ure, and I wouldn't like to scratch
myself on that watch."

"Scratch yourself--on a watch?" and Donovan's voice was plainly
skeptical.

"Yes. It may have some rough edges on it. And I've read enough about
germs to know the danger. I'd advise you to be careful!"

"Ha!" laughed Donovan shortly. "I should worry about that! The watch
don't figure in the case, except maybe they quarreled over who owned
it."

Colonel Ashley said nothing. He was carefully examining the watch,
which he still held in the palm of the hand--holding it as carefully as
though indeed it might be laden with germs the least touch of which
against a tiny scratch might produce death.

"Quite a curiosity," said the colonel at length. "If you don't mind, I
should like to examine this a bit."

"You can't take it away," said Donovan. "I may need it as evidence
when we get Mr. Phut, or whatever the Dago's name is."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't think of taking it away. I'll look at it here.
It seems to be a very old timepiece--one of the first made smaller
than the old 'Nuremberg eggs I fancy. Quite an interesting
study--watches--Donovan. Ever take it up?" and as the colonel
questioned he was looking at the Indian timepiece under a magnifying
glass he took from his pocket.

"Who? Me study watches? I should say not! It keeps me busy enough
here without that."

"Yes," went on the colonel musingly. "This is an old-timer. The first
watches, you know, Donovan, were really small clocks, and some were so
much like clocks that the folks who carried them had to hang them to
their belts instead of carrying them in their pockets. That was away
back in the fifteenth century."

"Before the Big Wind in Ireland," suggested Thong with a nod at his
Irish compatriot.

"Slightly," laughed the colonel. "But, all joking aside, this is quite
a wonderful piece of work. I shouldn't be surprised but what it dated
back to the time of Queen Elizabeth, though it has been repaired and
remodeled since then to make it more up to date. Probably new works
put in. Queen Elizabeth was very fond of watches and clocks, and her
friends, knowing that, used to present her with beautiful specimens.
Some of the watches of her day were made in the form of crosses,
purses, little books, and even skulls."

"Pity this one wasn't made that way--like a skull," mused Carroll,
"seeing it's been in on two deaths here and no one knows how many
somewhere else."

"That's right," ag