er contains five perfect bulbs, three already in flower, as you
observe, of an orchid discovered by our chief chemist in certain
forests of Burma. It only occurs at extremely rare intervals--eighty
years or more--and under highly special conditions. If the other two
bulbs flower, I shall be enabled to obtain from the blooms a minimum
quantity of an essential oil for which the nations of the earth, if
they knew its properties, would gladly empty their treasuries. This
case must at all costs accompany me."

"Yet because you are still in England," said Stuart huskily, "I
venture to hope that your devil dreams may end on the scaffold."

"That can never be, Dr. Stuart," returned Fo-Hi placidly. "The
scaffold is not for such as I. Moreover, it is a crude and barbaric
institution which I deplore. Do you see that somewhat peculiarly
constructed chair, yonder? It is an adaptation, by a brilliant young
chemist of Canton, of Ericksen's Disintegrating Ray. A bell hangs
beside it. If you were seated in that chair and I desire to dismiss
you, it would merely be necessary fro me to strike the bell once with
the hammer. Before the vibration of the note had become inaudible you
would be seeking your ancestors among the shades. It is the throne of
the gods. Such a death is poetic."

He returned to the table and, observing meticulous care, emptied the
few drops of colourless liquid from the condenser into a test-tube.
Holding the tube near a lamp, he examined the contents, then poured
the liquid into the curious yellow bottle. A faint vapour arose from it.

"You would scarcely suppose," he said, "that yonder window opens upon
an ivy-grown balcony commanding an excellent view of that picturesque
Tudor survival, Hampton Court? I apprehend, however, that the researches
of your late friend, M. Gaston Max, may ere long lead Scotland Yard to
my doors, although there has been nothing in the outward seeming of
this house, in the circumstances of my tenancy, or in my behaviour
since I have--secretly--resided here, to excite local suspicion."

"Scotland Yard men may surround the house now!" said Stuart viciously.

"One of the two followers I have retained here with me, watches at
the gate," replied Fo-Hi. "An intruder seeking to enter by any other
route, through the hedge, over the wall, or from the river, would
cause electric bells to ring loudly in this room, the note of the bell
signifying the point of entry. Finally, in the event of such a