l tact, had hit upon exactly the right course.

"You believe, of course," he said, "that the spirits of the dead cannot
be stopped by bolts and bars."

The colonel smiled, and nodded assent.

"The most of the jewels in dispute are, I believe, in the vaults of a
safe deposit company," Nick continued. "Very well; my test is this: Name
some article of the collection which you are sure is there, and see
whether your aunt will transfer it to Miss Stevens' possession.

"It should be as easy for a ghost to take anything from the vaults of a
safe deposit company as from that dressing-table upstairs. Will you
consent to the test?"

The colonel stood irresolute.

"Consent," said a voice, as of a woman standing beside them.

Yet the three men were the only human beings in that room.

"The voice came from that screen!" cried Patsy, and he leaped toward the
old fire-place.

He tore away the screen. No one was there.

"It was my aunt's voice," said the colonel, calmly. "I consent."

"Consent to what?" asked Horace Richmond, entering the room at that
moment.

The test was explained to him.

"Good!" he whispered to Nick. "A fine idea."

"Name a piece of jewelry," said the detective to the colonel.

"Among all her wonderful collection," replied Colonel Richmond, speaking
slowly, "there was no piece of which she was more proud than the gold
clasp, studded with diamonds, which you well remember, Horace."

"I do," responded Horace. "There is an old tradition about it. A remote
ancestor of ours is said to have brought it from the Holy Land at the
time of the third crusade."

"An ancient family," said Nick. "You have a right to be proud of your
ancestry. I accept the article named as the one upon which the test
shall be made, provided that you are sure that it is now in the vault."

"Perfectly certain," responded the colonel. "I put it there with my own
hands. Nobody else was present, except an officer of the company and my
daughter. It is utterly impossible that the jewel can have been
removed."

"I will take that for granted," said Nick. "The conditions of the test
are that this piece shall not be found in the vault when we visit it
this afternoon, and that it shall be afterward discovered in the
possession of Millie Stevens."

"Granted," said the colonel; and then in a clear voice, as if he wanted
to be sure that there was no misunderstanding in spirit land, he
announced the conditions of the test.

CHAPTE