon her.  She was told some extraordinary story about a meeting in
+London, merely, of course, to put the police off the scent, and cause
+them to believe that the money was stolen by English thieves.  Soon
+afterwards I knew that Monsieur Cameron was aware of the manner in
+which his friend had been cheated here.  This caused me, from fear of
+being arrested on suspicion, to fly to Russia, arranging with my
+friends to return here on the 1st of May--to-day."
+
+"The date of your return I learnt from Laumont himself," explained
+Ernest, "for, in the course of the inquiries I made immediately after
+the tragic affair, I found that he was your intimate associate, and
+in order to divert suspicion from himself he hinted at you being the
+assassin."
+
+"He denounced me, not knowing that I held the actual evidence of his
+guilt in my hand," she cried, holding out the finger with the
+curious-looking thimble upon it.  "Poor Monsieur Thorne is, I fear,
+not the first victim who has fallen beneath the prick of this deadly
+instrument."
+
+"To whom do you refer?" inquired the detective quickly.
+
+"To Monsieur Everton, the young Englishman who was found dead about a
+year ago in the Avenue des Acacias."
+
+In an instant the man whom I had known in Leghorn as Branca sprang at
+her with all the fury of a wild beast, and, clutching her at the
+throat, tried to strangle her.  His eyes were lit by the fierce light
+of uncontrollable anger, his bushy hair giving his white face a wild
+and terrible look, and it really seemed that before the detectives
+could throw themselves upon him, the murderer would tear limb from
+limb the woman who had confessed.
+
+For a moment the detectives and the man and woman were all struggling
+wildly together.  Suddenly a loud yell of pain escaped from the
+wretched Corsican, and releasing his hold, he drew back, with his
+left hand clasped upon his wrist.
+
+He staggered, swayed unevenly, uttering terrible imprecations.
+
+"_Dieu!_" he gasped.  "_You--you've killed me!_"
+
+What had happened was easy to understand.  In the struggle the point
+of his cunning invention, which was still upon the woman's finger,
+had entered deeply the fleshy part of his wrist, injecting that
+poison that was so swift, and for which no antidote had ever been
+discovered.
+
+As he staggered, two detectives sprang forward to seize him, but
+before they could do so, he reeled, clutched at the air, and fell
+heavily backward, overturning a small table beside which he had been
+standing.
+
+Never was there a scene more ghastly.  I shall remember every detail
+of it so long as I have power to draw my breath.
+
+Five minutes later, the wretched man who had thus brought
+card-sharping and murder to a fine art had breathed his last in
+frightful agony, his ignominious career ended by his own diabolical
+invention.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+CONTAINS THE CONCLUSION
+
+My reader, I have throughout been perfectly frank with you--too
+frank, perhaps.  But need I dwell further upon the stirring events of
+that night?  It is assuredly sufficient to say that the persons
+arrested by the police numbered nearly forty, all of whom were
+charged with various offences, in addition to that of being found in
+an illicit gaming-house.  Many of them, old offenders and desperate
+characters, notwithstanding the fact that they were outwardly
+respectable members of society, in due course received long periods
+of imprisonment, Vauquelin receiving a sentence of seven years.  But
+Julie Fournereau, in view of the information she had given regarding
+poor Reggie's death, was dismissed with a fine of two thousand francs
+for carrying on the house in question.  She has since disappeared
+into obscurity.  Ulrica arrived in Paris next morning from Genoa, and
+was absolutely dumbfounded when we related the whole of the amazing
+story.  That day, too, proved the happiest in all my life.  Need I
+relate how, on the following morning, Ernest sought me and begged me
+to forgive?  Or how, with tears of joy, I allowed him to hold me once
+more in his manly arms, as of old, and shower fervent kisses upon my
+face?  No.  If I were to begin to relate the joys that had now come
+to me, I should far exceed the space of a single volume.  It is
+enough that you, reader, to whom I have made confession, should know
+that within a fortnight we all returned to London, and that while
+Ulrica became engaged to Gerald, and soon afterwards married him,
+with the old man's heartiest approval, Ernest again asked me to
+become his wife.
+
+At Kensington Church, amid great _éclat_, within a month of our
+arrival back in town, my happiness broke into full flower.
+
+Ulrica tells me, in the privacy of her little blue boudoir in Eaton
+Square, that she is no longer world-weary, living only for
+excitement, as in the fevered days gone by, but that her life is full
+of a peaceful happiness that cannot be surpassed.  Nevertheless, I
+cannot really bring myself to believe that she is any happier than I
+am with Ernest in our pretty home at Hyde Park Gate, for the
+estrangement has rendered him all the more dear to me, and we are
+indeed supremely content in each other's perfect love.
+
+Mrs. Thorne, poor Reggie's mother, has returned to Hampshire, fully
+satisfied at having cleared up the mystery surrounding her son's
+tragic death; while old Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg, and
+now of Park Lane and Ulverton Towers, in Hertfordshire, still spends
+his winters in rather lonely grandeur in his great villa amid the
+palms outside Nice, working in secret at his ivory-turning, and
+giving at intervals those princely entertainments for which he has
+become so famous in the cosmopolitan society which suns itself upon
+the Riviera.
+
+As for Ernest and myself, we have not visited Nice since.  We prefer
+Cairo for the winter, with a trip up to Luxor and Assouan, for we
+retain a far too vivid recollection of those dark days of doubt,
+desperation and despair, when it was our strange and tragic lot to be
+so darkly associated with The Gamblers.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+_Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***
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-<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gamblers, by William Le Queux</p>

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and

-most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you

-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the

-country where you are located before using this eBook.

-</div>

-

-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Gamblers</p>

-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: William Le Queux</p>

-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 24, 2023 [eBook #71037]</p>

-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>

-  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Credits: Al Haines</p>

-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***</div>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p class="capcenter">

-<a id="img-front"></a>

-<br>

-<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="The person who murdered him was none other than yourself.">

-<br>

-&quot;The person who murdered him was none other than yourself.&quot; <a href="#p293"><i>p.</i> 293</a>.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br></p>

-

-<p class="capcenter">

-<a id="img-title"></a>

-<br>

-<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-title.jpg" alt="Title page">

-</p>

-

-<h1>

-<br><br> 

-  THE<br>

-  GAMBLERS<br>

-</h1>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p class="t3b">

-  By<br>

-</p>

-

-<p class="t2">

-  WILLIAM LE QUEUX<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p class="t4">

-  Author of<br>

-  "Of Royal Blood," "The Under<br>

-  Secretary," "The Seven Secrets," etc.<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br></p>

-

-<p class="t3">

-  London:<br>

-  HUTCHINSON & CO.<br>

-  Paternoster Row<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p class="t3b">

-  CONTENTS<br>

-</p>

-

-<p class="noindent">

-  Chapter<br>

-</p>

-

-<p class="noindent">

-  I.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap01">Is Purely Personal</a><br>

-  II.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap02">Tells Something about Love</a><br>

-  III.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap03">Is a Mystery</a><br>

-  IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap04">Relates some Astounding Facts</a><br>

-  V.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap05">Deals with a Millionaire</a><br>

-  VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap06">Places Me in a Predicament</a><br>

-  VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap07">Mainly Concerns the Owl</a><br>

-  VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap08">Narrates a Mysterious Incident</a><br>

-  IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap09">Shows the Bird's Talons</a><br>

-  X.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap10">Makes One Point Plain</a><br>

-  XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap11">Describes a Meeting and Its Sequel</a><br>

-  XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap12">Carries Me on Board the "<i>Vispera</i>"</a><br>

-  XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap13">Discloses a Millionaire's Secret</a><br>

-  XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap14">In Which I make a Resolve</a><br>

-  XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap15">In Which We pay a Visit Ashore</a><br>

-  XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap16">Discusses Several Matters of Moment</a><br>

-  XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap17">Describes a New Acquaintance</a><br>

-  XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap18">Creates Another Problem</a><br>

-  XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap19">A Millionaire's Manoeuvres</a><br>

-  XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap20">Wherein Captain Davis Speaks his Mind</a><br>

-  XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap21">Is Astonishing</a><br>

-  XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap22">Is More Astonishing</a><br>

-  XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap23">Confides the Story of a Table</a><br>

-  XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap24">In Which Matters Assume a Very Complex Aspect</a><br>

-  XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap25">Presents a Curious Phase</a><br>

-  XXVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap26">Gives the Key to the Cipher</a><br>

-  XXVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap27">Pieces Together the Puzzle</a><br>

-  XXVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap28">Reveals the Truth</a><br>

-  XXIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap29">Contains the Conclusion</a><br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>

-

-<p class="t2">

-THE GAMBLERS

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER I

-<br><br>

-IS PURELY PERSONAL

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-No.  I dare not reveal anything here, lest I may be

-misjudged.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The narrative is, to say the least, a strange one;

-so strange, indeed, that had I not been one of the

-actual persons concerned in it I would never have

-believed such things were possible.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet these chapters of an eventful personal

-history, remarkable though they may appear,

-nevertheless form an unusual story&mdash;a combination

-of circumstances which will be found startling and

-curious, idyllic and tragic.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reader, I would confess all, if I dared, but each

-of us has a skeleton in the cupboard, both you and

-I, for alas! I am no exception to the general rule

-prevailing among women.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-If compelled by a natural instinct to suppress

-one single fact, I may add that it has little or nothing

-to do with the circumstances here related.  It

-concerns only myself, and no woman cares to supply

-food for gossips at her own expense.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To be brief, it is my intention to narrate plainly

-and straightforwardly what occurred, while hoping

-that all who read may approach my story with a

-perfectly open mind, and afterwards judge me fairly,

-impartially, and without the prejudice likely to be

-entertained against one whose shortcomings are

-many, and whose actions have perhaps not always

-been tempered by wisdom.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My name is Carmela Rosselli.  I am English,

-of Italian extraction, five-and-twenty years of age,

-and for many years&mdash;yes, I confess it freely&mdash;I have

-been utterly world-weary.  I am an only child.

-My mother, one of the Yorkshire Burnetts, married

-Romolo Annibale, Marchese Rosselli, an impecunious

-member of the Florentine aristocracy, and after

-a childhood passed in Venice I was sent to the

-Convent of San Paolo della Croce, in the Val d'Ema,

-near Florence, to obtain my education.  My

-mother's money enabled the Marchese to live in the

-reckless style customary to a gentleman of the

-Tuscan nobility; but, unfortunately for me, both

-my parents died when I was fifteen, and left me

-in the care of a second cousin, a woman but a few

-years older than myself&mdash;kind-hearted, everything

-that was most English and womanly, and in all

-respects truly devoted to me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Thus it was that at the age of eighteen I received

-the maternal kiss of the grave-eyed Mother Superior,

-Suor Maria, and of all the good sisters in turn,

-and then travelled to London, accompanied by my

-guardian, Ulrica Yorke.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Like myself, Ulrica was wealthy; and because

-she was very smart and good-looking she did not

-want for admirers.  We lived together at Queen's

-Gate for several years, amid that society which circles

-around Kensington Church, until one rather dull

-afternoon in autumn Ulrica made a most welcome

-suggestion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Carmela, I am ruined, morally and physically.

-I feel that I want a complete change."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I suggested Biarritz or Davos for the winter,

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," she answered.  "I feel that I must build

-up my constitution as well as my spirits.  The

-gayer Continent is the only place&mdash;say Paris for

-a month, Monte Carlo for January, then Rome till

-after Easter."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To Monte Carlo!" I gasped.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why not?" she inquired.  "You have money,

-and we may just as well go abroad for a year to

-enjoy ourselves as vegetate here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are tired of Guy?" I observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She shrugged her well-formed shoulders, pursed

-her lips, and contemplated her rings.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He has become a little too serious," she said

-simply.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you want to escape him?" I remarked.

-"Do you know, Ulrica, I believe he really loves

-you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, and if he does?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I thought you told me, only a couple of months

-ago, that he was the best-looking man in London,

-and that you had utterly lost your heart to him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I've lost it so many times that I begin to

-believe I don't nowadays possess that very useful

-portion of the human anatomy.  But," she added,

-"you pity him, eh?  My dear Carmela, you should

-never pity a man.  Not one of them is really

-worth sympathy.  Nineteen out of every twenty

-are ready to declare love to any good-looking

-woman with money.  Remember your dearest

-Ernest."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Mention of that name caused me a twinge.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have forgotten him!" I cried hotly.  "I

-have forgiven&mdash;all that belongs to the past."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She laughed again.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you will go on the Continent with me?"

-she asked.  "You will go to commence life afresh.

-What a funny thing life is, isn't it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I responded in the affirmative.  Truth to tell,

-I was very glad of that opportunity to escape from

-the eternal shopping in the High Street and the

-round of Kensington life, which daily reminded me

-of the man whom I had loved.  Ulrica knew it, but

-she was careful to avoid all further mention of the

-grief that was wearing out my heart.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At the outset of our pilgrimage to the South of

-Europe we went to Paris.  In the gay city two

-women with money and without encumbrances

-can have a really good time.  We stayed at the

-"Chatham," a hotel much resorted to by our

-compatriots, and met there quite a lot of people we

-knew, including several rather nice men whom

-we had known in London, and who appeared to

-consider it their duty to show us the sights, many of

-which we had seen before.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Need I describe them?  I think not.  Those who

-read these lines probably know them all, from that

-sorry exhibition of terpsichorean art in the elephant

-at the Red Windmill down to the so-called <i>cabarets

-artistiques</i> of the Montmartre, "Heaven," "Hell,"

-and the other places.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Each evening we dined at six, and went forth

-pleasure-seeking, sometimes unattended, and at

-others with our friends.  We were catholic in our

-tastes.  We saw <i>La Bohême</i> at the Opera, and

-attended a ball at the Bullier; we strolled along

-the carpeted promenade of Aspasia at the Folies

-Bergères, and laughed at the quadrilles at the

-Casino, and at that resort of the little work-girls, the

-Moulin la Galette; we listened to the cadence

-of Sarah Bernhardt's wonderful voice, and to the

-patter of the <i>revue</i> at La Scala; we watched the

-dancing of La Belle Otero and the statuesque

-poses of Degaby.  Truly, we had our fill of variety

-theatres.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In common, too, with the foreigner who goes to

-"see life" in Paris, we did the round of the

-restaurants&mdash;from supper at the Cafê de Paris, or the

-Cafê Américain, to the humble two-franc dinner at

-Léon's in the Rue St. Honoré, or the one-franc-fifty

-lunch at Gazal's in the Place du Théâtre Français.

-We had our meal, too, one evening at that

-restaurant which is seldom even mentioned in

-respectable circles, the "Rat Mort," in the Place

-Pigalle.  Yes, with money one is seldom <i>triste</i>

-in Paris, and I was really sorry when, in the last

-week of the year, after Felicita had packed our

-trunks, we set out for the Riviera.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Travelling on those abominable gridirons which

-on the Continent are called railways, is absolutely

-disgusting after our own English lines, with their

-dining-cars and other comforts.  Of all the

-railways that intersect the Continent, the P.L.M.,

-which has a monopoly to the Mediterranean, is the

-most inconvenient, disobliging, and completely

-abominable.  To obtain the smallest comfort on

-the eighteen-hour journey between Paris and Nice,

-an addition of three pounds is charged upon the

-first-class fare, and that for a single night in a

-third-rate sleeping-car!  Ulrica said it was termed the

-<i>train de luxe</i> only because it looks swagger to travel

-by it.  We occupied a couple of berths in it, but

-agreed that the additional three pounds were ill-spent

-indeed, for the badly-cooked food was absurdly

-dear.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Moreover, as the water for toilet purposes gave out

-before reaching Lyons, we had to buy bottles of

-mineral water, and perform our ablutions in a

-mixture of Vichy Celestins and eau-de-cologne.  It

-was remarked by an old and apparently experienced

-traveller that the water in the <i>wagons lits</i> is

-purposely scanty in order to increase the takings of

-the restaurant cars; and I certainly believed him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For a woman young in years I have had

-considerable experience of European railways, from

-the crawling Midi of France to the lightning Nord;

-but for dirt and dearness, commend me to the

-great highway to the Riviera.  To take a small

-trunk from Paris to Nice costs more than the fare

-of one's maid; while to those who do not pay for

-the train of luxury, but travel in the ordinary

-padded horse-boxes, the journey means a couple of

-days of suffocation and semi-starvation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Carmela," said Ulrica, while we were

-on the journey, "I've thought of a plan.  Why not

-go to some cheap hotel, or even <i>pension</i> at Nice, and

-play at Monte Carlo with the money we save?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had never seen the far-famed Monte Carlo, but

-as the idea of economy seemed an excellent one, I

-at once endorsed her suggestion, and that same night

-we found ourselves at one of those <i>pensions</i> which

-flourish so amazingly well at Nice.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER II

-<br><br>

-TELLS SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-Reader, have you ever lived in an English <i>pension</i>

-on the Riviera?  Have you ever inhabited a small

-cubicle containing a chair, a deal table, a narrow

-bed&mdash;with mosquito curtains&mdash;and a hung-up

-looking-glass, and partaken of that cheap,

-ill-cooked food, the stale-egg omelette and the tough

-<i>biftek</i>, served in the bare <i>salle-à-manger</i> by one of

-those seedy, unshaven waiters who appear to be

-specially bred for the cheap Riviera

-boarding-houses?  Have you ever spent an evening with

-that mixed crowd of ascetic persons who nightly

-congregate in the fusty <i>salon</i>, play upon a cracked

-piano, screech old-fashioned sentimentalities,

-exhibit their faded finery, paste jewels and bony

-chests, and otherwise make the hours, following

-dinner absolutely hideous?  If not, a week of

-this life will be found to be highly amusing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear," Ulrica whispered, as we followed the

-proprietress, a buxom Frenchwoman in black satin,

-along the bare, white-washed corridor to our rooms,

-"hotel or work-house&mdash;which?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There was a comfortless look everywhere, even

-though the spread of the blue sea and the

-palm-planted Promenade des Anglais were magnificent

-parts of the view, and the warm winter sunshine

-streamed into our tiny rooms&mdash;chambers so small

-that our trunks had to be placed in the corridor.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We changed our frocks and went down to dinner,

-discovering the <i>salle-à-manger</i> by its smell.  What

-a scene presented itself at that <i>table d'hôte</i>!  The

-long table was crowded by a host of dowdy women,

-generally wearing caps of soiled lace and faded

-ribbons, with one or two dismal-looking and elderly

-men.  Of spinsters there were not a few, and of

-widows many, but one and all possessed the stamp

-of persons of small means struggling perseveringly to

-obtain their fill for the ten francs <i>par jour</i> which they

-paid for their "south rooms."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As new-comers, we were directed to seats at the

-bottom of the table; and after we had suffered from

-a watery concoction which the menu described as

-<i>potage</i>, we proceeded to survey our fellow-guests

-in that cheap and respectable <i>pension</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That they were severely respectable there could

-certainly be no doubt.  There were a couple of

-drawling English clergymen, with their

-wives&mdash;typical vicars' wives who patronised their

-neighbours; two or three sad-faced young girls,

-accompanied by ascetic relatives; a young Frenchman

-who eyed Ulrica all the time; one or two

-hen-pecked husbands of the usual type to be found

-in such hostelries of the aged; and an old lady who

-sat in state at the extreme end of the table, and

-much amused us by her efforts at juvenility.

-Besides ourselves, she was apparently the only person

-who had a maid with her; and in order to exhibit

-that fact, she sent for her smelling-salts during

-dinner.  She was long past sixty, yet dressed in

-a style becoming a girl of eighteen, in bright colours

-and lace, her fair wig being dressed in the latest

-Parisian style, and the wrinkles of her cheeks

-filled up by various creams and face powders.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That old crow is an absolute terror!" observed

-Ulrica to me in an undertone, and out of sheer devilry

-she at once commenced a conversation with this

-rejuvenated hag, who, as we learned later, was an

-exportation from one of the London suburbs.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The conversation, started by Ulrica and continued

-by myself, proved most amusing to us both.  The

-old woman whose name was Blackett, had just

-enough to live upon, we afterwards discovered, but

-came each year to the <i>pension</i> in order to cut a

-dash as a <i>grande dame</i>.  Her fingers were covered

-with paste jewels, and her finery was all of that

-cheap and tawdry kind which affects the nerves as

-well as the eyes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, yes!" she said, in a carefully cultivated

-voice, intended to show good breeding, "if this is

-your first visit to the Riviera, you'll be quite

-charmed&mdash;everyone is charmed with it.  As for

-myself&mdash;" and she sighed,&mdash;"I have been here

-each year for I don't know how long."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And there is lots to see?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Lots.  Only you must drive, you know.  I

-myself drive at all hours of the day, and when the

-moon is up I go for moonlight drives into the

-mountains."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How romantic, I thought.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have my own coachman, you know," she

-added.  "I keep him all the year round."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She had led up to the conversation merely in

-order to inform us of her generosity.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-So throughout the meal, which occupied nearly

-two hours, by reason of inadequate waiting, we

-continued to draw her out, humour her egotism, and

-cause her to make a most ridiculous display of

-herself, until at last, my sentiment changing, I felt

-genuinely sorry for her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I remarked to Ulrica as we left

-the table, "this is the most extraordinary collection

-of tabbies I've ever met."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear," she said, "what has been puzzling me

-all the evening is their place of origin.  Some, I

-regret to say, are actually our own compatriots.  But

-where do they come from?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's a special breed peculiar to <i>pensions</i> on the

-Riviera," I remarked; and together we ascended

-to the frowsy drawing-room, where the red plush-covered

-furniture exuded an odour of mustiness, and

-the carpet was sadly moth-eaten and thread-bare.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Around the central table a dozen angular women

-of uncertain age grouped themselves and formed a

-sewing-party; a retired colonel, who seemed a

-good fellow, buried himself in the <i>Contemporary</i>;

-a decrepit old gentleman wearing a skull-cap and a

-shawl about his shoulders, heaped logs upon the

-fire and sat with his feet on the fender, although

-the atmosphere was stifling, while somebody else

-induced a young lady with a voice like a file to

-sing a plaintive love-song, accompanied by the

-untuned piano.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-During my previous winters in the South I had

-stayed at hotels.  In my ignorance of the ways of

-cheap visitors to the Riviera, I believed this

-congregation to be unique, but Ulrica assured me that it

-was typical of all English <i>pensions</i> along the Côte

-d'Azur, from Cannes to Bordighera, and I can now

-fully endorse her statement.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To describe in detail the many comic scenes

-enacted is unnecessary.  The people were too

-ludicrous for words.  One family in especial

-endeavoured to entice us to friendliness.  Its head

-was a very tall, muscular, black-haired

-French-woman, who had married an Englishman.  The

-latter had died fifteen years ago, leaving her with

-a son and daughter, the former a school boy of

-sixteen, and the latter a fair-haired and very

-freckled girl of perhaps twenty.  The woman's

-name was Egerton, and she was of that dashing

-type who can wear scarlet dresses at dinner, and

-whose cheeks dazzle one's eyes on account of the

-rouge upon them.  She was loud, coarse, and

-vulgar.  For the benefit of all the others, she

-spoke daily of the delicacies prepared by her own

-<i>chef</i>, sneered at the food of the <i>pension</i>, and ordered

-special messes for her own consumption.  Before

-we had known her an hour she had given us a

-description of the wonderful interior of her house in

-Rome, enumerated her servants, and gave us to

-understand that she was exceedingly well-off, and

-quite a superior person.  The people one meets

-on the Riviera are really very entertaining.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica was grimly sarcastic.  As we had neither

-intention nor inclination to associate with this

-superior relict, we politely snubbed her, taking care

-that it should not be done in secret.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't think our effort at economy has met with

-very much success," I remarked to Ulrica, when

-about a week later I sat over the cup of half-cold

-coffee, the stale egg, the hunk of bread and the pat

-of rancid butter, which together formed my breakfast.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, a week of it is quite sufficient," she laughed.

-"We'll leave to-morrow."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you've given notice?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course.  I only came here for a week's

-amusement.  We'll go on to the 'Grand.'"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-So on the following day our trunks were called for

-by the hotel omnibus, and we took up our quarters

-in that well-known hotel on the Quai St. Jean

-Baptiste.  Ulrica had known the Riviera ever

-since her girlhood.  With her parents she had

-gone abroad each autumn, had seen most of the

-sights, and had thus received her education as a

-smart woman.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We were in the <i>salon</i> of the "Grand" on the

-night of our arrival, when suddenly someone

-uttered my name.  We both turned quickly, and

-to our surprise saw two men we knew quite well in

-London standing before us.  One was Reginald

-Thorne, a dark-haired and more than usually

-good-looking youth of about twenty-two or so,

-while the other was Gerald Keppel, a thin,

-fair-moustached young man, some seven years his

-senior, son of old Benjamin Keppel, the well-known

-South African millionaire.  Gerald was an old

-friend, but the former I knew but slightly, having

-met him once or twice at dances, for in Kensington

-he was among the chief of the eligibles.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, my dear Miss Rosselli!" he cried

-enthusiastically as we shook hands.  "I'm so awfully

-glad to meet you!  I had no idea you were here.

-Gerald was here dining with me, and we caught

-sight of you through the glass doors."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you're staying here?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  Gerald's staying with his guv'nor.  He

-has a villa out at Fabron.  Have you been here

-long?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We've been in Nice a week," interposed Ulrica,

-"and we haven't found a single soul we know until

-now.  I feel sure you'll take pity upon our

-loneliness, Mr. Thorne, won't you?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course!" he laughed.  "I suppose you

-go to Monte Carlo?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You men think of nothing but roulette and

-dinners at the 'Paris,'" she responded reproachfully,

-adding: "But after all, should we be women

-if we had no soul for gambling?  Have you had

-any luck this season?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Can't complain," he smiled.  "I've been staying

-over there for ten days or so.  Gerald has had quite

-a run of good fortune.  The other night he won the

-maximum on the <i>zero-trois</i> three times."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Congratulations, my dear Gerald!" exclaimed

-Ulrica approvingly.  "You shall both take us

-over one day and let us try our fortune&mdash;if

-Mr. Thorne is agreeable."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Delighted, I'm sure," answered the latter,

-glancing at me; and by the look he gave me I felt

-convinced that my suspicions, aroused in London

-about a year before, were not quite groundless.

-His glance was a convincing proof that he admired me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The fault of us women is that we so often

-over-esteem the value of our good looks.  To my mind

-the possession of handsome toilettes is quite as

-essential to a woman's well-being and man's

-contentment as are personal attractions.  A woman,

-however beautiful she may be, loses half her charm

-to men's eyes if she dresses dowdily, or without

-taste.  Nobody ever saw a really beautiful Parisienne.

-For the most part, the ladies of the French

-capital are thin-nosed, thin-lipped, scraggy-necked,

-yellow-faced and absolutely ugly; yet are they not,

-merely by reason of their <i>chic</i> in dress, the most

-attractive women in the world?  I know that many

-will dissent from this estimate; but as my mirror

-tells me that I have a face more than commonly

-handsome, and as dozens of men have further

-endorsed the mute evidence of my toilet-glass, I

-can only confess that all my triumphs and all my

-harmless flirtations have had their beginnings in

-the attraction exercised by the dainty creations

-of my <i>couturière</i>.  We hear much complaining

-among women to the effect that there are not a

-sufficient number of nice men to go round; but

-after all, the woman who knows how to dress need

-have no lack of offers of marriage.  American

-women on the Continent can always be distinguished

-from the English, and it is certain that to their

-quiet <i>chic</i> in frills and furbelows their success in

-the marriage market is due.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yes, there was no doubt that Reggie Thorne

-admired me.  I had suspected it on the night when

-we had waltzed together at the Pendyman's, and

-afterwards gossiped together over ices; but with

-a woman flirtations of the ball-room are soon

-forgotten, and, truth to tell, I had forgotten him

-until our sudden and unexpected meeting.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What awfully good luck we've met Gerald and

-Reggie," Ulrica said, when, half-an-hour later, we

-were seated together in the privacy of our sitting-room.

-"Gerald, poor boy, was always a bit gone on

-me in London; and as for Reggie&mdash;well, he'll

-make an excellent cavalier for you.  Even if Mother

-Grundy is dead and buried, it isn't very respectable

-to be constantly trotting over to Monte Carlo

-without male escort."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You mean that they'll be a couple of useful

-males?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly.  Their coming is quite providential.

-Some of Gerald's luck at the tables may be reflected

-upon us.  I should dearly like to make my expenses

-at roulette."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"So should I."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There's no reason why we shouldn't," she went

-on.  "I know quite a lot of people who've won

-enough to pay for the whole winter on the Riviera."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Reggie has money, hasn't he?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course.  The old man was on the Stock

-Exchange and died very comfortably off.  All of it

-went to Reggie, except an annuity settled on his

-mother.  Of course, he's spent a good deal since.

-A man doesn't live in the Albany as he does, drive

-tandem, and all that sort of thing, on nothing a

-year."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They used to say that Gerald Keppel hadn't a

-shilling beyond what the old man allowed him

-monthly&mdash;a most niggardly allowance, I've

-heard."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's quite possible, my dear Carmela," she

-answered.  "But one's position might be a good

-deal worse than the only son of a millionaire.  Old

-Benjamin is eccentric.  I've met the old buffer

-several times.  He's addicted to my pet abomination

-in a man&mdash;paper collars."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you'll take Gerald as your cavalier, and

-allot Reggie to me?" I laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  I'm self-sacrificing, am I not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She was in high spirits, for she had long ago

-fascinated Gerald Keppel, and now intended to

-make use of him as her escort to that Palace of

-Delight which somebody has suggested might well

-be known as the Sign of the Seven Sins.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica was a typical woman of the up-to-date

-type&mdash;pretty, with soft, wavy, chestnut hair and

-a pair of brown eyes that had attracted a host of

-men who had bowed down and worshipped at her

-shrine; yet beneath her corsets, as I alone knew,

-there beat a heart from which, alas! all love and

-sympathy had long ago died out.  To her, excitement,

-change and flirtation were as food and

-drink; she could not live without them.  Neither,

-indeed, could I, for by living with her ever

-since my convent-days I had copied her smart

-ideas and notions, stimulated by attacks of

-nerves.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A few days later, having lunched with Reggie

-and Gerald at the hotel, we went over with the

-usual crowd to Monte Carlo by the two o'clock

-"yellow" express.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reader, you probably know the panorama of the

-Riviera&mdash;that stretch of azure sky, azure sea,

-rugged coast; purple hills clad with olives and

-pines; rose, heliotrope, and geranium running

-riot in the gardens of the white villas, with their

-marble terraces.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When I entered for the first time that wild,

-turbulent, close-smelling <i>salle de jeu</i> at Monte

-Carlo, where the croupiers were crying in strident

-tones, "<i>Messieurs, faites vos jeux!</i>" and uttering

-in warning voice, "<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" I gazed around

-me bewildered.  Who were those grabbing crowds

-of smartly-dressed people grouped around the

-tables?  Were they actually civilised human

-beings&mdash;beings who had loved, suffered and lived,

-as I had loved, suffered and lived?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How beautiful it was outside in that gay little

-place, with the Red Hungarian Band playing on

-the terrace of the Café de Paris, and half the <i>grand

-monde</i> of Europe lounging about and chattering!

-How enchanting was the grim Dog's Head as a

-fitting background in dark purple against the

-winter sunset, the brown Grimaldi rock rising sheer

-from the sea to the castellated walls of the Palace;

-to the right, Villefranche and San Juan dark upon

-the horizon,&mdash;the serrated Esterels dark and

-mysterious afar; while to the left, Bordighera was

-sparkling white in the sunshine.  And beyond there

-was Italy&mdash;my own fair Italy!  Out in that

-flower-scented, limpid air earth was a paradise; within

-those stifling gilt saloons, where the light of day was

-tempered by the thick curtains, and the clink of

-gold mingled with the dull hum of the avaricious

-crowd, it was a veritable hell.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Some years ago&mdash;ah! now I am looking back;

-Ulrica is not at fault this time.  No, I must not

-think.  I have promised myself not to think during

-my work upon this narrative, but to try to forget all

-past unhappiness.  To try!  Ah!  I would that

-I could calm my soul&mdash;steep it in a draught of such

-thoughtlessness that oblivion would come!  But

-I fear that can never, never be!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It is terrible to think how a woman can suffer,

-and yet live.  What a blessing it is that the world

-cannot read a woman's heart!  Men may look

-upon our faces, but they cannot read the truth.

-Even though our hearts may be breaking, we may

-wear a smile; we can conceal our sorrows so cleverly

-that none can suspect, for smiles make a part of

-our physical being; we can hide our grief so

-completely that none can know the burden upon us.

-Endurance, resistance, patience, suffering, all these

-belong to woman's heritage.  Even in the few

-years I have lived, I have had my share of them

-all.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood bewildered, watching the revolving red

-and black roulette-wheel, and the eager crowd of

-faces around it.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Vingt!  Rouge, pair et passe!</i>" the croupier

-cried, and a couple of louis which Ulrica had placed

-on the last dozen were swept away with the silver,

-notes and gold, to swell the bank.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I thought of my secret grief.  I thought of

-Ernest Cameron, and pursed my lips.  The old

-Tuscan proverb which the nuns in Firenze had

-taught me so long ago was very true: "<i>Amore non

-é senza amaro</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The millionaire's son at my elbow was explaining

-to me how the game was played, but I was paying

-no attention.  I only remembered the man I had

-once loved&mdash;the man whose slave I was&mdash;the man

-whom I had forgiven, even though he had left me

-so cruelly.  Only three things could make life to

-me worth living&mdash;the sight of his face, the sound

-of his voice, the touch of his lips.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But such fine fortune could never be.  We

-were parted for ever&mdash;for ever!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Now, play this time!" I heard Reggie exclaim.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Where?" I inquired mechanically, his voice

-awakening me to a sense of my surroundings.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"On the line, there&mdash;between the numbers 9

-and 12."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I took a louis from my purse, and with the rake

-carelessly pushed it upon the line he had indicated.

-Then I turned to talk with Gerald.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" cried the croupier.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A hundred necks were craned to watch the

-result.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The ball fell with a final click into one of the

-little spaces upon the wheel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Neuf!  Rouge, impair et manque!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You've won, my dear!" cried Ulrica excitedly,

-and in a few moments Reggie, who raked up my

-winnings, gave me quite a handful of gold.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There now!" he said, "you've made your first

-<i>coup</i>.  Try again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I crammed the gold into my purse, but it would

-not hold it all.  The three louis upon which the

-purse would not close I held doubtfully in my

-hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Play on the <i>treize-dix-huit</i> this time!" urged

-Reggie, and I obeyed him blindly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the number 18 came up, I again received

-another little handful of gold.  I knew that many

-envious eyes were cast in my direction, and the

-excitement of winning was an entirely new

-sensation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica fancied the last dozen, and I placed five

-louis upon it, winning a third time.  Having won

-eight hundred francs in three turns of the wheel,

-I began to think roulette was not such wearying

-fun as I had once believed it to be.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I wanted to continue playing, but the others

-prevented me.  They knew too well that the bank

-at Monte Carlo only lends its money to the players.

-With Reggie at my side I went out, strolled

-through those beautiful gardens beside the sea,

-watched the pigeon-shooting, and afterwards sat

-on the terrace of the Café de Paris, where to the

-full I enjoyed a sunset of extraordinary radiance.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER III

-<br><br>

-IS A MYSTERY

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-I was left alone with Reggie, for Ulrica had taken

-Gerald into the orchestral concert.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What awfully good luck you had!" he

-observed, after we had been chatting some time.

-"If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd

-have won over seven hundred pounds."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There are a good many 'ifs' in gambling,"

-I remarked.  "I've never had any luck before in

-gambles at bazaars and such-like places."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"When you do have luck, follow it, is my motto,"

-he laughed.  "I should have advised you to

-continue playing to-day, only I thought it might

-annoy Ulrica," and he raised his whisky and seltzer

-to his lips.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But I might have lost all I won," I remarked.

-"No, I prefer to keep it.  I'd like to be unique

-among other people and go away with some of the

-bank's money, I intend to keep what I have,

-and not to play again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Never?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Never!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Miss Rosselli, that's what everyone

-says here," he laughed.  "But before you've been

-on the Riviera long you'll soon discover that this

-is no place for good resolutions.  Gambling is one

-of the sweetest and most insidious of vices, and

-has the additional attraction of being thought

-<i>chic</i>.  Look at the crowd of women here!  Why,

-every one of them plays.  If she didn't, others

-would believe her to be hard-up&mdash;and poverty, you

-know, is distinctly bad form here.  Even if a

-woman hasn't sufficient to pay her hotel bill, she

-must wear the regulation gold chatelaine and the

-gold chain-purse, if it only contains a couple of

-pieces of a hundred sous.  And she must play.

-Fortunes have been won with only five francs."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Such stories, I fear, are only fairy tales," I

-said incredulously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  At least, one of them is not," he answered,

-blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips and looking

-at me amusedly.  "I was playing here one night

-last March when a young French girl won three

-hundred thousand francs after having first lost all

-she had.  She borrowed a five-franc piece from

-a friend, and with it broke the bank.  I was

-present at the table where it occurred.  Fortune is

-very fickle here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"So it seems," I said.  "That is why I intend

-to keep what I've won."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You might have a necklace made of the louis,"

-he said.  "Many women wear coins won at Monte

-attached to their bangles, along with golden pigs

-and enamelled discs bearing the fatal number

-thirteen."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A happy thought!" I exclaimed.  "I'll have

-one put on my bangle to-morrow as a souvenir."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Are you staying on the Riviera long?" he

-inquired presently.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I really don't know.  When Ulrica is tired

-of it we shall move down to Rome, I suppose."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"When she's lost sufficient, you mean," he smiled.

-"She's quite reckless when she commences.  I

-remember her here several seasons ago.  She lost

-very heavily.  Luck was entirely against her."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I, too, remember her visit.  She left me in

-London and went to the Riviera for a couple of

-months, and on her return was constantly

-bewailing her penury.  This, then, was the secret

-of it.  She had never revealed to me the truth.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you think that I shall be stricken with the

-prevalent epidemic?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I hope not," he answered quickly.  "But,

-after all, the temptation is utterly irresistible.  It

-is sad, indeed, that here, in this corner of God's

-earth, which He has marked as the nearest approach

-to Paradise created, should be allowed to flaunt

-all the vices which render the world horrible.

-Monte Carlo is the one blot upon the Riviera.

-I'm a gambler&mdash;I make no secret of it, because I

-find resistance impossible while I have money in

-my pocket&mdash;nevertheless, much as I like a fling

-here each winter, I would gladly welcome the

-closing of the Casino.  It has been well said that

-those red-carpeted steps and the wide doors

-opposite form the entrance-gate to hell."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sighed, glancing over to the flight of steps

-opposite, where all sorts of women, wintering

-among temptations in summer toilettes, were

-passing up and down.  He was possessed of

-common sense, and spoke the truth.  Inside those

-Rooms the perspiring and perfumed crowds were

-fluttering round the tables as moths round a candle,

-going headlong to ruin, both moral and financial.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I observed reflectively, "I suppose

-you're right.  Thousands have been ruined within

-that place."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And thousands have ended by committing

-suicide," he added.  "The average number of

-suicides within this tiny Principality of Monaco

-is more than two a day!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"More than two a day!" I exclaimed incredulously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  Of course, the authorities bribe the Press

-to hush it all up, but the authentic figures were

-published not long ago.  The Administrator of the

-Casino finds it cheaper to bury a corpse than to

-pay a ruined gambler's fare to St. Petersburg,

-London, or New York.  That's why the poor

-devils who are cleaned out find the much-talked-of

-<i>viatique</i> so difficult to obtain.  Human life is held

-very cheap here, I can tell you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, don't talk like that!" I protested.  "You

-make one feel quite nervous.  Do you mean that

-murder is often committed?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well&mdash;not exactly that.  But one must always

-remember that here, mixing with the best people

-of Europe, are the very scum of the world, both

-male and female.  Although they dress elegantly,

-live well, play boldly, and give themselves airs and

-false titles of nobility, and wear decorations to

-which they are not entitled, they are a very queer

-and unscrupulous crowd, I can assure you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you know any of them by sight?" I

-inquired, much interested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, one or two," he answered, laughing.

-"Some of them are, of course, eccentric and quite

-harmless characters."  Then a moment later he

-added: "Do you see that tall, thin old man just

-ascending the steps&mdash;the one with the soft white

-felt hat?  Well, his is a curious story.  Twenty

-years ago he came here as a millionaire, and within

-a month lost everything he possessed at <i>trente et

-quarante</i>.  So huge were the profits made by the

-bank that, instead of giving him his <i>viatique</i> to

-London, they allotted him a pension of a louis

-a day for life, on the understanding that he should

-never again enter the Rooms.  For nearly twenty

-years he lived in Nice, haunting the Promenade des

-Anglais, and brooding over his past foolishness.

-Last year, however, somebody died unexpectedly,

-and left him quite comfortably off, whereupon he

-paid back to Monte Carlo all that he had received

-and returned again to gamble.  His luck, however,

-has proved just as bad as before.  Yet each month,

-as soon as he draws his income, he comes over,

-and in a single day flings it all away upon the

-red, his favourite colour.  His history is only one

-of many."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With interest I looked at the tall, thin-faced old

-gambler as he painfully ascended the steps; and

-even as I watched he passed in, eager to fling

-away all that stood between himself and starvation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Truly, the world of Monte Carlo is a very queer

-place.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica and Gerald came laughing across the leafy

-Place and joined us at our table.  It was very

-pleasant there, with the band playing the latest

-waltzes, the gay promenaders strolling beneath

-the palms, the bright flowers and the pigeons

-strutting in the roadway.  Indeed, as one sat there

-it seemed hard to believe that this was actually

-the much-talked-of Monte Carlo&mdash;the plague-spot

-of Europe.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I don't think that I ever saw Ulrica look so

-well as on that afternoon in the white serge which

-she had had made in Paris; for white serge is, as

-you know, always <i>de rigueur</i> at Monte in winter,

-with white hat and white shoes.  I was also in

-white, but it never suited me as it did her, yet one

-had to be smart, even at the expense of one's

-complexion.  At Monte Carlo one must at least be

-respectable, even in one's vices.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Come, let's go back to the Rooms," suggested

-Ulrica, when she had finished her tea, flavoured with

-orange-flower water in accordance with the mode

-at the Café de Paris.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Miss Rosselli won't play any more," said Reggie.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Carmela!" cried Ulrica.  "Why,

-surely, you've the pluck to follow your good

-fortune!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But I was obdurate, and although I accompanied

-the others I did not risk a single sou.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The place was crowded, and the atmosphere

-absolutely unbearable, as it always becomes about

-five o'clock.  The Administration appear afraid

-of letting in a little air to cool the heads of the

-players, hence the Rooms are, as it were,

-hermetically sealed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I wandered about with Reggie, he pointed out

-to me other well-known characters in the Rooms&mdash;the

-queer old fellow who carries a bag-purse made

-of coloured beads; the old hag with a moustache

-who always brings her own rake; the bright-eyed,

-dashing woman known to the croupiers as "The

-Golden Hand"; the thin, wizen-faced little hunch-back,

-who one night a few months before had broken

-the bank at the first roulette table on the left;

-men working so-called "systems," and women

-trying to snatch up other people's winnings.  Now

-and then my companion placed a louis upon a

-<i>transversale</i> or <i>colonne</i>, and once or twice he won;

-but declaring that he had no luck that day, he

-soon grew as tired of it as myself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica came up to us flushed with excitement.

-She had won three hundred francs at the table

-where she always played.  Her favourite croupier

-was turning the wheel, and he always brought her

-luck.  We had both won, and she declared it to be

-a happy augury for the future.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-While we were standing there the croupier's

-voice sounded loud and clear "Zero!" with that

-long roll of the "r" which <i>habitués</i> of the Rooms

-know so well.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Zero!" cried Reggie.  "By Jove!  I must

-put something on," and hurrying toward the table

-he handed the croupier a hundred-franc note,

-with a request to put it on the number 29.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The game was made and the ball fell.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Vingt-neuf!  Rouge, impair et passe!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"By Jove!" cried Gerald.  "He's won!  Lucky

-devil!  How extraordinary that after zero the

-number 29 so frequently follows!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The croupier handed Reggie three thousand-franc

-notes and quite a handful of gold.  Then the lucky

-player moved his original stake on to the little

-square marked 36.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Again he won, and again and again.  The three

-thousand-franc notes he had just received he placed

-upon the middle dozen.  The number 18 turned up,

-and the croupier handed him six thousand francs&mdash;the

-maximum paid by the bank on a single <i>coup</i>.

-Every eye around that table watched him

-narrowly.  People began to follow his play, placing

-their money beside his, and time after time he won,

-making only a few unimportant losses.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We stood watching him in silent wonder.  The

-luck of the man with whom I had been flirting

-was simply marvellous.  Sometimes he distributed

-his stakes on the colour, the dozens and the "pair,"

-and thus often won in several places at the same

-time.  The eager, grabbing crowd surged round

-the table and the excitement quickly rose to fever

-heat.  The assault Reggie was making upon the

-bank was certainly a formidable one.  His inner

-pockets bulged with the mass of notes he had

-crammed there, and the outer pockets of his jacket

-were heavy with golden louis.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica stood behind him, but uttered no word.

-To speak to a person while playing is believed by

-the gambler at Monte Carlo to bring evil fortune.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When he could cram no more notes into his

-pockets, he passed them to Ulrica, who held them

-in an overflow bundle in her hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He tossed a thousand francs on the red, but lost,

-together with the dozens of others who had

-followed his play.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He played again, with no better result.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A third time he played on the red, which had not

-been up for nine times in succession, a most unusual

-run.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Black won.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I've finished," he said, turning to us with a

-laugh.  "Let's get out of this&mdash;my luck has

-changed."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Marvellous!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, you must

-have won quite a fortune!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We'll go across to the Café and count it," he

-said, and we all walked out together; and while

-sitting at one of the tables we helped him to count

-the piles of gold and notes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He had, we found, won over sixty thousand francs.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At his invitation we went along to Gast's, the

-jeweller's, in the Galerie, and he there purchased

-for each of us a ring as a little souvenir of the day.

-Then we entered Giro's and dined.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yes, life at Monte Carlo is absolutely intoxicating.

-Now, however, that I sit here calmly reflecting on

-the events of that day when I first entered the

-Sign of the Seven Sins, I find that even though

-the display of such wealth as one sees upon the

-tables is dazzling, yet my first impression of it has

-never been altered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I hated Monte Carlo from the first.  I hate it

-now.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The talk at dinner was, of course, the argot of

-the Rooms.  At Monte Carlo the conversation is

-always of play.  If you meet an acquaintance, you

-do not ask after her health, but of her luck and her

-latest successes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The two bejewelled worlds, the <i>monde</i> and the

-<i>demi-monde</i>, ate, drank, and chattered in that

-restaurant of wide renown.  The company was

-cosmopolitan, the conversation polyglot, the dishes

-marvellous.  At the table next us there sat the

-Grand-Duke Michael of Russia, with the Countess

-Torby, and beyond a British earl with a couple of

-smart military men.  The United States Ambassador

-to Germany was at another table with a small

-party of friends; while La Juniori, Derval, and

-several other well-known Parisian beauties were

-scattered here and there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was laughing at a joke of Reggie's, when

-suddenly I raised my eyes and saw a pair of

-new-comers.  The man was tall, dark, handsome, with

-face a trifle bronzed&mdash;a face I knew only too well!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I started, and must have turned pale, for I knew

-from Ulrica's expression that she noticed it.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man who entered there, as though to taunt

-me with his presence, was Ernest Cameron, the

-man whom I had loved&mdash;nay, whom I still loved&mdash;the

-man who had a year ago cast me aside for

-another and left me to wear out my young heart

-in sorrow and suffering.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That woman was with him&mdash;the tow-haired

-woman whom they told me he had promised to

-make his wife.  I had never seen her before.  She

-was rather <i>petite</i>, with a fair, fluffy coiffure,

-blue-grey eyes and pink-and-white cheeks.  She had

-earned, I afterwards discovered, a rather unenviable

-notoriety in Paris on account of some scandal

-or other, but the real truth about it I could never

-ascertain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our eyes met as she entered, but she was

-unaware that she gazed upon the woman who was her

-rival, and who hated her.  She had stolen Ernest

-from me, and I felt that I could rise there, in that

-public place, and crush the life from that fragile

-body.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ernest himself brushed past my chair, but without

-recognising me, and went down the room gaily

-with his companion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you notice who has just entered?" asked

-Ulrica.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I nodded.  I could not speak.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who?" inquired Reggie quickly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Some friends of ours," she answered carelessly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh! everyone meets friends here," he remarked,

-as he raised his champagne unsuspectingly to his

-lips.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reader, if you are a woman, you will fully

-understand how the sight of that man who held me by

-a fatal fascination, caused in my breast a whirl of

-passions.  I hated and loved at the same instant.

-Even though we were parted, I had never ceased

-to think of him.  For me the world had no longer

-any charm, since the light of my life had now gone

-out, and I was suffering in silence, just as so many

-women who have become the sport of Fate are

-bound to do.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yes.  Ulrica's notion was, after all, very true.

-No man whom I had ever met was really worth

-consideration.  All were egoists.  The rich believed

-that woman was a mere toy, while the poor were

-always ineligible.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reggie spoke to me, but I scarcely heeded him.

-Now that the man I loved was near me, I felt an

-increasing desire to get rid of this male

-encumbrance.  True, he was rich, and I knew, by my own

-feminine intuition, that he admired me, but for him

-I entertained no spark of affection.  Alas! that

-we always sigh for the unattainable.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For myself, the remainder of the meal was

-utterly without interest.  I longed to get another

-glimpse of that man's bronzed face, and of the

-tow-haired woman whom he had preferred to me,

-but they were evidently sitting at a table in the

-corner out of sight.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica knew the truth, and took compassion

-upon me by hastening the dinner to its end.  Then

-we went forth again into the cool, balmy night.

-The moon shone brightly, and its reflection glittered

-in a long stream of silver brilliance upon the sea;

-the Place was gaily lit and the white façade of the

-Casino, with its great illuminated clock, shone with

-lights of every hue.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Across to the Hermitage we strolled, and there

-drank our coffee.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I laughed at Reggie's pockets bulging with notes,

-for, the banks being closed, he was compelled to

-carry his winnings about with him.  While we sat

-there, however, a brilliant idea occurred to

-him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Nearly all these notes are small," he said

-suddenly.  "I'll go into the Rooms and exchange the

-gold and small notes for large ones.  They'll

-be so much easier to carry."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" cried Ulrica, "I never thought of that.

-Why, of course!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very well," he answered, rising.  "I shan't

-be ten minutes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Don't be tempted to play again, old fellow,"

-urged Gerald.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No fear of that!" he laughed, and, with a

-cigarette in his mouth, strode away in the direction

-of the Casino.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We remained there gossiping for fully half an

-hour, yet he did not return.  As it was only a walk

-of a couple of minutes from the Hermitage to the

-Casino, we concluded that he had met some friend

-and been detained, for, like Gerald, he came there

-each winter and knew quite a host of people.  One

-makes a large circle of acquaintances on the

-Riviera, many interesting, but the majority undesirable.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I wonder where he's got to?" Gerald observed

-presently.  "Surely he isn't such an idiot

-as to resume play!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  He's well enough aware that there's no

-luck after dinner," remarked Ulrica.  "We might,

-however, I think, take a last turn through the

-Rooms and see whether he's there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This suggestion was carried out, but although

-we searched every table we failed to discover him.

-Until ten o'clock we lounged about, then returned

-by the express to Nice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That he should have left us in that abrupt manner

-was certainly curious; but as Gerald declared he

-was always erratic in his movements, and that

-his explanation in the morning would undoubtedly

-be found entirely satisfactory, we returned together

-to the hotel, where we wished our companion good-night,

-and ascended in the elevator to our own

-sitting-room on the second floor.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My good fortune pleased me, but my heart was

-nevertheless overburdened with sorrow.  The

-sight of Ernest had reopened the gaping wound

-which I had so strenuously striven to heal by

-the aid of lighter woes.  I now thought only of

-him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica, who was in front of me, pushed open

-the door of our sitting-room and switched on the

-light, but ere she crossed the threshold she drew

-back quickly with a loud cry of horror and

-surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant I was at her side.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Look!" she gasped, terrified, pointing to the

-opposite side of the room.  "Look!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The body of a man was lying, face downwards,

-upon the carpet, half hidden by the round table

-in the centre of the room.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Together we dashed forward to his assistance

-and tried to raise him, but were unable.  We

-succeeded, however, in turning him upon his side,

-and then his white, hard-set features became

-suddenly revealed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My God!" I cried, awe-stricken.  "What has

-occurred?  Why&mdash;it's Reggie!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Reggie!" shrieked Ulrica, kneeling quickly

-and placing her gloved hand eagerly upon his

-heart.  "Reggie!&mdash;and he's dead!".

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Impossible!" I gasped, almost petrified by

-the hideous discovery.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is true," she went on, her face white as that

-of the dead man before us.  "Look, there's blood

-upon his lips.  See&mdash;the chair over there is thrown

-down and broken.  There has apparently been a

-fierce struggle."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Next instant a thought occurred to me, and

-bending, I quickly searched his inner pockets.

-The bank-notes were not there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then the ghastly truth became entirely plain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reginald Thorne had been robbed and murdered.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER IV

-<br><br>

-RELATES SOME ASTOUNDING FACTS

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The amazing discovery held us in speechless

-bewilderment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The favourite of Fortune, who only a couple of

-hours before had been so full of life and buoyant

-spirits, and who had left us with a promise to

-return within ten minutes, was now lying still

-and dead in the privacy of our own room.  The

-ghastly truth was so strange and unexpected

-as to utterly stagger belief.  A mysterious and

-dastardly crime had evidently been committed

-there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I scarce know what occurred during the quarter

-of an hour that immediately followed our astounding

-discovery.  All I remember is that Ulrica,

-with face blanched to the lips, ran out into the

-corridor and raised the alarm.  Then there arrived

-a crowd of waiters, chambermaids, and visitors,

-everyone excitedly asking strings of questions, until

-the hotel manager came and closed the door upon

-them all.  The discovery caused the most profound

-sensation, especially when the police and doctors

-arrived quickly, followed shortly afterwards by two

-detectives.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The doctor, a short, stout Frenchman, at once

-pronounced that poor Reggie had been dead more

-than half an hour, but the cursory examination he

-was enabled to make was insufficient to establish

-the cause of death.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you incline to a theory of death through

-violence?" one of the detectives inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! at present I cannot tell," the other

-answered dubiously.  "It is not at all plain that

-monsieur has been murdered."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica and I quickly found ourselves in a most

-unpleasant position.  First, a man had been found

-dead in our apartments, which was sufficient to

-cause a good deal of ill-natured gossip; and

-secondly, the police seemed to entertain some

-suspicion of us.  We were both cross-questioned

-separately as to Reggie's identity, what we knew

-of him, and of our doings at Monte Carlo that

-day.  In response, we made no secrets of our

-movements, for we felt that the police might be able

-to trace the culprit&mdash;if, indeed, Reggie had been

-actually murdered.  The fact of his having won so

-much money, and of his having left us in order

-to change the notes into larger ones, seemed to

-puzzle the police.  If robbery had been the object

-of the crime, the murderer would, they argued,

-no doubt have committed the deed either in the

-train, or in the street.  Why, indeed, should the

-victim have entered our sitting-room at all?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That really seemed the principal problem.  The

-whole of the circumstances formed a complete and

-puzzling enigma, but his visit to our sitting-room

-was the most curious feature of all.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The thief, whoever he was&mdash;for I inclined towards

-the theory of theft and murder&mdash;had been enabled

-to effect his purpose swiftly, and leave the hotel

-without discovery; while another curious fact

-was that neither the <i>concierge</i> nor the elevator-lad

-recollected the dead man's return.  Both agreed

-that he must have slipped in unobserved.  And if

-so, why?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Having concluded their examination of Ulrica,

-myself and Felicita, my Italian maid, who had

-returned from her evening out, and knew nothing

-at all of the matter, the police made a most vigorous

-search in our rooms.  We were present, and had

-the dissatisfaction of watching our best gowns and

-other articles tumbled over and mauled by unclean

-hands.  Not a corner was left unexamined, for

-when the French police make a search they at least

-do it thoroughly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! what is this?" exclaimed one of the

-detectives, picking from the open fire-place in the

-sitting-room a crumpled piece of paper, which

-he smoothed out carefully.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant we were all eager attention.  I saw

-that it was a sheet of my own note-paper, and upon

-it, in a man's handwriting, was the commencement

-of a letter:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>My dear Miss Rosselli,&mdash;I have&mdash;&mdash;</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That was all.  It broke off short.  There were

-no other words.  The paper had been crushed

-and flung away, as though the writer, on mature

-thought, had resolved not to address me by letter.

-I had never seen Reggie's handwriting, but on

-comparison with some entries in a note-book

-found in his pocket, the police pronounced it to

-be his.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What did he wish to tell me?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-About an hour after midnight we sent up to

-the Villa Fabron for Gerald, who returned in the

-cab which conveyed our messenger.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When we told him the terrible truth he stood

-open-mouthed, rooted to the spot.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Reggie dead!" he gasped.  "Murdered?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Undoubtedly," answered Ulrica.  "The mystery

-is inexplicable, but with your aid we must

-solve it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"With my aid?" he cried.  "I fear I cannot

-help you.  I know nothing whatever about it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course not," I said.  "But now tell us,

-what is your theory?  You were his best friend

-and would therefore probably know if he had any

-enemy who desired to wreak revenge upon him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He hadn't a single enemy in the world, to my

-knowledge," Gerald answered.  "The motive of

-the crime was robbery, without a doubt.  Most

-probably he was followed from Monte Carlo by

-someone who watched his success at the tables.

-There are always some desperate characters among

-the crowd there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you think, then, that the murderer was

-actually watching us ever since the afternoon?"

-I inquired in alarm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I think it most probable," he responded.

-"At Monte Carlo there is a crowd of all sorts and

-conditions of outsiders.  Many of them wouldn't

-hesitate to commit murder for the sum which poor

-Reggie had in his pockets."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's terrible!" ejaculated Ulrica.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he sighed, as his face grew heavy and

-thoughtful; "this awful news has upset me quite

-as much as it has you.  I have lost my best

-friend."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I hope you will spare no effort to clear up

-the mystery," I said, for I had rather liked the

-poor boy ever since chance had first thrown us

-together in London, and on the renewal of our

-acquaintance a few days previously my estimate of

-his character and true worth had considerably

-improved.  It was appalling that he should be

-thus struck down so swiftly, and in a manner so

-strange.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course, I shall at once do all I can," he

-declared.  "I'll see the police, and state all I

-know.  If this had occurred in England, or in

-America, there might be a chance of tracing the

-culprit by the numbers of the bank-notes.  In

-France, however, the numbers are never taken,

-and stolen notes cannot be recovered.  However,

-rest assured, both of you, that I'll do my very

-best."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There was a tap at the door at that moment,

-and opening it, I was confronted by a tall,

-dark-bearded Frenchman, who explained that he was

-an agent of police.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To him Gerald related all he knew regarding

-poor Reggie's acquaintances and movements while

-on the Riviera, and afterwards, in company with

-the detective, he went to the rooms we had

-abandoned, where he gazed for the last time upon

-the dead face of his friend.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This tragic event had naturally cast a gloom

-over both Ulrica and myself.  We were both

-nervous and apprehensive, ever debating the

-mysterious reason which caused Reggie to enter

-out sitting-room in our absence.  Surely he had

-some very strong motive, or he would not have

-gone straight there and commenced that mysterious

-letter of explanation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As far as we could discern, his success at the

-tables in the afternoon had not intoxicated him,

-for, although young, he was a practised, unemotional

-player, to whom gains and losses were alike&mdash;at

-least, he displayed no outward sign of satisfaction

-other than a broad smile when his winning

-number was announced by the croupier.  No.  Of

-the many theories put forward, that of Gerald

-seemed the most sound, namely, that he had been

-followed from Monte Carlo with evil intent.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The <i>Petit Niçois</i>, the <i>Eclaireur</i> and the <i>Phare du

-Littoral</i> were next day full of "The Mystery of the

-'Grand Hotel.'"  In the article we were referred

-to as Mademoiselle Y&mdash;&mdash; and Mademoiselle

-R&mdash;&mdash;, as is usual in French journalism, and

-certainly the comments made by the three organs

-in question were distinguished by undisguised

-suspicion and sorry sarcasm.  The <i>Petit Niçois</i>, a

-journal which has on so many recent occasions

-given proof of its anti-English and anti-American

-tone, declared its "disbelief of the story that the

-deceased had won the large sum stated," and

-concluded by urging the police to leave no stone

-unturned in their efforts to discover the murderer,

-who, it added, would probably be found within

-the hotel.  This remark was certainly a pleasing

-reflection to cast upon us.  It was as though the

-journal believed that one of us had conspired to

-murder him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Gerald was furious, but we were powerless to

-protect ourselves against the cruel calumnies of

-such <i>torchons</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The official inquiry, held next day, after the

-<i>post-mortem</i> examination had been made, revealed

-absolutely nothing.  Even the cause of death

-puzzled the doctors.  There was a slight cut in

-the corner of the mouth, so small that it might

-have been accidentally caused while he had been

-eating, and beyond a slight scratch behind the

-left ear there was no abrasion of the skin&mdash;no

-wound of any kind.  On the neck, however, were

-two strange marks, like the marks of a finger and

-a thumb, which pointed to strangulation, yet the

-medical examination failed to establish that as a

-fact.  He died from some cause which could not

-be determined.  It might, indeed, the doctors

-admitted, have been almost described as a natural

-death, but for the fact that the notes were missing,

-which pointed so very markedly to murder.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That same evening, as the winter sun was sinking

-behind the Esterels, we followed the dead

-man's remains to their resting-place in the English

-cemetery, high up in the olive groves of

-Caucade&mdash;perhaps one of the most beautiful and

-picturesque burial-places in the world.  Winter and

-summer it is always a blaze of bright flowers, and

-the view over the olive-clad slope and the calm

-Mediterranean beyond is one of the most charming

-in all the Riviera.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The English chaplain of the Rue de France performed

-the last rites, and then, turning sorrowfully

-away, we drove back, full of gloomy thoughts, to

-Nice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The puzzling incident had crushed all gaiety from

-our hearts.  I suggested that we should

-immediately go on to Mentone, but Ulrica declared that

-it was our duty to remain where we were and give

-the police what assistance we could in aiding them

-to solve what seemed an inscrutable mystery.  Thus

-the days which followed were days of sadness and

-melancholy.  We ate in our own room to avoid the

-gaze of the curious, for all in Nice now knew the

-tragic story, and as we passed in and out of the

-hotel we overheard many whisperings.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As for myself, I had a double burden of sorrow.

-In those hours of deep thought and sadness, I

-reflected that poor Reggie was a man who might,

-perhaps, have become my husband.  I did not

-love him in the sense that the average woman

-understands love.  He was a sociable companion,

-clever, smart in dress and gait, and altogether one

-of those easy men of the world who appeal strongly

-to a woman of my own temperament.  When I

-placed him in comparison with Ernest, however,

-I saw that I could never have actually entertained

-a real affection for him.  I loved Ernest with a

-wild, passionate love, and all others were now,

-and would ever be, as naught to me.  I cared not

-that he had forsaken me in favour of that ugly,

-tow-haired witch.  I was his.  I felt that I must

-at all hazards see him again.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was sitting at the open window one afternoon,

-gazing moodily out upon the Square Massena, when

-Ulrica suddenly said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Curious that we've seen nothing more of

-Ernest.  I suppose, however, you've forgotten

-him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Forgotten him!" I cried, starting up.  "I

-shall never forget him&mdash;never!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In that instant I seemed to see his dark, handsome

-face before me, as of old.  It was in the golden blaze

-of a summer sunset.  I heard his rich voice in my

-ears.  I saw him pluck a sprig of jasmine, emblem

-of purity, and give it to me, at the same time

-whispering words of love and devotion.  Ah, yes, he

-loved me then&mdash;he loved me!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I put up my hand to shut out the vision.  I

-rose, and staggered.  Then I felt Ulrica's soft hand

-upon my waist.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Carmela!  Carmela!" she cried, "what's the

-matter?  Tell me, dear!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You know," I answered hoarsely.  "You

-know, Ulrica, that I love him!"  My voice was

-choked within me, so deep was my distress.  "And

-he is to marry&mdash;to marry that woman!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear, take my advice and forget him," she

-said lightly.  "There are lots of other men whom

-you could love quite as well.  Poor Reggie, for

-instance, might have filled his place in your heart.

-He was charming&mdash;poor fellow!  Your Ernest

-treated you as he has done all women.  Why make

-yourself miserable and wear out your heart remembering

-a past which it is quite unnecessary to recall.

-Live, as I do, for the future, without mourning over

-what must ever be bygones."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! that's all very well," I said sadly.  "But

-I can't help it.  That woman loves him&mdash;every

-woman loves him!  You yourself admired him long

-ago."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly.  I admire lots of men, but I have

-never committed the folly of loving a single

-one."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Folly!" I cried angrily.  "You call love

-folly!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, of course," she laughed.  "Do dry your

-eyes, or you'll look an awful sight when Gerald

-comes.  He said he would go for a walk with us

-on the Promenade at four&mdash;and it's already

-half-past three.  Come, it's time we dressed."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sighed heavily.  Yes, it was true that Ulrica

-was utterly heartless towards those who admired

-her.  I had with regret noticed her careless

-attitude times without number.  She was a smart

-woman who thought only of her own good looks,

-her own toilettes, her own conquests, and her own

-amusements.  Men pleased her by their flattery,

-and she therefore tolerated them.  She had told

-me this long ago with her own lips, and had urged

-me to follow her example.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ulrica," said I at last, "forgive me, forgive

-me, but I am so unhappy.  Don't let us speak of

-him again.  I will try and forget, indeed I will&mdash;I

-will try to regard him as dead.  I forgot

-myself&mdash;forgive me, dear."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, forget him, there's a dear," she said,

-kissing me.  "And now call Felicita, and let us

-dress.  Gerald hates to be kept waiting, you

-know," and carelessly she began humming the

-refrain of the latest <i>chanson</i>:

-</p>

-

-<p class="poem">

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,<br>

-  Viens par-ci, viens par-là, ma brune!<br>

-  Laisse le vieux jaloux qui t'importune,<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Le temps fuit et voilà la lune,<br>

-  C'est l'heure des baisers au clair de lune."<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER V

-<br><br>

-DEALS WITH A MILLIONAIRE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-One evening, about ten days later, we dined at

-old Benjamin Keppel's invitation at the Villa

-Fabron.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Visitors to Nice know the great white mansion

-well.  High up above the sea, beyond the Magnan,

-it stands in the midst of extensive grounds, shaded

-by date palms, olives and oranges, approached by

-a fine eucalyptus avenue, and rendered light with

-flowers, its dazzlingly white walls relieved by the

-green <i>persiennes</i>, a residence magnificent even for

-Nice&mdash;the town of princes.  Along the whole front

-of the great place there runs a broad marble terrace,

-from which are obtained marvellous views of

-Nice, with the gilt-domed Jetée Promenade jutting

-out into the azure bay, the old Château, Mont

-Boron, and the snow-capped Alps on the left, while

-on the right lies the valley of the Var, and that

-romantic chain of dark purple mountains which lie

-far away beyond Cannes, a panorama almost as

-magnificent as that from the higher Corniche.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The interior was, we found, the acme of luxury

-and comfort.  Everywhere was displayed the fact

-that its owner was wealthy; none on entering so

-splendid a home would have believed him to be

-so simple in taste and so curiously eccentric in

-manner.  Each winter he came to Nice in his

-splendid steam-yacht, the <i>Vispera</i>, which was now

-anchored as usual in Villefranche Harbour, and with

-his sister, a small, wizen-faced old lady, and

-Mr. Barnes, his secretary, he lived there from December

-until the end of April.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica had met him several times in London, and

-he greeted us both very affably.  He was, I found,

-a queer old fellow.  Report had certainly not lied

-about him, and I could hardly believe that this

-absent-minded, rather ordinary-looking old fellow,

-with disordered grey hair and beard and dark,

-deep-set eyes, was Gerald's father, the great

-Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Dinner, even though rather a stately affair, was

-quite a pleasant function, for the old millionaire was

-most unassuming and affable.  One of his eccentricities

-displayed itself in his dress.  His dining-jacket

-was old, and quite glossy about the back

-and elbows; he wore a paper collar, his white tie

-showed unmistakable signs of having done duty on

-at least a dozen previous occasions, and across his

-vest was suspended an albert chain, not of gold,

-but of rusty steel.  There had never been any

-pretence about Ben Keppel in his earlier days, as

-all the world knew, and there was certainly none

-in these days of his affluence.  He had amassed his

-fabulous fortune by shrewdness and sheer hard

-work, and he despised the whole of that chattering

-little ring which calls itself Society.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Before I had been an hour in this man's society

-I grew to like him for his honest plain-spokenness.

-He possessed none of that sarcastic arrogance which

-generally characterises those whose fortunes are

-noteworthy, but in conversation spoke softly, with

-a carefully cultivated air of refinement.  Not that

-he was refined in the least.  He had gone to the

-Transvaal as an emigrant from a little village

-in Norfolk, and had succeeded in amassing the

-third largest fortune in the United Kingdom.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He sat at the head of the table in his great dining-room,

-while Ulrica and myself sat on either hand.

-As a matter of course our conversation turned upon

-the mysterious death of poor Reggie, and we both

-gave him the exact version of the story.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Most extraordinary!" he ejaculated.  "Gerald

-has already explained the painful facts to me.

-There seems no doubt whatever that the poor

-fellow was murdered for the money.  Yet, to me,

-the strangest part of the whole affair is why he

-should have left you so suddenly at the Hermitage.

-If he changed the money for large notes, as we

-may suppose he did, why didn't he return to you?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because he must in the meantime have met

-someone," I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's just it," he said.  "If the police could

-but discover the identity of this friend, then I feel

-convinced that all the rest would be plain sailing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But, my dear guv'nor, the police hold the

-theory that he didn't meet anyone until he arrived

-at Nice," Gerald observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The police here are a confounded set of idiots!"

-cried the old millionaire.  "If it had occurred in

-London, or Chicago, or even in Glasgow, they

-would have arrested the murderer long before this.

-Here, in France, there's too much confounded

-<i>contrôle</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I expect if the truth were known," observed

-Miss Keppel, in her thin, squeaky voice, "the

-authorities of Monaco don't relish the idea that a

-man may be followed and murdered after successful

-play, and they won't help the Nice police at all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Most likely," her brother said.  "The police

-of the Prince of Monaco are elegant blue and silver

-persons, who look as though they would hesitate

-to capture a prisoner for fear of soiling their white

-kid gloves.  But surely, Miss Rosselli," he added,

-turning to me, "the Nice police haven't let the

-affair drop, have they?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I cannot say," I responded.  "The last I

-saw of any of the detectives was a week ago.  The

-man who called upon me then admitted that no

-clue had, so far, been obtained."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then all I have to say is that it's a public

-scandal!" Benjamin Keppel cried angrily.  "The

-authorities here seem to entertain absolutely no

-regard for the personal safety of their visitors.

-It appears to me that in Nice year by year prices

-have gone up until hotel charges have become

-unbearable, and people are being driven away to

-Algiers and Cairo.  And I don't blame them.

-During these past two years absolutely no regard

-has been paid by the Nice authorities to the

-comfort of the visitors who bring them their

-wherewithal to live.  Look at the state of the streets

-this season!  They're all up for new trams, new

-paving, new watermains and things, until they

-are absolutely impassable.  Even the Promenade

-des Anglais has been up!  Why they can't do it

-in summer, when there are no visitors here, is a

-mystery.  Again, within the last eight or ten

-years the price of everything has doubled, while

-the sanitary defects have become a disgrace.  Why,

-down at Beaumettes there were, until quite recently,

-houses which actually drained into a cave!  And

-then they are surprised at an outbreak of typhoid!

-The whole thing's preposterous!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"An English newspaper correspondent who

-had the courage to tell the truth about Nice was

-served with a notice threatening his expulsion

-from France!" observed Gerald.  "A nice way

-to suppress facts!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh! that's the French way," observed Ulrica,

-with a laugh.  "It is, however, certain that if Nice

-is to remain healthy and popular, there must be

-some very radical changes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If there are not, I shall sell this place," said

-the old millionaire decisively.  "I shall take the

-newspaper correspondent's advice and pitch my

-quarters in Cairo, where English-speaking visitors

-are protected, properly treated, and have their

-comfort looked after."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why not try San Remo?" I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"San Remo!" he cried, with an air of disgust.

-"Why, it's the most snobbish place on the whole

-Riviera.  The persons who have villas there are

-mostly those whom we taboo in society at home.

-One interesting person has had the audacity to

-name his villa after a royal palace.  It's like a

-fellow putting up 'Buckingham Palace' upon

-his ten-roomed house at Streatham Hill.  No,

-Miss Rosselli, save me from San Remo!  The

-hotels there are ruinous, and mostly of the fourth

-class, while the tradespeople are as rapacious

-a set of sharks as can be found outside Genoa.

-And the visitors are of that angular, sailor-hatted

-type of tea and lawn-tennis Englishwoman who

-talks largely at home of what she calls 'wintering

-abroad,' and hopes by reason of a six-weeks'

-stay in a cheap <i>pension</i>, shivering over an

-impossible fire, to improve her social status on her

-return to her own local surroundings.  San Remo,

-dull, dear, and dreary, has ever been a ghastly

-failure, and ever will be, as long as it is frequented

-by its present <i>clientele</i> of sharks and spongers.

-What the newspaper correspondent said about

-Nice was the truth&mdash;the whole truth," he went

-on.  "I know Nice as well as most people, and

-I bear out every charge put forward.  The Riviera

-has declined terribly these past five years.  Why,

-the people here actually hissed the Union Jack

-at the last Battle of Flowers!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Disgraceful!" said Ulrica, rather amused at

-the old fellow's warmth.  "If Nice declines in the

-popular favour, then the Niçois have only

-themselves to blame."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Exactly.  Foreigners are looked upon here

-as necessary evils, while in Italy, except on the

-Riviera, they are welcomed.  I built this place

-and spent a fairish sum upon it, but if things

-don't improve, I'll sell it at auction and cart my

-traps down to Sicily, or over to Cairo.  Upon

-that I'm determined."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The guv'nor's disgusted," Gerald laughed

-across to me.  "He's taken like this sometimes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, my boy, I am disgusted.  All I want in

-winter is quiet, sunshine, and good air.  That's

-what I come here for.  And I can get all that at

-Palermo or Algiers, for in those places the air is

-even better than here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But it isn't so fashionable," I observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To an old man like me it doesn't matter

-whether a place is fashionable or not, my dear

-Miss Rosselli," he said, with a serious look.  "I

-leave all that sort of thing to Gerald.  He has

-his clubs, his horses, his fine friends and all the

-rest of it.  But all the people know Ben Keppel

-of Johannesburg.  Even if I belonged to the most

-swagger of the clubs and mixed in good society&mdash;among

-lords and ladies of the aristocracy, I

-mean&mdash;I'd still be the same.  I couldn't alter

-myself as some of 'em try to do."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We laughed.  The old man was so blunt that

-one could not help admiring him.  He had the

-reputation of being niggardly in certain matters,

-especially regarding Gerald's allowance; but, as

-Ulrica had remarked, there were no doubt plenty

-of people who would be anxious to lend money to

-the millionaire's heir upon post-obits, so that,

-after all, it didn't much matter.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-If inclined to be economical in one or two

-directions, he certainly kept a remarkably good

-table; but although there were choice wines

-for us, he drank only water.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When, with Gerald, he joined us in the great

-drawing-room, he seated himself near me and

-suddenly said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't know, Miss Rosselli, whether you'd

-like to remain here and gossip, or whether you'd

-like to stroll round the place.  You are a woman,

-and there may be something to interest you in

-it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I shall be delighted, I'm sure," I said, and

-together we went forth to wander about the great

-mansion, which all the world on the Riviera knows

-as the home of the renowned Ben Keppel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He showed me his library, the boudoirs which

-were never occupied, the gallery of modern French

-paintings, the Indian tea-room, and the great

-conservatory whence we walked out upon the

-terrace and looked down upon the lights of the

-gay winter city lying at our feet, and at the flash

-of white brilliance that ever and anon shot across

-the tranquil sea, marking the dangerous headland

-at Antibes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The night was lovely&mdash;one of those bright and

-perfect nights which occur so often on the Riviera

-in January.  At sundown the air is always damp

-and treacherous, but when darkness falls it is no

-longer dangerous, even to those with extremely

-delicate constitutions.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How beautiful!" I ejaculated, standing at

-his side and watching the great white moon slowly

-rising from the sea.  "What a fairyland!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  It is beautiful.  The Riviera is, I

-believe, the fairest spot that God has created

-on this earth," and then he sighed, as though

-world-weary.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Presently, when we had been chatting a few

-minutes, he suggested that we should re-enter the

-house, as he feared that I, being décolletée, might

-catch a chill.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have a hobby," he said; "the only thing

-which prevents me from becoming absolutely

-melancholy.  Would you care to see it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, do show it me!" I said, at once interested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then come with me," he exclaimed.  He

-led me through two long passages to a door which

-he unlocked with a tiny master-key upon his

-chain.  "This is my private domain," he laughed.

-"No one is allowed in here, so you must consider

-yourself very highly privileged."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That I certainly do," I responded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As he entered he switched on the electric light,

-displaying to my astonished gaze a large place

-fitted as a workshop with lathes, tools, wheels,

-straps and all sorts of mechanical contrivances.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This room is secret," he said, with a smile.

-"If the fine people who sometimes patronise me

-with visits thought that I actually worked here

-they'd be horrified."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then do you actually work?" I inquired,

-surprised.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly.  Having nothing to occupy my

-leisure moments after I had severed myself from

-the works, I took to turning.  I was a turner

-by trade years ago, you know."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I looked at him in wonderment.  People had

-said he was eccentric, and this was evidently one

-of his eccentricities.  He had secretly

-established a great workshop within that princely

-mansion:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Would you like to see how I can work?"

-he asked, noticing my look of wonder.  "Well,

-watch&mdash;excuse me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Thereupon he threw off his jacket, and having

-raised a lever which set one of the lathes at work,

-he seated himself at it, selected a piece of ivory,

-and placed it in position.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Now," he laughed, looking towards me, "what

-shall I make you?  Ah, I know, an object useful

-to all you ladies&mdash;a box for your powder-puff,

-eh?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You seem to be fully aware of feminine

-mysteries, Mr. Keppel," I laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, you see, I was married once," he

-answered.  "But in them days my poor Mary

-didn't want face-powder, bless her!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And that instant his keen chisel cut deeply

-into the revolving ivory with a harsh sawing

-sound that rendered further conversation

-impossible.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood behind and watched him.  His grand

-old head was bent keenly over his work as he

-hollowed out the box to the desired depth, carefully

-gauged it, finished it, and quickly turned

-the lid until it fitted with precision and

-exactness.  Then he rubbed it down, polished it in

-several ways, and at last handed it to me complete.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This is a little souvenir, Miss Rosselli, of your

-first visit to me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Thank you ever so much," I answered, taking

-it and examining it curiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Truly he was a skilled workman, this man

-whose colossal wealth was remarkable, even among

-England's many millionaires.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I only ask one favour," he said, as we passed

-out and he locked the door of his workshop behind

-us.  "That you will tell no one of my hobby&mdash;that

-I have returned to my own trade.  For

-Gerald's sake I am compelled to keep up an

-appearance, and some of his friends would sneer

-if they knew that his father still worked and

-earned money in his odd moments."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you earn money?" I inquired, amazed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly.  A firm in Bond Street buy all

-my ivory work, only they're not, of course, aware

-that it comes from me.  It wouldn't do, you

-know.  My work, you see, provides me with a

-little pocket-money.  It has done so ever since I

-left the factory," he added simply.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I promise you, Mr. Keppel, that I'll tell no

-one, if you wish it to remain a secret.  I had no

-idea that you actually sold your turnings."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You don't blame me, surely?" he said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly not," I answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It seemed, however, ludicrous that this

-multi-millionaire, with his great house in Park Lane,

-his shooting-box in Scotland, his yacht, which

-was acknowledged to be one of the finest afloat,

-and his villa there on the Riviera, should toil at

-turning, in order to make a pound or two a week

-as pocket-money.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"When I worked as a turner in the old days,

-I earned sixteen shillings a week, by making

-butter dishes and bread plates, wooden bowls,

-salad spoons, and such like, and I earn about

-the same to-day when I've paid for the ivory,

-and the necessary things for the 'shop,'" he

-explained.  Then he added: "You seem to think

-it strange, Miss Rosselli.  If you place yourself

-for a moment in my position, that of a man

-without further aim or ambition, you will not be

-surprised that I have, after nearly forty years,

-returned to the old trade to which I served my

-apprenticeship."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I quite understand," I responded, "and I

-only admire you that you do not, like so many

-other rich men, lead a life of easy indolence."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I can't do that," he said; "it isn't in me to

-be still.  I must be at work, or I'm never happy.

-Only I have to be discreet for Gerald's sake,"

-and the old millionaire smiled, though rather

-sadly, I thought.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER VI

-<br><br>

-PLACES ME IN A PREDICAMENT

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-"I think him a most sociable old fellow," I

-answered, in response to Ulrica's inquiry when we

-returned to the hotel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But awfully eccentric," she said.  "Gerald

-always complains that he finds it impossible to

-make both ends meet upon his allowance."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He may surely be forgiven that," I said.

-"After all, he's an excellent type of the prosperous

-worker."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He showed you his ivory-turning, I suppose?"

-she observed, with a slight sneer.  "I see he's

-given you a puff-box."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, he turned it while I waited."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's really absurd," she declared, "that a

-man of his enormous means should still continue

-to work as he does.  Gerald tells me that he has

-secret workshops in all his houses, and spends

-the greater part of his time in turning, just as

-any workman would do.  No doubt he's a bit

-wrong in the head.  His wealth has crushed

-him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I think you judge him too harshly, my dear,"

-I responded.  "All master-minds have their

-hobbies.  His hobby is quite a harmless one;

-merely to return to the trade to which he was

-apprenticed long ago."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She smiled with some sarcasm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then we parted, and retired to bed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Day by day for many days we went over to

-Monte Carlo; why I can scarcely tell.  All visitors

-to Nice drift there, as if by the natural law of

-gravitation, and we were no exception.  Even

-though our memories of the Sign of the Seven

-Sins were painful on account of poor Reggie's

-mysterious death, we nevertheless found distraction

-in the Rooms, the crowds, and the music.  Sometimes

-Gerald would act as our escort, and at others

-we went over alone after luncheon and risked

-half-a-dozen louis at the tables with varying success.

-We met quite a host of people we knew, for the

-season was proceeding apace, and the nearness of

-the Carnival attracted our compatriots from all

-over Europe.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And as the days passed, my eyes were ever

-watchful.  Truth to tell, Monte Carlo had an

-attraction for me, not because of its picturesqueness

-or its play, but because I knew that in that feverish

-little world there lived and moved the man who

-held my future in his hands.  In the Rooms, in

-the "Paris," in the Place, and in the Gardens I

-searched for sight of him, but alas! always in vain.

-I bought the various visitors' lists, but failed to

-discover that he was staying at any of the villas or

-hotels.  Yet I knew he was there, for had I not seen

-him with my own eyes&mdash;had I not seen him smile

-upon the woman who was my rival?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The papers continued to comment upon the

-mystery surrounding poor Reggie's tragic death,

-yet beyond a visit from the British Consul, who

-proved to be a nice old gentleman, and who

-obtained a statement from us regarding his friends

-in London, and who took possession of certain

-effects found in his room, absolutely nothing fresh

-transpired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was early in February, that month when Nice

-puts on its annual air of gaiety in preparation for

-the reign of the King of Folly; when the streets are

-bright with coloured decoration, great stands are

-erected in the Place Massena, and the shops of the

-Avenue de la Gare are ablaze with Carnival costumes

-in the two colours previously decided upon by the

-Committee.  Though Nice may be defective from

-a sanitary point of view, and her authorities churlish

-towards foreign visitors, nevertheless in early

-February it is certainly the gayest and most

-charming spot on the whole Riviera.  The very

-streets, full of life and movement, are sweet with the

-perfume of roses, violets and mimosa; and at a

-time when the rest of Europe is held frost-bound,

-summer costumes and sunshades are the mode,

-while men wear their straw hats and flannels upon

-that finest of all sea-walks, the palm-planted

-Promenade des Anglais.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Poor Reggie's brother, a doctor in Aberdeen, had

-arrived to obtain a personal account of the mystery,

-which, of course, we gave.  Gerald also conducted

-him to the grave in the English cemetery, on which

-he laid a beautiful wreath, and, while there, gave

-orders for a handsome monument.  Then after

-remaining three days, he returned to Scotland.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Meanwhile, we became frequent guests at the

-Villa Fabron, dining there often, and being always

-received cordially by the old millionaire.  The

-secretary, Barnes, appeared to me to rule the household,

-for he certainly placed himself more in evidence

-than ever did his employer, and I could see that

-the relations between Gerald and this factotum

-of his father were somewhat strained.  He was a

-round-faced man of about thirty-five, dark,

-clean-shaven, with a face that was quite boyish-looking,

-but with a pair of small eyes that I did not like.

-I always distrust persons with small eyes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-From his manner, however, I gathered that he

-was a shrewd, hard-headed man of business, and

-even Gerald himself had to admit that he fulfilled

-the duties of his post admirably.  Of course, I

-came into contact with him very little.  Now and

-then we met on the Promenade, or in the Quai

-St. Jean Baptiste, and he raised his hat in passing,

-or he might happen to encounter us at the Villa

-when we visited there, but save on these occasions, I

-had not spoken to him a dozen words.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He has the face of a village idiot, with eyes like

-a Scotland Yard detective," was Ulrica's terse

-summary of his appearance, and it was an admirable

-description.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-On the Sunday afternoon when the first Battle of

-Confetti was fought, we went out in our satin

-dominoes of mauve and old gold&mdash;the colours of

-that year&mdash;and had glorious fun pelting all and

-sundry with paper confetti, or whirling serpentines

-among the crowd in the Avenue de la Gare.  Those

-who have been in Nice during Carnival know the

-wild gaiety of that Sabbath, the procession of

-colossal cars and grotesque figures, the ear-splitting

-bands, the ridiculous costumes of the maskers, the

-buoyant fun and the good humour of everybody in

-that huge cosmopolitan crowd.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Gerald was with us, as well as a young American

-named Fordyce, whom we had known in London,

-and who was now staying at the Beau Site, over

-at Cannes.  With our sacks containing confetti slung

-over our shoulders, and the hoods of our bright

-dominoes over our heads, and wearing half masks

-of black velvet, we mixed with the crowd the whole

-of that afternoon, heartily enjoying the fun.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I confess that I enjoyed, and shall always, I hope,

-enjoy the Nice Carnival immensely.  Many constant

-visitors condemn it as a tawdry tinsel show, and

-leave Nice for a fortnight in order to escape the

-uproar and boisterous fun; but after all, even

-though the air of recklessness would perchance

-shock some of the more puritanical in our own land,

-there is nevertheless an enormous amount of

-harmless and healthy amusement to be derived from it.

-It is only sour spinsters and the gouty who really

-object to Carnival.  Regular visitors to the Riviera

-condemn it merely because it is good form to

-condemn everything vulgar.  They used to enjoy it

-until its annual repetition became wearisome.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-After the fight with confetti, during which our

-hair and dominoes got sadly tumbled, we struggled

-through the crowd to the hotel; and while Gerald

-went along to the café outside the Casino to wait for

-us, we dressed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Felicita was an unconscionable time in doing my

-hair&mdash;her head was full of the Carnival fever, I

-think&mdash;and when I entered our sitting-room I found

-Ulrica, ready dressed, seated on a low stool in a

-picturesque attitude, lazily cooling herself with her

-fan of feathers.  The disengaged bare arm, with

-its jingling bangles, was gracefully raised, the taper

-fingers were endeavouring, without much success,

-to adjust a stray lock of hair.  It was a favourite

-gesture of Ulrica's, for her hands were lovely, white and

-slender, and covered with rings, which she was

-fond of displaying.  The rosy light from the shaded

-lamp fell kindly upon her, so that she made an

-extremely pretty picture.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She was talking as I entered, and in the dim

-light I discovered a man sitting on the ottoman.

-I was about to retreat, when she recalled me, and

-introduced me with a little laugh, to Cecil Ormrod,

-who had called at that rather inconvenient moment.

-She appeared to be by no means displeased at

-having been surprised in a <i>tête-à-tête</i> with him.

-It was a notification that she had pegged out

-her claim.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was tall, manly, and well-shaped, and his

-voice was pleasant.  Ulrica looked at me with a

-curious smile, as if to say: "Don't you think I

-have shown good taste?"  Then holding out her

-hand for his aid in rising, she said to him:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Ormrod, but we are just

-going out to dinner.  I know you'll excuse us.

-You'll look in and see us to-morrow.  You must,

-you know&mdash;you're staying at the 'Anglais,' and

-it's close by."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, turning to me, she added:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Come, dear, we must make haste.  It's awfully

-late, and old Mr. Keppel will never forgive us if the

-soup comes up cold."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-So young Cecil Ormrod made his adieux and

-departed, promising to call on us again.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Cecil is an awfully nice boy," Ulrica remarked.

-"I met him at a country house-party two years

-ago.  His father is a stockbroker and his sisters

-are particularly jolly.  We must be nice to

-him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You've already begun," I remarked, rather

-spitefully perhaps.  But she only smiled.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then we descended by the lift and joined Gerald,

-whom we found walking up and down impatiently

-in the hall.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Quite a host of smart people dined at the Villa

-Fabron that evening, including several pretty

-English girls.  A millionaire never lacks friends.

-Old Benjamin Keppel was something of a recluse.

-It was not often that he sent out so many invitations,

-but when he gave a dinner he spared no expense,

-and the one in honour of Carnival was truly a

-gastronomic marvel.  The table was decorated

-with mauve and old gold, the Carnival colours;

-and the room, which was draped with satin of

-the same shades, presented a mass of blended hues

-particularly striking.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The old millionaire, seated at the head of his

-table, in his breezy, open-hearted manner made

-everyone happy at once.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Both Ulrica and I wore new frocks, which we

-considered were the latest triumphs of our Nice

-<i>couturière</i>&mdash;they certainly ought to have been, if

-they were not, for their cost was ruinous&mdash;and

-there were also quite a number of bright dresses and

-good-looking men.  The day is gone, I am glad to

-say, when a mode, because it is decreed to be the

-fashion, is blindly adopted.  Women realise at

-last that to achieve the happiest results they must

-make Fashion subservient to their requirements,

-instead of foolishly following in her wake, as for

-years they have been wont to do.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I sat there amid the gay chatter of the table,

-I looked at the lean, grey-bearded man at its head,

-and fell into reflection.  How strange it was that

-this man, worth millions, actually toiled in secret

-each day at his lathe to earn a few shillings a week

-from an English firm as pocket-money!  All his

-gay friends who sat around his table were ignorant

-of that fact.  He only revealed it to those in whom

-he placed trust&mdash;and I was one of the latter.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-After dinner we all went forth into the gardens,

-which were illuminated everywhere with coloured

-lights and lanterns, and wandered beneath the

-orange trees, joking and chattering.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A rather insipid young prig was at first my

-companion, but presently I found myself beside old

-Mr. Keppel, who walked at my side far down the

-slope, till at last we came to the dark belt of olives

-which formed the boundary of his domain.  Villas

-on the Riviera do not usually possess extensive

-grounds, but the Villa Fabron was an exception,

-for the gardens ran down almost to the well-known

-white sea-road that leads along from Nice to the

-mouth of the Var.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How charming!" I exclaimed, as, turning

-back, we gazed upon the long terrace hung with

-Japanese lanterns, and the moving figures smoking,

-taking their coffee, and chattering.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," the old man laughed.  "I have to be

-polite to them now and then; but after all, Miss

-Rosselli, they don't come here to visit me&mdash;only

-to spend a pleasant evening.  Society expects me

-to entertain, so I have to.  But I confess that

-I never feel at home among all these folk, as Gerald

-does."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I fear you are becoming just a little world-weary,"

-I said, smiling.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Becoming?  Why, I was tired of it all years

-ago," he answered, glancing at me with a serious

-expression in his deep-set eyes.  It seemed as though

-he wished to confide in me, and yet dared not do so.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why not try a change?" I suggested.  "You

-have the <i>Vispera</i> lying at Villefranche.  Why not

-take a trip in her up the Mediterranean?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," he sighed.  "I hate yachting, for I have

-nothing on board wherewith to occupy my time.

-After a couple of days I always go ashore at the

-nearest port.  The trip round from Portsmouth

-here each winter is always a misery to me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you keep such a beautiful craft idle!"

-I observed, in a tone of reproach.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You've seen it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, Gerald took us on board a few days ago,

-and showed us over.  It's like a small Atlantic

-liner."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Everyone says she's a handsome boat," the

-old fellow remarked carelessly.  Then he added:

-"Are you fond of the sea?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Passionately.  I always regret when the

-Channel passage is finished."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Perhaps you would like to go on a cruise in the

-<i>Vispera</i>?" he said.  "If you would, I should be

-very pleased to take you.  I might invite a party for

-a run, say, to Naples or Smyrna and back."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I should be delighted," I answered enthusiastically,

-for yachting was one of my favourite pastimes,

-and on board such a magnificent craft, one of the

-finest private vessels afloat, life would be most

-enjoyable.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very well, I'll see what I can arrange," he

-answered; and then we fell to discussing other

-things.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He smoked thoughtfully as he strolled beside me,

-his mind evidently much preoccupied.  The stars

-were bright overhead, the night balmy and still, and

-the air was heavy with the scent of flowers.  It was

-hard to believe that it was actually mid-winter.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I fear," he said at last&mdash;"I fear, Miss Rosselli,

-that you find me a rather lonely man, don't you?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You have no reason to be lonely," I responded.

-"Surrounded by all these friends, your life might

-surely be very gay if you wished."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Friends?  Bah!" he cried, in a tone of

-ridicule.  "There's an attraction in money that

-is irresistible.  These people here, all of them,

-bow down before the golden calf.  Sometimes,

-Miss Rosselli, I have thought that there's no real

-honesty of purpose in the world."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm afraid you are a bit of a cynic," I laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And if I am, may I not be forgiven?" he

-urged.  "I can assure you I find life very dull

-indeed."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was a strange confession coming from the lips

-of such a man.  If I had only a sixteenth part of

-his wealth I should, I reflected, be a very happy

-woman&mdash;unless the common saying were actually

-true, that great wealth only creates unbearable

-burdens.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are not the only one who finds life wearisome,"

-I observed frankly, "I also have to plead

-guilty to the indictment on many occasions."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You?" he cried, halting, and regarding me

-in surprise.  "You&mdash;young, pretty, vivacious,

-with ever so many men in love with you?  And

-you are tired of it all&mdash;tired of it while still in your

-twenties?  Impossible!"

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER VII

-<br><br>

-MAINLY CONCERNS THE OWL

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-Late that night Ulrica made merry at my expense.

-She had noticed me walking <i>tête-à-tête</i> with old

-Mr. Keppel, and accused me of flirtation with him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Now, I may be given to harmless frivolities with

-men of my own age, but I certainly have never

-endeavoured to attract those of maturer years.

-Elderly men may have admired me&mdash;that I do not

-deny&mdash;but assuredly this has been through no

-fault of my own.  A woman's gowns are always

-an object of attention among the sterner sex.  If,

-therefore, she dresses smartly she can at once

-attract a certain section of males, even though her

-features may be the reverse of prepossessing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Truth to tell, a woman's natural <i>chic</i>, her taste

-in dress and her style of <i>coiffure</i>, are by far the

-most important factors towards her well-being.

-The day of the healthful, buxom, pink-and-white

-beauty is long past.  The woman rendered artistic

-by soft chiffons, dainty blouses, and graceful

-tea-gowns reigns in her stead.  Women nowadays

-are becoming very Continental.  For instance,

-certain illustrated journals tell us that fur coats

-of every description are to be the mode, and a few

-foolish women think that if they possess such a

-garment, no matter what its shape, so long as it

-is of fur, they will be in the vanguard of Fashion!

-The really smart woman will, however, think twice

-before she hides her figure by any such bulky

-covering, merely because she happens to possess

-the fur, and it will take the furrier all the ingenuity

-at his command to produce the neat, short and

-close-fitting little coat or bolero which she would

-condescend to wear.  Yes, we are yearly becoming

-more and more tasteful&mdash;more Parisian.  Ulrica's

-suggestion caused me to laugh.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Old Mr. Keppel walked with me because he

-wanted company, I suppose," I protested.  "I

-had no idea such a misconstruction would be

-placed upon our conversation, Ulrica."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, my dear, everyone noticed it and

-remarked upon it.  He neglected his guests and

-walked with you for a whole hour in the garden.

-Whatever did you find to talk about all that long

-time?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Nothing," I responded simply.  "He only took

-me round the place.  I don't think he cares very

-much for the people he entertains, or he wouldn't

-have neglected them in that manner."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  But I heard some spiteful things said

-about yourself," Ulrica remarked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"By whom?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"By various people.  They said that you had

-been angling after the old man for a long

-time&mdash;that you had followed him to Nice, in fact."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, Ulrica!" I cried indignantly.  "How can

-they say such things?  Why, you know it was

-yourself who introduced us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I know," she answered rather curtly.  "But

-I didn't expect that you'd make such a fool of

-yourself as you've done to-night."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am not aware that I have made a fool of

-myself, as you choose to term it," I responded

-warmly.  "Mr. Keppel invited me to walk in the

-garden, and as his guest I could not very well

-refuse."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You know what an ill-bred, vulgar old fellow

-he is, and you might therefore have had some

-respect for his guests."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I know that he is an honest, plain-spoken man,"

-I said calmly.  "He may be ill-bred, but,

-nevertheless, he's more the gentleman than half the

-over-dressed cads who so perpetually hang about

-us just because we happen to be both good-looking."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If I were in your place I should be ashamed

-at having made such an exhibition of myself!"

-she exclaimed, with bitter sarcasm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have made no exhibition of myself," I

-protested.  "I like Mr. Keppel for his blunt

-manliness&mdash;but beyond that&mdash;why, Ulrica, you must be

-mad to suspect me of flirtation with him!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He's old enough to be your father," she snapped.

-"Yet Doris Ansell whispered in the drawing-room

-that she had watched him holding your hand in

-lover-like attitude."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then Doris Ansell lied!" I exclaimed angrily.

-"He never touched my hand.  It is a foul libel

-upon him and upon me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I saw you myself walking with him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you were walking with Gerald.  He was,

-as usual, flirting with you," I said spitefully.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Her cheeks crimsoned, and I saw that my words

-had struck home.  How cruel and ill-natured was

-such gossip as this; how harmful to my good name,

-and to his.  I knew Doris Ansell well&mdash;a snub-nosed,

-under-sized little gossip, and had always

-believed that she entertained towards me some

-ill-will&mdash;for what reason I never could ascertain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And why should you fly into such a rage?"

-she inquired, with affected coolness.  "If you were

-to change into Mrs. Ben Keppel you would at

-least possess a very substantial income, even if

-your husband was a rough diamond.  You would

-exact the envy of half the women we know, and

-surely that's quite sufficient success to have

-obtained.  One can't have everything in this world.

-Money is always synonymous with ugliness where

-marriage is concerned."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't see any object to be obtained by

-discussing the matter further," I answered, with

-rising indignation.  "Such a circumstance as you

-suggest will never occur, you may depend upon it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Carmela," she said, laughing, "you are

-still a child, I really declare!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am old enough to be mistress of my own

-actions," I answered quickly.  "I shall certainly

-never marry for money."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because of Ernest&mdash;eh?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is cruel, Ulrica, to taunt me like this!" I

-cried, bursting into tears.  "Surely I've suffered

-enough!  You do not suffer because, as you have

-said hundreds of times, you have no heart.  Would

-that I had none!  Love within me is not yet dead.

-Would to God it were!  I might then be like you,

-cold and cynical, partaking of the pleasures of the

-world without a thought of its griefs.  As I am, I

-must love.  My love for that man is my very

-life!  Without it I should die!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, no, my dear," she said quickly, in kinder

-tones.  "Don't cry, or your eyes will be a horrid

-sight to-morrow.  Remember we're lunching over

-at Beaulieu with the Farnells.  Come, dry your

-eyes and go to bed.  I didn't mean anything, you

-know."  And she drew down my head and kissed

-me tenderly on the brow.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I left her and went to my room, but her words

-rang constantly in my ears.  The idea that the

-old millionaire had been attracted by me was a

-novel one.  Surely that could not be possible.

-True, he had grown confidential enough to tell

-me things that were held secret from all his friends,

-yet I attributed this to his eccentricity.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-No, it was surely not true that he was among

-my admirers.  Through the dark hours of that

-night I thought it all over.  Sometimes I saw in

-all that had occurred a disposition on his part to

-tell me some secret or other.  He had been so

-preoccupied, and had so earnestly told me of

-the dull loneliness of his life, that colour was

-certainly lent to the theory that he looked upon me

-with affection.  Yet, after all, I reasoned with

-myself that I could never in my life love a man

-of that age, and determined never to barter myself

-for money and position.  I should even, if he told

-me the truth, be compelled to refuse his offer.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But the whole theory was ridiculous.  It had

-been started by that lying, ill-natured woman

-for want of something else to gossip about.  Why

-should I heed it?  I liked him, it was true, but I

-could never love him&mdash;never!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Reader, you may think it strange that we two

-young women were wandering about the Continent

-together without any male relative.  The truth is,

-that terrifying personage, so peculiarly British,

-known as Mrs. Grundy, is dead.  It is her complete

-downfall in this age of emancipation, bicycles and

-bloomers, that more than anything else makes

-the modern spinster's lot, in many respects, an

-eminently attractive one.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We were discussing this over our coffee on the

-following morning, when Ulrica, referring to our

-conversation of the previous night, said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Formerly girls married in order to gain their

-social liberty; now they more often remain single

-to bring about that desirable consummation."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I acquiesced.  "If we are permitted

-by public opinion to go to college, to live

-alone, to travel, to have a profession, to belong

-to a club, to wear divided skirts&mdash;not that I approve

-of them&mdash;to give parties, to read and discuss

-whatsoever seems good to us, and go to theatres,

-and even to Monte Carlo, without a masculine escort,

-then we have most of the privileges&mdash;and several

-others thrown in&mdash;for which the girl of twenty or

-thirty years ago was ready to sell herself to the

-first suitor who offered himself and the shelter of

-his name."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm very glad, my dear Carmela, that you are

-at last becoming so very sensible," she answered

-approvingly.  "Until now you've been far too

-romantic and too old-fashioned in your ideas.  I

-really think that I shall convert you to my views

-of life in time&mdash;if you don't marry old Keppel."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Kindly don't mention him again," I protested

-firmly.  "To a certain extent I entirely agree with

-you regarding the emancipation of woman.  A

-capable woman who has begun a career, and feels

-certain of advancement in it, is often as shy of

-entangling herself matrimonially as ambitious

-young men have ever shown themselves in like

-circumstances."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Without doubt.  The disadvantages of marriage

-to a woman with a profession are more obvious

-than to a man, and it is just the question of

-maternity, with all its duties and responsibilities,

-which is occasionally the cause of many women

-forswearing the privileges of the married state."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, Ulrica," I said, "speaking candidly,

-would you marry if you had a really good offer?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Marry?  Certainly not," she answered, with

-a laugh, as though the idea were perfectly

-preposterous.  "Why should I marry?  I've had a

-host of offers, just as every woman with a little

-money always has.  But why should I renounce

-my freedom?  If I married, my husband would

-forbid this and forbid that&mdash;and you know I

-couldn't live without indulging in my little pet

-vices of smoking and gambling."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Wouldn't your husband's love fill the void?"

-I queried.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It would be but a poor substitute, I'm afraid.

-The most ardent love nowadays cools within six

-months, and more often even wanes with the

-honeymoon."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I've really no patience with you," I said hastily.

-"You're far too cynical."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She smiled, and then sighed gently.  She looked

-so young in her pale pink <i>peignoir</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Contact with the world has made me what

-I am, my dear Carmela."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," I said, "to be quite candid, I don't

-think that the real cause why so many women

-nowadays remain single is to be found in the

-theories we've been airing to one another.  The

-fact is, after all, that we're only a bundle of nerves

-and emotions, and once our affections are involved

-we are capable of any heroism."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You may be one of those, my dear," was her

-rather grave response.  "I'm afraid, however, that

-I am not."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I did not pursue the subject further.  She was

-kind and sympathetic in all else, save where my

-love was concerned.  My affection for Ernest was

-to her merely an amusing incident.  She seemed

-unable to realise how terribly serious I was, or

-what a crushing blow had fallen upon me when he

-had turned and forsaken me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Gerald called at eleven, for he had arranged to

-accompany us to Beaulieu.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Miss Rosselli," he cried, as he greeted me,

-"you're a brick&mdash;that you are!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A brick!" I echoed.  "Why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, you've worked an absolute miracle with

-the guv'nor.  Nobody else could persuade him

-to set foot on the <i>Vispera</i> except to return to

-England, yet you've induced him to arrange for a

-cruise up the Mediterranean."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica glanced at me with a confident air.  I

-knew the thought which rose in her mind.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Are you glad?" I asked him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Glad?  I should rather think so!  We shall

-have a most glorious time!  He intends asking the

-Farnells, Lord Eldersfield, Lord and Lady

-Stoneborough, and quite a lot of people.  We've got

-you to thank for it.  No power on earth would

-induce him to put to sea&mdash;except yourself, Miss

-Rosselli."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, Gerald," I said.  "Please don't flatter me.

-It's bad form, you know.  Your father asked me if

-I would like a cruise, and I responded in the

-affirmative, that's all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, at any rate, it's enough," answered the

-young man enthusiastically.  "The guv'nor has

-sent for Davis, the skipper, and when I left him,

-was poring over a chart of the Eastern Mediterranean.

-There's only one condition that I've made,

-and I think you'll both agree with me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What's that?" inquired Ulrica, as she buttoned

-her glove.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That we don't take that cur Barnes.  I hate

-that fellow."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"So say all of us," Ulrica observed frankly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"His air is so superior that people believe him

-to be at least a son of the house," Gerald said

-quickly.  "I know that he tells the guv'nor all

-sorts of false tales about myself.  He knew that

-I lost pretty heavily at Monte when I went over

-with you the other night, and as Mr. Barnes

-chanced to be there he was, of course, the amiable

-gentleman who told the tale.  I always feel as

-though I'd like to give him a good sound

-kicking."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Treat him with contempt," I urged.  "Your

-father is not the kind of man to believe mere tales

-without proof.  Even if he is a bit eccentric, he's

-the essence of justice&mdash;that you'll admit."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, Miss Rosselli, I tell you that my old dad

-is the very best fellow in all the world.  I know all

-men of his stamp have their little eccentricities,

-and therefore forgive him.  If he's niggardly

-towards me, it's only because he doesn't believe in

-a young man going the pace too fast."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Quite so," I answered, remembering how very

-lenient the world is towards the son of a millionaire.

-"No man should speak ill of his father&mdash;more

-especially of such an admirable type as your father

-is."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But I drew myself up short, for I saw a smile

-playing in the corners of Ulrica's mouth.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Let's be off," she said.  "We'll take a fiacre

-to the station.  Gerald, tell them to get us a cab."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And young Keppel went forth to do her bidding.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The Carnival <i>bal masqué</i> at the Casino&mdash;the great

-event of King Carnival's reign&mdash;took place on the

-following Sunday night, and we made up a gay

-party to go to it.  There were seven of us, and

-we looked a grotesque group as we assembled in the

-vestibule of the "Grand," attired in our fantastic

-costumes and wearing those mysterious masks of

-black velvet which so effectively conceal the

-features.  Ulrica represented a Watteau shepherdess,

-with wig and crook complete, while I was

-<i>en bébé</i>, wearing a simple costume, surmounted

-by a sun-bonnet with a very wide brim.  One of

-the women of the party was a Queen of Folly,

-and another wore a striking Louis XV. dress;

-while Gerald represented a demon, and wore pins

-in his tail in order to prevent others from pulling

-that appendage.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the distance from the hotel to the Casino was

-only a few hundred yards, we walked.  Laughter

-was abundant, for the novelty of the thing was

-sublime.  Among our party only Gerald had

-witnessed a previous Carnival ball, and he had led

-us to expect a scene of wild merriment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Certainly we were not disappointed.  Having

-run the gauntlet of a crowd who smothered us

-with confetti, we entered the great winter-garden

-of the Casino, and found it a blaze of colour&mdash;the

-two colours of Carnival.  Suspended from the high

-glass roof were thousands of bannerettes of mauve

-and gold, while the costumes of the revellers were of

-the self-same shades.  Everywhere flashed coloured

-lights of similar hue, and the fun was already

-fast and furious.  The side-rooms, which, as most

-readers will remember, are ordinarily devoted to

-gambling&mdash;for gambling in a mild form is permitted

-at Nice&mdash;were now turned into handsome supper-rooms,

-and in the winter-garden and the theatre

-beyond the scene was perhaps one of the liveliest

-and most enchanting in the whole world.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Everyone had gone there for full enjoyment.  In

-the theatre there was wild dancing; the boxes were

-filled by the <i>grand monde</i> of Europe, princes and

-princesses, grand-dukes and grand-duchesses, counts

-and countesses, noted actresses from Paris and

-London, and well-known people of every nationality,

-all enjoying the scene of uproarious merrymaking.

-We viewed it first from our own box, but at length

-someone suggested that we should descend and

-dance, an idea which at once found ungrudging

-favour.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Masked as everyone was, with the little piece of

-black lace tacked to the bottom of the black velvet

-<i>loup</i>, in order to conceal the lower part of the

-features, it was impossible to recognise a single

-person in that whirling crowd.  Therefore,

-immediately we descended to the floor of the theatre we

-at once became separated.  I stood for a few

-moments bewildered.  The blaze of colour made

-one's head reel.  People in all sorts of droll costumes

-were playing various kinds of childish antics.

-Out in the winter-garden clowns and devils were

-playing leap-frog, and sylphs and angels, joining

-hands, were whirling round and round in huge rings,

-playing some game and screaming with laughter.

-Almost everyone carried miniature representations

-of Punch, with bells attached, large rattles, or

-paper flowers which, when blown, could be elongated

-to a ridiculous extent.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Never before, in all my life, had I been amidst such

-a merry and irresponsible crowd.  The ludicrousness

-of Carnival reaches its climax in the ball at the

-Casino, and whatever may be said of it, it is without

-doubt one of the annual sights of Europe.  I had

-heard it denounced as a disgraceful exhibition by

-old ladies, who had been compelled to admit that

-they had never been present; but I must say that

-from first to last, although the fun was absolutely

-unbridled, I saw nothing whatever to offend.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was standing aside watching the dancers,

-when suddenly a tall man, dressed in a remarkable

-costume representing an owl, approached, and

-bowing, said in rather good English, in a deep,

-but not unmusical voice:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Might I have the pleasure of this dance with

-mademoiselle?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I looked at him in suspicion.  He was a weird-looking

-creature in his bird-dress of mauve and gold,

-and the strange mask with two black eyes peering

-out at me.  Besides, it was not my habit to dance

-with strangers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" he laughed.  "You hesitate because we

-have not been introduced.  Here in Nice at Carnival

-one introduces oneself.  Well, I have introduced

-myself, and now I ask you what is your opinion of

-my marvellous get-up.  Don't you think me a real

-fine bird?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I laughed.  "You're absolutely

-hideous."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Thanks for the compliment," he answered

-pleasantly.  "To unmask is forbidden, or I'd

-take off this terrible affair, for I confess I am half

-stifled.  But if I'm ugly, you're absolutely charming.

-It's a case of Beauty and the Bird.  Aren't my

-wings fetching?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I knew you were English.  Funny how we

-Frenchmen can always pick out English and

-Americans."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How did you know I am English?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! now that's a secret," he laughed.  "But

-hark! it's a waltz.  Come under my wing, and

-let's dance.  I know you'd dearly love a turn

-round.  For this once throw the introduction farce

-to the winds, and let me take you round.  The owl

-is never a ferocious bird, you know."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For a moment I hesitated, then consenting, I

-whirled away among the dancers with my unknown

-partner.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I saw you up in that box," he said presently.

-"I was waiting for you to come down."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With woman's innate coquetry, I felt a delight

-in misleading him, just as he was trying to mislead

-me.  There was a decided air of adventure in

-that curious meeting.  Besides, so many of the

-dresses were absolutely alike that, now we had

-become separated, it was hopeless for me to discover

-any of our party.  The Nice dressmakers make

-dozens of Carnival dresses exactly similar, and

-when the wearers are masked, it is impossible to

-distinguish one from the other.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," he said evasively, in answer to my

-question, "I wanted a partner."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And so you waited for me?  Surely any other

-would have done as well?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, that's just it.  She wouldn't.  I wanted

-to dance with you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The waltz had ended, and we strolled together

-out of the theatre into the great winter-garden,

-with its bright flower-beds and graceful palms&mdash;a

-kind of huge conservatory, which forms a gay

-promenade each evening in the season.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't see why you should entertain such a

-desire," I said.  "Besides," and I paused to gain

-breath for the little untruth, "I fear now that my

-husband will be furious if he has noticed us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I might say the same about my wife&mdash;if I wished

-to import fiction into the romance," he said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you have no wife?" I suggested, with a laugh.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My wife is just as real as your husband," he

-responded bluntly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do you mean?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I mean that if you really have a husband, it

-is an extremely surprising confession."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why surprising?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, it's true that husbands are like

-Somebody's sewing-machines, no home being complete

-without one," he laughed.  "But I really had no

-idea that Mademoiselle Carmela Rosselli possessed

-such a useful commodity."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What!" I gasped, glaring at the hideous-looking

-Owl.  "You know me?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he responded, in a deeper tone, more

-earnestly than before.  "I know quite well who

-you are.  I have come here to-night expressly to

-speak with you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I started, and stood glaring at him in wonderment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have," he added, in a low, confidential voice,

-"something important to say to you&mdash;something

-most important."

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER VIII

-<br><br>

-NARRATES A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-"You are a perfect stranger, sir," I said, with

-considerable hauteur.  "Until you care to give me

-your name, and make known who you are, I have

-no wish to hear this important statement of yours."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," he answered, "I regret very much that

-for certain reasons I am unfortunately unable

-to furnish my name.  I am The Owl&mdash;that is

-sufficient."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, not for me.  As I am not in the habit of

-thus chattering with strangers at a public ball, I

-must wish you good evening," I said, and turned

-abruptly away.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant he was again at my side.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Listen, Miss Rosselli," he said, in a deeply

-earnest tone.  "You must listen to me.  I have

-something to tell you which closely concerns

-yourself&mdash;your future welfare."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I cannot speak now, as someone may overhear.

-I had to exercise the greatest precaution in

-approaching you for there are spies everywhere, and

-a single blunder would be fatal."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do you mean?" I inquired, at once

-interested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The manner of this hideously disguised man

-who spoke such excellent English was certainly

-mysterious, and I could not doubt that he was in

-real earnest.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Let us walk over there, and sit in that corner,"

-he said, indicating a seat half hidden in the bamboos.

-"If there is no one near, I will explain.  If we are

-watched, then we must contrive to find some other

-place."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In our box," I suggested.  "We can sit at

-the back in the alcove, where no one can see us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Excellent!" he answered.  "I never thought

-of that.  But if any of your party return there?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I can merely say that you invited me to dance,

-and I, in return, invited you there for a few

-moments' rest.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then let's go," he said, and a few minutes

-later we were sitting far back in the shadow of the

-box on the second tier, high above the music and

-gay revelry.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," I inquired eagerly, when we were

-seated, "and why did you wish to see me to-night?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"First, I have knowledge&mdash;which you will not,

-I think deny&mdash;that you loved a man in London&mdash;one

-Ernest Cameron."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And at this moment there is a second man who,

-although not your lover, is often in your thoughts.

-The man's name is Benjamin Keppel.  Am I

-correct?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I really don't see by what right you submit

-me to this cross-examination upon affairs which

-only concern myself," I responded in a hard voice,

-although I was eager to determine the identity

-of this masked man.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Marriage with a millionaire is a temptation

-which few women can resist," he said philosophically,

-in a voice undisturbed by my harsh retort.

-"Temptations are the crises which test the strength

-of one's character.  Whether a woman stands or

-falls at these crises depends very largely on what

-she is before the testing comes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And pray what concern have you in my intentions

-or actions?" I demanded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You will discover that in due time," he

-answered.  "I know that to the world you, like your

-companion, Ulrica Yorke, pretend to be a woman

-who prefers her freedom and has no thought of love.

-Yet you are only acting the part of the free woman.

-At heart you love as intensely and hate as fiercely

-as all the others.  Is not that so?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You speak remarkably plainly, as though you

-were well acquainted with my private affairs," I

-remarked resentfully.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I only say what I know to be the truth," he

-replied.  "You, Carmela Rosselli, are not heartless

-like that emotionless woman who is your friend.

-The truth is that you love&mdash;you still love Ernest

-Cameron."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I rose in quick indignation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I refuse to hear you further, monsieur!" I

-cried.  "Kindly let me pass."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His hand was on the door of the box, and he kept

-it there, notwithstanding my words.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," he said, quite coolly.  "You must hear

-me&mdash;indeed, you shall hear me!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have heard you," I answered.  "You have

-said sufficient."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have not finished," he replied.  "When I

-have done so, you will, I think, only be anxious to

-learn more."  He added quite calmly: "If you will

-kindly be seated, so as not to attract attention, I

-will go on."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sank back into my seat without further effort

-to arrest his words.  The adventure was most

-extraordinary, and certainly his grotesque

-appearance held me puzzled.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Here, in Nice, not long ago," he continued,

-"you met a man who believed himself in love with

-you, yet a few nights later he was foully murdered

-in your sitting-room at the hotel."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Reginald Thorne," I said quickly, in a strained

-voice, for the memory of that distressing event

-was very painful.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, Reginald Thorne," he repeated, in a low,

-hoarse voice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You knew him?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, I knew him," was his response, in a deep,

-strange tone.  "It is to speak of him that I have

-sought you to-night."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If you are so well aware who I am, and of all

-my movements, you might surely have called upon

-me," I remarked dubiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, no!  That would have been impossible.

-None must know that we have met!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because there are reasons&mdash;very strong reasons&mdash;why

-our meeting should be kept secret," the voice

-responded, the pair of sharp black eyes peering

-forth mysteriously from the two holes in the owl's

-face.  "We are surrounded by spies.  Here, in

-France, they have reduced espionage to a fine art."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And yet the police have failed to discover the

-murderer of poor Mr. Thorne," I observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They will never do that."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They will never solve the mystery without aid."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Whose aid?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mine."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What?" I cried, starting quickly.  "Are you

-actually in possession of some fact that will lead

-to the arrest of the culprit?  Tell me quickly.

-Is it really certain that he was murdered, and did

-not die a natural death?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" he laughed.  "I told you a few minutes

-ago that you would be anxious to hear my

-statement.  Was I not correct?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course!  I had no idea that you were in

-possession of any facts or evidence regarding the

-crime.  What do you know about it?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"At present I am not at liberty to say&mdash;except

-that the person who committed the deed was no

-ordinary criminal."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then he was murdered, and the motive was robbery?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That was the police theory, but I can at once

-assure you that they were entirely mistaken.

-Theft was not the motive."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the money was stolen from his pockets!"

-I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How do you prove that?  He might have

-secreted it somewhere before the attack was made

-upon him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I feel certain that the money was stolen," I

-answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, you are, of course, welcome to your own

-opinion," he answered carelessly.  "I can only

-assure you that, even though the money was not

-found upon him, robbery was not the motive of

-the crime."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you have come to me in order to tell me

-that?" I said.  "Perhaps you will explain

-further."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I come to you, Miss Rosselli, because a serious

-responsibility rests upon yourself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In what manner?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The unfortunate young man was attracted

-towards you; he accompanied you to Monte

-Carlo on the day of his death, and he was found

-dead in your sitting-room."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I know," I said.  "But why did he go there?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because he, no doubt, wished to speak with

-you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"At that late hour?  I cannot conceive why

-he should want to speak with me.  He might have

-come to me in the morning."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  The matter was pressing&mdash;very pressing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then if you know its nature, as you apparently

-do, perhaps you will tell me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I can do nothing," the deep voice responded.

-"I only desire to warn you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To warn me!" I cried, surprised.  "Of what?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of a danger which threatens you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A danger?  Explain it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then kindly give me your undivided attention

-for a moment," the Owl said earnestly, at the

-same time peering into my eyes with that air of

-mystery which so puzzled me.  "Perhaps it will

-not surprise you to know that in this matter of the

-death of Reginald Thorne there are several interests

-at stake, and the most searching and secret

-inquiries have been made on behalf of the young

-man's friends by detectives sent from London,

-and from New York.  These inquiries have

-established one or two curious facts, but so far from

-elucidating the mystery, they have only tended

-to render it more inscrutable.  As I have already

-said, the person actually responsible for the crime

-is no ordinary murderer, and notwithstanding the

-fact that some of the shrewdest and most experienced

-detectives have been at work, they can

-discover nothing.  You follow me?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Perfectly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I will proceed further.  Has it ever

-occurred to you that you might, if you so desired,

-become the wife of old Benjamin Keppel?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I really don't see what that has to do with the

-matter under discussion," I said, with quick

-indignation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you admit that old Mr. Keppel is among

-your admirers?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I admit nothing," I responded.  "I see no

-reason why you, a perfect stranger, should intrude

-upon my private affairs in this manner."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The intrusion is for your own safety," he

-answered ambiguously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what need I fear, pray?  You spoke of

-some extraordinary warning, I believe."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"True, I wish to warn you," said the man in

-strange disguise.  "I came here to-night at

-considerable risk to do so."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I hesitated.  Then, after a few moments of

-reflection, I resolved upon making a bold shot.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Those who speak of risk are invariably in

-fear," I said.  "Your words betray that you have

-some connection with the crime."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I watched him narrowly, and saw him start

-perceptibly.  Then I congratulated myself upon

-my shrewdness, and was determined to fence with

-him further and endeavour to make him commit

-himself.  I rather prided myself upon smart

-repartee, and many had told me that at times I

-shone as a brilliant conversationalist.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" he said hastily, "I think you mistake

-me, Miss Rosselli.  I am acting in your interests

-entirely."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If so, then surely you may give me your name

-or tell me who you are."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I prefer to remain unknown," he replied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because you fear exposure."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I fear no exposure," he protested.  "I came

-here to speak with you secretly to-night, because

-had I called openly at your hotel my visit would

-have aroused suspicion, and most probably have

-had the effect of thwarting the plans of those who

-are endeavouring to solve the enigma."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But you give me no proof whatever of your

-<i>bona fides</i>!" I declared.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Simply because I am unable.  I merely come

-to give you warning."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of what?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of the folly of flirtation."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sprang to my feet indignantly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You insult me!" I cried.  "I will bear it no

-longer.  Please let me pass!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I shall not allow you to leave until I have

-finished," he answered determinedly.  "You think

-that I am not in earnest, but I tell you I am.  Your

-whole future depends upon your acceptance of

-my suggestion."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what is your suggestion, pray?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That you should no longer regard old Mr. Keppel

-as your possible husband."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have never regarded him as such," I responded,

-with a contemptuous laugh.  "But supposing

-that I did&mdash;supposing that he offered me

-marriage, what then?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then a disaster would fall upon you.  It is

-of that disaster that I came here to-night to warn

-you," he said, speaking quickly in a hoarse voice.

-"Recollect that you must never become his wife&mdash;never!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If I did, what harm could possibly befall me?"

-I inquired eagerly, for the stranger's prophetic

-words were, to say the least, exceedingly strange.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was silent for a moment, then said slowly:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Remember the harm that befell Reginald Thorne."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What?" I cried in alarm.  "Death?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he answered solemnly, "death."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood before him for a moment breathless.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then, to put it plainly," I said, in an uneven

-voice, "I am threatened with death should I marry

-Benjamin Keppel?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Even to become betrothed to him would be

-fatal," he answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And by whom am I thus threatened?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is a question I cannot answer.  I am

-here merely to warn you, not to give explanations."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the person who takes such an extraordinary

-interest in my private affairs must have

-some motive for this threat?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What is it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How can I tell?  It is not myself who is

-threatening you.  I have only given you warning."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There is a reason, then, why I should not marry

-Mr. Keppel?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There is even a reason why you should in

-future refuse to accept his invitations to the Villa

-Fabron," my strange companion replied.  "You

-have been invited to form one of a party on board

-the <i>Vispera</i>, but for your personal safety I would

-presume to advise you not to go."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I shall certainly please myself," I replied.

-"These threats will certainly not deter me from

-acting just as I think proper.  If I go upon a

-cruise with Mr. Keppel and his son, I shall have no

-fear of my personal safety."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Reginald Thorne was young and athletic.

-He had no fear.  But he disobeyed a warning.

-You know the result."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you wish me to decline Mr. Keppel's

-invitation and remain in Nice?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I urge you, for several reasons, to decline his

-invitation, but I do not suggest that you should

-remain in Nice.  I am the bearer of instructions

-to you.  If you carry them out, they will be

-distinctly to your benefit."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What are they?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To-day," he said, "is the 18th of February.

-Those who have your welfare at heart desire that

-you should, after the Riviera season is over, go

-to London, arriving there on the 1st of June

-next."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well?" I exclaimed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This stranger seemed to possess a good deal of

-knowledge in regard to my antecedents.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, on arrival in London you will go to the

-Hotel Cecil, and there receive a visitor on the

-following day, the 2nd of June.  You will then be

-given certain instructions, which must be carried

-out."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"All this is very mysterious," I remarked.

-"But I really have no intention of returning to

-London until next autumn."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I think you will," was his reply, "because,

-when you fully consider all the circumstances,

-you will keep the appointment in London, and learn

-the truth."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The truth regarding the death of Reginald

-Thorne?" I cried.  "Cannot I learn it here?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," he replied.  "And further, you will never

-learn it unless you take heed of the plain words

-I have spoken to-night."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You tell me that any further friendship between

-Mr. Keppel and myself is forbidden," I exclaimed,

-laughing.  "Why, the whole thing is really too

-absurd!  I shall, of course, just please

-myself&mdash;as I always do."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In that case, disaster is inevitable," he

-observed, with a sigh.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You tell me that I am threatened with death

-if I disobey.  That is certainly extremely comforting."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You appear to regard what I have said very

-lightly, Miss Rosselli," said the unknown voice.

-"It would be well if you regarded your love for

-Ernest Cameron just as lightly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He has nothing whatever to do with this

-matter," I said quickly.  "I am mistress of my

-own actions, and I refuse to be influenced by any

-threats uttered by a person who fears to reveal his

-identity."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"As you will," he replied, with an impatient

-movement.  "I am unknown to you, it is true,

-but I think I have shown an intimate knowledge

-of your private affairs."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If, as you assure me, you are acting in my

-interests, you may surely tell me the truth regarding

-the mystery surrounding poor Reginald's death,"

-I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is unfortunately not within my power,"

-he responded.  "I am in possession only of certain

-facts, and have risked much in coming here to-night

-to give you warning."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But how can my affairs affect anyone?" I

-queried.  "What you have told me is, if true,

-most extraordinary."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is true, and it is, as you say, very extraordinary.

-Your friend Mr. Thorne died mysteriously.

-I only hope, Miss Rosselli, that you will not

-share the same fate."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I paused and looked at the curious figure before me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In order to avoid doing so, then, I am to hold

-aloof from Mr. Keppel, remain here until May,

-and then travel back to London, there to meet

-some person unknown?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Exactly.  But there is still one thing further.

-I am charged to offer for your acceptance a small

-present, as some small recompense for the trouble

-you must be put to by waiting here in the South,

-and then journeying to London," and he drew

-from beneath his strangely grotesque dress a small

-box, some four or five inches square, wrapped in

-paper, which he handed to me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I did not take it.  There was something uncanny

-about it all.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do not hesitate, or we may be observed,"

-he said.  "Take it quickly.  Do not open it until

-you return to your hotel."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With these words he thrust it into my hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Remember what I have said," he exclaimed,

-rising quickly.  "I must be gone, for I see that

-suspicion is aroused by those who are watching.

-Act with prudence, and the disaster against which

-I have warned you will not occur.  Above all, keep

-the appointment in London on the 2nd of June."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because for your own safety it is imperative,"

-he responded, and with a low bow he opened the

-door of the box.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The next instant I was alone with the little

-packet the stranger had given me resting in my

-hand.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER IX

-<br><br>

-SHOWS THE BIRD'S TALONS

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-For some little time after my mysterious companion

-had left I sat forward in the box, gazing down at

-the wild revelry below, and hoping that one or

-other of the party would recognise me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-So great a crowd was there, and so many dresses

-exactly similar, that to distinguish Ulrica or Gerald,

-or indeed any of the others, proved absolutely

-impossible.  They might, of course, be in one or other

-of the supper-rooms, and I saw from the first that

-there was but little chance of finding them.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Leaning my elbows on the edge of the box, I

-gazed down upon the scene of reckless merriment,

-but my thoughts were full of the strange words

-uttered by the mysterious masker.  The packet

-he had given me I had transferred to my pocket,

-though with pardonable curiosity I longed to open

-it and see what it contained.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The warning he had given me was extremely

-disconcerting.  It worried me.  No woman likes

-to think that she has unknown enemies ready to

-take her life.  Yet that was apparently my

-position.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That life could be taken swiftly and without

-detection, I had plainly seen in the case of poor

-Reggie.  When I recollected his terrible fate I

-shuddered.  Yet this man had plainly given me

-to understand that the same fate awaited me if I

-did not adopt the line of conduct which he had

-laid down.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Whoever he might be, he certainly was acquainted

-with all my movements, and knew intimately

-my feelings.  There was certainly no likelihood

-of my marriage with old Benjamin Keppel.  I

-scouted the idea.  Yet he knew quite well that

-the millionaire had become attracted by me, and

-reposed in me a confidence which he did not extend

-to others.  The more I reflected, the more I became

-convinced that the stranger's fear of being recognised

-arose from the fact that he himself was either

-the murderer or an accessory to the murder of poor

-Reggie.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What did the demand that I should return to

-London denote?  It could only mean one

-thing&mdash;namely, that my assistance was required.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Whoever were my enemies, they were, I argued,

-enemies likewise of old Mr. Keppel.  The present

-which the stranger had pressed upon me was

-nothing less than a bribe to secure either my

-silence or my services.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-However much I tried, it appeared out of the

-question for me to discover the motive guiding

-the stranger's conduct.  The only certain fact

-was that this man, so cleverly disguised that I

-could not distinguish his real height, much less

-his form or features, had come there, watched

-for a favourable opportunity to speak with me,

-and had warned me to sever my friendship with

-the millionaire.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Leaning there, gazing blankly down upon the

-crowd screaming with laughter at the Parisian

-quadrilles and antics of clown and columbine, I

-coolly analysed my own feeling towards the blunt,

-plain-spoken old gentleman with the melancholy

-eyes.  I found&mdash;as I had believed all along&mdash;that

-I admired him for his honest good-nature, his

-utter lack of anything approaching "side," his

-strenuous efforts to assist in good works, and his

-regard for appearances only for his son's sake.

-But I did not love him.  No, I had loved one man.

-I could never love another&mdash;never in all my life!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Perhaps Ernest Cameron was present, disguised

-by a mask and dress of parti-coloured satin!

-Perhaps he was down there among the dancers,

-escorting that woman who had usurped my place.

-The thought held me in wonder.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Suddenly, however, I was brought back to a

-due sense of my surroundings by the opening of

-the door of the box, and the entry of one of the

-theatre attendants, who, addressing me in French,

-said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I beg mademoiselle's pardon, but the Director

-would esteem it a favour if mademoiselle would

-step down to the bureau at once."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do they want with me?" I inquired

-quickly, with considerable surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of that I have no knowledge, mademoiselle;

-I was merely told to ask you to go there without

-delay."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Therefore, in wonder, I rose and followed the

-man downstairs and through the crowd of revellers

-to the private office of the Director, close to the

-main entrance of the Casino.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In the room I found the Director, an elderly

-man, with short, stiff grey hair, sitting at a table,

-while near him stood two men dressed as pierrots

-with their masks removed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When the door was closed, the Director,

-courteously offering me a seat, apologised for

-disturbing me, but explained that he had done so at

-the request of his two companions.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I may as well at once explain," said the elder

-of the two in French, "that we desire some

-information which you can furnish."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of what nature?" I inquired, in a tone of

-marked surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In the theatre, an hour ago, you were accosted

-by a masker, wearing a dress representing an owl.

-You danced with him, but were afterwards lost

-in the crowd.  Search was made through all the

-rooms for you, but you could not be found.  Where

-have you been?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have been sitting in the box in conversation

-with the stranger."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"All the time?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  He took precautions against being seen."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who was he?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have no idea," I responded, still puzzled by

-the man's demand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I had better, perhaps, explain at once to

-mademoiselle that we are agents of police," he said,

-with a smile, "and that the movements of the

-individual who met you and chatted with you so

-affably are of the greatest interest to us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you know who he is?" I exclaimed quickly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  We have discovered that."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who is he?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Unfortunately, it is not our habit to give

-details of any case on which we are engaged until

-it is completed."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The case in question is the murder of

-Mr. Thorne at the 'Grand Hotel,' is it not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mademoiselle guesses correctly.  She was a

-friend of the unfortunate gentleman's, if I mistake

-not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I replied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," he said, in a confidential tone, while

-his companion, a slightly younger man, stood by

-regarding me and tugging at his moustache, "we

-should esteem it a favour if you would kindly

-relate all that has transpired this evening.  When

-we saw him meet you we were not certain of his

-identity.  His disguise was puzzling.  Afterwards

-there could be no doubt, but he had then disappeared."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I had thought that the police had relinquished

-their inquiries," I said, gratified, nevertheless, to

-know that they were still on the alert.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is when we relax our efforts slightly that

-we have the better chance of success," the detective

-replied.  "Did the man give you any name?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No; he refused to tell me who he was."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what was his excuse for accosting you

-and demanding a <i>tête-à-tête</i>?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He said he wished to warn me of an impending

-peril.  In brief, he told me that my life was in

-jeopardy."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" the man ejaculated, as he exchanged a

-meaning glance with his companion.  "And his

-pretence was to give you warning of it.  Did he

-tell you by whom your life was threatened?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  He refused any details, but made certain

-suggestions as to the course I should pursue."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That sounds interesting.  What did he suggest?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I hesitated for a few moments.  Then reflecting

-that the stranger was evidently under the observation

-of the police, and that the latter were trying

-to bring poor Reggie's assassin to justice, I

-resolved to reveal all that had passed between us.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Therefore I gave a brief outline of our conversation

-just as I have written it in the foregoing pages.

-Both detectives, at hearing my story, seemed very

-much puzzled.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You will pardon my intrusion," exclaimed the

-agent of police who had first spoken to me, "but

-as you will see, this is a clue which must be

-thoroughly investigated.  Will mademoiselle

-forgive me for asking whether there is any truth in

-this man's surmise that she is about to become

-engaged to marry this Monsieur Keppel?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"None whatever," I answered frankly.  "I

-can only suppose that some unfounded gossip has

-arisen, as it so often does, and that it has reached

-his ears."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yet he threatens&mdash;or at least warns you of

-peril if you should become the wife of this wealthy

-monsieur!  Ah! there seems to be some very

-deep motive; what it really is, we must seek to

-discover.  When we have found it we shall have, I

-feel confident, a clue to the murderer of Monsieur

-Thorne."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But there is still another rather curious fact,"

-I went on, now determined to conceal nothing.

-"He declared that it was necessary for my

-well-being that I should return to London, and there

-meet some person who would visit me on the 2nd

-of June next."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!  And you intend keeping that appointment,

-I presume?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I intend to do nothing of the kind, monsieur,"

-I replied, with a laugh.  "The affair is a very ugly

-one, and I have no desire whatever that my name

-should be linked further with it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course.  I quite understand the annoyance

-caused to mademoiselle.  It is sufficient to have

-one's friend murdered in that mysterious manner,

-without being pestered by mysterious individuals

-who mask themselves and prophesy all sorts of

-unpleasant things if their orders are not obeyed.

-Did you promise to return to London?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I said I would consider the advisability of

-doing so."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are diplomatic&mdash;eh?" he said, with a

-laugh.  "It is unfortunate that this fellow has

-slipped through our fingers so cleverly&mdash;very

-unfortunate!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But if he is known to you, there will surely

-not be much difficulty in rediscovering him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! that's just the question, you see.  We

-are not absolutely certain as to his identity."  Then

-after a slight pause, he glanced at me and asked

-suddenly: "Mademoiselle has a friend&mdash;or had a

-friend&mdash;named Cameron&mdash;a Monsieur Ernest

-Cameron?  Is that so?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I think I must have blushed beneath the piece of

-black velvet which hid my cheeks.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is correct," I stammered.  "Why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The reason is unimportant," he answered

-carelessly.  "The fact is written in the papers

-concerning the case, and we like always to verify

-facts in such a case as this&mdash;that's all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But he has no connection with this tragic

-business!" I hastened to declare.  "I haven't

-spoken to him for nearly two years&mdash;we have been

-apart for quite that time."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course," said the man reassuringly; "the

-fact has nothing to do with the matter.  I merely

-referred to it in order to obtain confirmation of our

-reports.  You mentioned something of a proposed

-yachting cruise.  What did this mysterious

-individual say regarding that?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He warned me not to go on board the

-<i>Vispera</i>&mdash;&mdash;"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The <i>Vispera</i>?" he interrupted.  "The owner

-of the yacht is monsieur the millionaire, is he

-not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I responded in the affirmative.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And this Monsieur Keppel has invited you to

-go with others on a cruise to Naples?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  But how did you know that it was to

-Naples?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"All yachts sailing from Nice eastward go to

-Naples," he answered, laughing.  "I suppose the

-programme includes a run to the Greek islands.

-Constantinople, Smyrna, and Tunis, eh?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I think so; but I have not yet heard definitely."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You have accepted the invitation, I take it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I nodded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And that, of course, lends colour to the belief

-that monsieur the millionaire is in love with you,

-for it is well known that although he has that

-magnificent yacht he never goes on a pleasure

-cruise."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I can't help what may be thought by gossips,"

-I said hastily.  "Mr. Keppel is a friend of

-mine&mdash;nothing further."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But this friendship has apparently caused

-certain apprehensions to arise in the minds of the

-persons of whom your mysterious companion was

-the mouthpiece&mdash;the people who threaten you with

-death should you disobey them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who are those people, do you imagine?" I

-inquired, deeply in earnest, for the matter seemed

-to grow increasingly serious.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" he answered, with a shrug of his

-shoulders.  "If we knew that we should have no

-difficulty in arresting the assassin of Monsieur

-Thorne."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, what do you consider my best course?"

-I asked, utterly bewildered by the mysterious events

-of the evening.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I should advise you to keep your own counsel,

-and leave the inquiries to us," was the detective's

-rejoinder.  "If this man again approaches you,

-make an appointment with him later and acquaint

-us with the time and place at once."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But I don't anticipate that I shall see him

-again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, determined to render these police agents

-every assistance, even though they had been

-stupidly blind to allow the stranger to escape, I

-drew from my pocket the small packet which he

-had given me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This," I said, "he handed to me at the last

-instant, accompanied by a hope that I would not

-fail to keep the appointment in London."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What is it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't know."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Will you permit us to open it?" he inquired,

-much interested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I responded.  "I am anxious to

-see what it contains."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The detective took it, and cut the string with

-his pocket-knife; then, while his subordinate and

-the Director of the Casino craned their necks to

-investigate, he unwrapped paper after paper until

-he came to a square jewel-case covered in dark

-crimson leather.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"An ornament, I suppose!" exclaimed the detective.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then he opened the box, and from its velvet-lined

-depths something fell to the ground which

-caused us to utter a loud cry of surprise in chorus.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The detective stooped to pick it up.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood dumbfounded and aghast.  In his hand

-was a bundle of folded French bank-notes&mdash;each

-for one thousand francs.  They were the notes

-stolen from Reginald Thorne by his assassin.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER X

-<br><br>

-MAKES ONE POINT PLAIN

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-"Extraordinary!" ejaculated the detective,

-whose habitual coolness seemed utterly upset by

-the unexpected discovery.  "This adds an entirely

-new feature to the case!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What, I wonder, could have been the motive in

-giving the notes to mademoiselle?" queried his

-companion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How can we tell?" said the other.  "It at

-least proves one thing, namely, that the man in the

-owl's dress is the person we suspected him to be."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you believe him to be the actual assassin?"

-I gasped.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But the detectives, with the aid of the Director

-of the Theatre, were busy counting the stolen notes.

-There were sixty, each for one thousand francs.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-They examined the leather jewellery case, but

-found no mark upon it, nor upon the paper

-wrappings.  The box was such as might have once

-contained a bracelet, but the raised velvet-covered

-spring in the interior had been removed in order

-to admit of the introduction of the notes, which,

-even when folded, formed a rather large packet.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They are undoubtedly those stolen from

-Monsieur Thorne," the detective said.  "In these

-circumstances, it is our duty to take possession

-of them as evidence against the criminal.  I shall

-lodge them with the Prefect of Police until we

-have completed the inquiry."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I answered.  "I have no desire

-to keep them in my possession.  The history

-connected with them is far too gruesome.  But

-whatever motive could there be in handing them over

-to me?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! that we hope to discover later," the

-detective responded, carefully folding them,

-replacing them in the case, and taking charge of the

-wrappings, which it was believed might form some

-clue.  "At present it would seem very much as

-though the assassin handed you the proceeds of

-the crime in order to convince you that robbery

-was not the motive."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you do believe that the man in the owl's

-dress was the real culprit?" I cried eagerly.  "If

-so, I have actually danced to-night with poor

-Reggie's murderer!" I gasped.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is more than likely that we shall be able to

-establish that fact," the subordinate observed,

-in a rather uncertain tone.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How unfortunate," ejaculated his superior,

-"that we allowed him to slip through our fingers

-thus&mdash;and with the money actually upon him, too!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," observed the Director of the Casino.

-"You have certainly to-night lost an excellent

-opportunity, messieurs.  It is curious that neither

-of you noticed mademoiselle in the box talking

-with this mysterious individual."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That was, I think, impossible," I remarked.

-"We sat quite back in the small alcove."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What number was your box?" the Director asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Fifteen."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, of course!" he said quickly.  "There is,

-I remember, a kind of alcove at the back.  You sat

-in there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," observed the chief detective, "no good

-can be done by remaining here any longer, I

-suppose, so we had better endeavour to trace this

-interesting person by other means.  The fact that

-he has given up the proceeds of the crime is

-sufficient to show that he means to leave Nice.

-Therefore we must lose no time," and he glanced at his

-watch.  "Ten minutes to two," he said.  Then

-turning to his assistant, he ordered him to drive

-to the station to see whether the man who had

-worn the disguise of the night-bird was among

-the travellers leaving for Marseilles at 2.30.

-"Remain on duty at the station until I send and

-relieve you," he said.  "There are several special

-trains to Cannes and to Monte Carlo about three

-o'clock, on account of the ball.  Be careful to watch

-them all.  It's my opinion he may be going to

-cross the frontier at Ventimiglia.  I'll telephone

-there as soon as I get down to the bureau."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Bien, monsieur!</i>" answered the other.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As they went out, after wishing me good-night,

-I followed them, asking of the senior of the

-pair:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Tell me, monsieur, what is my best course of

-action?  Do you think the threats are serious?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Not at all," he said reassuringly.  "My dear

-mademoiselle, don't distress yourself in the very

-least regarding what this man has said.  He has

-only endeavoured to frighten you into rendering

-him assistance.  Act just as you think proper.

-Your experience to-night has certainly been a

-strange one; but if I were in your place, I would

-return to the hotel, sleep soundly, and forget it

-all until&mdash;well, until we make our arrest."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You expect to do so, then?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We, of course, hope so.  In my profession,

-you know, everything is uncertain.  So much

-depends upon chance," and he smiled pleasantly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I presume you will communicate with me

-later as to the further result of your

-investigations?" I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Most certainly.  Mademoiselle shall be kept

-well informed of our operations, never fear."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We were at the door of the Casino, where a great

-crowd had assembled to watch the maskers emerging.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Shall I call you a fiacre?" he asked quite

-gallantly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, thank you," I responded.  "I'll walk.

-It is only a few steps to the 'Grand.'"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, of course," he laughed.  "I had forgotten.

-<i>Bon soir</i>, mademoiselle."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I wished him good-night, and the next moment he

-was lost in the crowd, while, with my mind full

-of my extraordinary adventure, I walked along the

-Quai St. Jean Baptiste to the hotel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The incidents had been so strange that they seemed

-beyond belief.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I found the faithful Felicita dozing, but Ulrica had

-not returned.  When she entered, however, a

-quarter of an hour later, she was in the highest

-of spirits, declaring that she had experienced a

-most delightful time.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My opinion of the Carnival ball, my dear, is

-that it's by far the jolliest function on the Riviera,"

-she declared.  Then in the same breath she proceeded

-to give me an outline of her movements from

-the time we were lost to one another in the crowd.

-She had, it appeared, had supper with Gerald

-and several friends, and the fun had been fast and

-furious.  Her dress was badly torn in places, and

-certainly her dishevelled appearance showed that

-she had entered very thoroughly into the boisterous

-amusement of Carnival.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And you?" she inquired presently.  "What

-in the world became of you?  We searched

-everywhere before supper, but couldn't find you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I met a rather entertaining partner," I

-responded briefly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A stranger?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," and I gave her a look by which she

-understood that I intended to say nothing before

-Felicita.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Therefore the subject dropped, and as I had

-promised to tell her of my strange adventure later,

-she left me for the night.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I am seldom troubled by insomnia, but that

-night little sleep came to my eyes.  Lying awake

-has no attraction for anyone; yet it is an experience

-which many have to suffer constantly, though not

-gladly.  That night my brain was troubled by a

-thousand conflicting thoughts.  I turned on to

-the side on which I usually sleep, and closed my

-eyes.  But immediately ideas and suggestions of all

-kinds rushed at me.  It was then that I recalled

-the mistakes of that night.  I noted the opportunities

-missed, thought of the right things that I

-had left unsaid, and groaned at the thought of

-what really found utterance.  Round and round

-went my mental machinery, and I knew well that

-sleep was not to be expected.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A terrible restlessness set in upon me, and turn

-succeeded turn, till I wished myself a polygon, so

-that the sides to which I could change might be

-more numerous.  Some people have recourse to

-a small shelf of bedside books to lull them to rest.

-I think it was Thackeray who said, "'Montaigne'

-and 'Howell's Letters' are my bedside books.  If

-I wake at night I have one or other of them to

-prattle me off to sleep again."  Montaigne seems

-to have been a favourite author with many people

-for this purpose.  The cheerful, companionable

-garrulity of the Gascon is the ideal pabulum for

-those suffering from wakeful hours at night, for

-both Pope and Wycherley used to lull themselves

-to sleep by his aid.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Alas!  I had no Montaigne&mdash;nothing, indeed,

-more literary or prattling than a couple of the

-local newspapers of Nice.  Therefore I was

-compelled to lie and endure the thoughts which fled

-through my brain in a noisy whirr, and prevented

-me falling off into slumber.  The hotel seemed full

-of noise.  Strange sounds came from the staircase,

-and stealthy footfalls seemed to make themselves

-audible.  From the outer world came other sounds,

-some familiar, others inexplicable&mdash;all jarring upon

-the delicate nerves of hearing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I lay there thinking it all over.  I had now not

-the slightest doubt that the man in the owl's dress

-was the actual assassin of poor Reggie.  And I

-had chatted amiably with him.  I had actually

-danced with him!  The very thought held me

-horrified.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What marvellous self-confidence the fellow had

-displayed; what cool audacity, what unwarrantable

-interference in my private affairs, and what a

-terrible counter-stroke he had effected in presenting

-me with the actual notes filched from the dead

-man's pocket!  The incident was rendered the

-more bewildering on account of the entire absence

-of motive.  I lay awake reflecting upon it the whole

-night long.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When we took our morning coffee together I

-related to Ulrica all that had passed.  She sat,

-a pretty and dainty figure in her lace-trimmed

-and beribboned <i>robe de chambre</i>, leaning her bare

-elbows upon the table, and listening open-mouthed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the police actually allowed him to escape

-scot-free?" she cried indignantly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The thing is monstrous.  I begin to think

-that their failure to trace the murderer is because

-they are in league with him.  Here abroad, one

-never knows."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, I think not," I responded.  "He was

-clever enough to evade observation, and took care

-to make the most of the little alcove in the box."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the stolen notes!" she cried.  "He evidently

-wished to get rid of them in order to avoid

-being found with the money in his possession.  So he

-presented you with them.  A grim present,

-certainly.  The fellow apparently has a sense of

-humour."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I tell you, my dear Ulrica, I'm terribly upset.

-I haven't slept at all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Enough to upset anyone," she declared.  "We

-must tell Gerald, and ask his advice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, we must not tell him all.  I beg of you to

-say nothing regarding myself and old Mr. Keppel."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly not.  I shall be discreet, rely upon

-me.  Gerald will advise us how to act."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Or the old gentleman might give us some

-advice," I suggested; for Gerald was given to fits

-of frivolity, and this was a matter extremely serious.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You intend to say nothing of the appointment in

-London?" she inquired, looking at me sharply.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Nothing," I responded.  "That is a secret

-between us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you intend to keep it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I scarcely know.  My actions will, of course, be

-controlled by the discoveries of the police."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The police!" she ejaculated.  "I don't believe

-in them at all.  They make a great pretence, but

-do nothing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They evidently know the individual who came

-to me last night."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly.  But why didn't they arrest him

-when he was under their very noses.  No, my

-dear Carmela, depend upon it, here, in this world of

-Monte Carlo, the police are bribed, just as the Press,

-the railwaymen, and postmen are bribed, by these

-rulers of the Riviera, the Administration of the

-Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That may be so," I observed wonderingly.

-"But the fact still remains that last night I danced

-with Reggie's assassin."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Did he dance well?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, Ulrica!  Don't treat the thing humorously!"

-I protested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm not humorous.  The worst of Carnival balls

-is that they're such mixed affairs.  One meets

-millionaires and murderers, and rubs shoulders

-with the most notorious women in Europe.  Your

-adventure, however, is absolutely unique.  If it

-got into the papers, what a nice little story it would

-make, wouldn't it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"For Heaven's sake no!" I cried.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, if you don't want it to reach the <i>Petit

-Niçois</i> or the <i>Eclaireur</i>, you'd better be pretty close

-about it.  Poor Reggie's murder is a mystery and

-the public fondly delight to read anything about

-a mystery."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But we can trust Gerald and Mr. Keppel,"

-I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course," she answered.  "But what a

-strange thing it is that this man, whoever he is,

-noticed exactly what I also had noticed, namely,

-that the old gentleman is among your admirers."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  It almost seems as though he were

-actually in our circle of friends, doesn't it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Carmela," she said, "the affair of

-poor Reggie's death was curious enough, but its

-motive is absolutely inscrutable.  This man who met

-you last night was, as the police properly described

-him, a veritable artist.  He disguised himself as

-an owl because the dress of a bird would conceal

-his real height or any personal deformity, while

-the face was, of course, entirely hidden by the

-beaked mask.  Had he gone as a pierrot, or in

-the more ordinary guises, he might have betrayed

-himself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the return of the stolen money," I

-observed.  "Can you imagine why he ran such a

-risk?  He condemned himself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, I really can't.  It is an absolute enigma."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We discussed it for a long time, until the entrance

-of Felicita caused us to drop the subject.  Yes, it

-was, as Ulrica had declared, an absolute enigma.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-About four o'clock in the afternoon, when we

-had both dressed ready to go out&mdash;for we had

-accepted an invitation to go on an excursion in

-an automobile up to Tourette&mdash;the waiter entered

-with a card, which Ulrica took and read.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh!" she sighed.  "Here's another detective.

-Don't let him keep us, dear.  You know the Allens

-won't wait for us.  They said four o'clock sharp,

-opposite Vogarde's."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But we can't refuse to see him," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course not," she replied, and turning to the

-waiter, ordered him to show the caller up.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There are two gentlemen," he explained.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then show them both up," answered Ulrica.

-"Be sharp, please, as we are in a hurry."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, madame," responded the waiter, a young

-Swiss, and went below.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I suppose they are the pair I saw last night,"

-I said.  "The police on the Continent seem always

-to hunt in couples.  One never sees a single

-gendarme, either in France or in Italy."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"One goes to keep the other cheerful, I believe,"

-Ulrica remarked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A few moments later the two callers were shown in.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-They were not the same as I had seen in the

-Director's room at the Casino.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I regret this intrusion," said the elder, a

-dark-bearded, rather unwholesome-looking individual

-with lank black hair.  "I have, I believe, the

-honour of addressing Mademoiselle Rosselli."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is my name," I responded briefly, for

-I did not intend them to cause me to lose a most

-enjoyable trip in that most <i>chic</i> of latter-day

-conveyances, an automobile.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We are police agents, as you have possibly seen

-from my card, and have called merely to ask whether

-you can identify either of these photographs."  And

-he took two cabinet pictures from his pocket

-and handed them to me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-One was a prison photograph of an elderly, sad-eyed

-convict, with a rather bald head and a scraggy

-beard, while the other was a well-taken likeness of

-a foppishly-dressed young man of about twenty-eight,

-the upward trend of his moustache denoting

-him to be a foreigner.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Both were strangers to me.  I had never seen

-either of them in the flesh, at least to my

-knowledge, and Ulrica was also agreed that she had

-never seen anyone bearing the slightest resemblance

-to either.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mademoiselle is absolutely certain?" the

-detective asked of me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Absolutely," I responded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Will mademoiselle have the kindness to allow

-her memory to go back for one moment to the day

-of the unfortunate gentleman's death?" asked the

-detective, with an amiable air.  "At the time

-Monsieur Thorne was at the table at Monte Carlo

-and playing with success, there were, I believe,

-many persons around him?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, a crowd."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And near him, almost at his elbow, you did

-not see this man?" he inquired, indicating the

-bearded convict.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I shook my head.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I really do not recollect the face of any member

-of that excited crowd," I responded.  "He may

-have been there, but I certainly did not see him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Nor did I," chimed in Ulrica.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I much regret troubling you," he said,

-bowing politely.  "In this affair we are, as you of

-course know, making very searching inquiries on

-account of representations made by the British

-Ambassador in Paris.  We intend, if possible, to

-solve the mystery."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the man who accosted me at the ball

-last night," I said.  "Do you suspect him to be

-the original of that photograph?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"At the ball last night?  I do not follow

-mademoiselle."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But I made a statement of the whole facts

-to two agents of your department at an early hour

-this morning&mdash;before I left the Casino."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He looked puzzled, and his dark face broadened

-into a smile.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Pardon!  But I think mademoiselle must be

-under some misapprehension.  What occurred at

-the ball?  Anything to arouse your suspicion?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To arouse my suspicion?" I echoed.  "Why,

-a man attired in the garb of an owl accosted me,

-gave me a strange warning, and actually placed

-in my hands the sixty thousand francs in notes

-stolen from the dead man!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Impossible!" gasped the detective, amazed.

-"Where are the notes?  You should have given

-us information instantly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I handed the notes to two police agents who

-were in waiting in the Director's room, and to

-whom I made a statement of the whole affair."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What!" he cried loudly.  "You have parted

-with the money?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then mademoiselle has been most cleverly

-tricked, for the men to whom you handed the

-proceeds of the robbery were certainly not agents

-of police!  They were impostors!"

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XI

-<br><br>

-DESCRIBES A MEETING AND ITS SEQUEL

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-His words staggered me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Not agents of police!" I cried, dumbfounded.

-"Why, they were fully cognisant of every detail

-of the affair.  It was the Director of the Casino

-who presented them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then Monsieur le Directeur was tricked, just

-as you were," he answered gravely.  "You say you

-actually received from the hand of someone who

-wore an effective disguise the sum stolen from the

-unfortunate monsieur?  Kindly explain the whole

-circumstances of your meeting, and what passed

-between you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Carmela," exclaimed Ulrica, "this

-fresh complication is absolutely bewildering!  You

-not only danced and chatted with the murderer,

-but you were the victim of a very clever plot."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is quite certain," observed the officer.

-"The two individuals to whom mademoiselle

-innocently gave the notes upon representation

-that they were agents of police were evidently well

-acquainted with the murderer's intention to give

-up the proceeds of the robbery, and had watched

-you narrowly all through the evening.  But kindly

-give us exact details."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In obedience to his demand, I recounted the

-whole story.  It seemed to me incredible that the

-two men who had sent for me were bogus detectives,

-yet such was the actual fact, as was shown later

-when the Director of the Casino explained how they

-had come to him, telling him that they were police

-agents from Marseilles, and had ordered him to

-send for me, as they wished to interrogate me

-regarding the affair of the "Grand Hotel."  Such,

-he declared, was their air of authority that he never

-for a moment doubted that they were genuine

-officers of police.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My statement held the two men absolutely

-speechless.  I told them of the strange

-appointment in London made by the man with the owl's

-face, of the curious warning he had given me, and

-of the manner in which he had presented me with

-the sum won at the tables by the murdered man.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You can give us absolutely no idea whatever

-of his personal appearance?" he inquired dubiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"None whatever," I answered.  "The dress

-and mask were effectual in disguising him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the two men who falsely posed as police

-agents?  Will you kindly describe them?" And

-at the same time he took out a well-worn

-pocket-book and scribbled in it.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I described their personal appearance as closely

-as I could, while on his part he took down my

-statement very carefully.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This is most extraordinary!" Ulrica observed,

-standing near me in wonder.  "The pair who said

-they were detectives were exceedingly clever, and

-are evidently aware of all that has occurred."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Marvellous!" exclaimed the man reflectively.

-"Only very clever thieves would dare to walk into

-the bureau of the Casino and act as they did."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Have they any connection with the actual

-assassin, do you think?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm inclined to believe so," he responded.  "It

-was a conspiracy on their part to obtain possession

-of the money."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course, I gave it up in entire innocence,"

-I said.  "I never dreamt that such a plot could

-exist."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, mademoiselle!" observed the detective,

-"in this affair we have evidently to deal with those

-who have brought crime to a fine art.  There

-seems something remarkable regarding the

-appointment in London on the 2nd of June.  It seems

-as though it were desired to gain time with some

-secret object or another."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am absolutely bewildered," I admitted.

-"My position in this tragic affair is anything but

-enviable."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Most certainly, all this must be most annoying

-and distressing to mademoiselle.  I only hope we

-shall be successful in tracing the real perpetrators

-of the crime."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You think there were more than one?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is most probable," he replied.  "At

-present, however, we still remain without any

-tangible clue, save that the proceeds of the crime

-have passed from one person to another, through

-the agency of yourself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Their audacity was beyond comprehension!"

-I cried.  "It really seems inconceivable that I

-should have danced with the actual murderer,

-and afterwards been induced to hand over to a

-pair of impostors the money stolen from the

-unfortunate young man.  I feel that I am to blame

-for my shortsightedness."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Not at all, mademoiselle, not at all," declared

-the detective, with his suave Gallic politeness.

-"With such a set of ingenious malefactors, it is

-very easy to commit an error, and fall a victim to

-roguery."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what can be done?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We can only continue our investigations."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the man in the owl's dress?  Tell me

-candidly, do you really believe that he was the

-actual murderer?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He may have been.  It is evident that, for

-some hidden purpose, he had an important reason

-for passing the stolen notes into your possession."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But why?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, that is one of the mysteries which we must

-try to solve.  The man was French, you say?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He spoke English admirably."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No word of French?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Not a single word.  Yet he possessed an

-accent rather unusual."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He might have been a foreigner&mdash;an Italian

-or German, for aught you know?" the detective

-suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," I answered reflectively.  "His gestures

-were French.  I believe that he was actually

-French."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the bogus police agents?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They, too, were French, undoubtedly.  It

-would have been impossible to deceive the Director

-of the Casino, himself a Frenchman."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mademoiselle is quite right.  I will at once

-see Monsieur le Directeur and hear his statement.

-It is best," he added, "that the matter should

-remain a profound secret.  Do not mention it,

-either of you, even to your nearest friends.

-Publicity might very probably render futile all our

-inquiries."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I understand," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And mademoiselle will say no word to anyone

-about it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I glanced at Ulrica inquiringly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," she answered.  "If monsieur so

-wishes, the affair shall be kept secret."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, after some further discussion, the police

-officer thanked us, gave us an assurance of his

-most profound respect, and, accompanied by his

-silent subordinate, withdrew.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"After all," I remarked, when they had gone,

-"it will be best, perhaps, to say nothing whatever

-to Gerald.  He might mention it incautiously

-and thus it might get into the papers."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, my dear," answered Ulrica.  "Perhaps

-silence is best.  But the trick played upon you

-surpasses comprehension.  I don't like the aspect

-of affairs at all.  If it were not for the fact that we

-have so many friends here, and that it is just the

-height of the season, I should suggest the packing

-of our trunks."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We shall leave soon," I said; "as soon as

-the yachting party is complete."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Gerald told me last night that the old gentleman

-has ordered great preparations to be made

-for us on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  He intends to do

-the thing well, as he always does when he entertains."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We shall, no doubt, have a most glorious time,"

-I answered, as together we went forth to meet

-the Allens, whom we found with their automobile

-brake outside Vogarde's, that smart confectioner's,

-where, as you, my reader, know, the cosmopolitan

-world of Nice sips tea at four o'clock.  At most

-Continental health resorts afternoon tea is

-unknown, but with visitors to Nice it is quite a solemn

-function, even though they be Parisians, and

-never taste tea except in winter on the Côte d'Azur.

-At Rumpelmayer's, that white and gold tea-shop,

-where many a royal highness or grand duchess

-descends to sip a cup and nibble an appetising

-piece of confectionery; at the English tea-house

-on the Quai Massena, known familiarly to winter

-visitors as "the muffin shop," and at Vogarde's,

-famed for crystallised fruits, it is usual to meet

-everyone who is anyone, and gossip pleasantly

-over the tea-cups.  On the Promenade des Anglais

-there is no really fashionable hour, as in other

-resorts, but the recently-instituted "five o'clock"

-is the reunion of everyone, and the chatter is always

-polyglot.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our trip to Tourette proved a charming one.

-It is a delightful sensation to rush along the road

-at the speed of a railway train in an easy vehicle

-which trumpets like an elephant at every corner

-and passes everything like a flash.  The French

-have certainly improved on the ordinary means

-of locomotion, and if the automobile is noisy, the

-vibration is never felt in travelling, while the

-nauseous fumes&mdash;which, it must be admitted, sometimes

-half poison the passer-by&mdash;are always behind.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That same night, after dinner, we accompanied

-the Allens, a middle-aged American, and his wife,

-who lived in Paris, over to Monte Carlo.  The

-Battle of Flowers had taken place there during

-the day, and that event always marks the zenith

-of the gaming season.  The Rooms were crowded,

-and the dresses, always magnificent at night, were

-more daring than ever.  Half fashionable Europe

-seemed there, including an English royal highness

-and a crowd of other notables.  One of De Lara's

-operas was being played in the Casino theatre,

-and as this composer is a great favourite there, a

-very large audience was attracted.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The display of jewels at the tables was that

-night the most dazzling I had ever seen.  Some

-women, mostly gay Parisiennes or arrogant

-Russians, seemed literally covered with diamonds;

-and as they stood round the table risking their

-louis or five-franc pieces, it seemed strange that

-with jewels of that worth upon them they should

-descend to play with such paltry stakes.  But

-many women at Monte Carlo play merely because

-it is the correct thing so to do, and very often are

-careless of either loss or gain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The usual characters were there; the wizened

-old man with his capacious purse; the old hag in

-black cashmere, with her rouged face, playing and

-winning; and alas! the foolish young man who

-staked always in the wrong place, until he had

-flung away his last louis.  In all the world there

-is no stranger panorama of life than that presented

-at ten o'clock at night at the tables of Monte Carlo.

-It is unique!  It is indescribable!  It is appalling!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Temptation is spread there before the unwary

-in all its forms, until the fevered atmosphere of

-gold and avarice throbs with evil, becomes

-nauseous, and one longs for a breath of the fresh

-night air and a refreshing drink to take the bad

-taste out of one's mouth.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I played merely because Ulrica and Dolly Allen

-played.  I think I won three or four louis, but am

-not certain of the amount.  You ask why?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Because there was seated at the table, exactly

-opposite where I stood, unnoticed among the

-crowd, no less a person than Ernest Cameron.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At his side was the inevitable red and black

-card whereon he registered each number as it came

-up; before him were several little piles of louis

-and a few notes, while behind him, leaning now and

-then over his chair and whispering, was <i>that

-woman</i>!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At frequent intervals he played, generally upon

-the dozens, and even then rather uncertainly.  But

-he often lost.  Once or twice he played with fairly

-large stakes upon a chance which appeared practically

-certain, but he had no fine fortune, and the

-croupier raked in his money.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For fully a dozen times he staked two louis on

-the last twelve numbers, but with that perversity

-which sometimes seems to seize the roulette-ball,

-the numbers came up between 1 and 24.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Suddenly the tow-haired woman who had replaced

-myself in his affections leaned over, and

-said in a voice quite audible to me:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Put the maximum on number 6!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With blind obedience he counted out the sum

-sufficient to win the maximum of six thousand

-francs, and pushed it upon the number she had

-named.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" cried the croupier the next

-instant, and then, sure enough, I saw the ball

-drop into the number the witch had prophesied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The croupier counted the stake quickly, and

-pushed with his rake towards the fortunate player

-notes for six thousand francs, with the simple words:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>En plein!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Enough!" cried the woman, prompting him.

-"Play no more to-night."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He sighed, and with a strange, preoccupied air

-gathered up his coin, notes, and other belongings,

-while a player tossed over a five-franc piece to

-"mark" his place, or, in other words, to secure his

-chair when he vacated it.  Then, still obedient to

-her, he rose with a faint smile upon his lips.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As he did so, he raised his eyes, and they fell full

-upon mine, for I was standing there watching him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our gaze met, suddenly.  Next instant, however,

-the light died out of his countenance, and he stood

-glaring at me as though I were an apparition.  His

-mouth was slightly opened, his hand trembled, his

-brow contracted, and his face grew ashen.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His attitude was as though he were cowed by

-my presence.  He remembered our last meeting.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In a moment, however, he recovered his

-self-possession, turned his back upon me, and strolled

-away beside the woman who had usurped my place.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap12"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XII

-<br><br>

-CARRIES ME ON BOARD THE "VISPERA"

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-Faces, even expressions, may lie, but eyes never

-learn the knack of falsehood.  A man may commit

-follies; but once cured, those follies expand his

-nature.  With a woman, sad to tell, follies are always

-debasing.  It was, I knew, a folly to love Ernest

-Cameron.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Life is always disappointing.  The shattering

-of our idols, the revelation of the shallowness of

-friendship, the losing faith in those we love, and

-the witnessing of their fall from that pedestal

-whereon we placed them in our own exalted

-idealisation&mdash;all is disappointing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood gazing after him as he strode down the

-great room with its bejewelled and excited crowd,

-in which the <i>chevalier d'industrie</i> and the <i>déclassée</i>

-woman jostled against pickpockets and the men

-who gamble at Aix, Ostend, Namur or Spa, as the

-seasons come and go&mdash;that strange assembly of

-courteous Italians, bearded Russians, well-groomed

-Englishmen, and women painted, powdered and

-perfumed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I held my breath; my heart beat so violently

-that I could hear it above the babel of voices about

-me.  I suffered the most acute agony.  Of late I

-had been always thinking of him&mdash;asleep,

-dreaming&mdash;always dreaming of him.  Always the same pang

-of regret was within my heart&mdash;regret that I had

-allowed him to go away without a word, without

-telling him how madly, how despairingly I loved him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Life without him was a hopeless blank, yet it was

-all through my vanity, my wretched pride, my

-invincible self-love.  I was now careless, indifferent,

-inconsequential, my only thought being of him.

-His coldness, his disdain was killing me.  When

-his eyes had met mine in surprise, they were strange,

-Sphinx-like, and mysterious.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet at that moment I did not care what he might

-say to me.  I only wished to hear him speaking

-to me; to hear the sound of his voice, and to know

-that he cared enough for me to treat me as a human

-being.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ah!  I trembled when I realised how madly I

-loved him, and how fierce was my hatred of that

-woman who issued her orders and whom he obeyed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I turned away with the Allens, and Ulrica cried

-delightedly that she had won on 16, her favourite

-number.  But I did not answer.  My heart had

-grown sick, and I went forth into the healing night

-air and down the steps towards the <i>ascenseurs</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-On the steps a well-dressed young Frenchman

-was lounging, and as I passed down I heard him

-humming to himself that catchy <i>chanson</i> so popular

-at the café-concert:

-</p>

-

-<p class="poem">

-  "<i>A bas la romance et l'idylle,<br>

-  Lea oiseaux, la forêt, le buisson<br>

-  Des marlous, de la grande ville,<br>

-  Nous allons chanter la chanson!<br>

-  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos!<br>

-  C'est les dos les gros,<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Les beaux,<br>

-  A nous les marmites!<br>

-  Grandes ou petites;<br>

-  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos;<br>

-  C'est les dos les gros,<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Les beaux,<br>

-  A nous les marmit' et vivent les los!"</i><br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-I closed my ears to shut out the sound of those

-words.  I remembered Ernest&mdash;that look in his

-eyes, that scorn in his face, that disdain in his

-bearing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The truth was only too plain.  His love for me

-was dead.  I was the most wretched of women, of

-all God's creatures.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I prayed that I might regard him&mdash;that I might

-regard the world&mdash;with indifference.  And yet I

-was sufficiently acquainted with the world and

-its ways to know that to a woman the word indifference

-is the most evil word in the language; that it

-bears upon the most fatal of all sentiments; that

-it brings about the most deadly of all mental attitudes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But Ernest, the man whose slave I was, despised

-me.  He commanded my love; why could not I

-command his?  Ah, because I was a woman&mdash;and

-my face had ceased to interest him!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Bitter tears sprang to my eyes, but I managed to

-preserve my self-control and enter the station-lift,

-making an inward vow that never again, in my

-whole life, would I set foot in that hated hell within

-a paradise called Monte Carlo.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-True, I was a woman who, abandoned by the

-man she loved, amused herself wherever amusement

-could be procured; but I still remained an honest

-woman, as I had always been ever since those sweet

-and well-remembered days spent in the grey old

-convent outside Florence.  At Monte Carlo the

-scum of the earth enjoy the flowers of the earth.  I

-detested its crowds; I held in abhorrence that

-turbulent avarice, and felt stifled in that atmosphere

-of gilded sin.  No!  I would never enter there

-again.  The bitter remembrance of that night

-would, I knew, be too painful.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Thus I returned to Nice with a feeling that for

-me, now that Ernest had drifted away from my side

-to become a placid gambler, and to live careless of my

-love, life had no further charm.  The recollection

-of the days that followed can never be torn from

-my memory, my brain, my soul.  I smiled, though

-I was wearing out my heart; I laughed, even

-though bitter tears were ready to start into my

-eyes, and I made pretence of being interested in

-things to which I was at heart supremely indifferent.

-I courted forgetfulness, but the oblivion of my love

-would not come.  I never knew till then how great

-was the passion a woman could conceive for a man,

-or how his memory could continually arise as a

-ghost from the past to terrify the present.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That night, as we drove from the station to the

-hotel, Ulrica accidentally touched my hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How cold you are, dear!" she cried in surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I answered, shivering.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was cold; it was the truth.  At thought of

-the man who had forsaken me an icy chill had

-struck my heart&mdash;the chill of unsatisfied love, of

-desolation, of blank, unutterable despair.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In due course our yachting gowns came home from

-the dressmaker's&mdash;accompanied by terrifying bills,

-of course&mdash;and a few days later we sailed out of

-Villefranche Harbour on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  The

-party was a well-chosen one, consisting mostly of

-youngish people, several of whom we knew quite

-well, and before the second day was over we had all

-settled down to the usual routine of life on board a

-yacht.  There was no sensation of being cramped

-up, but on the contrary the decks were broad and

-spacious, and the cabins perfect nests of luxury.

-The vessel had been built on the Clyde in accordance

-with its owner's designs, and it certainly was an

-Atlantic liner in miniature.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our plans had been slightly altered, for since the

-majority of the guests had never been to Algiers, it

-was resolved to make a run over there, and then

-coast along Algeria and Tunis, and so on to

-Alexandria.  As we steamed away from Villefranche, the

-receding panorama of the Littoral, with its

-olive-covered slopes and great purple snow-capped Alps

-spread out before us, presenting a perfectly enchanting

-picture.  We all stood grouped on deck watching

-it slowly sink below the horizon.  From the first

-moment that we went on board, indeed, all was

-gay, all luxurious; for were we not guests of a

-man who, although absurdly economical himself,

-was always lavish when he entertained?  Everyone

-was loud in praise of the magnificent appointments

-of the vessel; and the dinner at which its owner

-presided was a meal sparkling with merriment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was placed next Lord Eldersfield, a pleasant,

-middle-aged, grey-eyed man, who had recently left

-the Army on succeeding to the title.  He was, I

-found, quite an entertaining companion, full of

-droll stories and clever witticisms; indeed, he

-shone at once as the chief conversationalist of the

-table.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Have I been in Algiers before?" he repeated,

-in answer to a question from me.  "Oh, yes.

-It's a place where one half the people don't know

-the other half."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I smiled and wondered.  Yet his brief description

-was, I afterwards discovered, very true.  The Arabs

-and the Europeans live apart, and are like oil and

-water; they never mix.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The day passed merrily, and had it not been for

-constant thoughts of the man who had loved me

-and forgotten, I should have enjoyed myself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Save for one day of mistral, the trip across the

-Mediterranean proved delightful; and for six days

-we remained in the white old City of the Corsairs,

-where we went on excursions, and had a most

-pleasant time.  We visited the Kasbah, drove to the

-Jardin d'Essai and to the pretty village of

-St. Eugène, while several of the party went to visit

-friends who were staying at the big hotels up at

-Mustapha.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Life in Algiers was, I found, most interesting

-after the Parisian artificiality and the glitter of

-Nice and Monte Carlo; and with Lord Eldersfield

-as my cavalier, I saw all that was worth seeing.  We

-lounged in those gay French cafés under the

-date-palms in the Place du Gouvernement, strolled up

-those narrow, ladder-like streets in the old city, and

-mingled with those crowds of mysterious-looking

-veiled Arab women who were bargaining for their

-purchases in the market.  All was fresh; all was

-diverting.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As for Ulrica, she entered thoroughly into the

-spirit of the new sensation, as she always did, and,

-with Gerald usually as her escort, went hither and

-thither with her true tourist habit of poking about

-everywhere, regardless of contagious diseases or

-the remarkable variety of bad smells which

-invariably exist in an Oriental town.  Although

-each day the party went ashore and enjoyed

-themselves, old Mr. Keppel never accompanied them.

-He knew the place, he said, and he had some business

-affairs to attend to in the deck-house, which he

-kept secret to himself.  Therefore he was excused.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, Miss Rosselli," he had explained to me in

-confidence, "I'm no sight-seer.  If my guests

-enjoy seeing a few of the towns on the Mediterranean

-I am quite contented; but I prefer to remain quiet

-here, rather than drive about in brakes and revisit

-places that I have already visited long ago."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," I said.  "You are under no obligation

-to these people.  They accept your kind

-hospitality, and the least they can do is to allow you

-to remain in peace where you wish."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he sighed.  "I leave them in Gerald's

-charge.  He knows how to look after them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And his face seemed sad and anxious, as though

-he were utterly forlorn.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Indeed, after a week at sea we saw but very little

-of him.  He lunched and dined with us in the

-saloon each day, but never joined our musical

-parties after dinner, and seldom, if ever, entered the

-smoking-room.  Because all knew him to be eccentric,

-this apparent disregard of our presence was

-looked upon as one of his peculiar habits.  Upon

-Gerald devolved the duty of acting as entertainer,

-and, assisted by Ulrica, old Miss Keppel and

-myself, he endeavoured to make everyone happy and

-comfortable.  Fortunately, the ubiquitous Barnes

-had, by Gerald's desire, been left behind at the

-Villa Fabron.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As day by day we steamed up that tranquil sea

-in brilliant weather, with our bows ever thrusting

-themselves toward the dawn, life was one continual

-round of merriment from three bells, when we

-breakfasted, until eight bells sounded for turning

-in.  A yachting cruise is very apt to become

-monotonous, but on the <i>Vispera</i> one had no time for

-<i>ennui</i>.  After Algiers, we put in for a day at

-Cagliari, then visited Tunis, the Greek Islands,

-Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We had already been a month cruising&mdash;and a

-month in the Mediterranean in spring is

-delightful&mdash;when one night an incident occurred which was

-both mysterious and disconcerting.  We were on

-our way from Constantinople, and in the first

-dog-watch had sighted one of the rocky headlands of

-Corsica.  That evening dinner had been followed

-by an impromptu dance, which had proved a most

-successful affair.  The men were mostly dancers,

-except Lord Stoneborough, who was inclined to

-obesity, and what with the piano and a couple of

-violins, played by a pair of rather insipid sisters,

-the dance was quite a jolly one.  We persuaded

-even old Mr. Keppel to dance, and although his

-was a not very graceful feat, nevertheless his

-participation in our fun put everyone in an exceedingly

-good humour.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Of course, the month had not passed without the

-usual gossip and tittle-tattle inseparable from a

-yachting cruise.  On board a yacht people quickly

-become inventive, and the most astounding fictions

-about one's neighbours are whispered behind fans

-and books.  I had heard whispers regarding Ulrica

-and Gerald Keppel.  Rumour had it that the old

-gentleman had actually given his consent to their

-marriage, and as soon as they returned to England

-the engagement would be announced.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Certain of the guests, with an air of extreme

-confidence, took me aside, and questioned me

-regarding it; but I merely responded that I knew

-nothing, and greatly doubted the accuracy of the

-rumour.  More than once that evening I had been

-asked whether it were true, and so persistent seemed

-the rumour that I took Ulrica into my cabin, and

-asked her point-blank.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear!" she cried, "have you really taken

-leave of your senses?  How absurd!  Of course,

-there's nothing whatever between Gerald and

-myself.  He is amusing&mdash;that's all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You might do worse than marry him," I laughed.

-"Remember, you've known him a long time&mdash;four

-years, isn't it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Marry him?  Never!  Go and tell these prying

-persons, whoever they are, that when I'm engaged

-I'll put a paragraph in the papers all in good time."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But don't you think, Ulrica," I suggested&mdash;"don't

-you think that if such is the case, Gerald is

-rather too much in your society?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I can't help him hanging around me, poor boy,"

-she laughed.  "I can't be rude to him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course not, but you might possibly give him

-a hint."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! now, my dear Carmela," she cried impatiently,

-"you want to lecture me, eh?  You know

-how I hate being lectured.  Let's end the discussion

-before we become bad friends."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And so, with a light laugh, she rearranged her hair

-and left my cabin to return on deck, where dancing

-was still proceeding beneath the great electric lights.

-Four bells had rung out sharply, showing it to be

-two o'clock, before I went down to my cabin,

-attended by Felicita.  Very soon, however, I sent her

-to bed and lay down to rest myself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Somehow, I could not sleep that night.  The

-monotonous whirr and throbbing of the engines

-sounded like continual thunder in my ears, and even

-the swish of the long waves as they rose and fell at

-the port-hole irritated me.  Of late I had developed

-insomnia to an alarming extent, but whether it was

-due to the noise of the machinery, or to nervousness,

-I know not.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I turned and turned in my narrow berth, but could

-not sleep.  The atmosphere seemed stifling, in spite

-of the ventilators; and I dared not open the port-hole,

-fearing a sudden douche, for a wind had sprung

-up and we were rolling heavily.  The jingle of the

-glasses on the toilet-stand, the vibration, the tramping

-of the sailors overhead, the roar of the funnels,

-all rendered sleep utterly impossible.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At last I could stand it no longer.  I rose and

-dressed, putting on a big driving-coat.  Then, with

-a thick shawl about my head, I went up on deck.

-The fresh air might perhaps do me good, I thought.

-At any rate, it was a remedy worth trying.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The night, so brilliant a couple of hours before, had

-become dark and stormy; the wind was so boisterous

-that I walked with difficulty; and the fact

-that the awnings had been reefed showed that Davis,

-the skipper, anticipated a squall.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The deck was deserted.  Only on the bridge could

-I see, above the strip of sheltering canvas, two

-shadowy figures in oilskins, keeping watch.  Save

-for those figures, I was utterly alone.  On my way

-towards the stern I passed the small deck-house,

-which old Mr. Keppel had reserved as his own den.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The green silk blinds were always drawn across the

-port-holes, and the door always remained locked.

-No one ever entered there, although many had been

-the speculations regarding the private cabin when

-we had first sailed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The millionaire himself had, however, given an

-explanation one day at luncheon.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I always reserve, both in my houses and here,

-on board the <i>Vispera</i>, one room as my own.  I hope

-all of you will excuse me this.  As you know, I have

-a good many affairs to attend to, and I hate to have

-my papers thrown into disorder."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Personally, I suspected him of having a lathe

-there, so that he might pursue his hobby of ivory-turning,

-but the majority of the guests accepted his

-explanation that this deck-house was his study, and

-that he did not wish them to pry there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-More than once Ulrica had expressed to me wonder

-regarding the reason the cabin remained always

-closed, and its curtains always drawn.  Every

-woman dearly loves a mystery, and, like myself,

-Ulrica, when she discovered anything suspicious,

-never rested until she had found some theory or

-other.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She had one day mentioned the fact to Gerald,

-who, in my presence, had given what appeared to

-me the true explanation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's merely one of the guv'nor's eccentricities.

-The fact is, that on the outward voyage from

-Portsmouth he bought some antique Moorish furniture

-and ivory carvings in Tangier, and has stored all his

-purchases in there until we return.  I've seen them

-myself&mdash;beautiful things.  He says he intends to sell

-them at a profit to a dealer in London," whereat we

-laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Knowing how the old gentleman practised

-economy sometimes, I had accepted this as the truth.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But as, gripping the rail to prevent myself being

-thrown down by the rolling of the ship, I passed

-along the side of the deck-house, I was surprised to

-see a light within.  The curtains of green silk were

-still drawn, but the light could nevertheless be seen

-through them, and it occurred to me strange that

-anyone should be there at that hour of the night.  I

-placed my face close to the screwed-down port-hole,

-but the curtain had been so well drawn that it was

-impossible to see within.  Then, moving quietly, I

-examined the other three round brass-bound windows,

-but all were as closely curtained as the first.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I fancied I heard voices as I stood there, and I

-confess that I attempted to distinguish the words,

-but the roar of the funnels and howlings of the wind

-drowned every other sound.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What if my host caught me prying?  His private

-affairs were surely no business of mine.

-Remembering this, I was about to turn away, when

-suddenly I experienced an extraordinary desire to

-peep inside that forbidden chamber.  I walked

-round it again, stealthily, for, as luck would have it,

-I was in thin slippers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-While standing there in hesitation, I noticed that

-upon the low roof was a small ventilator which had

-been raised to admit air.  What if I could get a peep

-down there!  It was an adventurous climb for a

-woman hampered by skirts.  But I searched for

-means to mount, and found them in a low iron

-staple, to which some cords of the rigging were

-attached, and a brass rail which afforded rather

-insecure foothold.  After some effort, I succeeded in

-scrambling to the top, but not before I found myself

-rather too much exposed to the eye of the officer on

-the bridge.  Fortunately, I was behind him, but if

-he had occasion to turn round he would be sure to

-discover me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Having risked so much, however, I was determined

-to make further endeavour.  I leaned across the

-small roof, placed my face close to the open

-ventilator, and peered down into the locked cabin.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Next second I drew back with a start, holding my

-breath.  A loud exclamation of dismay escaped me,

-but the sound was swallowed up in the noises of the

-boisterous night.  The sight I witnessed below me

-in that small deck-house held me as rigid as if I had

-been petrified.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap13"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XIII

-<br><br>

-DISCLOSES A MILLIONAIRE'S SECRET

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-So heavily was the yacht rolling that I was compelled

-to hold firmly, lest I should lose my balance

-and roll down upon the deck.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My foothold was insecure, and the sight which

-presented itself as I peered within was so unexpected

-and startling, that in the excitement of the moment

-I loosened my grip, and narrowly escaped being

-pitched down headlong.  From my position I

-unfortunately could not obtain a view of the whole

-interior, the ventilator being open only a couple of

-inches; but what I saw was sufficient to unnerve

-any woman.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The cabin was lit brilliantly by electricity, but the

-walls, instead of being panelled in satinwood, as

-were most of the others, were decorated in a manner

-more rich and magnificent than in any other part of

-the vessel.  They were gilt, with white ornamentation

-in curious arabesques, while upon the floor was

-a thick Turkey carpet with a white ground and

-pattern of turquoise blue.  The effect was bright and

-glaring, and at the first moment it occurred to me

-that the place was really a lady's boudoir.  There

-was another aft, it was true, but this one had

-evidently been intended as a lounge for female guests.

-As I looked down, old Benjamin Keppel himself

-passed into that part of the cabin within the zone

-of my vision.  His hat was off, displaying his scanty

-grey hair, and as he turned I caught a glimpse of his

-face.  His countenance, usually so kind and tranquil,

-was distorted by abject fear; his teeth were set, his

-cheeks grey and bloodless.  Both anger and alarm

-were depicted upon his rugged countenance.  His

-appearance was mysterious, to say the least; but it

-was another object within that room which held me

-in speechless wonderment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Near where he stood, lying in a heap at his feet,

-was a dark-haired, handsome woman, in a white silk

-robe&mdash;a stranger.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The old millionaire, with a sudden movement,

-flung himself upon his knees, and touched her face

-caressingly.  The next instant he drew back his

-hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Dead!" he gasped, in the thick voice of a man

-grief-stricken.  "Dead!  And she did not know&mdash;she

-did not know!  It is murder!" he gasped, in a

-terrified whisper.  "Murder!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The wind howled about me weirdly, tearing at my

-clothes as if it desired to hurl me into the raging sea;

-while the yacht, steaming on, rose and plunged,

-shipping huge seas each time her bows met the angry

-waves.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For some moments the strange old man bent over

-the woman in silence.  I was puzzled to discover her

-identity.  Why had she been kept prisoner in that

-gilded cabin during the cruise?  Why had we

-remained in total ignorance of her presence?  I alone

-knew our host's secret.  We had a dead woman on

-board.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Keppel touched the woman again, placing his

-hand upon her face.  When he withdrew it, I saw

-that blood was upon it.  He looked at it, and

-shudderingly wiped it off upon his handkerchief.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At the same instant a voice, that of a man,

-sounded from the opposite side of the cabin, saying:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Don't you see that the ventilator is open up

-above?  Shut it, or somebody may see us.  They

-can see down here from the bridge."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Think of her," the old man exclaimed, in a low

-voice.  "Not of us."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of her?  Why should I?" inquired the gruff

-voice of the unseen.  "You've killed her, and must

-take the consequences."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I&mdash;&mdash;" gasped the old man, staggering with

-difficulty to his feet, and placing both hands to his

-eyes, as though to shut out from view that hideous

-evidence of his crime.  "Yes," he cried, in an

-awe-stricken tone, "she is dead!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And a good job, too," responded the unseen

-man, in a hard and pitiless tone.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," cried Keppel angrily.  "At least respect

-her memory.  Remember who she was!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I shall remember nothing of this night's work,"

-the other responded.  "I leave all memories of

-it as a legacy to you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You coward!" cried Keppel, turning upon the

-speaker, his eyes flashing.  "I have endeavoured to

-assist you, and this is your gratitude."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Assist me?" sneered his companion.  "Pretty

-assistance it's been!  I tell you what it is, Benjamin

-Keppel, you're in a very tight place just now.  You

-killed that&mdash;that woman there, and you know

-what the penalty is for murder."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I know!" wailed the white-faced, despairing man.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, if I might be permitted to advise, I'd make

-a clean sweep of the whole affair," said the man.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do you mean?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Simply this: we can't keep the body very long

-in this cabin without it being discovered.  And

-when it is found, well, it will be all up with both of

-us.  Of that there's but little doubt.  I suggest

-this.  Let us make at once for one of the Italian

-ports, say Leghorn, where you will land to transact

-some important business, and I'll land also.  Then

-the <i>Vispera</i> will sail for Naples, to which port you

-will go by rail to rejoin her.  On the way, however,

-the vessel disappears&mdash;eh?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Disappears!  How?  I don't understand."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Is blown up."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Blown up!" he cried.  "And how about the guests?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Guests be hanged!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But there are eleven of them, beside the crew."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Never mind them.  There are the boats, and

-no doubt they'll all take care of themselves.  Fools

-if they don't."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I should feel that I'd murdered them all,"

-the old man responded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In this affair we must save ourselves,"

-declared the unseen man, very firmly.  "There has

-been a&mdash;well, we'll call it an ugly occurrence

-to-night, and it behoves us to get clear out of it.  If the

-<i>Vispera</i> goes down, the body will go down with

-it, and the sea will hide our secret."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But I cannot imperil the lives of all in that

-manner.  Besides, by what means do you suggest

-destroying the ship?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Perfectly simple.  Just give orders to Davis in

-the morning to put in at Leghorn with all possible

-speed, and leave the rest to me.  I'll guarantee

-that the <i>Vispera</i> will never reach Naples."  Then

-he added: "But just shut that infernal ventilator.

-I don't like it being open."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Old Keppel, staggering, reached the cord, and in

-obedience to his companion's wish closed the narrow

-opening with a sudden bang.  The woodwork

-narrowly escaped coming into contact with my

-face, and for some moments I remained there

-clutching at my unstable supports, and rudely

-buffeted by the gale.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As at any moment I might be discovered, I made

-haste to lower myself again to the deck, though not

-without difficulty, and then cautiously returned to

-my own cabin.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had been soaked to the skin by the rain and

-spray, but though still in my wet things, I sat

-pondering over the mysterious crime I had discovered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Who was that unseen man?  Whoever he was, he

-held old Benjamin Keppel in his power, and to his

-diabolical plot would be due the destruction of the

-<i>Vispera</i>, and the loss of perhaps every soul on board.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He had suggested an explosion.  He no doubt

-intended to place on board some infernal contrivance

-which, after the lapse of a certain number of

-hours, would explode, and blow the bottom out of

-the yacht.  Whoever that man was, he was a crafty

-villain.  Providentially, however, I had been led

-to the discovery of the scheme, and I did not mean

-that the lives of my fellow-guests, or of the crew,

-should be sacrificed in order to conceal a crime.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A vision of that white dead face recurred to me.

-It was a face very handsome, but to my remembrance

-I had never seen it before.  The mystery of

-the woman's concealment there was altogether

-extraordinary.  Yet it scarcely seemed possible that she

-should have remained in hiding so long without a

-soul on board, save Keppel, being aware of her

-presence.  She had been fed, of course, and most

-probably the steward knew of her presence in that

-gilded deck-house.  But she was dead&mdash;murdered

-by an inoffensive old gentleman, who was the very

-last person in the would I should have suspected of

-having taken human life.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And why had he stroked her dead face so

-caressingly?  Who, indeed, was she?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My wet clothes clung to me coldly and clammily.

-I now exchanged them for a warm wrap, entered

-my berth, and tried to rest.  Sleep was, however,

-impossible in that doomed ship, amid the wild

-roaring of the tempest and the thunder of the waves

-breaking over the deck above.  Once it occurred

-to me to go straight to Ulrica and tell her all I had

-seen and heard, but on reflection I resolved to keep

-my own counsel, and narrowly watch the course of

-events.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The mystery of the hidden man's identity grew

-upon me, until I suddenly resolved to make a

-further endeavour to discover him.  The voice was

-deep and low, but the roaring of the wind and hissing

-of escaping steam had prevented me hearing it

-sufficiently well to recognise whether it was that

-of one of our fellow-guests.  I slipped on a

-mackintosh, returned to the deck, and crept towards the

-cabin, wherein reposed the remains of the mysterious

-woman in white.  But soon I saw that the light

-had been switched off.  All was in darkness.  The

-guilty pair had gone below to their own berths.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Through the whole night the storm continued, but

-the morning broke brightly, and the tempest, as

-is so frequently the case in the Mediterranean, was

-succeeded by a dead calm, so that when we sat down

-to breakfast we were steaming in comparatively

-smooth water.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Have you heard?" said Ulrica to me, after we

-had been exchanging our sleepless experiences.

-"Mr. Keppel has altered our course.  He has some

-pressing business to attend to, so we are going into

-Leghorn."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Leghorn!" exclaimed Lord Eldersfield at my

-elbow.  "Horrid place!  I was there once.  Narrow

-streets, dirty people, primitive sanitation, and

-a sorry attempt at a promenade."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, we don't stay there long; that's one

-comfort," said Ulrica.  "Mr. Keppel is going

-ashore and he'll rejoin us at Naples."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I looked down the table and saw that the face of

-the old millionaire was pale, without its usual

-composure.  He was pretending to be busily occupied

-with his porridge.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Are we going on straight to Naples, Keppel?"

-inquired Eldersfield.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly," answered our host.  "I much regret

-that I'm compelled to take you all out of our original

-course, but I must exchange some telegrams with my

-agent in London.  We shall be in Leghorn to-night,

-and if you are all agreed, you may sail again at once."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'd like to see Leghorn," declared Ulrica.

-"People who go to Italy always leave it out of their

-itinerary.  I've heard that it is quite charming

-in many ways.  All the better-class Italians from

-Florence and Rome go there for the bathing in

-summer."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Which, I fear, isn't much of a recommendation,"

-observed his lordship, who was, I believe, Ulrica's

-pet aversion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The bathing itself is declared by all the guide-books

-to be the best in Europe," she answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the heat in summer greater than in any

-other place on the Continent of Europe.  Its imports

-are rags from Constantinople and codfish from

-Newfoundland.  No wonder its scents do not all come

-from roses."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly not.  Of course, if you know the place

-you are welcome to your own opinion.  I don't

-know it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"When you do, Miss Yorke, you'll share my

-opinion.  Of that I feel certain," he laughed; and

-then continued his meal.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The question was shortly decided by vote whether

-the <i>Vispera</i> should remain at Leghorn or not.

-By the majority of the guests, Leghorn was supposed

-to be merely a dirty seaport, and although I,

-who knew the place well, tried to impress upon them

-that it possessed many charms not to be found in

-other Italian towns, it was decided that the yacht

-should only remain there a day, and then go straight

-on to Naples.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This decision was disconcerting.  I had to prevent

-the trip southward, and the problem of how to

-do so without arousing suspicion was an extremely

-difficult one to solve.  If the vessel sailed from

-Leghorn, then she was doomed, together with every

-soul on board.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap14"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XIV

-<br><br>

-IN WHICH I MAKE A RESOLVE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The great broad plain which lies between marble-built

-Pisa and the sea was flooded by the golden

-Italian sunset, and the background of the serrated

-Apennines loomed a dark purple in the distance

-as we approached the long breakwater which protects

-Leghorn from the sea.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Leaning over the rail, I gazed upon the white

-sun-blanched Tuscan town, and recognised the gay

-Passeggio, with its avenue of dusky tamarisks, its

-long rows of high white houses, with their green

-<i>persiennes</i>, and Pancaldi's, and other baths, built

-out upon the rocks into the sea.  Years ago, when at

-the convent, we had gone there each summer, a

-dozen or so girls at a time, under the care of Suor

-Angelica, to obtain fresh air and escape for a

-fortnight or so from the intolerable heat of July in

-the Val d'Ema.  How well I remembered that long

-promenade, the Viale Regina Margherita, best known

-to those happy, light-hearted, improvident Livornesi

-by its ancient name, the Passeggio!  And what

-long walks we girls used to have over the rocks

-beyond Antignano, or scrambling climbs up to the

-shrine of the miracle-working Virgin at Montenero!

-Happy, indeed, were those summer days with my

-girl friends&mdash;girls who had now, like myself, grown

-to be women&mdash;who had married, and had experienced

-all the trials and bitterness of life.  I thought of

-her who was my best friend in those past days&mdash;pretty,

-black-haired, unassuming Annetta Ceriani,

-from Arezzo.  She had left the college the same

-week as myself, and our parting had been a very

-sad one.  In a year, however, she had married, and

-was now a princess, the wife of Romolo Annibale

-Cesare Sigismondo, Prince Regello, who, to give him

-all his titles, was "principe Romano, principe di

-Pinerolo, conte di Lucca, nobile di Monte Catini."  Truly,

-the Italian nobility do not lack titles.  But

-poor Annetta!  Her life had been the reverse of

-happy, and the last letter I had received from her,

-dated from Venice, contained the story of a woman

-heart-broken.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yes, as I stood there on the deck of the <i>Vispera</i>,

-approaching the old sun-whitened Tuscan port,

-many were the recollections of those long-past

-careless days which crowded upon me&mdash;days before

-I had known how weary was the world, or how

-fraught with bitterness was woman's love.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Already the light was shining yellow in the square

-old lighthouse, although the sun had not altogether

-disappeared.  Half-a-dozen fine cruisers of the

-British Mediterranean Squadron were lying at

-anchor in line, and we passed several boats full of

-sun-tanned men on the way to the shore for an

-evening promenade, for the British sailor is always

-a welcome guest in Leghorn.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The situation was becoming desperate.  How

-was I to act?  At least, I should now ascertain

-who had been the old man's companion in the

-deck-cabin on the previous night, for he and this

-stranger would no doubt go ashore together.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Old Mr. Keppel was standing near me, speaking

-again to the captain, giving him certain orders, when

-Gerald, spruce as usual in blue serge, came up and

-leaned at my side.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ulrica says you know Leghorn quite well.

-You must be our guide.  We're all going ashore

-after dinner.  What is there to amuse one in the

-evening?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There is opera at the Goldoni always.  One pays

-only four lire for a box to seat six," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Impossible!" he laughed incredulously.  "I

-shouldn't care to sit out music at that price."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, there I must differ," I replied.  "It is as

-good as any you'll find in Italy.  Remember, here

-is the home of opera.  Why, the Livornesi love music

-so intensely that it is no unusual occurrence for a

-poor family to make shift with a piece of bread and

-an onion for dinner, so as to save the fifty centesimi

-ingresso to the opera.  Mascagni is Livornese, and

-Puccini, who composed La Boheme, was also born

-close here.  In 'cara Livorno,' as the Tuscan loves

-to call it, one can hear the best opera for five-pence."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Compare that with prices in London!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And our music, unfortunately, is not so good,"

-I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Shall we go to this delightfully inexpensive

-opera to-night?  It would certainly be an experience."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I fear I shall not," I answered.  "I'm not

-feeling very well."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm extremely sorry," he said, with quick

-apprehension.  "Is there anything I can get you?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, nothing, thank you," I answered.  "I feel

-a little faint, that's all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We had already anchored just inside the breakwater,

-and those very inquisitive gentlemen&mdash;the

-Italian Customs officers&mdash;had come on board.  A

-few minutes later the bell rang for dinner, and all

-descended to the saloon, eager to get the meal over

-and go ashore.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-On the way down Ulrica took me aside.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Gerald has told me you are ill, my dear.  I've

-noticed how pale and unlike yourself you've been all

-day.  What's the matter?  Tell me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I&mdash;I can't.  At least, not now," I managed to

-stammer, as I hastened to slip from her side.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I wanted to be alone to think.  Keppel's

-companion of the previous night, the man to whom the

-conception of that diabolical plot was due, was still

-on board.  But who was he?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I ate nothing, and was ready to take my seat

-in the first boat that went ashore.  I had excused

-myself from making one of the party at the opera,

-after giving all necessary directions, and, on

-pretence of going to a chemist's to make a purchase,

-I separated myself from Ulrica, Gerald, and Lord

-Eldersfield in the Via Grande, the principal thoroughfare.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How next to act I knew not.  No doubt Keppel's

-intention was to send on board some explosive

-destined to sink the <i>Vispera</i> to the bottom with all on

-board.  At all hazards, the yacht must not sail.

-Yet, how was it possible that I could prevent it

-without making a full statement of what I had

-overheard?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I entered the pharmacy and purchased the first

-article that came into my mind.  Then, returning

-into the street, I wandered on, plunged in my own

-distracting thoughts.  Keppel had gone alone to

-the telegraph office in a cab.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The soft, balmy Italian night had fallen, and the

-white streets and piazzas of Leghorn were filled,

-as they always are at evening, with the light-hearted

-crowds of idlers; men with their hats stuck jauntily

-askew, smoking, laughing, gossiping; and women,

-dark-haired, black-eyed, the most handsome in all

-Italy, each with a mantilla of black lace or some

-light-coloured silk as head-covering, promenading

-and enjoying the <i>bel fresco</i> after the toil and burden

-of the day.  None in all the world can surpass in

-beauty the Tuscan women&mdash;dark, tragic, with eyes

-that flash quickly in love or hatred, with figures

-perfect, and each with an easy-swinging gait that a

-duchess might envy.  It was Suor Angelica who

-had once repeated to me the verse written about

-them by an old Florentine poet:

-</p>

-

-<p class="poem">

-  "S'è grande, è oziosa,<br>

-  S'è piccola, è viziosa;<br>

-  S'è, bella, è vanitosa;<br>

-  S'è brutta, è fastidiosa."<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-Every type, indeed, is represented in that long,

-single street at night&mdash;the dark-haired Jewess, the

-classic Greek, the thick-lipped Tunisian, the

-pale-cheeked Armenian, and the beautiful Tuscan, the

-purest type of beauty in all the world.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Once again, after several years, I heard, as I

-walked onward, the soft sibilations of the Tuscan

-tongue about me, the gay chatter of that city of

-sun and sea, where, although half the population

-is in a state of semi-starvation, hearts are still as

-light as in the days when "cara Livorno" was still

-prosperous.  But alas! it has sadly declined.  Its

-manufactures, never very extensive, have died cut;

-its merchant princes are ruined, or have deserted

-it, and its trade has ebbed until there is no work

-for those honest, brown-faced men, who are forced

-to idle upon the stone benches in the piazza, even

-though their wives and children are crying for

-bread.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The splendid band of the garrison was playing in

-the great Piazza Vittorio, in front of the British

-Consulate, where the Consular flag was waving,

-because the warships were in the port.  The music

-was in acknowledgment of the fact that the British

-Marine Band had played before the Prefecture on

-the previous evening.  The Consulate was

-illuminated, and on the balcony, in company with a

-large party, was the Consul himself, the popular

-Jack Hutchinson&mdash;known to every English and

-American resident throughout Tuscany as the

-merriest and happiest of good fellows, as well as

-a distinguished author and critic.  I recognised

-him, looking cool in his suit of white linen, but

-hurried on across the great square, feeling that no

-time should be lost, and yet not knowing what

-to do.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The mysterious assassination of poor Reggie, and

-the curious events which followed, coupled with the

-startling discovery I had made on the previous night,

-had completely unnerved me.  As I tried to reflect

-calmly and logically, I came to the conclusion that

-it was eminently necessary to ascertain the identity

-of the man who held the millionaire beneath his

-thumb&mdash;the man who had suggested the blowing up

-of the yacht.  This man intended, without a doubt,

-to leave the vessel under cover of night; or, if he

-were actually one of the guests, he could, of course,

-easily excuse himself and leave the others, as I

-had done.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap15"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XV

-<br><br>

-IN WHICH WE PAY A VISIT ASHORE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The mystery of the deck cabin was puzzling.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I alone held knowledge of the dastardly plan

-formed to blow up the yacht, and was determined

-that the vessel should not sail again before I had

-warned my fellow-guests.  But how?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had watched the old millionaire narrowly, and

-had plainly detected his nervous agitation, and his

-anxiety for the cruise to be brought to an end.  As

-far as I myself was concerned, I had no intention of

-again sailing in the <i>Vispera</i>, and would certainly

-not allow Ulrica to continue the voyage.  That the

-yacht was doomed was plain.  Even at that moment

-old Mr. Keppel was sending mysterious telegrams,

-in all of which I scented some connection with the

-tragedy that had occurred on board.  It struck me

-that the wisest course would be to attach myself to

-my host as much as possible, and narrowly watch

-his movements.  With that intention, therefore, I

-turned back and walked as far as the great Piazza

-Carlo Alberto, where the central telegraph office

-was situated.  On the stone seats around the

-spacious square hundreds of people were sitting

-and gossiping beneath the stars, for the Italian of

-the working-class loves to gossip at night, when the

-day's toil is over, and the cool breeze comes in from

-across the sea.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I met Keppel emerging from the office, and with

-some surprise he greeted me.  I told him that I

-had been making some purchases, while the others

-had gone to the opera, whereupon he suggested that

-we, too, should take a cab to the Goldoni and join

-the party there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This we did.  The old man was unusually chatty

-and affable, and during our drive told me he had

-decided that the <i>Vispera</i> should lie in Leghorn for

-the next five or six days, as he was expecting letters

-from England in reply to the telegrams he had just

-despatched.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This surprised me.  If he and his unknown

-accomplice wished to get rid of traces of their

-crime by blowing up the vessel, it seemed only

-probable that they would do so at the earliest possible

-moment.  Again, a second point was an enigma.

-How was it that the Customs officers, who had

-searched the yacht, and had, of course, entered the

-mysterious deck-house, had not discovered the

-crime?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Keppel was a very shrewd old fellow, but it was

-my duty to prevent the consummation of the

-dastardly plot which his accomplice had suggested.

-With this object in view, I made a point of

-remaining as near him as possible.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In the investigation of matters such as these a

-woman is in many ways handicapped.  A man can

-go hither and thither in search of truth, and act

-in a manner for which a woman can find no excuse.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At the Goldoni, an enormous theatre, rather dingy

-with age, but nevertheless comfortable, Verdi's

-<i>Aida</i> was being performed, and when we entered the

-box occupied by our party, Ulrica greeted me with

-enthusiasm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You were quite right, Carmela, dear.  The

-music is really wonderful.  I had no idea that they

-had opera of such high quality in a small Italian

-town.  The tenor is a great artist."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" I laughed.  "I was sneered at when I

-dared to say that there was anything of interest in

-Leghorn.  You have at least found an evening's

-amusement equal to any you'll find in London.

-Pretty toilettes you won't find, as at Covent Garden,

-but good opera you can always hear."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I quite agree with Miss Rosselli," declared

-Gerald, as he rose to give me his seat.  "Leghorn

-is a charming place.  And what lovely women!

-I've never in all my life seen such a galaxy of

-beauty."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, then you have noticed them already!" I

-said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Every Englishman who goes to Leghorn is

-enthusiastic over the beauty of the Livornese women,

-the well-cut, regular features, the dark flashing

-eyes, the artistically-dressed hair, the great

-gold-loop ear-rings, and the soft santuzza, or silken

-scarf, with embroidered ends, wound about the head

-and secured by great pins, the finishing touch to a

-thoroughly artistic adornment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the Englishman walks down the Via Grande,

-they, promenading in couples or threes, arm in

-arm, turn and laugh saucily at him as he passes.

-Yes, they are a light-hearted, careless people, the

-Livornesi, even though the poverty is terrible.

-Hundreds would die of sheer starvation yearly were

-it not for those kind Capuchins, Fra Antonio, Padre

-Sisto, Padre Antonino, and the others, who daily

-distribute bread to all who ask for it at the convent

-gate.  The good friars have no funds, but Fra

-Orazio, a lay brother, and the youngest of them,

-goes daily from house to house of the middle classes

-and the wealthy, begging a trifle here and a trifle

-there with which to buy the bread and the necessaries

-for soup for the starving.  And who does not

-know Fra Orazio in Leghorn?  In his brown habit,

-a dark-haired, black-bearded man of forty, with a

-round, jovial face tanned by the sun, his rotund

-figure is as well known as the equestrian statue of

-Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The theatre was crowded, the cheaper parts being

-packed by men and women of the poorer classes,

-who had made that day one of semi-fasting in order

-to be able to pay the <i>ingresso</i>, and hear the music

-of their beloved <i>maestro</i>.  The audience was an

-enthusiastic one, as it generally is in Italy&mdash;as quick

-to praise as it is to condemn&mdash;and that night the

-principal singers were recalled time after time.  In

-the Italian theatre there is a lack of luxury;

-sometimes even the floor is unswept, and there is dust in

-the boxes; nevertheless, all these drawbacks are

-counterbalanced by the excellence of the performance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To the millionaire's guests that performance was

-a revelation, and when we left on the conclusion of

-the opera to return to the port and go on board,

-Leghorn was voted by all to be quite an interesting

-place.  Indeed, when our host stated that he

-intended to remain there a few days owing to the

-necessities of his business, no one demurred.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica suggested at breakfast next morning that

-some of us should run up to Florence on a flying

-visit, it being only sixty miles distant, while

-somebody else urged the formation of a party to go and

-see the famed leaning tower at Pisa.  For my part,

-however, I had resolved that I would go wherever

-my host went.  Several times that morning I

-passed and repassed the deck-cabin, but those

-green silk blinds were closely drawn across the

-brass-bound port-holes, and the door was carefully

-locked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What a terrible mystery was contained therein!

-If only my fellow-guests were aware that on board

-the vessel was the body of an unknown woman

-who had been foully and brutally murdered!

-And yet a distinct suspicion had now seized me

-that the Customs officers, having searched and

-found nothing, the body must have been secretly

-disposed of.  Perhaps it had been weighted and

-sunk during the silent watches of the night.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet, if this had actually been done, what possible

-reason was there to destroy the yacht and sacrifice

-the lives of those on board?  I had thought it all

-over very carefully in the privacy of my own small

-cabin, where the morning sunshine, dancing upon

-the water lying just below my port-hole, cast

-tremulous reflections upon the roof of the cosy little

-chamber.  No solution of the problem, however,

-presented itself.  I was utterly bewildered.  A

-thousand times I was tempted to confide in Ulrica,

-yet on reflection I saw how giddy she was, and

-feared that she might blurt it out to one or other

-of her friends.  She was sadly indiscreet where

-secrets were concerned.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-About ten o'clock I found the old millionaire

-lolling back in a deck-chair, enjoying his morning

-cigar according to habit, and in order to watch

-him, I sank into another chair close to his.  The

-<i>Vispera</i> was lying within the semi-circular mole;

-and so, while protected from the sudden gales for

-which that coast is so noted, there was, nevertheless,

-presented from her deck a magnificent panorama

-of the sun-blanched town and the range of dark

-mountains beyond.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The young Countess Bonelli, who was at school

-with me, has invited us all to her villa at Ardenza,"

-I said, as I seated myself.  "You will accompany

-us this afternoon, won't you, Mr. Keppel?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ardenza?  Where's that?" he inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The white village there, along the coast," I

-answered, pointing it out to him.  "I sent a

-message to the Countess last night, and half an

-hour ago I received a most pressing invitation for

-all of us to drive out to her villa to tea.  You'll

-come?  We shall accept no excuses," I added.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, Miss Rosselli," he grunted, "I'm getting

-old and crochety; and to tell you the plain truth,

-I hate tea-parties."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But you men won't drink tea, of course," I

-said.  "The Countess is most hospitable.  She's

-one of the best known of the younger hostesses in

-Florence.  You probably know the Bonelli Palace

-in the Via Montebello.  They always spend the

-spring and autumn at their villa at Ardenza."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And so I pressed the old man until he could not

-refuse.  I watched him very narrowly during our

-conversation, and became more than ever convinced

-that his increased anxiety and fidgety behaviour

-were due to the pricks of conscience.  More than

-once I felt sorely tempted to speak straight out,

-and demand of him who and where was the woman

-who had been concealed in that gilded deck-house?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But what would it profit to act ridiculously?

-Only by patience and the exercise of woman's wit

-could I hope to learn the truth.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His reluctance to go ashore increased my

-suspicions.  He had at breakfast announced his

-intention of not landing before evening, as he had

-some correspondence to attend to; but this seemed

-a mere excuse to remain behind while the others

-went out exploring the town.  Therefore I was

-determined that he should accompany us, and I

-had urged Ulrica to add her persuasive powers to

-mine.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The afternoon was one of those brilliant ones which

-are almost incessant on the Tuscan coast.  About

-three o'clock we all landed, including the old

-millionaire, and in cabs were driven along the promenade

-and out by the city gate along the oleander grove

-to Ardenza, the first village eastward beyond

-Leghorn on the ancient Strada Romana, that long

-highway which runs from Marseilles to Rome.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-All in the party were delighted with the drive

-along that wide sea-road, which for miles is divided

-from the actual rocks by a belt of well-kept gardens

-of palms and oleanders, forming one of the

-handsomest and most beautiful promenades in the South

-of Europe.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I have often thought it curious that the ubiquitous

-British traveller has never discovered Ardenza.  He

-will, no doubt, some day, and then the fortune of

-the charming little retreat will be made.  Time was,

-and not very long ago, when Nervi, Santa

-Margherita, and Rapallo were unknown to those

-fortunate ones who follow the sun in winter; yet

-already all those little places are rapidly becoming

-fashionable, and big hotels are springing up

-everywhere.  The fact is, that <i>habitués</i> of the South,

-becoming tired of the artificiality and flagrant vice

-of the French Riviera, and of the terrible rapaciousness

-of hotel-keepers and tradesmen in that most

-ghastly of all Riviera resorts, San Remo, are

-gradually moving farther eastward, where the sunshine

-is the same, but where the people are charming

-and as yet unspoilt by the invading hordes of the

-wealthy; where the breezes are health-giving,

-where the country is both picturesque and primitive,

-and where the Aspasia of the boulevard and the

-<i>chevalier d'industrie</i> are alike absent.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ardenza is a large village of great white villas

-in the Italian style&mdash;mansions they would be called

-in England.  Some face the splendid tree-lined

-promenade, but many lie back from the sea in their

-own grounds, shut out from the vulgar gaze by walls

-high and prison-like.  There is no mean street,

-for it is essentially a village of the wealthy, where

-the great houses, with their wonderful mosaic floors,

-are the acme of comfort and convenience, where both

-streets and houses are lit by electricity, and where

-society is extremely sociable, and yet select.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There is neither shop nor hotel in the place, but

-a quarter of a mile away is the old village called

-Ardenza di Terra, to distinguish it from that by

-the sea, a typical Italian village, with its old-world

-fountain, round which the women, gay in their

-bright kerchiefs, gossip; its picturesque bridge, and

-its long white high-road which leads up to Montenero,

-that high, dark hill on which stands the church with

-its miracle-working Virgin.  Both Byron and Shelley

-knew and appreciated the beauties of the place.

-The former had a villa close by, which is,

-alas! now falling to decay; while Shelley frequently

-visited Antignano, the next village along the old

-sea-road.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Better than San Remo, better than Bordighera,

-better than Alassio, Ardenza will one day, when

-enterprising hotel-keepers discover it, and the new

-direct railway from Genoa to Rome is constructed

-from Viareggio to Cecina, become a rival to Nice.

-At present, however, the residents are extremely

-conservative.  They never seek to advertise the beauties

-or advantages of the place, for they have no desire

-that it should become a popular resort.  Nevertheless,

-I dare to assert here that the sea-bathing is

-perhaps the finest in Europe, that no promenade of

-any English watering-place equals it, and that its

-climate, save in the month of August, is one of the

-best of any place on the Mediterranean shore.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-No wonder, then, that rich Italians have built

-their villas in so lovely a spot, or that they go there

-to escape the fogs of the Arno, or the dreaded

-malaria of Rome.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The Countess Velia met me at the port, and

-carried Ulrica and myself home in her smart victoria.

-We had not met for quite three years, and I saw

-that the rather plain Velia of convent days had

-now grown into a strikingly handsome woman.

-Her husband, she told us, was unfortunately in

-Venice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The Villa Bonelli we found to be one of the largest

-in Ardenza, a huge white mansion, with bright green

-<i>persiennes</i>, standing back in its own grounds behind

-a large gate of ornamental iron, the spikes being

-gilded, in accordance with the usual style in Italy.

-Velia received her guests in the great <i>salon</i>

-upholstered in azure silk, and then we wandered through

-the ground floor of the spacious mansion, passing

-the smaller <i>salons</i>, and at last strolled out into the

-garden, where tea was served in the English style

-under the shadow of the orange trees.  Velia had

-never been able to master English, and, as few of

-her guests beside myself spoke Italian, her conversation

-was of necessity limited.  Nevertheless, after

-a five weeks' cruise, resulting in the cramped

-sensation one usually experiences while yachting,

-tea-drinking and rambling in that beautiful garden,

-with its wealth of flowers, were delightful occupations

-enjoyed by all, even by old Mr. Keppel, whose

-chief wonder seemed to be at the magnificence of the

-house, which appeared to be almost entirely

-constructed of marble.  The mosaic floors, too, were

-splendid, worked in dark green and white, in

-imitation of those in the Thermæ Antoninianæ at Rome.

-The Bonellis were an ancient family, one of the

-few Florentine nobles who were still wealthy.

-Their ancestral castello was above Pracchia in the

-Apennines, between Florence and Bologna, and Velia

-had several times since her marriage given me

-pressing invitations to stay with her there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At the convent we had always been close friends.

-She was the daughter of the Marchese Palidoro of

-Ancona, and once I had spent the Easter vacation

-with her at her home on the Adriatic shore.  Ulrica

-and the others found her a charming little woman,

-and, of course, admired the two-year-old little

-Count, who was brought down from his kingdom

-in the nursery, to be kissed and admired by us.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap16"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XVI

-<br><br>

-DISCUSSES SEVERAL MATTERS OF MOMENT

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The men drank Marsala&mdash;always offered in the

-afternoon in an Italian house&mdash;and smoked in the

-garden, while we women wandered wherever we

-liked.  Those of my companions who had not before

-seen the interior of an Italian villa were interested

-in everything, even to the culinary arrangements, so

-different from those in England.  The Italian cook

-makes his dishes over some half-a-dozen small charcoal

-fires about the size of one's hand, which he keeps

-burning by a kind of rush fire-screen, the English

-grate being unknown.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We had been there a couple of hours, and to all

-of us the change had been pleasant after so long a

-spell at sea.  Velia was sitting apart in the garden,

-and we were chatting, she telling me of the perfect

-tranquillity of her married life.  Rino was, she

-declared, a model husband, and she was perfectly

-happy; indeed, her life was a realisation of those

-dreams that we both used to have long ago in the

-old neglected garden of the convent, when we

-walked together hand-in-hand at sundown.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She recalled those days to me&mdash;days when I, in my

-childish ignorance, believed the world outside to be

-filled with pleasant things.  We had not met since

-we had parted at the convent, she to enter Florentine

-society and to marry, and I to drift about the world

-in search of a husband.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Suor Teresa's counsels were so very true," she

-said to me, as we recalled the grey-eyed Sister who

-had been our foster-mother.  "Haven't you found

-them so, just as I have, even though you have lived

-in England, your cold, undemonstrative England,

-and I here, in Italia?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Suor Teresa gave us so much good advice.

-To which of her precepts do you refer?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Don't you recollect how she was always saying

-that, as women, the first thing of importance was

-always to be content to be inferior to men&mdash;inferior

-in mental power in the same proportion as we are

-inferior in bodily strength.  Facility of movement,

-aptitude and grace, the bodily frame of woman may

-possess in a higher degree than that of man; just as

-in the softer touches of mental and spiritual beauty

-her character may present a lovelier aspect than

-his.  Yet the woman will find, Suor Teresa used to

-say, that she is by nature endowed with peculiar

-faculties&mdash;with a quickness of perception, facility

-of adaptation, and acuteness of feeling, which fit her

-especially for the part she has to act in life, and

-which, at the same time, render her, in a higher

-degree than man, susceptible both to pain and

-pleasure.  These, according to our good Sister, are our

-qualifications as mere women."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I said, "I remember now.  Some of Suor

-Teresa's counsels I've followed, but others, I fear,

-I threw to the winds.  She was a good woman&mdash;a

-very good woman, Suor Teresa.  Do you remember

-how she used to lecture us girls, and say: 'When you

-are women of the world, how wide is the prospect

-which opens before you&mdash;how various the claims

-upon your attention&mdash;how vast your capabilities&mdash;how

-deep the responsibility which those capabilities

-involve!  In the first place, you are not alone;

-you are one of a family&mdash;of a social circle&mdash;of a

-community&mdash;of a nation.  You are a being whose

-existence will never terminate, who must live for

-ever, and whose happiness or misery through that

-endless future which lies before you will be influenced

-by the choice you are now in the act of making.'  Do

-you remember the kind of lectures she used to

-give us?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Perfectly well," answered Velia.  "But she is

-dead, poor woman; she died of fever last summer."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Dead!" I echoed

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A pang of regret shot through my heart, for I

-remembered how sweet and kind she had always

-been, how just and how devout in all her religion.

-To her I owed many stimulating ideas about good

-and evil, few of which, I fear, remained long enough

-in my memory.  It was she who taught me to

-love the virtuous and the good, and the recollection

-of those early days of her tender guidance formed

-a bright spot in my life, to which, I suppose, the

-mind will take me back at intervals as long as

-existence lasts.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Velia was about my own age, and at the convent

-we had treated one another as if we were sisters.

-Therefore when we fell to talking of those old days

-before the courses of our lives ran so far apart, my

-memory drifted back to those home-truths which

-Suor Teresa and her fellow-nuns had striven to

-instil into our rather fickle minds.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My fellow-guests left about five o'clock, for they

-had arranged to continue on the sea-road and ascend

-to the famed pilgrimage church of Montenero&mdash;one

-of the sights of Western Tuscany.  As I had

-made a pilgrimage there in my school-days, at

-Velia's invitation I remained behind to dine with

-her, promising Ulrica to return on board later in

-the evening.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In the glorious blaze of crimson sunset which

-flooded the broad, clear Mediterranean, causing the

-islands of Gorgona, Capraja, and Corsica to stand out

-in purple grandeur in the infinite blaze of gold, I sat

-upon the marble terrace, lolling in a long cane chair,

-and chatting with the Countess.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How different had been our lives, I reflected.

-She, married happily, surrounded by every comfort

-that wealth could provide, a child which was her

-idol, and a husband whom she adored; while I,

-one of those unattached women who form the flotsam

-of society, world-weary, forlorn, and forsaken, was

-beaten hither and thither up and down Europe by

-every gust of the social wind.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I contrasted our lives, and found my own to be a

-hollow and empty sham.  Of all the passions which

-take possession of the female breast, a passion for

-society is one of the most inimical to domestic

-enjoyment.  Yet how often does this exist in

-connection with an amiable exterior!  It is not easy

-to say whether one ought most to pity or to blame a

-woman who lives for society&mdash;a woman who reserves

-all her good spirits, all her pretty frocks, her

-animated looks, her interesting conversation, her bland

-behaviour, her smiles, her forbearance, her

-gentleness, for society.  What imposition does she not

-practise upon those who meet her there!  Follow

-the same individual home; she is impatient, fretful,

-sullen, weary, oppressed with headache, uninterested

-in all that passes around her, and dreaming only of

-the last evening's excitement, or of what may

-constitute the amusement of the next; while the

-mortification of her friends at home is increased

-by the contrast her behaviour exhibits in the two

-different situations, and her expenditure upon

-comparative strangers of feelings to which they

-consider themselves to have a natural and inalienable

-right.  I was terribly conscious of my own failings

-in this respect, and in society Ulrica had been

-my chief example.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I hated it all, and envied the woman who sat

-there chatting with me so merrily.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There, in the fading afterglow, when the sun had

-disappeared behind the distant headland, I told her,

-in reply to her question, of my love and its

-disillusionment.  I told her his name&mdash;Ernest Cameron&mdash;and

-at mention of it I thought I detected her dark

-brows grow narrow for an instant.  But surely it was

-only fancy, for these two had certainly never met.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You have all my sympathy, Carmela," she said,

-in her soft Italian, when I had told her the truth.

-"You have suffered, poor child.  Your words tell

-me so."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I responded frankly.  "I have suffered,

-and am still suffering.  Another woman stole his

-love from me, and I am left deserted, forlorn;

-outwardly a smart figure as you see me, but within

-my heart is the canker-worm of hatred."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He may return to you," she said.  "His fancy

-may be a mere passing one.  Men are so very fickle."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," I declared quickly, "it is all ended between

-us.  I loved only once&mdash;loved him with all the

-charm of a first attachment.  She who entertains

-this sentiment lives no longer for herself.  It was

-so in my case.  In all my aspirations, my hopes,

-my energies; in all my confidence, my enthusiasm,

-my fortitude, my own existence was absorbed in his

-interests.  But now I am despised and forgotten."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She was so sympathetic that more than once I was

-tempted to confide to her the whole of the strange

-facts and the mysteries that were so puzzling to

-me.  But I hesitated&mdash;and in my hesitation

-resolved to keep my own counsel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-We dined together, taking our wine from the big

-rush-covered <i>fiasco</i> of Chianti placed in its swinging

-stand, according to the custom of Tuscany; eating

-various dishes peculiarly Italian, and being waited

-upon by two maids who spoke in that quaint but

-musical dialect of the Tuscan shore.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Throughout the meal my thoughts wandered from

-my surroundings to the dastardly plot formed to

-destroy the <i>Vispera</i>.  Where, I wondered, was old

-Mr. Keppel?  For aught I knew, both he and his

-unseen accomplice were engaged in buying explosives

-for the purpose of causing the contemplated disaster.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Velia believed my preoccupation to be due to our

-conversation before dinner, and I allowed her to

-continue in that belief.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Dinner in an Italian household is a very different

-meal to the French <i>table d'hôte</i> or the English evening

-meal.  The courses are varied, and from the <i>anti-pasti</i>

-to the <i>dolci</i>, all is new to the English palate.

-Those who have lived sufficiently long in Italy to

-become imbued with its charm know well how difficult

-it is to relish the substantial English cooking

-when one goes on a visit to the old country; just

-as difficult as it is to enjoy the grey skies and smoky

-cities of money-making Britain after the brightness

-and sunshine of the garden of Europe.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At ten o'clock, after we had idled in the <i>salon</i>

-with our coffee and certosa&mdash;a <i>liqueur</i> made by the

-old monks of the Certosa, outside Florence, and

-not obtainable beyond the confines of Tuscany&mdash;Velia's

-brougham came round, and reluctantly I

-took leave of her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our reunion had certainly been full of charm, for

-in those hours I had allowed myself to forget my

-present position, and had, in thought, drifted back

-to the placid days of long ago that had been passed

-within the high grey walls of the ancient convent.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Good-bye, Carmela," Velia said, holding my

-hand in hers warmly after I had entered the carriage.

-"Remember your promise to return here before

-you sail.  I shall expect you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I repeated my promise gaily, and then giving her

-a final "<i>Addio, e buona notte,</i>" I was driven out of

-the great gates and into the night.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The road from Ardenza to Leghorn, a magnificent

-drive by day, is not very safe at night.  The trees

-lining it form a refuge for any thieves or footpads,

-and because of this it is patrolled continually by a

-pair of mounted carbineers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At length we came to the great iron gates of the

-city, which stretch across the wide highway,

-flanked on either side by huge porticos, in which

-are stationed the officers of the dazio, as the <i>octroi</i>

-in Italy is called.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Every article entering an Italian city is inspected

-with a view to the imposition of taxes, hence every

-conveyance, from the country cart of the contadino

-laden with vegetables for the market, to the private

-brougham, is stopped at the barrier, and the

-occupant is asked to declare what he or she has with

-him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In front of the barrier the brougham was brought

-to a halt, and one of the dazio guards, in his peaked

-cap and long overcoat with silver facings, opened

-the door, inquiring whether I had anything liable

-to be taxed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Niente,</i>" I responded, and was preparing to

-resettle myself for the journey, when the man, looking

-rather hard at me in the semi-darkness, said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina is named Rosselli, I believe?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I replied, surprised at the man's

-knowledge of my name.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He fumbled in the pocket of his overcoat for a

-moment, produced a letter, and then handed it to

-me in quite a surreptitious manner, saying in a low

-tone:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This is for the signorina."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then he banged to the door with a great show of

-officiousness, without waiting for me to thank him,

-and we drove forward along the deserted promenade.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As it was quite dark within the carriage, I was

-unable to read the communication that had so

-suddenly been handed to me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What, I wondered, did it contain?  Who had

-taken the precaution to bribe one of the dazio

-guards to hand it to me?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Surely it must contain something of the highest

-importance and strictest privacy.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap17"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XVII

-<br><br>

-DESCRIBES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-At the outlying suburb of San Jacopo the street-lamps

-began, and tearing open the strange note, I

-found it to contain some lines penned in a rather

-uneducated hand.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the coachman was driving at a good pace, I

-had some difficulty in deciphering the words by the

-light of the street-lamps as their rays flashed in,

-and as rapidly disappeared.  The words I read,

-however, were decidedly curious.  Written in

-Italian, rather faintly, be it said, the note ran as

-follows:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The bearer will give you this in strictest secrecy.

-Do not return on board the yacht, but first call at

-Number 12, Via Magenta, ground floor, where you

-will meet a friend whose interests are identical with

-your own.  Dismiss your carriage near the port,

-and take a cab to the address indicated.  Come,

-without fear, and without delay."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The invitation was, to say the least of it, a peculiar

-one.  Although a woman, I am not naturally timid,

-especially in Italy, where I know the language,

-and know the peculiarities of the people.  My

-first feelings, however, were those of suspicion.

-Why could not the writer have approached me

-openly, without taking the elaborate precaution of

-sending me the missive by the hand of the dazio

-guard?  Again, I was not acquainted with the

-Via Magenta, and suspected it to be in a low

-quarter of the city.  There are several parts of

-Leghorn into which a woman would certainly not

-care to venture after dark.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The suggestion that I should not return to the

-yacht read to me as a warning, especially in the

-light of the knowledge I had gained of old Keppel's

-intentions.  Could it be possible that it was

-intended that the <i>Vispera</i> should sail before morning

-and go straight to her doom?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sat back in the carriage, thinking it all over.

-Finally, I came to the conclusion that the writer

-of the letter, whoever he was, must, like myself,

-be aware of the truth.  Our interests, he declared,

-were identical.  That statement was in itself

-interesting, and filled me with a curiosity which

-increased as I reflected.  I glanced again at the sheet

-of common notepaper in my hand, and my suspicions

-were again aroused by the fact that there

-was no signature.  The note was anonymous, and

-no one, especially a woman, has any sympathy with

-anonymity.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Should I disregard the warning, cast the letter

-out of the carriage window, and return on board;

-or should I act according to its instructions?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I was engaged in a very serious and difficult

-inquiry, which had baffled experienced police

-officials, be it remembered.  In every direction I

-scented suspicion, now that the old millionaire,

-the man in whose integrity I had so firmly believed,

-was proved to be the author of a foul and dastardly

-crime.  The whole affair was as startling as it was

-incomprehensible.  The enigma was complete.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ever since the time when I had been so cleverly

-tricked by the pseudo-detectives in Nice, I had been

-on the alert to discover some clue which might

-lead me to a knowledge of the manner in which poor

-Reggie had met with his death.  That there was a

-deep-laid conspiracy on foot was manifest, but in

-what direction to seek for an explanation, I knew

-not.  The mystery of this strange affair unnerved me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The city of Leghorn is bisected by the Via Grande,

-its principal street, which runs from the great Piazza

-Carlo Alberto in a straight line down to the port.

-At the bottom of this thoroughfare I stopped the

-brougham, alighted, and sent the conveyance back

-to Ardenza.  The steps at which I knew the yacht's

-boat would be awaiting me were a considerable

-distance away, and I had no fear of detection by

-any person who knew me.  At that hour all my

-fellow-guests would undoubtedly be back on board;

-therefore if I kept the strange appointment, I

-might return to the yacht within an hour, and no

-one need be the wiser.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-From the open casement of one of the high, not

-over-clean houses facing the port, where boatmen

-and dock-labourers lived, sounded the sweet twanging

-of a mandoline, while a voice sang an old Tuscan

-serenade:

-</p>

-

-<p class="poem">

-  "O!  Nina mia&mdash;o giovinetta,<br>

-  Lunica speme&mdash;delta mia vita;<br>

-  Deh! perchè vivi&mdash;così soletta<br>

-  In questa tetra&mdash;stanza romita?<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vieni, vieni!<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vieni, deh! vieni a me d'accanto.<br>

-  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Io t'amo tauto, io t'amo tanto!"<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-I listened, and as those words of passionate love

-fell upon my ears I tried to shut them out.  They

-recalled too vividly the days when I myself had

-been wooed by a man whom I loved.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The writer of the mysterious note had declared our

-interests to be mutual.  This fact aroused my

-interest, causing me, in my eagerness to learn the

-truth, to disregard my usual caution.  Hailing one

-of the small open cabs which are characteristic of

-every Italian town, I gave the man the address

-mentioned in the letter.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Contrary to my expectations, the Via Magenta

-proved to be one of the principal streets down

-which the electric tramway passed, and Number 12

-was, I found, a large, old palace of six stories, once

-the residence of some count or marquis, but now,

-as a result following the ruin of its original owners,

-it was evidently let out in flats.  The big doors,

-ponderous and iron-studded, as they nearly always

-are in Italy&mdash;a relic of those turbulent days when

-every palazzo was a miniature fortress&mdash;were closed

-when I alighted; but finding a row of bells, I

-rang the one marked "terreno" (ground floor),

-whereupon the door was unbolted by the occupant

-of the apartment, and I immediately found myself

-just inside a huge, dark hall, where the noise made

-by me in stumbling over a step echoed loudly.

-There is always something uncanny in the way an

-Italian door is opened at night by an unseen hand,

-for one naturally expects to see a person standing

-behind it.  As a matter of fact, the opening is

-effected by a mechanical contrivance which can be

-operated at will in any of the apartments.  Thus

-the occupants remain undisturbed until the visitor

-arrives at their door.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had turned, and was about to ask the cabman

-to give me some wax vestas in order that I might

-find my way, when a door opened at the further end

-of the hall, and against the light from within I saw

-the silhouette of a young Italian girl about fifteen

-years old.  She came forward, looking at me

-inquiringly, and then, as though she recognised my

-features from a description that had been given

-her, she exclaimed:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is the Signorina Rosselli!  Pass, signorina,

-pass!" and she led the way into the apartment,

-closing the door behind her.  The place was

-spacious, sparely furnished, but not particularly

-clean.  The cheap paraffin lamp upon the table of

-the small room at the back of the house to which

-I was conducted was smoking, blackening the glass,

-and filling the place with suffocating fumes.  The

-stone floor of the apartment was without carpet,

-and all the furniture it contained was a cheap

-table, two or three old rush-bottomed chairs, and

-a tall linen-press of a bygone day.  There was a

-damp, earthy smell, which did not help to make

-the place any more inviting.  Indeed, I had scarcely

-set foot in it before I became seized with suspicion

-and regretted that I had come.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The girl, a tall, black-eyed Livornese, who wore a

-bodice of cream-coloured cotton and a stuff skirt

-of dark crimson, was evidently a serving-maid, for

-she drew forward one of the chairs, inviting me to

-be seated.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I presume I am expected here?" I inquired in Italian.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Si, signorina," was the girl's reply, "the signore

-will be with you in a moment.  Please be seated.

-I will tell him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She disappeared, closing the door after her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The whole affair was mysterious.  Grim and

-forbidding by day, an old Italian palazzo at night

-never inspires the stranger with confidence.  Its

-great chambers are full of ghosts of the past, and

-one's imagination quickly conjures up visions of

-those old burghers who were such good haters;

-of the gay young cavaliers who rode to a joust

-or a skirmish with equal nonchalance; and of

-those richly-clad dames who caused all the great

-tragedies that were enacted within these dark,

-prison-like walls.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Little time was, however, allowed me for

-reflection, for almost immediately the door opened,

-and there entered a dwarfed and ugly little old

-man, with a queer wizened face, deeply wrinkled,

-and a grey beard, bushy and untrimmed.  His

-appearance was so comical that I could scarcely

-suppress a smile.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, signorina!" he cried, in a high-pitched,

-squeaky voice, "I am glad you have come.  I

-feared that you might not get the letter, and the

-matter is highly important."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are the writer of the letter?" I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, no, signorina," the old fellow squeaked.

-"Unfortunately, I cannot write&mdash;I can only make

-a cross."  He spoke Italian, with a strong southern

-accent, and struck me as being of the lower

-class.  To me it was strange that the queer old

-fellow should inhabit part of a palace of that

-description.  "I did not write the letter," he went

-on, "but I wished to speak with you upon an

-important matter."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am all attention," I responded.  "Permit me

-to mention that I have a cab waiting outside, and

-my time is precious."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are anxious to return on board the yacht,

-eh?" he grunted, with a strange expression upon

-his puckered face.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I must join my friends within an hour," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Your friends?" he echoed, with strange emphasis

-upon the final word.  "You are best apart

-from such as they."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why?" I inquired, surprised at the old fellow's

-sudden declaration.  He was evidently aware of

-some fact which it was desirable that I should

-know.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There are strong reasons why the signorina

-should not return on board," he declared, with a

-mysterious air.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"As well as reasons why I should not number

-the Signor Keppel and his guests among my

-friends?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina guesses right," he answered, with

-a sinister smile.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I presume that I may be permitted to

-know those reasons?" I suggested.  "One cannot

-well break off a friendship without some motive."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Your own safety is sufficient motive, surely?"

-he argued.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am not in fear, and as far as I am aware there

-is no danger," I declared, endeavouring to show a

-bold front, and hoping that the old fellow would

-soon become more explicit.  He apparently alluded

-to the conspiracy to blow up the yacht in order

-to hide old Keppel's secret.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But our interests are mutual," he said, glancing

-at me sharply.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are seeking to elucidate a mystery.  So

-am I.  You are endeavouring to discover the person

-who assassinated the young Signor Inglese at the

-Grand Hotel at Nizza.  So am I."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You!" I cried in surprise.  "For what reason

-are you interesting yourself in the matter?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have a motive&mdash;a very strong one," he

-answered.  "We ought to unite our efforts with a

-view to solving the mystery."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The police have already failed," I remarked,

-inwardly ridiculing the idea that any assistance

-could be rendered by the queer old fellow living

-there in that dismal and silent palazzo.  Surely a

-man with such a grotesque countenance could never

-act the amateur detective with success!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The police!" he sneered, when I mentioned

-them.  "They are useless.  They act by rule, and

-here, in Italy, may be bribed with a handful of

-cigars.  The police!  They are not worth the value

-of a dried fig, the whole of them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you favour independent effort, such as I

-myself am making?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Most certainly," croaked the old fellow.  "It

-may appear strange to you that, working in the same

-direction as yourself, I am aware of all you have

-already done."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't understand," I exclaimed in surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I mean that I have been watching, just as you

-have.  I know all that has happened&mdash;everything.

-That is why we should combine our efforts."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But what can you know of my inquiries?"

-I exclaimed dubiously.  "We have never met

-before."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, signorina, that is true," he laughed.  "And

-we should not have met now, were it not for the fact

-that events have occurred to render our meeting

-necessary.  To show you that I am aware of the

-efforts you have already made, I will describe to you

-how the money stolen from the young Inglese was

-returned to you, and then cunningly secured by

-trickery.  I will tell you, too, of certain matters

-which occurred in Nice, and which you, no doubt,

-believe are only known to yourself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And then he went on to describe to me events and

-conversations which had taken place in Nice, in such

-detail as to make it plain that the old fellow had been

-well acquainted with my movements, and knew all

-the efforts I had made to solve the tantalising

-problem.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He spoke of Ernest, too, with a strange familiarity,

-which made me believe that they had been

-acquainted.  He showed himself to be intimate with

-the doings of the man I loved, knowing both his past

-movements and his present whereabouts.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He is at Aix-les-Bains," he said, in reply to my

-question.  "At the 'Hotel d'Europe.'"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And she?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina pains herself unnecessarily," the

-old man responded, with a slight touch of sympathy

-in his voice.  "But if she desires to know, the person

-to whom she refers was, perhaps is still, at

-Aix&mdash;'Hotel Lamartine.'"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He has gone there to play, I suppose?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  She assists him, and has wonderful luck,

-just as she had at Monte Carlo.  You remember?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I responded.  "But were you actually

-there?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He smiled, and from his face I knew that he also

-had witnessed that woman's fortune.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And now?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"From reports that have reached me, it seems

-that her luck has not deserted her.  They made a

-<i>coup</i> at baccarat three nights ago, and won eighty

-thousand francs between them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My teeth met and clenched themselves hard.  The

-woman who had stolen my love held Ernest Cameron

-in her toils.  He believed that her presence at the

-tables brought him good fortune.  And yet I loved

-him so&mdash;better than life!  The old man's words

-brought to my mind a flood of recollections

-belonging to the idyllic days of a love now dead.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ah! if we had married, I would have been a much

-better woman, I reflected bitterly.  To love is such

-a very different thing from a desire to be beloved.

-To love is woman's nature&mdash;to be beloved is the

-consequence of her having properly exercised and

-controlled that nature.  To love is woman's duty&mdash;to

-be beloved is her reward.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But where was my reward?

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap18"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XVIII

-<br><br>

-CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The queer-looking old man sitting there before me,

-fidgeting slightly in his chair, was indeed a very

-grotesque figure.  From what he had said, I could

-no longer doubt that he was aware of the whole of the

-curious circumstances at Nice, and was likewise well

-acquainted with the manner in which my relations

-with Ernest had been broken off.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How he had accomplished his manifestly clever

-espionage in Nice I knew not.  Certainly I had never

-noticed his presence, either in Nice or in the Rooms

-at Monte Carlo.  Besides, if he had presented himself

-at the bureau of the Casino in such clothes as he

-wore at that moment he would have been refused

-admission.  A man is not allowed to enter if his

-trousers are turned up in wet weather, while the

-cycling tourist in knickerbockers is promptly shown

-the door by the semi-military janitors.  Yet from

-words he had let drop, he showed himself intimate

-with all the features of the play of both Ulrica and

-Ernest Cameron, and must have been present in the

-crowd around the table.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The mystery surrounding the affair increased each

-moment.  And now this dwarfed old man, of whose

-name I was unaware, desired me to combine my

-efforts with his.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With that end in view he settled to talk with me

-seriously, pointing out that poor Reggie had been

-murdered secretly, and that it was my duty to

-discover the truth, and bring his assassin to justice.  I

-admitted this, of course, but failed entirely to see

-what connection the old fellow could have with it.

-To me, in my ignorance of the truth, he appeared to

-have entered into a matter which did not in the least

-concern him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"From what I have already told the signorina, I

-think she will be convinced that our interests are

-really identical," he said presently, after we had been

-talking some time.  "My own inquiries have been

-independent of yours, but the result has been the

-same.  To put it plainly, neither of us has discovered

-any clue whatsoever.  Is not that the truth?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Unfortunately so," I exclaimed.  "All my

-efforts have been unavailing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is the reason we must combine," he urged.

-"A woman cannot hope to elucidate such a mystery

-unaided.  It is impossible."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was a crafty old fellow, this dwarfed person,

-with the grotesque features.  He eyed me strangely,

-and more than once I entertained misgivings that he

-was not acting altogether straightforwardly.  Somehow,

-his surroundings did not strike me as those of a

-man who had sufficient money to travel hither and

-thither in order to take up a task in which the police

-had ignominiously failed.  From his rather

-reluctant admissions, I gathered that he was acting at

-the instigation of poor Reggie's friends; yet he was

-not altogether explicit upon that point, and a good

-deal of doubt existed in my mind.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," I said at last, in order to bring matters to

-a point, "and how do you suggest that we should

-combine our forces, Signor&mdash;&mdash;" and I hesitated

-purposely, in order to give him an opportunity of

-telling me his name.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Branca&mdash;Francesco Branca," he exclaimed,

-concluding my sentence.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, Signor Branca, I am ready to listen to any

-suggestions you may make in order successfully to

-trace the assassin."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We must first understand each other perfectly,"

-responded the queer old man.  "You have not yet

-told me the full extent of your inquiries, or whether

-you entertain any suspicion of any person.  You

-have been yachting these past five weeks.  Has

-nothing occurred to arouse suspicion during that

-period?  If we are to combine, we must know the

-extent of each other's investigations, and the result,"

-he added.  "What has been the nature of your life

-on board the <i>Vispera</i>?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Pleasant, on the whole," I responded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Has nothing occurred?" he inquired, looking at

-me with a straight and searching glance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You speak as though you already have knowledge

-of something," I said, endeavouring to smile.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I simply ask the question," he squeaked, in his

-high-pitched voice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At first I hesitated whether to tell him the truth;

-yet when I reflected upon his statement that he was

-acting in the interests of Reggie's family, I became

-induced to tell the old fellow the truth regarding my

-discovery in the deck-house, and the plot I had overheard.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Contrary to my expectations, my statement did

-not disturb him in the least.  He only raised his grey

-brows with an expression of surprise, and said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I was correct in my surmise that certain

-persons on board the yacht are not your friends,

-signorina.  Was I not?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You were," I admitted.  "But it is Mr. Keppel

-himself who will be responsible for the blowing up of

-the vessel, because he has acquiesced in a suggestion

-made by a person unknown."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You never saw the man who was speaking with

-this Mr. Keppel?  You are certain of that?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Quite.  He was very careful not to come within

-range of the open ventilator."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A wary person, evidently," grunted the old

-fellow.  "Depend upon it, he has some very strong

-motive for the vessel being sent to the bottom with

-all on board.  The captain suspects nothing, I take

-it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Absolutely nothing.  Ought we to warn him?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Warn him!" cried the old man.  "Why, certainly

-not.  We must remain quite quiet, and be

-extremely careful not to show our hand.  Their

-secret is ours.  For us that is sufficient at the present

-juncture," he added, with an air of contentment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But delay may result in the catastrophe," I

-said.  "The yacht may sail at any moment when

-it pleases her owner to cast her away."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," he said, after a few moments of hesitation,

-"what you have told me certainly increases

-the mystery, and is deeply interesting.  You have,

-I suppose, no suspicion that any of the yacht's

-officers are aware of the plot?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The unseen originator of the conspiracy may

-have been an officer, for aught I know," I said.  "I

-have related the occurrence to you just as it took

-place.  I know exactly nothing more."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But you must discover more," he declared

-anxiously.  "The matter must not rest here.  If what

-you say is really true, then there has been murder

-done on board.  The mysterious passenger is a

-perplexing feature, to say the least.  Describe her to

-me as fully as you can."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I acted upon his suggestion.  Unfortunately,

-however, suspended as I had been in that tearing

-wind on the night of my discovery, I had been unable

-to take in every detail of her features.  But I gave

-him a description as minute as was possible, and it

-apparently satisfied him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Strange," he murmured, "very strange!  To

-me it seems as though your discovery leads us into

-an entirely different channel of inquiry.  Surely

-Keppel himself had nothing to do with the assassination

-of young Signor Thorne!" he added slowly, as

-though the startling theory only that moment

-occurred to him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-More than once already had that same suspicion

-crossed my mind, but I had always laughed it to

-scorn.  There was an utter absence of motive, that

-convinced me of its impossibility.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And yet, had I not actually heard with my own

-ears Keppel confess to a murder which he himself had

-committed?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you think that the lady could have come on

-board at Algiers?" he inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I cannot tell," was my answer.  "The deckhouse

-has been kept closed and curtained during the

-whole cruise.  It was that fact which aroused my

-feminine curiosity."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If the fact caused you to investigate, it may also

-have induced others to make inquiry," he remarked.

-"Do you think it has?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How can I tell?  One fact is certain, namely,

-that I am the only person who was a witness of the

-crime, or who overheard the unseen man's suggestion."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You would be unable to recognise the voice of

-that person?" he asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I responded.  "In that wild hurricane

-it was difficult to distinguish the tone of

-voice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He remained thoughtfully silent for a long time.

-The muscles of his grotesque face worked strangely,

-and in his eyes was a crafty look which somehow gave

-me the impression that he was aware of more than

-he had told me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," he exclaimed at last, shifting his position

-slightly and looking me straight in the face, "and

-what is your present suggestion?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It seems very plain that if the yacht sails she

-is doomed, with all on board," I said, "therefore,

-she must not leave Leghorn."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I quite grant that," responded my companion;

-"but how can you prevent it?  Her owner is a

-person of many eccentricities.  This morning he says

-he will remain here a week, yet to-night, when you

-are all calmly asleep, he may order his captain to put

-to sea.  Who is to prevent him?  Neither you nor

-myself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My intention is to keep a strict watch upon his

-movements, and ascertain where he goes, and

-whether any explosive is taken on board," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A most laudable intention, but I fear it is one

-that you will find very difficult to execute," he said.

-"If I may be permitted to advise, you should leave

-that matter to me, and turn your attention rather

-to the locked deck-house.  By some means you must

-gain an entry, and see what is really concealed

-there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am well aware of what secret is hidden there,

-without gaining an entrance," I responded.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You tell me that the woman is dead," he

-observed.  "Well, I do not doubt you; but I nevertheless

-consider it strange that if she is dead, and the

-persons concerned in her decease wished to get rid of

-the body, they have not already dropped it overboard.

-Such a matter would not be at all difficult

-in the night.  Why would Keppel, a parsimonious

-man, consent to the total destruction of a yacht of

-the costly character of the <i>Vispera</i>?  It is utterly

-unreasonable."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"From one point of view I quite agree with you,"

-I argued; "but there may be further reasons why

-the yacht should be cast away&mdash;reasons of which

-we are ignorant."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But is it reasonable that the owner of a yacht

-would enter the port of Leghorn with a body on

-board?" he queried.  "No.  The officials are too

-prying.  Depend upon it, the body is no longer on

-board.  They've got rid of the evidence of the

-crime&mdash;Keppel and this unknown accomplice of his."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then if such is the truth, why should they plot

-to cast the vessel away?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That is exactly my argument.  I am convinced

-that although the question of blowing up the <i>Vispera</i>

-may have been mooted, the project has now been

-abandoned.  At first it appeared to me more likely

-that Keppel and his associate would place some

-explosive on board and make an excuse for not sailing

-in the vessel.  But on reflection it seems obvious

-that the body cannot now be on board, and

-therefore no end would be gained by casting the ship

-away.  No, there is no danger in returning on

-board&mdash;none whatever.  True, Keppel is very eccentric,

-like many man of great wealth, and may sail again

-at any moment; but it is equally certain that the

-dastardly project is not to be put into execution."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you believe that all is quite safe on board?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am quite convinced of it.  Your best plan of

-action, if you agree to combine your efforts with my

-own, is to return and use every means to gain an

-entrance to the deck-house.  I have not the slightest

-expectation that you will discover any actual trace

-of the crime, but I somehow feel confident that what

-it contains will give us some clue."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A clue to the mystery in Nice?" I inquired eagerly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he responded, not without some hesitation.

-"I believe that we shall gain knowledge

-from that carefully-guarded cabin."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But it is always locked," I protested, "and

-Keppel keeps the key upon his chain."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You must exercise your woman's ingenuity,"

-he laughed.  "Already you have proved yourself

-to be as keen and resourceful as any professional

-detector of crime.  Continue, and we shall

-succeed."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If, as you appear to anticipate, we sail to-night,

-we may not meet again," I remarked.  "Shall I

-address you here in case of necessity?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  Do not write to me.  We know not into

-whose hands the letter might fall," he answered

-quickly.  "We shall meet again, signorina, never

-fear&mdash;in Leghorn, or in some other city.  I shall

-travel by land, you by sea."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But what causes you to anticipate that the

-<i>Vispera</i> will leave to-night?" I demanded, for he

-spoke with such authority that I was puzzled.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I read certain telegrams which Keppel sent

-off to-day.  I followed him to the telegraph-office,

-and watched him write.  He probably believed

-that I could not read English.  From the messages,

-it appeared that the <i>Vispera</i> is to go direct from

-here to Ragusa, in the Adriatic, and thence to

-Venice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then we are turning back again!" I cried in

-dismay.  "It was understood that we were on our

-way to Marseilles, where the party was to break up."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Exactly, but the <i>Vispera's</i> itinerary appears to

-have now been altered by its eccentric owner, and

-as soon as possible you will leave for the Adriatic."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," I said frankly, "to tell the truth, I

-have no desire to go on board again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But it is imperative," the old fellow declared

-quickly; "absolutely imperative!  You must not

-drop your inquiries at this the most critical moment.

-You must find means to enter that deck-house.

-Spare no pains, and use every endeavour and every

-wile to gain your end.  We must know what is

-hidden there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Shall you go to Venice and meet me there?"

-I inquired anxiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah, I cannot tell!  So much depends upon the

-inquiries I am making, and upon future occurrences.

-But we shall meet soon, never fear!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Certainly it was curious to find in that Italian

-port, into which, as far as I could gather, we had

-put on mere chance, a man who had the whole

-mystery at his fingers' ends, and who, like myself,

-was sparing no pains to elucidate it.  But had we

-put into Leghorn by mere chance; or had it all

-been cunningly prearranged?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I am not to write to you?" I said, somewhat

-dissatisfied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, decidedly not," was his response.  "We

-must in this affair exercise every precaution in

-order to make certain that our intentions are not

-discovered by the guilty parties.  Return on board,

-remain ever watchful, allow nothing to escape you,

-and make Keppel himself your especial study, at

-the same time seeking for means by which to enter

-the forbidden deck-house."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I take it, Signor Branca, that this apartment

-is not your own?" I said, as I glanced round the

-place.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mine!" he laughed.  "Oh, dear no!  I am

-only here temporarily, in order to meet you.  In

-an hour I leave here&mdash;whither I know not.  I

-was in Rome last night, I am here to-night;

-to-morrow night I may be in Milan, or Turin, or

-Nice&mdash;who knows?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He spoke in French for the first time, and I saw

-by his excellent accent that, so far from my first

-estimate of him being correct, he was a thorough

-cosmopolitan.  It seemed a pity that his personal

-appearance was sufficiently ugly to be remarkable.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I glanced at the watch in my bangle and saw that

-as it was already past eleven o'clock, it was high

-time for me to return on board.  Therefore I rose

-to bid my strange host "<i>Addio</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He bowed to me with a courtly grace which

-rendered his dwarfed figure more than usually

-grotesque, bending so low that his fringe of grey

-beard almost touched his knees.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Addio</i>, signorina," he said.  "Do not relax

-your efforts for a single moment.  Accompany the

-<i>Vispera</i> on the remainder of its cruise, and seek

-to obtain all the knowledge you can.  For my part,

-I shall do my best; and I have much to do&mdash;very

-much, I assure you.  But I am confident that

-before we meet again we shall both have obtained

-a clue to the mysterious death of the young Signor

-Thorne."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"One moment," I said, after some hesitation,

-for I was reluctant to approach a subject which

-preyed ever upon my mind.  "Answer me truthfully.

-Do you entertain suspicion that Mr. Thorne's

-assassin was the man who once loved me&mdash;Ernest

-Cameron?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He regarded me in profound surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," he responded promptly.  "I am convinced

-of the contrary.  There could have been no

-motive, and besides&mdash;&mdash;"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He paused, not finishing the sentence.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Besides, the inquiries I made in Nice and Monte

-Carlo gave a result identical with those made by the

-police, namely, that Signor Cameron was innocent."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"If you have no suspicion of him, then I am

-content," I declared, breathing more freely.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My dwarfish companion smiled knowingly, for he

-was aware that I still loved the man who had

-abandoned me.  Yet there was a strange look in

-his keen dark eyes that I had not before noticed.

-As I drove back through the silent streets of the

-Italian city, down to the port, his sinister countenance,

-with its indescribable expression of craftiness,

-haunted me incessantly.  Why that final glance of

-his had produced such an impression upon me I was,

-even after many hours spent in wonderment, utterly

-at a loss to explain.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap19"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XIX

-<br><br>

-A MILLIONAIRE'S MANOEUVRES

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-Will you, my reader, forgive me if for a few

-moments I am prosy?  I speak only of what is so very

-near my woman's heart.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When we think of what Society might be to us,

-it becomes a painful thing to speak of what it is.

-When we, who are world-weary, think of the seasons

-of mental refreshment which might be enjoyed, the

-possible interchange of mutual trust and kindness,

-the awakening of new ideas, the correction of old

-ones, the sweeping away of prejudice and the

-establishment of thought, the extension of benevolence

-and the increase of sympathy, confidence, and

-good faith which might thus be brought about

-amongst the families of mankind, we become filled

-only by regret that the young and the joyous spirit,

-buoyant with the energies of untried life and warm

-with the generous flow of unchecked feeling, must

-so soon become disillusioned.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-You, my reader, know too well how soon we all

-tire of the eternal shams which go to make up our

-present social life.  You yourself are weary of it,

-though perhaps you hesitate to confess this openly,

-because such a confession would be an offence

-against the <i>convenances</i>.  <i>Convenances!</i>  Bah!

-Society as it now exists is such that no mother,

-once she has launched her daughter into its

-maelstrom by that process known as "coming out,"

-ever hopes to receive back to the peaceful nest

-the wing so lately fledged, unruffled by its flight,

-the snowy breast unstained, or the beating heart

-as true as when it first went forth elated by the

-glowing hope of finding in Society what it never

-yet was rich enough to yield.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And yet the charge we women bring against

-Society for its flattery and its falsehood is an

-old-established one, and we go on year after year

-complaining in the same strain; those who have

-expected most, and have been the most deceived,

-complaining in the bitterest terms.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Having run the whole gamut of Society's follies,

-I had become heartsick; and never was the bald

-truth more forcibly impressed upon me than that

-night when, on descending to my cabin on board the

-<i>Vispera</i>, I found Ulrica there&mdash;the gay, careless

-Ulrica, whose <i>sang-froid</i> nothing ever

-ruffled&mdash;examining one of my newest gowns.  She was an

-average woman, one of ten thousand or more to be

-found any day during the season between Hyde

-Park Corner and Kensington Church, gay and

-chic, with just that slight touch of the cosmopolitan

-which always proves so attractive to men.  It is

-women such as she whose sentiments and feelings

-give tone to Society, and Society&mdash;which now apes

-the tone, the manners, and the dress of the modern

-Aspasia&mdash;influences the sentiments and feelings of

-English life.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why, how horribly late you are, dear!" Ulrica

-began, when I entered my cabin.  "We've all been

-thinking that you were lost, or else that the Countess

-had induced you to remain with her.  Gerald has

-taken a cab back to Ardenza to look for you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-This announcement caused me considerable

-annoyance, but I affected to pass it by, laughingly

-remarking that I had stayed late with my old

-schoolfellow.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"These Italian ports are always cut-throat

-places, Gerald said; and when you were not back at

-half-past ten, he decided to go and look for you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very kind of him," I remarked.  "You all

-dined on board, I suppose?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  Mr. Keppel decided upon dining ashore,

-so we went to a thoroughly Italian hotel&mdash;the

-'Giappone,' I believe it was called.  It was quite

-a plain, unpretending place, but the food was really

-extraordinary.  I've never had better cooking,

-even at the 'Carlton.'"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I know it well," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Indeed, everyone who knows Leghorn knows the

-"Giappone."  As the "Star and Garter" is to

-Richmond, so is the "Giappone" to Leghorn.

-Only the "Giappone," clean, plain and

-comfortable, has never assumed the designation of

-"hotel," but still rejoices in the fact that it is merely

-an <i>albergo</i>, or inn.  Of recent years throughout the

-Italy of the tourist there have sprung up great

-glaring caravanseries, where the cooking is a bad

-imitation of the French style, where the Italian

-waiters are bound to speak French, and the name

-of the hostelry is French (the "o" in hotel always

-bearing a circumflex), and where the accommodation

-is third-rate, at exorbitant prices.  It is, therefore,

-refreshing to find an <i>albergo</i> like the "Giappone,"

-where not a soul speaks either English or French,

-which still retains its old-fashioned character, and

-is noted throughout the whole kingdom for its

-marvellous cooking and absurdly low charges.  It

-is perhaps fortunate that the Cookite has never

-discovered that long, white-painted <i>salle-à-manger</i>

-where, upon each small table, stands the great

-flask of Tuscan wine, and where one can dine as a

-millionaire for the Italian equivalent of two shillings.

-Some day the place will be "discovered," but

-happy those who know it now, before its homelike

-character is swept away.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Where is Mr. Keppel?" I inquired, anxious to

-know whether he had come on board.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In the smoking saloon.  There has been music,

-and I left him chatting with Lord Stoneborough

-ten minutes ago."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What are our future movements?  Have you heard?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, yes!  I forgot to tell you.  At dinner

-to-night old Mr. Keppel announced that we should

-remain here another couple of days or so, and

-then go up the Adriatic to Ragusa, and later

-proceed to Venice.  We're to land there, instead of at

-Marseilles."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Her reply surprised me, for it showed that the

-queer old man I had visited had actually spoken

-the truth and was apparently well up in all the

-millionaire's intentions.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why have the plans been changed?" I

-inquired, as I drew off my gloves.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, because several of the people wanted to go

-up to Switzerland, I believe, and have induced old

-Keppel to land them at Venice, instead of in the

-South of France.  The Viscera is to lay up at

-Fiume, it seems."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But only yesterday he told me that he intended

-to sail home in her to Portsmouth," I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear, the old fellow is as full of plans as he

-is of sovereigns, and is a most vague person regarding

-his future movements.  Somehow, I can't tell in

-what manner, to me he seems to have changed

-wonderfully during the past few days."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you think so?" I asked quickly.  It was

-strange that she should have detected a difference

-in his manner.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  I sat next to him at dinner to-night,

-and couldn't help noticing how nervous and queer

-he seemed.  Perhaps it's one of those penalties

-of wealth which people are so fond of telling us

-about.  If I had wealth I wouldn't heed the

-so-called penalties, would you, dear?  The possession

-of only another five hundred a year would make

-me one of the happiest women in the world."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's the universal cry," I laughed.  "Why

-aren't you more original, Ulrica?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because it's such bad form to be original

-nowadays, when everything has been said before.

-There is no further smartness in conversation.  A

-woman can only shine by the aid of Paquin, or some

-other Vendome artist."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And so she chattered on merrily, until at length

-her eye caught my little travelling clock, when

-she saw that it was already an hour past midnight.

-The tramping of men on deck had ceased, and all

-had grown quiet, save for a low pumping sound from

-the engine-room.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, dear," she said, "I suppose it's time to

-turn in.  We all go over to Pisa to-morrow to see

-the sights&mdash;Leaning Tower, Cathedral, and that

-sort of thing.  I've seen them all before, and so

-have you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I smiled.  When a child, I had stood beneath the

-campanile, marvelling at what Suor Angelica used

-to say was one of the seven wonders of the world;

-had knelt in reverence in the Duomo, and wandered

-in amazement through the old marble-built

-Campo Santo&mdash;how many years ago, I did not care

-to reflect.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You will go with them?" I said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We must both go, much as it bores us.  For

-myself, I hate sight-seeing at any time, and more

-especially the re-visitation of things one has seen

-in one's early youth.  Yachting is delightful, and

-I love it.  But the enthusiasm of one's friends when

-they get ashore is always apt to become tiresome.

-No, my dear Carmela, we're in for a day of

-self-sacrifice to-morrow."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sighed.  For myself, I would have preferred

-to remain in Leghorn, for to me Pisa always seems

-like a marble-built city of the dead.  A single

-visit there in the course of a life-time is sufficient

-for most people, and the modern tourist, <i>en route</i>

-for Rome, generally "does" the sights in a couple

-of hours, and is glad to get away to the Eternal

-City.  For the archæologist there is much of

-interest, but we women of the world are neither

-dry-as-dust professors nor ten-days-in-Italy tourists,

-and care nothing for the treasuries of its Archivio

-di Stato, the traditions connected with the

-miracle-working and carefully-veiled "Madonna sotto gli

-Organi," the tattered banners of the Knights of

-St. Stephen, or why the Messa dei Cacciatori was

-instituted.  To me, as to most people who have

-once set foot in Pisa, its mediæval glories are

-mouldy.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When Ulrica had left me, I stood before the small

-mirror of my tiny, white-enamelled cabin, gazing

-blankly at my own reflection.  Why had Ernest

-forsaken me in favour of that tow-haired, doll-like

-person, whose parentage no one knew, and whose

-manners, as far as I had been able to observe them,

-savoured more of Kennington than Kensington?

-I was good-looking, still young, still attractive,

-still sufficiently alluring to cause men to turn and

-glance after me.  That candid friend, my mirror,

-told me so each time I sought its opinion.  And yet

-I who loved him with all my soul was abandoned!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The queer old man's injunctions recurred to me.

-It was necessary that I should investigate what was

-contained in that locked deck-house over my head.

-But how?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Gerald had told us that the place contained

-curiosities purchased in Tangier, an explanation

-evidently given by his father.  That this was not

-the truth I was already aware.  Yet if the body

-of the mysterious female passenger was still there,

-it was remarkable that the Customs officers had not

-found it.  Still, the men of the Italian dogana are

-easily bribed.  They get half the fines imposed

-upon contraband, a fact which makes them very

-eager to discover dutiable articles&mdash;and nearly

-everything is liable to taxation in Italy&mdash;but a sly

-douceur is to them always preferable to the labour

-entailed in searching a ship and finding nothing to

-reward them.  Davis, the bluff, red-faced captain,

-or one of his officers, being well aware of this, might,

-for aught I knew, have judiciously dispensed a few

-paper <i>lire</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Though old Branca had given his opinion that

-there was no longer any danger of the dastardly

-plot being carried into effect, I was not at all

-convinced of the safety of the vessel.  Thus, without

-removing my hat, I sat on the edge of my narrow

-little berth for a long time, thinking.  We were to

-sail for the Adriatic.  That in itself was suspicious;

-for why should we retrace our course down the

-Italian coast again, when the intention had been to

-make for Marseilles?  Keppel had some strong and

-secret motive for so suddenly altering our plans.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The pumping in the engine-room had been

-succeeded by the low whirr of the dynamo.  At that

-hour all on board were asleep; for lying as we were

-off the Mole, there was no necessity for a

-night-watch to be kept; therefore I decided to venture

-back on deck, ostensibly to take the air and admire

-the clearness of the magnificent Italian night, but

-really to take observations of the locked deck-house.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Stealthily, on tiptoe, I crept out of my cabin, and

-up the stairs on to the deck.  The night was

-brilliant&mdash;one of those which the dweller on the

-Mediterranean shore knows so well in spring, calm, balmy,

-starlit, with the crescent moon shedding its light

-over the distant range of mountains far inland.  The

-lights of the harbour were reflected by the dark,

-unsteady waters; and from the ancient lighthouse

-shone the bright rays of warning far across old

-Neptune's highway.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I emerged on deck, before me extended the

-long line of electric lamps along the Passeggio to

-Ardenza, and behind me lay the brightly-lit City

-of Leghorn, complex and mysterious.  From across

-the port came the sound of steam winches,

-interspersed now and then with the low rumbling of coal

-being shot into barges&mdash;the produce of Cardiff and

-Newcastle, disembarked by some "tramp" eager

-for departure; and once there came from over the

-water the hoarse note of a steam siren announcing a

-vessel's immediate sailing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I lingered for a moment, affecting to enjoy the

-night air, but really to disarm the suspicion of

-anyone who might be astir.  All on board was quiet,

-however, and the silence reassured me.  I crept

-forward to the deck-house, passing its closed and

-curtained port-holes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My heart leaped quickly.  There was a light

-within.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I slowly picked my way past I distinctly

-heard a voice, but could not recognise it.  The

-sound, however, made it apparent that two persons

-were within.  Carefully I walked around, but found

-all three port-holes heavily curtained.  At one I

-listened, but could distinguish nothing.  It was a

-man's voice; that was all I could tell.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I bethought myself of the ventilator by which I

-had before been enabled to overhear the conversation

-within, and wondered whether it was open.

-Without hesitation I swung myself up to the top

-of the deck-cabin, but was dismayed to find the

-small aperture tightly closed.  I listened, but only

-heard a voice speaking in a gruff tone.  As to what

-words were said I could obtain no idea.  The voice

-sounded like that of old Mr. Keppel, but even of

-this I was not altogether certain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Were the occupants of that locked cabin engaged

-in perfecting the plot to destroy the <i>Vispera</i>?  To

-me it seemed very much as if they were.  I slid down

-from my position, which was rather insecure for a

-woman, and concealed myself in the dark and

-narrow gangway between the deck-house and the

-covering of a hatchway, in order to watch the exit.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap20"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XX

-<br><br>

-WHEREIN CAPTAIN DAVIS SPEAKS HIS MIND

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-I suppose I must have crouched there for a full

-half-hour.  When one is watching eagerly, however,

-time always appears longer.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The steamer whose siren had awakened the echoes

-of the port had swung from her moorings, and slowly

-glided past us to the open sea, making a southward

-course; while work on the collier appeared to be

-finished, and the whole port had settled down to the

-peace of night.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Suddenly I heard the voices within raised, as if

-in altercation.  I rose at once, and placed my ear

-to the glass of the curtained port-hole.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I tell you it's a lie&mdash;a confounded lie!" I heard

-a man's voice exclaim.  "You can have no basis

-for any such allegation."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I only state plainly what I think," responded

-the other.  "All the facts tend to show that such

-was the case."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The other man laughed a dry, cynical laugh.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what do your guests think of this sudden

-change of plans?" he asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Think!" responded Keppel, for one voice I now

-recognised as his.  "They are happy enough.

-The Adriatic is always more attractive for yachting

-than the Mediterranean."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," responded his companion, "act just as

-you think fit.  I shall not advise."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It is not for you to advise," answered the owner

-of the <i>Vispera</i> sharply.  "You are my servant, and

-therefore must do my bidding."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You asked my advice, sir, ten minutes ago,

-otherwise I should not have presumed to speak as

-I have just spoken."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are a great deal too presumptuous on board

-the <i>Vispera</i>, Davis," Keppel snapped.  "Please

-recollect that when I am here I am master."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His words proved that the man with whom he

-was speaking was the captain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I regret if you've taken any word or action of

-mine as presumptuous, sir," responded the skipper

-gruffly.  "I'm a seafaring man, sir, and ain't much

-used to polite society."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"When I give my orders I expect them to be

-obeyed without question, Captain Davis."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm ready to obey what orders you give, sir.

-I'll take the <i>Vispera</i> to any point of the compass

-you like.  You pay me £28 10s. a month, and I'm

-yours to command."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very well, Davis.  Then listen," I heard Keppel

-say, although he lowered his voice somewhat.  "My

-instructions to you are entirely confidential, you

-understand.  To-morrow I shall send on board a

-small case.  It will be rather heavy, for it contains a

-piece of marble statuary from Pisa.  You'll receive

-it by the last train, at about midnight, and when

-you've got it aboard you'll sail at once for Ragusa."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Without the guests?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  You will take them with you," was Keppel's

-response.  "Mr. Gerald is going to Florence in

-the morning, so he will be absent.  So shall I."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You will join us later, I suppose, sir?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  Perhaps at Venice.  But you'll receive

-telegraphic orders from me at Ragusa."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then I'm not to sail before I receive the case?"

-observed the captain.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  It will arrive by the last train, and will

-be addressed to you.  Send someone to the station

-for it, and put it in a safe place in the hold.  It is a

-valuable statuette that has been bought for me.  So

-mind it doesn't get damaged."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, sir," responded the captain, "I can't

-answer for those Italian railways; but you can be

-sure I'll take good care of it here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very well.  Recollect what I have told you is

-entirely confidential.  The party is due at Pisa

-to-morrow, but will return to dine on board.  I have a

-lot of business to attend to on shore, so possibly I

-may not return with them.  If I don't sail with you,

-don't be surprised."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I quite understand, sir," replied the captain.

-"I shall keep my own counsel, and sail as soon as

-I get the box.  Had I better call at Naples if you

-don't sail with us?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  If I cannot come, put into Palermo.  I'll

-wire you there."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"All right, sir," was the response.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Davis, a trustworthy old Mediterranean skipper,

-who knew the rugged Italian coast as well as he

-did the Thames Embankment, and who had spent

-half a lifetime on colliers and tramps between

-Gibraltar and the Greek Islands, was a short, stout,

-round-faced man who wore a very thick pea-jacket

-even in the warmest weather, and who was always

-speaking of his "missus an' the kids," kept snug

-by him at Barking.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had often had chats with him, for he had

-initiated me into the mysteries of taking sights, and

-had given me many a lesson in nautical affairs.  He

-was full of droll stories, and had more than once

-delighted us by relating his humorous experiences

-while cycling ashore in company with the engineer,

-whom he always referred to as his "chief."  He was

-fond of potent drinks, and sometimes was heard

-using strong language to the men, in the usual

-manner of Mediterranean skippers; but he was,

-nevertheless, a safe man, and had commanded

-several passenger boats of a well-known line.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I discovered that the particular port-hole at which

-I was listening was not screwed down tightly, and

-therefore I could distinguish the voices.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Recollect," his master went on, "you are not

-to wait for me.  To-morrow evening at dinner you

-must give the guests to understand that you have

-received immediate orders to sail, otherwise they

-may go off to the theatre or somewhere, and you'll

-experience a difficulty in re-collecting them.  Then

-send for the box, and get away as soon as possible."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I shan't wait a minute for you, sir, depend upon

-it.  Let me get that box, and the <i>Vispera</i> will soon

-be steaming past Gorgona."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And I don't want the guests to think this has

-been arranged between you and me, recollect.  They

-may consider it rather a slight for neither myself nor

-my son to be on board.  But you must explain

-next day how business pressed upon me at the last

-moment, and prevented me from sailing.  Tell

-them I'll join the yacht at Palermo.  In fact," he

-added, "tell them any lies you like.  I know you're

-a glorious liar!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The skipper laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A captain's first duty, sir, is to know how to

-lie to consuls and Customs officers.  The Board o'

-Trade ought to examine him in this art before

-granting him his certificate.  A skipper who can't

-lie&mdash;and especially here in the Mediterranean&mdash;ain't

-worth the smell of an oil-rag.  He's more

-bother to his owners than he's worth."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, just exercise your untruthful proclivities

-upon my guests on this occasion, Davis, and I shall

-not forget to find something handsome for you at

-the end of this cruise.  Up to the present I have had

-no cause whatever to complain."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Glad to hear that, sir.  Very glad, indeed,"

-responded the old navigator.  "To handle a boat

-like the <i>Vispera</i> is different to handling a coal barge

-from Cardiff, for instance.  Aboard of the latter you

-can get work out of your men by swearin' at them,

-and even out o' the boilers by just calling them a

-few names what ain't polite.  But on board of this

-here yacht I'm always afraid of openin' my mouth,

-and that's the truth.  With ladies about you have

-to be so awful careful.  I know," he added, "that I

-could have made much better time if I might only

-have given my tongue a bit o' liberty."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Give it liberty in your own cabin, Davis,"

-laughed the millionaire.  "The ladies are not used

-to nautical epithets."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, sir.  Not this cruise," was the other's

-response.  "I'm storing of 'em up to be used on

-the trip home, when we're without passengers.

-The atmosphere'll turn blue round and over this

-yacht then, I can promise you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His master laughed again, and said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Very well.  As long as you perfectly understand

-my instructions, that is sufficient.  Put into

-Palermo, and if you receive no telegram there, go

-on at once to Ragusa.  Remember to make it plain

-to the guests that I'm very busy, and that I shall

-rejoin you in Sicily."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Never fear, sir."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And recollect the box," was Keppel's injunction.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'll send two men who speak Italian up to the

-railway station to meet the last train.  Will it

-be too heavy to be brought down to the port on a

-cab?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, no!  It is quite small&mdash;merely a statuette,"

-the millionaire explained.  "See that it is stored in a

-dry place.  Somewhere near the engine-room would

-be best."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'll see to that, sir.  Any other orders?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No.  Only be very careful that when you put

-into Palermo those confounded Customs officers

-don't break open the case.  They may injure its

-contents.  Best put it into a cabin and let them

-seal up the door, as they do the wines."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"All right, sir.  They're uncommon handy with

-their lead seals down at Palermo.  I'll have it

-placed along with the wines, then it'll be as safe as in

-the bank."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Mr. Barnes is still at the Villa Fabron, so if you

-want to make any communication, and don't know

-my whereabouts, wire to him," Keppel said.  "Just

-at present my movements are somewhat uncertain."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'll remember that, sir," replied the captain.

-I heard a movement as though he had risen to go

-back to his berth.  "But I'd like to mention one

-thing, if I may, sir.  Do you know, I was quite

-surprised to find you in here to-night.  This place

-has been locked up during the whole cruise, and

-the reason of it has been a mystery to both the crew

-and the passengers.  The men are very superstitious,

-and more than once declared that something

-uncanny was hidden here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What nonsense!" cried the owner of the yacht.

-"You see what is in here.  Only some of that

-Moorish furniture which I bought at Tangier on

-the voyage out."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the men have declared to me that they've

-seen lights within, and heard strange noises," said

-the bluff skipper dubiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They'll say the <i>Vispera</i> is haunted next,"

-the other laughed.  "Well," he added, "you can

-see for yourself that there's nothing supernatural

-here.  You sailors see omens in everything, Davis."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm no believer in ghosts, or anything of that

-kind myself," was the response; "but one night,

-when we were off Pantalleria, I was on the bridge,

-and saw with my own eyes lights shining through

-these curtains.  I'll swear it!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Perhaps I had gone there myself for some

-purpose," Keppel explained rather lamely.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, I don't think that, sir, for you were asleep

-in your own cabin."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, I alone have the key, so no one else could

-have entered."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's just my argument," the captain declared.

-"There's something uncanny about this deck-house,

-but what it is I can't quite make out.  The

-look-out man one night swore that he heard a scream

-coming from it, and I had the devil's own job to

-persuade him to the contrary."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That look-out man had had his grog, I suppose,

-and mistook the whistling of the wind in the rigging,"

-responded the old millionaire, with an air of

-nonchalance.  "All such superstitious fears are rubbish."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To the landsman, yes, but not to the sailor,

-sir," was the skipper's response.  "When we see

-a light in the port-hole of an empty cabin, we

-know one thing is quite certain," he said gravely.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And what's that?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That the ship will go down before very long."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's cheerful," remarked the owner of the

-<i>Vispera</i>.  "And when do you and your crew

-expect that interesting event to occur, pray?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, sir, of course we can't tell.  Only I,

-myself, would like to get back to Barking once

-again before the <i>Vispera</i> goes away from under me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Are you a fool, Davis?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I hope not, sir."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, it seems to me that such superstitions

-don't suit a hard, practical man like yourself.

-You've held a master's certificate for the past

-twenty years or more, and surely by this time you

-aren't upset or unnerved by the gossip of the

-forecastle?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Not usually, Mr. Keppel.  But in this case I

-confess I am a bit dubious.  I saw the mysterious

-light myself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I might have gone there for some purpose or

-other, and forgot to switch off the light."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, but it disappeared during the time I

-watched it," was the response.  "To make sure

-that you were not there I sent a man down to your

-cabin, and he found you asleep there.  So you

-couldn't have been in here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Electric lights have queer vagaries," the owner

-of the vessel remarked.  "Perhaps the continual

-vibration of the engines injured the lamp, and

-extinguished it just at that moment.  That's not at all

-an uncommon circumstance, as you know well."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, sir!"  I heard Davis say in a tone of

-conviction; "there was either somebody in here, or

-else something uncanny.  Of that I'm quite

-certain."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Stowaways don't usually luxuriate in electric

-lights," laughed Keppel.  "No, Davis, without

-doubt there is some quite simple explanation of

-what you believe to be a phenomenon.  Think

-no more about it.  Leave omens and all such

-things to these superstitious Italians."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The captain gave vent to a low grunt of

-dissatisfaction, which marked a habit of his.  He

-was a hale and merry fellow, but from what he had

-said, it was evident he entertained a strong

-suspicion that he had carried a mysterious passenger.

-That all traces of the crime had been removed was

-plain, otherwise old Mr. Keppel would not have

-invited his captain to talk with him there.  Of

-course he had done this in order to convince Davis

-that nothing was amiss.  Indeed, the millionaire's

-coolness surprised me, for it was remarkable.  Yet

-it showed plainly one fact, namely, that by some

-means or other the body of the unfortunate

-passenger had been got rid of, just as old Branca had

-declared.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Our host now intended to send on board a box

-said to contain a statuette, and at the same time,

-accompanied by his son, to desert his guests and

-leave the vessel to its fate.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To me there was but one theory: that box

-he had spoken of would contain the explosive

-which was destined to send the <i>Vispera</i> to the

-bottom.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But what was the motive if, as seemed so probable,

-all evidence of the crime had been completely

-effaced?

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap21"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXI

-<br><br>

-IS ASTONISHING

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-We have an ancient proverb in Tuscany which

-says, "<i>Rimediare al male fin dal suo principio</i>."  This

-very excellent maxim I was endeavouring to

-carry out.  But it is always difficult&mdash;extremely

-difficult, especially for a woman.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When I had at length crept back to my cabin,

-fearing discovery by one or other of the pair whose

-interesting conversation I had overheard, I bolted

-my door and gave myself up to reflection.  To

-act was imperative.  The mysterious old man in

-the Via Magenta, who seemed so well informed as

-to Keppel's movements, and who had even told me

-the whereabouts of Ernest, was wrong in his

-surmise that the dastardly plot to blow up the yacht

-had been abandoned.  The vessel was to sail to her

-doom.  I alone knew the truth, and upon me

-devolved the duty of saving the lives of all on

-board.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-If I failed, then the millionaire's yacht would be

-added to that long list of vessels which have sailed

-merrily from port, never to be seen or heard of

-afterwards.  How many of these have been wilfully

-blown up for the sake of insurance money or of

-private vengeance is a question bitter to

-contemplate, and hard to answer.  Certain it is that

-the elements are not responsible for all the vessels

-posted at Lloyd's as "missing" during recent

-years.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Slowly I undressed and entered my berth, but

-was unable to sleep, so full was my mind of grave

-thoughts.  For a full half-hour I heard tramping

-in the deck-cabin above me; then all grew silent,

-and at last I dozed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The dressing-bell awakened me in the morning,

-and after I had dressed I went along to Ulrica's

-cabin, where she was preparing herself with an ill

-grace to accompany the party to Pisa.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm awfully tired of this trip!" I exclaimed,

-seating myself wearily upon the edge of the berth,

-"Five weeks at sea is quite sufficient for all

-purposes, without being taken around the Adriatic

-merely on account of old Keppel's whim."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"So am I terribly tired of it, my dear," Ulrica

-declared.  "I only wish I could make some excuse

-to stay ashore."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-That was exactly what I desired.  I had no

-intention of sailing again in the doomed vessel,

-and had determined that she should not.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why can't we both stay ashore?" I suggested.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, I can't," she responded, "for one simple

-reason.  Gerald is leaving for Florence this morning;

-and if it were found that I, too, were missing, evil

-tongues would at once begin to wag."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My dear Ulrica," I said, "I, for one, am very

-much obliged to old Keppel for his hospitality;

-but, nevertheless, I don't mean to be one of a party

-shipped up and down the Mediterranean like a

-cargo of coals.  I don't intend to sail again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What, dear!" she cried.  "Are you really

-serious?  What's the cause of this sudden revolt?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm bored to death," I replied.  "And there

-are one or two persons on board that I intend to

-avoid in future; Mrs. Langdon, for instance&mdash;the

-old tabby!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Tabby is the correct term," Ulrica laughed.

-"I've never been able to find out where old Keppel

-discovered that rejuvenated skeleton.  Her paint

-and powder are absolutely wicked."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Listen, there's the breakfast bell," I said.

-"We'll all go over to Pisa and do the amiable with

-the others, and afterwards we must discover some

-matter which requires our urgent presence on

-shore&mdash;you understand?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Exactly," she said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I leave the excuses to you, my dear; you're

-so excellent at soft sawder.  Remember that at

-all hazards I don't sail.  I hope you are equally

-determined."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm quite with you," she declared.  "Of course,

-we don't want to offend the old gentleman, for he's

-a useful person to know when one winters on the

-Riviera.  Nevertheless, I quite agree that to be

-shipped up and down the Mediterranean like this

-is something beyond a joke.  I wonder why the

-others stand it?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Why they stand it?  Because he's a millionaire,

-and nearly all of them are indebted to him in

-some way or other.  They can't demur.  It isn't

-policy on their part to do so."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And so it was agreed between us that by hook

-or by crook we should either forget to sail, or openly

-present our apologies to our host.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-After breakfast, always a merry meal when in

-port, but sometimes a sparsely-attended one when

-the mistral was blowing, we all took train to Pisa,

-accompanied by Keppel <i>père et fils</i>, the latter

-wishing us a temporary farewell and going on to

-Florence, whence, he told us, he should return on

-the following night to rejoin us on our cruise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I knew that he had not the least intention of

-doing so.  He had actually told Ulrica privately

-that he was compelled to go by Milan and Bâle

-to Berlin, on some pressing business for his father.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The day's excursion to see the Leaning Tower

-and other wonders of the marble-built city by the

-Arno was, as far as the others were concerned,

-a success.  To Ulrica and myself, who acted as

-guides, it was a day of absolute self-sacrifice.  The

-only redeeming feature was the excellence of our

-lunch at the little unpretending restaurant beside

-the river, called the Nettuno.  Any of my readers

-who have occasion to visit Pisa should remember

-it, and should carefully avoid those glaring hotels

-near the station, just as they should avoid the

-station-buffet.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At five o'clock we returned to Leghorn, wearied

-out, and at half-past six dined together on board.

-During the whole of the day I had managed to

-attach myself to old Mr. Keppel, in order to watch

-his movements; but, quite contrary to my

-expectations, he did not excuse himself by saying

-that he wished to make purchases; and further,

-instead of remaining in Pisa, as I expected he would

-do, he actually returned and took his usual seat at

-the head of the dining-table.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There was music after dinner, and several of the

-men, including the millionaire, went to the smoking-room.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Was it possible, I wondered, for him to have

-again changed his plans?  I sat in the saloon until

-nearly eight o'clock, but being anxious, I rose and

-went up on deck, in order to ascertain whether our

-host was still with his friends.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I passed the door of the smoking-room and peered

-in, uttering some chaffing words with affected gaiety.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Keppel was not there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They are asking for Mr. Keppel in the saloon,"

-I said.  "I thought he was here."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," responded Lord Stoneborough.  "He

-went ashore a little time ago."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, thanks," I said.  "I'll tell them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The millionaire had escaped me!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I dashed down to my cabin, and without hesitation

-changed my dinner-frock for a dark stuff dress

-that I had never worn on board; then, going

-again on deck, I induced one of the sailors to row

-me ashore at once, securing the man's silence by a

-tip of half-a-sovereign.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-If our eccentric host intended to leave Leghorn,

-he must leave by train and return to Pisa.  Therefore

-at the corner of the Via Grande I entered a

-tram, and shortly afterwards alighted at the station.

-The great platform was dimly lit and deserted,

-for no train would depart, they told me, for another

-hour.  It was the mail, and ran to Pisa to catch

-the night express to the French frontier at Modane.

-Most probably Keppel meant to catch this train.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Should I wait and watch?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The idea occurred to me that if that unseen

-individual who had been present in the deck-house,

-and had suggested the destruction of the

-<i>Vispera</i>, had come ashore, he would certainly meet

-Keppel somewhere.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The time dragged on.  The short train was

-backed into the station, but no passenger appeared.

-A controller inquired if I intended to go to Pisa,

-but I replied in the negative.  At last several

-passengers approached leisurely, as is usual in

-Italy, one or two carrying wicker-covered flasks of

-Chianti to drink in viaggio; the inevitable pair of

-white-gloved carabineers strolled up and down, and

-the train prepared to start.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Of a sudden, almost before I was aware of it, I

-was conscious of two figures approaching.  One

-was that of old Mr. Keppel, hot and hurrying,

-carrying a small brown hand-bag, and the other

-the figure of a woman, wearing a soft felt hat and

-long fawn travelling-cloak.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I drew back into the shadow to allow them to

-pass without recognising me.  The miscreant had,

-it seemed to me, cleverly disguised himself as a

-woman.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Hurrying, the next moment they passed me by

-in search of an empty first-class compartment.

-The controller approached them to ask for their

-tickets.  Keppel searched his pockets in a fidgety

-fashion, and said in English, which, of course, the

-man did not understand:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We're going to the frontier."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man glanced leisurely at the tickets, unlocked

-one of the doors, and allowed them to enter.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the woman mounted into the carriage, however,

-a ray of light fell straight across her face,

-and revealed to my wondering eyes a countenance

-that held me absolutely bewildered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The discovery I made at that moment increased

-the mystery tenfold.  The countenance disclosed by

-the lamplight in the badly-lit station was not that

-of a man in female disguise, as I had suspected,

-but of a woman.  Her identity it was that held me

-in amazement, for in that instant I recognised her

-as none other than the dark-haired, handsome

-woman whom I had seen lying dead upon the floor

-of the deck-house on the previous night.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Why were they leaving the yacht in company?

-What fresh conspiracy was there in progress?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had always believed old Benjamin Keppel to be

-the soul of honour, but the revelations of the past

-few hours caused me utter bewilderment.  I stood

-there in hesitation, and glancing up at the clock,

-saw that there were still three minutes before the

-departure of the train.  Next moment I had made

-a resolve to follow them and ascertain the truth.

-I entered the booking-office, obtained a ticket to

-Modane, the French frontier beyond Mont Cenis,

-and a few moments later was sitting alone in a

-compartment at the rear of the train.  I had no

-luggage, nothing whatever save the small travelling

-reticule suspended from my waist-belt.  And I had

-set out for an unknown destination!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The train moved off, and soon we were tearing

-through the night across that wide plain which had

-been the sea-bottom in those mediæval days when

-the sculptured town of Pisa was a prosperous

-seaport, the envy of both Florentines and Genoese,

-and past the spot marked by a church where

-St. Peter is said to have landed.  Well I knew that

-wide Tuscan plain, with its fringe of high, vine-clad

-mountains, for in my girlhood days I had wandered

-over it, making my delighted way through the royal

-forest and through the gracious vinelands.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At last, after three quarters of an hour, we ran

-into the busy station at Pisa, that point so well

-known to every tourist who visits Italy.  It is the

-highway to Florence, Rome, and Naples, just as

-it is to Genoa, Turin, or Milan; and just as the

-traveller in Switzerland must at some time find

-himself at Bâle, so does the traveller in Italy at

-some time or other find himself at Pisa.  Yet how

-few strangers who pass through, or who drive down

-to look at the Leaning Tower and the great old

-Cathedral, white as a marble tomb, ever take the

-trouble to explore the country beyond.  They

-never go up to quiet, grey, old Lucca, a town with

-walls and gates the same to-day as when Dante

-wandered there, untouched by the hand of the

-vandal, unspoilt by modern progress, undisturbed

-by tourist invaders.  Its narrow, old-world streets

-of decaying palaces, its leafy piazzas, its Lily theatre,

-its proud, handsome people, all are charming to one

-who, like myself, loves Italy and the gay-hearted

-Tuscan.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Little time was there for reflection, however, for on

-alighting at Pisa I was compelled to conceal myself

-until the arrival of the express on its way from Rome

-to Paris.  While I waited, the thought occurred to

-me that the <i>Vispera</i> was still in peril, and that

-I alone could save her passengers and crew.  Yet,

-with the mysterious woman still alive, there could,

-I pondered, be no motive in destroying the vessel.

-Perhaps the idea had happily been abandoned.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Nevertheless, the non-appearance of the individual

-whose voice I had heard, but whom I had not

-seen, was disconcerting.  Try as I would, I could not

-get rid of the suspicion aroused by Keppel's flight

-that foul play was still intended.  If it were not,

-why had the old millionaire not continued his cruise?

-As the unknown woman had been concealed on

-board for several weeks, there was surely no reason

-why she should not have remained there another

-three or four days, until we reached Marseilles!

-No.  That some unusually strange mystery was

-connected with the whole affair, I felt confident.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I peered out from the corner in which I was

-standing, and saw Keppel and his companion enter the

-buffet.  As soon as they had disappeared, I made a

-sudden resolve, entered the telegraph office, and

-wrote the following message:

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>To Captain Davis.  S.Y. 'Vispera' in port,

-Livorno.&mdash;Have altered arrangements.  Sail at once

-for Genoa.  Box I spoke of will join you there.  Leave

-immediately on receipt of this.</i>&mdash;KEPPEL."

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-I handed it in to the telegraphist, saying in

-Italian:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I want this delivered on board to-night, most

-particularly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He looked at it, and shook his head.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I fear, signorina," he answered, with grave

-politeness, "that delivery is quite impossible.  It is

-after hours, and the message will remain in the

-office, and be delivered with letters in the morning."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But it must reach the captain to-night," I

-declared.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man elevated his shoulders slightly, and

-showed his palms.  This was the Tuscan gesture of

-regret.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"At Livorno they are not, I am sorry to say,

-very obliging."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you believe it to be absolutely useless to

-send the message, in the expectation of it being

-delivered before morning?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina understands me exactly."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But what can I do?" I cried in desperation.

-"This message must reach the captain before

-midnight."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man reflected for a moment.  Then he

-answered me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"There is but one way I can suggest."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What is that?" I cried anxiously, for I heard

-a train approaching, and knew it must be the Paris

-express.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To send a special messenger to Livorno.  A train

-starts in half an hour, and the message can then be

-delivered by 11 o'clock."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Could you find me one?" I asked.  "I'm willing

-to bear all expenses."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"My son will go, if the signorina so wishes," he

-answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Thank you so much," I replied, a great weight

-lifted from my mind.  "I leave the matter entirely

-in your hands.  If you will kindly see that the

-message is delivered, you will be rendering, not only

-to myself, but to a number of other people, a very

-great service."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina's instructions shall be obeyed,"

-he answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When he had said this I placed some money to

-cover expenses upon the counter, again thanked him,

-and left, feeling that although I had been guilty of

-forgery, I had saved the yacht from destruction.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The train, with its glaring head-lights, swept into

-the station from its long journey across the

-fever-stricken Maremma marshes, but I saw with

-considerable dismay that there was but one

-sleeping-car&mdash;the only through car for the frontier.  I was

-therefore compelled to travel in this, even at the

-risk of meeting Keppel in the corridor.  One cannot

-well travel in one of those stuffy cars of the

-Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits without

-being seen by all one's fellow-travellers.  It was

-thus my first difficulty presented itself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I watched my host and his companion enter the

-car, and from the platform saw them shown to

-their respective berths by the conductor.  Keppel

-was given a berth in a two-bed compartment with

-another man, while the tall dark woman was shown

-to one of the compartments reserved for ladies at

-the other end of the car.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With satisfaction I saw the old millionaire take

-his companion's hand and wish her good-night.

-As soon as his door had closed, I mounted into the

-car and demanded a place.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The signorina is fortunate.  We have just one

-berth vacant," answered the conductor in Italian.

-"This way, please," and taking me along the

-corridor, he rapped at the door of the compartment

-to which he had just shown the mysterious woman.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I left it to the conductor to explain my presence,

-and after entering, closed and bolted the door behind

-me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I regret that I've been compelled to disturb you,

-but this is the only berth vacant," I said in English,

-in a tone of apology, for when I noticed that her

-black eyes flashed inquiringly at me, I deemed it

-best to be on friendly terms with her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Don't mention it; I'm English," she answered,

-quite affably.  "I'm pleased that you're English.

-I feared some horrid foreign woman would be put

-in to be my travelling companion.  Are you going

-far?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To the frontier," I responded vaguely.  The

-extent of my journey depended upon the length of

-hers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, after a further exchange of courtesies, we

-prepared for the night and entered our narrow

-berths, she choosing the upper one, and I the lower.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As far as I could judge, she was fifty, perhaps

-more, though she was still extremely handsome, her

-beauty being of a Southern type, and her black hair

-and coiffure, with huge tortoise-shell comb, giving

-her a Spanish appearance.  She wore several

-beautiful rings, and I noticed that on her neck,

-concealed during the day by her bodice, was some tiny

-charm, suspended by a thin gold chain.  Her voice

-and bearing were those of an educated woman, and

-she was buxom without being at all stout.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The roar of the train and the grinding of the

-wheels as we whirled through those seventy odd

-suffocating tunnels that separate Pisa from Genoa

-rendered sleep utterly impossible, so by mutual

-agreement we continued our conversation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She seemed, like the "Ancient Mariner," to be

-needing someone to whom she could tell her story.

-She wanted an audience able to realise the fine

-points of her play.  From the outset she seemed

-bursting with items about herself, little dreaming

-that I was acting as spy upon her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I secretly congratulated myself upon my astuteness,

-and proceeded to draw her out.  Her slight

-accent puzzled me, but it was due, I discovered, to

-the fact that her mother had been Portuguese.

-She seemed to label everything with her own

-intellectual acquirements.  To me, a perfect stranger,

-she chatted during that night-journey about her

-fine figure and her power over men, about her

-ambitions and her friends.  But her guardian

-interfered with her friends.  He was an old man, and

-jealous; had her money invested, and would not

-allow her to look at a man.  If she paid the least

-attention to any man in particular, she received no

-money.  She was not forty, she told me, and her

-guardian, who was also in the train, was over

-seventy.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When she was not telling me the story of her

-loves, and her father, mother, and step-father, she

-filled in the time by telling me about some man she

-called Frank, who had a pretty-faced wife addicted

-to the bad habit known as secret drinking.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Trouble?" she wandered on.  "Oh, I've had

-such lots and lots of it that I'm beginning to feel

-very old already.  Troubles, I always think, are

-divided into two classes&mdash;one controlled by a

-big-horned, cloven-hoofed devil, and the other by

-the snippy little devil that flashes in and out of our

-hearts.  The big devil is usually placed upon us

-by others.  It follows us.  Sometimes we can evade

-it, but at others it catches us up on its horns and

-gives us a toss.  We come down into the dust,

-crumpled, with all courage, ambition and hope

-absorbed in despair.  We pick ourselves up in

-desperation.  All that is best in us is so deadened that

-even our consciences cannot hear a whisper; or,

-on the other hand, we steel ourselves, and make a

-resolve which lifts us to a moral and mental victory,

-and to all that is noblest in ourselves and humanity."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I laughed, admitting that there was much truth

-in her words.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the other&mdash;the little imp?" I asked.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The other&mdash;this insane perversity of human

-nature, gets hold on us whether we will or not.  It

-makes us for the time ignore all that is best in

-ourselves and in others&mdash;it is part of us.  Though

-we know well it resides within ourselves, it will cause

-our tears to flow and our sorrows to accumulate,

-it is a fictitious substance, with possibly a mint of

-happiness underlying it.  We are always conscious

-of it, but insanity makes us ignore it for so long that

-the little imp completes its work, and the opportunity

-is lost.  But why are we moralising?" she

-added.  "Let's try and get to sleep, shall we?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To this I willingly acquiesced, for truth to tell, I

-did not give credence to a single word of the rather

-romantic story she had related regarding herself, her

-friends, and her jealous guardian.  In these

-post-Grundian days I had met women of her stamp many

-times before.  The only way to make them feel is to

-tell them the truth, devoid of all flattery.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She struck me as a woman with a past&mdash;her whole

-appearance pointed to this conclusion.  Now a

-woman with a chequered past and an untrammelled

-present is always more or less interesting to women,

-as well as to men.  She is a mystery.  The mystery

-is that men cannot quite believe a smart woman

-with knowledge, cut loose from all fetters, to be

-proof against flattery.  She queens it, while they

-study her.  Interest in a woman is only one step

-from love for her&mdash;a fact with which we, the fairer

-sex, are very well acquainted.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica had once expressed an opinion that pasts

-were not so bad if it were not for the memories that

-cling to them; not, of course, that the pasts of

-either of us had been anything out of the ordinary.

-Memories that cling to others, or the hints of a

-"past," certainly make you of interest to men, as

-well as a menace to the imagination of other women;

-but the memories that hover about yourself are

-sometimes like truths&mdash;brutal.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Memories!  As I lay there upon my hard and

-narrow bed, being whirled through those suffocating

-tunnels in the cliffs beside the Mediterranean, I

-could not somehow get away from memory.  The

-story this mysterious woman had related had

-awakened all the sad recollections of my own life.  It

-seemed as though an avalanche of cruel truths was

-sweeping down upon my heart.  At every instant

-memory struck a blow that left a scar deep and

-unsightly as any made by the knife.  There was

-tragedy in every one.  The first that came to me

-was a day long ago.  Ah me!  I was young then&mdash;a

-child in fears, a novice in experience&mdash;on that

-day when I admitted to Ernest my deep and fervent

-affection.  How brief it all had been!  I had,

-alas! now awakened to the hard realities of life, and to

-the anguish the heart is capable of holding.  The

-sweetest part of love, the absolute trust, had died

-long ago.  My heart had lost its lightness, never

-to return, for his love toward me was dead.  His

-fond tenderness of those bygone days was only a

-memory.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet he must have loved me!  With me it had been

-the love of my womanhood, the love that is born

-with youth, that overlooks, forgives, and loves again,

-that gives friendship, truth and loyalty.  What, I

-wondered, were his thoughts when we had

-encountered each other at Monte Carlo?  He showed

-neither interest nor regret.  No.  He had cast me

-aside, leaving me to endure that crushing sorrow and

-brain torture which had been the cause of my long

-illness.  He remembered nothing.  To him our

-love was a mere incident.  It is no exaggeration to

-describe memory as the scar of truth's cruel wound.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I lay there wondering to myself if ever again I

-should feel any uplifting joy or any heartrending

-sorrow.  Ah, if women could only outgrow the

-child-part of their natures, hearts would not bleed

-so much!  One of the greatest surprises in life is to

-discover how acutely they can ache, how they can

-be strained to the utmost tension, crowded with

-agony, and yet not break.  This is moralising, and

-smacks of sentiment, but it is true to nature, as

-many of us are forced to learn.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The train roared on; the woman above me slept

-soundly, and I, with tears starting to my eyes, tried

-hard to burn the bridges leading to the past, and

-seek forgetfulness in sleep.  The process of burning

-can never be accomplished, thanks to our retentive

-memory; but slumber came to me at last, and I

-must have dozed some time, for when I awoke we

-were in Genoa, and daylight was already showing

-through the chinks of the crimson blinds.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But the woman who had told the curious story

-slept on.  Probably the spinning of so much

-romantic fiction had wearied her brain.  The story she

-had related could not, of course, be true.  If she

-were really old Keppel's ward, then what motive had

-he in concealing her in that gilded deck-house, which

-was believed to be stored with curios?  Who, too,

-was that unseen man whom he had apparently taken

-into his confidence&mdash;the man who had promised

-assistance by blowing up the yacht, with all hands?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I shuddered at the thought of that dastardly plot.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet Keppel had been declared by this unknown

-person to be the murderer of the woman now lying

-in the berth above me.  Why?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The train was at a standstill, and I rose to peep

-out.  As I turned to re-enter my berth, my eyes fell

-upon the sleeping form of my companion.  Her face

-was turned towards me, and her opened bodice

-disclosed a delicate white throat and neck.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I bent quickly to examine more closely what I saw

-there.  Upon the throat were two dark marks, one

-on either side&mdash;the marks of a human finger and a

-thumb&mdash;an exact repetition of the puzzling marks

-that had been found upon the throat of poor

-Reggie!

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap22"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXII

-<br><br>

-IS MORE ASTONISHING

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious

-companion's lips, that at the first moment I feared

-she might be dead.  Her appearance was that of

-a corpse.  But after careful watching I saw that she

-was breathing lightly, but regularly, and thus I

-became satisfied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The curious marks, as though a man's hand had

-attempted to strangle her, were of a pale yellowish-brown,

-the colour of disappearing bruises.  One was

-narrow and small, where the finger had pressed; the

-other wide and long, the mark of the thumb.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Again I returned to my berth, and as the express

-thundered on its way northward towards Turin, I

-tried to form some theory to account for my

-discovery of those curious marks upon her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The hours of early morning crept slowly by.  The

-sun rose over the beautiful vine-lands of Asti as we

-whirled forward towards the great Alpine barrier

-which so splendidly divides Italy from France; its

-rays penetrated into our narrow chamber, but the

-sleeping woman did not stir.  She seemed as one in

-a trance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Close beside me lay her dress-skirt.  My eyes had

-been fixed upon it a hundred times during the night,

-and it now occurred to me that by searching its

-pocket I might discover something that would give

-me a clue to her real identity.  Therefore, after

-ascertaining that she was still unconscious of things

-about her, I slowly turned over the skirt, placed my

-hand in the pocket and drew out the contents.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The first object I opened was a silver-mounted

-purse of crocodile leather, because in this I hoped to

-discover her visiting-card.  But I was disappointed.

-The purse contained only a few pieces of French

-money, a couple of receipts from shops in Paris, and

-a tiny scrap of card, an inch square, with several

-numerals scribbled upon it.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The numbers were unintelligible, but when I

-chanced to turn the piece of thin pasteboard over,

-its reverse gave me an immediate clue.  It was a

-piece of one of those red-and-black ruled cards used

-by gamblers at Monte Carlo to register the numbers

-at roulette.  This woman, whoever she was, had

-evidently been to Monte Carlo, and the numbers

-scribbled there were those which she believed would

-bring her fortune.  Every gambler has her strong-rooted

-fancies, just as she has her amusing superstitions,

-and her belief in unlucky days and unlucky

-croupiers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Two facts were plain.  First, that she bore marks

-upon her which were the exact counterpart of those

-found on poor Reggie; secondly, that she herself

-had been to Monte Carlo.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Her handkerchief was of fine lawn, but bore no

-mark, while the crumpled piece of paper&mdash;without

-which no woman's pocket is complete&mdash;proved, on

-examination; to contain only the address of some

-person in Brussels.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I carefully replaced all these articles, having failed

-to ascertain her name; and then I dozed again.

-She was already up, and dressed, when I awoke.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" she laughed, "I see you've been sleeping

-well.  I've had a famous night.  I always sleep well

-when I travel.  But I have a secret.  A doctor

-friend of mine gave me some little tabloids of some

-narcotic&mdash;I don't know its name&mdash;but if I take one

-I sleep quite well for six or seven hours at a

-stretch."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I awoke once, and you were quite sound asleep."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Oh, yes," she laughed.  "But I wonder where

-we are?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I looked forth, and was just able to read the name

-of a small station as we dashed through it at a

-glorious speed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We're nearing Turin," I responded.  Then suddenly

-recollecting that in an hour or so I should be

-compelled to face old Keppel in the corridor, I

-resolved on a plan, which I immediately proceeded to

-put in force.  "I don't feel at all well this morning,"

-I added.  "I think I shall go to sleep again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I've some smelling salts here," she said, looking

-at me with an expression of sympathy.  And she

-took out a small silver-topped bottle from her little

-reticule.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I took it and sniffed it gladly, with a word of

-thanks.  If I did not wish to meet Keppel, I should

-be compelled to remain in that stuffy little den for

-something like another twenty-four hours, if the

-travellers intended to go on to Paris.  The prospect

-was certainly not inviting, for a single night in a

-Continental sleeping-car running over a badly-laid line

-gets on one's nerves terribly.  Compelled, however,

-to feign illness, I turned in again, and at Turin, while

-my companion went forth and rejoined the man who

-had been my host, the conductor brought me the

-usual glass of hot coffee and a roll.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm not well," I explained to the man who

-handed it to me.  "Are you going through to Paris?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Si, signorina."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then please don't let me be disturbed, either at

-the frontier or anywhere else."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Certainly&mdash;if the signorina has the keys of her

-baggage."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have no baggage," I replied.  "Only see that

-I get something to eat&mdash;and buy me a novel.

-Italian, French&mdash;anything will do.  And also some

-newspapers&mdash;<i>Stampa</i>, <i>Corriere</i>, and <i>Secolo</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Si, signorina."  And the door was closed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Five minutes later, just as the train was gliding out

-of Turin, the man returned with a couple of new

-novels and half a dozen four-paged, badly-printed

-Italian newspapers, by means of which I managed

-to wile away the tedious hours as we sped on through

-Susa and the beautiful Alpine valleys.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-From time to time my companion looked in to see

-how I was, offering to do anything for me that she

-could; then she returned to old Keppel, who was

-sitting on one of the little flap-seats in the corridor,

-smoking.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The woman in with me is rather young&mdash;and

-quite charming," I heard her say to him.  "She's

-been taken queer this morning.  I expect the heat

-has upset her, poor thing!  The berths here are

-very hot and close."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Horribly!  I was nearly asphyxiated," he answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, about half an hour later, I recognised his

-voice again.  He was evidently standing with his

-companion close to the door of my compartment.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We shall be in Paris about half-past eight

-to-morrow morning, it seems," he said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the <i>Vispera</i> will be awaiting you at

-Naples?" she laughed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Davis is quite used to my erratic movements,"

-he answered.  "A reputation for eccentricity is very

-useful sometimes."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But shall you rejoin her?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He hesitated.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I think it is most unlikely," he answered.  "I've

-had enough of cruising.  You, too, must be very

-tired of it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Tired!" she cried.  "Imprisoned in the cabin

-all day long, with the windows closed and curtained,

-I felt that if it lasted much longer I must go mad.

-Besides, it was only by a miracle that I was not

-discovered a dozen times."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But very fortunately you were not," he said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And all to no purpose," she observed, in a tone

-of weariness and discontent.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah! that's another matter&mdash;quite another matter."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I do wish you would satisfy my curiosity by

-telling me exactly what occurred on the night before

-we landed," she said.  "You know what I mean?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She evidently referred to the attempt upon her

-life.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," he responded, in hesitation, "I myself am

-not quite clear as to what took place.  I entered the

-cabin, you know, and found you lying unconscious."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, I know.  I was thrown violently down by

-a sudden lurching of the ship, and must have struck

-my head against something," she replied.  "But

-afterwards I remember experiencing a most curious

-sensation in my throat, just as though someone with

-sinewy fingers were trying to strangle me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Absurd!" he laughed.  "It was only your

-imagination.  The close confinement in that place,

-together with the rolling of the ship, had caused you

-a little light-headedness, without a doubt."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But it was more than imagination.  Of that I

-feel certain.  There was blood upon my lips, you

-remember."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Because in falling you had cut your lower lip.

-I can see the place now."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I believe that someone tried to take my life."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Rubbish!  Why, who is there to suspect?  I

-was the only soul on board who knew of your

-presence.  Surely you don't suspect me of attempting

-murder?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of course not," she answered decisively.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then don't give way to any wild imaginings of

-that sort.  Keep a cool head in this affair."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The remainder of the conversation was lost to me,

-although I strained my ears to catch every sound.

-His words made it plain that she was in ignorance of

-the knowledge possessed by the unseen man whose

-voice I had overheard; and further, that both were

-acting together in order to obtain some object, the

-nature of which was, to me, a complete mystery.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She came a short time afterwards and kindly

-inquired how I felt.  They were going to change into

-the dining-car, and she hoped I would not starve

-altogether.  As I talked to her I recollected the

-strange marks I had seen upon her throat&mdash;those

-distinct impressions of finger and thumb.  I looked

-again for them, but they were concealed by the lace

-of her high-necked bodice.  There seemed a strange,

-half-tragic beauty about her face.  She was certainly

-fifty, if not more, yet in the broad daylight I could

-detect no thread of silver in her hair.  She was

-extremely well-preserved.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The conductor brought me a cutlet and a bottle of

-Beaujolais after we had passed through the Mont

-Cenis, and for some hours afterwards I lay reading

-and thinking.  We were on our way to Paris, but

-with what motive I had no idea.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I wondered what they would think on board the

-<i>Vispera</i> when they found me to be missing, and

-laughed aloud when I reflected that the natural

-conclusion would be that I had eloped with old

-Mr. Keppel.  I rather regretted that I had told Ulrica

-nothing, but, of course, a telegram to her could

-explain everything on the morrow.  The yacht would

-be lying safely in Genoa harbour awaiting her owner,

-who never intended to return.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And where was that unseen man?  That was a

-puzzling problem which I could not solve.  I could

-not even form the slightest theory as to his share in

-the mystery.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The day passed slowly, and evening fell.  We were

-nearing Culoz.  The woman with the mysterious

-marks upon her neck returned, accompanied by her

-escort, from the dining-car, and sat chatting with

-him in the corridor.  Their voices reached me, but I

-could distinguish little of their conversation.

-Suddenly, however, I thought I could hear a third voice

-in conversation&mdash;the voice of a man.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It sounded familiar.  I listened again.  Yes, it

-seemed as though I had heard that voice somewhere

-before.  Indeed, I knew its tones perfectly well.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For some few minutes I lay listening, trying to

-catch the words.  But the train was roaring through

-a deep cutting, and I could only hear disjointed

-words, or parts of sentences.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In my determination to see who it was, I carefully

-opened the door of the compartment, so that I could

-peer through the chink.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I bent forward until my eyes rested upon the

-speaker, who, lounging near, was engaged in serious

-conversation with Keppel and my travelling

-companion, as though he were an old friend.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant I drew back and held my breath.

-Was this the man who had suggested the blowing up

-of the <i>Vispera</i>?  Surely not!  Perhaps, however,

-he had actually travelled with us from Pisa in

-another carriage, or perhaps he had joined the train

-at some intermediate station.  But by whatever

-means he had come there, the fact of his identity

-remained the same.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was Ernest Cameron, the man I loved!

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap23"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXIII

-<br><br>

-CONFIDES THE STORY OF A TABLE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The discovery of Ernest's presence in the car was an

-entirely fresh development of the mystery.  I had

-been ignorant of his acquaintance with Keppel, but

-that they were really close friends was evident by

-the rapid, rather apprehensive manner in which they

-were conversing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I tried, and tried again, to overhear some of the

-words spoken; but in vain!  Therefore I was

-compelled to remain in wonderment until the conclusion

-of that long and terribly tiring journey half across

-Europe.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Arrived at the Gare de Lyons in Paris, I entered

-a fiacre, and followed them across the city to the

-"Hôtel Terminus," that big caravansery outside the

-Gare St. Lazare, where they engaged four rooms on

-the first floor&mdash;a sitting-room and three bedrooms.

-Having taken every precaution to avoid being

-detected by either of them, I ascertained that the

-number of the sitting-room was 206.  I at once

-engaged Number 205, the room adjoining, and ordered

-a light <i>déjeuner</i> to be taken there.  I was faint,

-nervous, and tired after being cramped up for thirty

-hours, and was resting on the couch, when suddenly

-voices sounded in the next room, causing me to

-spring up and be on the alert in an instant.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Keppel and Ernest were speaking together,

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's a risk, of course," the millionaire was saying

-in a low tone&mdash;"a great risk."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But we've run greater in the course of this

-affair," the other responded.  "You know how near

-to arrest I have been."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I held my breath.  Arrest!  What could he mean?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It was fortunate that you escaped as you did."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Thanks to you.  Had you not concealed me on

-the <i>Vispera</i>, and taken me on that cruise, I should

-have now been in the hands of the police."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But they seem to possess no clue," Keppel

-observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Fortunately for us, they do not," answered

-the man to whom I had given my heart.  And he

-laughed lightly, as though he were perfectly

-confident of his own safety.  "It was that transfer of

-the notes at the Carnival ball that puzzled them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-They were speaking of poor Reggie's murder!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I held my ear close to the dividing door, straining

-to catch every word.  I was learning their secret.

-The two men whom I had least suspected were

-actually implicated in that dastardly crime.  But

-what, I wondered, could have been their motive

-in taking the poor boy's life?  Certainly robbery

-was not the incentive, for to old Keppel sixty

-thousand francs was but a paltry sum.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Again I listened, but as I did so the woman

-entered, and shortly afterwards the two men left

-the room and went down the stairs.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant I resolved to follow them.  Before

-they had gained the entrance-hall I had put on my

-hat and descended.  They took a cab and first drove

-up the hill behind St. Lazare to the Boulevard des

-Battignolles, alighting before a large house where,

-from an old <i>concierge</i> in slippers, Ernest received

-two letters.  Both men stood in the doorway and

-read the communications through.  I had followed

-in a cab.  From their faces I could see that the

-letters contained serious news, and for some minutes

-they stood in discussion, as though undecided what

-to do.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At length, however, they re-entered the cab and

-drove back past the Opera, through the Rue Rivoli

-and across the Pont des Arts, turning into a labyrinth

-of narrow, dirty streets beyond the Seine, and stopping

-before a small, uninviting-looking hairdresser's

-shop.  They were inside for some ten minutes or so,

-while I stood watching a short distance off, my head

-turned away so that they should not recognise me if

-they came out suddenly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When they emerged they were laughing good-humouredly,

-and were accompanied to the door by

-a rather well-dressed man, evidently a hairdresser,

-for a comb protruded from his pocket, and his hair

-was brushed up in that style peculiar to the Parisian

-<i>coiffeur</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Good-day, messieurs," he said in French, bowing

-them into the fiacre, "I understand quite clearly.

-There is nothing to fear, I assure you&mdash;absolutely

-nothing!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In that man's dark eyes, as he stood watching the

-cab as it drove off, was a strangely intense look.

-His face was triangular, with broad forehead and

-pointed chin.  I imagined him to have a rather

-curious personality.  Again I looked at his peculiarly

-brilliant eyes, and a strange truth flashed upon me.

-Yes, I remembered that curious expression quite

-distinctly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was the man who had worn the owl's dress in

-Carnival&mdash;the man who had returned to me the

-notes stolen from poor Reggie!  He was an accomplice

-of the two men of whom I had never entertained

-the least suspicion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The truth had been revealed in so amazing a

-fashion that I was completely staggered.  Ernest

-was an assassin!  Had he not admitted how near he

-had been to arrest, and congratulated himself upon

-his escape?  Had not old Keppel aided him by

-concealing him on board the <i>Vispera</i>?  Once, alas! I

-had in the roseate days of youth believed in the

-man who had made love to me; who had flattered

-and caressed me, and who had declared that I should

-be his always.  Ah! how well I remembered it!

-How bitterly all the past came back to me.  And

-yet, until that very hour of my discovery that he

-was an assassin I had never ceased to love

-him&mdash;never for a single instant.  We women are strange

-creatures.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I re-entered the cab, but in the Boulevard

-St. Michel my driver unfortunately lost sight of the

-men I had told him to keep in view.  They must,

-I think, have turned suddenly into one of the many

-side streets, and thus reached the Quai.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For a few moments I sat back in hesitation.

-Should I return at once to the hotel, or should I

-go boldly to that man whom I had so fortunately

-discovered, and charge him with having had in

-his possession the stolen notes?  If I adopted

-the latter course, I saw that I should only raise an

-alarm, and the pair I was watching would undoubtedly

-get clear away.  No.  The old proverb that

-"murder will out" had once more asserted its

-truth.  I had made a most amazing discovery, and

-now my love for Ernest as a man having been

-transformed to hatred of him as an assassin, I meant

-slowly to weave a web about the criminals, and when

-it was complete, I intended to give information to

-the police, and thus avenge the poor boy's death.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I drove to the nearest telegraph-office and wired

-to Genoa, urging Ulrica to come to Paris without

-delay, for I sorely needed the counsel of the woman

-who was my best friend.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then I returned to the "Hôtel Terminus."  As I

-heard no one in the sitting-room adjoining, I lay

-down to rest, sleeping soundly, for my nerves were

-unstrung, and I was utterly worn out by fatigue

-and constant watchfulness.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When I awoke it was past seven o'clock, and

-quite dark.  There was still no movement in the

-sitting-room adjoining.  I dressed, and went across

-to dine at the Duval, over at the corner of the Rue

-du Havre, preferring that cheap restaurant to the

-<i>table d'hôte</i> of the hotel, where I might possibly meet

-the three persons upon whom I was keeping watch.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-An hour later, just as I was crossing the road to

-re-enter the hotel, I saw a man standing alone on

-the steps in hesitation.  He wore a dark beard, and

-carried a long drab overcoat, such as men generally

-affect on race-courses; but notwithstanding his

-disguise, I perceived that it was Ernest.  The beard

-made him look much older, and by the addition of

-a few lines to his face he had entirely altered his

-appearance.  For some moments he puffed pensively

-at his cigar, then, glancing at his watch,

-descended the steps and strolled slowly along past

-the "Café Terminus," and continued to walk

-down the Rue du Havre as far as the Boulevard

-Haussmann, where he stopped before that popular

-rendezvous of Parisians, the "Grand Café."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-After he had selected one of the tables, the last

-one towards the Madeleine, placed against the

-wall of the café, he ordered a coffee and liqueur.

-The night was bright, and the Boulevards, with their

-blazing globes of electricity, were full of life and

-movement.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-From where I was sitting, at a small <i>brasserie</i> on

-the opposite side of the Boulevard, I watched him

-narrowly.  He glanced up and down as though in

-constant expectation of meeting someone, and

-looked at his watch impatiently.  He tossed off

-his <i>liqueur</i> at a single gulp, but his coffee remained

-untasted, for it was evident that he was in a state of

-deep agitation.  He had feared arrest for the

-murder of Reginald Thorne, and had taken refuge

-secretly on the <i>Vispera</i>.  Were not his own words

-sufficient to convince me of his guilt?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I looked I saw him, while in the act of

-pretending to sip his coffee, bend down close to the

-marble table, which, after making certain that he

-was not observed, he scrutinised carefully.  Twice

-he bent to look at it closely.  Surely, I thought,

-there must be something of interest marked on that

-slab.  Then he glanced at his watch again, paid, and

-strolled off down the Boulevard.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Whether to follow or whether to investigate that

-table, I was for the moment undecided; but I

-resolved upon the latter course.  I crossed the road,

-made straight for the seat he had occupied, and

-as soon as I had ordered a <i>dubonnet</i>, proceeded to

-examine the table.  Very quickly I discovered

-what had interested him.  Scrawled in pencil upon

-the marble were some letters quite unintelligible,

-but evidently a cipher message.  It was no more

-than this:

-</p>

-

-<p class="t3">

-  J. TABAC.  22.<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-Another inscription had been written there, but

-it had been lately erased by some previous customer,

-who had apparently dipped his finger in the drippings

-of beer or coffee, and smeared it across.  The

-writing was not very easy to discern in the half-light,

-for the table was so placed as to be in the deep

-shadows.  Was it possible that the person who had

-erased the first message had written the second?

-Could it be that this person was the man whom I had

-been watching?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had seen him bend over that table mysteriously,

-first glancing round to make certain that no one

-was watching.  Why had he thus betrayed fear, if

-that message was not one of importance?  Goron,

-the great <i>chef</i> of the Paris <i>sûreté</i>, had told me, when I

-met him at dinner once in London, how the criminals

-of Paris were fond of making the tops of the café

-tables the means of communication, and how many a

-crime had been discovered by the police with the

-aid of the keys they possessed to certain secret

-codes.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I looked again at the initial, the word "tabac," and

-the number 22 scrawled on the marble before me,

-and was puzzled to know what they could convey.

-Had Ernest really written them?  The letters were

-printed, in order, no doubt, to prevent any

-recognition of the handwriting.  I remembered that he

-had sat with his hand upon the table, as though

-toying idly with the matches; and further, I noticed

-that the liquid with which the erasure had been

-made was not yet entirely dry.  I touched it with

-my gloved finger and placed it to my nose.  There

-was an odour of coffee.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Now, if Ernest had really written that cipher

-message, he had substituted his for the one he had

-found standing there.  With what purpose?  To

-whom was this unintelligible word addressed?

-Having regard to the fact that the tables of cafés

-are usually washed down by the waiters every

-morning, it seemed plain that the person to whom he

-intended to convey the message would come there

-that night.  Indeed, he had constantly looked at his

-watch, as though in expectation of the arrival of

-someone.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I paid the <i>garçon</i> and left, returning some few

-minutes later to my previous place in front of the

-brasserie opposite, determined to wait and watch.

-The attendant brought me some illustrated papers,

-and while pretending to be absorbed in them, I kept

-my eye upon the table I had just vacated.  A shabby,

-small, wizen-faced man in a silk hat, with a flat

-brim, passed and re-passed the spot where I was

-sitting, and, it seemed, eyed me rather suspiciously.

-But perhaps it was only my fancy, for when one is

-engaged in the work of bringing home to a criminal

-his crime, one is apt to look with undue suspicion

-upon all and sundry.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I think I must have been there nearly half an

-hour before a ragged, unkempt man, who had slunk

-past where I was seated and picked up several

-cigar-ends with a stick bearing a sharpened wire

-point, crossed over to the "Grand Café" and

-recommenced his search beneath the tables there.

-When he had secured some half-a-dozen cigar-ends,

-he moved quickly to the table in the shadow; and

-as he stooped, feigning to pick up a piece of

-unconsumed cigar, I saw that he glanced eagerly to

-see what message was written there.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Just at that moment the wizen-faced man who had

-evinced such an extraordinary interest in myself was

-standing idly upon the kerb close by, and was

-undoubtedly watching him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The quick eyes of the old collector of cigar-ends

-apparently understood the message in an instant,

-for with back bent he continued his active search,

-betraying no further interest in that table in the

-shadow.  If he had really gone there in order to

-ascertain the nature of the message, he concealed

-his real purpose admirably.  Probably he was used

-to being watched by police agents.  I saw him

-hobble along from café to café, his shrewd, deep-set

-eyes peering from beneath his shaggy brows, always

-in search of the small pieces of tobacco discarded by

-smokers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-With him also disappeared the shabby little

-man whose interest I had unwittingly aroused,

-and I remained alone, still irresolute and wondering.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had paid, and was just about to rise and go,

-when of a sudden a smart victoria pulled up in front

-of the "Grand Café," and from it stepped a

-well-dressed woman, wearing a smart hat and an

-elaborate cape of the latest <i>mode</i>.  Without hesitation

-she walked to the table in question and seated

-herself.  In the darkness I could not distinguish her

-face, but I saw that even before the waiter could

-attend to her she had examined the table and read

-the message there written.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Was it, I wondered, intended for her?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The waiter brought what she ordered, a "bock,"

-that favourite beverage with both Parisians and

-Parisiennes.  I watched her narrowly, and at once

-saw something to convince me that the cipher was

-intended for her eye.  She dipped her finger in the

-beer, and when no one was looking, drew it across the

-writing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Was she young, or old, I wondered?  She was settling

-her cape and chiffons preparatory to rising and

-re-entering her carriage; I also rose and crossed the

-road.  As I stepped upon the asphalt on the opposite

-side, she crossed to where her smart carriage

-stood, brushing past me as she did so.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the light fell across her face there was revealed

-to me a countenance with which I was only too

-familiar.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She was the woman who had usurped my place in

-Ernest's heart; the woman whom I had seen in

-his company at Monte Carlo; the woman who had

-laughed at me in triumph across the roulette table,

-because she knew that she held him beneath the

-spell of her insipid beauty.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap24"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXIV

-<br><br>

-IN WHICH MATTERS ASSUME A VERY COMPLEX ASPECT

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-I started to walk along the Boulevard towards the

-Opera.  To that woman with the tow-coloured hair,

-the blue eyes and pink cheeks&mdash;the woman who had

-replaced me in his affections&mdash;Ernest had written

-that strange message in cipher, a message of warning

-it might be.  I hated her.  I really believe that if

-ever the spirit of murder has entered my heart, it

-was at that moment.  I could have sprung upon her

-and killed her as she stepped into the carriage.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She had said no word to her coachman.  He

-apparently knew where to drive.  That cipher was

-perhaps an appointment which he had gone

-forward to keep, while she was now following.  The

-thought convulsed me with anger.  This man,

-Ernest Cameron, the man who had once held me

-in his arms and declared that he loved me, was, upon

-his own admission, an assassin.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I had somehow ceased to think of the old

-millionaire and the chattering woman whom he had

-concealed on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  All my thoughts were

-of the man who had, until then, held me as his

-helpless slave.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It may have been jealousy, or it may possibly

-have been the revulsion of feeling that had seized

-me on becoming aware of the terrible truth of his

-guilt, that caused me to vow to leave no stone

-unturned to secure his arrest and condemnation.  I

-would follow her.  She, that slim woman with the

-fair hair, had stolen him from me, but I determined

-that she should not be allowed to enjoy his society

-much longer.  I had discovered the truth, and the

-blow that I intended to deal would be fatal to the

-happiness of both of them.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I laughed within myself as I got into a fiacre,

-and told the driver to keep her carriage in sight.  I

-was not impatient.  I would wait and watch until

-I had secured ample proof.  Then I had but to

-apply to the police, and the arrest would be made.

-He, Ernest Cameron, had murdered and robbed the

-poor boy who had admired me, and with whom I

-had so foolishly flirted.  It was the attention I

-had allowed him to pay to me that was primarily

-the cause of his assassination.  Of that I had always

-been convinced.  The moral responsibility rested

-upon myself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I followed her straight up the Rue Lafayette to

-the Gare du Nord, where she alighted, and after

-speaking a moment with her coachman, dismissed

-her carriage.  She evidently intended to leave

-Paris.  I crept up quickly behind her in the long

-booking-office, and followed her in order to overhear

-her destination.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"First-class return to Enghien, please," she asked

-the girl who sold the tickets.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Enghien!  I had heard of the place as being a

-popular resort near Paris, famous for its sulphur

-baths; but in what direction it lay, I had not the

-slightest idea.  Nevertheless, the fact of her taking

-a return ticket, and having no baggage, showed

-that she did not intend to make a protracted stay.

-Therefore, when she was out of hearing, I took a

-ticket for the same destination; the price showed

-me that the distance could not be very great.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Secretly following her, I entered a train, and in

-half-an-hour alighted at a small suburban station,

-which was rather dimly lit.  Outside, she entered a

-fiacre.  Following her quickly, I drove through

-the narrow street of the little French town to the

-shore of a small lake, from which arose a strong

-and disagreeable odour of sulphur.  She disappeared

-into the gaily-lit entrance of an illuminated

-garden, which I discovered to be the Casino of

-Enghien, an establishment where public gambling

-was permitted, and where there was a celebrated

-so-called <i>cercle</i> for baccarat.  The place consisted

-of a garden extending along the shore of the lake,

-together with a large open-air café, a big

-theatre&mdash;where a variety performance was in progress&mdash;and

-beyond, the public gaming-room, play in which

-proved to be of the usual kind permitted at French

-and Belgian resorts.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was a decidedly pretty place.  The long festoons

-of coloured lights were reflected in the lake,

-while out towards the pine-covered island were

-many small boats decorated with paper lanterns.

-In the garden there was quite a crowd of Parisians,

-who had gone there in the evening to lounge in the

-fresh air, or to stake their francs upon the little

-horses or upon the miniature railway.  The band

-was playing, and the smart pleasure-seekers were

-promenading over the gravelled walks, laughing

-gaily, and chatting merrily.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The woman upon whom I was keeping such a

-close watch strolled through the gardens, peering

-hither and thither, as though in search of someone.

-It was the <i>entr'acte</i>, and the theatre, one side of

-which was open towards the garden, had emptied.

-At Enghien the <i>entr'actes</i> are long, in order to allow

-people to go to the gaming-room.  Two men I

-recognised as <i>habitués</i> at Monte Carlo, one of them

-middle-aged, well-dressed and black-bearded, who

-invariably wore white kid gloves.  He was half

-bald, and his face showed marks of premature age

-brought on by dissipation.  The other, who was

-younger, was his partner.  They were well-known

-figures at Monte Carlo, and had evidently left

-there and come north, now that, the season being

-over, there were no more pigeons to be plucked

-in the private gaming-rooms of the Riviera.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The woman at length took a seat at one of the

-café tables, deep in the shadow of a tree, and ordered

-a <i>consommation</i>.  I suspected that she had an

-appointment with someone, and therefore resolved

-to watch.  As far as I could observe, she had never

-once detected my presence, and if she did now,

-she most probably would not recognise me, dressed

-as I was in an old stuff gown.  She had seen me, I

-recollected, in the smart Monte Carlo toilettes, in

-which I presented such a different appearance.  I

-took up a position on one of the seats by the

-lakeside, opposite the café, a spot from which I could

-see all that might come to pass.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I must here admit that my continual search was

-growing terribly wearisome.  Unused to acting the

-spy, my nerves had been during those days of

-travel and adventure strained to their utmost

-tension.  For five nights sleep had scarcely come

-to my eyes, so constant was the vigil I had kept,

-and for five days I had existed in feverish anxiety

-on the very horns of a dilemma.  I sat there watching

-the passing crowd of gay Parisiennes, and

-breathing the fresh evening air from across the

-lake.  On the other shore were large mansions,

-with their lawns sloping down to the water,

-reminding me of English houses on the upper reaches

-of the Thames.  From time to time a night-bird

-skimmed the placid water, causing it to eddy in

-the starlight.  From across the water came feminine

-laughter from a passing boat, and a girl's voice

-reached me from far away, trilling the refrain of

-Paulette Darty's "romance-waltz," which I

-supposed had just been sung in the café-concert:

-</p>

-

-<p class="poem">

-  "Donne-moi ta lèvre, ta lèvre rose,<br>

-  Qu'amoureusement ma lèvre s'y pose<br>

-  Et qu'étroitement tous deux enlacés<br>

-  Nos querelles soient querelles de baisers."<br>

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-Yes, the scene was certainly charmfxing.  I, like

-thousands of the people who go to Paris, and who

-know the Rue Rivoli better than they do Oxford

-Street, had never troubled to spend an evening at

-Enghien.  The Casino would really be a delightful

-one were it not for the presence of that curse to

-French and Belgian popular resorts&mdash;the <i>tapis vert</i>.

-Dozens of similar places are spoilt by the

-introduction of those tables, for play and the

-<i>demi-monde</i> are inseparable, just as are baccarat and

-blackguards.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The electric bells had rung to announce that the

-variety entertainment was about to be resumed,

-and the crowd from the gaming-room and from

-the garden was making its way back to the theatre,

-to be entertained by the drolleries of Paulus and

-the risky <i>chansons</i> of Liane de Vries, when, of a

-sudden, I noticed that the woman who had stolen

-my lover's heart had half-risen and given her hand

-to a stranger, evidently the man she had been

-expecting.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was short of stature, and well-dressed, for in

-the shadow where he stood I could see the wide

-expanse of starched shirt-front displayed by his open

-overcoat, and could tell that he wore an opera-hat.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She re-seated herself, evidently pleased by his

-arrival, while he stood for a moment bending

-towards her and speaking earnestly.  Then he

-drew back, laughed merrily, and seated himself

-opposite her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He sat back in the half-darkness, so that I was

-unable to distinguish his face.  But his presence

-there was sufficient to tell me that this woman, by

-whom Ernest had been fascinated, was a worthless

-person, who made secret assignations unknown to

-the unfortunate man, who probably believed her

-to be the very paragon of all the virtues.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-How would Ernest act if he were aware of the

-actual truth?  I wondered.  Would he still have

-confidence in his pink-and-white doll?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Perhaps.  Men are incomprehensible creatures

-where their love is concerned.  When fascinated

-by a woman's smile, they will lick the hand that

-cuffs them; they will allow Aspasia to drench them

-with <i>vin mousseux</i>, to smother them with chiffons,

-to stifle them with <i>mots</i>, and to sell them for

-<i>rouleaux</i>, and yet make no audible complaint.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-To love and to hate seem to be the two things

-which it is most natural and most easy for women

-to do.  In these two principles how many of the

-actions of our lives originate.  How important is it,

-therefore, that we should learn early in life to love

-and hate aright.  Most women believe that they

-love virtue and hate vice.  But have the majority

-of them clearly ascertained what virtue and vice

-are?  Have they examined the meaning of these

-important words?  Have they listened to the

-plausible reasoning of what we call Society, where

-things are spoken of by false names, and where

-vice is vulgar in the common herd, but sanctioned

-as <i>chic</i> among the select few?  Or have they gone

-directly to the eternal and immutable principles of

-good and evil?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I must confess that, tutored by Ulrica, I had long

-ago listened to Society's reasonings, and had thus

-become a worldly woman.  Now a worldly woman

-is necessarily a woman possessing tact, and able at

-the same time to tell untruths with grace, and

-successfully to act a part whenever necessary.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Woman is gifted by nature with a remarkable

-quickness of perception, by means of which she is

-able to detect the earliest approach of aught

-tending to destroy that high-toned purity of character

-for which, even in the days of chivalry, she was

-more reverenced and adored than for her beauty

-itself.  This quickness of perception in minute and

-delicate points, with the power which woman also

-possesses of acting upon it instantaneously, has, in

-familiar phraseology, obtained the name of tact;

-and when this natural gift is added to good taste,

-the two combined are of more value to a woman

-in the social and domestic affairs of every-day life

-than the most brilliant and intellectual endowments

-could be without them.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-You, my friend and confidante, know well that

-when a woman is possessed of a high degree of tact,

-she sees, as if by a kind of second sight, when

-any little emergency is likely to occur; or when,

-to use a more familiar expression, things do not

-seem likely to go right.  She is thus aware of any

-sudden turn in conversation, and prepared for what

-it may lead to; but above all, she can penetrate into

-the state of mind of those with whom she is placed

-in contact, so as to detect the gathering gloom

-upon another's brow, before the mental storm shall

-have reached any formidable height; to know when

-the tone of voice has altered, when an unwelcome

-thought has presented itself, and when the pulse

-of feeling is beating higher or lower in consequence

-of some apparently trifling circumstance which has

-just come to pass.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Most women flatter themselves upon this valuable

-acquirement, and the scandal-monger most of all.

-In the life of every woman there have been critical

-moments, when this natural intuition has led her

-into a knowledge of the truth.  During the days

-when I was acting as a spy, my quickness of

-perception was put to the test times without number,

-and again there, in the Casino of Enghien-les-Bains,

-I was compelled to exercise all my woman's cunning.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man who had just joined the fair lounger

-beneath the tree was, I judged, much beneath

-middle height, but in the darkness height is always

-deceptive.  All I could see distinctly was that he

-wore a black overcoat, a black tie, and either white

-or lavender gloves.  Evidently he was of that type

-of male elegant commonly to be seen in the

-neighbourhood of public gaming-tables.  Men of this

-type are usually hard-up, live by sponging on

-friends, affect a rather select circle, and are the

-leaders of masculine fashion.  The Italians call a

-man belonging to this class a <i>duca senza ducati</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was leaning his elbows upon the table, and

-had entered into an earnest conversation.  Both

-heads were bent together, and he was apparently

-relating some facts which were, to her, of the utmost

-interest, for now and then she shrugged her narrow

-shoulders, and gesticulated with not a little

-vivacity.  I was, however, too far off to overhear a

-single syllable of the conversation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man, I saw, had taken from his pocket some

-letters, one of which she held in her hand, bending

-forward into the light so as to read it.  What she

-read apparently angered her, for she tossed it back

-to him in disgust, and struck her hand upon the

-table with a quick ejaculation.  This caused some

-words between them.  I imagined that, in her

-outburst of temper, she had made some charge against

-him which he now stoutly denied, for of a sudden

-both were gesticulating violently.  As most of the

-promenaders had entered the theatre, the garden

-was at that moment practically deserted; but the

-orchestra in the illuminated bandstand was

-playing, drowning all their words, and preventing

-attention being directed to their altercation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I sat there by the lake-side, watching with

-breathless interest.  What would I not have given to be

-sufficiently near to catch the drift of their

-conversation!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Presently, in the height of their argument, he

-pushed a second letter before her face roughly, as

-though to convince her of his words; but she,

-seeing in his action a desire to insult her, snatched

-the letter from his hands, tore it into fragments,

-and cast them in his face.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was done in an instant, and sitting as they

-were in that secluded corner in the shadow, none

-witnessed the incident save myself.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The man rose quickly, with an air of fierce resentment,

-bowed to her with mock courtesy, and strode

-off.  But as he passed out into the gaslight, I saw

-his face, and recognising it, could not suppress a

-cry of amazement.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He was not young, as I had supposed, but old

-and decrepit.  The countenance was the ugly,

-sinister one of Branca, the queer old fellow with

-whom I had had such a strange interview in Leghorn

-only a few days before.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap25"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXV

-<br><br>

-PRESENTS A CURIOUS PHASE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-This discovery increased the mystery.  Yet it was

-plain that he was acting according to his promise,

-and was leaving no effort untried in order to solve

-the problem.  But why?  What possible interest

-could he have in discovering the truth regarding

-Reggie's assassination?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Certainly his appearance was greatly altered.

-Instead of the unkempt, shuffling Italian whom I

-had visited in the Via Magenta, in Leghorn, he was

-spruce, well-shaven, and smartly dressed, although

-his dwarfed and slightly deformed personality

-could not be disguised.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The look upon his countenance was the reverse of

-reassuring.  Ugly even when smiling, his face was

-distorted by rage, and absolutely forbidding, as

-he walked hurriedly past within half-a-dozen feet

-of me, and away towards the exit from the garden.

-The insult he had sustained was one which angered

-him terribly, and if ever vengeance was written

-upon a man's face it was written upon his.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The queer old fellow had puzzled me greatly ever

-since that eventful evening at Leghorn.  To me

-there was such an absence of motive that his actions

-were doubly remarkable.  And yet I could never

-get away from the fact that he knew of old Keppel's

-intention to go to Ragusa before it had been

-announced to us; and he was also well acquainted

-with all the facts of poor Reggie's tragic end, and

-the subsequent action on the part of both the

-police and myself.  Besides, he had told me of

-Ernest's whereabouts, of which I was in ignorance,

-and now it appeared that he had been, until a

-moment ago, on friendly terms with the woman

-who had robbed me of the one man who in all the

-world was dear to me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Utterly dumbfounded by his presence there, I

-watched him walk down the long gravelled path

-beside the lake, past the landing-stage, and out

-towards the public road.  Indeed, I think I was

-too astonished at that moment to rise and follow

-the man who had declared our interests to be

-identical.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I turned and glanced across at the woman.  She

-had risen, shaken out her skirts, and hastily drawn

-her light cape about her shoulders, as for a moment

-she stood in hesitation, looking after her companion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Her brow was knit, and I seemed to watch

-determination becoming more and more strongly

-marked upon her face.  Then she hurried quickly

-after him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I rose, too, but a thought flashed across my mind.

-He had not gathered up the fragments of the letter

-before leaving.  They were, no doubt, still there.

-What could the letter contain that it should so

-incense her?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Without hesitation I moved across to the table

-so lately occupied, and there saw scattered on the

-ground in the vicinity several pieces of torn paper,

-which I gathered swiftly into my hand.  They were

-portions of a letter written on white-edged,

-smoke-grey paper of a fashionable pattern.  Fortunately,

-no waiters were in the near neighbourhood, and I

-was enabled to continue my search, for any stray

-scraps might, I reflected, be of importance.  After

-I had picked up a piece that had been blown some

-distance off, I placed all the fragments carefully in

-my pocket, and made my way toward the brightly-lit

-entrance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As there were no cabs, I was compelled to walk

-to the station, which occupied me quite a quarter

-of an hour.  It appeared certain that both the man

-and the woman would return to Paris, and that the

-woman hoped to meet Branca at the railway-station.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-When I arrived, however, I found that the train

-had just departed for the Gare du Nord, and that

-there was not another for nearly an hour.  If they

-had both left by the train I had so narrowly missed,

-then they had successfully escaped me.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The bare <i>salle d'attente</i> at Enghien is not a

-cheerful place at night, when the single gas jet is

-turned low, and the doors leading out upon the

-platform are securely locked.  Here, again, I was

-confronted by a difficulty, namely, that if,

-perchance, the pair had not caught the train, they

-would probably enter the waiting room.  To remain

-there was manifestly dangerous, if I did not wish

-my identity to be revealed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My chief regret was that I had missed Branca.

-I had no means of communicating with him, for I

-had no idea where he was staying, and he certainly

-did not know my address, or else he would have

-sent me word that he was in Paris.  All I could

-hope was that the woman had caught him up and

-detained him, and that they would return together

-by the next train.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Deciding that to rest in the waiting-room was

-injudicious, I went out and crossed to the little café

-opposite, where the tables on the pavement were

-shaded by a row of laurels in tubs, in the usual

-French style.  I wished to piece together the

-precious letter in my pocket without being

-observed.  I entered the place and sat down.  A

-consumptive waiter and a fat woman presiding

-over the bottles on the small counter were the only

-occupants, and after ordering a "limonade," I

-drew forth scrap after scrap of the torn letter and

-spread it out upon the table.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was written in French, in a feminine hand, but

-it was some time before I could piece the fragments

-together so as to read the whole.  At last I

-succeeded, and discovered it to be dated from the

-"Grand Hotel" at Brussels.  It ran as follows:

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>My dear Laumont,&mdash;See Julie the instant she

-returns from Moscow, and warn her.  Someone has

-turned traitor.  Tell her to be extremely careful, and

-to lie low for the present.  If she does not, she will

-place us all in jeopardy.  Advise her to go to London.

-She would be safe there.  So would you.  Bury

-yourselves.&mdash;Hastily, your friend,</i> "SIDONIE."

-</p>

-

-<p><br></p>

-

-<p>

-Laumont!  Who, I wondered, was Laumont?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Was it possible that the woman referred to as

-Julie was actually the person who had so fascinated

-Ernest?  If so, the warning was a strange one;

-and she had disregarded it by tearing up the letter

-and casting it into Branca's face.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Bury yourselves."  The injunction was

-expressive, to say the least of it.  Some person

-unknown had turned traitor, and had told the truth

-regarding some matter which had apparently been

-a secret.  The letter was a mysterious one, from

-every point of view.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A dozen times I read it through, then carefully

-collected the scraps and replaced them in my pocket.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The person to whom the letter was addressed was,

-without doubt, an accomplice of the woman Julie,

-while their correspondent, who was named Sidonie,

-and who stayed at the "Grand Hotel" in Brussels,

-was anxious that both should escape to London.

-The woman Julie had been in Moscow.  Was it

-possible that this woman who had attracted Ernest

-had during my absence in the Mediterranean been

-in Russia?  Perhaps she had.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet I had no ground whatever for believing

-the woman whom I had seen at Monte Carlo, and

-had so recently followed from Paris, to be named

-Julie.  My suspicions might, for aught I knew, be

-entirely groundless.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-From where I sat I could watch all persons entering

-the station, but my heart sank within me when

-at length it was time for me to cross to take the

-train for Paris, for my search along the platform

-was a fruitless one.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Both had evidently left by the earlier train, and

-the absence of a fiacre at the door of the Casino had

-caused me to lose sight of them.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Alone in the dimly-lit railway compartment, as

-the train passed through the suburb of St. Denis

-and on to the Gare du Nord, I reflected deeply.

-My brain was awhirl with the events which had

-occurred so rapidly since landing at Leghorn.  I

-knew not whether Captain Davis had received my

-telegram and had left for Genoa, or whether the

-message had been delayed until he had received

-that package which was destined to send the

-<i>Vispera</i> to the bottom.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-On every side I saw plot and counterplot, the

-most dastardly of them all being the determination

-of Keppel to destroy his yacht.  And Ulrica?

-What of her?  That she was on board was almost

-certain; she might even then be sailing southward

-to her doom.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Yet I had warned her, and I hoped that she had

-come ashore as we had arranged.  The only possibility

-I feared was a disinclination upon her part

-to offend the old millionaire.  If she found the

-course altered to Genoa, a change which I had

-endeavoured to effect by my telegram, she might

-possibly have gone on there.  All that I prayed for

-was that my wire had reached Davis's hand before

-the package supposed to contain the statuette.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Keppel at that moment no doubt believed the

-<i>Vispera</i> to have gone down, and was prepared for

-the receipt of the astounding news from one or

-other of the Mediterranean ports.  Possibly he

-believed that he had a perfect answer to the question

-as to why he had left the vessel, but to me it seemed

-as though he would meet with considerable difficulty,

-if the worst had really happened.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-There might, too, be a survivor, and a survivor's

-testimony in such a case would be awkward.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As the train, with its <i>impériales</i>, or seats above

-the third-class carriages, rushed on toward Paris,

-I pondered, too, upon Branca's sudden reappearance.

-There was something uncanny about the

-fellow.  His knowledge was as extensive as his

-cunning was low and ingenious.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For what reason, I wondered, had he met that

-tow-haired woman who had been Ernest Cameron's

-good genius at Monte Carlo?  Why, too, had she

-taken the trouble to go out to Enghien for the

-purpose of seeing him?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-One theory alone took possession of my mind,

-namely, that there was a secret between them.

-Possibly he had been acquainted with her; they

-might even have been friends.  But it was quite

-evident that they had quarrelled, and he had been

-gravely offended by the insult offered him.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Each night-train from Enghien to the Gare du

-Nord always brought home a large number of

-returning gamblers and pleasure-seekers, so when

-we came to a standstill, the quai quickly became

-crowded by persons whom I had noticed strolling

-in the Casino.  In vain, however, I searched for

-the pair whose movements I had been watching.

-I was compelled to acknowledge myself baffled,

-and to take a fiacre back to the "Hôtel Terminus."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Fearing lest any of the trio might be lounging at

-the café in front of the hotel, where arriving cabs

-file slowly past, I dismissed the vehicle at the

-corner of the Rue du Havre, and approached the

-hotel on the opposite side of the way.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-One of my chief difficulties was the entering and

-leaving the hotel, for I never knew whom I might

-meet.  I had had several narrow escapes from

-recognition, notwithstanding every possible precaution.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At last, however, after carefully examining all who

-were lounging about the entrance, I managed to

-slip in, passing the big-moustached <i>concierge</i>, and

-ascending by the lift to my own room, utterly worn

-out by anxiety and fatigue.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap26"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXVI

-<br><br>

-GIVES THE KEY TO THE CIPHER

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-Even though tired out, I slept but little that night.

-I tried, times without number, but in vain, to solve

-the secret of that cipher message&mdash;or warning,

-was it?&mdash;written upon the table before the "Grand

-Café."  But neither the initial nor the word "tabac"

-conveyed to me any meaning whatever.  One fact

-seemed particularly strange, namely, the reason

-why the ragged collector of cigar-ends should have

-searched for it; and, further, why the word written

-there should have been "tabac."  Again, who was

-the shabby, wizen-faced individual who had watched

-that table with such eagerness and expectancy?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I reflected, I became impressed by the idea

-that the table itself was one of those known to be

-a notice-board of criminals, and therefore at night

-it was watched by the police.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The great Goron, that past-master in the detection

-of crime, had, I remembered, told me that in all the

-quarters of Paris, from the <i>chic</i> Avenue des Champs

-Elysées to the lower parts of Montmartre, there

-were certain tables at certain cafés used by thieves,

-burglars, and other such gentry, for the exchange

-of messages, the dissemination of news, and the

-issue of warnings.  Indeed, the correspondence on

-the café tables was found to be more rapid, far

-more secret, and likely to attract less notice than

-the insertion of paragraphs in the advertisement

-columns of the newspapers.  Each gang of

-malefactors had, he told me, its own particular table

-in its own particular café, where any member could

-sit and read at his leisure the cipher notice, or

-warning, placed there, without risking direct

-communication with his associates in rascality.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Had the man whom I had so fondly loved actually

-allied himself with some criminal band, that he

-knew their means of communication, and was in

-possession of their cipher?  It certainly seemed

-as though he had.  But that was one of the points

-I intended to clear up before denouncing him to the

-police.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Next morning I rose early, eager for activity,

-but there seemed no movement in the room

-adjoining mine.  All three took their coffee in their

-bedrooms, and it was not till nearly eleven o'clock

-that I heard Keppel in conversation with the

-mysterious woman who had been my travelling

-companion.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ernest is running a great risk," he was saying.

-"It's quite unnecessary, to my mind.  The police

-are everywhere on the alert, for word has, of course,

-come from Nice.  If he is unfortunate enough to fall

-into their hands, he'll only have himself to blame."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But surely you don't anticipate such a thing?"

-she asked, in genuine alarm.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well, he goes about quite openly, well knowing

-that his description has been circulated through

-every town and village in France."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And if he were arrested, where should he be?"

-inquired the woman, in dismay.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"In a very awkward predicament, I fear," he

-responded.  "That's the very reason why I'm

-trying to persuade Cameron to act with greater

-discretion.  He's well known, you see, and may be

-recognised at any moment in the street.  If he

-were a stranger here, in Paris, it might be different."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"It's certainly ridiculous for him to run his head

-into a noose.  I must speak to him at once."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He's out.  He went out before six this morning,

-the chambermaid tells me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That's odd!  Where's he gone?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I don't exactly know.  Somewhere in the

-country, I should think."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What if he is already arrested?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, don't let's anticipate such a <i>contretemps</i>.

-Matters are, however, beginning to look serious

-enough, in all conscience," he answered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Do you think we shall succeed?" she inquired

-eagerly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"We have been successful before," he responded

-confidently.  "Why not now?  We have only to

-exercise just a little more care and cunning than

-that exercised by the police.  Then, once beyond

-suspicion, all the rest is perfectly plain sailing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Which means that we must make a perfect <i>coup</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Exactly.  The whole scheme must be carried

-out firmly and without a hitch, otherwise we shall

-find ourselves in very hot water."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Knowing this should make us desperate," she

-observed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I'm desperate already," he replied, in a quiet

-voice.  "It will not go well with anyone who tries

-to thwart us now.  It's a matter of life or death."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What new plot had been hatched I could not

-guess.  What was this fresh conspiracy that was

-intended?  His carefully-guarded words awoke in

-me an intense curiosity.  I had already overheard

-many things, and still resolved to possess myself in

-patience, and to continue my ever-watchful vigil.

-There was, according to the old man's own words, a

-desperate plot in progress, which the conspirators

-were determined to carry out at all hazards, even

-up to the point of taking another human life.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I wrote down on a piece of paper the cipher which

-I had found scrawled upon the table, and tried by

-several means to reduce it to some intelligible

-message, but without success.  It was evidently

-in one of those secret codes used by criminals, and

-therefore I had but a remote chance of discovering

-a key to what so often had puzzled the cleverest

-detectives of the sûreté.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The day passed without any important incident.

-I remained in my room awaiting the return of the

-man whose strange action had puzzled me on the

-previous night, and who was now running such

-risk of arrest.  If he returned, I hoped to overhear

-his conversation with his companions; but

-unfortunately he did not come back.  All was quiet in

-the adjoining chamber, for Keppel and the woman

-with the strange marks had evidently gone out in

-company.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-About seven o'clock I myself dressed and went

-forth, strolling idly along until I stood on the

-pavement at the corner of the Boulevard des Italiens,

-in front of the Opera.  There are always many

-idlers there, mostly sharks on the watch for the

-unsuspecting foreigner.  The English and American

-tourist offices are just opposite, and from the corner

-these polyglot swindlers can easily fix upon persons

-who change cheques as likely victims, and track

-them down.  Suddenly it occurred to me to stroll

-along and glance at the table before the "Grand

-Café."  This I did, but found only the remains of

-some cipher which had been hastily obliterated,

-possibly earlier in the day, for the surface of the

-marble was quite dry, and only one or two faint

-pencil-marks remained.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I sat there, I chanced to glance across the road,

-and to my surprise saw the same shabby, wizen-faced

-man lounging along the kerb.  He was evidently

-keeping that table under observation.  While

-pretending not to see him, I drank my coffee, paid,

-rose from my seat, and walked away; but as the

-watcher at once followed me, I returned to the hotel.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It is not pleasant for a woman to be followed by a

-strange man, especially if she is bent upon making

-secret inquiries, or is watching another person, so

-when I had again returned to my room I presently

-bethought myself of the second exit from the

-hotel&mdash;the one which leads straight into the

-booking-office of the Gare St. Lazare.  By means of this

-door I managed to escape the little man's vigilance,

-and entering a cab, drove down to the Pont des Arts.

-As I had nothing particular to do, it occurred to

-me that if I could find the little <i>coiffeur's</i>, where I

-had seen the man with whom I had danced on the

-night of the Carnival ball, I might watch, and

-perhaps learn something.  That this man was on

-friendly terms with both Keppel and Cameron had

-been proved by that scrap of confidential

-conversation I had chanced to overhear.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The difficulty I experienced in recognising the

-narrow and crooked street was considerable, but

-after nearly an hour's search through the smaller

-thoroughfares to the left of the Boulevard St. Michel,

-my patience was rewarded, and I slowly passed the

-little shop on the opposite side.  The place was in

-darkness, apparently closed.  Scarcely had I passed,

-however, when someone emerged from the place.

-It was, I felt quite sure, the man who had worn the

-owl's dress.  He was dressed rather elegantly, and

-seemed to possess quite an air of distinction.

-Indeed, no one meeting him in the street would have

-believed him to be a barber.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Almost involuntarily, I followed him.  He lit a

-cigarette, and then walked forward at a rapid pace

-down the Boulevard, across the Pont Neuf, and

-turning through many streets, which were as a

-bewildering maze to me, he suddenly tossed his

-cigarette away, entered a large house, and made some

-inquiry of the <i>concierge</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Madame Fournereau?" I heard the old man

-answer gruffly.  "Yes.  Second floor, on the left."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And the man who had so mysteriously returned to

-me the stolen notes went forward, and up the stairs.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Madame Fournereau!  I had never, as far as I

-recollected, heard that name before.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I strolled along a little farther, hesitating whether

-to remain there until the man emerged again, when,

-as I lifted my eyes, I happened to see the name-plate

-at the street corner.  It was the Rue du Bac.  In

-an instant the similarity of the word in the cipher,

-"tabac" occurred to me.  Could it be that the

-woman for whom the message was intended lived

-there?  Could it be that this woman for whose love

-Ernest had forsaken me was named Fournereau?

-I entertained a lively suspicion that I had at last

-discovered her name and her abode.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I think at that moment my usual discretion left

-me utterly.  So many and so strange were the

-mysteries which had surrounded me during the

-past month or so, that I believe my actions were

-characterised by a boldness of which no woman in

-her right senses would have been capable.  Now that

-I reflect upon it all, I do not think I was in my right

-senses that night, or I should not have dared to

-act alone and unaided as I did.  But the determination

-to avenge the poor lad's death, and at the same

-time to avenge my own wrongs, was strong upon me.

-A jealous woman is capable of breaking any of

-the ten commandments.  "<i>Amor dà per mercede,

-gelosia e rotta fede.</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Had I remained to reason with myself, I should

-never have entered that house, but fired by a

-determination to seek the truth, and to meet that woman

-face to face, I entered boldly and, without a word to

-the <i>concierge</i>, passed up to the second floor.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The house was, I discovered, like many in Paris,

-far more handsome within than without.  The

-stairs leading to the flats were thickly carpeted

-and were illuminated by electricity, though, judging

-by the exterior, I had believed it to be a house

-of quite a fourth-rate class.  When I rang at the

-door on the left a neat Parisian <i>bonne</i> in a muslin

-cap answered my summons.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Madame Fournereau?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Oui</i>, madame," answered the woman, as she

-admitted me to the narrow but well-furnished

-entrance-hall.  "Madame is expecting you, I believe.

-Will you please enter?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I saw in an instant that I was mistaken for a

-guest, and quickly made up my mind to use this

-mistake to the best possible advantage.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-My quick eyes noticed in the hall a number of

-men's hats and women's capes.  From the room

-beyond came quite a babel of voices.  I walked

-forward in wonderment, but next second knew the

-truth.  The place was a private gambling-house.

-Madame's guests, a strange and motley crowd, came

-there to play games of hazard.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In the room I had entered was a roulette table,

-smaller than those at Monte Carlo, and around

-it were some twenty well-dressed men and women,

-all intent upon the game.  Notes and gold were lying

-everywhere upon the numbers and the single

-chances, and the fact that no silver was there was

-sufficient testimony that high stakes were usual.

-The air was close and oppressive, for the windows

-were closed and heavily curtained, and above the

-sound of excited voices rose that well-known cry

-of the unhealthy-looking, pimply-faced croupier in

-crimped shirt front and greasy black:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Messieurs, faites vos jeux!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Advancing to the table, I stood there unnoticed

-in the crowd.  Those who saw me enter undoubtedly

-believed me to be a gambler, like themselves, for it

-appeared as though madame's guests were drawn

-from various classes of society.  Although the

-atmosphere was so stifling, I managed to remain

-cool, and affected to be interested in the game by

-tossing a louis upon the red.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I won.  It is strange that carelessness at roulette

-invariably brings good fortune.  I glanced about me,

-eager to discover madame herself, but saw neither

-her nor the barber whom I had followed to this

-place.  At the end of the room there were, however,

-a pair of long sage-green curtains, and as one of

-the players rose from the table and passed between

-them, I saw that another gaming-room lay beyond,

-and that the gamblers were playing baccarat, the

-bank being held by a superior-looking old gentleman

-who was wearing the crimson ribbon of the

-Legion d'Honneur in the lapel of his dining-jacket.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Boldly I went forward into that room, and in an

-instant saw that I was not mistaken, for there,

-chatting to a circle of men and women at the opposite

-end of the <i>salon</i>, was the small, fair-haired

-woman whom I had seen in Ernest's company at

-Monte Carlo, and whom I had followed to Enghien.

-The man who had given me the stolen notes was

-standing near her, listening to her account of a

-pleasure trip from which she had apparently only

-just returned.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A couple of new-comers, well-dressed men, entered,

-walked straight up to her, shook hands, and

-expressed their delight that she had returned to Paris

-to resume her entertainments.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I, too, am glad to return to all my friends,

-messieurs," she laughed.  "I really found Monte

-Carlo very dull, after all."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You were not fortunate?  That is to be

-regretted."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" she said.  "With such a maximum, how

-can one hope to gain?  It is impossible."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood watching the play.  As far as I could see,

-it was perfectly fair; but some of the players,

-keen-faced men, were evidently practised

-card-sharpers, swindlers, or men who lived by their

-wits.  The amount of money constantly changing

-hands surprised me.  As I stood there, one young

-man, scarcely more than a lad, lost five thousand

-francs with perfect <i>sang-froid</i>.  The women present

-were none of them young, but were mostly elderly

-and ugly, of that stamp so eternally prominent in

-the Principality of Monaco.  The woman, when she

-turns gambler, always loses her personal beauty.

-It may be the vitiated atmosphere in which she

-exists; it may be the constant tension of the

-nerves; or it may, perchance, be the unceasing,

-all-consuming avarice&mdash;which, I know not.  All I

-am certain of is that no woman can play and at the

-same time remain fresh, youthful, and interesting.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Until that moment I had remained there unnoticed

-in the excited crowd, for I had turned my back upon

-Madame Fournereau, lest she should recognise in

-me the woman whom Ernest had undoubtedly

-pointed out to her either in the Rooms, in Giro's, or

-elsewhere.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But as I began to pass back to the adjoining

-room, where I considered there would be less risk

-of recognition, the green curtains suddenly opened,

-and Ernest Cameron stood before me.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap27"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXVII

-<br><br>

-PIECES TOGETHER THE PUZZLE

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-I stepped back quickly, while he, with eyes fixed

-upon that fair-haired woman, who seemed the centre

-of a miniature court, failed to notice me.  Upon his

-face was a dark, anxious look, an expression such

-as I had never before seen upon his countenance.

-Perhaps he was jealous of the attention shown by

-that dozen or so of men who were chatting and

-laughing with her.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Her appearance was scarcely that of the keeper of

-an illicit gaming-house.  One would have expected

-to find some fine, dashing, handsome woman, in a

-striking gown, and with a profuse display of

-jewellery.  On the contrary, she was quietly dressed

-in a pretty, graceful gown of dove-grey cashmere,

-the bodice cut low and trimmed with passementerie,

-a frock which certainly well became her rather

-tame style of beauty.  The only ornament was a

-small half-moon of diamonds in her hair.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ernest appeared to take in the situation at a

-glance, and with his back turned to her stood

-watching the baccarat, just as I had feigned to

-watch it.  Through the great mirror before him,

-however, he could note all her actions.  She was

-laughing immoderately at some remark made by

-one of her companions, and I noticed how Ernest's

-face went pale with suppressed anger.  How

-haggard, how thin, how blanched, nervous, and ill he

-looked!  Usually so smart in attire, his dress

-clothes seemed to hang upon him, his cravat was

-carelessly tied, and in place of the diamond solitaire

-I had bought at Tiffany's for him in the early days

-of our acquaintance&mdash;which he had worn when we

-met at Monte Carlo&mdash;there was only a plain pearl

-stud, worth perhaps ten centimes.  Alas! he had

-sadly changed.  His was, indeed, the figure of a

-man haunted by the ever-present shadow of his

-crime.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-It was curious, I thought, that he did not

-approach her; but the reason for this became plain

-ere long.  I had returned to the adjoining room,

-and was again watching the roulette, when suddenly

-she brushed past me on her way out into the corridor,

-into which several other rooms opened.  Suddenly

-I heard his well-known voice utter her name

-in a hoarse whisper.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Julie!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Julie!  The person mentioned in the letter of

-warning which she had torn up at Enghien!

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She stopped, and recognising him for the first time,

-gasped:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ernest!  You here?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he responded.  "I told you that we

-should meet, and I have found you, you see.  I must

-speak to you alone."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Impossible," she responded.  "To-morrow."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, to-night&mdash;now.  What I have to say admits

-of no delay," and he strode resolutely at her side,

-while she, her face betraying displeasure at the

-encounter, unwillingly went forth into the corridor.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Well," I heard her exclaim in impatience,

-"what is it you have to say to me?  I thought

-when we parted it was agreed we were not to meet

-again."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You hoped so, you mean," he answered hardly.

-"Come into one of these rooms, where we may be

-alone.  Someone may overhear if we remain

-standing in this passage."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Is what you want to say so strictly confidential,

-then?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he answered, "it is."  Then, with every

-sign of reluctance and impatience, she opened a

-door behind them, and they passed into what

-appeared to be her own <i>petit salon</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Again the fire of jealousy consumed me, and without

-thought of the consequences of my act, I went

-straightway to the door, and entering, faced them.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As I entered, Ernest turned quickly, then stood

-rigid and amazed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Carmela!" he gasped.  "How came you here&mdash;to

-this place?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How I came here matters not," I answered, in a

-hard tone.  "It is sufficient for you to know that I

-have entered here to demand an explanation from

-you and this woman&mdash;your accomplice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do you mean?" cried his companion, in

-her broken English.  "What do you mean by

-accomplice?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I refer to the murder of Reginald Thorne," I

-said, as quietly as I was able.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The murder of Monsieur Thorne," repeated the

-woman.  "And what have I to do, pray, with the

-death of that gentleman, whoever he may be?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ernest glanced at me strangely, and then

-addressed her in a firm voice.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-<a id="p293"></a>

-"The person who murdered him was none other

-than yourself&mdash;Julie Fournereau."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood dumbfounded.  Was it possible that he

-intended to endeavour to fix the guilt upon her,

-even though I knew the truth by the words I had

-overheard, which were paramount to an admission?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What!" she shrieked, in fierce anger, speaking

-in French.  "You have sought me here to charge

-me with murder&mdash;to bring against me a false

-accusation?  It is a lie!  You know that I am

-innocent."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"That point, madame, must be decided by a

-judge," he answered, with marvellous coolness.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"What do you mean?  I don't understand!"

-she exclaimed, with a slight quiver in her voice

-which betrayed a sudden fear.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I mean that during the months which have

-elapsed since the murder of my friend Thorne, at

-Nice, I have been engaged in tracing the assassin&mdash;or,

-to put it plainly, in tracing you."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood there, utterly astounded.  If his words

-were true, why had he been concealed on board the

-<i>Vispera</i> in order to avoid arrest?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She laughed, instantly assuming an attitude of

-defiance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Bah!" she said.  "You bring me here into this

-room to make this absurd and unfounded charge!

-You dare not say it before my friends.  They

-would thrash you as if you were a mongrel of the

-streets!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His cheeks were pale, but there was a fierce and

-resolute expression upon his countenance.  The

-woman whom I had believed he loved was, it

-seemed, his bitterest enemy.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have not the slightest wish to bring upon

-you any greater exposure or disgrace than that

-which must inevitably come," he said coolly.

-"For months I have been waiting for this

-opportunity, and by means of the cipher fortunately

-discovered your return.  I was then enabled to

-give the police some highly interesting information."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The police!" she gasped, her face instantly

-blanched to the lips.  "You have told them?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he responded, gazing steadily upon her,

-"I have told them."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then let me pass," she said hoarsely, making

-towards the door.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But in a moment he had barred her passage,

-then raised a small whistle quickly to his lips, and

-blew it shrilly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"So this is your revenge!  I was warned of

-this from Brussels!" she cried, turning upon him

-with a murderous light in her eyes.  But almost

-before the words had left her mouth there were

-sounds of scuffling and shouting, a smashing of

-glass, and loud imprecations.  The whistle had

-raised the alarm, and the police had entered the

-place, and were preventing the egress of the players.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Outside, in the corridor, there were several fierce

-scrimmages, but next instant the door opened, and

-there entered three detectives&mdash;of whom one was

-the wizen-faced little man who had betrayed such an

-interest in myself when at the Grand Café&mdash;accompanied

-by old Mr. Keppel, and the woman who

-had been my travelling companion in the <i>wagon-lit</i>.

-Certainly the arrangements perfected by the

-police in order that their raid upon the private

-gaming establishment might be successful in all

-respects had been elaborately prepared, for at the

-signal given by Ernest the <i>coup</i> was instantaneously

-effected, and the players, nearly all of whom were

-persons known as criminals, fell back entrapped and

-dismayed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The old millionaire and his companion were just

-as astounded to find me present as Ernest had been.

-But there was no time at that exciting moment for

-explanations.  The plan had apparently been

-arranged for the arrest of the white-faced woman, who

-now stood trembling before us.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I tell you it's a lie!" she cried hoarsely.  "I

-did not kill him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-But Ernest, turning to the shabby little man,

-said:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I demand the arrest of that woman, Julie

-Fournereau, for the murder of Reginald Thorne at

-the 'Grand Hotel,' in Nice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You know her?" inquired the detective.

-"Have you evidence to justify the arrest?

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have evidence that she committed the murder&mdash;that

-the sixty thousand francs stolen from the

-dead man's pockets were in her possession on the

-following morning; and, further, that on the night

-on which the murder was committed she was staying

-under another name at the very hotel in which

-Mr. Thorne was found dead."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the witnesses?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They are already in Paris, waiting to be called

-to give evidence."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-A dead silence fell for a few moments.  We each

-looked at one another.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The wretched woman, who had suddenly been

-denounced by the man with whom she had been so

-friendly at Monte Carlo, was standing in the centre

-of the room, swaying forward, supporting herself by

-clutching the edge of the small table.  Her white lips

-trembled, but no word escaped from them.  She

-seemed rendered speechless by the suddenness of the

-overwhelming charge.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The detective's voice broke the silence.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Julie Fournereau," he said in French, advancing

-a few steps towards her, "in the name of

-the law I arrest you for the murder of Reginald

-Thorne at Nice."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am innocent!" she cried hoarsely, her haggard

-eyes glaring at us with a hunted look in them.  "I

-tell you I am quite innocent!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Listen," said Ernest, in a firm tone, although

-there was a slight catch in his voice, which showed

-how greatly excited he was.  "The reasons which

-have led me to this step are briefly these.  Last

-December, while living here in Paris, I went south

-to spend the winter at Monte Carlo.  I stayed at

-the 'Metropole,' and amid the cosmopolitan crowd

-there met the woman before you.  One day there

-arrived at the same hotel, from Paris, my friend

-Reginald Thorne, whom I knew well in London, but

-who had lived in Paris for the past year.  We were

-about together during the day, and in the Rooms

-that evening he encountered me walking beside this

-woman Fournereau.  That same night he came

-to my room, and in confidence related to me a

-story which at the moment I regarded as somewhat

-exaggerated, namely, that he had been induced to

-frequent a certain gaming-house in Paris, where he

-had lost almost everything he possessed, and how

-he had ultimately discovered that an elaborate

-system of sharping had been practised upon him

-by the woman and her male accomplices.  That

-woman, he told me, had left Paris suddenly just

-at the moment when he discovered the truth, and

-he had encountered her in the Rooms with me.

-Her name was Julie Fournereau."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I glanced at the wretched woman before us.  Her

-wild eyes were fixed upon the carpet; her fingers

-were twitching with intense agitation; her breath

-came and went in short quick gasps.  Ernest, in

-his exposure, was merciless.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Had she seen him in the Rooms?" I inquired.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," he answered.  "We had come face to

-face.  He told me that, as he had been robbed of

-nearly all he possessed, he was determined to give

-information against her.  She was, he told me, an

-associate of bad characters in Paris, and urged me

-to cut her acquaintance.  His story was strange

-and rather romantic, for he gave me to understand

-that this woman had made a pretence of loving him,

-and had induced him to play in her house, with

-the result that he lost large sums to a certain

-man who was her accomplice.  Personally, I was not

-very much charmed with her," Ernest went on,

-glancing at me.  "She was evidently, as Thorne

-had declared, acquainted with many of the worst

-characters who frequent Monte Carlo, and I began

-to think seriously that my own reputation would be

-besmirched by being seen constantly in her

-company.  Still, I tried to dissuade my friend from

-endeavouring to wreak justice upon such a person,

-arguing that, as he had lost the money in a private

-gaming establishment, he had no remedy in law.

-But he was young and headstrong&mdash;possibly suffering

-from a fit of jealousy.  After several days,

-however, fearing that he might create a scene with

-this notorious woman, I at last induced him to go

-over to Nice and stay at the 'Grand.'  While there,

-curiously enough, he met the lady who is here

-present, Miss Rosselli, and at once fell deeply in

-love with her."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No," I protested, in quick indignation, "there

-was no love whatever between us.  That I strongly

-deny."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Carmela," he said, bestowing on me a calm and

-serious look.  "In this affair I must speak plainly

-and openly.  I myself have a confession to make."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Of what?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Listen, and I'll explain everything."  Then

-turning to the others, he went on: "Reginald fell

-violently in love with Miss Rosselli, not knowing

-that she had been engaged to become my wife.

-When, the day after meeting her at the hotel, he

-told me of his infatuation, and heard from me the

-whole truth, he seemed considerably upset.  'She

-loves you still,' he said.  'I feel certain that she

-does, for she has given me no encouragement.'  I

-affected to take no notice of his words, but to me

-the matter was a very painful one.  I had broken

-off the engagement, it was true, but my heart was

-now filled by bitter remorse.  I had seen Carmela

-again; all the old love had come back to me, and

-I now despised myself for my mean and unwarrantable

-action.  We had met several times, but

-as strangers; and knowing her proud spirit, I

-feared to approach her, feeling certain that she

-would never forgive."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Forgive!" I cried.  "I would have gladly

-forgiven!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Carmela," he said, turning again to me with a

-very serious expression on his face, "I regret being

-compelled to lay bare my secret thus before you,

-but I must tell them everything."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," I said.  "Now that this woman is to

-bear the punishment of her crime, let us know

-all."  Then I added bitterly: "Speak without

-any regard for my feelings, or even for my

-presence."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"A few days prior to his tragic end, poor Reggie

-had, as I have explained, moved over to the 'Grand'

-at Nice, but strangely enough, the same idea had

-occurred to this woman Fournereau.  She preferred

-to live in Nice during Carnival, she told me,

-for she liked all the fun and gaiety.  Whether it

-was for that reason, I know not, but at all events it

-seems clear, from inquiries recently completed in

-Nice, that one afternoon he met this woman at

-Rumpelmayer's, the fashionable lounge for afternoon

-tea, and in a sudden fit of anger declared that

-he would denounce her as an adventuress and

-swindler.  Now it appears that his clients, the

-gamblers who frequent this place, number among

-them some of the most notorious and desperate members

-of the criminal fraternity, and the natural

-conclusion is that, fearing his exposure, she killed him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I deny it!" cried the wretched woman.  "It

-is a false accusation, which you cannot prove."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The extreme care and marvellous ingenuity by

-which the poor fellow's death was encompassed is

-shown by every detail of the case.  Not a single

-point was apparently overlooked.  Even the means

-by which he was assassinated have remained, until

-now, a mystery.  But passing to the night of the

-tragedy, it will be remembered that he had won

-sixty thousand francs at roulette, and having left

-Miss Rosselli and her friends, he re-entered the

-Rooms and changed his winnings into large notes.

-Half an hour before, this woman, whom I had met

-earlier in the evening, and who had dined with me

-at Giro's, had wished me good-night.  She had

-previously watched his success at the tables, and

-had followed him into the Casino when he re-entered

-to change the notes.  The interval of about an hour

-between his leaving Monte Carlo and his arrival

-at the 'Grand Hotel' at Nice is still unaccounted

-for.  Nevertheless, we know that this woman,

-whom he had threatened, travelled by the same

-train from Monte Carlo to Nice, that she entered

-the hotel a few minutes later and went to her room,

-and that next morning she had in her possession

-sixty notes, each for a thousand francs.  It seems,

-however, that she quickly became alarmed lest

-suspicion might rest upon her, for the police had

-commenced active inquiries, and therefore she

-resolved to get rid of the stolen notes.  This she

-did with the aid of an accomplice, a man named

-Vauquelin&mdash;a man very well known at Monte

-Carlo.  This rascal, one of the <i>habitués</i> of this place,

-went to the Carnival ball at the Nice Casino, and

-there gave Miss Rosselli the stolen money, intending

-that its possession should throw suspicion upon

-her.  Some other members of that interesting gang

-of sharpers, who make this place their headquarters,

-going south in winter in search of pigeons to pluck,

-knowing Vauquelin's intention, posed as detectives,

-to whom Miss Rosselli innocently handed over the

-notes she had received."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He paused for a moment; then he continued:

-"Now, however, comes one of the most ingenious

-features of the affair.  This woman, finding next day

-that her plot to throw suspicion upon Miss Rosselli

-had failed, turned her attention to myself.  She

-was aware that a slight quarrel had occurred between

-Reggie and myself regarding his injudicious and

-futile action in seeking to denounce her, and,

-with others, had overheard some high words

-between us when we had met on the terrace at the

-Café de Paris on the afternoon previous to his

-death.  She gave information to the police, and

-then left the Riviera suddenly.  Next day I found

-myself under the observation of the police, and in

-order to escape arrest, induced Mr. Keppel&mdash;who

-has taken a great interest in the affair from the

-first, being one of the trustees under the will of

-Mr. Thorne, senior&mdash;to conceal me on board his yacht

-until such time as our inquiries in Paris could be

-completed.  It was ascertained that this woman

-Fournereau, who had gone to Russia, intended to

-return to her apartment here upon a date she had

-arranged with one of her accomplices, a Corsican

-named Laumont.  This is the reason why it seemed

-good to me to remain in hiding from the police

-until to-day.  This is her first reception, notice

-of which was circulated among her friends by means

-of the cipher upon certain tables in the cafés on

-the <i>grands boulevards</i>."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then you, too, were actually concealed on

-board the <i>Vispera</i> during the whole cruise?" I

-exclaimed, in great surprise.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No, I went ashore at Malta, and the vessel

-returned for me three weeks later," he replied.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But this lady?" I inquired, indicating the

-handsome woman who had been my travelling

-companion in the <i>wagon-</i>.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am the mother of Reginald Thorne," she

-herself explained.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You!  Reggie's mother!" I cried, scarcely

-able to believe her words.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," she answered.  "I was spending the

-winter in Cairo.  Hearing of my poor son's death, I

-crossed from Alexandria, and arrived in Nice, only

-to find that the <i>Vispera</i> had sailed.  A letter was

-awaiting me with full explanations, asking me to

-travel to Malta, and there join the yacht.  This

-I did; but in order that my presence should not be

-known to those on board, I was placed secretly in

-the deck-cabin, and never left it.  The blow that

-had fallen upon me on hearing of poor Reggie's

-death, combined with the constant imprisonment

-in that cabin, I believe upset the balance of my

-mind, for one night&mdash;the night before we put into

-Leghorn&mdash;I became unconscious.  I was subject to

-strange hallucinations, and that night experienced

-a sensation as though someone was attempting to

-take my life by strangulation."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I must explain," said old Mr. Keppel, addressing

-her.  "It is only right that you should now know

-the truth.  On the night in question you were

-unusually restless, and becoming seized by a fit of

-hysteria, commenced to shout and shriek all sorts of

-wild words regarding your poor son's murder.  Now

-I had concealed you there, and fearing lest some of

-the guests should hear you, and that a scandal might

-be created, I tried to silence you.  You fought me

-tooth and nail, for I verily believe that the close

-confinement had driven you insane.  In the struggle I

-had my hands over your mouth, and afterwards

-pressed your throat in order to prevent your

-hysterical shrieks, when suddenly I saw blood upon your

-lips, and the awful truth dawned upon me that I had

-killed you by strangulation.  Tewson, the chief

-steward&mdash;who, with the exception of Cameron, was

-the only person on board who knew of your

-presence&mdash;chancing to enter at that moment, made the

-diabolical suggestion that in order to get rid of the

-evidence of my crime I should allow him to blow up the

-ship.  This I refused, and fortunately, half an hour

-later, I succeeded in restoring you to consciousness.

-Then we landed at Leghorn on the following evening,

-not, however, before I discovered that the real motive

-of Tewson's suggestion was that he had stolen nearly

-three thousand pounds in cash, notes, and securities

-from a box in Lord Stoneborough's cabin, and wished

-to destroy the ship so that his crime might thus be

-concealed.  The man, I have discovered, has a very

-bad record, and has now disappeared.  But time

-was pressing, so we all three left Leghorn for Paris,

-and I gave orders to Davis to take the yacht into the

-Adriatic, where I intended to rejoin it."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Then, briefly, I explained what I had seen and

-overheard on that wild, boisterous night in the

-Mediterranean; how I had followed the millionaire

-and the woman who was bent upon avenging the

-murder of her son; how I had sent the yacht on to

-Genoa, and how carefully I had watched the movements

-of all three during those days in Paris.  All

-seemed amazed by my story&mdash;Ernest most of all.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"During that night in the <i>wagon-lit</i>," I said,

-addressing Mrs. Thorne, "I noticed two curious

-marks upon your neck.  Upon your poor son's neck

-were similar marks."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes," she replied; "they were birth-marks&mdash;known

-as the marks of thumb and finger.  Poor

-Reggie bore them exactly as I do."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the woman who murdered him, and who so

-ingeniously attempted first to fasten the guilt upon

-Miss Rosselli, and then afterwards upon myself, is

-there!" cried Ernest, pointing at the trembling,

-pallid woman before us.  "She killed him, because

-she feared the revelations he could make to the

-police regarding the place in which we are standing."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The woman Fournereau raised her head at Ernest's

-denunciation, and laughed a strange, harsh laugh of

-defiance.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Bien!</i>" she cried shrilly, with affected carelessness.

-"Arrest me, if you will!  But I tell you that

-you are mistaken.  You have been clever&mdash;very

-clever, all of you; but the assassin was not myself."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The police-officer now spoke to her:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then if you yourself are not guilty, you are

-aware of the identity of the murderer.  Therefore I

-shall arrest you as being an accomplice.  It is the

-same."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"No; I was not even an accomplice," she protested

-quickly.  "I may be owner of this place; I

-may be a&mdash;a person known to you; but I swear I

-have never been a murderess."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The officer smiled dubiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The decision upon that point must be left to the

-judges," he answered.  "There is evidence against

-you.  For the present that is sufficient."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Monsieur Cameron has told you that I was

-threatened with exposure by the young Englishman,"

-she said.  "That is perfectly true.  Indeed,

-all that has been said is the truth&mdash;save one thing.

-Neither did I commit the murder, nor had I any

-knowledge of it until afterwards."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"But the stolen notes were actually in your

-possession on the following morning," the detective

-observed in a tone of doubt.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"They were given to me for safe keeping."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"By whom?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I refuse to say."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The detective shrugged his shoulders, and smiles

-passed across the faces of his two companions.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You prefer arrest, then?" he said.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I prefer to keep my own counsel," she answered.

-"These persons," she continued, indicating us,

-"have believed themselves extremely ingenious,

-apparently taking upon themselves the duties of the

-police, and have arrived at quite a wrong conclusion.

-You may arrest me if you wish.  I have nothing

-whatever to fear."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And she glanced around at us in open defiance.

-Indeed, so indifferent was she, that I felt convinced

-Ernest's theory of the committal of the crime had

-fallen to the ground.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The detective seemed, however, well aware of the

-woman's character, and proceeded to deal with her

-accordingly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You are charged with the murder," he said.

-"It is for you to prove your innocence."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who, pray, is the witness against me?" she

-demanded indignantly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Your accomplice!" cried Ernest quickly.  "The

-man Laumont."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Laumont!" she cried.  "He&mdash;he has told you

-that I committed the crime; he has denounced me

-as the murderess?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He has," answered Ernest.  "On that fatal

-night when poor Thorne entered the Rooms to

-change the notes I met him, and although we had had

-a few high words in the Café de Paris on the previous

-day, he approached me, asking my pardon, which

-I readily gave.  He then inquired whether it was

-really true that Miss Rosselli had been engaged to

-me.  I replied in the affirmative, and he then said

-that he did not intend to meet her again, but should

-leave for Paris in the morning.  I tried to dissuade

-him, but his only reply was: 'She loves you still,

-my dear fellow.  She can never forget you; of that

-I'm certain.'  Then he left, and travelled to Nice

-without saying a single word to her.  Arrived at the

-hotel, he went straight to her sitting-room and sat

-down to write her a letter of farewell.  He

-commenced one, but destroyed it.  This was afterwards

-found in the room.  Then, just as he was about to

-commence a second letter, you&mdash;you, Julie Fournereau,

-entered, killed him, and stole the notes which

-you knew he carried in his pockets!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"How did I kill him?" she demanded, her eyes

-flashing with anger.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You yourself know that best."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!  And Jean Laumont told you this elaborate

-piece of fiction, did he?  It is amusing&mdash;very

-amusing!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At a word from the chief detective, one of the

-officers left the room.  We heard Laumont's name

-shouted loudly in the corridor, and a few minutes

-later he was ushered in by two officers.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I stood rooted to the spot at sight of him.  The

-man was none other than Branca, the queer old

-fellow who had represented to me in Leghorn that

-our interests were identical.  I saw how ingenious

-had been his actions, and how deeply-laid his plot.

-He had intended that I should sail to the Adriatic

-after he had obtained from me all the information

-I had collected.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-On seeing us, he drew back in quick surprise, but

-in an instant the woman flew at him in fury.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You have told them!" she shrieked.  "You

-have led them to believe that I murdered the

-Englishman at Nice; you have declared that it was I

-who gave you the notes; I who killed him!  You

-white-livered cur!"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-His ugly countenance fell.  Indignation had, in an

-instant, given place to fear.  His sinister face was

-full of evil.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And did you not give me the notes?" inquired

-the dwarfed man, now well dressed, and presenting

-a very different appearance from that he had shown

-at Leghorn.  He had evidently been playing

-baccarat.  "Why, there are at least two men in

-yonder room who were present when you handed

-them to me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I do not deny that," she answered.  "I deny

-that I killed him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Then who did?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Who did?" she shrieked.  "Who did?  <i>Why,

-you yourself!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You lie!" he cried fiercely, his cheeks in an

-instant ashen pale.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I would have told them nothing," she went on

-quickly.  "I would have allowed them to arrest me

-and afterwards discover their mistake, were it not

-that you had endeavoured to give me into their hands

-in order to save yourself.  No, my dear friend, Julie

-Fournereau is loyal only to those who are loyal to

-her, as many have before found out to their cost.  I

-would have saved you had you not led the police here

-to raid my house, to arrest my friends, and to hurry

-me away to prison for a crime that I did not commit.

-But listen!  You deny the murder of the young

-Englishman.  Well, shall I relate to them all that

-occurred?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Tell them what untruths you like," he growled

-fiercely.  "You cannot harm me."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes, madame," urged old Mr. Keppel, "tell

-us all that you know.  We are determined now to

-get to the bottom of this affair."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This man," she explained, "was the man who

-fleeced the unfortunate gentleman here in my house.

-I am not wishing to shield myself for a single moment&mdash;I

-desire only to tell the truth.  Monsieur Thorne,

-when they last met here, accused him of cheating

-at baccarat; high words ensued, and the young

-man drew a revolver and fired, the bullet striking

-Laumont in the shoulder, whereupon he swore to be

-avenged.  I knew well that a vow of vengeance

-taken by such a desperate character as Laumont was

-something more than mere idle words; and when he

-went to the Riviera, as he did each year, in search of

-inexperienced youths whom he could fleece, I shortly

-afterwards followed.  He stayed first at the 'Hôtel

-de Paris' at Monte Carlo, but meeting young Thorne

-accidentally one afternoon, he discovered that the

-latter was living at the 'Grand' at Nice, and that

-same night transferred his quarters there.  Now,

-Thorne had an intimate friend at Nice&mdash;Mr. Gerald

-Keppel&mdash;and it seemed as though Laumont desired

-to make the latter's acquaintance, with the ulterior

-motive of practising his sharper's tricks upon him.

-Be that as it may, I, in order to watch the progress

-of events, moved to the same hotel at Nice.  I knew

-that Laumont was bent on vengeance, and felt

-certain that some terrible <i>dénouement</i> was imminent."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She paused, and glanced around at us.  Then

-lowering her eyes, she went on:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I am an adventuress, it is true; but I have still

-a woman's heart.  I was determined, if possible, to

-prevent Laumont from wreaking vengeance upon

-the poor boy.  It was for that reason I followed

-him to Nice and took up my abode there.  On the

-day of the tragedy I was in the Rooms at Monte

-Carlo in the afternoon, and there saw him playing

-and winning; while just as he was leaving with Miss

-Rosselli, young Mr. Keppel and another lady, his

-pockets bulging with his gains, I saw Jean Laumont

-watching him.  By the evil look he cast in his

-direction, I knew that the spirit of murder was in his

-heart.  That evening I dined at Giro's with

-Monsieur Cameron, and afterwards left him in order to

-watch the movements of Jean and the young

-Englishman.  The latter, after a short conversation with

-Monsieur Cameron in the hall of the Casino,

-descended by the lift to the station, and took train to

-Nice.  I travelled by the same train, but in the

-crowd at Nice station I lost sight of him.  He must

-have taken a fiacre immediately to the hotel, and

-furthermore, the Corsican must also have followed

-him, without knowing of my presence.  I met some

-friends at the station, but on arrival at the hotel,

-twenty minutes later, I went straight up to my room.

-On the way I had to pass the door of Miss Rosselli's

-sitting-room, and just as I was approaching, my feet

-falling softly on the thick carpet of the corridor, the

-door opened noiselessly, and a man, after looking

-forth stealthily, came out and stole along to the room

-he occupied.  That man was Jean Laumont."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"You saw him?" cried Ernest.  "You actually

-saw him coming from the room?"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Yes.  Instantly, I suspected something wrong,

-and wondered for what purpose he had been in the

-ladies' sitting-room.  Therefore, without hesitation,

-I pushed open the door and looked inside.  Imagine

-my surprise when I found the unfortunate man

-writhing in agony upon the ground.  I knelt by him,

-but recognising me as the woman at whose house he

-had been cheated, he shrank from me.  'That man!'

-he gasped with difficulty.  'That man has killed

-me!' and a few moments later his limbs straightened

-themselves out in a final paroxysm of agony, and he

-passed away."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Mrs. Thorne burst into a flood of tears.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The tow-haired woman was silent for a moment,

-her eyes fixed upon the face of the man against whom

-she had uttered that terrible denunciation.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I stood there terrified&mdash;unable to move," she

-went on.  "Laumont had, as I anticipated, killed

-him."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Killed him?  How can you prove it?" demanded

-the cunning card-sharper, Vauquelin, who

-had tricked me so cleverly, and who, in order to

-throw the police off the scent, pursued the harmless

-calling of hairdresser in that back street off the

-Boulevard St. Michel.  Apparently he was the

-Corsican's champion.  "How can you prove that

-Jean Laumont killed him?"

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap28"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXVIII

-<br><br>

-REVEALS THE TRUTH

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-The woman Fournereau crossed the room quickly

-to a small rosewood bureau, and took therefrom a

-little cardboard box about a couple of inches square,

-such as is often used for containing cheap jewellery.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"I have something here," she said, addressing

-the man before her, "which was lying on the floor.

-You alone know its secret&mdash;a secret which I, too,

-have lately discovered."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-And opening the box carefully, she displayed,

-lying in a bed of cotton-wool, what at first appeared

-to be a woman's steel thimble.  Taking it from its

-hiding-place, and placing it upon the forefinger of

-her right hand, we saw that, instead of being what it

-at first appeared, it rose to a sharply-tempered steel

-point, about half an inch long, protruding from the

-finger-tip.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-I glanced at the man accused.  His face had

-blanched to the lips at sight of it.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"This," she explained, "I discovered on the floor

-close to where the dead man was lying.  It is a

-diabolical invention of Laumont's, which he showed me

-a year ago, although he did not then explain its use.

-An examination which has been made by my friend,

-a chemist, has plainly indicated the truth.  You will

-notice that the point is fine as a needle, but is hollow,

-like that of a hypodermic syringe.  Within, at the

-point touched by the tip of the finger, is a small

-chamber filled with a most subtle and deadly

-poison, extracted from a small lizard peculiar to

-the Bambara country on the banks of the Upper

-Niger."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-The point would, I saw, act just as the fang of a

-snake, for the thimble, when placed on the finger

-and pressed against the flesh of the victim, would

-inject the poison into the blood, causing almost

-instantaneous collapse and death.  The puncture

-made by such a fine point would be indistinguishable,

-and the action of the poison, as we afterwards

-learnt, so similar to several natural complications

-that at the post-mortem examination doctors would

-fail to distinguish the real cause of death.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-She held the diabolical thimble out for us to

-examine, saying:

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The mode in which this was used upon the

-unfortunate Monsieur Thorne was undoubtedly

-as follows:&mdash;He had seated himself at the table

-with his back to the door when the Corsican,

-Laumont, watching his opportunity, crept in with the

-thimble upon his finger.  Before his victim was

-aware of his presence he had seized him by the

-collar from behind and pressed the point deep

-into the flesh behind the right ear, at a spot where

-the poison would at once enter the circulation.

-You will remember that the doctors discovered

-a slight scratch behind the ear, which they guessed

-to be the only mark resulting from the struggle

-which they believed had taken place.  But there

-was no struggle.  As has been proved by the person

-who examined for me this most deadly but

-inoffensive-looking weapon, anyone struck by it

-would become paralysed almost instantly.  Plainly,

-then, the chair was broken by him as he fell against

-it in fatal collapse."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"And the stolen notes?  What of them?"

-asked Mr. Keppel anxiously.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"Ah!" she answered.  "Those accursed notes!

-On the following morning Laumont came to me

-and handed me the money, saying that as I knew

-the truth regarding the crime, he would trust me

-further, and give the money into my safe keeping.

-I took it, for, truth to tell, I knew that he could

-make some very unwelcome revelations to the

-police regarding this place and the character of the

-play here.  Therefore I decided that, after all,

-silence was best, even though I held in my possession

-the thimble which, I presume, in his hurry to

-escape from the room, fell upon the floor and rolled

-away.  I took the notes, and for some days kept

-them; but finding that the police were making

-such active inquiries, I returned them to him, and

-he then resolved upon giving them to Miss Rosselli,

-through one of his accomplices, either in order

-further to baffle the detectives or else to throw

-suspicion upon her.  She was told some extraordinary

-story about a meeting in London, merely, of

-course, to put the police off the scent, and cause

-them to believe that the money was stolen by

-English thieves.  Soon afterwards I knew that

-Monsieur Cameron was aware of the manner in

-which his friend had been cheated here.  This

-caused me, from fear of being arrested on suspicion,

-to fly to Russia, arranging with my friends to return

-here on the 1st of May&mdash;to-day."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"The date of your return I learnt from Laumont

-himself," explained Ernest, "for, in the course of

-the inquiries I made immediately after the tragic

-affair, I found that he was your intimate associate,

-and in order to divert suspicion from himself he

-hinted at you being the assassin."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"He denounced me, not knowing that I held the

-actual evidence of his guilt in my hand," she cried,

-holding out the finger with the curious-looking

-thimble upon it.  "Poor Monsieur Thorne is, I

-fear, not the first victim who has fallen beneath

-the prick of this deadly instrument."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To whom do you refer?" inquired the detective

-quickly.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"To Monsieur Everton, the young Englishman

-who was found dead about a year ago in the Avenue

-des Acacias."

-</p>

-

-<p>

-In an instant the man whom I had known in

-Leghorn as Branca sprang at her with all the fury

-of a wild beast, and, clutching her at the throat,

-tried to strangle her.  His eyes were lit by the

-fierce light of uncontrollable anger, his bushy hair

-giving his white face a wild and terrible look, and

-it really seemed that before the detectives could

-throw themselves upon him, the murderer would

-tear limb from limb the woman who had confessed.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-For a moment the detectives and the man and

-woman were all struggling wildly together.  Suddenly

-a loud yell of pain escaped from the wretched

-Corsican, and releasing his hold, he drew back,

-with his left hand clasped upon his wrist.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-He staggered, swayed unevenly, uttering terrible

-imprecations.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-"<i>Dieu!</i>" he gasped.  "<i>You&mdash;you've killed me!</i>"

-</p>

-

-<p>

-What had happened was easy to understand.

-In the struggle the point of his cunning invention,

-which was still upon the woman's finger, had

-entered deeply the fleshy part of his wrist, injecting

-that poison that was so swift, and for which no

-antidote had ever been discovered.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As he staggered, two detectives sprang forward

-to seize him, but before they could do so, he reeled,

-clutched at the air, and fell heavily backward,

-overturning a small table beside which he had been

-standing.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Never was there a scene more ghastly.  I shall

-remember every detail of it so long as I have power

-to draw my breath.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Five minutes later, the wretched man who had

-thus brought card-sharping and murder to a fine

-art had breathed his last in frightful agony, his

-ignominious career ended by his own diabolical

-invention.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br></p>

-

-<p><a id="chap29"></a></p>

-

-<h3>

-CHAPTER XXIX

-<br><br>

-CONTAINS THE CONCLUSION

-</h3>

-

-<p>

-My reader, I have throughout been perfectly frank

-with you&mdash;too frank, perhaps.  But need I dwell

-further upon the stirring events of that night?

-It is assuredly sufficient to say that the persons

-arrested by the police numbered nearly forty, all

-of whom were charged with various offences, in

-addition to that of being found in an illicit

-gaming-house.  Many of them, old offenders and desperate

-characters, notwithstanding the fact that they were

-outwardly respectable members of society, in due

-course received long periods of imprisonment,

-Vauquelin receiving a sentence of seven years.  But

-Julie Fournereau, in view of the information she

-had given regarding poor Reggie's death, was

-dismissed with a fine of two thousand francs for

-carrying on the house in question.  She has since

-disappeared into obscurity.  Ulrica arrived in Paris

-next morning from Genoa, and was absolutely

-dumbfounded when we related the whole of the

-amazing story.  That day, too, proved the happiest

-in all my life.  Need I relate how, on the following

-morning, Ernest sought me and begged me to

-forgive?  Or how, with tears of joy, I allowed him

-to hold me once more in his manly arms, as of old,

-and shower fervent kisses upon my face?  No.

-If I were to begin to relate the joys that had now

-come to me, I should far exceed the space of a single

-volume.  It is enough that you, reader, to whom I

-have made confession, should know that within a

-fortnight we all returned to London, and that while

-Ulrica became engaged to Gerald, and soon afterwards

-married him, with the old man's heartiest

-approval, Ernest again asked me to become his

-wife.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-At Kensington Church, amid great <i>éclat</i>, within

-a month of our arrival back in town, my happiness

-broke into full flower.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Ulrica tells me, in the privacy of her little blue

-boudoir in Eaton Square, that she is no longer

-world-weary, living only for excitement, as in the

-fevered days gone by, but that her life is full of a

-peaceful happiness that cannot be surpassed.

-Nevertheless, I cannot really bring myself to

-believe that she is any happier than I am with

-Ernest in our pretty home at Hyde Park Gate, for

-the estrangement has rendered him all the more

-dear to me, and we are indeed supremely content

-in each other's perfect love.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-Mrs. Thorne, poor Reggie's mother, has returned

-to Hampshire, fully satisfied at having cleared up

-the mystery surrounding her son's tragic death;

-while old Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg,

-and now of Park Lane and Ulverton Towers, in

-Hertfordshire, still spends his winters in rather

-lonely grandeur in his great villa amid the palms

-outside Nice, working in secret at his ivory-turning,

-and giving at intervals those princely entertainments

-for which he has become so famous in the

-cosmopolitan society which suns itself upon the

-Riviera.

-</p>

-

-<p>

-As for Ernest and myself, we have not visited

-Nice since.  We prefer Cairo for the winter, with

-a trip up to Luxor and Assouan, for we retain a

-far too vivid recollection of those dark days of

-doubt, desperation and despair, when it was our

-strange and tragic lot to be so darkly associated

-with The Gamblers.

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br></p>

-

-<p class="t3">

-THE END

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br></p>

-

-<p class="t4">

-<i>Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey.</i>

-</p>

-

-<p><br><br><br><br></p>

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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gamblers, by William le Queux
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+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Gamblers, by William Le Queux</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
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+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Gamblers</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: William Le Queux</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 24, 2023 [eBook #71037]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Credits: Al Haines</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***</div>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-front"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="The person who murdered him was none other than yourself.">
+<br>
+&quot;The person who murdered him was none other than yourself.&quot; <a href="#p293"><i>p.</i> 293</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-title"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-title.jpg" alt="Title page">
+</p>
+
+<h1>
+<br><br> 
+  THE<br>
+  GAMBLERS<br>
+</h1>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+  By<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+  WILLIAM LE QUEUX<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+  Author of<br>
+  "Of Royal Blood," "The Under<br>
+  Secretary," "The Seven Secrets," etc.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  London:<br>
+  HUTCHINSON & CO.<br>
+  Paternoster Row<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+  CONTENTS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  Chapter<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  I.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap01">Is Purely Personal</a><br>
+  II.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap02">Tells Something about Love</a><br>
+  III.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap03">Is a Mystery</a><br>
+  IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap04">Relates some Astounding Facts</a><br>
+  V.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap05">Deals with a Millionaire</a><br>
+  VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap06">Places Me in a Predicament</a><br>
+  VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap07">Mainly Concerns the Owl</a><br>
+  VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap08">Narrates a Mysterious Incident</a><br>
+  IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap09">Shows the Bird's Talons</a><br>
+  X.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap10">Makes One Point Plain</a><br>
+  XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap11">Describes a Meeting and Its Sequel</a><br>
+  XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap12">Carries Me on Board the "<i>Vispera</i>"</a><br>
+  XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap13">Discloses a Millionaire's Secret</a><br>
+  XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap14">In Which I make a Resolve</a><br>
+  XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap15">In Which We pay a Visit Ashore</a><br>
+  XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap16">Discusses Several Matters of Moment</a><br>
+  XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap17">Describes a New Acquaintance</a><br>
+  XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap18">Creates Another Problem</a><br>
+  XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap19">A Millionaire's Manoeuvres</a><br>
+  XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap20">Wherein Captain Davis Speaks his Mind</a><br>
+  XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap21">Is Astonishing</a><br>
+  XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap22">Is More Astonishing</a><br>
+  XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap23">Confides the Story of a Table</a><br>
+  XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap24">In Which Matters Assume a Very Complex Aspect</a><br>
+  XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap25">Presents a Curious Phase</a><br>
+  XXVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap26">Gives the Key to the Cipher</a><br>
+  XXVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap27">Pieces Together the Puzzle</a><br>
+  XXVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap28">Reveals the Truth</a><br>
+  XXIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#chap29">Contains the Conclusion</a><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+THE GAMBLERS
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER I
+<br><br>
+IS PURELY PERSONAL
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+No.  I dare not reveal anything here, lest I may be
+misjudged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The narrative is, to say the least, a strange one;
+so strange, indeed, that had I not been one of the
+actual persons concerned in it I would never have
+believed such things were possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet these chapters of an eventful personal
+history, remarkable though they may appear,
+nevertheless form an unusual story&mdash;a combination
+of circumstances which will be found startling and
+curious, idyllic and tragic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reader, I would confess all, if I dared, but each
+of us has a skeleton in the cupboard, both you and
+I, for alas! I am no exception to the general rule
+prevailing among women.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If compelled by a natural instinct to suppress
+one single fact, I may add that it has little or nothing
+to do with the circumstances here related.  It
+concerns only myself, and no woman cares to supply
+food for gossips at her own expense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To be brief, it is my intention to narrate plainly
+and straightforwardly what occurred, while hoping
+that all who read may approach my story with a
+perfectly open mind, and afterwards judge me fairly,
+impartially, and without the prejudice likely to be
+entertained against one whose shortcomings are
+many, and whose actions have perhaps not always
+been tempered by wisdom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My name is Carmela Rosselli.  I am English,
+of Italian extraction, five-and-twenty years of age,
+and for many years&mdash;yes, I confess it freely&mdash;I have
+been utterly world-weary.  I am an only child.
+My mother, one of the Yorkshire Burnetts, married
+Romolo Annibale, Marchese Rosselli, an impecunious
+member of the Florentine aristocracy, and after
+a childhood passed in Venice I was sent to the
+Convent of San Paolo della Croce, in the Val d'Ema,
+near Florence, to obtain my education.  My
+mother's money enabled the Marchese to live in the
+reckless style customary to a gentleman of the
+Tuscan nobility; but, unfortunately for me, both
+my parents died when I was fifteen, and left me
+in the care of a second cousin, a woman but a few
+years older than myself&mdash;kind-hearted, everything
+that was most English and womanly, and in all
+respects truly devoted to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus it was that at the age of eighteen I received
+the maternal kiss of the grave-eyed Mother Superior,
+Suor Maria, and of all the good sisters in turn,
+and then travelled to London, accompanied by my
+guardian, Ulrica Yorke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Like myself, Ulrica was wealthy; and because
+she was very smart and good-looking she did not
+want for admirers.  We lived together at Queen's
+Gate for several years, amid that society which circles
+around Kensington Church, until one rather dull
+afternoon in autumn Ulrica made a most welcome
+suggestion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Carmela, I am ruined, morally and physically.
+I feel that I want a complete change."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suggested Biarritz or Davos for the winter,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," she answered.  "I feel that I must build
+up my constitution as well as my spirits.  The
+gayer Continent is the only place&mdash;say Paris for
+a month, Monte Carlo for January, then Rome till
+after Easter."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To Monte Carlo!" I gasped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not?" she inquired.  "You have money,
+and we may just as well go abroad for a year to
+enjoy ourselves as vegetate here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are tired of Guy?" I observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her well-formed shoulders, pursed
+her lips, and contemplated her rings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He has become a little too serious," she said
+simply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you want to escape him?" I remarked.
+"Do you know, Ulrica, I believe he really loves
+you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, and if he does?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I thought you told me, only a couple of months
+ago, that he was the best-looking man in London,
+and that you had utterly lost your heart to him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've lost it so many times that I begin to
+believe I don't nowadays possess that very useful
+portion of the human anatomy.  But," she added,
+"you pity him, eh?  My dear Carmela, you should
+never pity a man.  Not one of them is really
+worth sympathy.  Nineteen out of every twenty
+are ready to declare love to any good-looking
+woman with money.  Remember your dearest
+Ernest."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mention of that name caused me a twinge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have forgotten him!" I cried hotly.  "I
+have forgiven&mdash;all that belongs to the past."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you will go on the Continent with me?"
+she asked.  "You will go to commence life afresh.
+What a funny thing life is, isn't it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I responded in the affirmative.  Truth to tell,
+I was very glad of that opportunity to escape from
+the eternal shopping in the High Street and the
+round of Kensington life, which daily reminded me
+of the man whom I had loved.  Ulrica knew it, but
+she was careful to avoid all further mention of the
+grief that was wearing out my heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the outset of our pilgrimage to the South of
+Europe we went to Paris.  In the gay city two
+women with money and without encumbrances
+can have a really good time.  We stayed at the
+"Chatham," a hotel much resorted to by our
+compatriots, and met there quite a lot of people we
+knew, including several rather nice men whom
+we had known in London, and who appeared to
+consider it their duty to show us the sights, many of
+which we had seen before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Need I describe them?  I think not.  Those who
+read these lines probably know them all, from that
+sorry exhibition of terpsichorean art in the elephant
+at the Red Windmill down to the so-called <i>cabarets
+artistiques</i> of the Montmartre, "Heaven," "Hell,"
+and the other places.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each evening we dined at six, and went forth
+pleasure-seeking, sometimes unattended, and at
+others with our friends.  We were catholic in our
+tastes.  We saw <i>La Bohême</i> at the Opera, and
+attended a ball at the Bullier; we strolled along
+the carpeted promenade of Aspasia at the Folies
+Bergères, and laughed at the quadrilles at the
+Casino, and at that resort of the little work-girls, the
+Moulin la Galette; we listened to the cadence
+of Sarah Bernhardt's wonderful voice, and to the
+patter of the <i>revue</i> at La Scala; we watched the
+dancing of La Belle Otero and the statuesque
+poses of Degaby.  Truly, we had our fill of variety
+theatres.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In common, too, with the foreigner who goes to
+"see life" in Paris, we did the round of the
+restaurants&mdash;from supper at the Cafê de Paris, or the
+Cafê Américain, to the humble two-franc dinner at
+Léon's in the Rue St. Honoré, or the one-franc-fifty
+lunch at Gazal's in the Place du Théâtre Français.
+We had our meal, too, one evening at that
+restaurant which is seldom even mentioned in
+respectable circles, the "Rat Mort," in the Place
+Pigalle.  Yes, with money one is seldom <i>triste</i>
+in Paris, and I was really sorry when, in the last
+week of the year, after Felicita had packed our
+trunks, we set out for the Riviera.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Travelling on those abominable gridirons which
+on the Continent are called railways, is absolutely
+disgusting after our own English lines, with their
+dining-cars and other comforts.  Of all the
+railways that intersect the Continent, the P.L.M.,
+which has a monopoly to the Mediterranean, is the
+most inconvenient, disobliging, and completely
+abominable.  To obtain the smallest comfort on
+the eighteen-hour journey between Paris and Nice,
+an addition of three pounds is charged upon the
+first-class fare, and that for a single night in a
+third-rate sleeping-car!  Ulrica said it was termed the
+<i>train de luxe</i> only because it looks swagger to travel
+by it.  We occupied a couple of berths in it, but
+agreed that the additional three pounds were ill-spent
+indeed, for the badly-cooked food was absurdly
+dear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, as the water for toilet purposes gave out
+before reaching Lyons, we had to buy bottles of
+mineral water, and perform our ablutions in a
+mixture of Vichy Celestins and eau-de-cologne.  It
+was remarked by an old and apparently experienced
+traveller that the water in the <i>wagons lits</i> is
+purposely scanty in order to increase the takings of
+the restaurant cars; and I certainly believed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a woman young in years I have had
+considerable experience of European railways, from
+the crawling Midi of France to the lightning Nord;
+but for dirt and dearness, commend me to the
+great highway to the Riviera.  To take a small
+trunk from Paris to Nice costs more than the fare
+of one's maid; while to those who do not pay for
+the train of luxury, but travel in the ordinary
+padded horse-boxes, the journey means a couple of
+days of suffocation and semi-starvation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Carmela," said Ulrica, while we were
+on the journey, "I've thought of a plan.  Why not
+go to some cheap hotel, or even <i>pension</i> at Nice, and
+play at Monte Carlo with the money we save?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had never seen the far-famed Monte Carlo, but
+as the idea of economy seemed an excellent one, I
+at once endorsed her suggestion, and that same night
+we found ourselves at one of those <i>pensions</i> which
+flourish so amazingly well at Nice.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER II
+<br><br>
+TELLS SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Reader, have you ever lived in an English <i>pension</i>
+on the Riviera?  Have you ever inhabited a small
+cubicle containing a chair, a deal table, a narrow
+bed&mdash;with mosquito curtains&mdash;and a hung-up
+looking-glass, and partaken of that cheap,
+ill-cooked food, the stale-egg omelette and the tough
+<i>biftek</i>, served in the bare <i>salle-à-manger</i> by one of
+those seedy, unshaven waiters who appear to be
+specially bred for the cheap Riviera
+boarding-houses?  Have you ever spent an evening with
+that mixed crowd of ascetic persons who nightly
+congregate in the fusty <i>salon</i>, play upon a cracked
+piano, screech old-fashioned sentimentalities,
+exhibit their faded finery, paste jewels and bony
+chests, and otherwise make the hours, following
+dinner absolutely hideous?  If not, a week of
+this life will be found to be highly amusing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear," Ulrica whispered, as we followed the
+proprietress, a buxom Frenchwoman in black satin,
+along the bare, white-washed corridor to our rooms,
+"hotel or work-house&mdash;which?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a comfortless look everywhere, even
+though the spread of the blue sea and the
+palm-planted Promenade des Anglais were magnificent
+parts of the view, and the warm winter sunshine
+streamed into our tiny rooms&mdash;chambers so small
+that our trunks had to be placed in the corridor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We changed our frocks and went down to dinner,
+discovering the <i>salle-à-manger</i> by its smell.  What
+a scene presented itself at that <i>table d'hôte</i>!  The
+long table was crowded by a host of dowdy women,
+generally wearing caps of soiled lace and faded
+ribbons, with one or two dismal-looking and elderly
+men.  Of spinsters there were not a few, and of
+widows many, but one and all possessed the stamp
+of persons of small means struggling perseveringly to
+obtain their fill for the ten francs <i>par jour</i> which they
+paid for their "south rooms."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As new-comers, we were directed to seats at the
+bottom of the table; and after we had suffered from
+a watery concoction which the menu described as
+<i>potage</i>, we proceeded to survey our fellow-guests
+in that cheap and respectable <i>pension</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That they were severely respectable there could
+certainly be no doubt.  There were a couple of
+drawling English clergymen, with their
+wives&mdash;typical vicars' wives who patronised their
+neighbours; two or three sad-faced young girls,
+accompanied by ascetic relatives; a young Frenchman
+who eyed Ulrica all the time; one or two
+hen-pecked husbands of the usual type to be found
+in such hostelries of the aged; and an old lady who
+sat in state at the extreme end of the table, and
+much amused us by her efforts at juvenility.
+Besides ourselves, she was apparently the only person
+who had a maid with her; and in order to exhibit
+that fact, she sent for her smelling-salts during
+dinner.  She was long past sixty, yet dressed in
+a style becoming a girl of eighteen, in bright colours
+and lace, her fair wig being dressed in the latest
+Parisian style, and the wrinkles of her cheeks
+filled up by various creams and face powders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That old crow is an absolute terror!" observed
+Ulrica to me in an undertone, and out of sheer devilry
+she at once commenced a conversation with this
+rejuvenated hag, who, as we learned later, was an
+exportation from one of the London suburbs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The conversation, started by Ulrica and continued
+by myself, proved most amusing to us both.  The
+old woman whose name was Blackett, had just
+enough to live upon, we afterwards discovered, but
+came each year to the <i>pension</i> in order to cut a
+dash as a <i>grande dame</i>.  Her fingers were covered
+with paste jewels, and her finery was all of that
+cheap and tawdry kind which affects the nerves as
+well as the eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, yes!" she said, in a carefully cultivated
+voice, intended to show good breeding, "if this is
+your first visit to the Riviera, you'll be quite
+charmed&mdash;everyone is charmed with it.  As for
+myself&mdash;" and she sighed,&mdash;"I have been here
+each year for I don't know how long."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And there is lots to see?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lots.  Only you must drive, you know.  I
+myself drive at all hours of the day, and when the
+moon is up I go for moonlight drives into the
+mountains."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How romantic, I thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have my own coachman, you know," she
+added.  "I keep him all the year round."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had led up to the conversation merely in
+order to inform us of her generosity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So throughout the meal, which occupied nearly
+two hours, by reason of inadequate waiting, we
+continued to draw her out, humour her egotism, and
+cause her to make a most ridiculous display of
+herself, until at last, my sentiment changing, I felt
+genuinely sorry for her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I remarked to Ulrica as we left
+the table, "this is the most extraordinary collection
+of tabbies I've ever met."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear," she said, "what has been puzzling me
+all the evening is their place of origin.  Some, I
+regret to say, are actually our own compatriots.  But
+where do they come from?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's a special breed peculiar to <i>pensions</i> on the
+Riviera," I remarked; and together we ascended
+to the frowsy drawing-room, where the red plush-covered
+furniture exuded an odour of mustiness, and
+the carpet was sadly moth-eaten and thread-bare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Around the central table a dozen angular women
+of uncertain age grouped themselves and formed a
+sewing-party; a retired colonel, who seemed a
+good fellow, buried himself in the <i>Contemporary</i>;
+a decrepit old gentleman wearing a skull-cap and a
+shawl about his shoulders, heaped logs upon the
+fire and sat with his feet on the fender, although
+the atmosphere was stifling, while somebody else
+induced a young lady with a voice like a file to
+sing a plaintive love-song, accompanied by the
+untuned piano.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During my previous winters in the South I had
+stayed at hotels.  In my ignorance of the ways of
+cheap visitors to the Riviera, I believed this
+congregation to be unique, but Ulrica assured me that it
+was typical of all English <i>pensions</i> along the Côte
+d'Azur, from Cannes to Bordighera, and I can now
+fully endorse her statement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To describe in detail the many comic scenes
+enacted is unnecessary.  The people were too
+ludicrous for words.  One family in especial
+endeavoured to entice us to friendliness.  Its head
+was a very tall, muscular, black-haired
+French-woman, who had married an Englishman.  The
+latter had died fifteen years ago, leaving her with
+a son and daughter, the former a school boy of
+sixteen, and the latter a fair-haired and very
+freckled girl of perhaps twenty.  The woman's
+name was Egerton, and she was of that dashing
+type who can wear scarlet dresses at dinner, and
+whose cheeks dazzle one's eyes on account of the
+rouge upon them.  She was loud, coarse, and
+vulgar.  For the benefit of all the others, she
+spoke daily of the delicacies prepared by her own
+<i>chef</i>, sneered at the food of the <i>pension</i>, and ordered
+special messes for her own consumption.  Before
+we had known her an hour she had given us a
+description of the wonderful interior of her house in
+Rome, enumerated her servants, and gave us to
+understand that she was exceedingly well-off, and
+quite a superior person.  The people one meets
+on the Riviera are really very entertaining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica was grimly sarcastic.  As we had neither
+intention nor inclination to associate with this
+superior relict, we politely snubbed her, taking care
+that it should not be done in secret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't think our effort at economy has met with
+very much success," I remarked to Ulrica, when
+about a week later I sat over the cup of half-cold
+coffee, the stale egg, the hunk of bread and the pat
+of rancid butter, which together formed my breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, a week of it is quite sufficient," she laughed.
+"We'll leave to-morrow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you've given notice?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course.  I only came here for a week's
+amusement.  We'll go on to the 'Grand.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So on the following day our trunks were called for
+by the hotel omnibus, and we took up our quarters
+in that well-known hotel on the Quai St. Jean
+Baptiste.  Ulrica had known the Riviera ever
+since her girlhood.  With her parents she had
+gone abroad each autumn, had seen most of the
+sights, and had thus received her education as a
+smart woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were in the <i>salon</i> of the "Grand" on the
+night of our arrival, when suddenly someone
+uttered my name.  We both turned quickly, and
+to our surprise saw two men we knew quite well in
+London standing before us.  One was Reginald
+Thorne, a dark-haired and more than usually
+good-looking youth of about twenty-two or so,
+while the other was Gerald Keppel, a thin,
+fair-moustached young man, some seven years his
+senior, son of old Benjamin Keppel, the well-known
+South African millionaire.  Gerald was an old
+friend, but the former I knew but slightly, having
+met him once or twice at dances, for in Kensington
+he was among the chief of the eligibles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, my dear Miss Rosselli!" he cried
+enthusiastically as we shook hands.  "I'm so awfully
+glad to meet you!  I had no idea you were here.
+Gerald was here dining with me, and we caught
+sight of you through the glass doors."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you're staying here?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  Gerald's staying with his guv'nor.  He
+has a villa out at Fabron.  Have you been here
+long?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We've been in Nice a week," interposed Ulrica,
+"and we haven't found a single soul we know until
+now.  I feel sure you'll take pity upon our
+loneliness, Mr. Thorne, won't you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course!" he laughed.  "I suppose you
+go to Monte Carlo?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You men think of nothing but roulette and
+dinners at the 'Paris,'" she responded reproachfully,
+adding: "But after all, should we be women
+if we had no soul for gambling?  Have you had
+any luck this season?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Can't complain," he smiled.  "I've been staying
+over there for ten days or so.  Gerald has had quite
+a run of good fortune.  The other night he won the
+maximum on the <i>zero-trois</i> three times."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Congratulations, my dear Gerald!" exclaimed
+Ulrica approvingly.  "You shall both take us
+over one day and let us try our fortune&mdash;if
+Mr. Thorne is agreeable."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Delighted, I'm sure," answered the latter,
+glancing at me; and by the look he gave me I felt
+convinced that my suspicions, aroused in London
+about a year before, were not quite groundless.
+His glance was a convincing proof that he admired me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fault of us women is that we so often
+over-esteem the value of our good looks.  To my mind
+the possession of handsome toilettes is quite as
+essential to a woman's well-being and man's
+contentment as are personal attractions.  A woman,
+however beautiful she may be, loses half her charm
+to men's eyes if she dresses dowdily, or without
+taste.  Nobody ever saw a really beautiful Parisienne.
+For the most part, the ladies of the French
+capital are thin-nosed, thin-lipped, scraggy-necked,
+yellow-faced and absolutely ugly; yet are they not,
+merely by reason of their <i>chic</i> in dress, the most
+attractive women in the world?  I know that many
+will dissent from this estimate; but as my mirror
+tells me that I have a face more than commonly
+handsome, and as dozens of men have further
+endorsed the mute evidence of my toilet-glass, I
+can only confess that all my triumphs and all my
+harmless flirtations have had their beginnings in
+the attraction exercised by the dainty creations
+of my <i>couturière</i>.  We hear much complaining
+among women to the effect that there are not a
+sufficient number of nice men to go round; but
+after all, the woman who knows how to dress need
+have no lack of offers of marriage.  American
+women on the Continent can always be distinguished
+from the English, and it is certain that to their
+quiet <i>chic</i> in frills and furbelows their success in
+the marriage market is due.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yes, there was no doubt that Reggie Thorne
+admired me.  I had suspected it on the night when
+we had waltzed together at the Pendyman's, and
+afterwards gossiped together over ices; but with
+a woman flirtations of the ball-room are soon
+forgotten, and, truth to tell, I had forgotten him
+until our sudden and unexpected meeting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What awfully good luck we've met Gerald and
+Reggie," Ulrica said, when, half-an-hour later, we
+were seated together in the privacy of our sitting-room.
+"Gerald, poor boy, was always a bit gone on
+me in London; and as for Reggie&mdash;well, he'll
+make an excellent cavalier for you.  Even if Mother
+Grundy is dead and buried, it isn't very respectable
+to be constantly trotting over to Monte Carlo
+without male escort."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You mean that they'll be a couple of useful
+males?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly.  Their coming is quite providential.
+Some of Gerald's luck at the tables may be reflected
+upon us.  I should dearly like to make my expenses
+at roulette."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So should I."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There's no reason why we shouldn't," she went
+on.  "I know quite a lot of people who've won
+enough to pay for the whole winter on the Riviera."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reggie has money, hasn't he?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course.  The old man was on the Stock
+Exchange and died very comfortably off.  All of it
+went to Reggie, except an annuity settled on his
+mother.  Of course, he's spent a good deal since.
+A man doesn't live in the Albany as he does, drive
+tandem, and all that sort of thing, on nothing a
+year."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They used to say that Gerald Keppel hadn't a
+shilling beyond what the old man allowed him
+monthly&mdash;a most niggardly allowance, I've
+heard."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's quite possible, my dear Carmela," she
+answered.  "But one's position might be a good
+deal worse than the only son of a millionaire.  Old
+Benjamin is eccentric.  I've met the old buffer
+several times.  He's addicted to my pet abomination
+in a man&mdash;paper collars."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you'll take Gerald as your cavalier, and
+allot Reggie to me?" I laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  I'm self-sacrificing, am I not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was in high spirits, for she had long ago
+fascinated Gerald Keppel, and now intended to
+make use of him as her escort to that Palace of
+Delight which somebody has suggested might well
+be known as the Sign of the Seven Sins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica was a typical woman of the up-to-date
+type&mdash;pretty, with soft, wavy, chestnut hair and
+a pair of brown eyes that had attracted a host of
+men who had bowed down and worshipped at her
+shrine; yet beneath her corsets, as I alone knew,
+there beat a heart from which, alas! all love and
+sympathy had long ago died out.  To her, excitement,
+change and flirtation were as food and
+drink; she could not live without them.  Neither,
+indeed, could I, for by living with her ever
+since my convent-days I had copied her smart
+ideas and notions, stimulated by attacks of
+nerves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few days later, having lunched with Reggie
+and Gerald at the hotel, we went over with the
+usual crowd to Monte Carlo by the two o'clock
+"yellow" express.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reader, you probably know the panorama of the
+Riviera&mdash;that stretch of azure sky, azure sea,
+rugged coast; purple hills clad with olives and
+pines; rose, heliotrope, and geranium running
+riot in the gardens of the white villas, with their
+marble terraces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I entered for the first time that wild,
+turbulent, close-smelling <i>salle de jeu</i> at Monte
+Carlo, where the croupiers were crying in strident
+tones, "<i>Messieurs, faites vos jeux!</i>" and uttering
+in warning voice, "<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" I gazed around
+me bewildered.  Who were those grabbing crowds
+of smartly-dressed people grouped around the
+tables?  Were they actually civilised human
+beings&mdash;beings who had loved, suffered and lived,
+as I had loved, suffered and lived?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How beautiful it was outside in that gay little
+place, with the Red Hungarian Band playing on
+the terrace of the Café de Paris, and half the <i>grand
+monde</i> of Europe lounging about and chattering!
+How enchanting was the grim Dog's Head as a
+fitting background in dark purple against the
+winter sunset, the brown Grimaldi rock rising sheer
+from the sea to the castellated walls of the Palace;
+to the right, Villefranche and San Juan dark upon
+the horizon,&mdash;the serrated Esterels dark and
+mysterious afar; while to the left, Bordighera was
+sparkling white in the sunshine.  And beyond there
+was Italy&mdash;my own fair Italy!  Out in that
+flower-scented, limpid air earth was a paradise; within
+those stifling gilt saloons, where the light of day was
+tempered by the thick curtains, and the clink of
+gold mingled with the dull hum of the avaricious
+crowd, it was a veritable hell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some years ago&mdash;ah! now I am looking back;
+Ulrica is not at fault this time.  No, I must not
+think.  I have promised myself not to think during
+my work upon this narrative, but to try to forget all
+past unhappiness.  To try!  Ah!  I would that
+I could calm my soul&mdash;steep it in a draught of such
+thoughtlessness that oblivion would come!  But
+I fear that can never, never be!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is terrible to think how a woman can suffer,
+and yet live.  What a blessing it is that the world
+cannot read a woman's heart!  Men may look
+upon our faces, but they cannot read the truth.
+Even though our hearts may be breaking, we may
+wear a smile; we can conceal our sorrows so cleverly
+that none can suspect, for smiles make a part of
+our physical being; we can hide our grief so
+completely that none can know the burden upon us.
+Endurance, resistance, patience, suffering, all these
+belong to woman's heritage.  Even in the few
+years I have lived, I have had my share of them
+all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood bewildered, watching the revolving red
+and black roulette-wheel, and the eager crowd of
+faces around it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Vingt!  Rouge, pair et passe!</i>" the croupier
+cried, and a couple of louis which Ulrica had placed
+on the last dozen were swept away with the silver,
+notes and gold, to swell the bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought of my secret grief.  I thought of
+Ernest Cameron, and pursed my lips.  The old
+Tuscan proverb which the nuns in Firenze had
+taught me so long ago was very true: "<i>Amore non
+é senza amaro</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The millionaire's son at my elbow was explaining
+to me how the game was played, but I was paying
+no attention.  I only remembered the man I had
+once loved&mdash;the man whose slave I was&mdash;the man
+whom I had forgiven, even though he had left me
+so cruelly.  Only three things could make life to
+me worth living&mdash;the sight of his face, the sound
+of his voice, the touch of his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But such fine fortune could never be.  We
+were parted for ever&mdash;for ever!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now, play this time!" I heard Reggie exclaim.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where?" I inquired mechanically, his voice
+awakening me to a sense of my surroundings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"On the line, there&mdash;between the numbers 9
+and 12."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took a louis from my purse, and with the rake
+carelessly pushed it upon the line he had indicated.
+Then I turned to talk with Gerald.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" cried the croupier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A hundred necks were craned to watch the
+result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ball fell with a final click into one of the
+little spaces upon the wheel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Neuf!  Rouge, impair et manque!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You've won, my dear!" cried Ulrica excitedly,
+and in a few moments Reggie, who raked up my
+winnings, gave me quite a handful of gold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There now!" he said, "you've made your first
+<i>coup</i>.  Try again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I crammed the gold into my purse, but it would
+not hold it all.  The three louis upon which the
+purse would not close I held doubtfully in my
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Play on the <i>treize-dix-huit</i> this time!" urged
+Reggie, and I obeyed him blindly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the number 18 came up, I again received
+another little handful of gold.  I knew that many
+envious eyes were cast in my direction, and the
+excitement of winning was an entirely new
+sensation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica fancied the last dozen, and I placed five
+louis upon it, winning a third time.  Having won
+eight hundred francs in three turns of the wheel,
+I began to think roulette was not such wearying
+fun as I had once believed it to be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wanted to continue playing, but the others
+prevented me.  They knew too well that the bank
+at Monte Carlo only lends its money to the players.
+With Reggie at my side I went out, strolled
+through those beautiful gardens beside the sea,
+watched the pigeon-shooting, and afterwards sat
+on the terrace of the Café de Paris, where to the
+full I enjoyed a sunset of extraordinary radiance.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER III
+<br><br>
+IS A MYSTERY
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+I was left alone with Reggie, for Ulrica had taken
+Gerald into the orchestral concert.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What awfully good luck you had!" he
+observed, after we had been chatting some time.
+"If you'd had the maximum on each time, you'd
+have won over seven hundred pounds."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There are a good many 'ifs' in gambling,"
+I remarked.  "I've never had any luck before in
+gambles at bazaars and such-like places."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When you do have luck, follow it, is my motto,"
+he laughed.  "I should have advised you to
+continue playing to-day, only I thought it might
+annoy Ulrica," and he raised his whisky and seltzer
+to his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I might have lost all I won," I remarked.
+"No, I prefer to keep it.  I'd like to be unique
+among other people and go away with some of the
+bank's money, I intend to keep what I have,
+and not to play again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Miss Rosselli, that's what everyone
+says here," he laughed.  "But before you've been
+on the Riviera long you'll soon discover that this
+is no place for good resolutions.  Gambling is one
+of the sweetest and most insidious of vices, and
+has the additional attraction of being thought
+<i>chic</i>.  Look at the crowd of women here!  Why,
+every one of them plays.  If she didn't, others
+would believe her to be hard-up&mdash;and poverty, you
+know, is distinctly bad form here.  Even if a
+woman hasn't sufficient to pay her hotel bill, she
+must wear the regulation gold chatelaine and the
+gold chain-purse, if it only contains a couple of
+pieces of a hundred sous.  And she must play.
+Fortunes have been won with only five francs."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Such stories, I fear, are only fairy tales," I
+said incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  At least, one of them is not," he answered,
+blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips and looking
+at me amusedly.  "I was playing here one night
+last March when a young French girl won three
+hundred thousand francs after having first lost all
+she had.  She borrowed a five-franc piece from
+a friend, and with it broke the bank.  I was
+present at the table where it occurred.  Fortune is
+very fickle here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So it seems," I said.  "That is why I intend
+to keep what I've won."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You might have a necklace made of the louis,"
+he said.  "Many women wear coins won at Monte
+attached to their bangles, along with golden pigs
+and enamelled discs bearing the fatal number
+thirteen."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A happy thought!" I exclaimed.  "I'll have
+one put on my bangle to-morrow as a souvenir."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you staying on the Riviera long?" he
+inquired presently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I really don't know.  When Ulrica is tired
+of it we shall move down to Rome, I suppose."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When she's lost sufficient, you mean," he smiled.
+"She's quite reckless when she commences.  I
+remember her here several seasons ago.  She lost
+very heavily.  Luck was entirely against her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I, too, remember her visit.  She left me in
+London and went to the Riviera for a couple of
+months, and on her return was constantly
+bewailing her penury.  This, then, was the secret
+of it.  She had never revealed to me the truth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you think that I shall be stricken with the
+prevalent epidemic?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hope not," he answered quickly.  "But,
+after all, the temptation is utterly irresistible.  It
+is sad, indeed, that here, in this corner of God's
+earth, which He has marked as the nearest approach
+to Paradise created, should be allowed to flaunt
+all the vices which render the world horrible.
+Monte Carlo is the one blot upon the Riviera.
+I'm a gambler&mdash;I make no secret of it, because I
+find resistance impossible while I have money in
+my pocket&mdash;nevertheless, much as I like a fling
+here each winter, I would gladly welcome the
+closing of the Casino.  It has been well said that
+those red-carpeted steps and the wide doors
+opposite form the entrance-gate to hell."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sighed, glancing over to the flight of steps
+opposite, where all sorts of women, wintering
+among temptations in summer toilettes, were
+passing up and down.  He was possessed of
+common sense, and spoke the truth.  Inside those
+Rooms the perspiring and perfumed crowds were
+fluttering round the tables as moths round a candle,
+going headlong to ruin, both moral and financial.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I observed reflectively, "I suppose
+you're right.  Thousands have been ruined within
+that place."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And thousands have ended by committing
+suicide," he added.  "The average number of
+suicides within this tiny Principality of Monaco
+is more than two a day!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"More than two a day!" I exclaimed incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  Of course, the authorities bribe the Press
+to hush it all up, but the authentic figures were
+published not long ago.  The Administrator of the
+Casino finds it cheaper to bury a corpse than to
+pay a ruined gambler's fare to St. Petersburg,
+London, or New York.  That's why the poor
+devils who are cleaned out find the much-talked-of
+<i>viatique</i> so difficult to obtain.  Human life is held
+very cheap here, I can tell you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, don't talk like that!" I protested.  "You
+make one feel quite nervous.  Do you mean that
+murder is often committed?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well&mdash;not exactly that.  But one must always
+remember that here, mixing with the best people
+of Europe, are the very scum of the world, both
+male and female.  Although they dress elegantly,
+live well, play boldly, and give themselves airs and
+false titles of nobility, and wear decorations to
+which they are not entitled, they are a very queer
+and unscrupulous crowd, I can assure you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you know any of them by sight?" I
+inquired, much interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, one or two," he answered, laughing.
+"Some of them are, of course, eccentric and quite
+harmless characters."  Then a moment later he
+added: "Do you see that tall, thin old man just
+ascending the steps&mdash;the one with the soft white
+felt hat?  Well, his is a curious story.  Twenty
+years ago he came here as a millionaire, and within
+a month lost everything he possessed at <i>trente et
+quarante</i>.  So huge were the profits made by the
+bank that, instead of giving him his <i>viatique</i> to
+London, they allotted him a pension of a louis
+a day for life, on the understanding that he should
+never again enter the Rooms.  For nearly twenty
+years he lived in Nice, haunting the Promenade des
+Anglais, and brooding over his past foolishness.
+Last year, however, somebody died unexpectedly,
+and left him quite comfortably off, whereupon he
+paid back to Monte Carlo all that he had received
+and returned again to gamble.  His luck, however,
+has proved just as bad as before.  Yet each month,
+as soon as he draws his income, he comes over,
+and in a single day flings it all away upon the
+red, his favourite colour.  His history is only one
+of many."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With interest I looked at the tall, thin-faced old
+gambler as he painfully ascended the steps; and
+even as I watched he passed in, eager to fling
+away all that stood between himself and starvation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly, the world of Monte Carlo is a very queer
+place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica and Gerald came laughing across the leafy
+Place and joined us at our table.  It was very
+pleasant there, with the band playing the latest
+waltzes, the gay promenaders strolling beneath
+the palms, the bright flowers and the pigeons
+strutting in the roadway.  Indeed, as one sat there
+it seemed hard to believe that this was actually
+the much-talked-of Monte Carlo&mdash;the plague-spot
+of Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don't think that I ever saw Ulrica look so
+well as on that afternoon in the white serge which
+she had had made in Paris; for white serge is, as
+you know, always <i>de rigueur</i> at Monte in winter,
+with white hat and white shoes.  I was also in
+white, but it never suited me as it did her, yet one
+had to be smart, even at the expense of one's
+complexion.  At Monte Carlo one must at least be
+respectable, even in one's vices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come, let's go back to the Rooms," suggested
+Ulrica, when she had finished her tea, flavoured with
+orange-flower water in accordance with the mode
+at the Café de Paris.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Miss Rosselli won't play any more," said Reggie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Carmela!" cried Ulrica.  "Why,
+surely, you've the pluck to follow your good
+fortune!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I was obdurate, and although I accompanied
+the others I did not risk a single sou.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The place was crowded, and the atmosphere
+absolutely unbearable, as it always becomes about
+five o'clock.  The Administration appear afraid
+of letting in a little air to cool the heads of the
+players, hence the Rooms are, as it were,
+hermetically sealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I wandered about with Reggie, he pointed out
+to me other well-known characters in the Rooms&mdash;the
+queer old fellow who carries a bag-purse made
+of coloured beads; the old hag with a moustache
+who always brings her own rake; the bright-eyed,
+dashing woman known to the croupiers as "The
+Golden Hand"; the thin, wizen-faced little hunch-back,
+who one night a few months before had broken
+the bank at the first roulette table on the left;
+men working so-called "systems," and women
+trying to snatch up other people's winnings.  Now
+and then my companion placed a louis upon a
+<i>transversale</i> or <i>colonne</i>, and once or twice he won;
+but declaring that he had no luck that day, he
+soon grew as tired of it as myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica came up to us flushed with excitement.
+She had won three hundred francs at the table
+where she always played.  Her favourite croupier
+was turning the wheel, and he always brought her
+luck.  We had both won, and she declared it to be
+a happy augury for the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While we were standing there the croupier's
+voice sounded loud and clear "Zero!" with that
+long roll of the "r" which <i>habitués</i> of the Rooms
+know so well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Zero!" cried Reggie.  "By Jove!  I must
+put something on," and hurrying toward the table
+he handed the croupier a hundred-franc note,
+with a request to put it on the number 29.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The game was made and the ball fell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Vingt-neuf!  Rouge, impair et passe!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By Jove!" cried Gerald.  "He's won!  Lucky
+devil!  How extraordinary that after zero the
+number 29 so frequently follows!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The croupier handed Reggie three thousand-franc
+notes and quite a handful of gold.  Then the lucky
+player moved his original stake on to the little
+square marked 36.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again he won, and again and again.  The three
+thousand-franc notes he had just received he placed
+upon the middle dozen.  The number 18 turned up,
+and the croupier handed him six thousand francs&mdash;the
+maximum paid by the bank on a single <i>coup</i>.
+Every eye around that table watched him
+narrowly.  People began to follow his play, placing
+their money beside his, and time after time he won,
+making only a few unimportant losses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood watching him in silent wonder.  The
+luck of the man with whom I had been flirting
+was simply marvellous.  Sometimes he distributed
+his stakes on the colour, the dozens and the "pair,"
+and thus often won in several places at the same
+time.  The eager, grabbing crowd surged round
+the table and the excitement quickly rose to fever
+heat.  The assault Reggie was making upon the
+bank was certainly a formidable one.  His inner
+pockets bulged with the mass of notes he had
+crammed there, and the outer pockets of his jacket
+were heavy with golden louis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica stood behind him, but uttered no word.
+To speak to a person while playing is believed by
+the gambler at Monte Carlo to bring evil fortune.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he could cram no more notes into his
+pockets, he passed them to Ulrica, who held them
+in an overflow bundle in her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He tossed a thousand francs on the red, but lost,
+together with the dozens of others who had
+followed his play.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He played again, with no better result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A third time he played on the red, which had not
+been up for nine times in succession, a most unusual
+run.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Black won.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've finished," he said, turning to us with a
+laugh.  "Let's get out of this&mdash;my luck has
+changed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Marvellous!" cried Ulrica.  "Why, you must
+have won quite a fortune!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We'll go across to the Café and count it," he
+said, and we all walked out together; and while
+sitting at one of the tables we helped him to count
+the piles of gold and notes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had, we found, won over sixty thousand francs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At his invitation we went along to Gast's, the
+jeweller's, in the Galerie, and he there purchased
+for each of us a ring as a little souvenir of the day.
+Then we entered Giro's and dined.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yes, life at Monte Carlo is absolutely intoxicating.
+Now, however, that I sit here calmly reflecting on
+the events of that day when I first entered the
+Sign of the Seven Sins, I find that even though
+the display of such wealth as one sees upon the
+tables is dazzling, yet my first impression of it has
+never been altered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hated Monte Carlo from the first.  I hate it
+now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The talk at dinner was, of course, the argot of
+the Rooms.  At Monte Carlo the conversation is
+always of play.  If you meet an acquaintance, you
+do not ask after her health, but of her luck and her
+latest successes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two bejewelled worlds, the <i>monde</i> and the
+<i>demi-monde</i>, ate, drank, and chattered in that
+restaurant of wide renown.  The company was
+cosmopolitan, the conversation polyglot, the dishes
+marvellous.  At the table next us there sat the
+Grand-Duke Michael of Russia, with the Countess
+Torby, and beyond a British earl with a couple of
+smart military men.  The United States Ambassador
+to Germany was at another table with a small
+party of friends; while La Juniori, Derval, and
+several other well-known Parisian beauties were
+scattered here and there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was laughing at a joke of Reggie's, when
+suddenly I raised my eyes and saw a pair of
+new-comers.  The man was tall, dark, handsome, with
+face a trifle bronzed&mdash;a face I knew only too well!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I started, and must have turned pale, for I knew
+from Ulrica's expression that she noticed it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man who entered there, as though to taunt
+me with his presence, was Ernest Cameron, the
+man whom I had loved&mdash;nay, whom I still loved&mdash;the
+man who had a year ago cast me aside for
+another and left me to wear out my young heart
+in sorrow and suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That woman was with him&mdash;the tow-haired
+woman whom they told me he had promised to
+make his wife.  I had never seen her before.  She
+was rather <i>petite</i>, with a fair, fluffy coiffure,
+blue-grey eyes and pink-and-white cheeks.  She had
+earned, I afterwards discovered, a rather unenviable
+notoriety in Paris on account of some scandal
+or other, but the real truth about it I could never
+ascertain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our eyes met as she entered, but she was
+unaware that she gazed upon the woman who was her
+rival, and who hated her.  She had stolen Ernest
+from me, and I felt that I could rise there, in that
+public place, and crush the life from that fragile
+body.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ernest himself brushed past my chair, but without
+recognising me, and went down the room gaily
+with his companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you notice who has just entered?" asked
+Ulrica.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I nodded.  I could not speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who?" inquired Reggie quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Some friends of ours," she answered carelessly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh! everyone meets friends here," he remarked,
+as he raised his champagne unsuspectingly to his
+lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reader, if you are a woman, you will fully
+understand how the sight of that man who held me by
+a fatal fascination, caused in my breast a whirl of
+passions.  I hated and loved at the same instant.
+Even though we were parted, I had never ceased
+to think of him.  For me the world had no longer
+any charm, since the light of my life had now gone
+out, and I was suffering in silence, just as so many
+women who have become the sport of Fate are
+bound to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yes.  Ulrica's notion was, after all, very true.
+No man whom I had ever met was really worth
+consideration.  All were egoists.  The rich believed
+that woman was a mere toy, while the poor were
+always ineligible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reggie spoke to me, but I scarcely heeded him.
+Now that the man I loved was near me, I felt an
+increasing desire to get rid of this male
+encumbrance.  True, he was rich, and I knew, by my own
+feminine intuition, that he admired me, but for him
+I entertained no spark of affection.  Alas! that
+we always sigh for the unattainable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For myself, the remainder of the meal was
+utterly without interest.  I longed to get another
+glimpse of that man's bronzed face, and of the
+tow-haired woman whom he had preferred to me,
+but they were evidently sitting at a table in the
+corner out of sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica knew the truth, and took compassion
+upon me by hastening the dinner to its end.  Then
+we went forth again into the cool, balmy night.
+The moon shone brightly, and its reflection glittered
+in a long stream of silver brilliance upon the sea;
+the Place was gaily lit and the white façade of the
+Casino, with its great illuminated clock, shone with
+lights of every hue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Across to the Hermitage we strolled, and there
+drank our coffee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed at Reggie's pockets bulging with notes,
+for, the banks being closed, he was compelled to
+carry his winnings about with him.  While we sat
+there, however, a brilliant idea occurred to
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nearly all these notes are small," he said
+suddenly.  "I'll go into the Rooms and exchange the
+gold and small notes for large ones.  They'll
+be so much easier to carry."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" cried Ulrica, "I never thought of that.
+Why, of course!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well," he answered, rising.  "I shan't
+be ten minutes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't be tempted to play again, old fellow,"
+urged Gerald.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No fear of that!" he laughed, and, with a
+cigarette in his mouth, strode away in the direction
+of the Casino.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We remained there gossiping for fully half an
+hour, yet he did not return.  As it was only a walk
+of a couple of minutes from the Hermitage to the
+Casino, we concluded that he had met some friend
+and been detained, for, like Gerald, he came there
+each winter and knew quite a host of people.  One
+makes a large circle of acquaintances on the
+Riviera, many interesting, but the majority undesirable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wonder where he's got to?" Gerald observed
+presently.  "Surely he isn't such an idiot
+as to resume play!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  He's well enough aware that there's no
+luck after dinner," remarked Ulrica.  "We might,
+however, I think, take a last turn through the
+Rooms and see whether he's there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This suggestion was carried out, but although
+we searched every table we failed to discover him.
+Until ten o'clock we lounged about, then returned
+by the express to Nice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That he should have left us in that abrupt manner
+was certainly curious; but as Gerald declared he
+was always erratic in his movements, and that
+his explanation in the morning would undoubtedly
+be found entirely satisfactory, we returned together
+to the hotel, where we wished our companion good-night,
+and ascended in the elevator to our own
+sitting-room on the second floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My good fortune pleased me, but my heart was
+nevertheless overburdened with sorrow.  The
+sight of Ernest had reopened the gaping wound
+which I had so strenuously striven to heal by
+the aid of lighter woes.  I now thought only of
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica, who was in front of me, pushed open
+the door of our sitting-room and switched on the
+light, but ere she crossed the threshold she drew
+back quickly with a loud cry of horror and
+surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant I was at her side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Look!" she gasped, terrified, pointing to the
+opposite side of the room.  "Look!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The body of a man was lying, face downwards,
+upon the carpet, half hidden by the round table
+in the centre of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Together we dashed forward to his assistance
+and tried to raise him, but were unable.  We
+succeeded, however, in turning him upon his side,
+and then his white, hard-set features became
+suddenly revealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My God!" I cried, awe-stricken.  "What has
+occurred?  Why&mdash;it's Reggie!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reggie!" shrieked Ulrica, kneeling quickly
+and placing her gloved hand eagerly upon his
+heart.  "Reggie!&mdash;and he's dead!".
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Impossible!" I gasped, almost petrified by
+the hideous discovery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is true," she went on, her face white as that
+of the dead man before us.  "Look, there's blood
+upon his lips.  See&mdash;the chair over there is thrown
+down and broken.  There has apparently been a
+fierce struggle."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next instant a thought occurred to me, and
+bending, I quickly searched his inner pockets.
+The bank-notes were not there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the ghastly truth became entirely plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reginald Thorne had been robbed and murdered.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IV
+<br><br>
+RELATES SOME ASTOUNDING FACTS
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The amazing discovery held us in speechless
+bewilderment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The favourite of Fortune, who only a couple of
+hours before had been so full of life and buoyant
+spirits, and who had left us with a promise to
+return within ten minutes, was now lying still
+and dead in the privacy of our own room.  The
+ghastly truth was so strange and unexpected
+as to utterly stagger belief.  A mysterious and
+dastardly crime had evidently been committed
+there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I scarce know what occurred during the quarter
+of an hour that immediately followed our astounding
+discovery.  All I remember is that Ulrica,
+with face blanched to the lips, ran out into the
+corridor and raised the alarm.  Then there arrived
+a crowd of waiters, chambermaids, and visitors,
+everyone excitedly asking strings of questions, until
+the hotel manager came and closed the door upon
+them all.  The discovery caused the most profound
+sensation, especially when the police and doctors
+arrived quickly, followed shortly afterwards by two
+detectives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The doctor, a short, stout Frenchman, at once
+pronounced that poor Reggie had been dead more
+than half an hour, but the cursory examination he
+was enabled to make was insufficient to establish
+the cause of death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you incline to a theory of death through
+violence?" one of the detectives inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! at present I cannot tell," the other
+answered dubiously.  "It is not at all plain that
+monsieur has been murdered."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica and I quickly found ourselves in a most
+unpleasant position.  First, a man had been found
+dead in our apartments, which was sufficient to
+cause a good deal of ill-natured gossip; and
+secondly, the police seemed to entertain some
+suspicion of us.  We were both cross-questioned
+separately as to Reggie's identity, what we knew
+of him, and of our doings at Monte Carlo that
+day.  In response, we made no secrets of our
+movements, for we felt that the police might be able
+to trace the culprit&mdash;if, indeed, Reggie had been
+actually murdered.  The fact of his having won so
+much money, and of his having left us in order
+to change the notes into larger ones, seemed to
+puzzle the police.  If robbery had been the object
+of the crime, the murderer would, they argued,
+no doubt have committed the deed either in the
+train, or in the street.  Why, indeed, should the
+victim have entered our sitting-room at all?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That really seemed the principal problem.  The
+whole of the circumstances formed a complete and
+puzzling enigma, but his visit to our sitting-room
+was the most curious feature of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The thief, whoever he was&mdash;for I inclined towards
+the theory of theft and murder&mdash;had been enabled
+to effect his purpose swiftly, and leave the hotel
+without discovery; while another curious fact
+was that neither the <i>concierge</i> nor the elevator-lad
+recollected the dead man's return.  Both agreed
+that he must have slipped in unobserved.  And if
+so, why?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having concluded their examination of Ulrica,
+myself and Felicita, my Italian maid, who had
+returned from her evening out, and knew nothing
+at all of the matter, the police made a most vigorous
+search in our rooms.  We were present, and had
+the dissatisfaction of watching our best gowns and
+other articles tumbled over and mauled by unclean
+hands.  Not a corner was left unexamined, for
+when the French police make a search they at least
+do it thoroughly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! what is this?" exclaimed one of the
+detectives, picking from the open fire-place in the
+sitting-room a crumpled piece of paper, which
+he smoothed out carefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant we were all eager attention.  I saw
+that it was a sheet of my own note-paper, and upon
+it, in a man's handwriting, was the commencement
+of a letter:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>My dear Miss Rosselli,&mdash;I have&mdash;&mdash;</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That was all.  It broke off short.  There were
+no other words.  The paper had been crushed
+and flung away, as though the writer, on mature
+thought, had resolved not to address me by letter.
+I had never seen Reggie's handwriting, but on
+comparison with some entries in a note-book
+found in his pocket, the police pronounced it to
+be his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What did he wish to tell me?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About an hour after midnight we sent up to
+the Villa Fabron for Gerald, who returned in the
+cab which conveyed our messenger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we told him the terrible truth he stood
+open-mouthed, rooted to the spot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reggie dead!" he gasped.  "Murdered?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Undoubtedly," answered Ulrica.  "The mystery
+is inexplicable, but with your aid we must
+solve it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"With my aid?" he cried.  "I fear I cannot
+help you.  I know nothing whatever about it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course not," I said.  "But now tell us,
+what is your theory?  You were his best friend
+and would therefore probably know if he had any
+enemy who desired to wreak revenge upon him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He hadn't a single enemy in the world, to my
+knowledge," Gerald answered.  "The motive of
+the crime was robbery, without a doubt.  Most
+probably he was followed from Monte Carlo by
+someone who watched his success at the tables.
+There are always some desperate characters among
+the crowd there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you think, then, that the murderer was
+actually watching us ever since the afternoon?"
+I inquired in alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think it most probable," he responded.
+"At Monte Carlo there is a crowd of all sorts and
+conditions of outsiders.  Many of them wouldn't
+hesitate to commit murder for the sum which poor
+Reggie had in his pockets."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's terrible!" ejaculated Ulrica.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he sighed, as his face grew heavy and
+thoughtful; "this awful news has upset me quite
+as much as it has you.  I have lost my best
+friend."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hope you will spare no effort to clear up
+the mystery," I said, for I had rather liked the
+poor boy ever since chance had first thrown us
+together in London, and on the renewal of our
+acquaintance a few days previously my estimate of
+his character and true worth had considerably
+improved.  It was appalling that he should be
+thus struck down so swiftly, and in a manner so
+strange.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course, I shall at once do all I can," he
+declared.  "I'll see the police, and state all I
+know.  If this had occurred in England, or in
+America, there might be a chance of tracing the
+culprit by the numbers of the bank-notes.  In
+France, however, the numbers are never taken,
+and stolen notes cannot be recovered.  However,
+rest assured, both of you, that I'll do my very
+best."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a tap at the door at that moment,
+and opening it, I was confronted by a tall,
+dark-bearded Frenchman, who explained that he was
+an agent of police.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To him Gerald related all he knew regarding
+poor Reggie's acquaintances and movements while
+on the Riviera, and afterwards, in company with
+the detective, he went to the rooms we had
+abandoned, where he gazed for the last time upon
+the dead face of his friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This tragic event had naturally cast a gloom
+over both Ulrica and myself.  We were both
+nervous and apprehensive, ever debating the
+mysterious reason which caused Reggie to enter
+out sitting-room in our absence.  Surely he had
+some very strong motive, or he would not have
+gone straight there and commenced that mysterious
+letter of explanation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As far as we could discern, his success at the
+tables in the afternoon had not intoxicated him,
+for, although young, he was a practised, unemotional
+player, to whom gains and losses were alike&mdash;at
+least, he displayed no outward sign of satisfaction
+other than a broad smile when his winning
+number was announced by the croupier.  No.  Of
+the many theories put forward, that of Gerald
+seemed the most sound, namely, that he had been
+followed from Monte Carlo with evil intent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <i>Petit Niçois</i>, the <i>Eclaireur</i> and the <i>Phare du
+Littoral</i> were next day full of "The Mystery of the
+'Grand Hotel.'"  In the article we were referred
+to as Mademoiselle Y&mdash;&mdash; and Mademoiselle
+R&mdash;&mdash;, as is usual in French journalism, and
+certainly the comments made by the three organs
+in question were distinguished by undisguised
+suspicion and sorry sarcasm.  The <i>Petit Niçois</i>, a
+journal which has on so many recent occasions
+given proof of its anti-English and anti-American
+tone, declared its "disbelief of the story that the
+deceased had won the large sum stated," and
+concluded by urging the police to leave no stone
+unturned in their efforts to discover the murderer,
+who, it added, would probably be found within
+the hotel.  This remark was certainly a pleasing
+reflection to cast upon us.  It was as though the
+journal believed that one of us had conspired to
+murder him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gerald was furious, but we were powerless to
+protect ourselves against the cruel calumnies of
+such <i>torchons</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The official inquiry, held next day, after the
+<i>post-mortem</i> examination had been made, revealed
+absolutely nothing.  Even the cause of death
+puzzled the doctors.  There was a slight cut in
+the corner of the mouth, so small that it might
+have been accidentally caused while he had been
+eating, and beyond a slight scratch behind the
+left ear there was no abrasion of the skin&mdash;no
+wound of any kind.  On the neck, however, were
+two strange marks, like the marks of a finger and
+a thumb, which pointed to strangulation, yet the
+medical examination failed to establish that as a
+fact.  He died from some cause which could not
+be determined.  It might, indeed, the doctors
+admitted, have been almost described as a natural
+death, but for the fact that the notes were missing,
+which pointed so very markedly to murder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That same evening, as the winter sun was sinking
+behind the Esterels, we followed the dead
+man's remains to their resting-place in the English
+cemetery, high up in the olive groves of
+Caucade&mdash;perhaps one of the most beautiful and
+picturesque burial-places in the world.  Winter and
+summer it is always a blaze of bright flowers, and
+the view over the olive-clad slope and the calm
+Mediterranean beyond is one of the most charming
+in all the Riviera.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The English chaplain of the Rue de France performed
+the last rites, and then, turning sorrowfully
+away, we drove back, full of gloomy thoughts, to
+Nice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The puzzling incident had crushed all gaiety from
+our hearts.  I suggested that we should
+immediately go on to Mentone, but Ulrica declared that
+it was our duty to remain where we were and give
+the police what assistance we could in aiding them
+to solve what seemed an inscrutable mystery.  Thus
+the days which followed were days of sadness and
+melancholy.  We ate in our own room to avoid the
+gaze of the curious, for all in Nice now knew the
+tragic story, and as we passed in and out of the
+hotel we overheard many whisperings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for myself, I had a double burden of sorrow.
+In those hours of deep thought and sadness, I
+reflected that poor Reggie was a man who might,
+perhaps, have become my husband.  I did not
+love him in the sense that the average woman
+understands love.  He was a sociable companion,
+clever, smart in dress and gait, and altogether one
+of those easy men of the world who appeal strongly
+to a woman of my own temperament.  When I
+placed him in comparison with Ernest, however,
+I saw that I could never have actually entertained
+a real affection for him.  I loved Ernest with a
+wild, passionate love, and all others were now,
+and would ever be, as naught to me.  I cared not
+that he had forsaken me in favour of that ugly,
+tow-haired witch.  I was his.  I felt that I must
+at all hazards see him again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was sitting at the open window one afternoon,
+gazing moodily out upon the Square Massena, when
+Ulrica suddenly said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Curious that we've seen nothing more of
+Ernest.  I suppose, however, you've forgotten
+him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Forgotten him!" I cried, starting up.  "I
+shall never forget him&mdash;never!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In that instant I seemed to see his dark, handsome
+face before me, as of old.  It was in the golden blaze
+of a summer sunset.  I heard his rich voice in my
+ears.  I saw him pluck a sprig of jasmine, emblem
+of purity, and give it to me, at the same time
+whispering words of love and devotion.  Ah, yes, he
+loved me then&mdash;he loved me!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I put up my hand to shut out the vision.  I
+rose, and staggered.  Then I felt Ulrica's soft hand
+upon my waist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Carmela!  Carmela!" she cried, "what's the
+matter?  Tell me, dear!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You know," I answered hoarsely.  "You
+know, Ulrica, that I love him!"  My voice was
+choked within me, so deep was my distress.  "And
+he is to marry&mdash;to marry that woman!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear, take my advice and forget him," she
+said lightly.  "There are lots of other men whom
+you could love quite as well.  Poor Reggie, for
+instance, might have filled his place in your heart.
+He was charming&mdash;poor fellow!  Your Ernest
+treated you as he has done all women.  Why make
+yourself miserable and wear out your heart remembering
+a past which it is quite unnecessary to recall.
+Live, as I do, for the future, without mourning over
+what must ever be bygones."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! that's all very well," I said sadly.  "But
+I can't help it.  That woman loves him&mdash;every
+woman loves him!  You yourself admired him long
+ago."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly.  I admire lots of men, but I have
+never committed the folly of loving a single
+one."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Folly!" I cried angrily.  "You call love
+folly!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, of course," she laughed.  "Do dry your
+eyes, or you'll look an awful sight when Gerald
+comes.  He said he would go for a walk with us
+on the Promenade at four&mdash;and it's already
+half-past three.  Come, it's time we dressed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sighed heavily.  Yes, it was true that Ulrica
+was utterly heartless towards those who admired
+her.  I had with regret noticed her careless
+attitude times without number.  She was a smart
+woman who thought only of her own good looks,
+her own toilettes, her own conquests, and her own
+amusements.  Men pleased her by their flattery,
+and she therefore tolerated them.  She had told
+me this long ago with her own lips, and had urged
+me to follow her example.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ulrica," said I at last, "forgive me, forgive
+me, but I am so unhappy.  Don't let us speak of
+him again.  I will try and forget, indeed I will&mdash;I
+will try to regard him as dead.  I forgot
+myself&mdash;forgive me, dear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, forget him, there's a dear," she said,
+kissing me.  "And now call Felicita, and let us
+dress.  Gerald hates to be kept waiting, you
+know," and carelessly she began humming the
+refrain of the latest <i>chanson</i>:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,<br>
+  Viens par-ci, viens par-là, ma brune!<br>
+  Laisse le vieux jaloux qui t'importune,<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mandoli, Mandoli, Mandola,<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Le temps fuit et voilà la lune,<br>
+  C'est l'heure des baisers au clair de lune."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER V
+<br><br>
+DEALS WITH A MILLIONAIRE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+One evening, about ten days later, we dined at
+old Benjamin Keppel's invitation at the Villa
+Fabron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Visitors to Nice know the great white mansion
+well.  High up above the sea, beyond the Magnan,
+it stands in the midst of extensive grounds, shaded
+by date palms, olives and oranges, approached by
+a fine eucalyptus avenue, and rendered light with
+flowers, its dazzlingly white walls relieved by the
+green <i>persiennes</i>, a residence magnificent even for
+Nice&mdash;the town of princes.  Along the whole front
+of the great place there runs a broad marble terrace,
+from which are obtained marvellous views of
+Nice, with the gilt-domed Jetée Promenade jutting
+out into the azure bay, the old Château, Mont
+Boron, and the snow-capped Alps on the left, while
+on the right lies the valley of the Var, and that
+romantic chain of dark purple mountains which lie
+far away beyond Cannes, a panorama almost as
+magnificent as that from the higher Corniche.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The interior was, we found, the acme of luxury
+and comfort.  Everywhere was displayed the fact
+that its owner was wealthy; none on entering so
+splendid a home would have believed him to be
+so simple in taste and so curiously eccentric in
+manner.  Each winter he came to Nice in his
+splendid steam-yacht, the <i>Vispera</i>, which was now
+anchored as usual in Villefranche Harbour, and with
+his sister, a small, wizen-faced old lady, and
+Mr. Barnes, his secretary, he lived there from December
+until the end of April.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica had met him several times in London, and
+he greeted us both very affably.  He was, I found,
+a queer old fellow.  Report had certainly not lied
+about him, and I could hardly believe that this
+absent-minded, rather ordinary-looking old fellow,
+with disordered grey hair and beard and dark,
+deep-set eyes, was Gerald's father, the great
+Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dinner, even though rather a stately affair, was
+quite a pleasant function, for the old millionaire was
+most unassuming and affable.  One of his eccentricities
+displayed itself in his dress.  His dining-jacket
+was old, and quite glossy about the back
+and elbows; he wore a paper collar, his white tie
+showed unmistakable signs of having done duty on
+at least a dozen previous occasions, and across his
+vest was suspended an albert chain, not of gold,
+but of rusty steel.  There had never been any
+pretence about Ben Keppel in his earlier days, as
+all the world knew, and there was certainly none
+in these days of his affluence.  He had amassed his
+fabulous fortune by shrewdness and sheer hard
+work, and he despised the whole of that chattering
+little ring which calls itself Society.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before I had been an hour in this man's society
+I grew to like him for his honest plain-spokenness.
+He possessed none of that sarcastic arrogance which
+generally characterises those whose fortunes are
+noteworthy, but in conversation spoke softly, with
+a carefully cultivated air of refinement.  Not that
+he was refined in the least.  He had gone to the
+Transvaal as an emigrant from a little village
+in Norfolk, and had succeeded in amassing the
+third largest fortune in the United Kingdom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sat at the head of the table in his great dining-room,
+while Ulrica and myself sat on either hand.
+As a matter of course our conversation turned upon
+the mysterious death of poor Reggie, and we both
+gave him the exact version of the story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Most extraordinary!" he ejaculated.  "Gerald
+has already explained the painful facts to me.
+There seems no doubt whatever that the poor
+fellow was murdered for the money.  Yet, to me,
+the strangest part of the whole affair is why he
+should have left you so suddenly at the Hermitage.
+If he changed the money for large notes, as we
+may suppose he did, why didn't he return to you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because he must in the meantime have met
+someone," I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's just it," he said.  "If the police could
+but discover the identity of this friend, then I feel
+convinced that all the rest would be plain sailing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, my dear guv'nor, the police hold the
+theory that he didn't meet anyone until he arrived
+at Nice," Gerald observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The police here are a confounded set of idiots!"
+cried the old millionaire.  "If it had occurred in
+London, or Chicago, or even in Glasgow, they
+would have arrested the murderer long before this.
+Here, in France, there's too much confounded
+<i>contrôle</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I expect if the truth were known," observed
+Miss Keppel, in her thin, squeaky voice, "the
+authorities of Monaco don't relish the idea that a
+man may be followed and murdered after successful
+play, and they won't help the Nice police at all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Most likely," her brother said.  "The police
+of the Prince of Monaco are elegant blue and silver
+persons, who look as though they would hesitate
+to capture a prisoner for fear of soiling their white
+kid gloves.  But surely, Miss Rosselli," he added,
+turning to me, "the Nice police haven't let the
+affair drop, have they?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I cannot say," I responded.  "The last I
+saw of any of the detectives was a week ago.  The
+man who called upon me then admitted that no
+clue had, so far, been obtained."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then all I have to say is that it's a public
+scandal!" Benjamin Keppel cried angrily.  "The
+authorities here seem to entertain absolutely no
+regard for the personal safety of their visitors.
+It appears to me that in Nice year by year prices
+have gone up until hotel charges have become
+unbearable, and people are being driven away to
+Algiers and Cairo.  And I don't blame them.
+During these past two years absolutely no regard
+has been paid by the Nice authorities to the
+comfort of the visitors who bring them their
+wherewithal to live.  Look at the state of the streets
+this season!  They're all up for new trams, new
+paving, new watermains and things, until they
+are absolutely impassable.  Even the Promenade
+des Anglais has been up!  Why they can't do it
+in summer, when there are no visitors here, is a
+mystery.  Again, within the last eight or ten
+years the price of everything has doubled, while
+the sanitary defects have become a disgrace.  Why,
+down at Beaumettes there were, until quite recently,
+houses which actually drained into a cave!  And
+then they are surprised at an outbreak of typhoid!
+The whole thing's preposterous!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"An English newspaper correspondent who
+had the courage to tell the truth about Nice was
+served with a notice threatening his expulsion
+from France!" observed Gerald.  "A nice way
+to suppress facts!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh! that's the French way," observed Ulrica,
+with a laugh.  "It is, however, certain that if Nice
+is to remain healthy and popular, there must be
+some very radical changes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If there are not, I shall sell this place," said
+the old millionaire decisively.  "I shall take the
+newspaper correspondent's advice and pitch my
+quarters in Cairo, where English-speaking visitors
+are protected, properly treated, and have their
+comfort looked after."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not try San Remo?" I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"San Remo!" he cried, with an air of disgust.
+"Why, it's the most snobbish place on the whole
+Riviera.  The persons who have villas there are
+mostly those whom we taboo in society at home.
+One interesting person has had the audacity to
+name his villa after a royal palace.  It's like a
+fellow putting up 'Buckingham Palace' upon
+his ten-roomed house at Streatham Hill.  No,
+Miss Rosselli, save me from San Remo!  The
+hotels there are ruinous, and mostly of the fourth
+class, while the tradespeople are as rapacious
+a set of sharks as can be found outside Genoa.
+And the visitors are of that angular, sailor-hatted
+type of tea and lawn-tennis Englishwoman who
+talks largely at home of what she calls 'wintering
+abroad,' and hopes by reason of a six-weeks'
+stay in a cheap <i>pension</i>, shivering over an
+impossible fire, to improve her social status on her
+return to her own local surroundings.  San Remo,
+dull, dear, and dreary, has ever been a ghastly
+failure, and ever will be, as long as it is frequented
+by its present <i>clientele</i> of sharks and spongers.
+What the newspaper correspondent said about
+Nice was the truth&mdash;the whole truth," he went
+on.  "I know Nice as well as most people, and
+I bear out every charge put forward.  The Riviera
+has declined terribly these past five years.  Why,
+the people here actually hissed the Union Jack
+at the last Battle of Flowers!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Disgraceful!" said Ulrica, rather amused at
+the old fellow's warmth.  "If Nice declines in the
+popular favour, then the Niçois have only
+themselves to blame."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Exactly.  Foreigners are looked upon here
+as necessary evils, while in Italy, except on the
+Riviera, they are welcomed.  I built this place
+and spent a fairish sum upon it, but if things
+don't improve, I'll sell it at auction and cart my
+traps down to Sicily, or over to Cairo.  Upon
+that I'm determined."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The guv'nor's disgusted," Gerald laughed
+across to me.  "He's taken like this sometimes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, my boy, I am disgusted.  All I want in
+winter is quiet, sunshine, and good air.  That's
+what I come here for.  And I can get all that at
+Palermo or Algiers, for in those places the air is
+even better than here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But it isn't so fashionable," I observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To an old man like me it doesn't matter
+whether a place is fashionable or not, my dear
+Miss Rosselli," he said, with a serious look.  "I
+leave all that sort of thing to Gerald.  He has
+his clubs, his horses, his fine friends and all the
+rest of it.  But all the people know Ben Keppel
+of Johannesburg.  Even if I belonged to the most
+swagger of the clubs and mixed in good society&mdash;among
+lords and ladies of the aristocracy, I
+mean&mdash;I'd still be the same.  I couldn't alter
+myself as some of 'em try to do."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We laughed.  The old man was so blunt that
+one could not help admiring him.  He had the
+reputation of being niggardly in certain matters,
+especially regarding Gerald's allowance; but, as
+Ulrica had remarked, there were no doubt plenty
+of people who would be anxious to lend money to
+the millionaire's heir upon post-obits, so that,
+after all, it didn't much matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If inclined to be economical in one or two
+directions, he certainly kept a remarkably good
+table; but although there were choice wines
+for us, he drank only water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When, with Gerald, he joined us in the great
+drawing-room, he seated himself near me and
+suddenly said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't know, Miss Rosselli, whether you'd
+like to remain here and gossip, or whether you'd
+like to stroll round the place.  You are a woman,
+and there may be something to interest you in
+it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shall be delighted, I'm sure," I said, and
+together we went forth to wander about the great
+mansion, which all the world on the Riviera knows
+as the home of the renowned Ben Keppel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He showed me his library, the boudoirs which
+were never occupied, the gallery of modern French
+paintings, the Indian tea-room, and the great
+conservatory whence we walked out upon the
+terrace and looked down upon the lights of the
+gay winter city lying at our feet, and at the flash
+of white brilliance that ever and anon shot across
+the tranquil sea, marking the dangerous headland
+at Antibes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The night was lovely&mdash;one of those bright and
+perfect nights which occur so often on the Riviera
+in January.  At sundown the air is always damp
+and treacherous, but when darkness falls it is no
+longer dangerous, even to those with extremely
+delicate constitutions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How beautiful!" I ejaculated, standing at
+his side and watching the great white moon slowly
+rising from the sea.  "What a fairyland!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  It is beautiful.  The Riviera is, I
+believe, the fairest spot that God has created
+on this earth," and then he sighed, as though
+world-weary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently, when we had been chatting a few
+minutes, he suggested that we should re-enter the
+house, as he feared that I, being décolletée, might
+catch a chill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have a hobby," he said; "the only thing
+which prevents me from becoming absolutely
+melancholy.  Would you care to see it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, do show it me!" I said, at once interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then come with me," he exclaimed.  He
+led me through two long passages to a door which
+he unlocked with a tiny master-key upon his
+chain.  "This is my private domain," he laughed.
+"No one is allowed in here, so you must consider
+yourself very highly privileged."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That I certainly do," I responded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he entered he switched on the electric light,
+displaying to my astonished gaze a large place
+fitted as a workshop with lathes, tools, wheels,
+straps and all sorts of mechanical contrivances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This room is secret," he said, with a smile.
+"If the fine people who sometimes patronise me
+with visits thought that I actually worked here
+they'd be horrified."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then do you actually work?" I inquired,
+surprised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly.  Having nothing to occupy my
+leisure moments after I had severed myself from
+the works, I took to turning.  I was a turner
+by trade years ago, you know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at him in wonderment.  People had
+said he was eccentric, and this was evidently one
+of his eccentricities.  He had secretly
+established a great workshop within that princely
+mansion:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Would you like to see how I can work?"
+he asked, noticing my look of wonder.  "Well,
+watch&mdash;excuse me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereupon he threw off his jacket, and having
+raised a lever which set one of the lathes at work,
+he seated himself at it, selected a piece of ivory,
+and placed it in position.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now," he laughed, looking towards me, "what
+shall I make you?  Ah, I know, an object useful
+to all you ladies&mdash;a box for your powder-puff,
+eh?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You seem to be fully aware of feminine
+mysteries, Mr. Keppel," I laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, you see, I was married once," he
+answered.  "But in them days my poor Mary
+didn't want face-powder, bless her!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And that instant his keen chisel cut deeply
+into the revolving ivory with a harsh sawing
+sound that rendered further conversation
+impossible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood behind and watched him.  His grand
+old head was bent keenly over his work as he
+hollowed out the box to the desired depth, carefully
+gauged it, finished it, and quickly turned
+the lid until it fitted with precision and
+exactness.  Then he rubbed it down, polished it in
+several ways, and at last handed it to me complete.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This is a little souvenir, Miss Rosselli, of your
+first visit to me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thank you ever so much," I answered, taking
+it and examining it curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly he was a skilled workman, this man
+whose colossal wealth was remarkable, even among
+England's many millionaires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I only ask one favour," he said, as we passed
+out and he locked the door of his workshop behind
+us.  "That you will tell no one of my hobby&mdash;that
+I have returned to my own trade.  For
+Gerald's sake I am compelled to keep up an
+appearance, and some of his friends would sneer
+if they knew that his father still worked and
+earned money in his odd moments."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you earn money?" I inquired, amazed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly.  A firm in Bond Street buy all
+my ivory work, only they're not, of course, aware
+that it comes from me.  It wouldn't do, you
+know.  My work, you see, provides me with a
+little pocket-money.  It has done so ever since I
+left the factory," he added simply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I promise you, Mr. Keppel, that I'll tell no
+one, if you wish it to remain a secret.  I had no
+idea that you actually sold your turnings."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You don't blame me, surely?" he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly not," I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed, however, ludicrous that this
+multi-millionaire, with his great house in Park Lane,
+his shooting-box in Scotland, his yacht, which
+was acknowledged to be one of the finest afloat,
+and his villa there on the Riviera, should toil at
+turning, in order to make a pound or two a week
+as pocket-money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When I worked as a turner in the old days,
+I earned sixteen shillings a week, by making
+butter dishes and bread plates, wooden bowls,
+salad spoons, and such like, and I earn about
+the same to-day when I've paid for the ivory,
+and the necessary things for the 'shop,'" he
+explained.  Then he added: "You seem to think
+it strange, Miss Rosselli.  If you place yourself
+for a moment in my position, that of a man
+without further aim or ambition, you will not be
+surprised that I have, after nearly forty years,
+returned to the old trade to which I served my
+apprenticeship."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I quite understand," I responded, "and I
+only admire you that you do not, like so many
+other rich men, lead a life of easy indolence."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can't do that," he said; "it isn't in me to
+be still.  I must be at work, or I'm never happy.
+Only I have to be discreet for Gerald's sake,"
+and the old millionaire smiled, though rather
+sadly, I thought.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VI
+<br><br>
+PLACES ME IN A PREDICAMENT
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"I think him a most sociable old fellow," I
+answered, in response to Ulrica's inquiry when we
+returned to the hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But awfully eccentric," she said.  "Gerald
+always complains that he finds it impossible to
+make both ends meet upon his allowance."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He may surely be forgiven that," I said.
+"After all, he's an excellent type of the prosperous
+worker."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He showed you his ivory-turning, I suppose?"
+she observed, with a slight sneer.  "I see he's
+given you a puff-box."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, he turned it while I waited."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's really absurd," she declared, "that a
+man of his enormous means should still continue
+to work as he does.  Gerald tells me that he has
+secret workshops in all his houses, and spends
+the greater part of his time in turning, just as
+any workman would do.  No doubt he's a bit
+wrong in the head.  His wealth has crushed
+him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think you judge him too harshly, my dear,"
+I responded.  "All master-minds have their
+hobbies.  His hobby is quite a harmless one;
+merely to return to the trade to which he was
+apprenticed long ago."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled with some sarcasm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we parted, and retired to bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Day by day for many days we went over to
+Monte Carlo; why I can scarcely tell.  All visitors
+to Nice drift there, as if by the natural law of
+gravitation, and we were no exception.  Even
+though our memories of the Sign of the Seven
+Sins were painful on account of poor Reggie's
+mysterious death, we nevertheless found distraction
+in the Rooms, the crowds, and the music.  Sometimes
+Gerald would act as our escort, and at others
+we went over alone after luncheon and risked
+half-a-dozen louis at the tables with varying success.
+We met quite a host of people we knew, for the
+season was proceeding apace, and the nearness of
+the Carnival attracted our compatriots from all
+over Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And as the days passed, my eyes were ever
+watchful.  Truth to tell, Monte Carlo had an
+attraction for me, not because of its picturesqueness
+or its play, but because I knew that in that feverish
+little world there lived and moved the man who
+held my future in his hands.  In the Rooms, in
+the "Paris," in the Place, and in the Gardens I
+searched for sight of him, but alas! always in vain.
+I bought the various visitors' lists, but failed to
+discover that he was staying at any of the villas or
+hotels.  Yet I knew he was there, for had I not seen
+him with my own eyes&mdash;had I not seen him smile
+upon the woman who was my rival?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The papers continued to comment upon the
+mystery surrounding poor Reggie's tragic death,
+yet beyond a visit from the British Consul, who
+proved to be a nice old gentleman, and who
+obtained a statement from us regarding his friends
+in London, and who took possession of certain
+effects found in his room, absolutely nothing fresh
+transpired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was early in February, that month when Nice
+puts on its annual air of gaiety in preparation for
+the reign of the King of Folly; when the streets are
+bright with coloured decoration, great stands are
+erected in the Place Massena, and the shops of the
+Avenue de la Gare are ablaze with Carnival costumes
+in the two colours previously decided upon by the
+Committee.  Though Nice may be defective from
+a sanitary point of view, and her authorities churlish
+towards foreign visitors, nevertheless in early
+February it is certainly the gayest and most
+charming spot on the whole Riviera.  The very
+streets, full of life and movement, are sweet with the
+perfume of roses, violets and mimosa; and at a
+time when the rest of Europe is held frost-bound,
+summer costumes and sunshades are the mode,
+while men wear their straw hats and flannels upon
+that finest of all sea-walks, the palm-planted
+Promenade des Anglais.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Reggie's brother, a doctor in Aberdeen, had
+arrived to obtain a personal account of the mystery,
+which, of course, we gave.  Gerald also conducted
+him to the grave in the English cemetery, on which
+he laid a beautiful wreath, and, while there, gave
+orders for a handsome monument.  Then after
+remaining three days, he returned to Scotland.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, we became frequent guests at the
+Villa Fabron, dining there often, and being always
+received cordially by the old millionaire.  The
+secretary, Barnes, appeared to me to rule the household,
+for he certainly placed himself more in evidence
+than ever did his employer, and I could see that
+the relations between Gerald and this factotum
+of his father were somewhat strained.  He was a
+round-faced man of about thirty-five, dark,
+clean-shaven, with a face that was quite boyish-looking,
+but with a pair of small eyes that I did not like.
+I always distrust persons with small eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From his manner, however, I gathered that he
+was a shrewd, hard-headed man of business, and
+even Gerald himself had to admit that he fulfilled
+the duties of his post admirably.  Of course, I
+came into contact with him very little.  Now and
+then we met on the Promenade, or in the Quai
+St. Jean Baptiste, and he raised his hat in passing,
+or he might happen to encounter us at the Villa
+when we visited there, but save on these occasions, I
+had not spoken to him a dozen words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He has the face of a village idiot, with eyes like
+a Scotland Yard detective," was Ulrica's terse
+summary of his appearance, and it was an admirable
+description.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the Sunday afternoon when the first Battle of
+Confetti was fought, we went out in our satin
+dominoes of mauve and old gold&mdash;the colours of
+that year&mdash;and had glorious fun pelting all and
+sundry with paper confetti, or whirling serpentines
+among the crowd in the Avenue de la Gare.  Those
+who have been in Nice during Carnival know the
+wild gaiety of that Sabbath, the procession of
+colossal cars and grotesque figures, the ear-splitting
+bands, the ridiculous costumes of the maskers, the
+buoyant fun and the good humour of everybody in
+that huge cosmopolitan crowd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gerald was with us, as well as a young American
+named Fordyce, whom we had known in London,
+and who was now staying at the Beau Site, over
+at Cannes.  With our sacks containing confetti slung
+over our shoulders, and the hoods of our bright
+dominoes over our heads, and wearing half masks
+of black velvet, we mixed with the crowd the whole
+of that afternoon, heartily enjoying the fun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I confess that I enjoyed, and shall always, I hope,
+enjoy the Nice Carnival immensely.  Many constant
+visitors condemn it as a tawdry tinsel show, and
+leave Nice for a fortnight in order to escape the
+uproar and boisterous fun; but after all, even
+though the air of recklessness would perchance
+shock some of the more puritanical in our own land,
+there is nevertheless an enormous amount of
+harmless and healthy amusement to be derived from it.
+It is only sour spinsters and the gouty who really
+object to Carnival.  Regular visitors to the Riviera
+condemn it merely because it is good form to
+condemn everything vulgar.  They used to enjoy it
+until its annual repetition became wearisome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the fight with confetti, during which our
+hair and dominoes got sadly tumbled, we struggled
+through the crowd to the hotel; and while Gerald
+went along to the café outside the Casino to wait for
+us, we dressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Felicita was an unconscionable time in doing my
+hair&mdash;her head was full of the Carnival fever, I
+think&mdash;and when I entered our sitting-room I found
+Ulrica, ready dressed, seated on a low stool in a
+picturesque attitude, lazily cooling herself with her
+fan of feathers.  The disengaged bare arm, with
+its jingling bangles, was gracefully raised, the taper
+fingers were endeavouring, without much success,
+to adjust a stray lock of hair.  It was a favourite
+gesture of Ulrica's, for her hands were lovely, white and
+slender, and covered with rings, which she was
+fond of displaying.  The rosy light from the shaded
+lamp fell kindly upon her, so that she made an
+extremely pretty picture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was talking as I entered, and in the dim
+light I discovered a man sitting on the ottoman.
+I was about to retreat, when she recalled me, and
+introduced me with a little laugh, to Cecil Ormrod,
+who had called at that rather inconvenient moment.
+She appeared to be by no means displeased at
+having been surprised in a <i>tête-à-tête</i> with him.
+It was a notification that she had pegged out
+her claim.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was tall, manly, and well-shaped, and his
+voice was pleasant.  Ulrica looked at me with a
+curious smile, as if to say: "Don't you think I
+have shown good taste?"  Then holding out her
+hand for his aid in rising, she said to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Ormrod, but we are just
+going out to dinner.  I know you'll excuse us.
+You'll look in and see us to-morrow.  You must,
+you know&mdash;you're staying at the 'Anglais,' and
+it's close by."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, turning to me, she added:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come, dear, we must make haste.  It's awfully
+late, and old Mr. Keppel will never forgive us if the
+soup comes up cold."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So young Cecil Ormrod made his adieux and
+departed, promising to call on us again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Cecil is an awfully nice boy," Ulrica remarked.
+"I met him at a country house-party two years
+ago.  His father is a stockbroker and his sisters
+are particularly jolly.  We must be nice to
+him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You've already begun," I remarked, rather
+spitefully perhaps.  But she only smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we descended by the lift and joined Gerald,
+whom we found walking up and down impatiently
+in the hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Quite a host of smart people dined at the Villa
+Fabron that evening, including several pretty
+English girls.  A millionaire never lacks friends.
+Old Benjamin Keppel was something of a recluse.
+It was not often that he sent out so many invitations,
+but when he gave a dinner he spared no expense,
+and the one in honour of Carnival was truly a
+gastronomic marvel.  The table was decorated
+with mauve and old gold, the Carnival colours;
+and the room, which was draped with satin of
+the same shades, presented a mass of blended hues
+particularly striking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old millionaire, seated at the head of his
+table, in his breezy, open-hearted manner made
+everyone happy at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both Ulrica and I wore new frocks, which we
+considered were the latest triumphs of our Nice
+<i>couturière</i>&mdash;they certainly ought to have been, if
+they were not, for their cost was ruinous&mdash;and
+there were also quite a number of bright dresses and
+good-looking men.  The day is gone, I am glad to
+say, when a mode, because it is decreed to be the
+fashion, is blindly adopted.  Women realise at
+last that to achieve the happiest results they must
+make Fashion subservient to their requirements,
+instead of foolishly following in her wake, as for
+years they have been wont to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I sat there amid the gay chatter of the table,
+I looked at the lean, grey-bearded man at its head,
+and fell into reflection.  How strange it was that
+this man, worth millions, actually toiled in secret
+each day at his lathe to earn a few shillings a week
+from an English firm as pocket-money!  All his
+gay friends who sat around his table were ignorant
+of that fact.  He only revealed it to those in whom
+he placed trust&mdash;and I was one of the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner we all went forth into the gardens,
+which were illuminated everywhere with coloured
+lights and lanterns, and wandered beneath the
+orange trees, joking and chattering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A rather insipid young prig was at first my
+companion, but presently I found myself beside old
+Mr. Keppel, who walked at my side far down the
+slope, till at last we came to the dark belt of olives
+which formed the boundary of his domain.  Villas
+on the Riviera do not usually possess extensive
+grounds, but the Villa Fabron was an exception,
+for the gardens ran down almost to the well-known
+white sea-road that leads along from Nice to the
+mouth of the Var.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How charming!" I exclaimed, as, turning
+back, we gazed upon the long terrace hung with
+Japanese lanterns, and the moving figures smoking,
+taking their coffee, and chattering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," the old man laughed.  "I have to be
+polite to them now and then; but after all, Miss
+Rosselli, they don't come here to visit me&mdash;only
+to spend a pleasant evening.  Society expects me
+to entertain, so I have to.  But I confess that
+I never feel at home among all these folk, as Gerald
+does."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear you are becoming just a little world-weary,"
+I said, smiling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Becoming?  Why, I was tired of it all years
+ago," he answered, glancing at me with a serious
+expression in his deep-set eyes.  It seemed as though
+he wished to confide in me, and yet dared not do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not try a change?" I suggested.  "You
+have the <i>Vispera</i> lying at Villefranche.  Why not
+take a trip in her up the Mediterranean?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he sighed.  "I hate yachting, for I have
+nothing on board wherewith to occupy my time.
+After a couple of days I always go ashore at the
+nearest port.  The trip round from Portsmouth
+here each winter is always a misery to me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you keep such a beautiful craft idle!"
+I observed, in a tone of reproach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You've seen it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, Gerald took us on board a few days ago,
+and showed us over.  It's like a small Atlantic
+liner."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Everyone says she's a handsome boat," the
+old fellow remarked carelessly.  Then he added:
+"Are you fond of the sea?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Passionately.  I always regret when the
+Channel passage is finished."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps you would like to go on a cruise in the
+<i>Vispera</i>?" he said.  "If you would, I should be
+very pleased to take you.  I might invite a party for
+a run, say, to Naples or Smyrna and back."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should be delighted," I answered enthusiastically,
+for yachting was one of my favourite pastimes,
+and on board such a magnificent craft, one of the
+finest private vessels afloat, life would be most
+enjoyable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well, I'll see what I can arrange," he
+answered; and then we fell to discussing other
+things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smoked thoughtfully as he strolled beside me,
+his mind evidently much preoccupied.  The stars
+were bright overhead, the night balmy and still, and
+the air was heavy with the scent of flowers.  It was
+hard to believe that it was actually mid-winter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear," he said at last&mdash;"I fear, Miss Rosselli,
+that you find me a rather lonely man, don't you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You have no reason to be lonely," I responded.
+"Surrounded by all these friends, your life might
+surely be very gay if you wished."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Friends?  Bah!" he cried, in a tone of
+ridicule.  "There's an attraction in money that
+is irresistible.  These people here, all of them,
+bow down before the golden calf.  Sometimes,
+Miss Rosselli, I have thought that there's no real
+honesty of purpose in the world."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm afraid you are a bit of a cynic," I laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And if I am, may I not be forgiven?" he
+urged.  "I can assure you I find life very dull
+indeed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a strange confession coming from the lips
+of such a man.  If I had only a sixteenth part of
+his wealth I should, I reflected, be a very happy
+woman&mdash;unless the common saying were actually
+true, that great wealth only creates unbearable
+burdens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are not the only one who finds life wearisome,"
+I observed frankly, "I also have to plead
+guilty to the indictment on many occasions."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You?" he cried, halting, and regarding me
+in surprise.  "You&mdash;young, pretty, vivacious,
+with ever so many men in love with you?  And
+you are tired of it all&mdash;tired of it while still in your
+twenties?  Impossible!"
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VII
+<br><br>
+MAINLY CONCERNS THE OWL
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Late that night Ulrica made merry at my expense.
+She had noticed me walking <i>tête-à-tête</i> with old
+Mr. Keppel, and accused me of flirtation with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, I may be given to harmless frivolities with
+men of my own age, but I certainly have never
+endeavoured to attract those of maturer years.
+Elderly men may have admired me&mdash;that I do not
+deny&mdash;but assuredly this has been through no
+fault of my own.  A woman's gowns are always
+an object of attention among the sterner sex.  If,
+therefore, she dresses smartly she can at once
+attract a certain section of males, even though her
+features may be the reverse of prepossessing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truth to tell, a woman's natural <i>chic</i>, her taste
+in dress and her style of <i>coiffure</i>, are by far the
+most important factors towards her well-being.
+The day of the healthful, buxom, pink-and-white
+beauty is long past.  The woman rendered artistic
+by soft chiffons, dainty blouses, and graceful
+tea-gowns reigns in her stead.  Women nowadays
+are becoming very Continental.  For instance,
+certain illustrated journals tell us that fur coats
+of every description are to be the mode, and a few
+foolish women think that if they possess such a
+garment, no matter what its shape, so long as it
+is of fur, they will be in the vanguard of Fashion!
+The really smart woman will, however, think twice
+before she hides her figure by any such bulky
+covering, merely because she happens to possess
+the fur, and it will take the furrier all the ingenuity
+at his command to produce the neat, short and
+close-fitting little coat or bolero which she would
+condescend to wear.  Yes, we are yearly becoming
+more and more tasteful&mdash;more Parisian.  Ulrica's
+suggestion caused me to laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Old Mr. Keppel walked with me because he
+wanted company, I suppose," I protested.  "I
+had no idea such a misconstruction would be
+placed upon our conversation, Ulrica."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, my dear, everyone noticed it and
+remarked upon it.  He neglected his guests and
+walked with you for a whole hour in the garden.
+Whatever did you find to talk about all that long
+time?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing," I responded simply.  "He only took
+me round the place.  I don't think he cares very
+much for the people he entertains, or he wouldn't
+have neglected them in that manner."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  But I heard some spiteful things said
+about yourself," Ulrica remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By whom?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By various people.  They said that you had
+been angling after the old man for a long
+time&mdash;that you had followed him to Nice, in fact."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Ulrica!" I cried indignantly.  "How can
+they say such things?  Why, you know it was
+yourself who introduced us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know," she answered rather curtly.  "But
+I didn't expect that you'd make such a fool of
+yourself as you've done to-night."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am not aware that I have made a fool of
+myself, as you choose to term it," I responded
+warmly.  "Mr. Keppel invited me to walk in the
+garden, and as his guest I could not very well
+refuse."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You know what an ill-bred, vulgar old fellow
+he is, and you might therefore have had some
+respect for his guests."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know that he is an honest, plain-spoken man,"
+I said calmly.  "He may be ill-bred, but,
+nevertheless, he's more the gentleman than half the
+over-dressed cads who so perpetually hang about
+us just because we happen to be both good-looking."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If I were in your place I should be ashamed
+at having made such an exhibition of myself!"
+she exclaimed, with bitter sarcasm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have made no exhibition of myself," I
+protested.  "I like Mr. Keppel for his blunt
+manliness&mdash;but beyond that&mdash;why, Ulrica, you must be
+mad to suspect me of flirtation with him!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He's old enough to be your father," she snapped.
+"Yet Doris Ansell whispered in the drawing-room
+that she had watched him holding your hand in
+lover-like attitude."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then Doris Ansell lied!" I exclaimed angrily.
+"He never touched my hand.  It is a foul libel
+upon him and upon me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I saw you myself walking with him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you were walking with Gerald.  He was,
+as usual, flirting with you," I said spitefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her cheeks crimsoned, and I saw that my words
+had struck home.  How cruel and ill-natured was
+such gossip as this; how harmful to my good name,
+and to his.  I knew Doris Ansell well&mdash;a snub-nosed,
+under-sized little gossip, and had always
+believed that she entertained towards me some
+ill-will&mdash;for what reason I never could ascertain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And why should you fly into such a rage?"
+she inquired, with affected coolness.  "If you were
+to change into Mrs. Ben Keppel you would at
+least possess a very substantial income, even if
+your husband was a rough diamond.  You would
+exact the envy of half the women we know, and
+surely that's quite sufficient success to have
+obtained.  One can't have everything in this world.
+Money is always synonymous with ugliness where
+marriage is concerned."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't see any object to be obtained by
+discussing the matter further," I answered, with
+rising indignation.  "Such a circumstance as you
+suggest will never occur, you may depend upon it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Carmela," she said, laughing, "you are
+still a child, I really declare!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am old enough to be mistress of my own
+actions," I answered quickly.  "I shall certainly
+never marry for money."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because of Ernest&mdash;eh?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is cruel, Ulrica, to taunt me like this!" I
+cried, bursting into tears.  "Surely I've suffered
+enough!  You do not suffer because, as you have
+said hundreds of times, you have no heart.  Would
+that I had none!  Love within me is not yet dead.
+Would to God it were!  I might then be like you,
+cold and cynical, partaking of the pleasures of the
+world without a thought of its griefs.  As I am, I
+must love.  My love for that man is my very
+life!  Without it I should die!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, no, my dear," she said quickly, in kinder
+tones.  "Don't cry, or your eyes will be a horrid
+sight to-morrow.  Remember we're lunching over
+at Beaulieu with the Farnells.  Come, dry your
+eyes and go to bed.  I didn't mean anything, you
+know."  And she drew down my head and kissed
+me tenderly on the brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I left her and went to my room, but her words
+rang constantly in my ears.  The idea that the
+old millionaire had been attracted by me was a
+novel one.  Surely that could not be possible.
+True, he had grown confidential enough to tell
+me things that were held secret from all his friends,
+yet I attributed this to his eccentricity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No, it was surely not true that he was among
+my admirers.  Through the dark hours of that
+night I thought it all over.  Sometimes I saw in
+all that had occurred a disposition on his part to
+tell me some secret or other.  He had been so
+preoccupied, and had so earnestly told me of
+the dull loneliness of his life, that colour was
+certainly lent to the theory that he looked upon me
+with affection.  Yet, after all, I reasoned with
+myself that I could never in my life love a man
+of that age, and determined never to barter myself
+for money and position.  I should even, if he told
+me the truth, be compelled to refuse his offer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the whole theory was ridiculous.  It had
+been started by that lying, ill-natured woman
+for want of something else to gossip about.  Why
+should I heed it?  I liked him, it was true, but I
+could never love him&mdash;never!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reader, you may think it strange that we two
+young women were wandering about the Continent
+together without any male relative.  The truth is,
+that terrifying personage, so peculiarly British,
+known as Mrs. Grundy, is dead.  It is her complete
+downfall in this age of emancipation, bicycles and
+bloomers, that more than anything else makes
+the modern spinster's lot, in many respects, an
+eminently attractive one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were discussing this over our coffee on the
+following morning, when Ulrica, referring to our
+conversation of the previous night, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Formerly girls married in order to gain their
+social liberty; now they more often remain single
+to bring about that desirable consummation."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I acquiesced.  "If we are permitted
+by public opinion to go to college, to live
+alone, to travel, to have a profession, to belong
+to a club, to wear divided skirts&mdash;not that I approve
+of them&mdash;to give parties, to read and discuss
+whatsoever seems good to us, and go to theatres,
+and even to Monte Carlo, without a masculine escort,
+then we have most of the privileges&mdash;and several
+others thrown in&mdash;for which the girl of twenty or
+thirty years ago was ready to sell herself to the
+first suitor who offered himself and the shelter of
+his name."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm very glad, my dear Carmela, that you are
+at last becoming so very sensible," she answered
+approvingly.  "Until now you've been far too
+romantic and too old-fashioned in your ideas.  I
+really think that I shall convert you to my views
+of life in time&mdash;if you don't marry old Keppel."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Kindly don't mention him again," I protested
+firmly.  "To a certain extent I entirely agree with
+you regarding the emancipation of woman.  A
+capable woman who has begun a career, and feels
+certain of advancement in it, is often as shy of
+entangling herself matrimonially as ambitious
+young men have ever shown themselves in like
+circumstances."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Without doubt.  The disadvantages of marriage
+to a woman with a profession are more obvious
+than to a man, and it is just the question of
+maternity, with all its duties and responsibilities,
+which is occasionally the cause of many women
+forswearing the privileges of the married state."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, Ulrica," I said, "speaking candidly,
+would you marry if you had a really good offer?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Marry?  Certainly not," she answered, with
+a laugh, as though the idea were perfectly
+preposterous.  "Why should I marry?  I've had a
+host of offers, just as every woman with a little
+money always has.  But why should I renounce
+my freedom?  If I married, my husband would
+forbid this and forbid that&mdash;and you know I
+couldn't live without indulging in my little pet
+vices of smoking and gambling."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wouldn't your husband's love fill the void?"
+I queried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It would be but a poor substitute, I'm afraid.
+The most ardent love nowadays cools within six
+months, and more often even wanes with the
+honeymoon."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've really no patience with you," I said hastily.
+"You're far too cynical."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled, and then sighed gently.  She looked
+so young in her pale pink <i>peignoir</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Contact with the world has made me what
+I am, my dear Carmela."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," I said, "to be quite candid, I don't
+think that the real cause why so many women
+nowadays remain single is to be found in the
+theories we've been airing to one another.  The
+fact is, after all, that we're only a bundle of nerves
+and emotions, and once our affections are involved
+we are capable of any heroism."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You may be one of those, my dear," was her
+rather grave response.  "I'm afraid, however, that
+I am not."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I did not pursue the subject further.  She was
+kind and sympathetic in all else, save where my
+love was concerned.  My affection for Ernest was
+to her merely an amusing incident.  She seemed
+unable to realise how terribly serious I was, or
+what a crushing blow had fallen upon me when he
+had turned and forsaken me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gerald called at eleven, for he had arranged to
+accompany us to Beaulieu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Miss Rosselli," he cried, as he greeted me,
+"you're a brick&mdash;that you are!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A brick!" I echoed.  "Why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, you've worked an absolute miracle with
+the guv'nor.  Nobody else could persuade him
+to set foot on the <i>Vispera</i> except to return to
+England, yet you've induced him to arrange for a
+cruise up the Mediterranean."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica glanced at me with a confident air.  I
+knew the thought which rose in her mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you glad?" I asked him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Glad?  I should rather think so!  We shall
+have a most glorious time!  He intends asking the
+Farnells, Lord Eldersfield, Lord and Lady
+Stoneborough, and quite a lot of people.  We've got
+you to thank for it.  No power on earth would
+induce him to put to sea&mdash;except yourself, Miss
+Rosselli."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, Gerald," I said.  "Please don't flatter me.
+It's bad form, you know.  Your father asked me if
+I would like a cruise, and I responded in the
+affirmative, that's all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, at any rate, it's enough," answered the
+young man enthusiastically.  "The guv'nor has
+sent for Davis, the skipper, and when I left him,
+was poring over a chart of the Eastern Mediterranean.
+There's only one condition that I've made,
+and I think you'll both agree with me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What's that?" inquired Ulrica, as she buttoned
+her glove.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That we don't take that cur Barnes.  I hate
+that fellow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So say all of us," Ulrica observed frankly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"His air is so superior that people believe him
+to be at least a son of the house," Gerald said
+quickly.  "I know that he tells the guv'nor all
+sorts of false tales about myself.  He knew that
+I lost pretty heavily at Monte when I went over
+with you the other night, and as Mr. Barnes
+chanced to be there he was, of course, the amiable
+gentleman who told the tale.  I always feel as
+though I'd like to give him a good sound
+kicking."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Treat him with contempt," I urged.  "Your
+father is not the kind of man to believe mere tales
+without proof.  Even if he is a bit eccentric, he's
+the essence of justice&mdash;that you'll admit."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, Miss Rosselli, I tell you that my old dad
+is the very best fellow in all the world.  I know all
+men of his stamp have their little eccentricities,
+and therefore forgive him.  If he's niggardly
+towards me, it's only because he doesn't believe in
+a young man going the pace too fast."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Quite so," I answered, remembering how very
+lenient the world is towards the son of a millionaire.
+"No man should speak ill of his father&mdash;more
+especially of such an admirable type as your father
+is."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I drew myself up short, for I saw a smile
+playing in the corners of Ulrica's mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's be off," she said.  "We'll take a fiacre
+to the station.  Gerald, tell them to get us a cab."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And young Keppel went forth to do her bidding.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Carnival <i>bal masqué</i> at the Casino&mdash;the great
+event of King Carnival's reign&mdash;took place on the
+following Sunday night, and we made up a gay
+party to go to it.  There were seven of us, and
+we looked a grotesque group as we assembled in the
+vestibule of the "Grand," attired in our fantastic
+costumes and wearing those mysterious masks of
+black velvet which so effectively conceal the
+features.  Ulrica represented a Watteau shepherdess,
+with wig and crook complete, while I was
+<i>en bébé</i>, wearing a simple costume, surmounted
+by a sun-bonnet with a very wide brim.  One of
+the women of the party was a Queen of Folly,
+and another wore a striking Louis XV. dress;
+while Gerald represented a demon, and wore pins
+in his tail in order to prevent others from pulling
+that appendage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the distance from the hotel to the Casino was
+only a few hundred yards, we walked.  Laughter
+was abundant, for the novelty of the thing was
+sublime.  Among our party only Gerald had
+witnessed a previous Carnival ball, and he had led
+us to expect a scene of wild merriment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certainly we were not disappointed.  Having
+run the gauntlet of a crowd who smothered us
+with confetti, we entered the great winter-garden
+of the Casino, and found it a blaze of colour&mdash;the
+two colours of Carnival.  Suspended from the high
+glass roof were thousands of bannerettes of mauve
+and gold, while the costumes of the revellers were of
+the self-same shades.  Everywhere flashed coloured
+lights of similar hue, and the fun was already
+fast and furious.  The side-rooms, which, as most
+readers will remember, are ordinarily devoted to
+gambling&mdash;for gambling in a mild form is permitted
+at Nice&mdash;were now turned into handsome supper-rooms,
+and in the winter-garden and the theatre
+beyond the scene was perhaps one of the liveliest
+and most enchanting in the whole world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everyone had gone there for full enjoyment.  In
+the theatre there was wild dancing; the boxes were
+filled by the <i>grand monde</i> of Europe, princes and
+princesses, grand-dukes and grand-duchesses, counts
+and countesses, noted actresses from Paris and
+London, and well-known people of every nationality,
+all enjoying the scene of uproarious merrymaking.
+We viewed it first from our own box, but at length
+someone suggested that we should descend and
+dance, an idea which at once found ungrudging
+favour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Masked as everyone was, with the little piece of
+black lace tacked to the bottom of the black velvet
+<i>loup</i>, in order to conceal the lower part of the
+features, it was impossible to recognise a single
+person in that whirling crowd.  Therefore,
+immediately we descended to the floor of the theatre we
+at once became separated.  I stood for a few
+moments bewildered.  The blaze of colour made
+one's head reel.  People in all sorts of droll costumes
+were playing various kinds of childish antics.
+Out in the winter-garden clowns and devils were
+playing leap-frog, and sylphs and angels, joining
+hands, were whirling round and round in huge rings,
+playing some game and screaming with laughter.
+Almost everyone carried miniature representations
+of Punch, with bells attached, large rattles, or
+paper flowers which, when blown, could be elongated
+to a ridiculous extent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never before, in all my life, had I been amidst such
+a merry and irresponsible crowd.  The ludicrousness
+of Carnival reaches its climax in the ball at the
+Casino, and whatever may be said of it, it is without
+doubt one of the annual sights of Europe.  I had
+heard it denounced as a disgraceful exhibition by
+old ladies, who had been compelled to admit that
+they had never been present; but I must say that
+from first to last, although the fun was absolutely
+unbridled, I saw nothing whatever to offend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was standing aside watching the dancers,
+when suddenly a tall man, dressed in a remarkable
+costume representing an owl, approached, and
+bowing, said in rather good English, in a deep,
+but not unmusical voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Might I have the pleasure of this dance with
+mademoiselle?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at him in suspicion.  He was a weird-looking
+creature in his bird-dress of mauve and gold,
+and the strange mask with two black eyes peering
+out at me.  Besides, it was not my habit to dance
+with strangers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" he laughed.  "You hesitate because we
+have not been introduced.  Here in Nice at Carnival
+one introduces oneself.  Well, I have introduced
+myself, and now I ask you what is your opinion of
+my marvellous get-up.  Don't you think me a real
+fine bird?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I laughed.  "You're absolutely
+hideous."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thanks for the compliment," he answered
+pleasantly.  "To unmask is forbidden, or I'd
+take off this terrible affair, for I confess I am half
+stifled.  But if I'm ugly, you're absolutely charming.
+It's a case of Beauty and the Bird.  Aren't my
+wings fetching?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I knew you were English.  Funny how we
+Frenchmen can always pick out English and
+Americans."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How did you know I am English?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! now that's a secret," he laughed.  "But
+hark! it's a waltz.  Come under my wing, and
+let's dance.  I know you'd dearly love a turn
+round.  For this once throw the introduction farce
+to the winds, and let me take you round.  The owl
+is never a ferocious bird, you know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a moment I hesitated, then consenting, I
+whirled away among the dancers with my unknown
+partner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I saw you up in that box," he said presently.
+"I was waiting for you to come down."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With woman's innate coquetry, I felt a delight
+in misleading him, just as he was trying to mislead
+me.  There was a decided air of adventure in
+that curious meeting.  Besides, so many of the
+dresses were absolutely alike that, now we had
+become separated, it was hopeless for me to discover
+any of our party.  The Nice dressmakers make
+dozens of Carnival dresses exactly similar, and
+when the wearers are masked, it is impossible to
+distinguish one from the other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," he said evasively, in answer to my
+question, "I wanted a partner."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And so you waited for me?  Surely any other
+would have done as well?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, that's just it.  She wouldn't.  I wanted
+to dance with you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The waltz had ended, and we strolled together
+out of the theatre into the great winter-garden,
+with its bright flower-beds and graceful palms&mdash;a
+kind of huge conservatory, which forms a gay
+promenade each evening in the season.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't see why you should entertain such a
+desire," I said.  "Besides," and I paused to gain
+breath for the little untruth, "I fear now that my
+husband will be furious if he has noticed us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I might say the same about my wife&mdash;if I wished
+to import fiction into the romance," he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you have no wife?" I suggested, with a laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My wife is just as real as your husband," he
+responded bluntly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I mean that if you really have a husband, it
+is an extremely surprising confession."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why surprising?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, it's true that husbands are like
+Somebody's sewing-machines, no home being complete
+without one," he laughed.  "But I really had no
+idea that Mademoiselle Carmela Rosselli possessed
+such a useful commodity."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What!" I gasped, glaring at the hideous-looking
+Owl.  "You know me?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he responded, in a deeper tone, more
+earnestly than before.  "I know quite well who
+you are.  I have come here to-night expressly to
+speak with you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I started, and stood glaring at him in wonderment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have," he added, in a low, confidential voice,
+"something important to say to you&mdash;something
+most important."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VIII
+<br><br>
+NARRATES A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"You are a perfect stranger, sir," I said, with
+considerable hauteur.  "Until you care to give me
+your name, and make known who you are, I have
+no wish to hear this important statement of yours."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he answered, "I regret very much that
+for certain reasons I am unfortunately unable
+to furnish my name.  I am The Owl&mdash;that is
+sufficient."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, not for me.  As I am not in the habit of
+thus chattering with strangers at a public ball, I
+must wish you good evening," I said, and turned
+abruptly away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant he was again at my side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Listen, Miss Rosselli," he said, in a deeply
+earnest tone.  "You must listen to me.  I have
+something to tell you which closely concerns
+yourself&mdash;your future welfare."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I cannot speak now, as someone may overhear.
+I had to exercise the greatest precaution in
+approaching you for there are spies everywhere, and
+a single blunder would be fatal."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean?" I inquired, at once
+interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The manner of this hideously disguised man
+who spoke such excellent English was certainly
+mysterious, and I could not doubt that he was in
+real earnest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let us walk over there, and sit in that corner,"
+he said, indicating a seat half hidden in the bamboos.
+"If there is no one near, I will explain.  If we are
+watched, then we must contrive to find some other
+place."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In our box," I suggested.  "We can sit at
+the back in the alcove, where no one can see us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Excellent!" he answered.  "I never thought
+of that.  But if any of your party return there?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can merely say that you invited me to dance,
+and I, in return, invited you there for a few
+moments' rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then let's go," he said, and a few minutes
+later we were sitting far back in the shadow of the
+box on the second tier, high above the music and
+gay revelry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," I inquired eagerly, when we were
+seated, "and why did you wish to see me to-night?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"First, I have knowledge&mdash;which you will not,
+I think deny&mdash;that you loved a man in London&mdash;one
+Ernest Cameron."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And at this moment there is a second man who,
+although not your lover, is often in your thoughts.
+The man's name is Benjamin Keppel.  Am I
+correct?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I really don't see by what right you submit
+me to this cross-examination upon affairs which
+only concern myself," I responded in a hard voice,
+although I was eager to determine the identity
+of this masked man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Marriage with a millionaire is a temptation
+which few women can resist," he said philosophically,
+in a voice undisturbed by my harsh retort.
+"Temptations are the crises which test the strength
+of one's character.  Whether a woman stands or
+falls at these crises depends very largely on what
+she is before the testing comes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And pray what concern have you in my intentions
+or actions?" I demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You will discover that in due time," he
+answered.  "I know that to the world you, like your
+companion, Ulrica Yorke, pretend to be a woman
+who prefers her freedom and has no thought of love.
+Yet you are only acting the part of the free woman.
+At heart you love as intensely and hate as fiercely
+as all the others.  Is not that so?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You speak remarkably plainly, as though you
+were well acquainted with my private affairs," I
+remarked resentfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I only say what I know to be the truth," he
+replied.  "You, Carmela Rosselli, are not heartless
+like that emotionless woman who is your friend.
+The truth is that you love&mdash;you still love Ernest
+Cameron."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I rose in quick indignation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I refuse to hear you further, monsieur!" I
+cried.  "Kindly let me pass."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His hand was on the door of the box, and he kept
+it there, notwithstanding my words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he said, quite coolly.  "You must hear
+me&mdash;indeed, you shall hear me!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have heard you," I answered.  "You have
+said sufficient."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have not finished," he replied.  "When I
+have done so, you will, I think, only be anxious to
+learn more."  He added quite calmly: "If you will
+kindly be seated, so as not to attract attention, I
+will go on."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sank back into my seat without further effort
+to arrest his words.  The adventure was most
+extraordinary, and certainly his grotesque
+appearance held me puzzled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here, in Nice, not long ago," he continued,
+"you met a man who believed himself in love with
+you, yet a few nights later he was foully murdered
+in your sitting-room at the hotel."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reginald Thorne," I said quickly, in a strained
+voice, for the memory of that distressing event
+was very painful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, Reginald Thorne," he repeated, in a low,
+hoarse voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You knew him?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, I knew him," was his response, in a deep,
+strange tone.  "It is to speak of him that I have
+sought you to-night."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If you are so well aware who I am, and of all
+my movements, you might surely have called upon
+me," I remarked dubiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, no!  That would have been impossible.
+None must know that we have met!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because there are reasons&mdash;very strong reasons&mdash;why
+our meeting should be kept secret," the voice
+responded, the pair of sharp black eyes peering
+forth mysteriously from the two holes in the owl's
+face.  "We are surrounded by spies.  Here, in
+France, they have reduced espionage to a fine art."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And yet the police have failed to discover the
+murderer of poor Mr. Thorne," I observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They will never do that."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They will never solve the mystery without aid."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Whose aid?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mine."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What?" I cried, starting quickly.  "Are you
+actually in possession of some fact that will lead
+to the arrest of the culprit?  Tell me quickly.
+Is it really certain that he was murdered, and did
+not die a natural death?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" he laughed.  "I told you a few minutes
+ago that you would be anxious to hear my
+statement.  Was I not correct?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course!  I had no idea that you were in
+possession of any facts or evidence regarding the
+crime.  What do you know about it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At present I am not at liberty to say&mdash;except
+that the person who committed the deed was no
+ordinary criminal."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then he was murdered, and the motive was robbery?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That was the police theory, but I can at once
+assure you that they were entirely mistaken.
+Theft was not the motive."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the money was stolen from his pockets!"
+I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How do you prove that?  He might have
+secreted it somewhere before the attack was made
+upon him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I feel certain that the money was stolen," I
+answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, you are, of course, welcome to your own
+opinion," he answered carelessly.  "I can only
+assure you that, even though the money was not
+found upon him, robbery was not the motive of
+the crime."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you have come to me in order to tell me
+that?" I said.  "Perhaps you will explain
+further."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I come to you, Miss Rosselli, because a serious
+responsibility rests upon yourself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In what manner?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The unfortunate young man was attracted
+towards you; he accompanied you to Monte
+Carlo on the day of his death, and he was found
+dead in your sitting-room."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know," I said.  "But why did he go there?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because he, no doubt, wished to speak with
+you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At that late hour?  I cannot conceive why
+he should want to speak with me.  He might have
+come to me in the morning."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  The matter was pressing&mdash;very pressing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then if you know its nature, as you apparently
+do, perhaps you will tell me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can do nothing," the deep voice responded.
+"I only desire to warn you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To warn me!" I cried, surprised.  "Of what?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of a danger which threatens you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A danger?  Explain it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then kindly give me your undivided attention
+for a moment," the Owl said earnestly, at the
+same time peering into my eyes with that air of
+mystery which so puzzled me.  "Perhaps it will
+not surprise you to know that in this matter of the
+death of Reginald Thorne there are several interests
+at stake, and the most searching and secret
+inquiries have been made on behalf of the young
+man's friends by detectives sent from London,
+and from New York.  These inquiries have
+established one or two curious facts, but so far from
+elucidating the mystery, they have only tended
+to render it more inscrutable.  As I have already
+said, the person actually responsible for the crime
+is no ordinary murderer, and notwithstanding the
+fact that some of the shrewdest and most experienced
+detectives have been at work, they can
+discover nothing.  You follow me?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perfectly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I will proceed further.  Has it ever
+occurred to you that you might, if you so desired,
+become the wife of old Benjamin Keppel?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I really don't see what that has to do with the
+matter under discussion," I said, with quick
+indignation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you admit that old Mr. Keppel is among
+your admirers?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I admit nothing," I responded.  "I see no
+reason why you, a perfect stranger, should intrude
+upon my private affairs in this manner."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The intrusion is for your own safety," he
+answered ambiguously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what need I fear, pray?  You spoke of
+some extraordinary warning, I believe."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"True, I wish to warn you," said the man in
+strange disguise.  "I came here to-night at
+considerable risk to do so."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hesitated.  Then, after a few moments of
+reflection, I resolved upon making a bold shot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Those who speak of risk are invariably in
+fear," I said.  "Your words betray that you have
+some connection with the crime."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I watched him narrowly, and saw him start
+perceptibly.  Then I congratulated myself upon
+my shrewdness, and was determined to fence with
+him further and endeavour to make him commit
+himself.  I rather prided myself upon smart
+repartee, and many had told me that at times I
+shone as a brilliant conversationalist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" he said hastily, "I think you mistake
+me, Miss Rosselli.  I am acting in your interests
+entirely."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If so, then surely you may give me your name
+or tell me who you are."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I prefer to remain unknown," he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because you fear exposure."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear no exposure," he protested.  "I came
+here to speak with you secretly to-night, because
+had I called openly at your hotel my visit would
+have aroused suspicion, and most probably have
+had the effect of thwarting the plans of those who
+are endeavouring to solve the enigma."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But you give me no proof whatever of your
+<i>bona fides</i>!" I declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Simply because I am unable.  I merely come
+to give you warning."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of what?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of the folly of flirtation."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sprang to my feet indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You insult me!" I cried.  "I will bear it no
+longer.  Please let me pass!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shall not allow you to leave until I have
+finished," he answered determinedly.  "You think
+that I am not in earnest, but I tell you I am.  Your
+whole future depends upon your acceptance of
+my suggestion."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what is your suggestion, pray?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That you should no longer regard old Mr. Keppel
+as your possible husband."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have never regarded him as such," I responded,
+with a contemptuous laugh.  "But supposing
+that I did&mdash;supposing that he offered me
+marriage, what then?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then a disaster would fall upon you.  It is
+of that disaster that I came here to-night to warn
+you," he said, speaking quickly in a hoarse voice.
+"Recollect that you must never become his wife&mdash;never!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If I did, what harm could possibly befall me?"
+I inquired eagerly, for the stranger's prophetic
+words were, to say the least, exceedingly strange.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was silent for a moment, then said slowly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Remember the harm that befell Reginald Thorne."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What?" I cried in alarm.  "Death?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he answered solemnly, "death."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood before him for a moment breathless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then, to put it plainly," I said, in an uneven
+voice, "I am threatened with death should I marry
+Benjamin Keppel?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Even to become betrothed to him would be
+fatal," he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And by whom am I thus threatened?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is a question I cannot answer.  I am
+here merely to warn you, not to give explanations."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the person who takes such an extraordinary
+interest in my private affairs must have
+some motive for this threat?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How can I tell?  It is not myself who is
+threatening you.  I have only given you warning."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is a reason, then, why I should not marry
+Mr. Keppel?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is even a reason why you should in
+future refuse to accept his invitations to the Villa
+Fabron," my strange companion replied.  "You
+have been invited to form one of a party on board
+the <i>Vispera</i>, but for your personal safety I would
+presume to advise you not to go."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shall certainly please myself," I replied.
+"These threats will certainly not deter me from
+acting just as I think proper.  If I go upon a
+cruise with Mr. Keppel and his son, I shall have no
+fear of my personal safety."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reginald Thorne was young and athletic.
+He had no fear.  But he disobeyed a warning.
+You know the result."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you wish me to decline Mr. Keppel's
+invitation and remain in Nice?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I urge you, for several reasons, to decline his
+invitation, but I do not suggest that you should
+remain in Nice.  I am the bearer of instructions
+to you.  If you carry them out, they will be
+distinctly to your benefit."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What are they?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To-day," he said, "is the 18th of February.
+Those who have your welfare at heart desire that
+you should, after the Riviera season is over, go
+to London, arriving there on the 1st of June
+next."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This stranger seemed to possess a good deal of
+knowledge in regard to my antecedents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, on arrival in London you will go to the
+Hotel Cecil, and there receive a visitor on the
+following day, the 2nd of June.  You will then be
+given certain instructions, which must be carried
+out."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All this is very mysterious," I remarked.
+"But I really have no intention of returning to
+London until next autumn."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think you will," was his reply, "because,
+when you fully consider all the circumstances,
+you will keep the appointment in London, and learn
+the truth."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The truth regarding the death of Reginald
+Thorne?" I cried.  "Cannot I learn it here?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he replied.  "And further, you will never
+learn it unless you take heed of the plain words
+I have spoken to-night."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You tell me that any further friendship between
+Mr. Keppel and myself is forbidden," I exclaimed,
+laughing.  "Why, the whole thing is really too
+absurd!  I shall, of course, just please
+myself&mdash;as I always do."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In that case, disaster is inevitable," he
+observed, with a sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You tell me that I am threatened with death
+if I disobey.  That is certainly extremely comforting."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You appear to regard what I have said very
+lightly, Miss Rosselli," said the unknown voice.
+"It would be well if you regarded your love for
+Ernest Cameron just as lightly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He has nothing whatever to do with this
+matter," I said quickly.  "I am mistress of my
+own actions, and I refuse to be influenced by any
+threats uttered by a person who fears to reveal his
+identity."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"As you will," he replied, with an impatient
+movement.  "I am unknown to you, it is true,
+but I think I have shown an intimate knowledge
+of your private affairs."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If, as you assure me, you are acting in my
+interests, you may surely tell me the truth regarding
+the mystery surrounding poor Reginald's death,"
+I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is unfortunately not within my power,"
+he responded.  "I am in possession only of certain
+facts, and have risked much in coming here to-night
+to give you warning."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But how can my affairs affect anyone?" I
+queried.  "What you have told me is, if true,
+most extraordinary."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is true, and it is, as you say, very extraordinary.
+Your friend Mr. Thorne died mysteriously.
+I only hope, Miss Rosselli, that you will not
+share the same fate."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I paused and looked at the curious figure before me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In order to avoid doing so, then, I am to hold
+aloof from Mr. Keppel, remain here until May,
+and then travel back to London, there to meet
+some person unknown?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Exactly.  But there is still one thing further.
+I am charged to offer for your acceptance a small
+present, as some small recompense for the trouble
+you must be put to by waiting here in the South,
+and then journeying to London," and he drew
+from beneath his strangely grotesque dress a small
+box, some four or five inches square, wrapped in
+paper, which he handed to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I did not take it.  There was something uncanny
+about it all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do not hesitate, or we may be observed,"
+he said.  "Take it quickly.  Do not open it until
+you return to your hotel."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words he thrust it into my hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Remember what I have said," he exclaimed,
+rising quickly.  "I must be gone, for I see that
+suspicion is aroused by those who are watching.
+Act with prudence, and the disaster against which
+I have warned you will not occur.  Above all, keep
+the appointment in London on the 2nd of June."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because for your own safety it is imperative,"
+he responded, and with a low bow he opened the
+door of the box.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next instant I was alone with the little
+packet the stranger had given me resting in my
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IX
+<br><br>
+SHOWS THE BIRD'S TALONS
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+For some little time after my mysterious companion
+had left I sat forward in the box, gazing down at
+the wild revelry below, and hoping that one or
+other of the party would recognise me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So great a crowd was there, and so many dresses
+exactly similar, that to distinguish Ulrica or Gerald,
+or indeed any of the others, proved absolutely
+impossible.  They might, of course, be in one or other
+of the supper-rooms, and I saw from the first that
+there was but little chance of finding them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaning my elbows on the edge of the box, I
+gazed down upon the scene of reckless merriment,
+but my thoughts were full of the strange words
+uttered by the mysterious masker.  The packet
+he had given me I had transferred to my pocket,
+though with pardonable curiosity I longed to open
+it and see what it contained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The warning he had given me was extremely
+disconcerting.  It worried me.  No woman likes
+to think that she has unknown enemies ready to
+take her life.  Yet that was apparently my
+position.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That life could be taken swiftly and without
+detection, I had plainly seen in the case of poor
+Reggie.  When I recollected his terrible fate I
+shuddered.  Yet this man had plainly given me
+to understand that the same fate awaited me if I
+did not adopt the line of conduct which he had
+laid down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whoever he might be, he certainly was acquainted
+with all my movements, and knew intimately
+my feelings.  There was certainly no likelihood
+of my marriage with old Benjamin Keppel.  I
+scouted the idea.  Yet he knew quite well that
+the millionaire had become attracted by me, and
+reposed in me a confidence which he did not extend
+to others.  The more I reflected, the more I became
+convinced that the stranger's fear of being recognised
+arose from the fact that he himself was either
+the murderer or an accessory to the murder of poor
+Reggie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What did the demand that I should return to
+London denote?  It could only mean one
+thing&mdash;namely, that my assistance was required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whoever were my enemies, they were, I argued,
+enemies likewise of old Mr. Keppel.  The present
+which the stranger had pressed upon me was
+nothing less than a bribe to secure either my
+silence or my services.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However much I tried, it appeared out of the
+question for me to discover the motive guiding
+the stranger's conduct.  The only certain fact
+was that this man, so cleverly disguised that I
+could not distinguish his real height, much less
+his form or features, had come there, watched
+for a favourable opportunity to speak with me,
+and had warned me to sever my friendship with
+the millionaire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaning there, gazing blankly down upon the
+crowd screaming with laughter at the Parisian
+quadrilles and antics of clown and columbine, I
+coolly analysed my own feeling towards the blunt,
+plain-spoken old gentleman with the melancholy
+eyes.  I found&mdash;as I had believed all along&mdash;that
+I admired him for his honest good-nature, his
+utter lack of anything approaching "side," his
+strenuous efforts to assist in good works, and his
+regard for appearances only for his son's sake.
+But I did not love him.  No, I had loved one man.
+I could never love another&mdash;never in all my life!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps Ernest Cameron was present, disguised
+by a mask and dress of parti-coloured satin!
+Perhaps he was down there among the dancers,
+escorting that woman who had usurped my place.
+The thought held me in wonder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly, however, I was brought back to a
+due sense of my surroundings by the opening of
+the door of the box, and the entry of one of the
+theatre attendants, who, addressing me in French,
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I beg mademoiselle's pardon, but the Director
+would esteem it a favour if mademoiselle would
+step down to the bureau at once."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do they want with me?" I inquired
+quickly, with considerable surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of that I have no knowledge, mademoiselle;
+I was merely told to ask you to go there without
+delay."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore, in wonder, I rose and followed the
+man downstairs and through the crowd of revellers
+to the private office of the Director, close to the
+main entrance of the Casino.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the room I found the Director, an elderly
+man, with short, stiff grey hair, sitting at a table,
+while near him stood two men dressed as pierrots
+with their masks removed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the door was closed, the Director,
+courteously offering me a seat, apologised for
+disturbing me, but explained that he had done so at
+the request of his two companions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I may as well at once explain," said the elder
+of the two in French, "that we desire some
+information which you can furnish."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of what nature?" I inquired, in a tone of
+marked surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In the theatre, an hour ago, you were accosted
+by a masker, wearing a dress representing an owl.
+You danced with him, but were afterwards lost
+in the crowd.  Search was made through all the
+rooms for you, but you could not be found.  Where
+have you been?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have been sitting in the box in conversation
+with the stranger."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All the time?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  He took precautions against being seen."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who was he?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have no idea," I responded, still puzzled by
+the man's demand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I had better, perhaps, explain at once to
+mademoiselle that we are agents of police," he said,
+with a smile, "and that the movements of the
+individual who met you and chatted with you so
+affably are of the greatest interest to us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you know who he is?" I exclaimed quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  We have discovered that."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who is he?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Unfortunately, it is not our habit to give
+details of any case on which we are engaged until
+it is completed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The case in question is the murder of
+Mr. Thorne at the 'Grand Hotel,' is it not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mademoiselle guesses correctly.  She was a
+friend of the unfortunate gentleman's, if I mistake
+not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," he said, in a confidential tone, while
+his companion, a slightly younger man, stood by
+regarding me and tugging at his moustache, "we
+should esteem it a favour if you would kindly
+relate all that has transpired this evening.  When
+we saw him meet you we were not certain of his
+identity.  His disguise was puzzling.  Afterwards
+there could be no doubt, but he had then disappeared."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I had thought that the police had relinquished
+their inquiries," I said, gratified, nevertheless, to
+know that they were still on the alert.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is when we relax our efforts slightly that
+we have the better chance of success," the detective
+replied.  "Did the man give you any name?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No; he refused to tell me who he was."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what was his excuse for accosting you
+and demanding a <i>tête-à-tête</i>?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He said he wished to warn me of an impending
+peril.  In brief, he told me that my life was in
+jeopardy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" the man ejaculated, as he exchanged a
+meaning glance with his companion.  "And his
+pretence was to give you warning of it.  Did he
+tell you by whom your life was threatened?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  He refused any details, but made certain
+suggestions as to the course I should pursue."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That sounds interesting.  What did he suggest?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hesitated for a few moments.  Then reflecting
+that the stranger was evidently under the observation
+of the police, and that the latter were trying
+to bring poor Reggie's assassin to justice, I
+resolved to reveal all that had passed between us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore I gave a brief outline of our conversation
+just as I have written it in the foregoing pages.
+Both detectives, at hearing my story, seemed very
+much puzzled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You will pardon my intrusion," exclaimed the
+agent of police who had first spoken to me, "but
+as you will see, this is a clue which must be
+thoroughly investigated.  Will mademoiselle
+forgive me for asking whether there is any truth in
+this man's surmise that she is about to become
+engaged to marry this Monsieur Keppel?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"None whatever," I answered frankly.  "I
+can only suppose that some unfounded gossip has
+arisen, as it so often does, and that it has reached
+his ears."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yet he threatens&mdash;or at least warns you of
+peril if you should become the wife of this wealthy
+monsieur!  Ah! there seems to be some very
+deep motive; what it really is, we must seek to
+discover.  When we have found it we shall have, I
+feel confident, a clue to the murderer of Monsieur
+Thorne."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But there is still another rather curious fact,"
+I went on, now determined to conceal nothing.
+"He declared that it was necessary for my
+well-being that I should return to London, and there
+meet some person who would visit me on the 2nd
+of June next."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!  And you intend keeping that appointment,
+I presume?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I intend to do nothing of the kind, monsieur,"
+I replied, with a laugh.  "The affair is a very ugly
+one, and I have no desire whatever that my name
+should be linked further with it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course.  I quite understand the annoyance
+caused to mademoiselle.  It is sufficient to have
+one's friend murdered in that mysterious manner,
+without being pestered by mysterious individuals
+who mask themselves and prophesy all sorts of
+unpleasant things if their orders are not obeyed.
+Did you promise to return to London?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I said I would consider the advisability of
+doing so."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are diplomatic&mdash;eh?" he said, with a
+laugh.  "It is unfortunate that this fellow has
+slipped through our fingers so cleverly&mdash;very
+unfortunate!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But if he is known to you, there will surely
+not be much difficulty in rediscovering him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! that's just the question, you see.  We
+are not absolutely certain as to his identity."  Then
+after a slight pause, he glanced at me and asked
+suddenly: "Mademoiselle has a friend&mdash;or had a
+friend&mdash;named Cameron&mdash;a Monsieur Ernest
+Cameron?  Is that so?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think I must have blushed beneath the piece of
+black velvet which hid my cheeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is correct," I stammered.  "Why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The reason is unimportant," he answered
+carelessly.  "The fact is written in the papers
+concerning the case, and we like always to verify
+facts in such a case as this&mdash;that's all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But he has no connection with this tragic
+business!" I hastened to declare.  "I haven't
+spoken to him for nearly two years&mdash;we have been
+apart for quite that time."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course," said the man reassuringly; "the
+fact has nothing to do with the matter.  I merely
+referred to it in order to obtain confirmation of our
+reports.  You mentioned something of a proposed
+yachting cruise.  What did this mysterious
+individual say regarding that?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He warned me not to go on board the
+<i>Vispera</i>&mdash;&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The <i>Vispera</i>?" he interrupted.  "The owner
+of the yacht is monsieur the millionaire, is he
+not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I responded in the affirmative.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And this Monsieur Keppel has invited you to
+go with others on a cruise to Naples?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  But how did you know that it was to
+Naples?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All yachts sailing from Nice eastward go to
+Naples," he answered, laughing.  "I suppose the
+programme includes a run to the Greek islands.
+Constantinople, Smyrna, and Tunis, eh?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think so; but I have not yet heard definitely."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You have accepted the invitation, I take it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And that, of course, lends colour to the belief
+that monsieur the millionaire is in love with you,
+for it is well known that although he has that
+magnificent yacht he never goes on a pleasure
+cruise."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can't help what may be thought by gossips,"
+I said hastily.  "Mr. Keppel is a friend of
+mine&mdash;nothing further."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But this friendship has apparently caused
+certain apprehensions to arise in the minds of the
+persons of whom your mysterious companion was
+the mouthpiece&mdash;the people who threaten you with
+death should you disobey them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who are those people, do you imagine?" I
+inquired, deeply in earnest, for the matter seemed
+to grow increasingly serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" he answered, with a shrug of his
+shoulders.  "If we knew that we should have no
+difficulty in arresting the assassin of Monsieur
+Thorne."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, what do you consider my best course?"
+I asked, utterly bewildered by the mysterious events
+of the evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should advise you to keep your own counsel,
+and leave the inquiries to us," was the detective's
+rejoinder.  "If this man again approaches you,
+make an appointment with him later and acquaint
+us with the time and place at once."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I don't anticipate that I shall see him
+again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, determined to render these police agents
+every assistance, even though they had been
+stupidly blind to allow the stranger to escape, I
+drew from my pocket the small packet which he
+had given me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This," I said, "he handed to me at the last
+instant, accompanied by a hope that I would not
+fail to keep the appointment in London."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Will you permit us to open it?" he inquired,
+much interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I responded.  "I am anxious to
+see what it contains."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The detective took it, and cut the string with
+his pocket-knife; then, while his subordinate and
+the Director of the Casino craned their necks to
+investigate, he unwrapped paper after paper until
+he came to a square jewel-case covered in dark
+crimson leather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"An ornament, I suppose!" exclaimed the detective.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he opened the box, and from its velvet-lined
+depths something fell to the ground which
+caused us to utter a loud cry of surprise in chorus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The detective stooped to pick it up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood dumbfounded and aghast.  In his hand
+was a bundle of folded French bank-notes&mdash;each
+for one thousand francs.  They were the notes
+stolen from Reginald Thorne by his assassin.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER X
+<br><br>
+MAKES ONE POINT PLAIN
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"Extraordinary!" ejaculated the detective,
+whose habitual coolness seemed utterly upset by
+the unexpected discovery.  "This adds an entirely
+new feature to the case!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What, I wonder, could have been the motive in
+giving the notes to mademoiselle?" queried his
+companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How can we tell?" said the other.  "It at
+least proves one thing, namely, that the man in the
+owl's dress is the person we suspected him to be."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you believe him to be the actual assassin?"
+I gasped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the detectives, with the aid of the Director
+of the Theatre, were busy counting the stolen notes.
+There were sixty, each for one thousand francs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They examined the leather jewellery case, but
+found no mark upon it, nor upon the paper
+wrappings.  The box was such as might have once
+contained a bracelet, but the raised velvet-covered
+spring in the interior had been removed in order
+to admit of the introduction of the notes, which,
+even when folded, formed a rather large packet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They are undoubtedly those stolen from
+Monsieur Thorne," the detective said.  "In these
+circumstances, it is our duty to take possession
+of them as evidence against the criminal.  I shall
+lodge them with the Prefect of Police until we
+have completed the inquiry."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I answered.  "I have no desire
+to keep them in my possession.  The history
+connected with them is far too gruesome.  But
+whatever motive could there be in handing them over
+to me?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! that we hope to discover later," the
+detective responded, carefully folding them,
+replacing them in the case, and taking charge of the
+wrappings, which it was believed might form some
+clue.  "At present it would seem very much as
+though the assassin handed you the proceeds of
+the crime in order to convince you that robbery
+was not the motive."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you do believe that the man in the owl's
+dress was the real culprit?" I cried eagerly.  "If
+so, I have actually danced to-night with poor
+Reggie's murderer!" I gasped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is more than likely that we shall be able to
+establish that fact," the subordinate observed,
+in a rather uncertain tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How unfortunate," ejaculated his superior,
+"that we allowed him to slip through our fingers
+thus&mdash;and with the money actually upon him, too!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," observed the Director of the Casino.
+"You have certainly to-night lost an excellent
+opportunity, messieurs.  It is curious that neither
+of you noticed mademoiselle in the box talking
+with this mysterious individual."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That was, I think, impossible," I remarked.
+"We sat quite back in the small alcove."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What number was your box?" the Director asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Fifteen."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, of course!" he said quickly.  "There is,
+I remember, a kind of alcove at the back.  You sat
+in there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," observed the chief detective, "no good
+can be done by remaining here any longer, I
+suppose, so we had better endeavour to trace this
+interesting person by other means.  The fact that
+he has given up the proceeds of the crime is
+sufficient to show that he means to leave Nice.
+Therefore we must lose no time," and he glanced at his
+watch.  "Ten minutes to two," he said.  Then
+turning to his assistant, he ordered him to drive
+to the station to see whether the man who had
+worn the disguise of the night-bird was among
+the travellers leaving for Marseilles at 2.30.
+"Remain on duty at the station until I send and
+relieve you," he said.  "There are several special
+trains to Cannes and to Monte Carlo about three
+o'clock, on account of the ball.  Be careful to watch
+them all.  It's my opinion he may be going to
+cross the frontier at Ventimiglia.  I'll telephone
+there as soon as I get down to the bureau."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Bien, monsieur!</i>" answered the other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As they went out, after wishing me good-night,
+I followed them, asking of the senior of the
+pair:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tell me, monsieur, what is my best course of
+action?  Do you think the threats are serious?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not at all," he said reassuringly.  "My dear
+mademoiselle, don't distress yourself in the very
+least regarding what this man has said.  He has
+only endeavoured to frighten you into rendering
+him assistance.  Act just as you think proper.
+Your experience to-night has certainly been a
+strange one; but if I were in your place, I would
+return to the hotel, sleep soundly, and forget it
+all until&mdash;well, until we make our arrest."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You expect to do so, then?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We, of course, hope so.  In my profession,
+you know, everything is uncertain.  So much
+depends upon chance," and he smiled pleasantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I presume you will communicate with me
+later as to the further result of your
+investigations?" I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Most certainly.  Mademoiselle shall be kept
+well informed of our operations, never fear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were at the door of the Casino, where a great
+crowd had assembled to watch the maskers emerging.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Shall I call you a fiacre?" he asked quite
+gallantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, thank you," I responded.  "I'll walk.
+It is only a few steps to the 'Grand.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, of course," he laughed.  "I had forgotten.
+<i>Bon soir</i>, mademoiselle."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wished him good-night, and the next moment he
+was lost in the crowd, while, with my mind full
+of my extraordinary adventure, I walked along the
+Quai St. Jean Baptiste to the hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The incidents had been so strange that they seemed
+beyond belief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I found the faithful Felicita dozing, but Ulrica had
+not returned.  When she entered, however, a
+quarter of an hour later, she was in the highest
+of spirits, declaring that she had experienced a
+most delightful time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My opinion of the Carnival ball, my dear, is
+that it's by far the jolliest function on the Riviera,"
+she declared.  Then in the same breath she proceeded
+to give me an outline of her movements from
+the time we were lost to one another in the crowd.
+She had, it appeared, had supper with Gerald
+and several friends, and the fun had been fast and
+furious.  Her dress was badly torn in places, and
+certainly her dishevelled appearance showed that
+she had entered very thoroughly into the boisterous
+amusement of Carnival.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you?" she inquired presently.  "What
+in the world became of you?  We searched
+everywhere before supper, but couldn't find you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I met a rather entertaining partner," I
+responded briefly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A stranger?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," and I gave her a look by which she
+understood that I intended to say nothing before
+Felicita.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore the subject dropped, and as I had
+promised to tell her of my strange adventure later,
+she left me for the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am seldom troubled by insomnia, but that
+night little sleep came to my eyes.  Lying awake
+has no attraction for anyone; yet it is an experience
+which many have to suffer constantly, though not
+gladly.  That night my brain was troubled by a
+thousand conflicting thoughts.  I turned on to
+the side on which I usually sleep, and closed my
+eyes.  But immediately ideas and suggestions of all
+kinds rushed at me.  It was then that I recalled
+the mistakes of that night.  I noted the opportunities
+missed, thought of the right things that I
+had left unsaid, and groaned at the thought of
+what really found utterance.  Round and round
+went my mental machinery, and I knew well that
+sleep was not to be expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A terrible restlessness set in upon me, and turn
+succeeded turn, till I wished myself a polygon, so
+that the sides to which I could change might be
+more numerous.  Some people have recourse to
+a small shelf of bedside books to lull them to rest.
+I think it was Thackeray who said, "'Montaigne'
+and 'Howell's Letters' are my bedside books.  If
+I wake at night I have one or other of them to
+prattle me off to sleep again."  Montaigne seems
+to have been a favourite author with many people
+for this purpose.  The cheerful, companionable
+garrulity of the Gascon is the ideal pabulum for
+those suffering from wakeful hours at night, for
+both Pope and Wycherley used to lull themselves
+to sleep by his aid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas!  I had no Montaigne&mdash;nothing, indeed,
+more literary or prattling than a couple of the
+local newspapers of Nice.  Therefore I was
+compelled to lie and endure the thoughts which fled
+through my brain in a noisy whirr, and prevented
+me falling off into slumber.  The hotel seemed full
+of noise.  Strange sounds came from the staircase,
+and stealthy footfalls seemed to make themselves
+audible.  From the outer world came other sounds,
+some familiar, others inexplicable&mdash;all jarring upon
+the delicate nerves of hearing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I lay there thinking it all over.  I had now not
+the slightest doubt that the man in the owl's dress
+was the actual assassin of poor Reggie.  And I
+had chatted amiably with him.  I had actually
+danced with him!  The very thought held me
+horrified.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What marvellous self-confidence the fellow had
+displayed; what cool audacity, what unwarrantable
+interference in my private affairs, and what a
+terrible counter-stroke he had effected in presenting
+me with the actual notes filched from the dead
+man's pocket!  The incident was rendered the
+more bewildering on account of the entire absence
+of motive.  I lay awake reflecting upon it the whole
+night long.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we took our morning coffee together I
+related to Ulrica all that had passed.  She sat,
+a pretty and dainty figure in her lace-trimmed
+and beribboned <i>robe de chambre</i>, leaning her bare
+elbows upon the table, and listening open-mouthed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the police actually allowed him to escape
+scot-free?" she cried indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The thing is monstrous.  I begin to think
+that their failure to trace the murderer is because
+they are in league with him.  Here abroad, one
+never knows."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I think not," I responded.  "He was
+clever enough to evade observation, and took care
+to make the most of the little alcove in the box."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the stolen notes!" she cried.  "He evidently
+wished to get rid of them in order to avoid
+being found with the money in his possession.  So he
+presented you with them.  A grim present,
+certainly.  The fellow apparently has a sense of
+humour."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I tell you, my dear Ulrica, I'm terribly upset.
+I haven't slept at all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Enough to upset anyone," she declared.  "We
+must tell Gerald, and ask his advice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, we must not tell him all.  I beg of you to
+say nothing regarding myself and old Mr. Keppel."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly not.  I shall be discreet, rely upon
+me.  Gerald will advise us how to act."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Or the old gentleman might give us some
+advice," I suggested; for Gerald was given to fits
+of frivolity, and this was a matter extremely serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You intend to say nothing of the appointment in
+London?" she inquired, looking at me sharply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing," I responded.  "That is a secret
+between us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you intend to keep it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I scarcely know.  My actions will, of course, be
+controlled by the discoveries of the police."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The police!" she ejaculated.  "I don't believe
+in them at all.  They make a great pretence, but
+do nothing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They evidently know the individual who came
+to me last night."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly.  But why didn't they arrest him
+when he was under their very noses.  No, my
+dear Carmela, depend upon it, here, in this world of
+Monte Carlo, the police are bribed, just as the Press,
+the railwaymen, and postmen are bribed, by these
+rulers of the Riviera, the Administration of the
+Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That may be so," I observed wonderingly.
+"But the fact still remains that last night I danced
+with Reggie's assassin."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did he dance well?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Ulrica!  Don't treat the thing humorously!"
+I protested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm not humorous.  The worst of Carnival balls
+is that they're such mixed affairs.  One meets
+millionaires and murderers, and rubs shoulders
+with the most notorious women in Europe.  Your
+adventure, however, is absolutely unique.  If it
+got into the papers, what a nice little story it would
+make, wouldn't it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"For Heaven's sake no!" I cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, if you don't want it to reach the <i>Petit
+Niçois</i> or the <i>Eclaireur</i>, you'd better be pretty close
+about it.  Poor Reggie's murder is a mystery and
+the public fondly delight to read anything about
+a mystery."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But we can trust Gerald and Mr. Keppel,"
+I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course," she answered.  "But what a
+strange thing it is that this man, whoever he is,
+noticed exactly what I also had noticed, namely,
+that the old gentleman is among your admirers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  It almost seems as though he were
+actually in our circle of friends, doesn't it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Carmela," she said, "the affair of
+poor Reggie's death was curious enough, but its
+motive is absolutely inscrutable.  This man who met
+you last night was, as the police properly described
+him, a veritable artist.  He disguised himself as
+an owl because the dress of a bird would conceal
+his real height or any personal deformity, while
+the face was, of course, entirely hidden by the
+beaked mask.  Had he gone as a pierrot, or in
+the more ordinary guises, he might have betrayed
+himself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the return of the stolen money," I
+observed.  "Can you imagine why he ran such a
+risk?  He condemned himself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I really can't.  It is an absolute enigma."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We discussed it for a long time, until the entrance
+of Felicita caused us to drop the subject.  Yes, it
+was, as Ulrica had declared, an absolute enigma.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About four o'clock in the afternoon, when we
+had both dressed ready to go out&mdash;for we had
+accepted an invitation to go on an excursion in
+an automobile up to Tourette&mdash;the waiter entered
+with a card, which Ulrica took and read.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh!" she sighed.  "Here's another detective.
+Don't let him keep us, dear.  You know the Allens
+won't wait for us.  They said four o'clock sharp,
+opposite Vogarde's."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But we can't refuse to see him," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course not," she replied, and turning to the
+waiter, ordered him to show the caller up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There are two gentlemen," he explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then show them both up," answered Ulrica.
+"Be sharp, please, as we are in a hurry."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, madame," responded the waiter, a young
+Swiss, and went below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I suppose they are the pair I saw last night,"
+I said.  "The police on the Continent seem always
+to hunt in couples.  One never sees a single
+gendarme, either in France or in Italy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"One goes to keep the other cheerful, I believe,"
+Ulrica remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few moments later the two callers were shown in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were not the same as I had seen in the
+Director's room at the Casino.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I regret this intrusion," said the elder, a
+dark-bearded, rather unwholesome-looking individual
+with lank black hair.  "I have, I believe, the
+honour of addressing Mademoiselle Rosselli."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is my name," I responded briefly, for
+I did not intend them to cause me to lose a most
+enjoyable trip in that most <i>chic</i> of latter-day
+conveyances, an automobile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We are police agents, as you have possibly seen
+from my card, and have called merely to ask whether
+you can identify either of these photographs."  And
+he took two cabinet pictures from his pocket
+and handed them to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One was a prison photograph of an elderly, sad-eyed
+convict, with a rather bald head and a scraggy
+beard, while the other was a well-taken likeness of
+a foppishly-dressed young man of about twenty-eight,
+the upward trend of his moustache denoting
+him to be a foreigner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both were strangers to me.  I had never seen
+either of them in the flesh, at least to my
+knowledge, and Ulrica was also agreed that she had
+never seen anyone bearing the slightest resemblance
+to either.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mademoiselle is absolutely certain?" the
+detective asked of me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Absolutely," I responded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Will mademoiselle have the kindness to allow
+her memory to go back for one moment to the day
+of the unfortunate gentleman's death?" asked the
+detective, with an amiable air.  "At the time
+Monsieur Thorne was at the table at Monte Carlo
+and playing with success, there were, I believe,
+many persons around him?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, a crowd."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And near him, almost at his elbow, you did
+not see this man?" he inquired, indicating the
+bearded convict.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook my head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I really do not recollect the face of any member
+of that excited crowd," I responded.  "He may
+have been there, but I certainly did not see him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nor did I," chimed in Ulrica.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I much regret troubling you," he said,
+bowing politely.  "In this affair we are, as you of
+course know, making very searching inquiries on
+account of representations made by the British
+Ambassador in Paris.  We intend, if possible, to
+solve the mystery."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the man who accosted me at the ball
+last night," I said.  "Do you suspect him to be
+the original of that photograph?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At the ball last night?  I do not follow
+mademoiselle."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I made a statement of the whole facts
+to two agents of your department at an early hour
+this morning&mdash;before I left the Casino."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked puzzled, and his dark face broadened
+into a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Pardon!  But I think mademoiselle must be
+under some misapprehension.  What occurred at
+the ball?  Anything to arouse your suspicion?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To arouse my suspicion?" I echoed.  "Why,
+a man attired in the garb of an owl accosted me,
+gave me a strange warning, and actually placed
+in my hands the sixty thousand francs in notes
+stolen from the dead man!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Impossible!" gasped the detective, amazed.
+"Where are the notes?  You should have given
+us information instantly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I handed the notes to two police agents who
+were in waiting in the Director's room, and to
+whom I made a statement of the whole affair."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What!" he cried loudly.  "You have parted
+with the money?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then mademoiselle has been most cleverly
+tricked, for the men to whom you handed the
+proceeds of the robbery were certainly not agents
+of police!  They were impostors!"
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XI
+<br><br>
+DESCRIBES A MEETING AND ITS SEQUEL
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+His words staggered me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not agents of police!" I cried, dumbfounded.
+"Why, they were fully cognisant of every detail
+of the affair.  It was the Director of the Casino
+who presented them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then Monsieur le Directeur was tricked, just
+as you were," he answered gravely.  "You say you
+actually received from the hand of someone who
+wore an effective disguise the sum stolen from the
+unfortunate monsieur?  Kindly explain the whole
+circumstances of your meeting, and what passed
+between you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Carmela," exclaimed Ulrica, "this
+fresh complication is absolutely bewildering!  You
+not only danced and chatted with the murderer,
+but you were the victim of a very clever plot."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is quite certain," observed the officer.
+"The two individuals to whom mademoiselle
+innocently gave the notes upon representation
+that they were agents of police were evidently well
+acquainted with the murderer's intention to give
+up the proceeds of the robbery, and had watched
+you narrowly all through the evening.  But kindly
+give us exact details."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In obedience to his demand, I recounted the
+whole story.  It seemed to me incredible that the
+two men who had sent for me were bogus detectives,
+yet such was the actual fact, as was shown later
+when the Director of the Casino explained how they
+had come to him, telling him that they were police
+agents from Marseilles, and had ordered him to
+send for me, as they wished to interrogate me
+regarding the affair of the "Grand Hotel."  Such,
+he declared, was their air of authority that he never
+for a moment doubted that they were genuine
+officers of police.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My statement held the two men absolutely
+speechless.  I told them of the strange
+appointment in London made by the man with the owl's
+face, of the curious warning he had given me, and
+of the manner in which he had presented me with
+the sum won at the tables by the murdered man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You can give us absolutely no idea whatever
+of his personal appearance?" he inquired dubiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"None whatever," I answered.  "The dress
+and mask were effectual in disguising him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the two men who falsely posed as police
+agents?  Will you kindly describe them?" And
+at the same time he took out a well-worn
+pocket-book and scribbled in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I described their personal appearance as closely
+as I could, while on his part he took down my
+statement very carefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This is most extraordinary!" Ulrica observed,
+standing near me in wonder.  "The pair who said
+they were detectives were exceedingly clever, and
+are evidently aware of all that has occurred."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Marvellous!" exclaimed the man reflectively.
+"Only very clever thieves would dare to walk into
+the bureau of the Casino and act as they did."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have they any connection with the actual
+assassin, do you think?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm inclined to believe so," he responded.  "It
+was a conspiracy on their part to obtain possession
+of the money."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course, I gave it up in entire innocence,"
+I said.  "I never dreamt that such a plot could
+exist."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, mademoiselle!" observed the detective,
+"in this affair we have evidently to deal with those
+who have brought crime to a fine art.  There
+seems something remarkable regarding the
+appointment in London on the 2nd of June.  It seems
+as though it were desired to gain time with some
+secret object or another."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am absolutely bewildered," I admitted.
+"My position in this tragic affair is anything but
+enviable."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Most certainly, all this must be most annoying
+and distressing to mademoiselle.  I only hope we
+shall be successful in tracing the real perpetrators
+of the crime."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You think there were more than one?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is most probable," he replied.  "At
+present, however, we still remain without any
+tangible clue, save that the proceeds of the crime
+have passed from one person to another, through
+the agency of yourself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Their audacity was beyond comprehension!"
+I cried.  "It really seems inconceivable that I
+should have danced with the actual murderer,
+and afterwards been induced to hand over to a
+pair of impostors the money stolen from the
+unfortunate young man.  I feel that I am to blame
+for my shortsightedness."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not at all, mademoiselle, not at all," declared
+the detective, with his suave Gallic politeness.
+"With such a set of ingenious malefactors, it is
+very easy to commit an error, and fall a victim to
+roguery."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what can be done?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We can only continue our investigations."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the man in the owl's dress?  Tell me
+candidly, do you really believe that he was the
+actual murderer?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He may have been.  It is evident that, for
+some hidden purpose, he had an important reason
+for passing the stolen notes into your possession."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, that is one of the mysteries which we must
+try to solve.  The man was French, you say?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He spoke English admirably."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No word of French?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not a single word.  Yet he possessed an
+accent rather unusual."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He might have been a foreigner&mdash;an Italian
+or German, for aught you know?" the detective
+suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," I answered reflectively.  "His gestures
+were French.  I believe that he was actually
+French."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the bogus police agents?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They, too, were French, undoubtedly.  It
+would have been impossible to deceive the Director
+of the Casino, himself a Frenchman."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mademoiselle is quite right.  I will at once
+see Monsieur le Directeur and hear his statement.
+It is best," he added, "that the matter should
+remain a profound secret.  Do not mention it,
+either of you, even to your nearest friends.
+Publicity might very probably render futile all our
+inquiries."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I understand," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And mademoiselle will say no word to anyone
+about it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I glanced at Ulrica inquiringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," she answered.  "If monsieur so
+wishes, the affair shall be kept secret."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, after some further discussion, the police
+officer thanked us, gave us an assurance of his
+most profound respect, and, accompanied by his
+silent subordinate, withdrew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"After all," I remarked, when they had gone,
+"it will be best, perhaps, to say nothing whatever
+to Gerald.  He might mention it incautiously
+and thus it might get into the papers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, my dear," answered Ulrica.  "Perhaps
+silence is best.  But the trick played upon you
+surpasses comprehension.  I don't like the aspect
+of affairs at all.  If it were not for the fact that we
+have so many friends here, and that it is just the
+height of the season, I should suggest the packing
+of our trunks."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We shall leave soon," I said; "as soon as
+the yachting party is complete."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Gerald told me last night that the old gentleman
+has ordered great preparations to be made
+for us on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  He intends to do
+the thing well, as he always does when he entertains."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We shall, no doubt, have a most glorious time,"
+I answered, as together we went forth to meet
+the Allens, whom we found with their automobile
+brake outside Vogarde's, that smart confectioner's,
+where, as you, my reader, know, the cosmopolitan
+world of Nice sips tea at four o'clock.  At most
+Continental health resorts afternoon tea is
+unknown, but with visitors to Nice it is quite a solemn
+function, even though they be Parisians, and
+never taste tea except in winter on the Côte d'Azur.
+At Rumpelmayer's, that white and gold tea-shop,
+where many a royal highness or grand duchess
+descends to sip a cup and nibble an appetising
+piece of confectionery; at the English tea-house
+on the Quai Massena, known familiarly to winter
+visitors as "the muffin shop," and at Vogarde's,
+famed for crystallised fruits, it is usual to meet
+everyone who is anyone, and gossip pleasantly
+over the tea-cups.  On the Promenade des Anglais
+there is no really fashionable hour, as in other
+resorts, but the recently-instituted "five o'clock"
+is the reunion of everyone, and the chatter is always
+polyglot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our trip to Tourette proved a charming one.
+It is a delightful sensation to rush along the road
+at the speed of a railway train in an easy vehicle
+which trumpets like an elephant at every corner
+and passes everything like a flash.  The French
+have certainly improved on the ordinary means
+of locomotion, and if the automobile is noisy, the
+vibration is never felt in travelling, while the
+nauseous fumes&mdash;which, it must be admitted, sometimes
+half poison the passer-by&mdash;are always behind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That same night, after dinner, we accompanied
+the Allens, a middle-aged American, and his wife,
+who lived in Paris, over to Monte Carlo.  The
+Battle of Flowers had taken place there during
+the day, and that event always marks the zenith
+of the gaming season.  The Rooms were crowded,
+and the dresses, always magnificent at night, were
+more daring than ever.  Half fashionable Europe
+seemed there, including an English royal highness
+and a crowd of other notables.  One of De Lara's
+operas was being played in the Casino theatre,
+and as this composer is a great favourite there, a
+very large audience was attracted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The display of jewels at the tables was that
+night the most dazzling I had ever seen.  Some
+women, mostly gay Parisiennes or arrogant
+Russians, seemed literally covered with diamonds;
+and as they stood round the table risking their
+louis or five-franc pieces, it seemed strange that
+with jewels of that worth upon them they should
+descend to play with such paltry stakes.  But
+many women at Monte Carlo play merely because
+it is the correct thing so to do, and very often are
+careless of either loss or gain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The usual characters were there; the wizened
+old man with his capacious purse; the old hag in
+black cashmere, with her rouged face, playing and
+winning; and alas! the foolish young man who
+staked always in the wrong place, until he had
+flung away his last louis.  In all the world there
+is no stranger panorama of life than that presented
+at ten o'clock at night at the tables of Monte Carlo.
+It is unique!  It is indescribable!  It is appalling!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Temptation is spread there before the unwary
+in all its forms, until the fevered atmosphere of
+gold and avarice throbs with evil, becomes
+nauseous, and one longs for a breath of the fresh
+night air and a refreshing drink to take the bad
+taste out of one's mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I played merely because Ulrica and Dolly Allen
+played.  I think I won three or four louis, but am
+not certain of the amount.  You ask why?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Because there was seated at the table, exactly
+opposite where I stood, unnoticed among the
+crowd, no less a person than Ernest Cameron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At his side was the inevitable red and black
+card whereon he registered each number as it came
+up; before him were several little piles of louis
+and a few notes, while behind him, leaning now and
+then over his chair and whispering, was <i>that
+woman</i>!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At frequent intervals he played, generally upon
+the dozens, and even then rather uncertainly.  But
+he often lost.  Once or twice he played with fairly
+large stakes upon a chance which appeared practically
+certain, but he had no fine fortune, and the
+croupier raked in his money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For fully a dozen times he staked two louis on
+the last twelve numbers, but with that perversity
+which sometimes seems to seize the roulette-ball,
+the numbers came up between 1 and 24.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly the tow-haired woman who had replaced
+myself in his affections leaned over, and
+said in a voice quite audible to me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Put the maximum on number 6!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With blind obedience he counted out the sum
+sufficient to win the maximum of six thousand
+francs, and pushed it upon the number she had
+named.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Rien ne va plus!</i>" cried the croupier the next
+instant, and then, sure enough, I saw the ball
+drop into the number the witch had prophesied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The croupier counted the stake quickly, and
+pushed with his rake towards the fortunate player
+notes for six thousand francs, with the simple words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>En plein!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Enough!" cried the woman, prompting him.
+"Play no more to-night."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sighed, and with a strange, preoccupied air
+gathered up his coin, notes, and other belongings,
+while a player tossed over a five-franc piece to
+"mark" his place, or, in other words, to secure his
+chair when he vacated it.  Then, still obedient to
+her, he rose with a faint smile upon his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he did so, he raised his eyes, and they fell full
+upon mine, for I was standing there watching him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our gaze met, suddenly.  Next instant, however,
+the light died out of his countenance, and he stood
+glaring at me as though I were an apparition.  His
+mouth was slightly opened, his hand trembled, his
+brow contracted, and his face grew ashen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His attitude was as though he were cowed by
+my presence.  He remembered our last meeting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a moment, however, he recovered his
+self-possession, turned his back upon me, and strolled
+away beside the woman who had usurped my place.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap12"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XII
+<br><br>
+CARRIES ME ON BOARD THE "VISPERA"
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Faces, even expressions, may lie, but eyes never
+learn the knack of falsehood.  A man may commit
+follies; but once cured, those follies expand his
+nature.  With a woman, sad to tell, follies are always
+debasing.  It was, I knew, a folly to love Ernest
+Cameron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Life is always disappointing.  The shattering
+of our idols, the revelation of the shallowness of
+friendship, the losing faith in those we love, and
+the witnessing of their fall from that pedestal
+whereon we placed them in our own exalted
+idealisation&mdash;all is disappointing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood gazing after him as he strode down the
+great room with its bejewelled and excited crowd,
+in which the <i>chevalier d'industrie</i> and the <i>déclassée</i>
+woman jostled against pickpockets and the men
+who gamble at Aix, Ostend, Namur or Spa, as the
+seasons come and go&mdash;that strange assembly of
+courteous Italians, bearded Russians, well-groomed
+Englishmen, and women painted, powdered and
+perfumed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I held my breath; my heart beat so violently
+that I could hear it above the babel of voices about
+me.  I suffered the most acute agony.  Of late I
+had been always thinking of him&mdash;asleep,
+dreaming&mdash;always dreaming of him.  Always the same pang
+of regret was within my heart&mdash;regret that I had
+allowed him to go away without a word, without
+telling him how madly, how despairingly I loved him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Life without him was a hopeless blank, yet it was
+all through my vanity, my wretched pride, my
+invincible self-love.  I was now careless, indifferent,
+inconsequential, my only thought being of him.
+His coldness, his disdain was killing me.  When
+his eyes had met mine in surprise, they were strange,
+Sphinx-like, and mysterious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet at that moment I did not care what he might
+say to me.  I only wished to hear him speaking
+to me; to hear the sound of his voice, and to know
+that he cared enough for me to treat me as a human
+being.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah!  I trembled when I realised how madly I
+loved him, and how fierce was my hatred of that
+woman who issued her orders and whom he obeyed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I turned away with the Allens, and Ulrica cried
+delightedly that she had won on 16, her favourite
+number.  But I did not answer.  My heart had
+grown sick, and I went forth into the healing night
+air and down the steps towards the <i>ascenseurs</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the steps a well-dressed young Frenchman
+was lounging, and as I passed down I heard him
+humming to himself that catchy <i>chanson</i> so popular
+at the café-concert:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "<i>A bas la romance et l'idylle,<br>
+  Lea oiseaux, la forêt, le buisson<br>
+  Des marlous, de la grande ville,<br>
+  Nous allons chanter la chanson!<br>
+  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos!<br>
+  C'est les dos les gros,<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Les beaux,<br>
+  A nous les marmites!<br>
+  Grandes ou petites;<br>
+  V'la les dos, viv'nt les dos;<br>
+  C'est les dos les gros,<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Les beaux,<br>
+  A nous les marmit' et vivent les los!"</i><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+I closed my ears to shut out the sound of those
+words.  I remembered Ernest&mdash;that look in his
+eyes, that scorn in his face, that disdain in his
+bearing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The truth was only too plain.  His love for me
+was dead.  I was the most wretched of women, of
+all God's creatures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I prayed that I might regard him&mdash;that I might
+regard the world&mdash;with indifference.  And yet I
+was sufficiently acquainted with the world and
+its ways to know that to a woman the word indifference
+is the most evil word in the language; that it
+bears upon the most fatal of all sentiments; that
+it brings about the most deadly of all mental attitudes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Ernest, the man whose slave I was, despised
+me.  He commanded my love; why could not I
+command his?  Ah, because I was a woman&mdash;and
+my face had ceased to interest him!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bitter tears sprang to my eyes, but I managed to
+preserve my self-control and enter the station-lift,
+making an inward vow that never again, in my
+whole life, would I set foot in that hated hell within
+a paradise called Monte Carlo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+True, I was a woman who, abandoned by the
+man she loved, amused herself wherever amusement
+could be procured; but I still remained an honest
+woman, as I had always been ever since those sweet
+and well-remembered days spent in the grey old
+convent outside Florence.  At Monte Carlo the
+scum of the earth enjoy the flowers of the earth.  I
+detested its crowds; I held in abhorrence that
+turbulent avarice, and felt stifled in that atmosphere
+of gilded sin.  No!  I would never enter there
+again.  The bitter remembrance of that night
+would, I knew, be too painful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus I returned to Nice with a feeling that for
+me, now that Ernest had drifted away from my side
+to become a placid gambler, and to live careless of my
+love, life had no further charm.  The recollection
+of the days that followed can never be torn from
+my memory, my brain, my soul.  I smiled, though
+I was wearing out my heart; I laughed, even
+though bitter tears were ready to start into my
+eyes, and I made pretence of being interested in
+things to which I was at heart supremely indifferent.
+I courted forgetfulness, but the oblivion of my love
+would not come.  I never knew till then how great
+was the passion a woman could conceive for a man,
+or how his memory could continually arise as a
+ghost from the past to terrify the present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night, as we drove from the station to the
+hotel, Ulrica accidentally touched my hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How cold you are, dear!" she cried in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I answered, shivering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was cold; it was the truth.  At thought of
+the man who had forsaken me an icy chill had
+struck my heart&mdash;the chill of unsatisfied love, of
+desolation, of blank, unutterable despair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due course our yachting gowns came home from
+the dressmaker's&mdash;accompanied by terrifying bills,
+of course&mdash;and a few days later we sailed out of
+Villefranche Harbour on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  The
+party was a well-chosen one, consisting mostly of
+youngish people, several of whom we knew quite
+well, and before the second day was over we had all
+settled down to the usual routine of life on board a
+yacht.  There was no sensation of being cramped
+up, but on the contrary the decks were broad and
+spacious, and the cabins perfect nests of luxury.
+The vessel had been built on the Clyde in accordance
+with its owner's designs, and it certainly was an
+Atlantic liner in miniature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our plans had been slightly altered, for since the
+majority of the guests had never been to Algiers, it
+was resolved to make a run over there, and then
+coast along Algeria and Tunis, and so on to
+Alexandria.  As we steamed away from Villefranche, the
+receding panorama of the Littoral, with its
+olive-covered slopes and great purple snow-capped Alps
+spread out before us, presenting a perfectly enchanting
+picture.  We all stood grouped on deck watching
+it slowly sink below the horizon.  From the first
+moment that we went on board, indeed, all was
+gay, all luxurious; for were we not guests of a
+man who, although absurdly economical himself,
+was always lavish when he entertained?  Everyone
+was loud in praise of the magnificent appointments
+of the vessel; and the dinner at which its owner
+presided was a meal sparkling with merriment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was placed next Lord Eldersfield, a pleasant,
+middle-aged, grey-eyed man, who had recently left
+the Army on succeeding to the title.  He was, I
+found, quite an entertaining companion, full of
+droll stories and clever witticisms; indeed, he
+shone at once as the chief conversationalist of the
+table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have I been in Algiers before?" he repeated,
+in answer to a question from me.  "Oh, yes.
+It's a place where one half the people don't know
+the other half."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I smiled and wondered.  Yet his brief description
+was, I afterwards discovered, very true.  The Arabs
+and the Europeans live apart, and are like oil and
+water; they never mix.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day passed merrily, and had it not been for
+constant thoughts of the man who had loved me
+and forgotten, I should have enjoyed myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Save for one day of mistral, the trip across the
+Mediterranean proved delightful; and for six days
+we remained in the white old City of the Corsairs,
+where we went on excursions, and had a most
+pleasant time.  We visited the Kasbah, drove to the
+Jardin d'Essai and to the pretty village of
+St. Eugène, while several of the party went to visit
+friends who were staying at the big hotels up at
+Mustapha.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Life in Algiers was, I found, most interesting
+after the Parisian artificiality and the glitter of
+Nice and Monte Carlo; and with Lord Eldersfield
+as my cavalier, I saw all that was worth seeing.  We
+lounged in those gay French cafés under the
+date-palms in the Place du Gouvernement, strolled up
+those narrow, ladder-like streets in the old city, and
+mingled with those crowds of mysterious-looking
+veiled Arab women who were bargaining for their
+purchases in the market.  All was fresh; all was
+diverting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for Ulrica, she entered thoroughly into the
+spirit of the new sensation, as she always did, and,
+with Gerald usually as her escort, went hither and
+thither with her true tourist habit of poking about
+everywhere, regardless of contagious diseases or
+the remarkable variety of bad smells which
+invariably exist in an Oriental town.  Although
+each day the party went ashore and enjoyed
+themselves, old Mr. Keppel never accompanied them.
+He knew the place, he said, and he had some business
+affairs to attend to in the deck-house, which he
+kept secret to himself.  Therefore he was excused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, Miss Rosselli," he had explained to me in
+confidence, "I'm no sight-seer.  If my guests
+enjoy seeing a few of the towns on the Mediterranean
+I am quite contented; but I prefer to remain quiet
+here, rather than drive about in brakes and revisit
+places that I have already visited long ago."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," I said.  "You are under no obligation
+to these people.  They accept your kind
+hospitality, and the least they can do is to allow you
+to remain in peace where you wish."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he sighed.  "I leave them in Gerald's
+charge.  He knows how to look after them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And his face seemed sad and anxious, as though
+he were utterly forlorn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed, after a week at sea we saw but very little
+of him.  He lunched and dined with us in the
+saloon each day, but never joined our musical
+parties after dinner, and seldom, if ever, entered the
+smoking-room.  Because all knew him to be eccentric,
+this apparent disregard of our presence was
+looked upon as one of his peculiar habits.  Upon
+Gerald devolved the duty of acting as entertainer,
+and, assisted by Ulrica, old Miss Keppel and
+myself, he endeavoured to make everyone happy and
+comfortable.  Fortunately, the ubiquitous Barnes
+had, by Gerald's desire, been left behind at the
+Villa Fabron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As day by day we steamed up that tranquil sea
+in brilliant weather, with our bows ever thrusting
+themselves toward the dawn, life was one continual
+round of merriment from three bells, when we
+breakfasted, until eight bells sounded for turning
+in.  A yachting cruise is very apt to become
+monotonous, but on the <i>Vispera</i> one had no time for
+<i>ennui</i>.  After Algiers, we put in for a day at
+Cagliari, then visited Tunis, the Greek Islands,
+Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had already been a month cruising&mdash;and a
+month in the Mediterranean in spring is
+delightful&mdash;when one night an incident occurred which was
+both mysterious and disconcerting.  We were on
+our way from Constantinople, and in the first
+dog-watch had sighted one of the rocky headlands of
+Corsica.  That evening dinner had been followed
+by an impromptu dance, which had proved a most
+successful affair.  The men were mostly dancers,
+except Lord Stoneborough, who was inclined to
+obesity, and what with the piano and a couple of
+violins, played by a pair of rather insipid sisters,
+the dance was quite a jolly one.  We persuaded
+even old Mr. Keppel to dance, and although his
+was a not very graceful feat, nevertheless his
+participation in our fun put everyone in an exceedingly
+good humour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course, the month had not passed without the
+usual gossip and tittle-tattle inseparable from a
+yachting cruise.  On board a yacht people quickly
+become inventive, and the most astounding fictions
+about one's neighbours are whispered behind fans
+and books.  I had heard whispers regarding Ulrica
+and Gerald Keppel.  Rumour had it that the old
+gentleman had actually given his consent to their
+marriage, and as soon as they returned to England
+the engagement would be announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certain of the guests, with an air of extreme
+confidence, took me aside, and questioned me
+regarding it; but I merely responded that I knew
+nothing, and greatly doubted the accuracy of the
+rumour.  More than once that evening I had been
+asked whether it were true, and so persistent seemed
+the rumour that I took Ulrica into my cabin, and
+asked her point-blank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear!" she cried, "have you really taken
+leave of your senses?  How absurd!  Of course,
+there's nothing whatever between Gerald and
+myself.  He is amusing&mdash;that's all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You might do worse than marry him," I laughed.
+"Remember, you've known him a long time&mdash;four
+years, isn't it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Marry him?  Never!  Go and tell these prying
+persons, whoever they are, that when I'm engaged
+I'll put a paragraph in the papers all in good time."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But don't you think, Ulrica," I suggested&mdash;"don't
+you think that if such is the case, Gerald is
+rather too much in your society?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can't help him hanging around me, poor boy,"
+she laughed.  "I can't be rude to him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course not, but you might possibly give him
+a hint."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! now, my dear Carmela," she cried impatiently,
+"you want to lecture me, eh?  You know
+how I hate being lectured.  Let's end the discussion
+before we become bad friends."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, with a light laugh, she rearranged her hair
+and left my cabin to return on deck, where dancing
+was still proceeding beneath the great electric lights.
+Four bells had rung out sharply, showing it to be
+two o'clock, before I went down to my cabin,
+attended by Felicita.  Very soon, however, I sent her
+to bed and lay down to rest myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Somehow, I could not sleep that night.  The
+monotonous whirr and throbbing of the engines
+sounded like continual thunder in my ears, and even
+the swish of the long waves as they rose and fell at
+the port-hole irritated me.  Of late I had developed
+insomnia to an alarming extent, but whether it was
+due to the noise of the machinery, or to nervousness,
+I know not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I turned and turned in my narrow berth, but could
+not sleep.  The atmosphere seemed stifling, in spite
+of the ventilators; and I dared not open the port-hole,
+fearing a sudden douche, for a wind had sprung
+up and we were rolling heavily.  The jingle of the
+glasses on the toilet-stand, the vibration, the tramping
+of the sailors overhead, the roar of the funnels,
+all rendered sleep utterly impossible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last I could stand it no longer.  I rose and
+dressed, putting on a big driving-coat.  Then, with
+a thick shawl about my head, I went up on deck.
+The fresh air might perhaps do me good, I thought.
+At any rate, it was a remedy worth trying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The night, so brilliant a couple of hours before, had
+become dark and stormy; the wind was so boisterous
+that I walked with difficulty; and the fact
+that the awnings had been reefed showed that Davis,
+the skipper, anticipated a squall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The deck was deserted.  Only on the bridge could
+I see, above the strip of sheltering canvas, two
+shadowy figures in oilskins, keeping watch.  Save
+for those figures, I was utterly alone.  On my way
+towards the stern I passed the small deck-house,
+which old Mr. Keppel had reserved as his own den.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The green silk blinds were always drawn across the
+port-holes, and the door always remained locked.
+No one ever entered there, although many had been
+the speculations regarding the private cabin when
+we had first sailed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The millionaire himself had, however, given an
+explanation one day at luncheon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I always reserve, both in my houses and here,
+on board the <i>Vispera</i>, one room as my own.  I hope
+all of you will excuse me this.  As you know, I have
+a good many affairs to attend to, and I hate to have
+my papers thrown into disorder."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Personally, I suspected him of having a lathe
+there, so that he might pursue his hobby of ivory-turning,
+but the majority of the guests accepted his
+explanation that this deck-house was his study, and
+that he did not wish them to pry there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More than once Ulrica had expressed to me wonder
+regarding the reason the cabin remained always
+closed, and its curtains always drawn.  Every
+woman dearly loves a mystery, and, like myself,
+Ulrica, when she discovered anything suspicious,
+never rested until she had found some theory or
+other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had one day mentioned the fact to Gerald,
+who, in my presence, had given what appeared to
+me the true explanation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's merely one of the guv'nor's eccentricities.
+The fact is, that on the outward voyage from
+Portsmouth he bought some antique Moorish furniture
+and ivory carvings in Tangier, and has stored all his
+purchases in there until we return.  I've seen them
+myself&mdash;beautiful things.  He says he intends to sell
+them at a profit to a dealer in London," whereat we
+laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Knowing how the old gentleman practised
+economy sometimes, I had accepted this as the truth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But as, gripping the rail to prevent myself being
+thrown down by the rolling of the ship, I passed
+along the side of the deck-house, I was surprised to
+see a light within.  The curtains of green silk were
+still drawn, but the light could nevertheless be seen
+through them, and it occurred to me strange that
+anyone should be there at that hour of the night.  I
+placed my face close to the screwed-down port-hole,
+but the curtain had been so well drawn that it was
+impossible to see within.  Then, moving quietly, I
+examined the other three round brass-bound windows,
+but all were as closely curtained as the first.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fancied I heard voices as I stood there, and I
+confess that I attempted to distinguish the words,
+but the roar of the funnels and howlings of the wind
+drowned every other sound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What if my host caught me prying?  His private
+affairs were surely no business of mine.
+Remembering this, I was about to turn away, when
+suddenly I experienced an extraordinary desire to
+peep inside that forbidden chamber.  I walked
+round it again, stealthily, for, as luck would have it,
+I was in thin slippers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While standing there in hesitation, I noticed that
+upon the low roof was a small ventilator which had
+been raised to admit air.  What if I could get a peep
+down there!  It was an adventurous climb for a
+woman hampered by skirts.  But I searched for
+means to mount, and found them in a low iron
+staple, to which some cords of the rigging were
+attached, and a brass rail which afforded rather
+insecure foothold.  After some effort, I succeeded in
+scrambling to the top, but not before I found myself
+rather too much exposed to the eye of the officer on
+the bridge.  Fortunately, I was behind him, but if
+he had occasion to turn round he would be sure to
+discover me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having risked so much, however, I was determined
+to make further endeavour.  I leaned across the
+small roof, placed my face close to the open
+ventilator, and peered down into the locked cabin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next second I drew back with a start, holding my
+breath.  A loud exclamation of dismay escaped me,
+but the sound was swallowed up in the noises of the
+boisterous night.  The sight I witnessed below me
+in that small deck-house held me as rigid as if I had
+been petrified.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap13"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIII
+<br><br>
+DISCLOSES A MILLIONAIRE'S SECRET
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+So heavily was the yacht rolling that I was compelled
+to hold firmly, lest I should lose my balance
+and roll down upon the deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My foothold was insecure, and the sight which
+presented itself as I peered within was so unexpected
+and startling, that in the excitement of the moment
+I loosened my grip, and narrowly escaped being
+pitched down headlong.  From my position I
+unfortunately could not obtain a view of the whole
+interior, the ventilator being open only a couple of
+inches; but what I saw was sufficient to unnerve
+any woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cabin was lit brilliantly by electricity, but the
+walls, instead of being panelled in satinwood, as
+were most of the others, were decorated in a manner
+more rich and magnificent than in any other part of
+the vessel.  They were gilt, with white ornamentation
+in curious arabesques, while upon the floor was
+a thick Turkey carpet with a white ground and
+pattern of turquoise blue.  The effect was bright and
+glaring, and at the first moment it occurred to me
+that the place was really a lady's boudoir.  There
+was another aft, it was true, but this one had
+evidently been intended as a lounge for female guests.
+As I looked down, old Benjamin Keppel himself
+passed into that part of the cabin within the zone
+of my vision.  His hat was off, displaying his scanty
+grey hair, and as he turned I caught a glimpse of his
+face.  His countenance, usually so kind and tranquil,
+was distorted by abject fear; his teeth were set, his
+cheeks grey and bloodless.  Both anger and alarm
+were depicted upon his rugged countenance.  His
+appearance was mysterious, to say the least; but it
+was another object within that room which held me
+in speechless wonderment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near where he stood, lying in a heap at his feet,
+was a dark-haired, handsome woman, in a white silk
+robe&mdash;a stranger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old millionaire, with a sudden movement,
+flung himself upon his knees, and touched her face
+caressingly.  The next instant he drew back his
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Dead!" he gasped, in the thick voice of a man
+grief-stricken.  "Dead!  And she did not know&mdash;she
+did not know!  It is murder!" he gasped, in a
+terrified whisper.  "Murder!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wind howled about me weirdly, tearing at my
+clothes as if it desired to hurl me into the raging sea;
+while the yacht, steaming on, rose and plunged,
+shipping huge seas each time her bows met the angry
+waves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For some moments the strange old man bent over
+the woman in silence.  I was puzzled to discover her
+identity.  Why had she been kept prisoner in that
+gilded cabin during the cruise?  Why had we
+remained in total ignorance of her presence?  I alone
+knew our host's secret.  We had a dead woman on
+board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keppel touched the woman again, placing his
+hand upon her face.  When he withdrew it, I saw
+that blood was upon it.  He looked at it, and
+shudderingly wiped it off upon his handkerchief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the same instant a voice, that of a man,
+sounded from the opposite side of the cabin, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you see that the ventilator is open up
+above?  Shut it, or somebody may see us.  They
+can see down here from the bridge."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Think of her," the old man exclaimed, in a low
+voice.  "Not of us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of her?  Why should I?" inquired the gruff
+voice of the unseen.  "You've killed her, and must
+take the consequences."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I&mdash;&mdash;" gasped the old man, staggering with
+difficulty to his feet, and placing both hands to his
+eyes, as though to shut out from view that hideous
+evidence of his crime.  "Yes," he cried, in an
+awe-stricken tone, "she is dead!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And a good job, too," responded the unseen
+man, in a hard and pitiless tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," cried Keppel angrily.  "At least respect
+her memory.  Remember who she was!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shall remember nothing of this night's work,"
+the other responded.  "I leave all memories of
+it as a legacy to you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You coward!" cried Keppel, turning upon the
+speaker, his eyes flashing.  "I have endeavoured to
+assist you, and this is your gratitude."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Assist me?" sneered his companion.  "Pretty
+assistance it's been!  I tell you what it is, Benjamin
+Keppel, you're in a very tight place just now.  You
+killed that&mdash;that woman there, and you know
+what the penalty is for murder."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know!" wailed the white-faced, despairing man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, if I might be permitted to advise, I'd make
+a clean sweep of the whole affair," said the man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Simply this: we can't keep the body very long
+in this cabin without it being discovered.  And
+when it is found, well, it will be all up with both of
+us.  Of that there's but little doubt.  I suggest
+this.  Let us make at once for one of the Italian
+ports, say Leghorn, where you will land to transact
+some important business, and I'll land also.  Then
+the <i>Vispera</i> will sail for Naples, to which port you
+will go by rail to rejoin her.  On the way, however,
+the vessel disappears&mdash;eh?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Disappears!  How?  I don't understand."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is blown up."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Blown up!" he cried.  "And how about the guests?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Guests be hanged!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But there are eleven of them, beside the crew."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never mind them.  There are the boats, and
+no doubt they'll all take care of themselves.  Fools
+if they don't."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should feel that I'd murdered them all,"
+the old man responded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In this affair we must save ourselves,"
+declared the unseen man, very firmly.  "There has
+been a&mdash;well, we'll call it an ugly occurrence
+to-night, and it behoves us to get clear out of it.  If the
+<i>Vispera</i> goes down, the body will go down with
+it, and the sea will hide our secret."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I cannot imperil the lives of all in that
+manner.  Besides, by what means do you suggest
+destroying the ship?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perfectly simple.  Just give orders to Davis in
+the morning to put in at Leghorn with all possible
+speed, and leave the rest to me.  I'll guarantee
+that the <i>Vispera</i> will never reach Naples."  Then
+he added: "But just shut that infernal ventilator.
+I don't like it being open."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Keppel, staggering, reached the cord, and in
+obedience to his companion's wish closed the narrow
+opening with a sudden bang.  The woodwork
+narrowly escaped coming into contact with my
+face, and for some moments I remained there
+clutching at my unstable supports, and rudely
+buffeted by the gale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As at any moment I might be discovered, I made
+haste to lower myself again to the deck, though not
+without difficulty, and then cautiously returned to
+my own cabin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had been soaked to the skin by the rain and
+spray, but though still in my wet things, I sat
+pondering over the mysterious crime I had discovered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Who was that unseen man?  Whoever he was, he
+held old Benjamin Keppel in his power, and to his
+diabolical plot would be due the destruction of the
+<i>Vispera</i>, and the loss of perhaps every soul on board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had suggested an explosion.  He no doubt
+intended to place on board some infernal contrivance
+which, after the lapse of a certain number of
+hours, would explode, and blow the bottom out of
+the yacht.  Whoever that man was, he was a crafty
+villain.  Providentially, however, I had been led
+to the discovery of the scheme, and I did not mean
+that the lives of my fellow-guests, or of the crew,
+should be sacrificed in order to conceal a crime.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A vision of that white dead face recurred to me.
+It was a face very handsome, but to my remembrance
+I had never seen it before.  The mystery of
+the woman's concealment there was altogether
+extraordinary.  Yet it scarcely seemed possible that she
+should have remained in hiding so long without a
+soul on board, save Keppel, being aware of her
+presence.  She had been fed, of course, and most
+probably the steward knew of her presence in that
+gilded deck-house.  But she was dead&mdash;murdered
+by an inoffensive old gentleman, who was the very
+last person in the would I should have suspected of
+having taken human life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And why had he stroked her dead face so
+caressingly?  Who, indeed, was she?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My wet clothes clung to me coldly and clammily.
+I now exchanged them for a warm wrap, entered
+my berth, and tried to rest.  Sleep was, however,
+impossible in that doomed ship, amid the wild
+roaring of the tempest and the thunder of the waves
+breaking over the deck above.  Once it occurred
+to me to go straight to Ulrica and tell her all I had
+seen and heard, but on reflection I resolved to keep
+my own counsel, and narrowly watch the course of
+events.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mystery of the hidden man's identity grew
+upon me, until I suddenly resolved to make a
+further endeavour to discover him.  The voice was
+deep and low, but the roaring of the wind and hissing
+of escaping steam had prevented me hearing it
+sufficiently well to recognise whether it was that
+of one of our fellow-guests.  I slipped on a
+mackintosh, returned to the deck, and crept towards the
+cabin, wherein reposed the remains of the mysterious
+woman in white.  But soon I saw that the light
+had been switched off.  All was in darkness.  The
+guilty pair had gone below to their own berths.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Through the whole night the storm continued, but
+the morning broke brightly, and the tempest, as
+is so frequently the case in the Mediterranean, was
+succeeded by a dead calm, so that when we sat down
+to breakfast we were steaming in comparatively
+smooth water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have you heard?" said Ulrica to me, after we
+had been exchanging our sleepless experiences.
+"Mr. Keppel has altered our course.  He has some
+pressing business to attend to, so we are going into
+Leghorn."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Leghorn!" exclaimed Lord Eldersfield at my
+elbow.  "Horrid place!  I was there once.  Narrow
+streets, dirty people, primitive sanitation, and
+a sorry attempt at a promenade."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, we don't stay there long; that's one
+comfort," said Ulrica.  "Mr. Keppel is going
+ashore and he'll rejoin us at Naples."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked down the table and saw that the face of
+the old millionaire was pale, without its usual
+composure.  He was pretending to be busily occupied
+with his porridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are we going on straight to Naples, Keppel?"
+inquired Eldersfield.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly," answered our host.  "I much regret
+that I'm compelled to take you all out of our original
+course, but I must exchange some telegrams with my
+agent in London.  We shall be in Leghorn to-night,
+and if you are all agreed, you may sail again at once."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'd like to see Leghorn," declared Ulrica.
+"People who go to Italy always leave it out of their
+itinerary.  I've heard that it is quite charming
+in many ways.  All the better-class Italians from
+Florence and Rome go there for the bathing in
+summer."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Which, I fear, isn't much of a recommendation,"
+observed his lordship, who was, I believe, Ulrica's
+pet aversion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The bathing itself is declared by all the guide-books
+to be the best in Europe," she answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the heat in summer greater than in any
+other place on the Continent of Europe.  Its imports
+are rags from Constantinople and codfish from
+Newfoundland.  No wonder its scents do not all come
+from roses."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly not.  Of course, if you know the place
+you are welcome to your own opinion.  I don't
+know it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When you do, Miss Yorke, you'll share my
+opinion.  Of that I feel certain," he laughed; and
+then continued his meal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The question was shortly decided by vote whether
+the <i>Vispera</i> should remain at Leghorn or not.
+By the majority of the guests, Leghorn was supposed
+to be merely a dirty seaport, and although I,
+who knew the place well, tried to impress upon them
+that it possessed many charms not to be found in
+other Italian towns, it was decided that the yacht
+should only remain there a day, and then go straight
+on to Naples.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This decision was disconcerting.  I had to prevent
+the trip southward, and the problem of how to
+do so without arousing suspicion was an extremely
+difficult one to solve.  If the vessel sailed from
+Leghorn, then she was doomed, together with every
+soul on board.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap14"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIV
+<br><br>
+IN WHICH I MAKE A RESOLVE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The great broad plain which lies between marble-built
+Pisa and the sea was flooded by the golden
+Italian sunset, and the background of the serrated
+Apennines loomed a dark purple in the distance
+as we approached the long breakwater which protects
+Leghorn from the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaning over the rail, I gazed upon the white
+sun-blanched Tuscan town, and recognised the gay
+Passeggio, with its avenue of dusky tamarisks, its
+long rows of high white houses, with their green
+<i>persiennes</i>, and Pancaldi's, and other baths, built
+out upon the rocks into the sea.  Years ago, when at
+the convent, we had gone there each summer, a
+dozen or so girls at a time, under the care of Suor
+Angelica, to obtain fresh air and escape for a
+fortnight or so from the intolerable heat of July in
+the Val d'Ema.  How well I remembered that long
+promenade, the Viale Regina Margherita, best known
+to those happy, light-hearted, improvident Livornesi
+by its ancient name, the Passeggio!  And what
+long walks we girls used to have over the rocks
+beyond Antignano, or scrambling climbs up to the
+shrine of the miracle-working Virgin at Montenero!
+Happy, indeed, were those summer days with my
+girl friends&mdash;girls who had now, like myself, grown
+to be women&mdash;who had married, and had experienced
+all the trials and bitterness of life.  I thought of
+her who was my best friend in those past days&mdash;pretty,
+black-haired, unassuming Annetta Ceriani,
+from Arezzo.  She had left the college the same
+week as myself, and our parting had been a very
+sad one.  In a year, however, she had married, and
+was now a princess, the wife of Romolo Annibale
+Cesare Sigismondo, Prince Regello, who, to give him
+all his titles, was "principe Romano, principe di
+Pinerolo, conte di Lucca, nobile di Monte Catini."  Truly,
+the Italian nobility do not lack titles.  But
+poor Annetta!  Her life had been the reverse of
+happy, and the last letter I had received from her,
+dated from Venice, contained the story of a woman
+heart-broken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yes, as I stood there on the deck of the <i>Vispera</i>,
+approaching the old sun-whitened Tuscan port,
+many were the recollections of those long-past
+careless days which crowded upon me&mdash;days before
+I had known how weary was the world, or how
+fraught with bitterness was woman's love.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Already the light was shining yellow in the square
+old lighthouse, although the sun had not altogether
+disappeared.  Half-a-dozen fine cruisers of the
+British Mediterranean Squadron were lying at
+anchor in line, and we passed several boats full of
+sun-tanned men on the way to the shore for an
+evening promenade, for the British sailor is always
+a welcome guest in Leghorn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The situation was becoming desperate.  How
+was I to act?  At least, I should now ascertain
+who had been the old man's companion in the
+deck-cabin on the previous night, for he and this
+stranger would no doubt go ashore together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Mr. Keppel was standing near me, speaking
+again to the captain, giving him certain orders, when
+Gerald, spruce as usual in blue serge, came up and
+leaned at my side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ulrica says you know Leghorn quite well.
+You must be our guide.  We're all going ashore
+after dinner.  What is there to amuse one in the
+evening?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is opera at the Goldoni always.  One pays
+only four lire for a box to seat six," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Impossible!" he laughed incredulously.  "I
+shouldn't care to sit out music at that price."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, there I must differ," I replied.  "It is as
+good as any you'll find in Italy.  Remember, here
+is the home of opera.  Why, the Livornesi love music
+so intensely that it is no unusual occurrence for a
+poor family to make shift with a piece of bread and
+an onion for dinner, so as to save the fifty centesimi
+ingresso to the opera.  Mascagni is Livornese, and
+Puccini, who composed La Boheme, was also born
+close here.  In 'cara Livorno,' as the Tuscan loves
+to call it, one can hear the best opera for five-pence."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Compare that with prices in London!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And our music, unfortunately, is not so good,"
+I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Shall we go to this delightfully inexpensive
+opera to-night?  It would certainly be an experience."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear I shall not," I answered.  "I'm not
+feeling very well."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm extremely sorry," he said, with quick
+apprehension.  "Is there anything I can get you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, nothing, thank you," I answered.  "I feel
+a little faint, that's all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had already anchored just inside the breakwater,
+and those very inquisitive gentlemen&mdash;the
+Italian Customs officers&mdash;had come on board.  A
+few minutes later the bell rang for dinner, and all
+descended to the saloon, eager to get the meal over
+and go ashore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the way down Ulrica took me aside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Gerald has told me you are ill, my dear.  I've
+noticed how pale and unlike yourself you've been all
+day.  What's the matter?  Tell me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I&mdash;I can't.  At least, not now," I managed to
+stammer, as I hastened to slip from her side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wanted to be alone to think.  Keppel's
+companion of the previous night, the man to whom the
+conception of that diabolical plot was due, was still
+on board.  But who was he?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I ate nothing, and was ready to take my seat
+in the first boat that went ashore.  I had excused
+myself from making one of the party at the opera,
+after giving all necessary directions, and, on
+pretence of going to a chemist's to make a purchase,
+I separated myself from Ulrica, Gerald, and Lord
+Eldersfield in the Via Grande, the principal thoroughfare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How next to act I knew not.  No doubt Keppel's
+intention was to send on board some explosive
+destined to sink the <i>Vispera</i> to the bottom with all on
+board.  At all hazards, the yacht must not sail.
+Yet, how was it possible that I could prevent it
+without making a full statement of what I had
+overheard?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I entered the pharmacy and purchased the first
+article that came into my mind.  Then, returning
+into the street, I wandered on, plunged in my own
+distracting thoughts.  Keppel had gone alone to
+the telegraph office in a cab.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The soft, balmy Italian night had fallen, and the
+white streets and piazzas of Leghorn were filled,
+as they always are at evening, with the light-hearted
+crowds of idlers; men with their hats stuck jauntily
+askew, smoking, laughing, gossiping; and women,
+dark-haired, black-eyed, the most handsome in all
+Italy, each with a mantilla of black lace or some
+light-coloured silk as head-covering, promenading
+and enjoying the <i>bel fresco</i> after the toil and burden
+of the day.  None in all the world can surpass in
+beauty the Tuscan women&mdash;dark, tragic, with eyes
+that flash quickly in love or hatred, with figures
+perfect, and each with an easy-swinging gait that a
+duchess might envy.  It was Suor Angelica who
+had once repeated to me the verse written about
+them by an old Florentine poet:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "S'è grande, è oziosa,<br>
+  S'è piccola, è viziosa;<br>
+  S'è, bella, è vanitosa;<br>
+  S'è brutta, è fastidiosa."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Every type, indeed, is represented in that long,
+single street at night&mdash;the dark-haired Jewess, the
+classic Greek, the thick-lipped Tunisian, the
+pale-cheeked Armenian, and the beautiful Tuscan, the
+purest type of beauty in all the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once again, after several years, I heard, as I
+walked onward, the soft sibilations of the Tuscan
+tongue about me, the gay chatter of that city of
+sun and sea, where, although half the population
+is in a state of semi-starvation, hearts are still as
+light as in the days when "cara Livorno" was still
+prosperous.  But alas! it has sadly declined.  Its
+manufactures, never very extensive, have died cut;
+its merchant princes are ruined, or have deserted
+it, and its trade has ebbed until there is no work
+for those honest, brown-faced men, who are forced
+to idle upon the stone benches in the piazza, even
+though their wives and children are crying for
+bread.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The splendid band of the garrison was playing in
+the great Piazza Vittorio, in front of the British
+Consulate, where the Consular flag was waving,
+because the warships were in the port.  The music
+was in acknowledgment of the fact that the British
+Marine Band had played before the Prefecture on
+the previous evening.  The Consulate was
+illuminated, and on the balcony, in company with a
+large party, was the Consul himself, the popular
+Jack Hutchinson&mdash;known to every English and
+American resident throughout Tuscany as the
+merriest and happiest of good fellows, as well as
+a distinguished author and critic.  I recognised
+him, looking cool in his suit of white linen, but
+hurried on across the great square, feeling that no
+time should be lost, and yet not knowing what
+to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mysterious assassination of poor Reggie, and
+the curious events which followed, coupled with the
+startling discovery I had made on the previous night,
+had completely unnerved me.  As I tried to reflect
+calmly and logically, I came to the conclusion that
+it was eminently necessary to ascertain the identity
+of the man who held the millionaire beneath his
+thumb&mdash;the man who had suggested the blowing up
+of the yacht.  This man intended, without a doubt,
+to leave the vessel under cover of night; or, if he
+were actually one of the guests, he could, of course,
+easily excuse himself and leave the others, as I
+had done.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap15"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XV
+<br><br>
+IN WHICH WE PAY A VISIT ASHORE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The mystery of the deck cabin was puzzling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I alone held knowledge of the dastardly plan
+formed to blow up the yacht, and was determined
+that the vessel should not sail again before I had
+warned my fellow-guests.  But how?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had watched the old millionaire narrowly, and
+had plainly detected his nervous agitation, and his
+anxiety for the cruise to be brought to an end.  As
+far as I myself was concerned, I had no intention of
+again sailing in the <i>Vispera</i>, and would certainly
+not allow Ulrica to continue the voyage.  That the
+yacht was doomed was plain.  Even at that moment
+old Mr. Keppel was sending mysterious telegrams,
+in all of which I scented some connection with the
+tragedy that had occurred on board.  It struck me
+that the wisest course would be to attach myself to
+my host as much as possible, and narrowly watch
+his movements.  With that intention, therefore, I
+turned back and walked as far as the great Piazza
+Carlo Alberto, where the central telegraph office
+was situated.  On the stone seats around the
+spacious square hundreds of people were sitting
+and gossiping beneath the stars, for the Italian of
+the working-class loves to gossip at night, when the
+day's toil is over, and the cool breeze comes in from
+across the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I met Keppel emerging from the office, and with
+some surprise he greeted me.  I told him that I
+had been making some purchases, while the others
+had gone to the opera, whereupon he suggested that
+we, too, should take a cab to the Goldoni and join
+the party there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This we did.  The old man was unusually chatty
+and affable, and during our drive told me he had
+decided that the <i>Vispera</i> should lie in Leghorn for
+the next five or six days, as he was expecting letters
+from England in reply to the telegrams he had just
+despatched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This surprised me.  If he and his unknown
+accomplice wished to get rid of traces of their
+crime by blowing up the vessel, it seemed only
+probable that they would do so at the earliest possible
+moment.  Again, a second point was an enigma.
+How was it that the Customs officers, who had
+searched the yacht, and had, of course, entered the
+mysterious deck-house, had not discovered the
+crime?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keppel was a very shrewd old fellow, but it was
+my duty to prevent the consummation of the
+dastardly plot which his accomplice had suggested.
+With this object in view, I made a point of
+remaining as near him as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the investigation of matters such as these a
+woman is in many ways handicapped.  A man can
+go hither and thither in search of truth, and act
+in a manner for which a woman can find no excuse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the Goldoni, an enormous theatre, rather dingy
+with age, but nevertheless comfortable, Verdi's
+<i>Aida</i> was being performed, and when we entered the
+box occupied by our party, Ulrica greeted me with
+enthusiasm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You were quite right, Carmela, dear.  The
+music is really wonderful.  I had no idea that they
+had opera of such high quality in a small Italian
+town.  The tenor is a great artist."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" I laughed.  "I was sneered at when I
+dared to say that there was anything of interest in
+Leghorn.  You have at least found an evening's
+amusement equal to any you'll find in London.
+Pretty toilettes you won't find, as at Covent Garden,
+but good opera you can always hear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I quite agree with Miss Rosselli," declared
+Gerald, as he rose to give me his seat.  "Leghorn
+is a charming place.  And what lovely women!
+I've never in all my life seen such a galaxy of
+beauty."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, then you have noticed them already!" I
+said, smiling at his enthusiasm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every Englishman who goes to Leghorn is
+enthusiastic over the beauty of the Livornese women,
+the well-cut, regular features, the dark flashing
+eyes, the artistically-dressed hair, the great
+gold-loop ear-rings, and the soft santuzza, or silken
+scarf, with embroidered ends, wound about the head
+and secured by great pins, the finishing touch to a
+thoroughly artistic adornment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the Englishman walks down the Via Grande,
+they, promenading in couples or threes, arm in
+arm, turn and laugh saucily at him as he passes.
+Yes, they are a light-hearted, careless people, the
+Livornesi, even though the poverty is terrible.
+Hundreds would die of sheer starvation yearly were
+it not for those kind Capuchins, Fra Antonio, Padre
+Sisto, Padre Antonino, and the others, who daily
+distribute bread to all who ask for it at the convent
+gate.  The good friars have no funds, but Fra
+Orazio, a lay brother, and the youngest of them,
+goes daily from house to house of the middle classes
+and the wealthy, begging a trifle here and a trifle
+there with which to buy the bread and the necessaries
+for soup for the starving.  And who does not
+know Fra Orazio in Leghorn?  In his brown habit,
+a dark-haired, black-bearded man of forty, with a
+round, jovial face tanned by the sun, his rotund
+figure is as well known as the equestrian statue of
+Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The theatre was crowded, the cheaper parts being
+packed by men and women of the poorer classes,
+who had made that day one of semi-fasting in order
+to be able to pay the <i>ingresso</i>, and hear the music
+of their beloved <i>maestro</i>.  The audience was an
+enthusiastic one, as it generally is in Italy&mdash;as quick
+to praise as it is to condemn&mdash;and that night the
+principal singers were recalled time after time.  In
+the Italian theatre there is a lack of luxury;
+sometimes even the floor is unswept, and there is dust in
+the boxes; nevertheless, all these drawbacks are
+counterbalanced by the excellence of the performance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the millionaire's guests that performance was
+a revelation, and when we left on the conclusion of
+the opera to return to the port and go on board,
+Leghorn was voted by all to be quite an interesting
+place.  Indeed, when our host stated that he
+intended to remain there a few days owing to the
+necessities of his business, no one demurred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica suggested at breakfast next morning that
+some of us should run up to Florence on a flying
+visit, it being only sixty miles distant, while
+somebody else urged the formation of a party to go and
+see the famed leaning tower at Pisa.  For my part,
+however, I had resolved that I would go wherever
+my host went.  Several times that morning I
+passed and repassed the deck-cabin, but those
+green silk blinds were closely drawn across the
+brass-bound port-holes, and the door was carefully
+locked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a terrible mystery was contained therein!
+If only my fellow-guests were aware that on board
+the vessel was the body of an unknown woman
+who had been foully and brutally murdered!
+And yet a distinct suspicion had now seized me
+that the Customs officers, having searched and
+found nothing, the body must have been secretly
+disposed of.  Perhaps it had been weighted and
+sunk during the silent watches of the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet, if this had actually been done, what possible
+reason was there to destroy the yacht and sacrifice
+the lives of those on board?  I had thought it all
+over very carefully in the privacy of my own small
+cabin, where the morning sunshine, dancing upon
+the water lying just below my port-hole, cast
+tremulous reflections upon the roof of the cosy little
+chamber.  No solution of the problem, however,
+presented itself.  I was utterly bewildered.  A
+thousand times I was tempted to confide in Ulrica,
+yet on reflection I saw how giddy she was, and
+feared that she might blurt it out to one or other
+of her friends.  She was sadly indiscreet where
+secrets were concerned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About ten o'clock I found the old millionaire
+lolling back in a deck-chair, enjoying his morning
+cigar according to habit, and in order to watch
+him, I sank into another chair close to his.  The
+<i>Vispera</i> was lying within the semi-circular mole;
+and so, while protected from the sudden gales for
+which that coast is so noted, there was, nevertheless,
+presented from her deck a magnificent panorama
+of the sun-blanched town and the range of dark
+mountains beyond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The young Countess Bonelli, who was at school
+with me, has invited us all to her villa at Ardenza,"
+I said, as I seated myself.  "You will accompany
+us this afternoon, won't you, Mr. Keppel?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ardenza?  Where's that?" he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The white village there, along the coast," I
+answered, pointing it out to him.  "I sent a
+message to the Countess last night, and half an
+hour ago I received a most pressing invitation for
+all of us to drive out to her villa to tea.  You'll
+come?  We shall accept no excuses," I added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, Miss Rosselli," he grunted, "I'm getting
+old and crochety; and to tell you the plain truth,
+I hate tea-parties."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But you men won't drink tea, of course," I
+said.  "The Countess is most hospitable.  She's
+one of the best known of the younger hostesses in
+Florence.  You probably know the Bonelli Palace
+in the Via Montebello.  They always spend the
+spring and autumn at their villa at Ardenza."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so I pressed the old man until he could not
+refuse.  I watched him very narrowly during our
+conversation, and became more than ever convinced
+that his increased anxiety and fidgety behaviour
+were due to the pricks of conscience.  More than
+once I felt sorely tempted to speak straight out,
+and demand of him who and where was the woman
+who had been concealed in that gilded deck-house?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But what would it profit to act ridiculously?
+Only by patience and the exercise of woman's wit
+could I hope to learn the truth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His reluctance to go ashore increased my
+suspicions.  He had at breakfast announced his
+intention of not landing before evening, as he had
+some correspondence to attend to; but this seemed
+a mere excuse to remain behind while the others
+went out exploring the town.  Therefore I was
+determined that he should accompany us, and I
+had urged Ulrica to add her persuasive powers to
+mine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon was one of those brilliant ones which
+are almost incessant on the Tuscan coast.  About
+three o'clock we all landed, including the old
+millionaire, and in cabs were driven along the promenade
+and out by the city gate along the oleander grove
+to Ardenza, the first village eastward beyond
+Leghorn on the ancient Strada Romana, that long
+highway which runs from Marseilles to Rome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All in the party were delighted with the drive
+along that wide sea-road, which for miles is divided
+from the actual rocks by a belt of well-kept gardens
+of palms and oleanders, forming one of the
+handsomest and most beautiful promenades in the South
+of Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have often thought it curious that the ubiquitous
+British traveller has never discovered Ardenza.  He
+will, no doubt, some day, and then the fortune of
+the charming little retreat will be made.  Time was,
+and not very long ago, when Nervi, Santa
+Margherita, and Rapallo were unknown to those
+fortunate ones who follow the sun in winter; yet
+already all those little places are rapidly becoming
+fashionable, and big hotels are springing up
+everywhere.  The fact is, that <i>habitués</i> of the South,
+becoming tired of the artificiality and flagrant vice
+of the French Riviera, and of the terrible rapaciousness
+of hotel-keepers and tradesmen in that most
+ghastly of all Riviera resorts, San Remo, are
+gradually moving farther eastward, where the sunshine
+is the same, but where the people are charming
+and as yet unspoilt by the invading hordes of the
+wealthy; where the breezes are health-giving,
+where the country is both picturesque and primitive,
+and where the Aspasia of the boulevard and the
+<i>chevalier d'industrie</i> are alike absent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ardenza is a large village of great white villas
+in the Italian style&mdash;mansions they would be called
+in England.  Some face the splendid tree-lined
+promenade, but many lie back from the sea in their
+own grounds, shut out from the vulgar gaze by walls
+high and prison-like.  There is no mean street,
+for it is essentially a village of the wealthy, where
+the great houses, with their wonderful mosaic floors,
+are the acme of comfort and convenience, where both
+streets and houses are lit by electricity, and where
+society is extremely sociable, and yet select.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is neither shop nor hotel in the place, but
+a quarter of a mile away is the old village called
+Ardenza di Terra, to distinguish it from that by
+the sea, a typical Italian village, with its old-world
+fountain, round which the women, gay in their
+bright kerchiefs, gossip; its picturesque bridge, and
+its long white high-road which leads up to Montenero,
+that high, dark hill on which stands the church with
+its miracle-working Virgin.  Both Byron and Shelley
+knew and appreciated the beauties of the place.
+The former had a villa close by, which is,
+alas! now falling to decay; while Shelley frequently
+visited Antignano, the next village along the old
+sea-road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Better than San Remo, better than Bordighera,
+better than Alassio, Ardenza will one day, when
+enterprising hotel-keepers discover it, and the new
+direct railway from Genoa to Rome is constructed
+from Viareggio to Cecina, become a rival to Nice.
+At present, however, the residents are extremely
+conservative.  They never seek to advertise the beauties
+or advantages of the place, for they have no desire
+that it should become a popular resort.  Nevertheless,
+I dare to assert here that the sea-bathing is
+perhaps the finest in Europe, that no promenade of
+any English watering-place equals it, and that its
+climate, save in the month of August, is one of the
+best of any place on the Mediterranean shore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No wonder, then, that rich Italians have built
+their villas in so lovely a spot, or that they go there
+to escape the fogs of the Arno, or the dreaded
+malaria of Rome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Countess Velia met me at the port, and
+carried Ulrica and myself home in her smart victoria.
+We had not met for quite three years, and I saw
+that the rather plain Velia of convent days had
+now grown into a strikingly handsome woman.
+Her husband, she told us, was unfortunately in
+Venice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Villa Bonelli we found to be one of the largest
+in Ardenza, a huge white mansion, with bright green
+<i>persiennes</i>, standing back in its own grounds behind
+a large gate of ornamental iron, the spikes being
+gilded, in accordance with the usual style in Italy.
+Velia received her guests in the great <i>salon</i>
+upholstered in azure silk, and then we wandered through
+the ground floor of the spacious mansion, passing
+the smaller <i>salons</i>, and at last strolled out into the
+garden, where tea was served in the English style
+under the shadow of the orange trees.  Velia had
+never been able to master English, and, as few of
+her guests beside myself spoke Italian, her conversation
+was of necessity limited.  Nevertheless, after
+a five weeks' cruise, resulting in the cramped
+sensation one usually experiences while yachting,
+tea-drinking and rambling in that beautiful garden,
+with its wealth of flowers, were delightful occupations
+enjoyed by all, even by old Mr. Keppel, whose
+chief wonder seemed to be at the magnificence of the
+house, which appeared to be almost entirely
+constructed of marble.  The mosaic floors, too, were
+splendid, worked in dark green and white, in
+imitation of those in the Thermæ Antoninianæ at Rome.
+The Bonellis were an ancient family, one of the
+few Florentine nobles who were still wealthy.
+Their ancestral castello was above Pracchia in the
+Apennines, between Florence and Bologna, and Velia
+had several times since her marriage given me
+pressing invitations to stay with her there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the convent we had always been close friends.
+She was the daughter of the Marchese Palidoro of
+Ancona, and once I had spent the Easter vacation
+with her at her home on the Adriatic shore.  Ulrica
+and the others found her a charming little woman,
+and, of course, admired the two-year-old little
+Count, who was brought down from his kingdom
+in the nursery, to be kissed and admired by us.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap16"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVI
+<br><br>
+DISCUSSES SEVERAL MATTERS OF MOMENT
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The men drank Marsala&mdash;always offered in the
+afternoon in an Italian house&mdash;and smoked in the
+garden, while we women wandered wherever we
+liked.  Those of my companions who had not before
+seen the interior of an Italian villa were interested
+in everything, even to the culinary arrangements, so
+different from those in England.  The Italian cook
+makes his dishes over some half-a-dozen small charcoal
+fires about the size of one's hand, which he keeps
+burning by a kind of rush fire-screen, the English
+grate being unknown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been there a couple of hours, and to all
+of us the change had been pleasant after so long a
+spell at sea.  Velia was sitting apart in the garden,
+and we were chatting, she telling me of the perfect
+tranquillity of her married life.  Rino was, she
+declared, a model husband, and she was perfectly
+happy; indeed, her life was a realisation of those
+dreams that we both used to have long ago in the
+old neglected garden of the convent, when we
+walked together hand-in-hand at sundown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She recalled those days to me&mdash;days when I, in my
+childish ignorance, believed the world outside to be
+filled with pleasant things.  We had not met since
+we had parted at the convent, she to enter Florentine
+society and to marry, and I to drift about the world
+in search of a husband.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Suor Teresa's counsels were so very true," she
+said to me, as we recalled the grey-eyed Sister who
+had been our foster-mother.  "Haven't you found
+them so, just as I have, even though you have lived
+in England, your cold, undemonstrative England,
+and I here, in Italia?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Suor Teresa gave us so much good advice.
+To which of her precepts do you refer?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you recollect how she was always saying
+that, as women, the first thing of importance was
+always to be content to be inferior to men&mdash;inferior
+in mental power in the same proportion as we are
+inferior in bodily strength.  Facility of movement,
+aptitude and grace, the bodily frame of woman may
+possess in a higher degree than that of man; just as
+in the softer touches of mental and spiritual beauty
+her character may present a lovelier aspect than
+his.  Yet the woman will find, Suor Teresa used to
+say, that she is by nature endowed with peculiar
+faculties&mdash;with a quickness of perception, facility
+of adaptation, and acuteness of feeling, which fit her
+especially for the part she has to act in life, and
+which, at the same time, render her, in a higher
+degree than man, susceptible both to pain and
+pleasure.  These, according to our good Sister, are our
+qualifications as mere women."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I said, "I remember now.  Some of Suor
+Teresa's counsels I've followed, but others, I fear,
+I threw to the winds.  She was a good woman&mdash;a
+very good woman, Suor Teresa.  Do you remember
+how she used to lecture us girls, and say: 'When you
+are women of the world, how wide is the prospect
+which opens before you&mdash;how various the claims
+upon your attention&mdash;how vast your capabilities&mdash;how
+deep the responsibility which those capabilities
+involve!  In the first place, you are not alone;
+you are one of a family&mdash;of a social circle&mdash;of a
+community&mdash;of a nation.  You are a being whose
+existence will never terminate, who must live for
+ever, and whose happiness or misery through that
+endless future which lies before you will be influenced
+by the choice you are now in the act of making.'  Do
+you remember the kind of lectures she used to
+give us?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perfectly well," answered Velia.  "But she is
+dead, poor woman; she died of fever last summer."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Dead!" I echoed
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A pang of regret shot through my heart, for I
+remembered how sweet and kind she had always
+been, how just and how devout in all her religion.
+To her I owed many stimulating ideas about good
+and evil, few of which, I fear, remained long enough
+in my memory.  It was she who taught me to
+love the virtuous and the good, and the recollection
+of those early days of her tender guidance formed
+a bright spot in my life, to which, I suppose, the
+mind will take me back at intervals as long as
+existence lasts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Velia was about my own age, and at the convent
+we had treated one another as if we were sisters.
+Therefore when we fell to talking of those old days
+before the courses of our lives ran so far apart, my
+memory drifted back to those home-truths which
+Suor Teresa and her fellow-nuns had striven to
+instil into our rather fickle minds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My fellow-guests left about five o'clock, for they
+had arranged to continue on the sea-road and ascend
+to the famed pilgrimage church of Montenero&mdash;one
+of the sights of Western Tuscany.  As I had
+made a pilgrimage there in my school-days, at
+Velia's invitation I remained behind to dine with
+her, promising Ulrica to return on board later in
+the evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the glorious blaze of crimson sunset which
+flooded the broad, clear Mediterranean, causing the
+islands of Gorgona, Capraja, and Corsica to stand out
+in purple grandeur in the infinite blaze of gold, I sat
+upon the marble terrace, lolling in a long cane chair,
+and chatting with the Countess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How different had been our lives, I reflected.
+She, married happily, surrounded by every comfort
+that wealth could provide, a child which was her
+idol, and a husband whom she adored; while I,
+one of those unattached women who form the flotsam
+of society, world-weary, forlorn, and forsaken, was
+beaten hither and thither up and down Europe by
+every gust of the social wind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I contrasted our lives, and found my own to be a
+hollow and empty sham.  Of all the passions which
+take possession of the female breast, a passion for
+society is one of the most inimical to domestic
+enjoyment.  Yet how often does this exist in
+connection with an amiable exterior!  It is not easy
+to say whether one ought most to pity or to blame a
+woman who lives for society&mdash;a woman who reserves
+all her good spirits, all her pretty frocks, her
+animated looks, her interesting conversation, her bland
+behaviour, her smiles, her forbearance, her
+gentleness, for society.  What imposition does she not
+practise upon those who meet her there!  Follow
+the same individual home; she is impatient, fretful,
+sullen, weary, oppressed with headache, uninterested
+in all that passes around her, and dreaming only of
+the last evening's excitement, or of what may
+constitute the amusement of the next; while the
+mortification of her friends at home is increased
+by the contrast her behaviour exhibits in the two
+different situations, and her expenditure upon
+comparative strangers of feelings to which they
+consider themselves to have a natural and inalienable
+right.  I was terribly conscious of my own failings
+in this respect, and in society Ulrica had been
+my chief example.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hated it all, and envied the woman who sat
+there chatting with me so merrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There, in the fading afterglow, when the sun had
+disappeared behind the distant headland, I told her,
+in reply to her question, of my love and its
+disillusionment.  I told her his name&mdash;Ernest Cameron&mdash;and
+at mention of it I thought I detected her dark
+brows grow narrow for an instant.  But surely it was
+only fancy, for these two had certainly never met.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You have all my sympathy, Carmela," she said,
+in her soft Italian, when I had told her the truth.
+"You have suffered, poor child.  Your words tell
+me so."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I responded frankly.  "I have suffered,
+and am still suffering.  Another woman stole his
+love from me, and I am left deserted, forlorn;
+outwardly a smart figure as you see me, but within
+my heart is the canker-worm of hatred."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He may return to you," she said.  "His fancy
+may be a mere passing one.  Men are so very fickle."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," I declared quickly, "it is all ended between
+us.  I loved only once&mdash;loved him with all the
+charm of a first attachment.  She who entertains
+this sentiment lives no longer for herself.  It was
+so in my case.  In all my aspirations, my hopes,
+my energies; in all my confidence, my enthusiasm,
+my fortitude, my own existence was absorbed in his
+interests.  But now I am despised and forgotten."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was so sympathetic that more than once I was
+tempted to confide to her the whole of the strange
+facts and the mysteries that were so puzzling to
+me.  But I hesitated&mdash;and in my hesitation
+resolved to keep my own counsel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We dined together, taking our wine from the big
+rush-covered <i>fiasco</i> of Chianti placed in its swinging
+stand, according to the custom of Tuscany; eating
+various dishes peculiarly Italian, and being waited
+upon by two maids who spoke in that quaint but
+musical dialect of the Tuscan shore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Throughout the meal my thoughts wandered from
+my surroundings to the dastardly plot formed to
+destroy the <i>Vispera</i>.  Where, I wondered, was old
+Mr. Keppel?  For aught I knew, both he and his
+unseen accomplice were engaged in buying explosives
+for the purpose of causing the contemplated disaster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Velia believed my preoccupation to be due to our
+conversation before dinner, and I allowed her to
+continue in that belief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dinner in an Italian household is a very different
+meal to the French <i>table d'hôte</i> or the English evening
+meal.  The courses are varied, and from the <i>anti-pasti</i>
+to the <i>dolci</i>, all is new to the English palate.
+Those who have lived sufficiently long in Italy to
+become imbued with its charm know well how difficult
+it is to relish the substantial English cooking
+when one goes on a visit to the old country; just
+as difficult as it is to enjoy the grey skies and smoky
+cities of money-making Britain after the brightness
+and sunshine of the garden of Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At ten o'clock, after we had idled in the <i>salon</i>
+with our coffee and certosa&mdash;a <i>liqueur</i> made by the
+old monks of the Certosa, outside Florence, and
+not obtainable beyond the confines of Tuscany&mdash;Velia's
+brougham came round, and reluctantly I
+took leave of her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our reunion had certainly been full of charm, for
+in those hours I had allowed myself to forget my
+present position, and had, in thought, drifted back
+to the placid days of long ago that had been passed
+within the high grey walls of the ancient convent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good-bye, Carmela," Velia said, holding my
+hand in hers warmly after I had entered the carriage.
+"Remember your promise to return here before
+you sail.  I shall expect you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I repeated my promise gaily, and then giving her
+a final "<i>Addio, e buona notte,</i>" I was driven out of
+the great gates and into the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road from Ardenza to Leghorn, a magnificent
+drive by day, is not very safe at night.  The trees
+lining it form a refuge for any thieves or footpads,
+and because of this it is patrolled continually by a
+pair of mounted carbineers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length we came to the great iron gates of the
+city, which stretch across the wide highway,
+flanked on either side by huge porticos, in which
+are stationed the officers of the dazio, as the <i>octroi</i>
+in Italy is called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every article entering an Italian city is inspected
+with a view to the imposition of taxes, hence every
+conveyance, from the country cart of the contadino
+laden with vegetables for the market, to the private
+brougham, is stopped at the barrier, and the
+occupant is asked to declare what he or she has with
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In front of the barrier the brougham was brought
+to a halt, and one of the dazio guards, in his peaked
+cap and long overcoat with silver facings, opened
+the door, inquiring whether I had anything liable
+to be taxed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Niente,</i>" I responded, and was preparing to
+resettle myself for the journey, when the man, looking
+rather hard at me in the semi-darkness, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina is named Rosselli, I believe?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I replied, surprised at the man's
+knowledge of my name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He fumbled in the pocket of his overcoat for a
+moment, produced a letter, and then handed it to
+me in quite a surreptitious manner, saying in a low
+tone:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This is for the signorina."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he banged to the door with a great show of
+officiousness, without waiting for me to thank him,
+and we drove forward along the deserted promenade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it was quite dark within the carriage, I was
+unable to read the communication that had so
+suddenly been handed to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What, I wondered, did it contain?  Who had
+taken the precaution to bribe one of the dazio
+guards to hand it to me?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Surely it must contain something of the highest
+importance and strictest privacy.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap17"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVII
+<br><br>
+DESCRIBES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+At the outlying suburb of San Jacopo the street-lamps
+began, and tearing open the strange note, I
+found it to contain some lines penned in a rather
+uneducated hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the coachman was driving at a good pace, I
+had some difficulty in deciphering the words by the
+light of the street-lamps as their rays flashed in,
+and as rapidly disappeared.  The words I read,
+however, were decidedly curious.  Written in
+Italian, rather faintly, be it said, the note ran as
+follows:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The bearer will give you this in strictest secrecy.
+Do not return on board the yacht, but first call at
+Number 12, Via Magenta, ground floor, where you
+will meet a friend whose interests are identical with
+your own.  Dismiss your carriage near the port,
+and take a cab to the address indicated.  Come,
+without fear, and without delay."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The invitation was, to say the least of it, a peculiar
+one.  Although a woman, I am not naturally timid,
+especially in Italy, where I know the language,
+and know the peculiarities of the people.  My
+first feelings, however, were those of suspicion.
+Why could not the writer have approached me
+openly, without taking the elaborate precaution of
+sending me the missive by the hand of the dazio
+guard?  Again, I was not acquainted with the
+Via Magenta, and suspected it to be in a low
+quarter of the city.  There are several parts of
+Leghorn into which a woman would certainly not
+care to venture after dark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The suggestion that I should not return to the
+yacht read to me as a warning, especially in the
+light of the knowledge I had gained of old Keppel's
+intentions.  Could it be possible that it was
+intended that the <i>Vispera</i> should sail before morning
+and go straight to her doom?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sat back in the carriage, thinking it all over.
+Finally, I came to the conclusion that the writer
+of the letter, whoever he was, must, like myself,
+be aware of the truth.  Our interests, he declared,
+were identical.  That statement was in itself
+interesting, and filled me with a curiosity which
+increased as I reflected.  I glanced again at the sheet
+of common notepaper in my hand, and my suspicions
+were again aroused by the fact that there
+was no signature.  The note was anonymous, and
+no one, especially a woman, has any sympathy with
+anonymity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Should I disregard the warning, cast the letter
+out of the carriage window, and return on board;
+or should I act according to its instructions?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was engaged in a very serious and difficult
+inquiry, which had baffled experienced police
+officials, be it remembered.  In every direction I
+scented suspicion, now that the old millionaire,
+the man in whose integrity I had so firmly believed,
+was proved to be the author of a foul and dastardly
+crime.  The whole affair was as startling as it was
+incomprehensible.  The enigma was complete.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ever since the time when I had been so cleverly
+tricked by the pseudo-detectives in Nice, I had been
+on the alert to discover some clue which might
+lead me to a knowledge of the manner in which poor
+Reggie had met with his death.  That there was a
+deep-laid conspiracy on foot was manifest, but in
+what direction to seek for an explanation, I knew
+not.  The mystery of this strange affair unnerved me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The city of Leghorn is bisected by the Via Grande,
+its principal street, which runs from the great Piazza
+Carlo Alberto in a straight line down to the port.
+At the bottom of this thoroughfare I stopped the
+brougham, alighted, and sent the conveyance back
+to Ardenza.  The steps at which I knew the yacht's
+boat would be awaiting me were a considerable
+distance away, and I had no fear of detection by
+any person who knew me.  At that hour all my
+fellow-guests would undoubtedly be back on board;
+therefore if I kept the strange appointment, I
+might return to the yacht within an hour, and no
+one need be the wiser.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the open casement of one of the high, not
+over-clean houses facing the port, where boatmen
+and dock-labourers lived, sounded the sweet twanging
+of a mandoline, while a voice sang an old Tuscan
+serenade:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "O!  Nina mia&mdash;o giovinetta,<br>
+  Lunica speme&mdash;delta mia vita;<br>
+  Deh! perchè vivi&mdash;così soletta<br>
+  In questa tetra&mdash;stanza romita?<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vieni, vieni!<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vieni, deh! vieni a me d'accanto.<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Io t'amo tauto, io t'amo tanto!"<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+I listened, and as those words of passionate love
+fell upon my ears I tried to shut them out.  They
+recalled too vividly the days when I myself had
+been wooed by a man whom I loved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The writer of the mysterious note had declared our
+interests to be mutual.  This fact aroused my
+interest, causing me, in my eagerness to learn the
+truth, to disregard my usual caution.  Hailing one
+of the small open cabs which are characteristic of
+every Italian town, I gave the man the address
+mentioned in the letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Contrary to my expectations, the Via Magenta
+proved to be one of the principal streets down
+which the electric tramway passed, and Number 12
+was, I found, a large, old palace of six stories, once
+the residence of some count or marquis, but now,
+as a result following the ruin of its original owners,
+it was evidently let out in flats.  The big doors,
+ponderous and iron-studded, as they nearly always
+are in Italy&mdash;a relic of those turbulent days when
+every palazzo was a miniature fortress&mdash;were closed
+when I alighted; but finding a row of bells, I
+rang the one marked "terreno" (ground floor),
+whereupon the door was unbolted by the occupant
+of the apartment, and I immediately found myself
+just inside a huge, dark hall, where the noise made
+by me in stumbling over a step echoed loudly.
+There is always something uncanny in the way an
+Italian door is opened at night by an unseen hand,
+for one naturally expects to see a person standing
+behind it.  As a matter of fact, the opening is
+effected by a mechanical contrivance which can be
+operated at will in any of the apartments.  Thus
+the occupants remain undisturbed until the visitor
+arrives at their door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had turned, and was about to ask the cabman
+to give me some wax vestas in order that I might
+find my way, when a door opened at the further end
+of the hall, and against the light from within I saw
+the silhouette of a young Italian girl about fifteen
+years old.  She came forward, looking at me
+inquiringly, and then, as though she recognised my
+features from a description that had been given
+her, she exclaimed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is the Signorina Rosselli!  Pass, signorina,
+pass!" and she led the way into the apartment,
+closing the door behind her.  The place was
+spacious, sparely furnished, but not particularly
+clean.  The cheap paraffin lamp upon the table of
+the small room at the back of the house to which
+I was conducted was smoking, blackening the glass,
+and filling the place with suffocating fumes.  The
+stone floor of the apartment was without carpet,
+and all the furniture it contained was a cheap
+table, two or three old rush-bottomed chairs, and
+a tall linen-press of a bygone day.  There was a
+damp, earthy smell, which did not help to make
+the place any more inviting.  Indeed, I had scarcely
+set foot in it before I became seized with suspicion
+and regretted that I had come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl, a tall, black-eyed Livornese, who wore a
+bodice of cream-coloured cotton and a stuff skirt
+of dark crimson, was evidently a serving-maid, for
+she drew forward one of the chairs, inviting me to
+be seated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I presume I am expected here?" I inquired in Italian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Si, signorina," was the girl's reply, "the signore
+will be with you in a moment.  Please be seated.
+I will tell him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She disappeared, closing the door after her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole affair was mysterious.  Grim and
+forbidding by day, an old Italian palazzo at night
+never inspires the stranger with confidence.  Its
+great chambers are full of ghosts of the past, and
+one's imagination quickly conjures up visions of
+those old burghers who were such good haters;
+of the gay young cavaliers who rode to a joust
+or a skirmish with equal nonchalance; and of
+those richly-clad dames who caused all the great
+tragedies that were enacted within these dark,
+prison-like walls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Little time was, however, allowed me for
+reflection, for almost immediately the door opened,
+and there entered a dwarfed and ugly little old
+man, with a queer wizened face, deeply wrinkled,
+and a grey beard, bushy and untrimmed.  His
+appearance was so comical that I could scarcely
+suppress a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, signorina!" he cried, in a high-pitched,
+squeaky voice, "I am glad you have come.  I
+feared that you might not get the letter, and the
+matter is highly important."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are the writer of the letter?" I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, no, signorina," the old fellow squeaked.
+"Unfortunately, I cannot write&mdash;I can only make
+a cross."  He spoke Italian, with a strong southern
+accent, and struck me as being of the lower
+class.  To me it was strange that the queer old
+fellow should inhabit part of a palace of that
+description.  "I did not write the letter," he went
+on, "but I wished to speak with you upon an
+important matter."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am all attention," I responded.  "Permit me
+to mention that I have a cab waiting outside, and
+my time is precious."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are anxious to return on board the yacht,
+eh?" he grunted, with a strange expression upon
+his puckered face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I must join my friends within an hour," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your friends?" he echoed, with strange emphasis
+upon the final word.  "You are best apart
+from such as they."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why?" I inquired, surprised at the old fellow's
+sudden declaration.  He was evidently aware of
+some fact which it was desirable that I should
+know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There are strong reasons why the signorina
+should not return on board," he declared, with a
+mysterious air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"As well as reasons why I should not number
+the Signor Keppel and his guests among my
+friends?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina guesses right," he answered, with
+a sinister smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I presume that I may be permitted to
+know those reasons?" I suggested.  "One cannot
+well break off a friendship without some motive."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your own safety is sufficient motive, surely?"
+he argued.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am not in fear, and as far as I am aware there
+is no danger," I declared, endeavouring to show a
+bold front, and hoping that the old fellow would
+soon become more explicit.  He apparently alluded
+to the conspiracy to blow up the yacht in order
+to hide old Keppel's secret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But our interests are mutual," he said, glancing
+at me sharply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are seeking to elucidate a mystery.  So
+am I.  You are endeavouring to discover the person
+who assassinated the young Signor Inglese at the
+Grand Hotel at Nizza.  So am I."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You!" I cried in surprise.  "For what reason
+are you interesting yourself in the matter?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have a motive&mdash;a very strong one," he
+answered.  "We ought to unite our efforts with a
+view to solving the mystery."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The police have already failed," I remarked,
+inwardly ridiculing the idea that any assistance
+could be rendered by the queer old fellow living
+there in that dismal and silent palazzo.  Surely a
+man with such a grotesque countenance could never
+act the amateur detective with success!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The police!" he sneered, when I mentioned
+them.  "They are useless.  They act by rule, and
+here, in Italy, may be bribed with a handful of
+cigars.  The police!  They are not worth the value
+of a dried fig, the whole of them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you favour independent effort, such as I
+myself am making?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Most certainly," croaked the old fellow.  "It
+may appear strange to you that, working in the same
+direction as yourself, I am aware of all you have
+already done."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't understand," I exclaimed in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I mean that I have been watching, just as you
+have.  I know all that has happened&mdash;everything.
+That is why we should combine our efforts."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But what can you know of my inquiries?"
+I exclaimed dubiously.  "We have never met
+before."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, signorina, that is true," he laughed.  "And
+we should not have met now, were it not for the fact
+that events have occurred to render our meeting
+necessary.  To show you that I am aware of the
+efforts you have already made, I will describe to you
+how the money stolen from the young Inglese was
+returned to you, and then cunningly secured by
+trickery.  I will tell you, too, of certain matters
+which occurred in Nice, and which you, no doubt,
+believe are only known to yourself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And then he went on to describe to me events and
+conversations which had taken place in Nice, in such
+detail as to make it plain that the old fellow had been
+well acquainted with my movements, and knew all
+the efforts I had made to solve the tantalising
+problem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He spoke of Ernest, too, with a strange familiarity,
+which made me believe that they had been
+acquainted.  He showed himself to be intimate with
+the doings of the man I loved, knowing both his past
+movements and his present whereabouts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He is at Aix-les-Bains," he said, in reply to my
+question.  "At the 'Hotel d'Europe.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And she?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina pains herself unnecessarily," the
+old man responded, with a slight touch of sympathy
+in his voice.  "But if she desires to know, the person
+to whom she refers was, perhaps is still, at
+Aix&mdash;'Hotel Lamartine.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He has gone there to play, I suppose?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  She assists him, and has wonderful luck,
+just as she had at Monte Carlo.  You remember?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I responded.  "But were you actually
+there?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled, and from his face I knew that he also
+had witnessed that woman's fortune.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And now?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"From reports that have reached me, it seems
+that her luck has not deserted her.  They made a
+<i>coup</i> at baccarat three nights ago, and won eighty
+thousand francs between them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My teeth met and clenched themselves hard.  The
+woman who had stolen my love held Ernest Cameron
+in her toils.  He believed that her presence at the
+tables brought him good fortune.  And yet I loved
+him so&mdash;better than life!  The old man's words
+brought to my mind a flood of recollections
+belonging to the idyllic days of a love now dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah! if we had married, I would have been a much
+better woman, I reflected bitterly.  To love is such
+a very different thing from a desire to be beloved.
+To love is woman's nature&mdash;to be beloved is the
+consequence of her having properly exercised and
+controlled that nature.  To love is woman's duty&mdash;to
+be beloved is her reward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But where was my reward?
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap18"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVIII
+<br><br>
+CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The queer-looking old man sitting there before me,
+fidgeting slightly in his chair, was indeed a very
+grotesque figure.  From what he had said, I could
+no longer doubt that he was aware of the whole of the
+curious circumstances at Nice, and was likewise well
+acquainted with the manner in which my relations
+with Ernest had been broken off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How he had accomplished his manifestly clever
+espionage in Nice I knew not.  Certainly I had never
+noticed his presence, either in Nice or in the Rooms
+at Monte Carlo.  Besides, if he had presented himself
+at the bureau of the Casino in such clothes as he
+wore at that moment he would have been refused
+admission.  A man is not allowed to enter if his
+trousers are turned up in wet weather, while the
+cycling tourist in knickerbockers is promptly shown
+the door by the semi-military janitors.  Yet from
+words he had let drop, he showed himself intimate
+with all the features of the play of both Ulrica and
+Ernest Cameron, and must have been present in the
+crowd around the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mystery surrounding the affair increased each
+moment.  And now this dwarfed old man, of whose
+name I was unaware, desired me to combine my
+efforts with his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that end in view he settled to talk with me
+seriously, pointing out that poor Reggie had been
+murdered secretly, and that it was my duty to
+discover the truth, and bring his assassin to justice.  I
+admitted this, of course, but failed entirely to see
+what connection the old fellow could have with it.
+To me, in my ignorance of the truth, he appeared to
+have entered into a matter which did not in the least
+concern him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"From what I have already told the signorina, I
+think she will be convinced that our interests are
+really identical," he said presently, after we had been
+talking some time.  "My own inquiries have been
+independent of yours, but the result has been the
+same.  To put it plainly, neither of us has discovered
+any clue whatsoever.  Is not that the truth?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Unfortunately so," I exclaimed.  "All my
+efforts have been unavailing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is the reason we must combine," he urged.
+"A woman cannot hope to elucidate such a mystery
+unaided.  It is impossible."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was a crafty old fellow, this dwarfed person,
+with the grotesque features.  He eyed me strangely,
+and more than once I entertained misgivings that he
+was not acting altogether straightforwardly.  Somehow,
+his surroundings did not strike me as those of a
+man who had sufficient money to travel hither and
+thither in order to take up a task in which the police
+had ignominiously failed.  From his rather
+reluctant admissions, I gathered that he was acting at
+the instigation of poor Reggie's friends; yet he was
+not altogether explicit upon that point, and a good
+deal of doubt existed in my mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," I said at last, in order to bring matters to
+a point, "and how do you suggest that we should
+combine our forces, Signor&mdash;&mdash;" and I hesitated
+purposely, in order to give him an opportunity of
+telling me his name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Branca&mdash;Francesco Branca," he exclaimed,
+concluding my sentence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, Signor Branca, I am ready to listen to any
+suggestions you may make in order successfully to
+trace the assassin."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We must first understand each other perfectly,"
+responded the queer old man.  "You have not yet
+told me the full extent of your inquiries, or whether
+you entertain any suspicion of any person.  You
+have been yachting these past five weeks.  Has
+nothing occurred to arouse suspicion during that
+period?  If we are to combine, we must know the
+extent of each other's investigations, and the result,"
+he added.  "What has been the nature of your life
+on board the <i>Vispera</i>?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Pleasant, on the whole," I responded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Has nothing occurred?" he inquired, looking at
+me with a straight and searching glance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You speak as though you already have knowledge
+of something," I said, endeavouring to smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I simply ask the question," he squeaked, in his
+high-pitched voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I hesitated whether to tell him the truth;
+yet when I reflected upon his statement that he was
+acting in the interests of Reggie's family, I became
+induced to tell the old fellow the truth regarding my
+discovery in the deck-house, and the plot I had overheard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Contrary to my expectations, my statement did
+not disturb him in the least.  He only raised his grey
+brows with an expression of surprise, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I was correct in my surmise that certain
+persons on board the yacht are not your friends,
+signorina.  Was I not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You were," I admitted.  "But it is Mr. Keppel
+himself who will be responsible for the blowing up of
+the vessel, because he has acquiesced in a suggestion
+made by a person unknown."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You never saw the man who was speaking with
+this Mr. Keppel?  You are certain of that?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Quite.  He was very careful not to come within
+range of the open ventilator."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A wary person, evidently," grunted the old
+fellow.  "Depend upon it, he has some very strong
+motive for the vessel being sent to the bottom with
+all on board.  The captain suspects nothing, I take
+it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Absolutely nothing.  Ought we to warn him?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Warn him!" cried the old man.  "Why, certainly
+not.  We must remain quite quiet, and be
+extremely careful not to show our hand.  Their
+secret is ours.  For us that is sufficient at the present
+juncture," he added, with an air of contentment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But delay may result in the catastrophe," I
+said.  "The yacht may sail at any moment when
+it pleases her owner to cast her away."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," he said, after a few moments of hesitation,
+"what you have told me certainly increases
+the mystery, and is deeply interesting.  You have,
+I suppose, no suspicion that any of the yacht's
+officers are aware of the plot?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The unseen originator of the conspiracy may
+have been an officer, for aught I know," I said.  "I
+have related the occurrence to you just as it took
+place.  I know exactly nothing more."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But you must discover more," he declared
+anxiously.  "The matter must not rest here.  If what
+you say is really true, then there has been murder
+done on board.  The mysterious passenger is a
+perplexing feature, to say the least.  Describe her to
+me as fully as you can."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I acted upon his suggestion.  Unfortunately,
+however, suspended as I had been in that tearing
+wind on the night of my discovery, I had been unable
+to take in every detail of her features.  But I gave
+him a description as minute as was possible, and it
+apparently satisfied him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Strange," he murmured, "very strange!  To
+me it seems as though your discovery leads us into
+an entirely different channel of inquiry.  Surely
+Keppel himself had nothing to do with the assassination
+of young Signor Thorne!" he added slowly, as
+though the startling theory only that moment
+occurred to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More than once already had that same suspicion
+crossed my mind, but I had always laughed it to
+scorn.  There was an utter absence of motive, that
+convinced me of its impossibility.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And yet, had I not actually heard with my own
+ears Keppel confess to a murder which he himself had
+committed?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you think that the lady could have come on
+board at Algiers?" he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I cannot tell," was my answer.  "The deckhouse
+has been kept closed and curtained during the
+whole cruise.  It was that fact which aroused my
+feminine curiosity."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If the fact caused you to investigate, it may also
+have induced others to make inquiry," he remarked.
+"Do you think it has?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How can I tell?  One fact is certain, namely,
+that I am the only person who was a witness of the
+crime, or who overheard the unseen man's suggestion."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You would be unable to recognise the voice of
+that person?" he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I responded.  "In that wild hurricane
+it was difficult to distinguish the tone of
+voice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He remained thoughtfully silent for a long time.
+The muscles of his grotesque face worked strangely,
+and in his eyes was a crafty look which somehow gave
+me the impression that he was aware of more than
+he had told me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," he exclaimed at last, shifting his position
+slightly and looking me straight in the face, "and
+what is your present suggestion?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It seems very plain that if the yacht sails she
+is doomed, with all on board," I said, "therefore,
+she must not leave Leghorn."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I quite grant that," responded my companion;
+"but how can you prevent it?  Her owner is a
+person of many eccentricities.  This morning he says
+he will remain here a week, yet to-night, when you
+are all calmly asleep, he may order his captain to put
+to sea.  Who is to prevent him?  Neither you nor
+myself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My intention is to keep a strict watch upon his
+movements, and ascertain where he goes, and
+whether any explosive is taken on board," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A most laudable intention, but I fear it is one
+that you will find very difficult to execute," he said.
+"If I may be permitted to advise, you should leave
+that matter to me, and turn your attention rather
+to the locked deck-house.  By some means you must
+gain an entry, and see what is really concealed
+there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am well aware of what secret is hidden there,
+without gaining an entrance," I responded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You tell me that the woman is dead," he
+observed.  "Well, I do not doubt you; but I nevertheless
+consider it strange that if she is dead, and the
+persons concerned in her decease wished to get rid of
+the body, they have not already dropped it overboard.
+Such a matter would not be at all difficult
+in the night.  Why would Keppel, a parsimonious
+man, consent to the total destruction of a yacht of
+the costly character of the <i>Vispera</i>?  It is utterly
+unreasonable."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"From one point of view I quite agree with you,"
+I argued; "but there may be further reasons why
+the yacht should be cast away&mdash;reasons of which
+we are ignorant."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But is it reasonable that the owner of a yacht
+would enter the port of Leghorn with a body on
+board?" he queried.  "No.  The officials are too
+prying.  Depend upon it, the body is no longer on
+board.  They've got rid of the evidence of the
+crime&mdash;Keppel and this unknown accomplice of his."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then if such is the truth, why should they plot
+to cast the vessel away?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That is exactly my argument.  I am convinced
+that although the question of blowing up the <i>Vispera</i>
+may have been mooted, the project has now been
+abandoned.  At first it appeared to me more likely
+that Keppel and his associate would place some
+explosive on board and make an excuse for not sailing
+in the vessel.  But on reflection it seems obvious
+that the body cannot now be on board, and
+therefore no end would be gained by casting the ship
+away.  No, there is no danger in returning on
+board&mdash;none whatever.  True, Keppel is very eccentric,
+like many man of great wealth, and may sail again
+at any moment; but it is equally certain that the
+dastardly project is not to be put into execution."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you believe that all is quite safe on board?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am quite convinced of it.  Your best plan of
+action, if you agree to combine your efforts with my
+own, is to return and use every means to gain an
+entrance to the deck-house.  I have not the slightest
+expectation that you will discover any actual trace
+of the crime, but I somehow feel confident that what
+it contains will give us some clue."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A clue to the mystery in Nice?" I inquired eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he responded, not without some hesitation.
+"I believe that we shall gain knowledge
+from that carefully-guarded cabin."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But it is always locked," I protested, "and
+Keppel keeps the key upon his chain."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You must exercise your woman's ingenuity,"
+he laughed.  "Already you have proved yourself
+to be as keen and resourceful as any professional
+detector of crime.  Continue, and we shall
+succeed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If, as you appear to anticipate, we sail to-night,
+we may not meet again," I remarked.  "Shall I
+address you here in case of necessity?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  Do not write to me.  We know not into
+whose hands the letter might fall," he answered
+quickly.  "We shall meet again, signorina, never
+fear&mdash;in Leghorn, or in some other city.  I shall
+travel by land, you by sea."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But what causes you to anticipate that the
+<i>Vispera</i> will leave to-night?" I demanded, for he
+spoke with such authority that I was puzzled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I read certain telegrams which Keppel sent
+off to-day.  I followed him to the telegraph-office,
+and watched him write.  He probably believed
+that I could not read English.  From the messages,
+it appeared that the <i>Vispera</i> is to go direct from
+here to Ragusa, in the Adriatic, and thence to
+Venice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then we are turning back again!" I cried in
+dismay.  "It was understood that we were on our
+way to Marseilles, where the party was to break up."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Exactly, but the <i>Vispera's</i> itinerary appears to
+have now been altered by its eccentric owner, and
+as soon as possible you will leave for the Adriatic."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," I said frankly, "to tell the truth, I
+have no desire to go on board again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But it is imperative," the old fellow declared
+quickly; "absolutely imperative!  You must not
+drop your inquiries at this the most critical moment.
+You must find means to enter that deck-house.
+Spare no pains, and use every endeavour and every
+wile to gain your end.  We must know what is
+hidden there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Shall you go to Venice and meet me there?"
+I inquired anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, I cannot tell!  So much depends upon the
+inquiries I am making, and upon future occurrences.
+But we shall meet soon, never fear!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certainly it was curious to find in that Italian
+port, into which, as far as I could gather, we had
+put on mere chance, a man who had the whole
+mystery at his fingers' ends, and who, like myself,
+was sparing no pains to elucidate it.  But had we
+put into Leghorn by mere chance; or had it all
+been cunningly prearranged?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I am not to write to you?" I said, somewhat
+dissatisfied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, decidedly not," was his response.  "We
+must in this affair exercise every precaution in
+order to make certain that our intentions are not
+discovered by the guilty parties.  Return on board,
+remain ever watchful, allow nothing to escape you,
+and make Keppel himself your especial study, at
+the same time seeking for means by which to enter
+the forbidden deck-house."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I take it, Signor Branca, that this apartment
+is not your own?" I said, as I glanced round the
+place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mine!" he laughed.  "Oh, dear no!  I am
+only here temporarily, in order to meet you.  In
+an hour I leave here&mdash;whither I know not.  I
+was in Rome last night, I am here to-night;
+to-morrow night I may be in Milan, or Turin, or
+Nice&mdash;who knows?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He spoke in French for the first time, and I saw
+by his excellent accent that, so far from my first
+estimate of him being correct, he was a thorough
+cosmopolitan.  It seemed a pity that his personal
+appearance was sufficiently ugly to be remarkable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I glanced at the watch in my bangle and saw that
+as it was already past eleven o'clock, it was high
+time for me to return on board.  Therefore I rose
+to bid my strange host "<i>Addio</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He bowed to me with a courtly grace which
+rendered his dwarfed figure more than usually
+grotesque, bending so low that his fringe of grey
+beard almost touched his knees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Addio</i>, signorina," he said.  "Do not relax
+your efforts for a single moment.  Accompany the
+<i>Vispera</i> on the remainder of its cruise, and seek
+to obtain all the knowledge you can.  For my part,
+I shall do my best; and I have much to do&mdash;very
+much, I assure you.  But I am confident that
+before we meet again we shall both have obtained
+a clue to the mysterious death of the young Signor
+Thorne."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"One moment," I said, after some hesitation,
+for I was reluctant to approach a subject which
+preyed ever upon my mind.  "Answer me truthfully.
+Do you entertain suspicion that Mr. Thorne's
+assassin was the man who once loved me&mdash;Ernest
+Cameron?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He regarded me in profound surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he responded promptly.  "I am convinced
+of the contrary.  There could have been no
+motive, and besides&mdash;&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, not finishing the sentence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Besides, the inquiries I made in Nice and Monte
+Carlo gave a result identical with those made by the
+police, namely, that Signor Cameron was innocent."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If you have no suspicion of him, then I am
+content," I declared, breathing more freely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My dwarfish companion smiled knowingly, for he
+was aware that I still loved the man who had
+abandoned me.  Yet there was a strange look in
+his keen dark eyes that I had not before noticed.
+As I drove back through the silent streets of the
+Italian city, down to the port, his sinister countenance,
+with its indescribable expression of craftiness,
+haunted me incessantly.  Why that final glance of
+his had produced such an impression upon me I was,
+even after many hours spent in wonderment, utterly
+at a loss to explain.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap19"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIX
+<br><br>
+A MILLIONAIRE'S MANOEUVRES
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Will you, my reader, forgive me if for a few
+moments I am prosy?  I speak only of what is so very
+near my woman's heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we think of what Society might be to us,
+it becomes a painful thing to speak of what it is.
+When we, who are world-weary, think of the seasons
+of mental refreshment which might be enjoyed, the
+possible interchange of mutual trust and kindness,
+the awakening of new ideas, the correction of old
+ones, the sweeping away of prejudice and the
+establishment of thought, the extension of benevolence
+and the increase of sympathy, confidence, and
+good faith which might thus be brought about
+amongst the families of mankind, we become filled
+only by regret that the young and the joyous spirit,
+buoyant with the energies of untried life and warm
+with the generous flow of unchecked feeling, must
+so soon become disillusioned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You, my reader, know too well how soon we all
+tire of the eternal shams which go to make up our
+present social life.  You yourself are weary of it,
+though perhaps you hesitate to confess this openly,
+because such a confession would be an offence
+against the <i>convenances</i>.  <i>Convenances!</i>  Bah!
+Society as it now exists is such that no mother,
+once she has launched her daughter into its
+maelstrom by that process known as "coming out,"
+ever hopes to receive back to the peaceful nest
+the wing so lately fledged, unruffled by its flight,
+the snowy breast unstained, or the beating heart
+as true as when it first went forth elated by the
+glowing hope of finding in Society what it never
+yet was rich enough to yield.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And yet the charge we women bring against
+Society for its flattery and its falsehood is an
+old-established one, and we go on year after year
+complaining in the same strain; those who have
+expected most, and have been the most deceived,
+complaining in the bitterest terms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having run the whole gamut of Society's follies,
+I had become heartsick; and never was the bald
+truth more forcibly impressed upon me than that
+night when, on descending to my cabin on board the
+<i>Vispera</i>, I found Ulrica there&mdash;the gay, careless
+Ulrica, whose <i>sang-froid</i> nothing ever
+ruffled&mdash;examining one of my newest gowns.  She was an
+average woman, one of ten thousand or more to be
+found any day during the season between Hyde
+Park Corner and Kensington Church, gay and
+chic, with just that slight touch of the cosmopolitan
+which always proves so attractive to men.  It is
+women such as she whose sentiments and feelings
+give tone to Society, and Society&mdash;which now apes
+the tone, the manners, and the dress of the modern
+Aspasia&mdash;influences the sentiments and feelings of
+English life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, how horribly late you are, dear!" Ulrica
+began, when I entered my cabin.  "We've all been
+thinking that you were lost, or else that the Countess
+had induced you to remain with her.  Gerald has
+taken a cab back to Ardenza to look for you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This announcement caused me considerable
+annoyance, but I affected to pass it by, laughingly
+remarking that I had stayed late with my old
+schoolfellow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"These Italian ports are always cut-throat
+places, Gerald said; and when you were not back at
+half-past ten, he decided to go and look for you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very kind of him," I remarked.  "You all
+dined on board, I suppose?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  Mr. Keppel decided upon dining ashore,
+so we went to a thoroughly Italian hotel&mdash;the
+'Giappone,' I believe it was called.  It was quite
+a plain, unpretending place, but the food was really
+extraordinary.  I've never had better cooking,
+even at the 'Carlton.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know it well," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed, everyone who knows Leghorn knows the
+"Giappone."  As the "Star and Garter" is to
+Richmond, so is the "Giappone" to Leghorn.
+Only the "Giappone," clean, plain and
+comfortable, has never assumed the designation of
+"hotel," but still rejoices in the fact that it is merely
+an <i>albergo</i>, or inn.  Of recent years throughout the
+Italy of the tourist there have sprung up great
+glaring caravanseries, where the cooking is a bad
+imitation of the French style, where the Italian
+waiters are bound to speak French, and the name
+of the hostelry is French (the "o" in hotel always
+bearing a circumflex), and where the accommodation
+is third-rate, at exorbitant prices.  It is, therefore,
+refreshing to find an <i>albergo</i> like the "Giappone,"
+where not a soul speaks either English or French,
+which still retains its old-fashioned character, and
+is noted throughout the whole kingdom for its
+marvellous cooking and absurdly low charges.  It
+is perhaps fortunate that the Cookite has never
+discovered that long, white-painted <i>salle-à-manger</i>
+where, upon each small table, stands the great
+flask of Tuscan wine, and where one can dine as a
+millionaire for the Italian equivalent of two shillings.
+Some day the place will be "discovered," but
+happy those who know it now, before its homelike
+character is swept away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where is Mr. Keppel?" I inquired, anxious to
+know whether he had come on board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In the smoking saloon.  There has been music,
+and I left him chatting with Lord Stoneborough
+ten minutes ago."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What are our future movements?  Have you heard?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, yes!  I forgot to tell you.  At dinner
+to-night old Mr. Keppel announced that we should
+remain here another couple of days or so, and
+then go up the Adriatic to Ragusa, and later
+proceed to Venice.  We're to land there, instead of at
+Marseilles."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her reply surprised me, for it showed that the
+queer old man I had visited had actually spoken
+the truth and was apparently well up in all the
+millionaire's intentions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why have the plans been changed?" I
+inquired, as I drew off my gloves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, because several of the people wanted to go
+up to Switzerland, I believe, and have induced old
+Keppel to land them at Venice, instead of in the
+South of France.  The Viscera is to lay up at
+Fiume, it seems."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But only yesterday he told me that he intended
+to sail home in her to Portsmouth," I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear, the old fellow is as full of plans as he
+is of sovereigns, and is a most vague person regarding
+his future movements.  Somehow, I can't tell in
+what manner, to me he seems to have changed
+wonderfully during the past few days."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you think so?" I asked quickly.  It was
+strange that she should have detected a difference
+in his manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  I sat next to him at dinner to-night,
+and couldn't help noticing how nervous and queer
+he seemed.  Perhaps it's one of those penalties
+of wealth which people are so fond of telling us
+about.  If I had wealth I wouldn't heed the
+so-called penalties, would you, dear?  The possession
+of only another five hundred a year would make
+me one of the happiest women in the world."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's the universal cry," I laughed.  "Why
+aren't you more original, Ulrica?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because it's such bad form to be original
+nowadays, when everything has been said before.
+There is no further smartness in conversation.  A
+woman can only shine by the aid of Paquin, or some
+other Vendome artist."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so she chattered on merrily, until at length
+her eye caught my little travelling clock, when
+she saw that it was already an hour past midnight.
+The tramping of men on deck had ceased, and all
+had grown quiet, save for a low pumping sound from
+the engine-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, dear," she said, "I suppose it's time to
+turn in.  We all go over to Pisa to-morrow to see
+the sights&mdash;Leaning Tower, Cathedral, and that
+sort of thing.  I've seen them all before, and so
+have you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I smiled.  When a child, I had stood beneath the
+campanile, marvelling at what Suor Angelica used
+to say was one of the seven wonders of the world;
+had knelt in reverence in the Duomo, and wandered
+in amazement through the old marble-built
+Campo Santo&mdash;how many years ago, I did not care
+to reflect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You will go with them?" I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We must both go, much as it bores us.  For
+myself, I hate sight-seeing at any time, and more
+especially the re-visitation of things one has seen
+in one's early youth.  Yachting is delightful, and
+I love it.  But the enthusiasm of one's friends when
+they get ashore is always apt to become tiresome.
+No, my dear Carmela, we're in for a day of
+self-sacrifice to-morrow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sighed.  For myself, I would have preferred
+to remain in Leghorn, for to me Pisa always seems
+like a marble-built city of the dead.  A single
+visit there in the course of a life-time is sufficient
+for most people, and the modern tourist, <i>en route</i>
+for Rome, generally "does" the sights in a couple
+of hours, and is glad to get away to the Eternal
+City.  For the archæologist there is much of
+interest, but we women of the world are neither
+dry-as-dust professors nor ten-days-in-Italy tourists,
+and care nothing for the treasuries of its Archivio
+di Stato, the traditions connected with the
+miracle-working and carefully-veiled "Madonna sotto gli
+Organi," the tattered banners of the Knights of
+St. Stephen, or why the Messa dei Cacciatori was
+instituted.  To me, as to most people who have
+once set foot in Pisa, its mediæval glories are
+mouldy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ulrica had left me, I stood before the small
+mirror of my tiny, white-enamelled cabin, gazing
+blankly at my own reflection.  Why had Ernest
+forsaken me in favour of that tow-haired, doll-like
+person, whose parentage no one knew, and whose
+manners, as far as I had been able to observe them,
+savoured more of Kennington than Kensington?
+I was good-looking, still young, still attractive,
+still sufficiently alluring to cause men to turn and
+glance after me.  That candid friend, my mirror,
+told me so each time I sought its opinion.  And yet
+I who loved him with all my soul was abandoned!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The queer old man's injunctions recurred to me.
+It was necessary that I should investigate what was
+contained in that locked deck-house over my head.
+But how?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gerald had told us that the place contained
+curiosities purchased in Tangier, an explanation
+evidently given by his father.  That this was not
+the truth I was already aware.  Yet if the body
+of the mysterious female passenger was still there,
+it was remarkable that the Customs officers had not
+found it.  Still, the men of the Italian dogana are
+easily bribed.  They get half the fines imposed
+upon contraband, a fact which makes them very
+eager to discover dutiable articles&mdash;and nearly
+everything is liable to taxation in Italy&mdash;but a sly
+douceur is to them always preferable to the labour
+entailed in searching a ship and finding nothing to
+reward them.  Davis, the bluff, red-faced captain,
+or one of his officers, being well aware of this, might,
+for aught I knew, have judiciously dispensed a few
+paper <i>lire</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though old Branca had given his opinion that
+there was no longer any danger of the dastardly
+plot being carried into effect, I was not at all
+convinced of the safety of the vessel.  Thus, without
+removing my hat, I sat on the edge of my narrow
+little berth for a long time, thinking.  We were to
+sail for the Adriatic.  That in itself was suspicious;
+for why should we retrace our course down the
+Italian coast again, when the intention had been to
+make for Marseilles?  Keppel had some strong and
+secret motive for so suddenly altering our plans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The pumping in the engine-room had been
+succeeded by the low whirr of the dynamo.  At that
+hour all on board were asleep; for lying as we were
+off the Mole, there was no necessity for a
+night-watch to be kept; therefore I decided to venture
+back on deck, ostensibly to take the air and admire
+the clearness of the magnificent Italian night, but
+really to take observations of the locked deck-house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stealthily, on tiptoe, I crept out of my cabin, and
+up the stairs on to the deck.  The night was
+brilliant&mdash;one of those which the dweller on the
+Mediterranean shore knows so well in spring, calm, balmy,
+starlit, with the crescent moon shedding its light
+over the distant range of mountains far inland.  The
+lights of the harbour were reflected by the dark,
+unsteady waters; and from the ancient lighthouse
+shone the bright rays of warning far across old
+Neptune's highway.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I emerged on deck, before me extended the
+long line of electric lamps along the Passeggio to
+Ardenza, and behind me lay the brightly-lit City
+of Leghorn, complex and mysterious.  From across
+the port came the sound of steam winches,
+interspersed now and then with the low rumbling of coal
+being shot into barges&mdash;the produce of Cardiff and
+Newcastle, disembarked by some "tramp" eager
+for departure; and once there came from over the
+water the hoarse note of a steam siren announcing a
+vessel's immediate sailing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I lingered for a moment, affecting to enjoy the
+night air, but really to disarm the suspicion of
+anyone who might be astir.  All on board was quiet,
+however, and the silence reassured me.  I crept
+forward to the deck-house, passing its closed and
+curtained port-holes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My heart leaped quickly.  There was a light
+within.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I slowly picked my way past I distinctly
+heard a voice, but could not recognise it.  The
+sound, however, made it apparent that two persons
+were within.  Carefully I walked around, but found
+all three port-holes heavily curtained.  At one I
+listened, but could distinguish nothing.  It was a
+man's voice; that was all I could tell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bethought myself of the ventilator by which I
+had before been enabled to overhear the conversation
+within, and wondered whether it was open.
+Without hesitation I swung myself up to the top
+of the deck-cabin, but was dismayed to find the
+small aperture tightly closed.  I listened, but only
+heard a voice speaking in a gruff tone.  As to what
+words were said I could obtain no idea.  The voice
+sounded like that of old Mr. Keppel, but even of
+this I was not altogether certain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Were the occupants of that locked cabin engaged
+in perfecting the plot to destroy the <i>Vispera</i>?  To
+me it seemed very much as if they were.  I slid down
+from my position, which was rather insecure for a
+woman, and concealed myself in the dark and
+narrow gangway between the deck-house and the
+covering of a hatchway, in order to watch the exit.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap20"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XX
+<br><br>
+WHEREIN CAPTAIN DAVIS SPEAKS HIS MIND
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+I suppose I must have crouched there for a full
+half-hour.  When one is watching eagerly, however,
+time always appears longer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The steamer whose siren had awakened the echoes
+of the port had swung from her moorings, and slowly
+glided past us to the open sea, making a southward
+course; while work on the collier appeared to be
+finished, and the whole port had settled down to the
+peace of night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly I heard the voices within raised, as if
+in altercation.  I rose at once, and placed my ear
+to the glass of the curtained port-hole.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I tell you it's a lie&mdash;a confounded lie!" I heard
+a man's voice exclaim.  "You can have no basis
+for any such allegation."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I only state plainly what I think," responded
+the other.  "All the facts tend to show that such
+was the case."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other man laughed a dry, cynical laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what do your guests think of this sudden
+change of plans?" he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Think!" responded Keppel, for one voice I now
+recognised as his.  "They are happy enough.
+The Adriatic is always more attractive for yachting
+than the Mediterranean."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," responded his companion, "act just as
+you think fit.  I shall not advise."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is not for you to advise," answered the owner
+of the <i>Vispera</i> sharply.  "You are my servant, and
+therefore must do my bidding."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You asked my advice, sir, ten minutes ago,
+otherwise I should not have presumed to speak as
+I have just spoken."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are a great deal too presumptuous on board
+the <i>Vispera</i>, Davis," Keppel snapped.  "Please
+recollect that when I am here I am master."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His words proved that the man with whom he
+was speaking was the captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I regret if you've taken any word or action of
+mine as presumptuous, sir," responded the skipper
+gruffly.  "I'm a seafaring man, sir, and ain't much
+used to polite society."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When I give my orders I expect them to be
+obeyed without question, Captain Davis."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm ready to obey what orders you give, sir.
+I'll take the <i>Vispera</i> to any point of the compass
+you like.  You pay me £28 10s. a month, and I'm
+yours to command."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well, Davis.  Then listen," I heard Keppel
+say, although he lowered his voice somewhat.  "My
+instructions to you are entirely confidential, you
+understand.  To-morrow I shall send on board a
+small case.  It will be rather heavy, for it contains a
+piece of marble statuary from Pisa.  You'll receive
+it by the last train, at about midnight, and when
+you've got it aboard you'll sail at once for Ragusa."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Without the guests?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  You will take them with you," was Keppel's
+response.  "Mr. Gerald is going to Florence in
+the morning, so he will be absent.  So shall I."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You will join us later, I suppose, sir?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  Perhaps at Venice.  But you'll receive
+telegraphic orders from me at Ragusa."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I'm not to sail before I receive the case?"
+observed the captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  It will arrive by the last train, and will
+be addressed to you.  Send someone to the station
+for it, and put it in a safe place in the hold.  It is a
+valuable statuette that has been bought for me.  So
+mind it doesn't get damaged."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, sir," responded the captain, "I can't
+answer for those Italian railways; but you can be
+sure I'll take good care of it here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well.  Recollect what I have told you is
+entirely confidential.  The party is due at Pisa
+to-morrow, but will return to dine on board.  I have a
+lot of business to attend to on shore, so possibly I
+may not return with them.  If I don't sail with you,
+don't be surprised."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I quite understand, sir," replied the captain.
+"I shall keep my own counsel, and sail as soon as
+I get the box.  Had I better call at Naples if you
+don't sail with us?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  If I cannot come, put into Palermo.  I'll
+wire you there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right, sir," was the response.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Davis, a trustworthy old Mediterranean skipper,
+who knew the rugged Italian coast as well as he
+did the Thames Embankment, and who had spent
+half a lifetime on colliers and tramps between
+Gibraltar and the Greek Islands, was a short, stout,
+round-faced man who wore a very thick pea-jacket
+even in the warmest weather, and who was always
+speaking of his "missus an' the kids," kept snug
+by him at Barking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had often had chats with him, for he had
+initiated me into the mysteries of taking sights, and
+had given me many a lesson in nautical affairs.  He
+was full of droll stories, and had more than once
+delighted us by relating his humorous experiences
+while cycling ashore in company with the engineer,
+whom he always referred to as his "chief."  He was
+fond of potent drinks, and sometimes was heard
+using strong language to the men, in the usual
+manner of Mediterranean skippers; but he was,
+nevertheless, a safe man, and had commanded
+several passenger boats of a well-known line.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I discovered that the particular port-hole at which
+I was listening was not screwed down tightly, and
+therefore I could distinguish the voices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Recollect," his master went on, "you are not
+to wait for me.  To-morrow evening at dinner you
+must give the guests to understand that you have
+received immediate orders to sail, otherwise they
+may go off to the theatre or somewhere, and you'll
+experience a difficulty in re-collecting them.  Then
+send for the box, and get away as soon as possible."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shan't wait a minute for you, sir, depend upon
+it.  Let me get that box, and the <i>Vispera</i> will soon
+be steaming past Gorgona."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And I don't want the guests to think this has
+been arranged between you and me, recollect.  They
+may consider it rather a slight for neither myself nor
+my son to be on board.  But you must explain
+next day how business pressed upon me at the last
+moment, and prevented me from sailing.  Tell
+them I'll join the yacht at Palermo.  In fact," he
+added, "tell them any lies you like.  I know you're
+a glorious liar!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The skipper laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A captain's first duty, sir, is to know how to
+lie to consuls and Customs officers.  The Board o'
+Trade ought to examine him in this art before
+granting him his certificate.  A skipper who can't
+lie&mdash;and especially here in the Mediterranean&mdash;ain't
+worth the smell of an oil-rag.  He's more
+bother to his owners than he's worth."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, just exercise your untruthful proclivities
+upon my guests on this occasion, Davis, and I shall
+not forget to find something handsome for you at
+the end of this cruise.  Up to the present I have had
+no cause whatever to complain."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Glad to hear that, sir.  Very glad, indeed,"
+responded the old navigator.  "To handle a boat
+like the <i>Vispera</i> is different to handling a coal barge
+from Cardiff, for instance.  Aboard of the latter you
+can get work out of your men by swearin' at them,
+and even out o' the boilers by just calling them a
+few names what ain't polite.  But on board of this
+here yacht I'm always afraid of openin' my mouth,
+and that's the truth.  With ladies about you have
+to be so awful careful.  I know," he added, "that I
+could have made much better time if I might only
+have given my tongue a bit o' liberty."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Give it liberty in your own cabin, Davis,"
+laughed the millionaire.  "The ladies are not used
+to nautical epithets."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, sir.  Not this cruise," was the other's
+response.  "I'm storing of 'em up to be used on
+the trip home, when we're without passengers.
+The atmosphere'll turn blue round and over this
+yacht then, I can promise you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His master laughed again, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well.  As long as you perfectly understand
+my instructions, that is sufficient.  Put into
+Palermo, and if you receive no telegram there, go
+on at once to Ragusa.  Remember to make it plain
+to the guests that I'm very busy, and that I shall
+rejoin you in Sicily."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never fear, sir."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And recollect the box," was Keppel's injunction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll send two men who speak Italian up to the
+railway station to meet the last train.  Will it
+be too heavy to be brought down to the port on a
+cab?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, no!  It is quite small&mdash;merely a statuette,"
+the millionaire explained.  "See that it is stored in a
+dry place.  Somewhere near the engine-room would
+be best."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll see to that, sir.  Any other orders?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No.  Only be very careful that when you put
+into Palermo those confounded Customs officers
+don't break open the case.  They may injure its
+contents.  Best put it into a cabin and let them
+seal up the door, as they do the wines."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right, sir.  They're uncommon handy with
+their lead seals down at Palermo.  I'll have it
+placed along with the wines, then it'll be as safe as in
+the bank."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mr. Barnes is still at the Villa Fabron, so if you
+want to make any communication, and don't know
+my whereabouts, wire to him," Keppel said.  "Just
+at present my movements are somewhat uncertain."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll remember that, sir," replied the captain.
+I heard a movement as though he had risen to go
+back to his berth.  "But I'd like to mention one
+thing, if I may, sir.  Do you know, I was quite
+surprised to find you in here to-night.  This place
+has been locked up during the whole cruise, and
+the reason of it has been a mystery to both the crew
+and the passengers.  The men are very superstitious,
+and more than once declared that something
+uncanny was hidden here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What nonsense!" cried the owner of the yacht.
+"You see what is in here.  Only some of that
+Moorish furniture which I bought at Tangier on
+the voyage out."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the men have declared to me that they've
+seen lights within, and heard strange noises," said
+the bluff skipper dubiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They'll say the <i>Vispera</i> is haunted next,"
+the other laughed.  "Well," he added, "you can
+see for yourself that there's nothing supernatural
+here.  You sailors see omens in everything, Davis."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm no believer in ghosts, or anything of that
+kind myself," was the response; "but one night,
+when we were off Pantalleria, I was on the bridge,
+and saw with my own eyes lights shining through
+these curtains.  I'll swear it!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps I had gone there myself for some
+purpose," Keppel explained rather lamely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I don't think that, sir, for you were asleep
+in your own cabin."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I alone have the key, so no one else could
+have entered."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's just my argument," the captain declared.
+"There's something uncanny about this deck-house,
+but what it is I can't quite make out.  The
+look-out man one night swore that he heard a scream
+coming from it, and I had the devil's own job to
+persuade him to the contrary."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That look-out man had had his grog, I suppose,
+and mistook the whistling of the wind in the rigging,"
+responded the old millionaire, with an air of
+nonchalance.  "All such superstitious fears are rubbish."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To the landsman, yes, but not to the sailor,
+sir," was the skipper's response.  "When we see
+a light in the port-hole of an empty cabin, we
+know one thing is quite certain," he said gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And what's that?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That the ship will go down before very long."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's cheerful," remarked the owner of the
+<i>Vispera</i>.  "And when do you and your crew
+expect that interesting event to occur, pray?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, sir, of course we can't tell.  Only I,
+myself, would like to get back to Barking once
+again before the <i>Vispera</i> goes away from under me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you a fool, Davis?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hope not, sir."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, it seems to me that such superstitions
+don't suit a hard, practical man like yourself.
+You've held a master's certificate for the past
+twenty years or more, and surely by this time you
+aren't upset or unnerved by the gossip of the
+forecastle?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not usually, Mr. Keppel.  But in this case I
+confess I am a bit dubious.  I saw the mysterious
+light myself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I might have gone there for some purpose or
+other, and forgot to switch off the light."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, but it disappeared during the time I
+watched it," was the response.  "To make sure
+that you were not there I sent a man down to your
+cabin, and he found you asleep there.  So you
+couldn't have been in here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Electric lights have queer vagaries," the owner
+of the vessel remarked.  "Perhaps the continual
+vibration of the engines injured the lamp, and
+extinguished it just at that moment.  That's not at all
+an uncommon circumstance, as you know well."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, sir!"  I heard Davis say in a tone of
+conviction; "there was either somebody in here, or
+else something uncanny.  Of that I'm quite
+certain."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Stowaways don't usually luxuriate in electric
+lights," laughed Keppel.  "No, Davis, without
+doubt there is some quite simple explanation of
+what you believe to be a phenomenon.  Think
+no more about it.  Leave omens and all such
+things to these superstitious Italians."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The captain gave vent to a low grunt of
+dissatisfaction, which marked a habit of his.  He
+was a hale and merry fellow, but from what he had
+said, it was evident he entertained a strong
+suspicion that he had carried a mysterious passenger.
+That all traces of the crime had been removed was
+plain, otherwise old Mr. Keppel would not have
+invited his captain to talk with him there.  Of
+course he had done this in order to convince Davis
+that nothing was amiss.  Indeed, the millionaire's
+coolness surprised me, for it was remarkable.  Yet
+it showed plainly one fact, namely, that by some
+means or other the body of the unfortunate
+passenger had been got rid of, just as old Branca had
+declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our host now intended to send on board a box
+said to contain a statuette, and at the same time,
+accompanied by his son, to desert his guests and
+leave the vessel to its fate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To me there was but one theory: that box
+he had spoken of would contain the explosive
+which was destined to send the <i>Vispera</i> to the
+bottom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But what was the motive if, as seemed so probable,
+all evidence of the crime had been completely
+effaced?
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap21"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXI
+<br><br>
+IS ASTONISHING
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+We have an ancient proverb in Tuscany which
+says, "<i>Rimediare al male fin dal suo principio</i>."  This
+very excellent maxim I was endeavouring to
+carry out.  But it is always difficult&mdash;extremely
+difficult, especially for a woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I had at length crept back to my cabin,
+fearing discovery by one or other of the pair whose
+interesting conversation I had overheard, I bolted
+my door and gave myself up to reflection.  To
+act was imperative.  The mysterious old man in
+the Via Magenta, who seemed so well informed as
+to Keppel's movements, and who had even told me
+the whereabouts of Ernest, was wrong in his
+surmise that the dastardly plot to blow up the yacht
+had been abandoned.  The vessel was to sail to her
+doom.  I alone knew the truth, and upon me
+devolved the duty of saving the lives of all on
+board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If I failed, then the millionaire's yacht would be
+added to that long list of vessels which have sailed
+merrily from port, never to be seen or heard of
+afterwards.  How many of these have been wilfully
+blown up for the sake of insurance money or of
+private vengeance is a question bitter to
+contemplate, and hard to answer.  Certain it is that
+the elements are not responsible for all the vessels
+posted at Lloyd's as "missing" during recent
+years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Slowly I undressed and entered my berth, but
+was unable to sleep, so full was my mind of grave
+thoughts.  For a full half-hour I heard tramping
+in the deck-cabin above me; then all grew silent,
+and at last I dozed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dressing-bell awakened me in the morning,
+and after I had dressed I went along to Ulrica's
+cabin, where she was preparing herself with an ill
+grace to accompany the party to Pisa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm awfully tired of this trip!" I exclaimed,
+seating myself wearily upon the edge of the berth,
+"Five weeks at sea is quite sufficient for all
+purposes, without being taken around the Adriatic
+merely on account of old Keppel's whim."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So am I terribly tired of it, my dear," Ulrica
+declared.  "I only wish I could make some excuse
+to stay ashore."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That was exactly what I desired.  I had no
+intention of sailing again in the doomed vessel,
+and had determined that she should not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why can't we both stay ashore?" I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I can't," she responded, "for one simple
+reason.  Gerald is leaving for Florence this morning;
+and if it were found that I, too, were missing, evil
+tongues would at once begin to wag."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear Ulrica," I said, "I, for one, am very
+much obliged to old Keppel for his hospitality;
+but, nevertheless, I don't mean to be one of a party
+shipped up and down the Mediterranean like a
+cargo of coals.  I don't intend to sail again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What, dear!" she cried.  "Are you really
+serious?  What's the cause of this sudden revolt?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm bored to death," I replied.  "And there
+are one or two persons on board that I intend to
+avoid in future; Mrs. Langdon, for instance&mdash;the
+old tabby!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tabby is the correct term," Ulrica laughed.
+"I've never been able to find out where old Keppel
+discovered that rejuvenated skeleton.  Her paint
+and powder are absolutely wicked."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Listen, there's the breakfast bell," I said.
+"We'll all go over to Pisa and do the amiable with
+the others, and afterwards we must discover some
+matter which requires our urgent presence on
+shore&mdash;you understand?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Exactly," she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I leave the excuses to you, my dear; you're
+so excellent at soft sawder.  Remember that at
+all hazards I don't sail.  I hope you are equally
+determined."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm quite with you," she declared.  "Of course,
+we don't want to offend the old gentleman, for he's
+a useful person to know when one winters on the
+Riviera.  Nevertheless, I quite agree that to be
+shipped up and down the Mediterranean like this
+is something beyond a joke.  I wonder why the
+others stand it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why they stand it?  Because he's a millionaire,
+and nearly all of them are indebted to him in
+some way or other.  They can't demur.  It isn't
+policy on their part to do so."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so it was agreed between us that by hook
+or by crook we should either forget to sail, or openly
+present our apologies to our host.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast, always a merry meal when in
+port, but sometimes a sparsely-attended one when
+the mistral was blowing, we all took train to Pisa,
+accompanied by Keppel <i>père et fils</i>, the latter
+wishing us a temporary farewell and going on to
+Florence, whence, he told us, he should return on
+the following night to rejoin us on our cruise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I knew that he had not the least intention of
+doing so.  He had actually told Ulrica privately
+that he was compelled to go by Milan and Bâle
+to Berlin, on some pressing business for his father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day's excursion to see the Leaning Tower
+and other wonders of the marble-built city by the
+Arno was, as far as the others were concerned,
+a success.  To Ulrica and myself, who acted as
+guides, it was a day of absolute self-sacrifice.  The
+only redeeming feature was the excellence of our
+lunch at the little unpretending restaurant beside
+the river, called the Nettuno.  Any of my readers
+who have occasion to visit Pisa should remember
+it, and should carefully avoid those glaring hotels
+near the station, just as they should avoid the
+station-buffet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At five o'clock we returned to Leghorn, wearied
+out, and at half-past six dined together on board.
+During the whole of the day I had managed to
+attach myself to old Mr. Keppel, in order to watch
+his movements; but, quite contrary to my
+expectations, he did not excuse himself by saying
+that he wished to make purchases; and further,
+instead of remaining in Pisa, as I expected he would
+do, he actually returned and took his usual seat at
+the head of the dining-table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was music after dinner, and several of the
+men, including the millionaire, went to the smoking-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Was it possible, I wondered, for him to have
+again changed his plans?  I sat in the saloon until
+nearly eight o'clock, but being anxious, I rose and
+went up on deck, in order to ascertain whether our
+host was still with his friends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I passed the door of the smoking-room and peered
+in, uttering some chaffing words with affected gaiety.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keppel was not there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They are asking for Mr. Keppel in the saloon,"
+I said.  "I thought he was here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," responded Lord Stoneborough.  "He
+went ashore a little time ago."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, thanks," I said.  "I'll tell them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The millionaire had escaped me!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I dashed down to my cabin, and without hesitation
+changed my dinner-frock for a dark stuff dress
+that I had never worn on board; then, going
+again on deck, I induced one of the sailors to row
+me ashore at once, securing the man's silence by a
+tip of half-a-sovereign.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If our eccentric host intended to leave Leghorn,
+he must leave by train and return to Pisa.  Therefore
+at the corner of the Via Grande I entered a
+tram, and shortly afterwards alighted at the station.
+The great platform was dimly lit and deserted,
+for no train would depart, they told me, for another
+hour.  It was the mail, and ran to Pisa to catch
+the night express to the French frontier at Modane.
+Most probably Keppel meant to catch this train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Should I wait and watch?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The idea occurred to me that if that unseen
+individual who had been present in the deck-house,
+and had suggested the destruction of the
+<i>Vispera</i>, had come ashore, he would certainly meet
+Keppel somewhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The time dragged on.  The short train was
+backed into the station, but no passenger appeared.
+A controller inquired if I intended to go to Pisa,
+but I replied in the negative.  At last several
+passengers approached leisurely, as is usual in
+Italy, one or two carrying wicker-covered flasks of
+Chianti to drink in viaggio; the inevitable pair of
+white-gloved carabineers strolled up and down, and
+the train prepared to start.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of a sudden, almost before I was aware of it, I
+was conscious of two figures approaching.  One
+was that of old Mr. Keppel, hot and hurrying,
+carrying a small brown hand-bag, and the other
+the figure of a woman, wearing a soft felt hat and
+long fawn travelling-cloak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I drew back into the shadow to allow them to
+pass without recognising me.  The miscreant had,
+it seemed to me, cleverly disguised himself as a
+woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hurrying, the next moment they passed me by
+in search of an empty first-class compartment.
+The controller approached them to ask for their
+tickets.  Keppel searched his pockets in a fidgety
+fashion, and said in English, which, of course, the
+man did not understand:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We're going to the frontier."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man glanced leisurely at the tickets, unlocked
+one of the doors, and allowed them to enter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the woman mounted into the carriage, however,
+a ray of light fell straight across her face,
+and revealed to my wondering eyes a countenance
+that held me absolutely bewildered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The discovery I made at that moment increased
+the mystery tenfold.  The countenance disclosed by
+the lamplight in the badly-lit station was not that
+of a man in female disguise, as I had suspected,
+but of a woman.  Her identity it was that held me
+in amazement, for in that instant I recognised her
+as none other than the dark-haired, handsome
+woman whom I had seen lying dead upon the floor
+of the deck-house on the previous night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Why were they leaving the yacht in company?
+What fresh conspiracy was there in progress?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had always believed old Benjamin Keppel to be
+the soul of honour, but the revelations of the past
+few hours caused me utter bewilderment.  I stood
+there in hesitation, and glancing up at the clock,
+saw that there were still three minutes before the
+departure of the train.  Next moment I had made
+a resolve to follow them and ascertain the truth.
+I entered the booking-office, obtained a ticket to
+Modane, the French frontier beyond Mont Cenis,
+and a few moments later was sitting alone in a
+compartment at the rear of the train.  I had no
+luggage, nothing whatever save the small travelling
+reticule suspended from my waist-belt.  And I had
+set out for an unknown destination!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The train moved off, and soon we were tearing
+through the night across that wide plain which had
+been the sea-bottom in those mediæval days when
+the sculptured town of Pisa was a prosperous
+seaport, the envy of both Florentines and Genoese,
+and past the spot marked by a church where
+St. Peter is said to have landed.  Well I knew that
+wide Tuscan plain, with its fringe of high, vine-clad
+mountains, for in my girlhood days I had wandered
+over it, making my delighted way through the royal
+forest and through the gracious vinelands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last, after three quarters of an hour, we ran
+into the busy station at Pisa, that point so well
+known to every tourist who visits Italy.  It is the
+highway to Florence, Rome, and Naples, just as
+it is to Genoa, Turin, or Milan; and just as the
+traveller in Switzerland must at some time find
+himself at Bâle, so does the traveller in Italy at
+some time or other find himself at Pisa.  Yet how
+few strangers who pass through, or who drive down
+to look at the Leaning Tower and the great old
+Cathedral, white as a marble tomb, ever take the
+trouble to explore the country beyond.  They
+never go up to quiet, grey, old Lucca, a town with
+walls and gates the same to-day as when Dante
+wandered there, untouched by the hand of the
+vandal, unspoilt by modern progress, undisturbed
+by tourist invaders.  Its narrow, old-world streets
+of decaying palaces, its leafy piazzas, its Lily theatre,
+its proud, handsome people, all are charming to one
+who, like myself, loves Italy and the gay-hearted
+Tuscan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Little time was there for reflection, however, for on
+alighting at Pisa I was compelled to conceal myself
+until the arrival of the express on its way from Rome
+to Paris.  While I waited, the thought occurred to
+me that the <i>Vispera</i> was still in peril, and that
+I alone could save her passengers and crew.  Yet,
+with the mysterious woman still alive, there could,
+I pondered, be no motive in destroying the vessel.
+Perhaps the idea had happily been abandoned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nevertheless, the non-appearance of the individual
+whose voice I had heard, but whom I had not
+seen, was disconcerting.  Try as I would, I could not
+get rid of the suspicion aroused by Keppel's flight
+that foul play was still intended.  If it were not,
+why had the old millionaire not continued his cruise?
+As the unknown woman had been concealed on
+board for several weeks, there was surely no reason
+why she should not have remained there another
+three or four days, until we reached Marseilles!
+No.  That some unusually strange mystery was
+connected with the whole affair, I felt confident.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I peered out from the corner in which I was
+standing, and saw Keppel and his companion enter the
+buffet.  As soon as they had disappeared, I made a
+sudden resolve, entered the telegraph office, and
+wrote the following message:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>To Captain Davis.  S.Y. 'Vispera' in port,
+Livorno.&mdash;Have altered arrangements.  Sail at once
+for Genoa.  Box I spoke of will join you there.  Leave
+immediately on receipt of this.</i>&mdash;KEPPEL."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+I handed it in to the telegraphist, saying in
+Italian:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I want this delivered on board to-night, most
+particularly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at it, and shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear, signorina," he answered, with grave
+politeness, "that delivery is quite impossible.  It is
+after hours, and the message will remain in the
+office, and be delivered with letters in the morning."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But it must reach the captain to-night," I
+declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man elevated his shoulders slightly, and
+showed his palms.  This was the Tuscan gesture of
+regret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At Livorno they are not, I am sorry to say,
+very obliging."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you believe it to be absolutely useless to
+send the message, in the expectation of it being
+delivered before morning?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina understands me exactly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But what can I do?" I cried in desperation.
+"This message must reach the captain before
+midnight."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man reflected for a moment.  Then he
+answered me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is but one way I can suggest."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is that?" I cried anxiously, for I heard
+a train approaching, and knew it must be the Paris
+express.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To send a special messenger to Livorno.  A train
+starts in half an hour, and the message can then be
+delivered by 11 o'clock."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Could you find me one?" I asked.  "I'm willing
+to bear all expenses."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My son will go, if the signorina so wishes," he
+answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thank you so much," I replied, a great weight
+lifted from my mind.  "I leave the matter entirely
+in your hands.  If you will kindly see that the
+message is delivered, you will be rendering, not only
+to myself, but to a number of other people, a very
+great service."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina's instructions shall be obeyed,"
+he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he had said this I placed some money to
+cover expenses upon the counter, again thanked him,
+and left, feeling that although I had been guilty of
+forgery, I had saved the yacht from destruction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The train, with its glaring head-lights, swept into
+the station from its long journey across the
+fever-stricken Maremma marshes, but I saw with
+considerable dismay that there was but one
+sleeping-car&mdash;the only through car for the frontier.  I was
+therefore compelled to travel in this, even at the
+risk of meeting Keppel in the corridor.  One cannot
+well travel in one of those stuffy cars of the
+Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits without
+being seen by all one's fellow-travellers.  It was
+thus my first difficulty presented itself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I watched my host and his companion enter the
+car, and from the platform saw them shown to
+their respective berths by the conductor.  Keppel
+was given a berth in a two-bed compartment with
+another man, while the tall dark woman was shown
+to one of the compartments reserved for ladies at
+the other end of the car.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With satisfaction I saw the old millionaire take
+his companion's hand and wish her good-night.
+As soon as his door had closed, I mounted into the
+car and demanded a place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The signorina is fortunate.  We have just one
+berth vacant," answered the conductor in Italian.
+"This way, please," and taking me along the
+corridor, he rapped at the door of the compartment
+to which he had just shown the mysterious woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I left it to the conductor to explain my presence,
+and after entering, closed and bolted the door behind
+me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I regret that I've been compelled to disturb you,
+but this is the only berth vacant," I said in English,
+in a tone of apology, for when I noticed that her
+black eyes flashed inquiringly at me, I deemed it
+best to be on friendly terms with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't mention it; I'm English," she answered,
+quite affably.  "I'm pleased that you're English.
+I feared some horrid foreign woman would be put
+in to be my travelling companion.  Are you going
+far?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To the frontier," I responded vaguely.  The
+extent of my journey depended upon the length of
+hers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, after a further exchange of courtesies, we
+prepared for the night and entered our narrow
+berths, she choosing the upper one, and I the lower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As far as I could judge, she was fifty, perhaps
+more, though she was still extremely handsome, her
+beauty being of a Southern type, and her black hair
+and coiffure, with huge tortoise-shell comb, giving
+her a Spanish appearance.  She wore several
+beautiful rings, and I noticed that on her neck,
+concealed during the day by her bodice, was some tiny
+charm, suspended by a thin gold chain.  Her voice
+and bearing were those of an educated woman, and
+she was buxom without being at all stout.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The roar of the train and the grinding of the
+wheels as we whirled through those seventy odd
+suffocating tunnels that separate Pisa from Genoa
+rendered sleep utterly impossible, so by mutual
+agreement we continued our conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She seemed, like the "Ancient Mariner," to be
+needing someone to whom she could tell her story.
+She wanted an audience able to realise the fine
+points of her play.  From the outset she seemed
+bursting with items about herself, little dreaming
+that I was acting as spy upon her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I secretly congratulated myself upon my astuteness,
+and proceeded to draw her out.  Her slight
+accent puzzled me, but it was due, I discovered, to
+the fact that her mother had been Portuguese.
+She seemed to label everything with her own
+intellectual acquirements.  To me, a perfect stranger,
+she chatted during that night-journey about her
+fine figure and her power over men, about her
+ambitions and her friends.  But her guardian
+interfered with her friends.  He was an old man, and
+jealous; had her money invested, and would not
+allow her to look at a man.  If she paid the least
+attention to any man in particular, she received no
+money.  She was not forty, she told me, and her
+guardian, who was also in the train, was over
+seventy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she was not telling me the story of her
+loves, and her father, mother, and step-father, she
+filled in the time by telling me about some man she
+called Frank, who had a pretty-faced wife addicted
+to the bad habit known as secret drinking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Trouble?" she wandered on.  "Oh, I've had
+such lots and lots of it that I'm beginning to feel
+very old already.  Troubles, I always think, are
+divided into two classes&mdash;one controlled by a
+big-horned, cloven-hoofed devil, and the other by
+the snippy little devil that flashes in and out of our
+hearts.  The big devil is usually placed upon us
+by others.  It follows us.  Sometimes we can evade
+it, but at others it catches us up on its horns and
+gives us a toss.  We come down into the dust,
+crumpled, with all courage, ambition and hope
+absorbed in despair.  We pick ourselves up in
+desperation.  All that is best in us is so deadened that
+even our consciences cannot hear a whisper; or,
+on the other hand, we steel ourselves, and make a
+resolve which lifts us to a moral and mental victory,
+and to all that is noblest in ourselves and humanity."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed, admitting that there was much truth
+in her words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the other&mdash;the little imp?" I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The other&mdash;this insane perversity of human
+nature, gets hold on us whether we will or not.  It
+makes us for the time ignore all that is best in
+ourselves and in others&mdash;it is part of us.  Though
+we know well it resides within ourselves, it will cause
+our tears to flow and our sorrows to accumulate,
+it is a fictitious substance, with possibly a mint of
+happiness underlying it.  We are always conscious
+of it, but insanity makes us ignore it for so long that
+the little imp completes its work, and the opportunity
+is lost.  But why are we moralising?" she
+added.  "Let's try and get to sleep, shall we?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this I willingly acquiesced, for truth to tell, I
+did not give credence to a single word of the rather
+romantic story she had related regarding herself, her
+friends, and her jealous guardian.  In these
+post-Grundian days I had met women of her stamp many
+times before.  The only way to make them feel is to
+tell them the truth, devoid of all flattery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She struck me as a woman with a past&mdash;her whole
+appearance pointed to this conclusion.  Now a
+woman with a chequered past and an untrammelled
+present is always more or less interesting to women,
+as well as to men.  She is a mystery.  The mystery
+is that men cannot quite believe a smart woman
+with knowledge, cut loose from all fetters, to be
+proof against flattery.  She queens it, while they
+study her.  Interest in a woman is only one step
+from love for her&mdash;a fact with which we, the fairer
+sex, are very well acquainted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica had once expressed an opinion that pasts
+were not so bad if it were not for the memories that
+cling to them; not, of course, that the pasts of
+either of us had been anything out of the ordinary.
+Memories that cling to others, or the hints of a
+"past," certainly make you of interest to men, as
+well as a menace to the imagination of other women;
+but the memories that hover about yourself are
+sometimes like truths&mdash;brutal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Memories!  As I lay there upon my hard and
+narrow bed, being whirled through those suffocating
+tunnels in the cliffs beside the Mediterranean, I
+could not somehow get away from memory.  The
+story this mysterious woman had related had
+awakened all the sad recollections of my own life.  It
+seemed as though an avalanche of cruel truths was
+sweeping down upon my heart.  At every instant
+memory struck a blow that left a scar deep and
+unsightly as any made by the knife.  There was
+tragedy in every one.  The first that came to me
+was a day long ago.  Ah me!  I was young then&mdash;a
+child in fears, a novice in experience&mdash;on that
+day when I admitted to Ernest my deep and fervent
+affection.  How brief it all had been!  I had,
+alas! now awakened to the hard realities of life, and to
+the anguish the heart is capable of holding.  The
+sweetest part of love, the absolute trust, had died
+long ago.  My heart had lost its lightness, never
+to return, for his love toward me was dead.  His
+fond tenderness of those bygone days was only a
+memory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet he must have loved me!  With me it had been
+the love of my womanhood, the love that is born
+with youth, that overlooks, forgives, and loves again,
+that gives friendship, truth and loyalty.  What, I
+wondered, were his thoughts when we had
+encountered each other at Monte Carlo?  He showed
+neither interest nor regret.  No.  He had cast me
+aside, leaving me to endure that crushing sorrow and
+brain torture which had been the cause of my long
+illness.  He remembered nothing.  To him our
+love was a mere incident.  It is no exaggeration to
+describe memory as the scar of truth's cruel wound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I lay there wondering to myself if ever again I
+should feel any uplifting joy or any heartrending
+sorrow.  Ah, if women could only outgrow the
+child-part of their natures, hearts would not bleed
+so much!  One of the greatest surprises in life is to
+discover how acutely they can ache, how they can
+be strained to the utmost tension, crowded with
+agony, and yet not break.  This is moralising, and
+smacks of sentiment, but it is true to nature, as
+many of us are forced to learn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The train roared on; the woman above me slept
+soundly, and I, with tears starting to my eyes, tried
+hard to burn the bridges leading to the past, and
+seek forgetfulness in sleep.  The process of burning
+can never be accomplished, thanks to our retentive
+memory; but slumber came to me at last, and I
+must have dozed some time, for when I awoke we
+were in Genoa, and daylight was already showing
+through the chinks of the crimson blinds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the woman who had told the curious story
+slept on.  Probably the spinning of so much
+romantic fiction had wearied her brain.  The story she
+had related could not, of course, be true.  If she
+were really old Keppel's ward, then what motive had
+he in concealing her in that gilded deck-house, which
+was believed to be stored with curios?  Who, too,
+was that unseen man whom he had apparently taken
+into his confidence&mdash;the man who had promised
+assistance by blowing up the yacht, with all hands?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shuddered at the thought of that dastardly plot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet Keppel had been declared by this unknown
+person to be the murderer of the woman now lying
+in the berth above me.  Why?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The train was at a standstill, and I rose to peep
+out.  As I turned to re-enter my berth, my eyes fell
+upon the sleeping form of my companion.  Her face
+was turned towards me, and her opened bodice
+disclosed a delicate white throat and neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bent quickly to examine more closely what I saw
+there.  Upon the throat were two dark marks, one
+on either side&mdash;the marks of a human finger and a
+thumb&mdash;an exact repetition of the puzzling marks
+that had been found upon the throat of poor
+Reggie!
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap22"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXII
+<br><br>
+IS MORE ASTONISHING
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious
+companion's lips, that at the first moment I feared
+she might be dead.  Her appearance was that of
+a corpse.  But after careful watching I saw that she
+was breathing lightly, but regularly, and thus I
+became satisfied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The curious marks, as though a man's hand had
+attempted to strangle her, were of a pale yellowish-brown,
+the colour of disappearing bruises.  One was
+narrow and small, where the finger had pressed; the
+other wide and long, the mark of the thumb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again I returned to my berth, and as the express
+thundered on its way northward towards Turin, I
+tried to form some theory to account for my
+discovery of those curious marks upon her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hours of early morning crept slowly by.  The
+sun rose over the beautiful vine-lands of Asti as we
+whirled forward towards the great Alpine barrier
+which so splendidly divides Italy from France; its
+rays penetrated into our narrow chamber, but the
+sleeping woman did not stir.  She seemed as one in
+a trance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close beside me lay her dress-skirt.  My eyes had
+been fixed upon it a hundred times during the night,
+and it now occurred to me that by searching its
+pocket I might discover something that would give
+me a clue to her real identity.  Therefore, after
+ascertaining that she was still unconscious of things
+about her, I slowly turned over the skirt, placed my
+hand in the pocket and drew out the contents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first object I opened was a silver-mounted
+purse of crocodile leather, because in this I hoped to
+discover her visiting-card.  But I was disappointed.
+The purse contained only a few pieces of French
+money, a couple of receipts from shops in Paris, and
+a tiny scrap of card, an inch square, with several
+numerals scribbled upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The numbers were unintelligible, but when I
+chanced to turn the piece of thin pasteboard over,
+its reverse gave me an immediate clue.  It was a
+piece of one of those red-and-black ruled cards used
+by gamblers at Monte Carlo to register the numbers
+at roulette.  This woman, whoever she was, had
+evidently been to Monte Carlo, and the numbers
+scribbled there were those which she believed would
+bring her fortune.  Every gambler has her strong-rooted
+fancies, just as she has her amusing superstitions,
+and her belief in unlucky days and unlucky
+croupiers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two facts were plain.  First, that she bore marks
+upon her which were the exact counterpart of those
+found on poor Reggie; secondly, that she herself
+had been to Monte Carlo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her handkerchief was of fine lawn, but bore no
+mark, while the crumpled piece of paper&mdash;without
+which no woman's pocket is complete&mdash;proved, on
+examination; to contain only the address of some
+person in Brussels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I carefully replaced all these articles, having failed
+to ascertain her name; and then I dozed again.
+She was already up, and dressed, when I awoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" she laughed, "I see you've been sleeping
+well.  I've had a famous night.  I always sleep well
+when I travel.  But I have a secret.  A doctor
+friend of mine gave me some little tabloids of some
+narcotic&mdash;I don't know its name&mdash;but if I take one
+I sleep quite well for six or seven hours at a
+stretch."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I awoke once, and you were quite sound asleep."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, yes," she laughed.  "But I wonder where
+we are?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked forth, and was just able to read the name
+of a small station as we dashed through it at a
+glorious speed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We're nearing Turin," I responded.  Then suddenly
+recollecting that in an hour or so I should be
+compelled to face old Keppel in the corridor, I
+resolved on a plan, which I immediately proceeded to
+put in force.  "I don't feel at all well this morning,"
+I added.  "I think I shall go to sleep again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've some smelling salts here," she said, looking
+at me with an expression of sympathy.  And she
+took out a small silver-topped bottle from her little
+reticule.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took it and sniffed it gladly, with a word of
+thanks.  If I did not wish to meet Keppel, I should
+be compelled to remain in that stuffy little den for
+something like another twenty-four hours, if the
+travellers intended to go on to Paris.  The prospect
+was certainly not inviting, for a single night in a
+Continental sleeping-car running over a badly-laid line
+gets on one's nerves terribly.  Compelled, however,
+to feign illness, I turned in again, and at Turin, while
+my companion went forth and rejoined the man who
+had been my host, the conductor brought me the
+usual glass of hot coffee and a roll.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm not well," I explained to the man who
+handed it to me.  "Are you going through to Paris?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Si, signorina."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then please don't let me be disturbed, either at
+the frontier or anywhere else."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly&mdash;if the signorina has the keys of her
+baggage."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have no baggage," I replied.  "Only see that
+I get something to eat&mdash;and buy me a novel.
+Italian, French&mdash;anything will do.  And also some
+newspapers&mdash;<i>Stampa</i>, <i>Corriere</i>, and <i>Secolo</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Si, signorina."  And the door was closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Five minutes later, just as the train was gliding out
+of Turin, the man returned with a couple of new
+novels and half a dozen four-paged, badly-printed
+Italian newspapers, by means of which I managed
+to wile away the tedious hours as we sped on through
+Susa and the beautiful Alpine valleys.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From time to time my companion looked in to see
+how I was, offering to do anything for me that she
+could; then she returned to old Keppel, who was
+sitting on one of the little flap-seats in the corridor,
+smoking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The woman in with me is rather young&mdash;and
+quite charming," I heard her say to him.  "She's
+been taken queer this morning.  I expect the heat
+has upset her, poor thing!  The berths here are
+very hot and close."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Horribly!  I was nearly asphyxiated," he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, about half an hour later, I recognised his
+voice again.  He was evidently standing with his
+companion close to the door of my compartment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We shall be in Paris about half-past eight
+to-morrow morning, it seems," he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the <i>Vispera</i> will be awaiting you at
+Naples?" she laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Davis is quite used to my erratic movements,"
+he answered.  "A reputation for eccentricity is very
+useful sometimes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But shall you rejoin her?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think it is most unlikely," he answered.  "I've
+had enough of cruising.  You, too, must be very
+tired of it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tired!" she cried.  "Imprisoned in the cabin
+all day long, with the windows closed and curtained,
+I felt that if it lasted much longer I must go mad.
+Besides, it was only by a miracle that I was not
+discovered a dozen times."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But very fortunately you were not," he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And all to no purpose," she observed, in a tone
+of weariness and discontent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah! that's another matter&mdash;quite another matter."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I do wish you would satisfy my curiosity by
+telling me exactly what occurred on the night before
+we landed," she said.  "You know what I mean?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She evidently referred to the attempt upon her
+life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," he responded, in hesitation, "I myself am
+not quite clear as to what took place.  I entered the
+cabin, you know, and found you lying unconscious."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, I know.  I was thrown violently down by
+a sudden lurching of the ship, and must have struck
+my head against something," she replied.  "But
+afterwards I remember experiencing a most curious
+sensation in my throat, just as though someone with
+sinewy fingers were trying to strangle me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Absurd!" he laughed.  "It was only your
+imagination.  The close confinement in that place,
+together with the rolling of the ship, had caused you
+a little light-headedness, without a doubt."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But it was more than imagination.  Of that I
+feel certain.  There was blood upon my lips, you
+remember."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because in falling you had cut your lower lip.
+I can see the place now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I believe that someone tried to take my life."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Rubbish!  Why, who is there to suspect?  I
+was the only soul on board who knew of your
+presence.  Surely you don't suspect me of attempting
+murder?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course not," she answered decisively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then don't give way to any wild imaginings of
+that sort.  Keep a cool head in this affair."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The remainder of the conversation was lost to me,
+although I strained my ears to catch every sound.
+His words made it plain that she was in ignorance of
+the knowledge possessed by the unseen man whose
+voice I had overheard; and further, that both were
+acting together in order to obtain some object, the
+nature of which was, to me, a complete mystery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She came a short time afterwards and kindly
+inquired how I felt.  They were going to change into
+the dining-car, and she hoped I would not starve
+altogether.  As I talked to her I recollected the
+strange marks I had seen upon her throat&mdash;those
+distinct impressions of finger and thumb.  I looked
+again for them, but they were concealed by the lace
+of her high-necked bodice.  There seemed a strange,
+half-tragic beauty about her face.  She was certainly
+fifty, if not more, yet in the broad daylight I could
+detect no thread of silver in her hair.  She was
+extremely well-preserved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The conductor brought me a cutlet and a bottle of
+Beaujolais after we had passed through the Mont
+Cenis, and for some hours afterwards I lay reading
+and thinking.  We were on our way to Paris, but
+with what motive I had no idea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wondered what they would think on board the
+<i>Vispera</i> when they found me to be missing, and
+laughed aloud when I reflected that the natural
+conclusion would be that I had eloped with old
+Mr. Keppel.  I rather regretted that I had told Ulrica
+nothing, but, of course, a telegram to her could
+explain everything on the morrow.  The yacht would
+be lying safely in Genoa harbour awaiting her owner,
+who never intended to return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And where was that unseen man?  That was a
+puzzling problem which I could not solve.  I could
+not even form the slightest theory as to his share in
+the mystery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day passed slowly, and evening fell.  We were
+nearing Culoz.  The woman with the mysterious
+marks upon her neck returned, accompanied by her
+escort, from the dining-car, and sat chatting with
+him in the corridor.  Their voices reached me, but I
+could distinguish little of their conversation.
+Suddenly, however, I thought I could hear a third voice
+in conversation&mdash;the voice of a man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It sounded familiar.  I listened again.  Yes, it
+seemed as though I had heard that voice somewhere
+before.  Indeed, I knew its tones perfectly well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For some few minutes I lay listening, trying to
+catch the words.  But the train was roaring through
+a deep cutting, and I could only hear disjointed
+words, or parts of sentences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In my determination to see who it was, I carefully
+opened the door of the compartment, so that I could
+peer through the chink.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bent forward until my eyes rested upon the
+speaker, who, lounging near, was engaged in serious
+conversation with Keppel and my travelling
+companion, as though he were an old friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant I drew back and held my breath.
+Was this the man who had suggested the blowing up
+of the <i>Vispera</i>?  Surely not!  Perhaps, however,
+he had actually travelled with us from Pisa in
+another carriage, or perhaps he had joined the train
+at some intermediate station.  But by whatever
+means he had come there, the fact of his identity
+remained the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was Ernest Cameron, the man I loved!
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap23"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIII
+<br><br>
+CONFIDES THE STORY OF A TABLE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The discovery of Ernest's presence in the car was an
+entirely fresh development of the mystery.  I had
+been ignorant of his acquaintance with Keppel, but
+that they were really close friends was evident by
+the rapid, rather apprehensive manner in which they
+were conversing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I tried, and tried again, to overhear some of the
+words spoken; but in vain!  Therefore I was
+compelled to remain in wonderment until the conclusion
+of that long and terribly tiring journey half across
+Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Arrived at the Gare de Lyons in Paris, I entered
+a fiacre, and followed them across the city to the
+"Hôtel Terminus," that big caravansery outside the
+Gare St. Lazare, where they engaged four rooms on
+the first floor&mdash;a sitting-room and three bedrooms.
+Having taken every precaution to avoid being
+detected by either of them, I ascertained that the
+number of the sitting-room was 206.  I at once
+engaged Number 205, the room adjoining, and ordered
+a light <i>déjeuner</i> to be taken there.  I was faint,
+nervous, and tired after being cramped up for thirty
+hours, and was resting on the couch, when suddenly
+voices sounded in the next room, causing me to
+spring up and be on the alert in an instant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keppel and Ernest were speaking together,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's a risk, of course," the millionaire was saying
+in a low tone&mdash;"a great risk."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But we've run greater in the course of this
+affair," the other responded.  "You know how near
+to arrest I have been."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I held my breath.  Arrest!  What could he mean?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was fortunate that you escaped as you did."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thanks to you.  Had you not concealed me on
+the <i>Vispera</i>, and taken me on that cruise, I should
+have now been in the hands of the police."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But they seem to possess no clue," Keppel
+observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Fortunately for us, they do not," answered
+the man to whom I had given my heart.  And he
+laughed lightly, as though he were perfectly
+confident of his own safety.  "It was that transfer of
+the notes at the Carnival ball that puzzled them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were speaking of poor Reggie's murder!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I held my ear close to the dividing door, straining
+to catch every word.  I was learning their secret.
+The two men whom I had least suspected were
+actually implicated in that dastardly crime.  But
+what, I wondered, could have been their motive
+in taking the poor boy's life?  Certainly robbery
+was not the incentive, for to old Keppel sixty
+thousand francs was but a paltry sum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again I listened, but as I did so the woman
+entered, and shortly afterwards the two men left
+the room and went down the stairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant I resolved to follow them.  Before
+they had gained the entrance-hall I had put on my
+hat and descended.  They took a cab and first drove
+up the hill behind St. Lazare to the Boulevard des
+Battignolles, alighting before a large house where,
+from an old <i>concierge</i> in slippers, Ernest received
+two letters.  Both men stood in the doorway and
+read the communications through.  I had followed
+in a cab.  From their faces I could see that the
+letters contained serious news, and for some minutes
+they stood in discussion, as though undecided what
+to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, however, they re-entered the cab and
+drove back past the Opera, through the Rue Rivoli
+and across the Pont des Arts, turning into a labyrinth
+of narrow, dirty streets beyond the Seine, and stopping
+before a small, uninviting-looking hairdresser's
+shop.  They were inside for some ten minutes or so,
+while I stood watching a short distance off, my head
+turned away so that they should not recognise me if
+they came out suddenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they emerged they were laughing good-humouredly,
+and were accompanied to the door by
+a rather well-dressed man, evidently a hairdresser,
+for a comb protruded from his pocket, and his hair
+was brushed up in that style peculiar to the Parisian
+<i>coiffeur</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good-day, messieurs," he said in French, bowing
+them into the fiacre, "I understand quite clearly.
+There is nothing to fear, I assure you&mdash;absolutely
+nothing!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In that man's dark eyes, as he stood watching the
+cab as it drove off, was a strangely intense look.
+His face was triangular, with broad forehead and
+pointed chin.  I imagined him to have a rather
+curious personality.  Again I looked at his peculiarly
+brilliant eyes, and a strange truth flashed upon me.
+Yes, I remembered that curious expression quite
+distinctly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was the man who had worn the owl's dress in
+Carnival&mdash;the man who had returned to me the
+notes stolen from poor Reggie!  He was an accomplice
+of the two men of whom I had never entertained
+the least suspicion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The truth had been revealed in so amazing a
+fashion that I was completely staggered.  Ernest
+was an assassin!  Had he not admitted how near he
+had been to arrest, and congratulated himself upon
+his escape?  Had not old Keppel aided him by
+concealing him on board the <i>Vispera</i>?  Once, alas! I
+had in the roseate days of youth believed in the
+man who had made love to me; who had flattered
+and caressed me, and who had declared that I should
+be his always.  Ah! how well I remembered it!
+How bitterly all the past came back to me.  And
+yet, until that very hour of my discovery that he
+was an assassin I had never ceased to love
+him&mdash;never for a single instant.  We women are strange
+creatures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I re-entered the cab, but in the Boulevard
+St. Michel my driver unfortunately lost sight of the
+men I had told him to keep in view.  They must,
+I think, have turned suddenly into one of the many
+side streets, and thus reached the Quai.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a few moments I sat back in hesitation.
+Should I return at once to the hotel, or should I
+go boldly to that man whom I had so fortunately
+discovered, and charge him with having had in
+his possession the stolen notes?  If I adopted
+the latter course, I saw that I should only raise an
+alarm, and the pair I was watching would undoubtedly
+get clear away.  No.  The old proverb that
+"murder will out" had once more asserted its
+truth.  I had made a most amazing discovery, and
+now my love for Ernest as a man having been
+transformed to hatred of him as an assassin, I meant
+slowly to weave a web about the criminals, and when
+it was complete, I intended to give information to
+the police, and thus avenge the poor boy's death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I drove to the nearest telegraph-office and wired
+to Genoa, urging Ulrica to come to Paris without
+delay, for I sorely needed the counsel of the woman
+who was my best friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I returned to the "Hôtel Terminus."  As I
+heard no one in the sitting-room adjoining, I lay
+down to rest, sleeping soundly, for my nerves were
+unstrung, and I was utterly worn out by fatigue
+and constant watchfulness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I awoke it was past seven o'clock, and
+quite dark.  There was still no movement in the
+sitting-room adjoining.  I dressed, and went across
+to dine at the Duval, over at the corner of the Rue
+du Havre, preferring that cheap restaurant to the
+<i>table d'hôte</i> of the hotel, where I might possibly meet
+the three persons upon whom I was keeping watch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An hour later, just as I was crossing the road to
+re-enter the hotel, I saw a man standing alone on
+the steps in hesitation.  He wore a dark beard, and
+carried a long drab overcoat, such as men generally
+affect on race-courses; but notwithstanding his
+disguise, I perceived that it was Ernest.  The beard
+made him look much older, and by the addition of
+a few lines to his face he had entirely altered his
+appearance.  For some moments he puffed pensively
+at his cigar, then, glancing at his watch,
+descended the steps and strolled slowly along past
+the "Café Terminus," and continued to walk
+down the Rue du Havre as far as the Boulevard
+Haussmann, where he stopped before that popular
+rendezvous of Parisians, the "Grand Café."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After he had selected one of the tables, the last
+one towards the Madeleine, placed against the
+wall of the café, he ordered a coffee and liqueur.
+The night was bright, and the Boulevards, with their
+blazing globes of electricity, were full of life and
+movement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From where I was sitting, at a small <i>brasserie</i> on
+the opposite side of the Boulevard, I watched him
+narrowly.  He glanced up and down as though in
+constant expectation of meeting someone, and
+looked at his watch impatiently.  He tossed off
+his <i>liqueur</i> at a single gulp, but his coffee remained
+untasted, for it was evident that he was in a state of
+deep agitation.  He had feared arrest for the
+murder of Reginald Thorne, and had taken refuge
+secretly on the <i>Vispera</i>.  Were not his own words
+sufficient to convince me of his guilt?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I looked I saw him, while in the act of
+pretending to sip his coffee, bend down close to the
+marble table, which, after making certain that he
+was not observed, he scrutinised carefully.  Twice
+he bent to look at it closely.  Surely, I thought,
+there must be something of interest marked on that
+slab.  Then he glanced at his watch again, paid, and
+strolled off down the Boulevard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether to follow or whether to investigate that
+table, I was for the moment undecided; but I
+resolved upon the latter course.  I crossed the road,
+made straight for the seat he had occupied, and
+as soon as I had ordered a <i>dubonnet</i>, proceeded to
+examine the table.  Very quickly I discovered
+what had interested him.  Scrawled in pencil upon
+the marble were some letters quite unintelligible,
+but evidently a cipher message.  It was no more
+than this:
+</p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  J. TABAC.  22.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Another inscription had been written there, but
+it had been lately erased by some previous customer,
+who had apparently dipped his finger in the drippings
+of beer or coffee, and smeared it across.  The
+writing was not very easy to discern in the half-light,
+for the table was so placed as to be in the deep
+shadows.  Was it possible that the person who had
+erased the first message had written the second?
+Could it be that this person was the man whom I had
+been watching?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had seen him bend over that table mysteriously,
+first glancing round to make certain that no one
+was watching.  Why had he thus betrayed fear, if
+that message was not one of importance?  Goron,
+the great <i>chef</i> of the Paris <i>sûreté</i>, had told me, when I
+met him at dinner once in London, how the criminals
+of Paris were fond of making the tops of the café
+tables the means of communication, and how many a
+crime had been discovered by the police with the
+aid of the keys they possessed to certain secret
+codes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked again at the initial, the word "tabac," and
+the number 22 scrawled on the marble before me,
+and was puzzled to know what they could convey.
+Had Ernest really written them?  The letters were
+printed, in order, no doubt, to prevent any
+recognition of the handwriting.  I remembered that he
+had sat with his hand upon the table, as though
+toying idly with the matches; and further, I noticed
+that the liquid with which the erasure had been
+made was not yet entirely dry.  I touched it with
+my gloved finger and placed it to my nose.  There
+was an odour of coffee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, if Ernest had really written that cipher
+message, he had substituted his for the one he had
+found standing there.  With what purpose?  To
+whom was this unintelligible word addressed?
+Having regard to the fact that the tables of cafés
+are usually washed down by the waiters every
+morning, it seemed plain that the person to whom he
+intended to convey the message would come there
+that night.  Indeed, he had constantly looked at his
+watch, as though in expectation of the arrival of
+someone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I paid the <i>garçon</i> and left, returning some few
+minutes later to my previous place in front of the
+brasserie opposite, determined to wait and watch.
+The attendant brought me some illustrated papers,
+and while pretending to be absorbed in them, I kept
+my eye upon the table I had just vacated.  A shabby,
+small, wizen-faced man in a silk hat, with a flat
+brim, passed and re-passed the spot where I was
+sitting, and, it seemed, eyed me rather suspiciously.
+But perhaps it was only my fancy, for when one is
+engaged in the work of bringing home to a criminal
+his crime, one is apt to look with undue suspicion
+upon all and sundry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think I must have been there nearly half an
+hour before a ragged, unkempt man, who had slunk
+past where I was seated and picked up several
+cigar-ends with a stick bearing a sharpened wire
+point, crossed over to the "Grand Café" and
+recommenced his search beneath the tables there.
+When he had secured some half-a-dozen cigar-ends,
+he moved quickly to the table in the shadow; and
+as he stooped, feigning to pick up a piece of
+unconsumed cigar, I saw that he glanced eagerly to
+see what message was written there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at that moment the wizen-faced man who had
+evinced such an extraordinary interest in myself was
+standing idly upon the kerb close by, and was
+undoubtedly watching him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The quick eyes of the old collector of cigar-ends
+apparently understood the message in an instant,
+for with back bent he continued his active search,
+betraying no further interest in that table in the
+shadow.  If he had really gone there in order to
+ascertain the nature of the message, he concealed
+his real purpose admirably.  Probably he was used
+to being watched by police agents.  I saw him
+hobble along from café to café, his shrewd, deep-set
+eyes peering from beneath his shaggy brows, always
+in search of the small pieces of tobacco discarded by
+smokers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With him also disappeared the shabby little
+man whose interest I had unwittingly aroused,
+and I remained alone, still irresolute and wondering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had paid, and was just about to rise and go,
+when of a sudden a smart victoria pulled up in front
+of the "Grand Café," and from it stepped a
+well-dressed woman, wearing a smart hat and an
+elaborate cape of the latest <i>mode</i>.  Without hesitation
+she walked to the table in question and seated
+herself.  In the darkness I could not distinguish her
+face, but I saw that even before the waiter could
+attend to her she had examined the table and read
+the message there written.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Was it, I wondered, intended for her?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The waiter brought what she ordered, a "bock,"
+that favourite beverage with both Parisians and
+Parisiennes.  I watched her narrowly, and at once
+saw something to convince me that the cipher was
+intended for her eye.  She dipped her finger in the
+beer, and when no one was looking, drew it across the
+writing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Was she young, or old, I wondered?  She was settling
+her cape and chiffons preparatory to rising and
+re-entering her carriage; I also rose and crossed the
+road.  As I stepped upon the asphalt on the opposite
+side, she crossed to where her smart carriage
+stood, brushing past me as she did so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the light fell across her face there was revealed
+to me a countenance with which I was only too
+familiar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was the woman who had usurped my place in
+Ernest's heart; the woman whom I had seen in
+his company at Monte Carlo; the woman who had
+laughed at me in triumph across the roulette table,
+because she knew that she held him beneath the
+spell of her insipid beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap24"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIV
+<br><br>
+IN WHICH MATTERS ASSUME A VERY COMPLEX ASPECT
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+I started to walk along the Boulevard towards the
+Opera.  To that woman with the tow-coloured hair,
+the blue eyes and pink cheeks&mdash;the woman who had
+replaced me in his affections&mdash;Ernest had written
+that strange message in cipher, a message of warning
+it might be.  I hated her.  I really believe that if
+ever the spirit of murder has entered my heart, it
+was at that moment.  I could have sprung upon her
+and killed her as she stepped into the carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had said no word to her coachman.  He
+apparently knew where to drive.  That cipher was
+perhaps an appointment which he had gone
+forward to keep, while she was now following.  The
+thought convulsed me with anger.  This man,
+Ernest Cameron, the man who had once held me
+in his arms and declared that he loved me, was, upon
+his own admission, an assassin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had somehow ceased to think of the old
+millionaire and the chattering woman whom he had
+concealed on board the <i>Vispera</i>.  All my thoughts were
+of the man who had, until then, held me as his
+helpless slave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may have been jealousy, or it may possibly
+have been the revulsion of feeling that had seized
+me on becoming aware of the terrible truth of his
+guilt, that caused me to vow to leave no stone
+unturned to secure his arrest and condemnation.  I
+would follow her.  She, that slim woman with the
+fair hair, had stolen him from me, but I determined
+that she should not be allowed to enjoy his society
+much longer.  I had discovered the truth, and the
+blow that I intended to deal would be fatal to the
+happiness of both of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed within myself as I got into a fiacre,
+and told the driver to keep her carriage in sight.  I
+was not impatient.  I would wait and watch until
+I had secured ample proof.  Then I had but to
+apply to the police, and the arrest would be made.
+He, Ernest Cameron, had murdered and robbed the
+poor boy who had admired me, and with whom I
+had so foolishly flirted.  It was the attention I
+had allowed him to pay to me that was primarily
+the cause of his assassination.  Of that I had always
+been convinced.  The moral responsibility rested
+upon myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed her straight up the Rue Lafayette to
+the Gare du Nord, where she alighted, and after
+speaking a moment with her coachman, dismissed
+her carriage.  She evidently intended to leave
+Paris.  I crept up quickly behind her in the long
+booking-office, and followed her in order to overhear
+her destination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"First-class return to Enghien, please," she asked
+the girl who sold the tickets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Enghien!  I had heard of the place as being a
+popular resort near Paris, famous for its sulphur
+baths; but in what direction it lay, I had not the
+slightest idea.  Nevertheless, the fact of her taking
+a return ticket, and having no baggage, showed
+that she did not intend to make a protracted stay.
+Therefore, when she was out of hearing, I took a
+ticket for the same destination; the price showed
+me that the distance could not be very great.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Secretly following her, I entered a train, and in
+half-an-hour alighted at a small suburban station,
+which was rather dimly lit.  Outside, she entered a
+fiacre.  Following her quickly, I drove through
+the narrow street of the little French town to the
+shore of a small lake, from which arose a strong
+and disagreeable odour of sulphur.  She disappeared
+into the gaily-lit entrance of an illuminated
+garden, which I discovered to be the Casino of
+Enghien, an establishment where public gambling
+was permitted, and where there was a celebrated
+so-called <i>cercle</i> for baccarat.  The place consisted
+of a garden extending along the shore of the lake,
+together with a large open-air café, a big
+theatre&mdash;where a variety performance was in progress&mdash;and
+beyond, the public gaming-room, play in which
+proved to be of the usual kind permitted at French
+and Belgian resorts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a decidedly pretty place.  The long festoons
+of coloured lights were reflected in the lake,
+while out towards the pine-covered island were
+many small boats decorated with paper lanterns.
+In the garden there was quite a crowd of Parisians,
+who had gone there in the evening to lounge in the
+fresh air, or to stake their francs upon the little
+horses or upon the miniature railway.  The band
+was playing, and the smart pleasure-seekers were
+promenading over the gravelled walks, laughing
+gaily, and chatting merrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The woman upon whom I was keeping such a
+close watch strolled through the gardens, peering
+hither and thither, as though in search of someone.
+It was the <i>entr'acte</i>, and the theatre, one side of
+which was open towards the garden, had emptied.
+At Enghien the <i>entr'actes</i> are long, in order to allow
+people to go to the gaming-room.  Two men I
+recognised as <i>habitués</i> at Monte Carlo, one of them
+middle-aged, well-dressed and black-bearded, who
+invariably wore white kid gloves.  He was half
+bald, and his face showed marks of premature age
+brought on by dissipation.  The other, who was
+younger, was his partner.  They were well-known
+figures at Monte Carlo, and had evidently left
+there and come north, now that, the season being
+over, there were no more pigeons to be plucked
+in the private gaming-rooms of the Riviera.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The woman at length took a seat at one of the
+café tables, deep in the shadow of a tree, and ordered
+a <i>consommation</i>.  I suspected that she had an
+appointment with someone, and therefore resolved
+to watch.  As far as I could observe, she had never
+once detected my presence, and if she did now,
+she most probably would not recognise me, dressed
+as I was in an old stuff gown.  She had seen me, I
+recollected, in the smart Monte Carlo toilettes, in
+which I presented such a different appearance.  I
+took up a position on one of the seats by the
+lakeside, opposite the café, a spot from which I could
+see all that might come to pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must here admit that my continual search was
+growing terribly wearisome.  Unused to acting the
+spy, my nerves had been during those days of
+travel and adventure strained to their utmost
+tension.  For five nights sleep had scarcely come
+to my eyes, so constant was the vigil I had kept,
+and for five days I had existed in feverish anxiety
+on the very horns of a dilemma.  I sat there watching
+the passing crowd of gay Parisiennes, and
+breathing the fresh evening air from across the
+lake.  On the other shore were large mansions,
+with their lawns sloping down to the water,
+reminding me of English houses on the upper reaches
+of the Thames.  From time to time a night-bird
+skimmed the placid water, causing it to eddy in
+the starlight.  From across the water came feminine
+laughter from a passing boat, and a girl's voice
+reached me from far away, trilling the refrain of
+Paulette Darty's "romance-waltz," which I
+supposed had just been sung in the café-concert:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "Donne-moi ta lèvre, ta lèvre rose,<br>
+  Qu'amoureusement ma lèvre s'y pose<br>
+  Et qu'étroitement tous deux enlacés<br>
+  Nos querelles soient querelles de baisers."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Yes, the scene was certainly charmfxing.  I, like
+thousands of the people who go to Paris, and who
+know the Rue Rivoli better than they do Oxford
+Street, had never troubled to spend an evening at
+Enghien.  The Casino would really be a delightful
+one were it not for the presence of that curse to
+French and Belgian popular resorts&mdash;the <i>tapis vert</i>.
+Dozens of similar places are spoilt by the
+introduction of those tables, for play and the
+<i>demi-monde</i> are inseparable, just as are baccarat and
+blackguards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The electric bells had rung to announce that the
+variety entertainment was about to be resumed,
+and the crowd from the gaming-room and from
+the garden was making its way back to the theatre,
+to be entertained by the drolleries of Paulus and
+the risky <i>chansons</i> of Liane de Vries, when, of a
+sudden, I noticed that the woman who had stolen
+my lover's heart had half-risen and given her hand
+to a stranger, evidently the man she had been
+expecting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was short of stature, and well-dressed, for in
+the shadow where he stood I could see the wide
+expanse of starched shirt-front displayed by his open
+overcoat, and could tell that he wore an opera-hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She re-seated herself, evidently pleased by his
+arrival, while he stood for a moment bending
+towards her and speaking earnestly.  Then he
+drew back, laughed merrily, and seated himself
+opposite her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sat back in the half-darkness, so that I was
+unable to distinguish his face.  But his presence
+there was sufficient to tell me that this woman, by
+whom Ernest had been fascinated, was a worthless
+person, who made secret assignations unknown to
+the unfortunate man, who probably believed her
+to be the very paragon of all the virtues.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How would Ernest act if he were aware of the
+actual truth?  I wondered.  Would he still have
+confidence in his pink-and-white doll?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps.  Men are incomprehensible creatures
+where their love is concerned.  When fascinated
+by a woman's smile, they will lick the hand that
+cuffs them; they will allow Aspasia to drench them
+with <i>vin mousseux</i>, to smother them with chiffons,
+to stifle them with <i>mots</i>, and to sell them for
+<i>rouleaux</i>, and yet make no audible complaint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To love and to hate seem to be the two things
+which it is most natural and most easy for women
+to do.  In these two principles how many of the
+actions of our lives originate.  How important is it,
+therefore, that we should learn early in life to love
+and hate aright.  Most women believe that they
+love virtue and hate vice.  But have the majority
+of them clearly ascertained what virtue and vice
+are?  Have they examined the meaning of these
+important words?  Have they listened to the
+plausible reasoning of what we call Society, where
+things are spoken of by false names, and where
+vice is vulgar in the common herd, but sanctioned
+as <i>chic</i> among the select few?  Or have they gone
+directly to the eternal and immutable principles of
+good and evil?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must confess that, tutored by Ulrica, I had long
+ago listened to Society's reasonings, and had thus
+become a worldly woman.  Now a worldly woman
+is necessarily a woman possessing tact, and able at
+the same time to tell untruths with grace, and
+successfully to act a part whenever necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Woman is gifted by nature with a remarkable
+quickness of perception, by means of which she is
+able to detect the earliest approach of aught
+tending to destroy that high-toned purity of character
+for which, even in the days of chivalry, she was
+more reverenced and adored than for her beauty
+itself.  This quickness of perception in minute and
+delicate points, with the power which woman also
+possesses of acting upon it instantaneously, has, in
+familiar phraseology, obtained the name of tact;
+and when this natural gift is added to good taste,
+the two combined are of more value to a woman
+in the social and domestic affairs of every-day life
+than the most brilliant and intellectual endowments
+could be without them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You, my friend and confidante, know well that
+when a woman is possessed of a high degree of tact,
+she sees, as if by a kind of second sight, when
+any little emergency is likely to occur; or when,
+to use a more familiar expression, things do not
+seem likely to go right.  She is thus aware of any
+sudden turn in conversation, and prepared for what
+it may lead to; but above all, she can penetrate into
+the state of mind of those with whom she is placed
+in contact, so as to detect the gathering gloom
+upon another's brow, before the mental storm shall
+have reached any formidable height; to know when
+the tone of voice has altered, when an unwelcome
+thought has presented itself, and when the pulse
+of feeling is beating higher or lower in consequence
+of some apparently trifling circumstance which has
+just come to pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Most women flatter themselves upon this valuable
+acquirement, and the scandal-monger most of all.
+In the life of every woman there have been critical
+moments, when this natural intuition has led her
+into a knowledge of the truth.  During the days
+when I was acting as a spy, my quickness of
+perception was put to the test times without number,
+and again there, in the Casino of Enghien-les-Bains,
+I was compelled to exercise all my woman's cunning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man who had just joined the fair lounger
+beneath the tree was, I judged, much beneath
+middle height, but in the darkness height is always
+deceptive.  All I could see distinctly was that he
+wore a black overcoat, a black tie, and either white
+or lavender gloves.  Evidently he was of that type
+of male elegant commonly to be seen in the
+neighbourhood of public gaming-tables.  Men of this
+type are usually hard-up, live by sponging on
+friends, affect a rather select circle, and are the
+leaders of masculine fashion.  The Italians call a
+man belonging to this class a <i>duca senza ducati</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was leaning his elbows upon the table, and
+had entered into an earnest conversation.  Both
+heads were bent together, and he was apparently
+relating some facts which were, to her, of the utmost
+interest, for now and then she shrugged her narrow
+shoulders, and gesticulated with not a little
+vivacity.  I was, however, too far off to overhear a
+single syllable of the conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man, I saw, had taken from his pocket some
+letters, one of which she held in her hand, bending
+forward into the light so as to read it.  What she
+read apparently angered her, for she tossed it back
+to him in disgust, and struck her hand upon the
+table with a quick ejaculation.  This caused some
+words between them.  I imagined that, in her
+outburst of temper, she had made some charge against
+him which he now stoutly denied, for of a sudden
+both were gesticulating violently.  As most of the
+promenaders had entered the theatre, the garden
+was at that moment practically deserted; but the
+orchestra in the illuminated bandstand was
+playing, drowning all their words, and preventing
+attention being directed to their altercation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sat there by the lake-side, watching with
+breathless interest.  What would I not have given to be
+sufficiently near to catch the drift of their
+conversation!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently, in the height of their argument, he
+pushed a second letter before her face roughly, as
+though to convince her of his words; but she,
+seeing in his action a desire to insult her, snatched
+the letter from his hands, tore it into fragments,
+and cast them in his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was done in an instant, and sitting as they
+were in that secluded corner in the shadow, none
+witnessed the incident save myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man rose quickly, with an air of fierce resentment,
+bowed to her with mock courtesy, and strode
+off.  But as he passed out into the gaslight, I saw
+his face, and recognising it, could not suppress a
+cry of amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was not young, as I had supposed, but old
+and decrepit.  The countenance was the ugly,
+sinister one of Branca, the queer old fellow with
+whom I had had such a strange interview in Leghorn
+only a few days before.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap25"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXV
+<br><br>
+PRESENTS A CURIOUS PHASE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+This discovery increased the mystery.  Yet it was
+plain that he was acting according to his promise,
+and was leaving no effort untried in order to solve
+the problem.  But why?  What possible interest
+could he have in discovering the truth regarding
+Reggie's assassination?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certainly his appearance was greatly altered.
+Instead of the unkempt, shuffling Italian whom I
+had visited in the Via Magenta, in Leghorn, he was
+spruce, well-shaven, and smartly dressed, although
+his dwarfed and slightly deformed personality
+could not be disguised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The look upon his countenance was the reverse of
+reassuring.  Ugly even when smiling, his face was
+distorted by rage, and absolutely forbidding, as
+he walked hurriedly past within half-a-dozen feet
+of me, and away towards the exit from the garden.
+The insult he had sustained was one which angered
+him terribly, and if ever vengeance was written
+upon a man's face it was written upon his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The queer old fellow had puzzled me greatly ever
+since that eventful evening at Leghorn.  To me
+there was such an absence of motive that his actions
+were doubly remarkable.  And yet I could never
+get away from the fact that he knew of old Keppel's
+intention to go to Ragusa before it had been
+announced to us; and he was also well acquainted
+with all the facts of poor Reggie's tragic end, and
+the subsequent action on the part of both the
+police and myself.  Besides, he had told me of
+Ernest's whereabouts, of which I was in ignorance,
+and now it appeared that he had been, until a
+moment ago, on friendly terms with the woman
+who had robbed me of the one man who in all the
+world was dear to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Utterly dumbfounded by his presence there, I
+watched him walk down the long gravelled path
+beside the lake, past the landing-stage, and out
+towards the public road.  Indeed, I think I was
+too astonished at that moment to rise and follow
+the man who had declared our interests to be
+identical.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I turned and glanced across at the woman.  She
+had risen, shaken out her skirts, and hastily drawn
+her light cape about her shoulders, as for a moment
+she stood in hesitation, looking after her companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her brow was knit, and I seemed to watch
+determination becoming more and more strongly
+marked upon her face.  Then she hurried quickly
+after him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I rose, too, but a thought flashed across my mind.
+He had not gathered up the fragments of the letter
+before leaving.  They were, no doubt, still there.
+What could the letter contain that it should so
+incense her?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without hesitation I moved across to the table
+so lately occupied, and there saw scattered on the
+ground in the vicinity several pieces of torn paper,
+which I gathered swiftly into my hand.  They were
+portions of a letter written on white-edged,
+smoke-grey paper of a fashionable pattern.  Fortunately,
+no waiters were in the near neighbourhood, and I
+was enabled to continue my search, for any stray
+scraps might, I reflected, be of importance.  After
+I had picked up a piece that had been blown some
+distance off, I placed all the fragments carefully in
+my pocket, and made my way toward the brightly-lit
+entrance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As there were no cabs, I was compelled to walk
+to the station, which occupied me quite a quarter
+of an hour.  It appeared certain that both the man
+and the woman would return to Paris, and that the
+woman hoped to meet Branca at the railway-station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I arrived, however, I found that the train
+had just departed for the Gare du Nord, and that
+there was not another for nearly an hour.  If they
+had both left by the train I had so narrowly missed,
+then they had successfully escaped me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bare <i>salle d'attente</i> at Enghien is not a
+cheerful place at night, when the single gas jet is
+turned low, and the doors leading out upon the
+platform are securely locked.  Here, again, I was
+confronted by a difficulty, namely, that if,
+perchance, the pair had not caught the train, they
+would probably enter the waiting room.  To remain
+there was manifestly dangerous, if I did not wish
+my identity to be revealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My chief regret was that I had missed Branca.
+I had no means of communicating with him, for I
+had no idea where he was staying, and he certainly
+did not know my address, or else he would have
+sent me word that he was in Paris.  All I could
+hope was that the woman had caught him up and
+detained him, and that they would return together
+by the next train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Deciding that to rest in the waiting-room was
+injudicious, I went out and crossed to the little café
+opposite, where the tables on the pavement were
+shaded by a row of laurels in tubs, in the usual
+French style.  I wished to piece together the
+precious letter in my pocket without being
+observed.  I entered the place and sat down.  A
+consumptive waiter and a fat woman presiding
+over the bottles on the small counter were the only
+occupants, and after ordering a "limonade," I
+drew forth scrap after scrap of the torn letter and
+spread it out upon the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was written in French, in a feminine hand, but
+it was some time before I could piece the fragments
+together so as to read the whole.  At last I
+succeeded, and discovered it to be dated from the
+"Grand Hotel" at Brussels.  It ran as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>My dear Laumont,&mdash;See Julie the instant she
+returns from Moscow, and warn her.  Someone has
+turned traitor.  Tell her to be extremely careful, and
+to lie low for the present.  If she does not, she will
+place us all in jeopardy.  Advise her to go to London.
+She would be safe there.  So would you.  Bury
+yourselves.&mdash;Hastily, your friend,</i> "SIDONIE."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Laumont!  Who, I wondered, was Laumont?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Was it possible that the woman referred to as
+Julie was actually the person who had so fascinated
+Ernest?  If so, the warning was a strange one;
+and she had disregarded it by tearing up the letter
+and casting it into Branca's face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Bury yourselves."  The injunction was
+expressive, to say the least of it.  Some person
+unknown had turned traitor, and had told the truth
+regarding some matter which had apparently been
+a secret.  The letter was a mysterious one, from
+every point of view.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A dozen times I read it through, then carefully
+collected the scraps and replaced them in my pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The person to whom the letter was addressed was,
+without doubt, an accomplice of the woman Julie,
+while their correspondent, who was named Sidonie,
+and who stayed at the "Grand Hotel" in Brussels,
+was anxious that both should escape to London.
+The woman Julie had been in Moscow.  Was it
+possible that this woman who had attracted Ernest
+had during my absence in the Mediterranean been
+in Russia?  Perhaps she had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet I had no ground whatever for believing
+the woman whom I had seen at Monte Carlo, and
+had so recently followed from Paris, to be named
+Julie.  My suspicions might, for aught I knew, be
+entirely groundless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From where I sat I could watch all persons entering
+the station, but my heart sank within me when
+at length it was time for me to cross to take the
+train for Paris, for my search along the platform
+was a fruitless one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both had evidently left by the earlier train, and
+the absence of a fiacre at the door of the Casino had
+caused me to lose sight of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alone in the dimly-lit railway compartment, as
+the train passed through the suburb of St. Denis
+and on to the Gare du Nord, I reflected deeply.
+My brain was awhirl with the events which had
+occurred so rapidly since landing at Leghorn.  I
+knew not whether Captain Davis had received my
+telegram and had left for Genoa, or whether the
+message had been delayed until he had received
+that package which was destined to send the
+<i>Vispera</i> to the bottom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On every side I saw plot and counterplot, the
+most dastardly of them all being the determination
+of Keppel to destroy his yacht.  And Ulrica?
+What of her?  That she was on board was almost
+certain; she might even then be sailing southward
+to her doom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet I had warned her, and I hoped that she had
+come ashore as we had arranged.  The only possibility
+I feared was a disinclination upon her part
+to offend the old millionaire.  If she found the
+course altered to Genoa, a change which I had
+endeavoured to effect by my telegram, she might
+possibly have gone on there.  All that I prayed for
+was that my wire had reached Davis's hand before
+the package supposed to contain the statuette.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keppel at that moment no doubt believed the
+<i>Vispera</i> to have gone down, and was prepared for
+the receipt of the astounding news from one or
+other of the Mediterranean ports.  Possibly he
+believed that he had a perfect answer to the question
+as to why he had left the vessel, but to me it seemed
+as though he would meet with considerable difficulty,
+if the worst had really happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There might, too, be a survivor, and a survivor's
+testimony in such a case would be awkward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the train, with its <i>impériales</i>, or seats above
+the third-class carriages, rushed on toward Paris,
+I pondered, too, upon Branca's sudden reappearance.
+There was something uncanny about the
+fellow.  His knowledge was as extensive as his
+cunning was low and ingenious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For what reason, I wondered, had he met that
+tow-haired woman who had been Ernest Cameron's
+good genius at Monte Carlo?  Why, too, had she
+taken the trouble to go out to Enghien for the
+purpose of seeing him?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One theory alone took possession of my mind,
+namely, that there was a secret between them.
+Possibly he had been acquainted with her; they
+might even have been friends.  But it was quite
+evident that they had quarrelled, and he had been
+gravely offended by the insult offered him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each night-train from Enghien to the Gare du
+Nord always brought home a large number of
+returning gamblers and pleasure-seekers, so when
+we came to a standstill, the quai quickly became
+crowded by persons whom I had noticed strolling
+in the Casino.  In vain, however, I searched for
+the pair whose movements I had been watching.
+I was compelled to acknowledge myself baffled,
+and to take a fiacre back to the "Hôtel Terminus."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fearing lest any of the trio might be lounging at
+the café in front of the hotel, where arriving cabs
+file slowly past, I dismissed the vehicle at the
+corner of the Rue du Havre, and approached the
+hotel on the opposite side of the way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of my chief difficulties was the entering and
+leaving the hotel, for I never knew whom I might
+meet.  I had had several narrow escapes from
+recognition, notwithstanding every possible precaution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last, however, after carefully examining all who
+were lounging about the entrance, I managed to
+slip in, passing the big-moustached <i>concierge</i>, and
+ascending by the lift to my own room, utterly worn
+out by anxiety and fatigue.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap26"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVI
+<br><br>
+GIVES THE KEY TO THE CIPHER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Even though tired out, I slept but little that night.
+I tried, times without number, but in vain, to solve
+the secret of that cipher message&mdash;or warning,
+was it?&mdash;written upon the table before the "Grand
+Café."  But neither the initial nor the word "tabac"
+conveyed to me any meaning whatever.  One fact
+seemed particularly strange, namely, the reason
+why the ragged collector of cigar-ends should have
+searched for it; and, further, why the word written
+there should have been "tabac."  Again, who was
+the shabby, wizen-faced individual who had watched
+that table with such eagerness and expectancy?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I reflected, I became impressed by the idea
+that the table itself was one of those known to be
+a notice-board of criminals, and therefore at night
+it was watched by the police.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The great Goron, that past-master in the detection
+of crime, had, I remembered, told me that in all the
+quarters of Paris, from the <i>chic</i> Avenue des Champs
+Elysées to the lower parts of Montmartre, there
+were certain tables at certain cafés used by thieves,
+burglars, and other such gentry, for the exchange
+of messages, the dissemination of news, and the
+issue of warnings.  Indeed, the correspondence on
+the café tables was found to be more rapid, far
+more secret, and likely to attract less notice than
+the insertion of paragraphs in the advertisement
+columns of the newspapers.  Each gang of
+malefactors had, he told me, its own particular table
+in its own particular café, where any member could
+sit and read at his leisure the cipher notice, or
+warning, placed there, without risking direct
+communication with his associates in rascality.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had the man whom I had so fondly loved actually
+allied himself with some criminal band, that he
+knew their means of communication, and was in
+possession of their cipher?  It certainly seemed
+as though he had.  But that was one of the points
+I intended to clear up before denouncing him to the
+police.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning I rose early, eager for activity,
+but there seemed no movement in the room
+adjoining mine.  All three took their coffee in their
+bedrooms, and it was not till nearly eleven o'clock
+that I heard Keppel in conversation with the
+mysterious woman who had been my travelling
+companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ernest is running a great risk," he was saying.
+"It's quite unnecessary, to my mind.  The police
+are everywhere on the alert, for word has, of course,
+come from Nice.  If he is unfortunate enough to fall
+into their hands, he'll only have himself to blame."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But surely you don't anticipate such a thing?"
+she asked, in genuine alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, he goes about quite openly, well knowing
+that his description has been circulated through
+every town and village in France."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And if he were arrested, where should he be?"
+inquired the woman, in dismay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In a very awkward predicament, I fear," he
+responded.  "That's the very reason why I'm
+trying to persuade Cameron to act with greater
+discretion.  He's well known, you see, and may be
+recognised at any moment in the street.  If he
+were a stranger here, in Paris, it might be different."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's certainly ridiculous for him to run his head
+into a noose.  I must speak to him at once."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He's out.  He went out before six this morning,
+the chambermaid tells me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's odd!  Where's he gone?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't exactly know.  Somewhere in the
+country, I should think."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What if he is already arrested?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, don't let's anticipate such a <i>contretemps</i>.
+Matters are, however, beginning to look serious
+enough, in all conscience," he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you think we shall succeed?" she inquired
+eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We have been successful before," he responded
+confidently.  "Why not now?  We have only to
+exercise just a little more care and cunning than
+that exercised by the police.  Then, once beyond
+suspicion, all the rest is perfectly plain sailing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Which means that we must make a perfect <i>coup</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Exactly.  The whole scheme must be carried
+out firmly and without a hitch, otherwise we shall
+find ourselves in very hot water."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Knowing this should make us desperate," she
+observed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm desperate already," he replied, in a quiet
+voice.  "It will not go well with anyone who tries
+to thwart us now.  It's a matter of life or death."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What new plot had been hatched I could not
+guess.  What was this fresh conspiracy that was
+intended?  His carefully-guarded words awoke in
+me an intense curiosity.  I had already overheard
+many things, and still resolved to possess myself in
+patience, and to continue my ever-watchful vigil.
+There was, according to the old man's own words, a
+desperate plot in progress, which the conspirators
+were determined to carry out at all hazards, even
+up to the point of taking another human life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wrote down on a piece of paper the cipher which
+I had found scrawled upon the table, and tried by
+several means to reduce it to some intelligible
+message, but without success.  It was evidently
+in one of those secret codes used by criminals, and
+therefore I had but a remote chance of discovering
+a key to what so often had puzzled the cleverest
+detectives of the sûreté.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day passed without any important incident.
+I remained in my room awaiting the return of the
+man whose strange action had puzzled me on the
+previous night, and who was now running such
+risk of arrest.  If he returned, I hoped to overhear
+his conversation with his companions; but
+unfortunately he did not come back.  All was quiet in
+the adjoining chamber, for Keppel and the woman
+with the strange marks had evidently gone out in
+company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About seven o'clock I myself dressed and went
+forth, strolling idly along until I stood on the
+pavement at the corner of the Boulevard des Italiens,
+in front of the Opera.  There are always many
+idlers there, mostly sharks on the watch for the
+unsuspecting foreigner.  The English and American
+tourist offices are just opposite, and from the corner
+these polyglot swindlers can easily fix upon persons
+who change cheques as likely victims, and track
+them down.  Suddenly it occurred to me to stroll
+along and glance at the table before the "Grand
+Café."  This I did, but found only the remains of
+some cipher which had been hastily obliterated,
+possibly earlier in the day, for the surface of the
+marble was quite dry, and only one or two faint
+pencil-marks remained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I sat there, I chanced to glance across the road,
+and to my surprise saw the same shabby, wizen-faced
+man lounging along the kerb.  He was evidently
+keeping that table under observation.  While
+pretending not to see him, I drank my coffee, paid,
+rose from my seat, and walked away; but as the
+watcher at once followed me, I returned to the hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not pleasant for a woman to be followed by a
+strange man, especially if she is bent upon making
+secret inquiries, or is watching another person, so
+when I had again returned to my room I presently
+bethought myself of the second exit from the
+hotel&mdash;the one which leads straight into the
+booking-office of the Gare St. Lazare.  By means of this
+door I managed to escape the little man's vigilance,
+and entering a cab, drove down to the Pont des Arts.
+As I had nothing particular to do, it occurred to
+me that if I could find the little <i>coiffeur's</i>, where I
+had seen the man with whom I had danced on the
+night of the Carnival ball, I might watch, and
+perhaps learn something.  That this man was on
+friendly terms with both Keppel and Cameron had
+been proved by that scrap of confidential
+conversation I had chanced to overhear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The difficulty I experienced in recognising the
+narrow and crooked street was considerable, but
+after nearly an hour's search through the smaller
+thoroughfares to the left of the Boulevard St. Michel,
+my patience was rewarded, and I slowly passed the
+little shop on the opposite side.  The place was in
+darkness, apparently closed.  Scarcely had I passed,
+however, when someone emerged from the place.
+It was, I felt quite sure, the man who had worn the
+owl's dress.  He was dressed rather elegantly, and
+seemed to possess quite an air of distinction.
+Indeed, no one meeting him in the street would have
+believed him to be a barber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost involuntarily, I followed him.  He lit a
+cigarette, and then walked forward at a rapid pace
+down the Boulevard, across the Pont Neuf, and
+turning through many streets, which were as a
+bewildering maze to me, he suddenly tossed his
+cigarette away, entered a large house, and made some
+inquiry of the <i>concierge</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Madame Fournereau?" I heard the old man
+answer gruffly.  "Yes.  Second floor, on the left."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the man who had so mysteriously returned to
+me the stolen notes went forward, and up the stairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Madame Fournereau!  I had never, as far as I
+recollected, heard that name before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I strolled along a little farther, hesitating whether
+to remain there until the man emerged again, when,
+as I lifted my eyes, I happened to see the name-plate
+at the street corner.  It was the Rue du Bac.  In
+an instant the similarity of the word in the cipher,
+"tabac" occurred to me.  Could it be that the
+woman for whom the message was intended lived
+there?  Could it be that this woman for whose love
+Ernest had forsaken me was named Fournereau?
+I entertained a lively suspicion that I had at last
+discovered her name and her abode.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think at that moment my usual discretion left
+me utterly.  So many and so strange were the
+mysteries which had surrounded me during the
+past month or so, that I believe my actions were
+characterised by a boldness of which no woman in
+her right senses would have been capable.  Now that
+I reflect upon it all, I do not think I was in my right
+senses that night, or I should not have dared to
+act alone and unaided as I did.  But the determination
+to avenge the poor lad's death, and at the same
+time to avenge my own wrongs, was strong upon me.
+A jealous woman is capable of breaking any of
+the ten commandments.  "<i>Amor dà per mercede,
+gelosia e rotta fede.</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had I remained to reason with myself, I should
+never have entered that house, but fired by a
+determination to seek the truth, and to meet that woman
+face to face, I entered boldly and, without a word to
+the <i>concierge</i>, passed up to the second floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The house was, I discovered, like many in Paris,
+far more handsome within than without.  The
+stairs leading to the flats were thickly carpeted
+and were illuminated by electricity, though, judging
+by the exterior, I had believed it to be a house
+of quite a fourth-rate class.  When I rang at the
+door on the left a neat Parisian <i>bonne</i> in a muslin
+cap answered my summons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Madame Fournereau?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Oui</i>, madame," answered the woman, as she
+admitted me to the narrow but well-furnished
+entrance-hall.  "Madame is expecting you, I believe.
+Will you please enter?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I saw in an instant that I was mistaken for a
+guest, and quickly made up my mind to use this
+mistake to the best possible advantage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My quick eyes noticed in the hall a number of
+men's hats and women's capes.  From the room
+beyond came quite a babel of voices.  I walked
+forward in wonderment, but next second knew the
+truth.  The place was a private gambling-house.
+Madame's guests, a strange and motley crowd, came
+there to play games of hazard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the room I had entered was a roulette table,
+smaller than those at Monte Carlo, and around
+it were some twenty well-dressed men and women,
+all intent upon the game.  Notes and gold were lying
+everywhere upon the numbers and the single
+chances, and the fact that no silver was there was
+sufficient testimony that high stakes were usual.
+The air was close and oppressive, for the windows
+were closed and heavily curtained, and above the
+sound of excited voices rose that well-known cry
+of the unhealthy-looking, pimply-faced croupier in
+crimped shirt front and greasy black:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Messieurs, faites vos jeux!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Advancing to the table, I stood there unnoticed
+in the crowd.  Those who saw me enter undoubtedly
+believed me to be a gambler, like themselves, for it
+appeared as though madame's guests were drawn
+from various classes of society.  Although the
+atmosphere was so stifling, I managed to remain
+cool, and affected to be interested in the game by
+tossing a louis upon the red.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I won.  It is strange that carelessness at roulette
+invariably brings good fortune.  I glanced about me,
+eager to discover madame herself, but saw neither
+her nor the barber whom I had followed to this
+place.  At the end of the room there were, however,
+a pair of long sage-green curtains, and as one of
+the players rose from the table and passed between
+them, I saw that another gaming-room lay beyond,
+and that the gamblers were playing baccarat, the
+bank being held by a superior-looking old gentleman
+who was wearing the crimson ribbon of the
+Legion d'Honneur in the lapel of his dining-jacket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boldly I went forward into that room, and in an
+instant saw that I was not mistaken, for there,
+chatting to a circle of men and women at the opposite
+end of the <i>salon</i>, was the small, fair-haired
+woman whom I had seen in Ernest's company at
+Monte Carlo, and whom I had followed to Enghien.
+The man who had given me the stolen notes was
+standing near her, listening to her account of a
+pleasure trip from which she had apparently only
+just returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A couple of new-comers, well-dressed men, entered,
+walked straight up to her, shook hands, and
+expressed their delight that she had returned to Paris
+to resume her entertainments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I, too, am glad to return to all my friends,
+messieurs," she laughed.  "I really found Monte
+Carlo very dull, after all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You were not fortunate?  That is to be
+regretted."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" she said.  "With such a maximum, how
+can one hope to gain?  It is impossible."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood watching the play.  As far as I could see,
+it was perfectly fair; but some of the players,
+keen-faced men, were evidently practised
+card-sharpers, swindlers, or men who lived by their
+wits.  The amount of money constantly changing
+hands surprised me.  As I stood there, one young
+man, scarcely more than a lad, lost five thousand
+francs with perfect <i>sang-froid</i>.  The women present
+were none of them young, but were mostly elderly
+and ugly, of that stamp so eternally prominent in
+the Principality of Monaco.  The woman, when she
+turns gambler, always loses her personal beauty.
+It may be the vitiated atmosphere in which she
+exists; it may be the constant tension of the
+nerves; or it may, perchance, be the unceasing,
+all-consuming avarice&mdash;which, I know not.  All I
+am certain of is that no woman can play and at the
+same time remain fresh, youthful, and interesting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Until that moment I had remained there unnoticed
+in the excited crowd, for I had turned my back upon
+Madame Fournereau, lest she should recognise in
+me the woman whom Ernest had undoubtedly
+pointed out to her either in the Rooms, in Giro's, or
+elsewhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But as I began to pass back to the adjoining
+room, where I considered there would be less risk
+of recognition, the green curtains suddenly opened,
+and Ernest Cameron stood before me.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap27"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVII
+<br><br>
+PIECES TOGETHER THE PUZZLE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+I stepped back quickly, while he, with eyes fixed
+upon that fair-haired woman, who seemed the centre
+of a miniature court, failed to notice me.  Upon his
+face was a dark, anxious look, an expression such
+as I had never before seen upon his countenance.
+Perhaps he was jealous of the attention shown by
+that dozen or so of men who were chatting and
+laughing with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her appearance was scarcely that of the keeper of
+an illicit gaming-house.  One would have expected
+to find some fine, dashing, handsome woman, in a
+striking gown, and with a profuse display of
+jewellery.  On the contrary, she was quietly dressed
+in a pretty, graceful gown of dove-grey cashmere,
+the bodice cut low and trimmed with passementerie,
+a frock which certainly well became her rather
+tame style of beauty.  The only ornament was a
+small half-moon of diamonds in her hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ernest appeared to take in the situation at a
+glance, and with his back turned to her stood
+watching the baccarat, just as I had feigned to
+watch it.  Through the great mirror before him,
+however, he could note all her actions.  She was
+laughing immoderately at some remark made by
+one of her companions, and I noticed how Ernest's
+face went pale with suppressed anger.  How
+haggard, how thin, how blanched, nervous, and ill he
+looked!  Usually so smart in attire, his dress
+clothes seemed to hang upon him, his cravat was
+carelessly tied, and in place of the diamond solitaire
+I had bought at Tiffany's for him in the early days
+of our acquaintance&mdash;which he had worn when we
+met at Monte Carlo&mdash;there was only a plain pearl
+stud, worth perhaps ten centimes.  Alas! he had
+sadly changed.  His was, indeed, the figure of a
+man haunted by the ever-present shadow of his
+crime.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was curious, I thought, that he did not
+approach her; but the reason for this became plain
+ere long.  I had returned to the adjoining room,
+and was again watching the roulette, when suddenly
+she brushed past me on her way out into the corridor,
+into which several other rooms opened.  Suddenly
+I heard his well-known voice utter her name
+in a hoarse whisper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Julie!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Julie!  The person mentioned in the letter of
+warning which she had torn up at Enghien!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stopped, and recognising him for the first time,
+gasped:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ernest!  You here?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he responded.  "I told you that we
+should meet, and I have found you, you see.  I must
+speak to you alone."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Impossible," she responded.  "To-morrow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, to-night&mdash;now.  What I have to say admits
+of no delay," and he strode resolutely at her side,
+while she, her face betraying displeasure at the
+encounter, unwillingly went forth into the corridor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," I heard her exclaim in impatience,
+"what is it you have to say to me?  I thought
+when we parted it was agreed we were not to meet
+again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You hoped so, you mean," he answered hardly.
+"Come into one of these rooms, where we may be
+alone.  Someone may overhear if we remain
+standing in this passage."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is what you want to say so strictly confidential,
+then?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he answered, "it is."  Then, with every
+sign of reluctance and impatience, she opened a
+door behind them, and they passed into what
+appeared to be her own <i>petit salon</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again the fire of jealousy consumed me, and without
+thought of the consequences of my act, I went
+straightway to the door, and entering, faced them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I entered, Ernest turned quickly, then stood
+rigid and amazed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Carmela!" he gasped.  "How came you here&mdash;to
+this place?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How I came here matters not," I answered, in a
+hard tone.  "It is sufficient for you to know that I
+have entered here to demand an explanation from
+you and this woman&mdash;your accomplice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean?" cried his companion, in
+her broken English.  "What do you mean by
+accomplice?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I refer to the murder of Reginald Thorne," I
+said, as quietly as I was able.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The murder of Monsieur Thorne," repeated the
+woman.  "And what have I to do, pray, with the
+death of that gentleman, whoever he may be?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ernest glanced at me strangely, and then
+addressed her in a firm voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<a id="p293"></a>
+"The person who murdered him was none other
+than yourself&mdash;Julie Fournereau."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood dumbfounded.  Was it possible that he
+intended to endeavour to fix the guilt upon her,
+even though I knew the truth by the words I had
+overheard, which were paramount to an admission?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What!" she shrieked, in fierce anger, speaking
+in French.  "You have sought me here to charge
+me with murder&mdash;to bring against me a false
+accusation?  It is a lie!  You know that I am
+innocent."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That point, madame, must be decided by a
+judge," he answered, with marvellous coolness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean?  I don't understand!"
+she exclaimed, with a slight quiver in her voice
+which betrayed a sudden fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I mean that during the months which have
+elapsed since the murder of my friend Thorne, at
+Nice, I have been engaged in tracing the assassin&mdash;or,
+to put it plainly, in tracing you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood there, utterly astounded.  If his words
+were true, why had he been concealed on board the
+<i>Vispera</i> in order to avoid arrest?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed, instantly assuming an attitude of
+defiance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Bah!" she said.  "You bring me here into this
+room to make this absurd and unfounded charge!
+You dare not say it before my friends.  They
+would thrash you as if you were a mongrel of the
+streets!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His cheeks were pale, but there was a fierce and
+resolute expression upon his countenance.  The
+woman whom I had believed he loved was, it
+seemed, his bitterest enemy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have not the slightest wish to bring upon
+you any greater exposure or disgrace than that
+which must inevitably come," he said coolly.
+"For months I have been waiting for this
+opportunity, and by means of the cipher fortunately
+discovered your return.  I was then enabled to
+give the police some highly interesting information."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The police!" she gasped, her face instantly
+blanched to the lips.  "You have told them?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he responded, gazing steadily upon her,
+"I have told them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then let me pass," she said hoarsely, making
+towards the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But in a moment he had barred her passage,
+then raised a small whistle quickly to his lips, and
+blew it shrilly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So this is your revenge!  I was warned of
+this from Brussels!" she cried, turning upon him
+with a murderous light in her eyes.  But almost
+before the words had left her mouth there were
+sounds of scuffling and shouting, a smashing of
+glass, and loud imprecations.  The whistle had
+raised the alarm, and the police had entered the
+place, and were preventing the egress of the players.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Outside, in the corridor, there were several fierce
+scrimmages, but next instant the door opened, and
+there entered three detectives&mdash;of whom one was
+the wizen-faced little man who had betrayed such an
+interest in myself when at the Grand Café&mdash;accompanied
+by old Mr. Keppel, and the woman who
+had been my travelling companion in the <i>wagon-lit</i>.
+Certainly the arrangements perfected by the
+police in order that their raid upon the private
+gaming establishment might be successful in all
+respects had been elaborately prepared, for at the
+signal given by Ernest the <i>coup</i> was instantaneously
+effected, and the players, nearly all of whom were
+persons known as criminals, fell back entrapped and
+dismayed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old millionaire and his companion were just
+as astounded to find me present as Ernest had been.
+But there was no time at that exciting moment for
+explanations.  The plan had apparently been
+arranged for the arrest of the white-faced woman, who
+now stood trembling before us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I tell you it's a lie!" she cried hoarsely.  "I
+did not kill him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Ernest, turning to the shabby little man,
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I demand the arrest of that woman, Julie
+Fournereau, for the murder of Reginald Thorne at
+the 'Grand Hotel,' in Nice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You know her?" inquired the detective.
+"Have you evidence to justify the arrest?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have evidence that she committed the murder&mdash;that
+the sixty thousand francs stolen from the
+dead man's pockets were in her possession on the
+following morning; and, further, that on the night
+on which the murder was committed she was staying
+under another name at the very hotel in which
+Mr. Thorne was found dead."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the witnesses?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They are already in Paris, waiting to be called
+to give evidence."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A dead silence fell for a few moments.  We each
+looked at one another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wretched woman, who had suddenly been
+denounced by the man with whom she had been so
+friendly at Monte Carlo, was standing in the centre
+of the room, swaying forward, supporting herself by
+clutching the edge of the small table.  Her white lips
+trembled, but no word escaped from them.  She
+seemed rendered speechless by the suddenness of the
+overwhelming charge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The detective's voice broke the silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Julie Fournereau," he said in French, advancing
+a few steps towards her, "in the name of
+the law I arrest you for the murder of Reginald
+Thorne at Nice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am innocent!" she cried hoarsely, her haggard
+eyes glaring at us with a hunted look in them.  "I
+tell you I am quite innocent!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Listen," said Ernest, in a firm tone, although
+there was a slight catch in his voice, which showed
+how greatly excited he was.  "The reasons which
+have led me to this step are briefly these.  Last
+December, while living here in Paris, I went south
+to spend the winter at Monte Carlo.  I stayed at
+the 'Metropole,' and amid the cosmopolitan crowd
+there met the woman before you.  One day there
+arrived at the same hotel, from Paris, my friend
+Reginald Thorne, whom I knew well in London, but
+who had lived in Paris for the past year.  We were
+about together during the day, and in the Rooms
+that evening he encountered me walking beside this
+woman Fournereau.  That same night he came
+to my room, and in confidence related to me a
+story which at the moment I regarded as somewhat
+exaggerated, namely, that he had been induced to
+frequent a certain gaming-house in Paris, where he
+had lost almost everything he possessed, and how
+he had ultimately discovered that an elaborate
+system of sharping had been practised upon him
+by the woman and her male accomplices.  That
+woman, he told me, had left Paris suddenly just
+at the moment when he discovered the truth, and
+he had encountered her in the Rooms with me.
+Her name was Julie Fournereau."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I glanced at the wretched woman before us.  Her
+wild eyes were fixed upon the carpet; her fingers
+were twitching with intense agitation; her breath
+came and went in short quick gasps.  Ernest, in
+his exposure, was merciless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Had she seen him in the Rooms?" I inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," he answered.  "We had come face to
+face.  He told me that, as he had been robbed of
+nearly all he possessed, he was determined to give
+information against her.  She was, he told me, an
+associate of bad characters in Paris, and urged me
+to cut her acquaintance.  His story was strange
+and rather romantic, for he gave me to understand
+that this woman had made a pretence of loving him,
+and had induced him to play in her house, with
+the result that he lost large sums to a certain
+man who was her accomplice.  Personally, I was not
+very much charmed with her," Ernest went on,
+glancing at me.  "She was evidently, as Thorne
+had declared, acquainted with many of the worst
+characters who frequent Monte Carlo, and I began
+to think seriously that my own reputation would be
+besmirched by being seen constantly in her
+company.  Still, I tried to dissuade my friend from
+endeavouring to wreak justice upon such a person,
+arguing that, as he had lost the money in a private
+gaming establishment, he had no remedy in law.
+But he was young and headstrong&mdash;possibly suffering
+from a fit of jealousy.  After several days,
+however, fearing that he might create a scene with
+this notorious woman, I at last induced him to go
+over to Nice and stay at the 'Grand.'  While there,
+curiously enough, he met the lady who is here
+present, Miss Rosselli, and at once fell deeply in
+love with her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," I protested, in quick indignation, "there
+was no love whatever between us.  That I strongly
+deny."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Carmela," he said, bestowing on me a calm and
+serious look.  "In this affair I must speak plainly
+and openly.  I myself have a confession to make."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of what?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Listen, and I'll explain everything."  Then
+turning to the others, he went on: "Reginald fell
+violently in love with Miss Rosselli, not knowing
+that she had been engaged to become my wife.
+When, the day after meeting her at the hotel, he
+told me of his infatuation, and heard from me the
+whole truth, he seemed considerably upset.  'She
+loves you still,' he said.  'I feel certain that she
+does, for she has given me no encouragement.'  I
+affected to take no notice of his words, but to me
+the matter was a very painful one.  I had broken
+off the engagement, it was true, but my heart was
+now filled by bitter remorse.  I had seen Carmela
+again; all the old love had come back to me, and
+I now despised myself for my mean and unwarrantable
+action.  We had met several times, but
+as strangers; and knowing her proud spirit, I
+feared to approach her, feeling certain that she
+would never forgive."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Forgive!" I cried.  "I would have gladly
+forgiven!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Carmela," he said, turning again to me with a
+very serious expression on his face, "I regret being
+compelled to lay bare my secret thus before you,
+but I must tell them everything."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," I said.  "Now that this woman is to
+bear the punishment of her crime, let us know
+all."  Then I added bitterly: "Speak without
+any regard for my feelings, or even for my
+presence."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A few days prior to his tragic end, poor Reggie
+had, as I have explained, moved over to the 'Grand'
+at Nice, but strangely enough, the same idea had
+occurred to this woman Fournereau.  She preferred
+to live in Nice during Carnival, she told me,
+for she liked all the fun and gaiety.  Whether it
+was for that reason, I know not, but at all events it
+seems clear, from inquiries recently completed in
+Nice, that one afternoon he met this woman at
+Rumpelmayer's, the fashionable lounge for afternoon
+tea, and in a sudden fit of anger declared that
+he would denounce her as an adventuress and
+swindler.  Now it appears that his clients, the
+gamblers who frequent this place, number among
+them some of the most notorious and desperate members
+of the criminal fraternity, and the natural
+conclusion is that, fearing his exposure, she killed him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I deny it!" cried the wretched woman.  "It
+is a false accusation, which you cannot prove."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The extreme care and marvellous ingenuity by
+which the poor fellow's death was encompassed is
+shown by every detail of the case.  Not a single
+point was apparently overlooked.  Even the means
+by which he was assassinated have remained, until
+now, a mystery.  But passing to the night of the
+tragedy, it will be remembered that he had won
+sixty thousand francs at roulette, and having left
+Miss Rosselli and her friends, he re-entered the
+Rooms and changed his winnings into large notes.
+Half an hour before, this woman, whom I had met
+earlier in the evening, and who had dined with me
+at Giro's, had wished me good-night.  She had
+previously watched his success at the tables, and
+had followed him into the Casino when he re-entered
+to change the notes.  The interval of about an hour
+between his leaving Monte Carlo and his arrival
+at the 'Grand Hotel' at Nice is still unaccounted
+for.  Nevertheless, we know that this woman,
+whom he had threatened, travelled by the same
+train from Monte Carlo to Nice, that she entered
+the hotel a few minutes later and went to her room,
+and that next morning she had in her possession
+sixty notes, each for a thousand francs.  It seems,
+however, that she quickly became alarmed lest
+suspicion might rest upon her, for the police had
+commenced active inquiries, and therefore she
+resolved to get rid of the stolen notes.  This she
+did with the aid of an accomplice, a man named
+Vauquelin&mdash;a man very well known at Monte
+Carlo.  This rascal, one of the <i>habitués</i> of this place,
+went to the Carnival ball at the Nice Casino, and
+there gave Miss Rosselli the stolen money, intending
+that its possession should throw suspicion upon
+her.  Some other members of that interesting gang
+of sharpers, who make this place their headquarters,
+going south in winter in search of pigeons to pluck,
+knowing Vauquelin's intention, posed as detectives,
+to whom Miss Rosselli innocently handed over the
+notes she had received."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused for a moment; then he continued:
+"Now, however, comes one of the most ingenious
+features of the affair.  This woman, finding next day
+that her plot to throw suspicion upon Miss Rosselli
+had failed, turned her attention to myself.  She
+was aware that a slight quarrel had occurred between
+Reggie and myself regarding his injudicious and
+futile action in seeking to denounce her, and,
+with others, had overheard some high words
+between us when we had met on the terrace at the
+Café de Paris on the afternoon previous to his
+death.  She gave information to the police, and
+then left the Riviera suddenly.  Next day I found
+myself under the observation of the police, and in
+order to escape arrest, induced Mr. Keppel&mdash;who
+has taken a great interest in the affair from the
+first, being one of the trustees under the will of
+Mr. Thorne, senior&mdash;to conceal me on board his yacht
+until such time as our inquiries in Paris could be
+completed.  It was ascertained that this woman
+Fournereau, who had gone to Russia, intended to
+return to her apartment here upon a date she had
+arranged with one of her accomplices, a Corsican
+named Laumont.  This is the reason why it seemed
+good to me to remain in hiding from the police
+until to-day.  This is her first reception, notice
+of which was circulated among her friends by means
+of the cipher upon certain tables in the cafés on
+the <i>grands boulevards</i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then you, too, were actually concealed on
+board the <i>Vispera</i> during the whole cruise?" I
+exclaimed, in great surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I went ashore at Malta, and the vessel
+returned for me three weeks later," he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But this lady?" I inquired, indicating the
+handsome woman who had been my travelling
+companion in the <i>wagon-</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am the mother of Reginald Thorne," she
+herself explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You!  Reggie's mother!" I cried, scarcely
+able to believe her words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," she answered.  "I was spending the
+winter in Cairo.  Hearing of my poor son's death, I
+crossed from Alexandria, and arrived in Nice, only
+to find that the <i>Vispera</i> had sailed.  A letter was
+awaiting me with full explanations, asking me to
+travel to Malta, and there join the yacht.  This
+I did; but in order that my presence should not be
+known to those on board, I was placed secretly in
+the deck-cabin, and never left it.  The blow that
+had fallen upon me on hearing of poor Reggie's
+death, combined with the constant imprisonment
+in that cabin, I believe upset the balance of my
+mind, for one night&mdash;the night before we put into
+Leghorn&mdash;I became unconscious.  I was subject to
+strange hallucinations, and that night experienced
+a sensation as though someone was attempting to
+take my life by strangulation."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I must explain," said old Mr. Keppel, addressing
+her.  "It is only right that you should now know
+the truth.  On the night in question you were
+unusually restless, and becoming seized by a fit of
+hysteria, commenced to shout and shriek all sorts of
+wild words regarding your poor son's murder.  Now
+I had concealed you there, and fearing lest some of
+the guests should hear you, and that a scandal might
+be created, I tried to silence you.  You fought me
+tooth and nail, for I verily believe that the close
+confinement had driven you insane.  In the struggle I
+had my hands over your mouth, and afterwards
+pressed your throat in order to prevent your
+hysterical shrieks, when suddenly I saw blood upon your
+lips, and the awful truth dawned upon me that I had
+killed you by strangulation.  Tewson, the chief
+steward&mdash;who, with the exception of Cameron, was
+the only person on board who knew of your
+presence&mdash;chancing to enter at that moment, made the
+diabolical suggestion that in order to get rid of the
+evidence of my crime I should allow him to blow up the
+ship.  This I refused, and fortunately, half an hour
+later, I succeeded in restoring you to consciousness.
+Then we landed at Leghorn on the following evening,
+not, however, before I discovered that the real motive
+of Tewson's suggestion was that he had stolen nearly
+three thousand pounds in cash, notes, and securities
+from a box in Lord Stoneborough's cabin, and wished
+to destroy the ship so that his crime might thus be
+concealed.  The man, I have discovered, has a very
+bad record, and has now disappeared.  But time
+was pressing, so we all three left Leghorn for Paris,
+and I gave orders to Davis to take the yacht into the
+Adriatic, where I intended to rejoin it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, briefly, I explained what I had seen and
+overheard on that wild, boisterous night in the
+Mediterranean; how I had followed the millionaire
+and the woman who was bent upon avenging the
+murder of her son; how I had sent the yacht on to
+Genoa, and how carefully I had watched the movements
+of all three during those days in Paris.  All
+seemed amazed by my story&mdash;Ernest most of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"During that night in the <i>wagon-lit</i>," I said,
+addressing Mrs. Thorne, "I noticed two curious
+marks upon your neck.  Upon your poor son's neck
+were similar marks."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," she replied; "they were birth-marks&mdash;known
+as the marks of thumb and finger.  Poor
+Reggie bore them exactly as I do."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the woman who murdered him, and who so
+ingeniously attempted first to fasten the guilt upon
+Miss Rosselli, and then afterwards upon myself, is
+there!" cried Ernest, pointing at the trembling,
+pallid woman before us.  "She killed him, because
+she feared the revelations he could make to the
+police regarding the place in which we are standing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The woman Fournereau raised her head at Ernest's
+denunciation, and laughed a strange, harsh laugh of
+defiance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Bien!</i>" she cried shrilly, with affected carelessness.
+"Arrest me, if you will!  But I tell you that
+you are mistaken.  You have been clever&mdash;very
+clever, all of you; but the assassin was not myself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The police-officer now spoke to her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then if you yourself are not guilty, you are
+aware of the identity of the murderer.  Therefore I
+shall arrest you as being an accomplice.  It is the
+same."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No; I was not even an accomplice," she protested
+quickly.  "I may be owner of this place; I
+may be a&mdash;a person known to you; but I swear I
+have never been a murderess."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The officer smiled dubiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The decision upon that point must be left to the
+judges," he answered.  "There is evidence against
+you.  For the present that is sufficient."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Monsieur Cameron has told you that I was
+threatened with exposure by the young Englishman,"
+she said.  "That is perfectly true.  Indeed,
+all that has been said is the truth&mdash;save one thing.
+Neither did I commit the murder, nor had I any
+knowledge of it until afterwards."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the stolen notes were actually in your
+possession on the following morning," the detective
+observed in a tone of doubt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They were given to me for safe keeping."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"By whom?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I refuse to say."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The detective shrugged his shoulders, and smiles
+passed across the faces of his two companions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You prefer arrest, then?" he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I prefer to keep my own counsel," she answered.
+"These persons," she continued, indicating us,
+"have believed themselves extremely ingenious,
+apparently taking upon themselves the duties of the
+police, and have arrived at quite a wrong conclusion.
+You may arrest me if you wish.  I have nothing
+whatever to fear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And she glanced around at us in open defiance.
+Indeed, so indifferent was she, that I felt convinced
+Ernest's theory of the committal of the crime had
+fallen to the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The detective seemed, however, well aware of the
+woman's character, and proceeded to deal with her
+accordingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are charged with the murder," he said.
+"It is for you to prove your innocence."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who, pray, is the witness against me?" she
+demanded indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your accomplice!" cried Ernest quickly.  "The
+man Laumont."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Laumont!" she cried.  "He&mdash;he has told you
+that I committed the crime; he has denounced me
+as the murderess?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He has," answered Ernest.  "On that fatal
+night when poor Thorne entered the Rooms to
+change the notes I met him, and although we had had
+a few high words in the Café de Paris on the previous
+day, he approached me, asking my pardon, which
+I readily gave.  He then inquired whether it was
+really true that Miss Rosselli had been engaged to
+me.  I replied in the affirmative, and he then said
+that he did not intend to meet her again, but should
+leave for Paris in the morning.  I tried to dissuade
+him, but his only reply was: 'She loves you still,
+my dear fellow.  She can never forget you; of that
+I'm certain.'  Then he left, and travelled to Nice
+without saying a single word to her.  Arrived at the
+hotel, he went straight to her sitting-room and sat
+down to write her a letter of farewell.  He
+commenced one, but destroyed it.  This was afterwards
+found in the room.  Then, just as he was about to
+commence a second letter, you&mdash;you, Julie Fournereau,
+entered, killed him, and stole the notes which
+you knew he carried in his pockets!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How did I kill him?" she demanded, her eyes
+flashing with anger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You yourself know that best."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!  And Jean Laumont told you this elaborate
+piece of fiction, did he?  It is amusing&mdash;very
+amusing!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At a word from the chief detective, one of the
+officers left the room.  We heard Laumont's name
+shouted loudly in the corridor, and a few minutes
+later he was ushered in by two officers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood rooted to the spot at sight of him.  The
+man was none other than Branca, the queer old
+fellow who had represented to me in Leghorn that
+our interests were identical.  I saw how ingenious
+had been his actions, and how deeply-laid his plot.
+He had intended that I should sail to the Adriatic
+after he had obtained from me all the information
+I had collected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On seeing us, he drew back in quick surprise, but
+in an instant the woman flew at him in fury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You have told them!" she shrieked.  "You
+have led them to believe that I murdered the
+Englishman at Nice; you have declared that it was I
+who gave you the notes; I who killed him!  You
+white-livered cur!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His ugly countenance fell.  Indignation had, in an
+instant, given place to fear.  His sinister face was
+full of evil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And did you not give me the notes?" inquired
+the dwarfed man, now well dressed, and presenting
+a very different appearance from that he had shown
+at Leghorn.  He had evidently been playing
+baccarat.  "Why, there are at least two men in
+yonder room who were present when you handed
+them to me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I do not deny that," she answered.  "I deny
+that I killed him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then who did?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who did?" she shrieked.  "Who did?  <i>Why,
+you yourself!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You lie!" he cried fiercely, his cheeks in an
+instant ashen pale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I would have told them nothing," she went on
+quickly.  "I would have allowed them to arrest me
+and afterwards discover their mistake, were it not
+that you had endeavoured to give me into their hands
+in order to save yourself.  No, my dear friend, Julie
+Fournereau is loyal only to those who are loyal to
+her, as many have before found out to their cost.  I
+would have saved you had you not led the police here
+to raid my house, to arrest my friends, and to hurry
+me away to prison for a crime that I did not commit.
+But listen!  You deny the murder of the young
+Englishman.  Well, shall I relate to them all that
+occurred?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tell them what untruths you like," he growled
+fiercely.  "You cannot harm me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, madame," urged old Mr. Keppel, "tell
+us all that you know.  We are determined now to
+get to the bottom of this affair."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This man," she explained, "was the man who
+fleeced the unfortunate gentleman here in my house.
+I am not wishing to shield myself for a single moment&mdash;I
+desire only to tell the truth.  Monsieur Thorne,
+when they last met here, accused him of cheating
+at baccarat; high words ensued, and the young
+man drew a revolver and fired, the bullet striking
+Laumont in the shoulder, whereupon he swore to be
+avenged.  I knew well that a vow of vengeance
+taken by such a desperate character as Laumont was
+something more than mere idle words; and when he
+went to the Riviera, as he did each year, in search of
+inexperienced youths whom he could fleece, I shortly
+afterwards followed.  He stayed first at the 'Hôtel
+de Paris' at Monte Carlo, but meeting young Thorne
+accidentally one afternoon, he discovered that the
+latter was living at the 'Grand' at Nice, and that
+same night transferred his quarters there.  Now,
+Thorne had an intimate friend at Nice&mdash;Mr. Gerald
+Keppel&mdash;and it seemed as though Laumont desired
+to make the latter's acquaintance, with the ulterior
+motive of practising his sharper's tricks upon him.
+Be that as it may, I, in order to watch the progress
+of events, moved to the same hotel at Nice.  I knew
+that Laumont was bent on vengeance, and felt
+certain that some terrible <i>dénouement</i> was imminent."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paused, and glanced around at us.  Then
+lowering her eyes, she went on:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am an adventuress, it is true; but I have still
+a woman's heart.  I was determined, if possible, to
+prevent Laumont from wreaking vengeance upon
+the poor boy.  It was for that reason I followed
+him to Nice and took up my abode there.  On the
+day of the tragedy I was in the Rooms at Monte
+Carlo in the afternoon, and there saw him playing
+and winning; while just as he was leaving with Miss
+Rosselli, young Mr. Keppel and another lady, his
+pockets bulging with his gains, I saw Jean Laumont
+watching him.  By the evil look he cast in his
+direction, I knew that the spirit of murder was in his
+heart.  That evening I dined at Giro's with
+Monsieur Cameron, and afterwards left him in order to
+watch the movements of Jean and the young
+Englishman.  The latter, after a short conversation with
+Monsieur Cameron in the hall of the Casino,
+descended by the lift to the station, and took train to
+Nice.  I travelled by the same train, but in the
+crowd at Nice station I lost sight of him.  He must
+have taken a fiacre immediately to the hotel, and
+furthermore, the Corsican must also have followed
+him, without knowing of my presence.  I met some
+friends at the station, but on arrival at the hotel,
+twenty minutes later, I went straight up to my room.
+On the way I had to pass the door of Miss Rosselli's
+sitting-room, and just as I was approaching, my feet
+falling softly on the thick carpet of the corridor, the
+door opened noiselessly, and a man, after looking
+forth stealthily, came out and stole along to the room
+he occupied.  That man was Jean Laumont."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You saw him?" cried Ernest.  "You actually
+saw him coming from the room?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes.  Instantly, I suspected something wrong,
+and wondered for what purpose he had been in the
+ladies' sitting-room.  Therefore, without hesitation,
+I pushed open the door and looked inside.  Imagine
+my surprise when I found the unfortunate man
+writhing in agony upon the ground.  I knelt by him,
+but recognising me as the woman at whose house he
+had been cheated, he shrank from me.  'That man!'
+he gasped with difficulty.  'That man has killed
+me!' and a few moments later his limbs straightened
+themselves out in a final paroxysm of agony, and he
+passed away."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Thorne burst into a flood of tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The tow-haired woman was silent for a moment,
+her eyes fixed upon the face of the man against whom
+she had uttered that terrible denunciation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I stood there terrified&mdash;unable to move," she
+went on.  "Laumont had, as I anticipated, killed
+him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Killed him?  How can you prove it?" demanded
+the cunning card-sharper, Vauquelin, who
+had tricked me so cleverly, and who, in order to
+throw the police off the scent, pursued the harmless
+calling of hairdresser in that back street off the
+Boulevard St. Michel.  Apparently he was the
+Corsican's champion.  "How can you prove that
+Jean Laumont killed him?"
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap28"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+<br><br>
+REVEALS THE TRUTH
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The woman Fournereau crossed the room quickly
+to a small rosewood bureau, and took therefrom a
+little cardboard box about a couple of inches square,
+such as is often used for containing cheap jewellery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have something here," she said, addressing
+the man before her, "which was lying on the floor.
+You alone know its secret&mdash;a secret which I, too,
+have lately discovered."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And opening the box carefully, she displayed,
+lying in a bed of cotton-wool, what at first appeared
+to be a woman's steel thimble.  Taking it from its
+hiding-place, and placing it upon the forefinger of
+her right hand, we saw that, instead of being what it
+at first appeared, it rose to a sharply-tempered steel
+point, about half an inch long, protruding from the
+finger-tip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I glanced at the man accused.  His face had
+blanched to the lips at sight of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This," she explained, "I discovered on the floor
+close to where the dead man was lying.  It is a
+diabolical invention of Laumont's, which he showed me
+a year ago, although he did not then explain its use.
+An examination which has been made by my friend,
+a chemist, has plainly indicated the truth.  You will
+notice that the point is fine as a needle, but is hollow,
+like that of a hypodermic syringe.  Within, at the
+point touched by the tip of the finger, is a small
+chamber filled with a most subtle and deadly
+poison, extracted from a small lizard peculiar to
+the Bambara country on the banks of the Upper
+Niger."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The point would, I saw, act just as the fang of a
+snake, for the thimble, when placed on the finger
+and pressed against the flesh of the victim, would
+inject the poison into the blood, causing almost
+instantaneous collapse and death.  The puncture
+made by such a fine point would be indistinguishable,
+and the action of the poison, as we afterwards
+learnt, so similar to several natural complications
+that at the post-mortem examination doctors would
+fail to distinguish the real cause of death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held the diabolical thimble out for us to
+examine, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The mode in which this was used upon the
+unfortunate Monsieur Thorne was undoubtedly
+as follows:&mdash;He had seated himself at the table
+with his back to the door when the Corsican,
+Laumont, watching his opportunity, crept in with the
+thimble upon his finger.  Before his victim was
+aware of his presence he had seized him by the
+collar from behind and pressed the point deep
+into the flesh behind the right ear, at a spot where
+the poison would at once enter the circulation.
+You will remember that the doctors discovered
+a slight scratch behind the ear, which they guessed
+to be the only mark resulting from the struggle
+which they believed had taken place.  But there
+was no struggle.  As has been proved by the person
+who examined for me this most deadly but
+inoffensive-looking weapon, anyone struck by it
+would become paralysed almost instantly.  Plainly,
+then, the chair was broken by him as he fell against
+it in fatal collapse."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And the stolen notes?  What of them?"
+asked Mr. Keppel anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" she answered.  "Those accursed notes!
+On the following morning Laumont came to me
+and handed me the money, saying that as I knew
+the truth regarding the crime, he would trust me
+further, and give the money into my safe keeping.
+I took it, for, truth to tell, I knew that he could
+make some very unwelcome revelations to the
+police regarding this place and the character of the
+play here.  Therefore I decided that, after all,
+silence was best, even though I held in my possession
+the thimble which, I presume, in his hurry to
+escape from the room, fell upon the floor and rolled
+away.  I took the notes, and for some days kept
+them; but finding that the police were making
+such active inquiries, I returned them to him, and
+he then resolved upon giving them to Miss Rosselli,
+through one of his accomplices, either in order
+further to baffle the detectives or else to throw
+suspicion upon her.  She was told some extraordinary
+story about a meeting in London, merely, of
+course, to put the police off the scent, and cause
+them to believe that the money was stolen by
+English thieves.  Soon afterwards I knew that
+Monsieur Cameron was aware of the manner in
+which his friend had been cheated here.  This
+caused me, from fear of being arrested on suspicion,
+to fly to Russia, arranging with my friends to return
+here on the 1st of May&mdash;to-day."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The date of your return I learnt from Laumont
+himself," explained Ernest, "for, in the course of
+the inquiries I made immediately after the tragic
+affair, I found that he was your intimate associate,
+and in order to divert suspicion from himself he
+hinted at you being the assassin."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He denounced me, not knowing that I held the
+actual evidence of his guilt in my hand," she cried,
+holding out the finger with the curious-looking
+thimble upon it.  "Poor Monsieur Thorne is, I
+fear, not the first victim who has fallen beneath
+the prick of this deadly instrument."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To whom do you refer?" inquired the detective
+quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To Monsieur Everton, the young Englishman
+who was found dead about a year ago in the Avenue
+des Acacias."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In an instant the man whom I had known in
+Leghorn as Branca sprang at her with all the fury
+of a wild beast, and, clutching her at the throat,
+tried to strangle her.  His eyes were lit by the
+fierce light of uncontrollable anger, his bushy hair
+giving his white face a wild and terrible look, and
+it really seemed that before the detectives could
+throw themselves upon him, the murderer would
+tear limb from limb the woman who had confessed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a moment the detectives and the man and
+woman were all struggling wildly together.  Suddenly
+a loud yell of pain escaped from the wretched
+Corsican, and releasing his hold, he drew back,
+with his left hand clasped upon his wrist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He staggered, swayed unevenly, uttering terrible
+imprecations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>Dieu!</i>" he gasped.  "<i>You&mdash;you've killed me!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What had happened was easy to understand.
+In the struggle the point of his cunning invention,
+which was still upon the woman's finger, had
+entered deeply the fleshy part of his wrist, injecting
+that poison that was so swift, and for which no
+antidote had ever been discovered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he staggered, two detectives sprang forward
+to seize him, but before they could do so, he reeled,
+clutched at the air, and fell heavily backward,
+overturning a small table beside which he had been
+standing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never was there a scene more ghastly.  I shall
+remember every detail of it so long as I have power
+to draw my breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Five minutes later, the wretched man who had
+thus brought card-sharping and murder to a fine
+art had breathed his last in frightful agony, his
+ignominious career ended by his own diabolical
+invention.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap29"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIX
+<br><br>
+CONTAINS THE CONCLUSION
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+My reader, I have throughout been perfectly frank
+with you&mdash;too frank, perhaps.  But need I dwell
+further upon the stirring events of that night?
+It is assuredly sufficient to say that the persons
+arrested by the police numbered nearly forty, all
+of whom were charged with various offences, in
+addition to that of being found in an illicit
+gaming-house.  Many of them, old offenders and desperate
+characters, notwithstanding the fact that they were
+outwardly respectable members of society, in due
+course received long periods of imprisonment,
+Vauquelin receiving a sentence of seven years.  But
+Julie Fournereau, in view of the information she
+had given regarding poor Reggie's death, was
+dismissed with a fine of two thousand francs for
+carrying on the house in question.  She has since
+disappeared into obscurity.  Ulrica arrived in Paris
+next morning from Genoa, and was absolutely
+dumbfounded when we related the whole of the
+amazing story.  That day, too, proved the happiest
+in all my life.  Need I relate how, on the following
+morning, Ernest sought me and begged me to
+forgive?  Or how, with tears of joy, I allowed him
+to hold me once more in his manly arms, as of old,
+and shower fervent kisses upon my face?  No.
+If I were to begin to relate the joys that had now
+come to me, I should far exceed the space of a single
+volume.  It is enough that you, reader, to whom I
+have made confession, should know that within a
+fortnight we all returned to London, and that while
+Ulrica became engaged to Gerald, and soon afterwards
+married him, with the old man's heartiest
+approval, Ernest again asked me to become his
+wife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Kensington Church, amid great <i>éclat</i>, within
+a month of our arrival back in town, my happiness
+broke into full flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ulrica tells me, in the privacy of her little blue
+boudoir in Eaton Square, that she is no longer
+world-weary, living only for excitement, as in the
+fevered days gone by, but that her life is full of a
+peaceful happiness that cannot be surpassed.
+Nevertheless, I cannot really bring myself to
+believe that she is any happier than I am with
+Ernest in our pretty home at Hyde Park Gate, for
+the estrangement has rendered him all the more
+dear to me, and we are indeed supremely content
+in each other's perfect love.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Thorne, poor Reggie's mother, has returned
+to Hampshire, fully satisfied at having cleared up
+the mystery surrounding her son's tragic death;
+while old Benjamin Keppel, late of Johannesburg,
+and now of Park Lane and Ulverton Towers, in
+Hertfordshire, still spends his winters in rather
+lonely grandeur in his great villa amid the palms
+outside Nice, working in secret at his ivory-turning,
+and giving at intervals those princely entertainments
+for which he has become so famous in the
+cosmopolitan society which suns itself upon the
+Riviera.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for Ernest and myself, we have not visited
+Nice since.  We prefer Cairo for the winter, with
+a trip up to Luxor and Assouan, for we retain a
+far too vivid recollection of those dark days of
+doubt, desperation and despair, when it was our
+strange and tragic lot to be so darkly associated
+with The Gamblers.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE END
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+<i>Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br><br></p>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMBLERS ***</div>
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