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Show i The Potsherd of Anubis. (Copyright, U'l.", by JcClure Newspaper syndicab:.) DUKIXG- tliat autumn I was a baring bar-ing a pleasant sot of roorng with Mark Lesty, who '.v;m shortly taking up an appointment at a London hospital, and it was, I think, j about the middle oi' that month that j the extraordinary affair of Holeowen and his Egyptian potsherd came under our notice. Our rooms (they were in a southwest suburb) overlooked a fine expanse oi ' common. Halesowen rented a flat com-1 manding a similar prospect, and at the tLnio of which I write he had but re-j eenily returned from a protracted visit io Kgypt. Jiai' MOwen was a tall, fair man. cleanshaven, clean-shaven, very fresh colored and wearing wear-ing hia hair cropped close to li is head. Ho was well traveled and no mean antiquary. an-tiquary. lived entirely by himself, and j Lesty and I frequently spent the evening even-ing at bis place, which was a veritable muaoum of cariosities. X distinctly recall the first time that ho showed us his latest acquisitions. We had been examining the relics that Halesowen had brought back from the i land of the Pharaohs; the one, re-inember, re-inember, which had most impressed me, tyro that I was, being the mummy of a 7 sacred cat from Bubastis. "It wouldn't have been worth bringing bring-ing back only for the wrapping," Halesowen Hales-owen uhsuiei me. ''This, now, i really antique. ' 3 The object referred to was a broken pot or vase, upon which he pointed out a 1 number of hieroglyphics and a figure with the head of a jackal. ' ' A potsherd inscribed with the figure fig-ure of Anubis," he explained. "Very valuable. ' ' ,fVhy?" Lesty inquired in his la.y way. ''Well," Halesowen replied, "the characters of the inscription are of n kind entirely unfamiliar to me. I believe be-lieve them to' be a sort of secret writ-possibly writ-possibly peculiar to some brother-uuod. brother-uuod. J am risking expert opinion, although al-though in every sense I stole the thing! ' ' "(low's that?" T a.pked. "Well, Professor Sheraton you'll see his name on a row of cases in the British Brit-ish museum excavated it. But it's a moral certainty he didn't intend to advise ad-vise the authorities of his find. He was going to smuggle it out of Egypt into his private collection. 1 had marked the spot where he found it for inquiries in-quiries of my own. This dishonest old i ossil, ' 1 Lesty laughed. "Oh, my motives weren't above suspicion. sus-picion. But anyway the professor anticipated an-ticipated me. Accordingly I employed one Aii. a distinguished member of a family of thieves, to visit the learned gentleman 's tent. (Jutting the story i here's the pot." "Here, I pay," drawled Lesty. "You'll conic to a bad cud, young fellow." fel-low." "The position is a peculiar one," replied re-plied Halesowen, smiling. "Neither of iih had any legal claim to the sherd 2 while we "were on Egyptian territory, w.. Therefore, even if the professor learned Uy Hint I had the thing and he may sus-pcet sus-pcet he couldn't prosecute me." ' ' Devilish high-handed, ' commented Lesty. ' ' Yes. But re member wo were well off the map miles away from Cook's route. The possession of this potsherd ought to make a man's reputation any man who knows a bit about the Mthjcct. "Curiously enough, a third party had had his eye upon the place where this much -sought sherd was found. And in some mvsterious fashion he tumbled to Ihe fact that it had fallen into my hands. "He made a sort of veiled offer of a bjndred pounds for it. X refused, but r. across him again a week or so Inter in Cairo, and he raised his price to two hundred." ' That's strange," T" said. "Who was he?" "Called himself J?cdn Tr. Louis Zeda. Ip quite lost his temper when 1 fee i nod to sell, and J 've not set eyes on him since. ' Me rnloeked the fragment in his cab- j inet, and we lapsed into silence, to sit j gazing meditutivelv across the common, j pictures quo in the dim, autumn twi-1 light. .... j ' ' By the wav. Halesowen. " T said, " I I see that the flat next door, same floor! as this, is to let. ' ' 1 4 ' That 'a so, ' J he replied. 1 Why don 't I you men take it ? " "We'll think about it." yawned Les-1y, Les-1y, stretching his long limbs luxuriously. 'Might, look over it in the morning." The following day we viewed the varan! va-ran! flat, but' found, upon inquiry of j th agent, that it had already been let. j However, as our owns romns suited us i very well, we were not great ly con- j corned. i .fust as we finished dinner tho same j evening Halesowen came in, and. with- i out preamble, plunged into a Mirpris- t ing tnlo of uncanny happenings at his, place. "Take it slowly," warned Lety, interrupting. in-terrupting. "You say it was after we came away ? ' ' ' ' A bout an hour nf ter. " replied Halesowen nervously. " T had brought out the potsherd, and had it in the wooden stand on the table before me. I was copying the hieroglyphics, which, an T said, are uuusual, and hnd only my rending lamp binning; the rest oi the room being, com-oquently, in shadow. "T was sitting with'my back to the windows facing tho door, so no one i could possibly have entered tho room unseen un-seen by me. It was as I bent down to scrutinize a badly defaced diameter that I felt a queer sensation stealing over me, as though somennp were standing stand-ing dope behind my chair watching mo. ' ' ' 'Very common, ' ' explained Lesty. 1 ' "Merely nerves. ' ' J"Yos, I know; but not what followed. ,Tne sensation became so pronounced that T stood up. Xo one was in the room. "1 determined to take a stroll, con-''ludiiig con-''ludiiig that the fresh air would dear these uncanny cobwebs out nf my brain. Accordingly," I extinguished the light and went" out. T was just putting my dip on when something prompted me. to return and look up the potsherd." He fixed his eves upon us with an Expression of doubt. ''There was someone or something in flic room ! ' ' "What do you mean?" asked Lesty incredulously. ' "I quite distinctly saw a hand and larc - hi to arm pass away from the table pnd vanish' It was "dark in the ro-.ni. remember; but I could see the arm "',11 onough. T switched on the reading iav?!p. Not a thine was to be seen. There j f-' vas no one in the room, and no one j but moK in the flat. Tor 1 s-a: did it thoromjilv . " . j Halesowen 's nerves had evidently ' been shaken by the inexplicable incident. inci-dent. As the three of us strode back : across the common he informed us that the new tenant of the adjoining flat had moved in. We proceeded upstairs and into the cozy room which had been the scene j of tho. remarkable occurrence related. As it was growing dark, Halesowen ; turned on the electric light, and, indi- ! eating a chair by the writing table, ex- I plained that it was there he had been seated at the time. "Did you have the windows open?" asked Lcty. " Ve---. was the reply. "I left the ! hairs and the awning "out, too, as it1 was a fine uilit; in fa-t, yon can see that they still remain practically as yon left them." ' Apparently Le-ty was about to make some observation when an interruption occurred in the form of a ringing on the door-bell, followed by a discreet fandango on the knocker. " Who the deuce have we here?" muttered mut-tered Halesowen. "I saw no one go in below. ' ' As our host passed through the lighted light-ed room and into the hall my friend and I both loaned forward in our chairs, the better to hear what should pass; nor wore we kept long in suspense. As wc heard tho outer door ooened, an odd, mumbling voice came, with a queer accent: ac-cent: "Ah, my dear Mr. Halesowen, it is indeed an intrusion of me! But when 1 find how we are neighbors I cannot resist re-sist to make the call and renew a so pleasant acquaintance! " "Dr. Zeda! " we'heard Halesowen exclaim, ex-claim, with little cordiality. "Ever your devoted servant," replied the courteous foreigner. T glanced at Lesty, and we rose together to-gether and stepped " through the open window in time to see a truly remarkable remark-able personage enter. He was a large-framed man, with snow-white hair close to his skull, French fashion. He had a high and very j wrinkled brow and wore gold-rimmed ' pince-nez. Jet black and heavy eyebrows were his and his waxed mustache and neat imperial were likewise of the hue of coal. His complexion was pallid; and in his well-cut coat, with a loose black tie overhanging his vest, he made a striking picture, bowinprofoundkv in the door- j way. " ! Halesowen rapidly muttered the usual j formalities; in fact, I remember men- , tally contrasting our friend 's uncere- j monious manners with the courtly de- j portment of Dr. Zeda. The latter explained that he had ' taken the adjacent flat, having learned1 only that evening whom he had for a1 neighbor. Despite the lateness of the; hour, he said, he could not resist the j desire to see Halesowen, of whose com- j pany in Egypt he retained such pleasant I memories. ! When after a .brief chat the foreign gentleman rose to take his leave, he extended ex-tended an invitation to'all of us to lunch with him the following day. Though I half expected Halesowen would decline, he did not do so; I therefore there-fore accepted, as did Lesty. Whereupon Zeda departed. Halesowen, returning to tho chair which he had vacated to usher out his visitor, lighted a cigarette, regarded it for a moment meditatively, and then frankly expressed his doubts. "He's been watching me," he said, "and when he saw the next flat vacant he jumped str the chance." On the following day we lunched with Dr. Zeda, and were surprised at the orderly state of his establishment, i Everything, from floor to ceiling, was in its proper place. I I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, for he ! proved an excellent host, and I think even Lesty grew less suspicious of him. j During the weeks that followed the doc- : tor came several times to our rooms, ! and we frequently met at Halesowen's.; Then, about 7 o'clockone morning when the mists hung low over the common com-mon in promise of a hot day, a boy came 1 for Lesty and myself with news of a' frenh development. He was a lad who did odd jobs for Halesowen, and he brought word of an attempted burglary, together with a request that we should j go over without delav. , Our curiosity keenly aroused, we were : soon with our friend, and found him j seated in the familiar room before a j large cabinet with double glass doors, j It was clearly evident that it had been j ransacked hastily. i Other cases in which he kept various curios wero also opened, and tho place was in general disorder. "What's gone?" asked Lesty quick-1 ly. "Nothing!" was tho answer. "Thei postherd is in tho safe and the safe is in my bedroom or perhaps something j might, have gone. ' ' I "You lock it tip at night, then? J j thonL'ht you kept it in the cabinet." i ' ' Only ..luring the day. t goes in J the safe, with one or two'other trifles, I ai night; but everybody doesn't know j thnt. ' I Wo looked at one another silently; but the name that was on all our lips remained re-mained unspoken for we were startled bv a loud knocking and ringing at the door. When ("'arter opened it into the room run Dr. Zeda. j "Oh. my fnends." he cried in his! hoarse, rumbling voice, "there has been ', to my flat a midnight robber. Ilo has i turned completely -upside down all im I collection." I As I watched the foreigner staring! about the disordered room and noted the growing look of bewilderment, creeping over his pallid countenance I was com- ' polled to admit to myself that here wan j either a consummate actor or a man of I whom we hastily had formed a most, unwarrantable opinion. "But my friend mv good Halesowen," Hales-owen," he exclaimed, wit h widely opened eyes and extended paling" YVha't is it that I see? You are as disordered as myself! Halesowen nodded. ' ' The burplar gave me a call, too." be said grimly, "My dear sir," gasped Zeda. seizing the speaker's arm. "tell me quickly you have lost nothing?" Halesowen e1 a need at him rather hard. "No." he answered. "Ah' what a relief! I feared " rumbled the doctor. ""But perhaps you wonder for what it is they came?" ' I can guess. ' ' ' ' You need no longer guess : I will tell you. It is for your fragment of the sacred vase, and to me they come for mine' We were even more astonished bv this assertion tbsn we had been by the doctor doc-tor 's first. ' ' Your fraeriient. ' ' said Halesowen l-,wly. with his eyes fixed on 7eda. "To what fragment do you refer?" "To tli at which, tocether wit h your : t sherd makes up the complete vhp! Put von il-ibt ? " he snciiered shrue;-- shrue;-- mil: 'his shoulders. ' Wait bul a no--iM'h; and T will prove ! ' ' M"' , 1 J , f k "With those flexible bands I will attach, temporarily, the parts " He moved from the room. Then we stood and gaped at one another. "His confounded ingenuity," rasped Halesowen," has completely tied my hands!" Being interrupted at this moment by the re-entrance of tJie gentleman in question, further discussion oi" the subject sub-ject was precluded. Zeda carried a small iron box, which he piaced carefully upon the table and unlocked. A 'second box of polished ebony was revealed within, and this being unlocked in turn, proved to contain, reposing in a nest of blue velvet, a fragment of antique an-tique pottery. Taking the fragment in his hand, the doctor begged that the potsherd be produced. pro-duced. Halesowen, after a momentary hesitation, hesi-tation, retired from tho room, to return re-turn almost immediately with the broken vase in its wooden frame. Dr. Zeda, placing the portion which he held in his hand against that in the frame, but not so closely as to bring the parts in contact, turned to us with a triumphant smile. "They correspond, gentlemen, to a smallest traction! ' in-eclared, in-eclared, which, indeed, was perfectly-true. perfectly-true. "And nowf" continued Zeda, evidently evi-dently gratitied by the surmise which we could not conceal, "I will relate to you a story. I do not ask that you shall credit it; I only say that I have given up my life to such studies, and that I am willing, as matters have so arrived, that you shall join me to prove false or true what I think of the potsherd of Anubis." "Good!" said Lesty, and settled himself him-self to listen; an example that was followed fol-lowed by Halesowen and myself. "The date is no matter," said Dr. Zeda, "but there was at Gizeh, to the north of the Sphinx, a temple dedicated to Isis. "Here the gods of the dead were adored but the worship of Anubis took precedence, and was conducted at a shrine apart. Here, locked within three-aud-thirtv doors, having each its separate sepa-rate janitor who held the key, reposed a sacred svmbol a svmbol, my friends, upon whicn was based the occult knowledge knowl-edge of the initiated ; a symbol more precious than the lives of a hundred-hundred hundred-hundred warriors for so it was written! writ-ten! " The mysterious foreign gen Hem a u looked about him with a sort of challenge chal-lenge in his glance; then he quietly resumed re-sumed his story. "At the change of the moon in the sacred month, Methori, a maiden selected select-ed from a noble house for her beauty and purity, and for a whole year dedicated dedi-cated to 'the service of the gods, held in her hands the sacred thing held it aloft that the initiated might worship, until the first white beam lit up the receptacle. Then all bowed flown their heads and chanted the 'Hymn of the Pussinrr Souls. r "Then was it locked again within the three-and- thirty doors, then- to rem a in for another year. Xone saw the symbol itself but the high pnel, who looked upon it when he was so ordained for any other that gazed upon it died. "It was contained in a holy vase." ! T could almost believe him tn ha ve j witnessed the strange rites that he told j of with such conviction. ' j " In a year so long n?o," he softly resumed, his voice now a "kind of jpued j whisper, "that to speak of its date were j to convey nothing to yon. the hieb-horn I I virgin on whom the exalted office was : conferred closed upon her unhappy sou! i the gats of paradise for aes iinnum-j iinnum-j bered ; called down upon her h-j;id r 1 1 i cme of the pricr-l and the aivjcr lot the mo.'t ciga gods; was rejected "of ! j Set himself. ; "She let fall from her hand? the ored vaf, hnd the holy symbol wa.- ln-r ! to the children of earth for evermore. Lost was the key to the book of wisdom: closed was that- book i o man f r all lime. ' ' Lto on! " said Halesowen hprh;y, for Zeda had paused aain. "You do not grasp ?" a?ked the doctor. doc-tor. "Well, then, know that the sen-j sen-j fence was: 'Until the parts nf this vase be made whole asrain.' "Five fragments were there. A larce one, which is your pot? herd, and f our ! smaller. The four smaller, after twenty ! years of untiring search;. 1 rave reov- ; ered and .-joined together. What if . e now make whoe that wbir-h was bro- 1 ken? i "May I not. by the exerci-e o- rilh poor shreds of the lest wion a? nave gathered up, p"n-.n;on - fere rrc that wanderire 5rir:t i"- --w.t-: ' ac.in to plead for re--t ,-if e v- ".-.nrt --,. ,,; m.enti ' . w b-:i I tint v : i. proved electrical I do not exaggerate the effect which this astounding proposition proposi-tion had upon us. Halesowen was fairly startled out of his chair, and stood with his eyes fixed on the other in a fascinated gaze. I Zeda, entirely returning to his customary cus-tomary urbanity, shrugged and smiled. "' Vbu believe my story f" Lesty was the first to recover himself, him-self, and his reply was characteristic. ' 'Can't say I do," he drawltd. "I don't say that you maj' not, though." "Then do you not owe it to assist in proving my words? A little seance i You are skeptical, quite. Very well; I try to show you. If I fail, then it is unfortunate un-fortunate but I bow to an inevitable!" inevita-ble!" We looked at each other1 interrogatively, interroga-tively, and then Halesowen answered : "All right. It 'b a queer varUj but we leave the matter entirely in your ha ds. " ' The doctor bowed. "Shall we say tonight to begiu'i" he said tentatively. ' ' By all means. ' ' The doctor expressed himself delighted, delight-ed, and, carefully relocking the fragment frag-ment of the vase in its double case, he was about to depart wheu a point occurred oc-curred to me. "Might I ask whom you suspect of the attempted burglary?" I said. He turned in the door and fixed a strange glance upon me. ' ' There are others, "he replied, "who seek as I seek, and who do not scruple to gain their ends how thejr may. Of them we shall beware my friends, for we know they design upon us!" With that and a low bow, he retired. We usually took tea in the afternoon, and Halesowen joined us on this occasion. occa-sion. About 5 o'clock Dr. Zeda also looked in. He remained until it began to grow dusk, when we all went over to Halesowen Halesow-en 's to arrange the first "sitting" for so tho doctor referred to the projected seance. Retiring for a few moments to his own establishment, Zeda returned with the iron box and .explained what he proposed pro-posed to do. v "Around this small table we sit, as at seance," he said; "but no medium only the potsherd. With those flexible bands I will attach, temporarily the parts and stand the vase in Mr. Halesowen Hales-owen 's frame, here by the window so. Beside it wc will place the lamp shaded shad-ed thus so that a dim light is upon it. We can just sec frm where we sit in the dark. Wc will now wait until it is more dusk. ' ' Accordingly, we went out on the balcony bal-cony and smoked for an hour, Zeda polluting the clean air with the funics of the long black cigars he arTeeled. They had the appearance of dried twig? and an odor so wholly original as to defy simile. Between 3 and 9 o'clock" he rxprcsseft himself satisfied with the light or, rather, lack of it and we all gathered around tho table in the gloom, spreading spread-ing our hands as he directed. For close upon an hour we sat in tense silence, the room seem i rig to be very hoi. A slight breeze off the common com-mon had wafted the fume of Zeda "s ci ga r in through the open windows, which he had afterward clo-ed, and the reek filled the air as with somevhing pal prj ble and nauseous-. I was growing very wearv nf thn business, and Lesty, despite the doctor's warning against disturbing the silence had begun "to ennqh aud fidget irritably, when the rumbling foreign voice came fo unexpectedly as to startle us all: "It is useless tonight : something t not propitious. Turn up the 'iht. " From the celerity with which Halesowen Hales-owen complied. T divined that he. too, hnd been gradually growing inpatient. ! ' ' There is some not suitable condition." condi-tion." said Zeda, relockinc his portjm j of l lie vase in its case. ' Tomorrow we make some changes in tLo order." ; Hp emed not at nil d'appointed, be-I be-I ing apparently h- confident " us ever in i the itl'iniaTe success o; the s ancs. Cue ci' the window;. In3 sugge-led. should be e;'t open on Th1 following evening during dur-ing our sirrin- and this we wrp onjv too glad t.o agree upon, since it would possibly serve to ciear the atmosphere some w hat of the unpleasant odor emanating em-anating from the doctor's cigar?. "Wo tomorrow,"' vpc hi ; l.Tt -words a ho left u. j "'A i"'" te--t monument Af r.'r d -i-i--.' ' t mntt e ;.-! L-s'y. a- ) , heard the n-i :r-1 :r-1 I'.g loote-.'? of oir fercign frier.) on ! the graved hedow. "and I i';'i;iF )-: 30-! 30-! cc.it 15 ::y,:rr.cri. T oon t know vrhv v ; -:--r to erMi swh an ir.'Td'bie ' fa ':?. ' ' ; Y.- n v rotriPg of '., ; t i-m-, ',11 1 us around the table again, but in different differ-ent order. One of the French windows was left open, and the potsherd with the lamp beside it. placed somewhat to the left. After persevering for about forty minutes min-utes we were rewarded by a rather conventional con-ventional phenomenon. The table rocked aud gave forth cracking crack-ing sounds. There was no other manifestation, and. about halt-past ten, the doctor again terminated the seance. "Excellentl" said Zeda enthusiastically. enthusiastic-ally. r ' Excellentl We are eu rapport, rap-port, and within the circle there was power. Tomorrow night we ahall triumph, tri-umph, my friends, but there is again an alteration that occurs to me. "You, Mr. Clifford, shall sit next to Mr. Lesty on the left. Mr. Halesowen: shall be upon his right, and I facing Mr. Lesty between. Also, there is too much-light- from the lamps in the road. "It is good. I thinly' to have open the windows, but this "Japanese screen will keep out that too much light and shelter the vase. Tomorrow we will observe ob-serve these things." This, then, concluded our second sitting, sit-ting, and brings me to the final episode of that affair, which, strange enough in its several developments, was stranger still in its denouement. Zeda, on the following day. entertained enter-tained us at luncheon in town, followed by an afternoon concert for which he i had procured seats, being interested, or j professing to be, in a certain fiddler who figured largely in the programme, j We had arranged that Halesowen and the doctor should dine with us in the evening, before we went to the for-mer's for-mer's flat for the seance, and we accordingly ac-cordingly returned direct to our rooms aud chatted over the doings of the day until dinner was served. Zetffi surpassed sur-passed himself in brilliant conversation. About 9 0 'clock we walked over in the dark to our friend's flat, where we had to grope for and light an oil lamp which hjc had, Zeda declaring that something in the atmosphere was propitious pro-pitious and that the electric light would tend to disturb these favorable conditions. condi-tions. It was. perhaps a quarter to ten before be-fore Zeda had matters arranged to his satisfaction, and so dark by reason of the tall Japanese screen that stood before be-fore the open windows that 1 could see neither Zeda on ' my left uor Lesty. who sat on my right. Halesowen was a dim silhouette against the patch of light cast by the oil reading lump beside the va?e, which stood the length of the room away. T was conscious of a suppressed excitement, excite-ment, which I am sure was shared by mv companions. 1 heard' a distant clock striking the half-hour and thou the three-quarters, but still nothing had occurred. A motor car drove around from the road and stopped somewhere at the outer end of the drhe. I wondered idlv if it were that of the surgeon who lived at Xo. lu. After that everything was verv quiet and I was expelling to hear the hour strike and straining my ears to catch the sound of the firn chime, when the rocking and cracking of the lablc began. This wa; muh more violent than hitherto, aud Zeda 's gruff tones came soi'tlv: "Whatever shall happen, do not remove re-move your hands from the tahl: A silence fell, so short in duration as to be scarcely appreciable, for it was almost instantly broken by an unexpected unex-pected sound. Tt was a woman's voice, verv low and clear, and it cemer tp mutter 'o-nc-thing in a weird, ri-irg i-adein'e with a high notp at the end of every third bar or so. aud t h i over and over again fin easy thin;:, agnely liko a Gregorian ' 1 Trium ph ! w hisr-red Zcla ' ; The Hymn of the Pa spine -ouls! ' ' His s p e a t q (. , j j f d 1 0 , . t r b ; li r d'"r. but on!v for a mi orient Th-1 In n:u was coirud. then, as the verv mount rnv of M"-1 thing was hvni'dnc to gr w appaib", I suddenly becani" aware ot a phrr:. white fiEnre Mardmt: be:dp th vsp. The chant propped, nud I could hr nothing but the r.ervni-? breathing- of rrv fnm.T-ui'o-w. S'aed as 'h'-v er 1 of-ubtod w'"-;ber Hai--",rvsTi or L1-;-' j could pep t h . ,i ; 'it ion. but J f,;,. j tV-mg direr -ly ard h. r for 1: wa 5 a j woman. j :; M see pvr-rv lire t,r :rr t ; T J r I the mrve? nf hpr throi: a':d firm' nod I i-;-.ouHer. the dull metr-di-'- trliming r,t h'-r rluv-ev3J-; y h'-iir. she eTff n ld j I sr.d toward ' .j1' I di-tinetlv I ' ' '' " ;i !p r'" trrt-n -t in a n r By SAX ROHMER Aulhcr of "THE YEL..OV. CLAW." Etc. She must be very beautiful, 1 thought, and was peering through tiie gloom in a vain endeavor to see her more cioseiy when there came a disconcerting crash and utter darkntf! The table whereat we were e a 1 0 d was overturned and I itiuud rtiyselt capsized cap-sized from my chair. "Hold him!'' yelled the voic.e of Lestv. '"Hold him, Halesowen Clifford": Clif-ford": " ' A door banged loudly. L on found it ! 1 'm on the floor! T I shouted for some one 10 turn up the light, at the same time scrambling through the gloom with that intent. After severely damaging my shins j against the intervening furniture, 1 j lonnd the switch. j It would not work ! 1 "Tt's cut off!" I cried. "Snike a mat-h. somebody. "Haven't got any!" said I.eMy. ''Zeda has mine!" responded Halesowen. Hales-owen. " ' Open- the door. "Locked!" was Lesty "s next repurt. "Break it down!' ' shouted Halesowen, Hales-owen, hurling aside the Japanese screen. ' 1 The potsherd is gone! ! Lesty applied his shoulder to tho oak ! once twice thrice. Then all together to-gether we attacked it, and it flew open with a splintering crash. "Hound to his flat!" panted Halesowen, Hales-owen, running dow nstairs. Out on the drive we sprinted, into the next entrance and up to the first landing. land-ing. Knocking aud ringing proved ineffectual in-effectual and the door was too strong to be burst open. . We stood in dismayed silence, staring at one another. ' ' Off your balcony, 011 to his, and through the IVench window!" said, Lesty suddenly; so back we all ran , again. I bad never before realized how easy it was to get from one balcony to aii; other until I saw Lesty swing himself j across. j Halesowen and I followed in a trice,: and we all blundered into the dark room ; through the open window and made for the electric switch beside the mantelpiece. mantel-piece. We turned on the light. The room was unfurnished! "Good Lord!" breathed Halesowen, hurrying into the next. j That, too, was quite bare, aa were all! the rest! The outer door was locked, j "While we were fooling at that con-j cert he had every scrap of stuff re-! moved!" 1 said. "He probably had: the lot on hire from a big' furnishing firm curios and all. I remember noticing no-ticing that his curiosities wero of a very ordinary character, considering his extensive ex-tensive travels and the nature of his studies. ' ' ".No doubt whatever," agreed Lesty. "His burglary proved a failure (and, I think must "have been interrupted), though I am compelled to admire the neat manner in which he handled the very delicate situation that resulted. His more recent and elaborate device has turned out all that could be desired de-sired from Zeda's point of view." "But how has he got away'' said Halesoweu in bewilderment. ' ' .Motor waiting at the corner, : ' replied re-plied Lesty promptly. "Heard it come up. When the reading lamp was capsized cap-sized and whoever had crept from his balcony to yours aud iu behind the screen had returned the same way with the vase Zeda overturned the rfible and pushed you two backward in your chairs. ' "Then, before I could reach him, he bolted out and locked tho door after him. For, having lulled my suspicions by two practically uneventful seances, he cunningly placed himself nearest to the door and me farthest away. "He probably removed the key when he went out for the box and placed it outside in the lock when he returned. re-turned. His accomplice had run straight through Zeda's flat and out to the waitiug car, and there he joined her. They may bo thirty miles aw ay by now! 3 ' Being unable to open the door, wo perforce returned to II alesowen 's balcony bal-cony by the same fcway t hat wo had come, our friend bewailing his lost potsherd and exclaiming: "The cunning, cun-ning, cunning scamp!" "I knew he had some deep game, in hand," said Lesty, "but I hadn't bargained bar-gained for this move. Of course, I had noticed the dodge of borrowing all our matches, but T didn't grasp its importance im-portance until too la(c. It never occurred oc-curred to me that lie 'd disconnected the electric light ( which he probabl y did some time in the night, by Ihe way). "I was a fool not to realize it. iou, when he insisted on our only using tho oil lamp. Then, again, 1 was slow . not to go straight through the window win-dow and into Zeda's flat that way. it is just possible I m ight have ca uuht the lady songster if I had done thai in the first .place. "The possibility, however, had not been overlooked, since she took t In1 precaution to lock the door after her." "A clever rogue!" I declared. "Hut w'bsn 't the first a( i rmpt for T suppose sup-pose we must classify the mysterious arm under that head more than a trifle indiscreet f ' ' "No doubt." n freed Lesty. "But wc didn't know then that Zeda was in London, Lon-don, and the flat was still unt'imii-hod. Also, they may have thought Halesowen Hales-owen was in bed: or the woman (whom he has so cleverly kept out of sight 1 1 may have exceeded her in struct ion in 1 attempting tn touch the potsherd while! anyone remained in the room." I "But." said Halesowen slowly, " we don "t k now t ha t 1 here w as any woman wom-an ! ' ' Y.h ? " queried Lesty. "Did vou ee nor ' ' "No."' "I did. She was lovely, very lovely for a woman ! ' ' Lesty stared curiously. "Vou sur-prie sur-prie me. ' ' ho commented dryly. "Zeda was a Mrano man,'" purued the nt her. "and there wore certainly t kings uci ;;rred as we sat around t hat tab.y that need a lot 01 explaining.'' ' ' Very ordinary t :u ce-au.:-six-a-head phenomena!" was the reply. "Merely a blind. ' ' Then what was the reason of bis bum inn desire to secure my potsherd, if not to complete tho vae?" ' Vo you mean to toil me. ' ? asked Le?ty, " t hat you are goin to credit that story about the prietess now. alter he has shown his hand? Po you wih to suggeM that he was aided by a spirit ." " ' Then, why was he so keeu to got the thing.'"' persisted Halesowen. Lesty looked at him. looked at me, shrugged hia shoulders and began to load his pipe. Having done so, he sat smoking and staring' at tho brilliatil moon. "WelH." inquired our host. "tuve it up!" admitted Lesty. One of my visits to the Wnpping curio shop of Mori? Klaw was made in compaTiy with Mr. Halesowen. Somewhere amid the misty gloom of this place, where loot of a hundred agon, of every spot from polo to pole, veils its identity in, the darkness, sits a large gray parrot. Paint perfumes and senf-, senf-, lling sounds tell of hidden animal life near the visitor; but the parrot proclaims pro-claims itself stridently. Moris Klsw! Moris Klaw! The devil's come for you!" That signal brings Moris Klaw from his hiding place. Ho shuffles into the shop, a figure appropriate to its surroundings. sur-roundings. Imagine a tall, stooping man. enveloped envel-oped in a very faded bine dressing gown. His skin is but half a shade lighter than that of a Chinaman; his hair, his shagey brows, his scanty beard defy one to name their color. He wears pince-nez. When, upon this particular occasion. I introduced my companion, and Moris Klaw acknowledged the introduction. I saw Halesowen stare. Klaw produced a scent snrav from somewhere ami sprayed verbena upon his high, yellow brow. "It is very stuffy in this shop!" he explained, "isis! Isis! bring for mv visitors some iced drinks!" He invoked a goddess, an d a got Id ess appeared; a brilliantly beautiful brunette, bru-nette, with delightfully curved scarlet lins and flashing eyes whose fire tin gloom rnubl not dim'. "Cbud Cud!" cried Halesowen, and fell back. "My daughter. Isis!" rumbled Mori Klaw. "This is Mr. Halesowen, from wdiom we rescued the Kg vidian potsherd." pot-sherd." " What ! " Halesowen leaned' forward across the counter. "Von recognize mv daughter," continued con-tinued Moris Klaw, "but tint Hr. Zeda. eh? Or. only his poor, old voice? You give us great trouble, Mr. Halesowen. Once you came in .msf. as Isis, who had climbed on to your balcony, is about to take the potsherd. " ' ( There was no ono in tlie room! ' 1 "I was in the room! " interrupted the girl coollv. 1 ' I was draped in black from head to foot, and I slipped behind the window hangings unseen, while you fumbled with your lnmp. " "It was indiscreet," continued Moris Klaw, "aud mado it harder for me; because afterward you lock up the treasure and mv search is unavailing. Abo. T am interrupted. Tali! I am j clumsy; 1 waste time. Hut remember, 1 ! offered to buv it! " "Suppose' said Tfalesnwen slowly, " give you both in charge? " "iou cannot," was tho placid reply; "for you cannot say how vou came iut" possession of the sherd. Professor Sheraton She-raton whs in a similar forked stick and that is where I come in." "What! Vou wore acting for him?" "Certainly. f happened to be in Egypt at the time, aud he is a friend of mine. Your thief, Ali, left, a email piece of the pot behind, and I am entrusted lo make it complete. ' ' ' ' Vou have succeeded, " said Ha lei owen grimly, all the lime fug1 lively watching the beautiful lds. "Yes," rumbled Mori Klaw, "I am the i nst rumen t of poetic .in si ice. l?i . those cool bcvei a;'s. Let uh drink to poetic just ice! ' |