iselle Mariposa
were not the hands of Marcia Oldham. Marcia's hands, as he had
particularly noticed, were small and white, with very pink palms, and
long, pointed, rosy-tipped fingers; while this woman's hands were smooth
and creamy, the color of old ivory, with square fingers.

For a few moments there was silence between them, and then the
fortune-teller began to speak in low familiar contralto tones, tones so
near the brink of music that one expected trills and ripples of melody.

"I see mountains, yes, mountains, great bare hills; they change and vary
in appearance, but there are always mountains; and I see wide burning
deserts stretching on and on, and now there are forests, dark,
impenetrable, vast forests. You have traveled much in foreign lands,
senor. Now bridges and railroads, oh quite clearly, and natives--Chinese,
blacks, Indians--much work in building railroads in many lands. Ah,
clouds, clouds, clouds! Now they clear a little. Oh, senor, it is
mountains again, ranges of them. They become more clear, always more
clear, and now your figure. I see you very plainly. You are in the
mountains. You follow a little trail. It winds curiously among the rocks,
twisting, turning, occasionally descending, often doubling on itself.
Clouds again, clouds! Ah, now I see you again and in the broad sunshine.
You are greatly excited. Your face is white, your eyes are shining--and
your hands are full of nuggets, golden nuggets, free gold, senor; it
shines and gleams like fire in the sun. Wonderful! I have rarely had so
clear a vision!"

Hayden deliberately leaned forward and lifted the crystal from the silken
cushion to its tripod. "I thought so," he said. "There, mademoiselle, I
believe we can talk better with that out of the way. What language do you
prefer? English or Spanish?"

She laughed. Airy, full laughter, trembling like her voice on the brink
of music and falling in sparkling cascades into an ocean of melody. "But
you are bold!" she cried. "Bold as brass."

"Not at all," said Hayden politely. "All this crystal-gazing is very
interesting, very pretty and effective, and serves admirably to show just
as much of your hand as you desire me to know. But you forget,
mademoiselle, that you revealed your rather wide knowledge of my affairs
the other evening over the telephone. By the way, mademoiselle, it's
sheer curiosity on my part and I beg you to pardon it," he spoke a little
diffidently, "but why 'mademoiselle' with