e.

"Dr. Cairn--"

The husky voice had lost something of its suavity.

"You heard my order!"

"Your _order_! Surely, doctor, since I am in my own--"

"Uncover what you have on the table. Or must I do so for you!"

Antony Ferrara placed his hand upon the end of the black robe which
lay across the table.

"Be careful, Dr. Cairn," he said evenly. "You--are taking risks."

Dr. Cairn suddenly leapt, seized the shielding hand in a sure grip and
twisted Ferrara's arm behind him. Then, with a second rapid movement,
he snatched away the robe. A faint smell--a smell of corruption, of
ancient rottenness--arose on the superheated air.

A square of faded linen lay on the table, figured with all but
indecipherable Egyptian characters, and upon it, in rows which formed
a definite geometrical design, were arranged a great number of little,
black insects.

Dr. Cairn released the hand which he held, and Ferrara sat quite
still, looking straight before him.

"_Dermestes beetles!_ from the skull of a mummy! You filthy, obscene
beast!"

Ferrara spoke, with a calm suddenly regained:

"Is there anything obscene in the study of beetles?"

"My son saw these things here yesterday; and last night, and again
to-night, you cast magnified doubles--glamours--of the horrible
creatures into his rooms! By means which you know of, but which _I_
know of, too, you sought to bring your thought-things down to the
material plane."

"Dr. Cairn, my respect for you is great; but I fear that much study
has made you mad."

Ferrara reached out his hand towards an ebony box; he was smiling.

"Don't dare to touch that box!"

He paused, glancing up.

"More orders, doctor?"

"Exactly."

Dr. Cairn grabbed the faded linen, scooping up the beetles within it,
and, striding across the room, threw the whole unsavoury bundle into
the heart of the fire. A great flame leapt up; there came a series of
squeaky explosions, so that, almost, one might have imagined those
age-old insects to have had life. Then the doctor turned again.

Ferrara leapt to his feet with a cry that had in it something inhuman,
and began rapidly to babble in a tongue that was not European. He was
facing Dr. Cairn, a tall, sinister figure, but one hand was groping
behind him for the box.

"Stop that!" rapped the doctor imperatively--"and for the last time do
not dare to touch that box!"

The flood of strange words was dammed. Ferrara stood quivering, but
silent.

"The law