lt that my residence was again
broken into, but still without success. Now I no longer locked the
talisman up in the safe, but hid it in a place where I knew no one could
possibly find it. My mind, you will see, was perfectly made up; I was
not going to be driven into surrendering it.

"One night, a month after my wife's death, returning to my house I was
garrotted and searched within a hundred yards of my own front door, but
my assailants could not find it on me. Then peculiar pressure from other
quarters was brought to bear; my servants were bribed, and my life
became almost a burden to me. What was more, I began to develop that
extraordinary fear of Nikola which seems to seize upon every one who has
any dealings with him. When I went home to England some months back, I
did it because my spirits had got into such a depressed state that I
could not remain in Australia. But I took care to deposit the stick with
my plate in the bank before I left. There it remained till I returned,
when I put it back in its old hiding-place again.

"The day after I reached London I happened to be crossing Trafalgar
Square. Believing that I had left him at least ten thousand miles away,
you may imagine my horror when I saw Dr. Nikola watching me from the
other side of the road. Then and there I returned to my hotel, bade
Phyllis pack with all possible despatch, and that same afternoon we
started to return to Australia. The rest you know. Now what do you think
of it all?"

"It's an extraordinary story. Where is the stick at the present moment?"

"In my pocket. Would you like to see it?"

"Very much, if you would permit me to do so."

He unbuttoned his coat, and from a carefully contrived pocket under the
arm drew out a little piece of wood of exactly the length and shape he
had described. I took it from him and gazed at it carefully. It was
covered all over with Chinese writing, and had a piece of gold silk
attached to the handle. There was nothing very remarkable about it; but
I must own I was strangely fascinated by it when I remembered the misery
it had caused, the changes and chances it had brought about, the weird
story told by China Pete, and the efforts that had been made by Nikola
to obtain possession of it. I gave it back to its owner, and then stood
looking out over the smooth sea, wondering where Phyllis was and what
she was doing. Nikola, when I met him, would have a heavy account to
settle with me, and if my darling repo