you will allow me to purchase it, it will
complete my collection. What value do you place upon it?'

"'I have no sort of notion of its worth,' I answered, putting it down on
the table and looking at it. Then in a flash a thought came into my
brain, and I was about to speak when he addressed me again.

"'Of course my reason for wishing to buy it is rather a hare-brained
one, but if you care to let me have it I will give you fifty pounds for
it with pleasure.'

"'Not enough, Dr. Nikola,' I said with a smile.

"He jumped as if he had been shot, and then clasped his hands tight on
the arm of his chair. My random bolt had gone straight to the heart of
the bulls-eye. This man then _was_ Dr. Nikola, the extraordinary
individual against whom China Pete had warned me. I was determined now
that, come what might, he should not have the stick.

"'Do you not consider the offer I make you a good one then, Mr.
Wetherell?' he asked.

"'I'm sorry to say I don't think the stick is for sale,' I answered. 'It
was left to me by a man in return for a queer sort of service I rendered
him, and I think I should like to keep it as a souvenir.'

"'I will raise my offer to a hundred pounds in that case,' said Nikola.

"'I would rather not part with it,' I said, and as I spoke, as if to
clinch the matter, I took it up and returned it to the safe, taking care
to lock the door upon it.

"'I will give you five hundred pounds for it,' cried Nikola, now
thoroughly excited. 'Surely that will tempt you?'

'I'm afraid an offer of ten times that amount would make no difference,'
I replied, feeling more convinced than ever that I would not part with
it.

"He laid himself back in his chair, and for nearly a minute and a half
stared me full in the face. You have seen Nikola's eyes, so I needn't
tell you what a queer effect they are able to produce. I could not
withdraw mine from them, and I felt that if I did not make an effort I
should soon be mesmerized. So, pulling myself together, I sprang from my
chair, and, by doing so, let him see that our interview was at an end.
However, he was not going without a last attempt to drive a bargain.
When he saw that I was not to be moved his temper gave way, and he
bluntly told me that I would _have_ to sell it.

"'There is no compulsion in the matter,' I said warmly. 'The curio is my
own property, and I will do just as I please with it.'

"He thereupon begged my pardon, asked me to attribute his impatien