ppeared to be about twenty-five, and was clad in her stage costume,
which combined all the bright hues of the rainbow, and was enlivened by
a myriad of dazzling jewels and diamonds.

The costume served to display to advantage her matchless figure,
however, and Chick was fain to admit that he had never seen a much more
striking beauty.

"She's a bird, all right, and no mistake," he said to himself, while
intently regarding her handsome face and jewel-bedecked figure. "Yet she
has a bad eye, despite her beauty, and a cruel mouth. She certainly
would put up a wicked fight, if once aroused. Yes, a deucedly bad eye!
What in thunder is she staring at, to look like that!"

From her position near one of the lower wings, Sanetta Cervera was
gazing steadfastly across the stage at something which Chick could not
see.

The dark eyes of the Spanish dancer had taken on a threatening glare.
Her curved brows had drooped and knit, until they formed a straight line
below her forehead, and her red lips were drawn and firmly compressed.

Before Chick could discover any occasion for this mute display of
feeling, the performance in front of the set scene concluded, and the
act of the snake charmer was due to begin.

Then came a rapid change of scenery, during which Chick was again
obliged to change his position, and for a time he lost sight of Cervera
in the stir and confusion of the busy stage.

He did not succeed in locating her again until she began her
performance, when a full stage was given her for the marvelously
graceful and impassioned dances of which her act consisted, and which
had fairly turned half the heads in the city.

In the white glare of the limelight, she certainly presented a wild and
dazzling picture. Her beauty was indescribably accentuated. She appeared
like a being ablaze with diamonds. Her every attitude was one of
seductive grace, her every movement as swift and light as those of a
startled leopard.

At its conclusion her act evoked thunders of applause, and then Chick
saw her hastening toward her dressing room, flushed with excitement and
panting for breath.

Suddenly she halted and her smile vanished.

Then Chick saw her turn abruptly toward one of the wing scenes, where
she met Venner face to face.

The wealthy Fifth Avenue jeweler laughed and extended his hand to greet
her, but she frowned and hesitated before accepting it; and Chick made a
quick move and stole back of the scenery, near which the