a pressure or his thumb which Moret had taught me to
understand as the very faintest kind of an interrogation. I have
already mentioned it as often given by a nihilist to one whom he
believes may be one with him. It was so faint and so uncertain that it
might easily have been mistaken for an accident, and like the glance I
permitted it to pass unnoticed.

It was about half past two in the morning when I emerged from the
house. The air was exhilaratingly cold, and the storm was nearly past.
The clouds which had hovered over the city all the preceding day and
night were still in evidence, however, so that the streets between the
widely separated lamps were dark and lonely. The distance I had to go
was something more than a mile, and I had traversed more than half of
it and was in the act of turning a corner when directly beside me, and
quite near, I saw a flash, was conscious of a loud report, and felt
that I had received a sharp and telling blow on my head.

When I was again conscious of my surroundings I was in my own rooms,
while beside the couch upon which I had been placed were my valet, a
physician, and my faithful coadjutor, Tom Coyle.

"Hello, Tom; what's up?" I asked, feebly.

"Faith, you'd have been up higher than you care to go just yet, Dannie,
if I hadn't been drivin' wan av me own cabs this night, owin' to the
sudden death av wan av me min," he replied. "The doctor says the bullet
didn't hurt ye much, but ye'd have been froze stiff if I hadn't found
ye whin I did."

"Tell me about it," I commanded.

"Divil a bit there is to tell, more than I've already said. I was goin'
to the princess' afther me fare, whin I heard a shot. I wint where I
heard the sound and found you. That's all I know."

"Where did the bullet strike me?"

"Foreninst yer head, Dannie. Ye'll have a bald spot there, I'm
thinkin'. But it only broke the skin an' hit ye a welt that made ye see
stars this cloudy night. Now I'm goin'. Maybe I'll have a report for
you whin I come back. There's snow enough. The blackguard ought to have
left some tracks."

There is a spot on the back of the head where a very light blow will
bring about insensibility, and it was exactly on that spot that the
bullet had struck me, taking off a little hair and skin, but otherwise
doing no damage; but I could not help connecting the attempt on my life
with the experiences of the night; in other words, with the woman whose
guest I had been and whose secrets I ha