s letter also went to my solicitor, and to this day I've heard
nothing further about either matter.

MYSTERY NO. IX

SHIN SHIRA AND THE QUEEN OF HEARTS

It was many months after this last adventure before I saw my friend Shin
Shira again.

The summer was past, and it was the time of fires and warm drawn
curtains. One evening, after dinner, I was sitting alone in my study,
puzzling over a chess problem, when the servant brought me a card on
which I read--

"DR. SHIN SHIRA SCARAMANGA MANOUSA YAMA HAWA."

"Oh!" I laughed, "show him in at once, please." For I had been longing
for an opportunity of thanking the gallant little fellow for the bravery
he had shown in the matter of the mad bull--a bravery to which some of
us, at all events, probably owed our lives.

"Come in, come in! Delighted to see you!" I cried, getting up and
making him comfortable in "the Toad," the chair which I know he likes
best. I got out the tobacco jar, and we were soon chatting comfortably
over our pipes.

"By the way," I said, picking up his card again and looking at it, when
we had exhausted most of the topics of conversation which came to our
minds, "I didn't know before that you were a doctor."

"Oh, I don't practise, and I seldom use the title except on my cards. It
was given to me by the King of Hearts very many years ago. Ha-ha-ha!"
And Shin Shira laughed heartily at what was evidently a humorous
recollection.

"Won't you tell me about it, please?" said I.

"I don't know," replied the Dwarf, "that there is much to tell.

"It was while I was travelling round the world in my earlier days, and I
had come, in the course of my wanderings, upon the country ruled over by
the King of Hearts and his most charming Queen.

"Talk about turtle-doves! I had never seen such a perfectly devoted
couple before in my life. They were like a pair of happy lovers,
although they must have been married several years before I knew them.

"I happened to appear at their Majesties' dinner-table one evening when
they were dining alone, just as dinner was being served.

"Of course they were greatly astonished at seeing me suddenly appear in
their presence, especially as I arrived at a particularly awkward
moment, when, the servants being busy with the dishes and having their
backs turned, the King was squeezing her Majesty's hand under the table,
and looking lovingly into her eyes.

"The King turned to the Lord Chief Butler, when that offic