For a moment Gratz hesitated. If he had found the first subsidy difficult to refuse, how might he resist the second, or, he added to himself, with a sort of usurious exaltation, the depravity of the two combined?

Curiosity, too, without which no detective is truly fit for his calling, moved him, so with the impatient impulse we so often witness when rectitude is about to subject itself to the persuasions of the evil one for the ostensible purpose of combating them and the private determination to yield, Gratz extended a trembling hand toward the Sepoy, who had drawn himself to the extreme limit of his sinewy height, the better to accommodate his figure to the intent search of the detective, and then——

Just as Gratz managed to insert his trembling fingers over the edge of the pocket rim, a pair of tense, sinewy hands shot upward and with incredible dexterity encircled the throat of the detective.

The surprise was complete.

The hands of the unfortunate man flew out wildly, grasping at nothing, and the next instant closed upon the wrists of the Sepoy.

But the recoil was too late. The frightful grasp concentrated its deadly pressure.

The livid face of the detective grew purple. His eyes seemed about to bulge from their sockets. His grip relaxed from the wrists of his antagonist, and then all vigor seemed to vanish from his body, and he sank inertly to the floor.

As the malignant Sepoy bestowed the stiffening body upon the carpet, he released his horrible clutch upon the detective's throat, and, despite his manacles, began with desperate agility to search the silent man's waistcoat pockets.

From one futile quest his implacable hands leaped to another, the length of chain which held the two handcuffs together rattling an eerie accompaniment to his eagerness.

At last he withdrew a tiny key.

Grasping the precious bit of steel in his right hand the Sepoy inserted it in the latch-hole of the left manacle; a quick turn, and the steel clasp relaxed its obnoxious embrace.

It was but the work of a second to repeat these operations on his right arm, and the Sepoy was free.

"Ha!" The breath seemed to whistle from his lungs with one sharp, exulting impulse.

He stretched his superb figure to its utmost, and with the smile of a re-embodied Lucifer restored the sapphire to its case.

For a brief space he gazed upon the man extended upon the floor, and then, urged by some devilish impulse, if one might judge from the expression of his countenance, he knelt by the prostrate body and placed his ear to the pulseless breast.

The next instant, stimulated, apparently, by some unexpected endorsement of a vague possibility, he was upon his feet and had darted to a small cabinet near-by.

His hasty foray among its drawers was rewarded with a small bottle, the stopper of which he removed.

With a quick motion of the head to escape the full force of the pungent odor of ammonia which issued, the Sepoy returned to the unfortunate Gratz, and wetting the tip of his handkerchief with a few drops from the vial, he passed it gently to and fro under the nostrils of the detective.

Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.

At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic breeze upon the drawn face.

Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time from the bottle itself.

The result was startling.

There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic throb in the throat.

Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.

From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.

There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the wrists of the detective.

Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room, could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching features.

Again he lifted the uneasy figure and placed it upon the reclining chair, into which it collapsed helplessly with a nerveless huddle.

A few minutes more of alternate fan and bottle resulted in the opening of the eyes and the utterance of a choking gasp.

Assured now, the Sepoy rushed to the bedroom, threw aside the coverlets and possessed himself of one of the sheets.

With the aid of his pocket-knife he ripped this into several lengths, with which he returned to the rapidly reviving Gratz.

In his grim struggle for reanimation the firm lines about the mouth of the unfortunate man had finally relaxed, and into this ugly opening the Sepoy inserted a strip of the sheet and secured it in a rigid knot behind the neck of his victim.

With a few dexterous turns and knots he bound the body to the chair with the remaining lengths of linen, and hastening to the washstand grasped a water pitcher and deluged the face of the now thoroughly awakened Gratz.

From the look in his eyes it was evident that his senses had not only fully returned, but that he was perfectly aware of the changed conditions and their relative humiliations.

For a moment an expression vaguely suggestive of admiration shadowed through the slightly flushed countenance, and the next instant it returned to its customary apathy, from which it was not again disturbed during the bitter ordeal to which the helpless Gratz was subjected.

"And now," exclaimed the Sepoy with a frightful grin of malice, "I trust that your senses are sufficiently restored to receive a farewell suggestion or two. You will notice," he went on with evil emphasis, "that I say 'farewell suggestions,' for I assure you that you will never set eyes on me again.

"A little previous to the change which resulted in your present predicament, I extended to you the courtesy of all sorts of tribute to your acumen.

"Now—note my liberality—I do not insist upon a reciprocal indorsement of my dexterity, since I see"—pointing to the gag which he had inserted in the mouth of the detective—"since I see, with deep regret, that you have an impediment in your speech.

"I excuse you in advance.

"Still, I cannot resist the temptation of chiding your indifference to such a brilliant argument as this," and the Sepoy caused the sapphire to scintillate its mocking rebuke into the eyes of the wretched Gratz.

"I must also improve the occasion by calling your attention to the reprimand offered by your plight to your curiosity, for you see to what a pass it has brought you.

"However, since it would be a malice of which I am incapable not to gratify it, I will show you what it was I had in reserve," and the Sepoy produced the small shagreen case with which Raikes had been on such questionable terms of familiarity, and pressing back the lid revealed the splendid diamond to the still impassive Gratz.

With a continuation of his elaborate courtesy and his purposely stilted phrasing, the Sepoy said: "If the sapphire was argument, this was certainly conviction. The moral barrier which could withstand the assault of the first, must, unquestionably, have yielded to the insidious attack of the second.

"But since you have managed to place yourself beyond the reach of such considerations, I will be compelled to discontinue my futile eloquence and leave you to your more mature reflections.

"Observe!" he continued, as he replaced the sapphire in the case and restored the latter to the right-hand pocket of his waistcoat, "I place the argument in this repository"; and treating the diamond in like manner, he deposited that in the left-hand pocket and added: "And place the conviction on this side.

"It is not often that one is the embodiment of belles-lettres, having such details of logic so easily within reach."

During all this travesty of demeanor and phrase, with its tantalizing mockery and its crafty insinuation, Gratz had betrayed no emotion whatever, nor did his eyes lose one whit of their usual placidity as he beheld the Sepoy, with a sort of lithe, animal rapidity, produce a small traveling-case from the wardrobe and return with it to the bag of coin on the table.

"You see," continued the Sepoy as he was about to deposit the bag in the case, "I have left room for this. I anticipated its addition to my paraphernalia and made preparations accordingly.

"Notice how neatly it fits in. And now I offer you my sympathy for the miscarriage of your plans.

"This, to a man of sentiment and enterprise, is always obnoxious. I feel myself indebted to you for some exceedingly intelligent mental processes, and, believe me, I part with you with a feeling so nearly resembling regret that I will not do you the discourtesy of doubting that the sentiment is genuine.

"I leave you to make explanations to your clients in whatsoever way you may see fit. I salute you!" and the next instant the Sepoy had slipped through the doorway into the hall, along which he hurried until he reached the main entrance of the house.

To make his way through this into the vestibule and thence into the street was the work of the next few moments, and with a grin of malicious triumph he descended the steps which led to the pave.

Scarcely had his feet touched the ground when a man from either side of the stone balustrade stepped out, and each grasped an arm of the scowling Sepoy.

"A moment, please!" exclaimed one of the men, as he snapped back the shield of a small lantern he carried and directed its searching light into the distorted countenance.

"Ah!" exclaimed his captor to the fellow on the other side of the prisoner, "this is the chap, Tom."

"Now, mister, you can walk back. Not a word; you may be all right and we may be all wrong; it can soon be settled in there."

"One question, please," begged the Sepoy. "Who are you? By what right do you detain me?"

"One at a time, mister," replied the man with the lantern. "There's a man inside who can answer these questions for you."

A sudden light penetrated the mind of the Sepoy. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "I understand."

"That's good, mister; it will save a deal of explanation."

"These men, then," muttered the Sepoy to himself, "are the subordinates of the detective within."

At that moment the moon slipped out from behind a mask of cloud and silhouetted the three.

By its light the prisoner examined the grim countenances before him. "Surely," he decided, "there is nothing in these features to indicate a strenuous moral objection to the bribery of the contents of my traveling-case," and at the thought of the absurd discrepancy between his present predicament and the cynical altitudes of a short time since, and as he considered the humiliation awaiting him when he was compelled once more to face the detective, he decided to venture on another attempt to purchase his freedom.

With this thought he was about to place the case he carried on the ground, when one of the men, remarking his movement and mistaking its purpose, cried: "Here; none of that!"

"But," expostulated the Sepoy, "you do not——"

"Shut up!" replied the fellow coarsely. "Come inside and show us where you have left the chief. You here, the boss in there—something's wrong."

With a muttered curse, and urged by no ceremonious hands, the Sepoy reascended the steps.

Having in his haste to escape neglected to latch the doors, the raging Sepoy had no difficulty in conducting his captors along the hallway to his room.

In a few moments this strangely assorted trio reached the apartment in which the Sepoy had but a short time before disported himself, so to speak, with such waspish reprisal, and delivered such a farrago of ridicule and cynicism upon the defenseless head of the silent figure bound to the chair.

At sight of this extraordinary spectacle the two understrappers came to a standstill and looked upon the Sepoy with a species of respect.

Never before had they beheld their chief in such a predicament; the means of its accomplishment must have been amazingly clever, and the agent himself somewhat of a marvel.

However, while one of the men stood guard over the Sepoy, with a renewal of his watchfulness awakened by what he saw, the other proceeded to unfasten the gag and remove the strips which bound the unfortunate Gratz.

After a pause of inscrutable regard of the Sepoy, who, despite the embarrassing denouement, managed to maintain a fair degree of composure, Gratz, addressing the man who had released him, said:

"You will find the key of these handcuffs on the table yonder."

Obedient to the direction of the detective's glance, the man proceeded to the table, found the object of his quest, and inserting it in the handcuffs detached them from the hands of the still impassive Gratz.

"Now," continued the latter calmly, "I will transfer these ornaments to that gentleman. Secure him precisely as you found me, with the exception of the gag."

Presently this was done.

At this, turning to his subordinates, the detective said: "Leave me with this gentleman for a while; I will call you in case of need."

As the pair passed through the doorway, Gratz, with no intimation of triumph or exultation in his manner, addressed the unhappy Sepoy, with an emphasis, however, which implied that he had not forgotten the experience to which he had been subjected.

"And now what have you to say?"

The Sepoy looked his questioner directly in the eyes, with a glance that was subtle in its insinuation and eloquent of collusive suggestion, and replied:

"The sapphire is still in my right waistcoat pocket, and the diamond in the left."

THE END



As the beautiful reader reached this singular conclusion, which came with an abruptness that indicated the decrepit imagination of the author and his overworked vocabulary, she looked up from the absurd vehicle of all this hectic style and incident and beheld in the eyes of her auditor a suggestion of the light that is indigenous to neither land nor sea.

To Dennis, who had in his composition the material of a poet, if not the finish, the melodious intonations of the widow had seemed like the incongruous orchestration of birds in the treetops to some minor tragedy among the denizens of the underbrush.

Her elocution was exquisite and provided the bizarre narrative with a refinement which contrasted with its crudities, like Valenciennes lace on a background of calico.

"Well," she said smilingly, after she had subjected his ingenuous glance to the rapid analysis of her intuition, with a satisfaction which it startled her to recognize, "what do you think of it?"

"Is that the end?" asked Dennis.

"Yes, it is the end."

With a shade of emphasis, intended by Dennis to indicate that the words of the reply of the widow were suggestive of other finalities which he did not like to consider, he said:

"That is no end; it looks to me as though the author has struck his limits."

"No," objected the widow, "I fancy that he has left the subject open so that the reader can solve the riddle in his own way."

"There is no riddle!" exclaimed Dennis.

"No?" inquired the widow; "and that splendid sapphire, that magnificent diamond to tempt the detective?"

"They will not tempt him," said Dennis with simple conviction and a degree of feeling that might lead one to suppose that he was an indispensable element in the situation. "He will recollect his professional pride; he will remember that he is a man."

"Oh!" exclaimed the widow with an indescribable intonation.

"Don't you think that I am right?" asked Dennis.

"Yes," replied his companion with a pronounced emphasis on the personal pronoun which followed, "yes, you are right"; and as she considered the frank revelation of character in his reply and contrasted it with the possible disclosures of similar situations among the majority of men she knew, she added:

"I am glad that we have read the story."

THE END