nd that it was essential
that the Star of Poland should be restored in order to include it
in the regalia for the Coronation. But I knew what this
Austro-German kingdom of Poland was to be, a serf state with not
a shadow of that liberty for which every Pole is longing. Since I
have been in England, I have kept in touch with the Polish
political organizations in this country. Rass, as he calls
himself, the landlord of this inn, is one of the most prominent
of the Polish leaders in England.

"Mortimer reasoned with me in vain and finally went away
empty-handed. But he did not abandon hope. Four successive
attempts were made to get the jewel away from me. Twice my
apartments at the Nineveh Hotel were rifled; once my
dressing-room at the theatre was entered and searched whilst I
was on the stage. But I wore the jewel day and night in a little
bag suspended by a chain from my neck and they never got it from
me.

"Two days before I came down to your house--it was the day before
the murder--I was hustled by a group of men as I came out of the
theatre. Fortunately the stage-door keeper came up unexpectedly
and the men made off. But the encounter frightened me, and I
resolved to break my contract with the Palaceum and bury myself
down here in the country.

"But somehow Mortimer learnt of my intention. The next night--it
was the night of the murder--he came to the theatre and warned me
against trying to elude his vigilance by flight. I have never
forgotten his words.

"'I can afford to wait,' he said, 'for I shall get what I want: I
always do. But you have chosen to set yourself against me and you
will bitterly repent it!"

As though the recollection proved too much for her, Nur-el-Din
broke off her narrative and covered her face with her hands.

"And do you think that Mortimer did this murder?" asked Desmond
gently.

Wearily the girl raised her head.

"Either he or one of his accomplices, of whom this girl is one!"
she answered.

"But why not have put the jewel in a bank or one of the safe
deposits? Surely it was risky to have entrusted it to a girl of
whom you knew nothing?"

"My friend,", said the dancer, "I was desperate. Mortimer sees
and knows all. This unexpected meeting with the daughter of my
old friend seemed at the moment like a heaven-sent chance to
place the jewel, unknown to him, in safe hands. I felt that as
long as I carried it on me, my life was in constant danger. It
was only to-day, when I hea