der
that he is so formidable. But, Smith--_who_ is that woman?"

"Petrie!" he said slowly, and I knew that I had betrayed my secret,
"Petrie--where did you learn all this?"

I returned his steady gaze.

"I was present at the meeting of the Si-Fan," I replied steadily.

"What? What? _You_ were present?"

"I was present! Listen, and I will explain."

Standing there in the hallway I related, as briefly as possible, the
astounding events of the night. As I told of the woman in the train--

"That confirms my impression that Fu-Manchu was imposing upon the
others!" he snapped. "I cannot conceive of a woman recluse from some
Lamaserie, surrounded by silent attendants and trained for her exalted
destiny in the way that the legendary veiled woman of Tibet is said to
be trained, traveling alone in an English railway carriage! Did you
observe, Petrie, if her eyes were _oblique_ at all?"

"They did not strike me as being oblique. Why do you ask?"

"Because I strongly suspect that we have to do with none other than
Fu-Manchu's daughter! But go on."

"By heavens, Smith! You may be right! I had no idea that a Chinese
woman could possess such features."

"She may not have a Chinese mother; furthermore, there are pretty women
in China as well as in other countries; also, there are hair dyes and
cosmetics. But for Heaven's sake go on!"

I continued my all but incredible narrative; came to the point where I
discovered the straying marmoset and entered the empty house, without
provoking any comment from my listener. He stared at me with something
very like surprised admiration when I related how I had become an
unseen spectator of that singular meeting.

"And I though I had achieved the triumph of my life in gaining
admission and smuggling Weymouth and Carter into the roof, armed with
hooks and rope-ladders!" he murmured.

Now I came to the moment when, having withdrawn into the empty house,
I had heard the police whistle and had heard Smith's voice; I came to
the moment when I had found myself face to face with Dr. Fu-Manchu.

Nayland Smith's eyes were on fire now; he literally quivered with
excitement, when--

"_Ssh!_ what's that?" he whispered, and grasped my arm. "I heard
something move in the sitting-room, Petrie!"

"It was a coal dropping from the grate, perhaps," I said--and rapidly
continued my story, telling how, with my pistol to his head, I had
forced the Chinese doctor to descend into the hallway of the emp