ng there, had
thrust her hat pin through one of the previously made apertures,
possibly aiming to discover in this way what the box contained, and in
so doing she probably pricked the confined reptile."

"Ah, I see," nodded Chick. "All this strongly indicated that something
might have been confined in the casket."

"Yes, certainly. Not thus learning what the box contained," continued
Nick, "Mary Barton decided to open it. The moment she raised the lid the
snake, probably angered by its wound and long confinement, instantly
struck at her hand, snake-fashion, and buried its fangs in her wrist."

"Hence the tiny, red spot which you so quickly discovered."

"Precisely."

"Very shrewd of you, Nick."

"Greatly frightened, the girl probably fainted, and fell to the ground,"
added Nick, in conclusion of the deductions by which he had solved the
remarkable mystery. "The snake instantly scurried away through the
grass, and left no trail behind him. Before the girl could recover from
her swoon, the deadly poison had done its work. The venom of some of
these India snakes is horribly rapid in its action."

"That's true," cried Chick. "I saw one at the theater that evening, the
venom of which would kill a man in ten seconds. A wee bit of a cuss at
that."

"Probably this was one of the same breed," said Nick, grimly. "At all
events, I am sure that murder was the crime, and a snake the means."

"And Sanetta Cervera the criminal."

"Beyond the shadow of a doubt," declared Nick.

"And what do you expect to learn from the Hindoo?"

"I wish to know, in corroboration of my suspicions, whether Pandu Singe
has missed any of his infernal reptiles."

"Ah, I see."

"If he has, my theory is surely correct, and we next must fix the guilt
upon the guilty," said Nick, firmly. "I shall arrest Cervera this very
night, providing the Hindoo informs me that-- Ah, here we are at his
door. Come into the house with me, Chick, and we'll see what he has to
say."

They had stopped before an ordinary brick house on the East Side, and
Nick quickly mounted the steps and rang the bell. The summons brought a
corpulent English woman to the door, from whom Nick learned that the
Hindoo and his interpreter were still there.

"Doesn't Pandu Singe speak English?" inquired Nick.

"Dear me, no!" exclaimed the landlady, with a mute yet visible
laugh--visible in that her convolutions of flesh became observably
agitated. "Not the first word, sir. He talk