ce to
the collector's eagerness, and after a few last words bade me
'good-night,' and left the house.

"When his cab had rolled away I went back to my study and sat thinking
for awhile. Then something prompted me to take the stick out from the
safe. I did so, and sat at my table gazing at it, wondering what the
mystery might be to which it was the key. That it was not what Dr.
Nikola had described it I felt certain.

"At the end of half an hour I put it in my pocket, intending to take it
upstairs to show my wife, locked the safe again and went off to my
dressing-room. When I had described the interview and shown the stick to
my wife I placed it in the drawer of the looking-glass and went to bed.

"Next morning, about three o'clock, I was awakened by the sound of some
one knocking violently at my door. I jumped out of bed and inquired who
it might be. To my intense surprise the answer was 'Police!' I therefore
donned my dressing-gown, and went out to find a sergeant of police on
the landing waiting for me.

"'What is the matter?' I cried.

"'A burglar!' was his answer. 'We've got him downstairs; caught him in
the act.'

"I followed the officer down to the study. What a scene was there! The
safe had been forced, and its contents lay scattered in every direction.
One drawer of my writing-table was wide open, and in a corner,
handcuffed, and guarded by a stalwart constable, stood a Chinaman.

"Well, to make a long story short, the man was tried, and after denying
all knowledge of Nikola--who, by the way, could not be found--was
convicted, and sentenced to five years' hard labour. For a month I heard
no more about the curio. Then a letter arrived from an English solicitor
in Shanghai, demanding from me, on behalf of a Chinaman residing in that
place, a little wooden stick covered with Chinese characters, which was
said to have been stolen by an Englishman, known in Shanghai as China
Pete. This was very clearly another attempt on Nikola's part to obtain
possession of it, so I replied to the effect that I could not entertain
the request.

"A month or so later--I cannot, however, be particular as to the exact
date--I found myself again in communication with Nikola, this time from
South America. But there was this difference this time: he used
undisguised threats, not only against myself, in the event of my still
refusing to give him what he wanted, but also against my wife and
daughter. I took no notice, with the resu