ought that I must have that sovereign.
Suddenly a suspicion seized me. I sprang to my feet and cried to my
servant, 'You thief, you have found the sovereign and put it back in
your pocket.' He answered disrespectfully. I rushed at him. I saw a
knife blade glimmer in his pocket and I drew a pistol--this pistol--from
mine."

He drew a shining revolver from his hip pocket and laid it on the table
at Karl's elbow.

"And with this pistol I nearly killed a man for a found sovereign which
I did not need," he finished quietly.

Karl was profoundly stirred by the story, although he could hardly tell
why.

"I give found money away," he said, laughing uncertainly, and adding,
"for luck."

"So do I," said Millar quickly, "but it slipped through my fingers, and
what slips through our fingers is what we want--we seek it
breathlessly--that is human nature. You, too, will seek your found
treasure once it slips through your fingers. And then you will find that
worthless thing worth everything. You will find it sweet, dear,
precious."

Karl turned away from him, trying not to listen to him.

"Kill a man for a found sovereign," he repeated.

"That woman will become sweeter, dearer, more precious to you every
day," the malignant one went on, his words searing Karl's soul. "You
will realize that she could have given you wings, that she is the
warmth, the color--her glowing passion the inspiration of your work. All
this you will realize when she has slipped through your fingers. You
might have become a master--a giant. Not by loving your art, but by
loving her. Oh, to be kissed by her, to look into her burning eyes and
to kiss her warm, passionate mouth."

Karl covered his face with his hands. Millar picked up the delicately
scented shawl which had covered Olga's bare shoulders.

"This has touched her bosom," he cried, twining it around Karl's head
and shoulders, so that its fragrance reached his nostrils.

The boy lost control of himself and caught the drapery, pressing it to
his lips.

"Both so beautiful," Millar persisted in his soft, even, melodious
voice. "Oh, what you could be to each other. What divine pleasure you
would find."

Dropping the shawl, Karl started to his feet.

"Be quiet! You are trying to drive me mad," he cried. "Do you want to
ruin me? For God's sake, man, be still!"

"Afraid again, O Puritan," Millar sneered. "Why, boy, life is only worth
living when it is thrown away."

"Why do you tell me tha