d to spin out threads of small
talk, while Rayel sat listening. The dinner was nearly over when the
climax came which I had already begun to fear.

"It is strange," said Rayel thoughtfully. "You speak what is not
true, Miss Paddington. You said that the Prince of Wales gave you the
beautiful opal, but tell me--was it not your father who gave it you?"

He waited a moment for her answer.

"Oh, I understand now," he continued. "People do not always speak the
truth--do they?"

The young lady turned red with embarrassment, while an unnatural smile
played upon her lips.

"But--but what is the use of talking then?" he asked. No one seemed
disposed to answer.

"It is strange," he continued, with childlike naivete, turning to the
young lady sitting at his left, "you have been laughing as if you were
very happy, but you have felt more like weeping. This must be a very sad
world!" He ceased speaking as if some suspicion of the pain his words
were causing had suddenly come to him.

The whole company turned its eyes upon the two. The young lady's face
became suddenly pale and almost horror-stricken. Rayel's words were
spoken in such a gentle and sympathetic manner that every one was
mystified.

"Have you read about the great robbery that occurred last night?" asked
Mr. Paddington, with the evident purpose of diverting attention from
the young lady. "The vaults of the Metropolitan Bank on Wall Street were
blown open with dynamite, and half a million dollars were stolen. No
trace of the thieves has been discovered."

"Too bad!" exclaimed half a dozen of the guests seeking to enhance
interest in the subject.

"Zey were very bold about it," said the Count, as he lighted a piece of
sugar soaked in cognac and held it over his coffee.

Just at that moment a singular thing happened. The lights grew dim and
suddenly went out, as if the gas had been turned off. The burning cognac
cast a white flickering light upon the face of the man who had just
spoken.

"You say there is no trace of the thieves," said Rayel. "That is
strange, for one of them is in this room sitting at your table."

Only one face was visible, and all eyes were turned upon it, for now the
effect of that pale light keeping it in view was indescribably weird.
The eyes were suddenly turned in the direction of Rayel, and a devilish
glare came in them for an instant, when the face suddenly seemed to
shrink back into darkness. The ladies and some of their more gall