eat me like this?" she cried.
"Your silence breaks my heart."

"You must not come near me, Valerie," I muttered hoarsely. "Leave me.
You have no notion what I am."

"You are the man I love," she answered. "That is enough for me. Whatever
it may be, I have the right to share your sorrow with you."

"No, no!" I cried. "You must have no more to do with me. Drive me away
from you. I tell you I am viler than you can believe, lower than the
common murderer, for he kills but one, while, God help me, I have killed
thousands."

She must have thought me mad, for she uttered a little choking sob and
sank down upon the floor, the very picture and embodiment of despair.

Then the door opened and Pharos entered.

Seeing me standing in the centre of the room with a wild look upon my
face, and Valerie crouching at my feet, he paused and gazed from one to
the other of us in surprise.

"I am afraid I am _de trop_," he said, with the old nasty sneer upon his
face. "If it is not putting you to too much trouble, perhaps one of you
will be good enough to tell me what it means."

Neither of us answered for upward of a minute; then I broke the spell
that bound us and turned to Pharos. How feeble the words seemed when
compared with the violence of my emotions and the unbelievable nature of
the charge I was bringing against him I must leave you to imagine.

"It means, Monsieur Pharos," I said, "that I have discovered
everything."

I could say no more, for a lump was rising in my throat which threatened
to choke me. It soon appeared, however, that I had said enough, for
Pharos must either have read my thoughts and have understood that denial
would be useless, or, since I was no longer necessary to him, he did not
care whether he confessed to me or not. At any rate, he advanced into
the room, his cruel eyes watching me intently the while.

"So you have discovered everything, have you, my friend?" he said. "And
pray what is this knowledge that you have accumulated?"

"How can I tell you?" I cried, scarcely knowing how to enter upon my
terrible indictment. "How can I make you understand your wickedness? I
have discovered that it is you who are responsible for the misery from
which Europe is now suffering. I know that it was I, through you, who
introduced the plague and carried it from Constantinople to London.
Inhuman monster!" I continued, having by this time worked myself to a
white heat. "I was in your power and you made me your too