detective.

Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he
remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.

At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic
breeze upon the drawn face.

Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time
from the bottle itself.

The result was startling.

There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic
throb in the throat.

Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he
saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining
attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.

From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping
the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel
force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.

There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the
wrists of the detective.

Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the
stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room,
could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and
unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching
features.

Again he lifted the uneasy figure and placed it upon the reclining
chair, into which it collapsed helplessly with a nerveless huddle.

A few minutes more of alternate fan and bottle resulted in the opening
of the eyes and the utterance of a choking gasp.

Assured now, the Sepoy rushed to the bedroom, threw aside the coverlets
and possessed himself of one of the sheets.

With the aid of his pocket-knife he ripped this into several lengths,
with which he returned to the rapidly reviving Gratz.

In his grim struggle for reanimation the firm lines about the mouth of
the unfortunate man had finally relaxed, and into this ugly opening the
Sepoy inserted a strip of the sheet and secured it in a rigid knot
behind the neck of his victim.

With a few dexterous turns and knots he bound the body to the chair with
the remaining lengths of linen, and hastening to the washstand grasped a
water pitcher and deluged the face of the now thoroughly awakened Gratz.

From the look in his eyes it was evident that his senses had not only
fully returned, but that he was perfectly aware of the changed
conditions and their relative humiliations.

For a moment an expression vaguely suggestive of admiration shad