ecesses of the noble walls were lined with books in rare editions, a
heavily carved table of dull black wood from some foreign land sprawled
in the center of the room and held a great bronze lamp of curious
pattern, bearing a ruby light. Ornate bronzes lurked on pedestals in
shadows, unexpectedly, and caught the eye alarmingly, like grim ones set
to watch. A throbbing fire like the heart of a lit ruby burned in a
massive fireplace of grotesque tiles, as though it were the opening into
great depths of unquenchable fire to which this room might be but an
approach.

Gila herself, slight, dark-eyed, with pearl-white skin and dusky hair,
was dressed in crimson velvet, soft and clinging like chiffon, catching
the light and shimmering it with strange effect. The dark hair was
curiously arranged, and stabbed just above her ears with two dagger-like
combs flashing with jewels. A single jewel burned at her throat on an
invisible chain, and jewels flashed from the little pointed
crimson-satin slippers, setting off the slim ankles in their
crimson-silk covering. The whole effect was startling. One wondered why
she had chosen so elaborate a costume to waste upon a single college
student.

She stood with one dainty foot poised on the brass trappings of the
hearth. In her short skirts she seemed almost a child; so sweet the
droop of the pretty lips; so innocent the dark eyes as they looked into
the fire; so soft the shadows that played in the dark hair! And yet, as
she turned to listen for a step in the hall, there was something
gleaming, sinister, in those dark eyes, something mocking in the red
lips. She might have been a daughter of Satan as she stood, the
firelight picking out those jeweled horns and slippers.

"Leave him to me," she had said to her cousin when he told her how the
brilliant young athlete and intellectual star of the university had been
stung by the religious bug. "Send him to me. I'll take it out of him and
he'll never know it's gone."

Paul Courtland entered, unsuspecting. He had met Gila a number of times
before, at college dances and the games. He was not exactly flattered,
but decidedly pleased that she had sent for him. Her brightness and
seeming innocence had attracted him strongly.

The contrast from the hall with its blaze of electrics to the lurid
light of the library affected him strangely. He paused on the threshold
and passed his hand over his eyes. Gila stood where the ruby light of
hearth and l