did shine--she was simply a mass of them, hair,
neck, arms and fingers--and she had been so well faked up for the
occasion that she was almost good-looking; but I thought of all I knew
about her--and shuddered.

"'I will explain myself,' I said, 'Mr. Delmas telephoned to you this
afternoon, did he not?'

"She nodded.

"'Saying that he very much regretted he could not leave business in
time to escort you here. Would you mind very much going by yourself,
and he would join you as soon as possible.'

"'Yes,' Ella Barlow said, 'he told me all that.'

"'Very well, then,' I went on, 'he rang me up some minutes later and
asked me if I would take his place for the first hour or so, and he
would be here by the end of the first act.'

"'But it is most unheard of,' Ella Barlow ejaculated, 'I don't know
you--I've never seen you before!'

"'That is, of course, very regrettable,' I said, 'but I will do all I
can for the past. I've something to say that I'm sure will interest
you. Have I your permission?'--and without waiting for her reply I sat
next to her. The box was a big one, big enough to hold half a dozen
people, and we sat in the extreme front of it. The lights were not
full up, as the orchestra had not started playing. I kept her
attention fixed on my face so that she was unaware what was taking
place, immediately behind her.

"'What is it?' she said, 'whatever can you have to say that can be of
any possible interest to me?'

"'Why,' I replied, 'to begin with I know something about your
character!'

"'Then you're a fortune teller!' she exclaimed eagerly, 'can you read
hands?'

"'I can read everything,' I said looking hard at her, 'hands, head,
and feet. I am psychometrist, dentist, physician, metaphysician all in
one!'

"'I don't understand,' she said looking queer, 'what is the meaning of
all this?'

"'It means,' I said slowly, 'that I have discovered who sent those
anonymous letters to Herbert Delmas!'

"'Anonymous letters! how dare you!' she cried, 'what have anonymous
letters to do with me?'

"'A very great deal, madam,' I replied, 'shall I remind you of their
contents and the occasions on which you wrote them?' I did so. I
recited every word in them and told her the hour, day and
place--namely, when and where each was written, and I summed up by
asking what she would pay me not to tell Delmas.

"For some minutes she was too overcome to say anything; she sat grim
and silent, her pale eyes glaring a