ound on the hand, into which
some very powerful poison had been injected."

"That is most curious. In what manner was such a wound made?"

"That we don't know. I had a theory...."

"Yes?" he questioned, his eyes gleaming with interest.

"A few hours previously, another man had been found in the same room,
killed in the same way."

"Another man?"

"A stranger who had called to see Mr. Vantine. My theory was that
both this stranger and Mr. Vantine had been killed while trying to
open a secret drawer in the Boule cabinet. Do you know anything of
the history of that cabinet, Monsieur Armand?"

"We believe it to have been made for Madame de Montespan by Monsieur
Boule himself," he answered. "It is the original of one now in the
Louvre which is known to have belonged to the Grand Louis."

"That was Mr. Vantine's belief," I said. "Why he should have arrived
at that conclusion, I don't know--"

"Mr. Vantine was a connoisseur," said M. Armand, quietly. "There are
certain indications which no connoisseur could mistake."

"It was his guess at the history of the cabinet," I explained, "which
gave me the basis for my theory. A cabinet belonging to Madame de
Montespan would, of course, have a secret drawer; and, since it was
made in the days of de Brinvilliers and La Voisin, what more natural
than that it should be guarded by a poisoned mechanism?"

"What more natural, indeed!" breathed my companion, and I fancied
that he looked at me with a new interest in his eyes. "It is good
reasoning, Mr. Lester."

"It seemed to explain a situation for which no other explanation has
been found," I said. "And it had also the merit of picturesqueness."

"It is unique," he agreed eagerly, his eyes burning like two coals of
fire, so intense was his interest. "I have been from boyhood," he
added, noticing my glance, "a lover of tales of mystery. They have
for me a fascination I cannot explain; there is in my blood something
that responds to them. I feel sometimes that I would have made a
great detective--or a great criminal. Instead of which, I am merely a
dealer in curios. You can understand how I am fascinated by a story
so outre as this."

"Perhaps you can assist us," I suggested, "for that theory of mine
has been completely disproved."

"Disproved? In what way?" he demanded.

"The secret drawer has been found...."

"_Comment?_" he cried, his voice sharp with surprise. "Found? The
secret drawer has been found?"

"Yes, and t