convulsively clutched the table edge as she confronted him. Her
exquisite colour fled and left her pallid, dark-eyed and dismayed.

"So," he said bitterly--"I returned none too soon, Mlle.--_Dorian_"

"Oh! she whispered, and shrank from him as he approached nearer.

"Your object in selecting an obscure practitioner for your medical
adviser becomes painfully evident to me. Diagnosis of your case would
have been much more easy if I had associated your symptoms with the
presence in my table drawer of"--he hesitated--"of something which
you have taken out. Give me whatever you have stolen and compose
yourself to await the arrival of the police."

He was cruel in his disillusionment. Here lay the explanation of his
romance; here was his disguised princess--a common thief! She stared
at him wildly.

"I take nothing!" she cried. "Oh, let me go! Please, please let me go!"

"Pleading is useless. What have you stolen?"

"Nothing--see." She cast the little gold ornament on the table. "I
look at this, but I do not mean to steal it."

She raised her beautiful eyes to his face again, and he found himself
wavering. That she had made his acquaintance in order to steal the
fragment of the golden scorpion was impossible, for he had not
possessed it at the time of her first visit. He was hopelessly
mystified and utterly miserable.