rseback, armed with pikes, bows and arrows, and
some muskets. They got wind of the pursuing party before they themselves
were seen, and, swerving from the main road, abandoned their horses in a
lonely bit of wood, and while Ashton hid in the underbrush, his servant,
after waiting until their pursuers had passed, went out and procured at
a near-by village a set of Chinese clothing similar to his own, which
Ashton donned after burying his own belongings in a swampy pond in the
wood. From here on his adventures were exciting and varied, but as they
progressed in a southeasterly direction they got beyond the zone which
had been affected by the robbery of the temple, and at last succeeded in
reaching the coast. From here they went north to Pekin, where the
pseudo-Chinamen disappeared one night into the house where Ashton
maintained his headquarters while in Pekin, and the next morning Ashton
appeared in European clothing, and began making arrangements to leave
for his long trip to England. The rest of the story you know. He arrived
here last night, and this morning he was found murdered and the emerald
Buddha has disappeared. God knows what influences have been at work in
his taking off. As for me, I know no more about it than you do."

As Major Temple concluded his story, he gazed at Sergeant McQuade and
myself in turn, then passed his hand nervously over his forehead, as
though the strain of the tragedy had begun to tell upon him severely.

McQuade rose, and I did likewise, and, bidding the Major good-night we
left the room, leaving him sitting dejectedly enough, I thought, in his
easy chair, patting the head of his great mastiff, Boris. It was past
midnight when I left McQuade at the foot of the staircase, and, in
spite of all the excitement of the day, I found myself so worn out that
I was asleep almost as soon as I had placed my head upon the pillow.

CHAPTER VI

THE ORIENTAL PERFUME

The inquest into Robert Ashton's strange death, which was held the
following day in the billiard-room at The Oaks, was a brief affair. A
jury had been impaneled in the town, and Major Temple, Miss Temple and
myself, as well as Li Min and the other servants, were duly examined and
we told our respective stories as we had already told them to Sergeant
McQuade. No new light was thrown upon the affair by our testimony. Miss
Temple, when questioned, admitted that she had left the house early in
the morning, with the intention of run