over an old volume that he was fond of.... And then the doctors
came. He had died, they afterwards said, of failure of the heart's
action.'

"'Dead,' I murmured mechanically....

"'Then everything was very uncomfortable. But I saved a good sum of
money, and I sent most of the valuable things to Paris to be sold--no
living soul coming forward to make any claims. Ombos left everything to
me ... bonds, securities, and all. Come this way--I have a little room
up the side-street.

"'He left me well provided for. He----'

"'Yes; but why on earth do you stay in this dead city,' I broke in.

"'Sssh!... Don't interrupt unless I ask you questions.

"'I'll tell you all about everything. It's extraordinarily
difficult....'

"I waited.

"'You see,' she picked her words carefully, 'Ombos was so--queer about
that horrible Albertus Magnus of his. He had made me promise never to
part with it and it seemed to me--stupidly perhaps--that I owed him
that--to see that his only wish was carried out to the letter. Otherwise
I should never dare to have stayed here. You couldn't expect me to move
about with a gigantic bronze figure without making ample preparations.'

"'Ah!'...

"'This is where I live,' she said in a low voice.

"Margot had halted in front of an alley leading over rough cobbles, into
a small square of what appeared to be old oak-fronted houses. A narrow
passage-way ran down by one side of the end house.

"'Won't you come inside, and--see Albertus? This way,' she said. 'It's
rather dark, I'm afraid.'

"In pitch-black darkness, guided by Margot's hand, I stumbled through a
doorway into a spacious hall--a mysterious, fusty-smelling cavern of a
place--along a passage, and then up a flight of worn stone stairs. It
was one of those old houses where one could feel the silence and hear
the shadows. The steps came out upon a bare landing with oak-lined
walls, lit only by a solitary flickering candle, and Margot, halting
before a locked door, opened it and motioned me to enter.

"The room was in darkness, and I knew not what fear, akin to that little
grey shadow of a fear, was to be found in the darkness there. At first I
hesitated. Then Margot came with the candle, and as it guttered, the
flame threw distorted shadows; at one moment lighting up a dark spot
with a sudden flash, and then sending queer, erratic reflections chasing
across the oak panelling. Then a flicker displayed the unmade bed on
which Margot had lain..