he table and the chairs. It cost the upholsterer
some little pains, for the supply of these things is a strictly limited
one. Curiously enough, the Chinese Emperor had given a large order for
narwhals' horns to repair some ancient pagoda, which was fenced in with
them, but I outbid him in the market, and his celestial highness has had
to wait. There is a lift here in the corner, but we do not need it. Pray
step through this door. This is the billiard-room," he continued as they
advanced into the adjoining room. "You see I have a few recent pictures
of merit upon the walls. Here is a Corot, two Meissoniers, a Bouguereau,
a Millais, an Orchardson, and two Alma-Tademas. It seems to me to be
a pity to hang pictures over these walls of carved oak. Look at those
birds hopping and singing in the branches. They really seem to move and
twitter, don't they?"

"They are perfect. I never saw such exquisite work. But why do you call
it a billiard-room, Mr. Haw? I do not see any board."

"Oh, a board is such a clumsy uncompromising piece of furniture. It is
always in the way unless you actually need to use it. In this case the
board is covered by that square of polished maple which you see let into
the floor. Now I put my foot upon this motor. You see!" As he spoke,
the central portion of the flooring flew up, and a most beautiful
tortoise-shell-plated billiard-table rose up to its proper position.
He pressed a second spring, and a bagatelle-table appeared in the same
fashion. "You may have card-tables or what you will by setting the
levers in motion," he remarked. "But all this is very trifling. Perhaps
we may find something in the museum which may be of more interest to
you."

He led the way into another chamber, which was furnished in antique
style, with hangings of the rarest and richest tapestry. The floor was
a mosaic of coloured marbles, scattered over with mats of costly fur.
There was little furniture, but a number of Louis Quatorze cabinets of
ebony and silver with delicately-painted plaques were ranged round the
apartment.

"It is perhaps hardly fair to dignify it by the name of a museum," said
Raffles Haw. "It consists merely of a few elegant trifles which I have
picked up here and there. Gems are my strongest point. I fancy that
there, perhaps, I might challenge comparison with any private collector
in the world. I lock them up, for even the best servants may be
tempted."

He took a silver key from his watch chain,