heard of a
man named Hauser? Well, he made an attempt upon my life. Hence I am
here this afternoon to see you. May I lift the body of the Silver
Spider and look inside?"

"Certainly not!" she cried, facing me boldly.

"Then you fear me--eh?"

"I do not fear you. I don't know you!" she cried.

I laughed, and said:

"Then if not, why may I not be permitted to look inside your husband's
family heirloom?"

She was silent for a moment. My question nonplussed her. I was, I
confess, bitter because of the deliberate attempt to kill me.

"I will not allow any stranger to tamper with our Silver Spider!" she
cried resentfully.

"Very well. Then I shall take my own course, and I shall inform your
husband that you stole the Princess's pearls, that your banker friend
acts as intermediary in your clever thefts, and that Hauser disposes
of the jewels in Amsterdam."

"I--I----" she gasped.

"I know everything," I said, while she looked around bewildered. "I
know that you are playing a crooked game even with those who played
straight with you before your marriage to the Marchese. He is in
ignorance of your past. But I know it. Listen!" and I paused and
looked straight into her eyes.

"You were a widow with a young daughter before you married the
Marchese. That was nine years ago. To him you passed yourself off as
the widow of an Italian advocate named Terroni, of Perugia; but you
were not. You are Austrian. Your name is Frieda Hoheisel, and you were
an adventuress and a thief! You married a certain man who is to-day
in a monastery at Signa in the Val d'Arno, and though you pose as the
loving wife of one of Italy's premier admirals, you are a noted
jewel-thief, and commit these robberies in order to supply your bogus
banker friend Zuccari with funds. Now," I added, "I will take the
Princess's necklace from the Silver Spider and you will, in my
presence, pack it up and address it to her. I will post it."

"Never! I risked too much to get it!" she cried, her face aflame.

"Very well. Then within an hour your husband and the police will know
the truth. Remember, I have been suspected of making inquiries by your
friends and have very nearly lost my life in consequence."

"But--oh! I can't----"

"You shall, woman!" I thundered. "You shall give back those stolen
pearls!"

And crossing to the table whereon stood the Silver Spider, I opened
it, and there within reposed the pearls in a place that nobody would
suspect.

I