ette. And as soon would
I have expected the attendance of the Caliph of Bagdad. I fell to
watching him narrowly.

His features were not familiar to me, but certain details of his
appearance were so striking that I could scarcely do otherwise than
conclude that his bearing and countenance had quite recently undergone
a marked change. He was a man, I imagined, who could hide his feelings
with eminent success; yet, his upstanding figure, without being
precisely bent, expressed an idea of drooping. The lines of his face
gave it a haggard expression, while his eyes wore a furtive, hunted
look at certain periods when he forgot to keep himself in hand. All
these details taken together gave me food for sober reflection.

With the wax impression on the iron candlestick in mind, I bent my
glance to his hands--to the right hand--but he wore gloves, and
moreover, the long sleeves of his heavy overcoat came well down over
his knuckles. A stirring of the library fire might persuade him to
remove his wraps later on.

But something happened that banished everything else temporarily from
my mind. The instant he stepped across the front door-sill his eyes
sought the upper regions of the house--the balcony or the second story
hall. The glance was feverishly eager. He looked away again quickly;
but I could not help associating this brief episode with Burke's
wistful look in the same direction the afternoon before.

CHAPTER XV

A WOMAN'S SCREAM

I turned from Alfred Fluette to encounter a sober, questioning look
from Genevieve. Her sweet face was pale and still troubled, and while
nothing would have pleased me better than to hasten to her side, I was
obliged--for the present only, I made mental qualification--to content
myself with a smile and a reassuring nod. Her cousin Belle's demeanor
was haughty, even supercilious, and she quite frankly ignored everybody
excepting her father, her cousin, and Maillot.

Nothing occurred to retard the inquest, which I shall refer to only as
is necessary to keep bound together the thread of my narrative.

After Stodger had given his brief testimony and returned to his post in
the upper hall, I descended to the library and took a seat beside Dr.
De Breen at one end of the big library table. As I did so I observed
that Mr. Fluette was taking stock of me with a keen sidewise look. I
recognized in his regard, surreptitious as it was, that quality which
is accustomed to estimating a