of quinine.

A little murmur of disappointment went around the table. The new form of
death looked very commonplace. Corbario was the only one who showed any
interest.

"May I see?" he asked, holding out his hand to take the tube.

Kalmon would not give it to him, but held the tube before his eyes under
the bright light of the lamp.

"Excuse me," he said, "but I make it a rule never to let it go out of my
hands. You understand, don't you? If it were passed round, some one
might lay it down, it might be forgotten, somebody might take it for
something else."

"Of course," said Folco, looking intently at the tube, as though he
could understand something about the contents by mere inspection. "You
are quite right. You should take no risks with such things--especially
as they look so innocent!"

He leaned back in his chair again, as if satisfied, and his eyes met the
Contessa's at the same moment. There was no reason why she should not
have looked at him just then, but he rested one elbow on the table and
shaded his eyes from the light.

"It is strange to reflect," said Kalmon, looking at the tube
thoughtfully, "that one of those little things would be enough to put a
Hercules out of misery, without leaving the slightest trace which
science could discover."

Corbario was still shading his eyes from the light.

"How would one die if one took it?" asked Aurora. "Very suddenly?"

"I call it the sleeping death," answered the Professor. "The poisoned
person sinks into a sweet sleep in a few minutes, smiling as if enjoying
the most delightful dreams."

"And one never wakes up?" inquired Marcello.

"Never. It is impossible, I believe. I have made experiments on animals,
and have not succeeded in waking them by any known means."

"I suppose it congests the brain, like opium," observed Corbario,
quietly.

"Not at all, not at all!" answered Kalmon, looking benevolently at the
little tube which contained his discovery. "I tell you it leaves no
trace whatever, not even as much as is left by death from an electric
current. And it has no taste, no smell,--it seems the most innocent
stuff in the world."

Corbario's hand again lay on the table and he was gazing out into the
night, as if he were curious about the weather. The moon was just
rising, being past the full.

"Is that all you have of the poison?" he asked in an idle tone.

"Oh, no! This is only a small supply which I carry with me for
experiments. I have mad