person, then," he said, with firm
conviction. "I would stake my reputation on that."

"Then one is an attempt to imitate the other?" I said, stifling a glad
exclamation.

"That's the rub," said he. "And, to be frank, I might spend a month
without being able to say which was the imitated and which the
imitating. I would almost think you had stumbled on two specimens which,
merely by coincidence, bore a wonderful resemblance to each other. It
lies between that and the cleverest, most practiced forgery I have ever
seen."

You may be sure that his decision gave me a sense of triumph; without
speculating as to the truth, it was enough for me to know that Julianna
had not, as I had at first suspected, been a party to this vulgar and
melodramatic flourish. I berated myself for having entertained any doubt
and now felt anew, and with aggravation, my affection for her. This
outcome of my adventure with the Sheik, in fact, restored my spirit,
made me forget my pride, and, as you will see, was enough to put me in
condition to receive that which was about to befall me.

CHAPTER IV

THE FACE

My thoughts as I entered the portico of that building where I had my
apartments were not only of Julianna, but were also in those channels
where I have no doubt your own opinion of my narrative must run. I
freely admit, as I then was forced to admit, that my lovemaking had been
attended with many bizarre and abnormal happenings; yet at the time I
sneered at the questions which rose in my own mind and bravely asserted
to myself that the chances of winning Julianna were not wholly lost.

In the lower hall of the building in which I had quarters there were
stationed until six at night a telephone operator and a doorman. Perhaps
you have noticed that I tell you these matters in considerable detail,
and I will continue to do this, because my natural dread of disclosing
the intimate affairs of my life has kept me heretofore from sharing my
story with any one, and now that I have lifted the cover and drawn the
veil of my experience, I can only find justification, in so narrating
the sequence of extraordinary events, by observing the strictest
adherence to detail and accuracy in the hope that perhaps you, by the
virtue of a fresh and unprejudiced viewpoint, may be able to unravel
some of the tangle in which I am, even now, enmeshed.

As I have said, at six the telephone gir