ght
me this----"

He reached into an inner pocket and drew out an envelope. It was of
soft gray paper, edged with silver-gilt, and the address was in tiny,
almost unreadable script:

M. Edouard Minton,
30 Rue Carteret 30,
Harrisonville, N. J.

"U'm?" de Grandin commented as he inspected it. "It is addressed a la
francaise. And the letter, may one read it?"

"Of course," Ned answered. "I'd like you to."

Across de Grandin's shoulder I made out the hastily-scrawled missive:

_Adore_

_Remember your promise and the kiss of blood that sealed it.
Soon I shall call and you must come._

_Pour le temps et pour l'eternite_,

JULIE.

"You recognize the writing?" de Grandin asked. "It is----"

"Oh, yes," Ned answered bitterly, "I recognize it; it's the same the
other note was written in."

"And then?"

The boy smiled bleakly. "I crushed the thing into a ball and threw it
on the floor and stamped on it. Swore I'd die before I'd keep another
rendezvous with her, and----" He broke off, and put trembling hands up
to his face.

"The so mysterious serpent came again, one may assume?" de Grandin
prompted.

"But it's only a phantom snake," I interjected. "At worst it's nothing
more than a terrifying vision----"

"Think so?" Ned broke in. "D'ye remember Rowdy, my airedale terrier?"

I nodded.

"He was in the room when I opened this letter, and when the
cottonmouth appeared beside me on the floor he made a dash for it.
Whether it would have struck me I don't know, but it struck at him as
he leaped and caught him squarely in the throat. He thrashed and
fought, and the thing held on with locked jaws till I grabbed a
fire-shovel and made for it; then, before I could strike, it vanished.

"But its venom didn't. Poor old Rowdy was dead before I could get him
out of the house, but I took his corpse to Doctor Kirchoff, the
veterinary, and told him Rowdy died suddenly and I wanted him to make
an autopsy. He went back to his operating-room and stayed there half
an hour. When he came back to the office he was wiping his glasses and
wore the most astonished look I've ever seen on a human face. 'You say
your dog died suddenly--in the house?' he asked.

"'Yes,' I told him; 'just rolled over and died.'

"'Well, bless my soul, that's the most amazing thing I ever heard!' he
answered. 'I can't account for it. That dog died from snake-bite;
coppe