ned me long and anxious thought, I may say that I made the
necessary arrangements for quitting the house near to the Mosque of
Muayyad which had been my home for fifteen years.

I recognized the danger of Nahemah's traveling in the ordinary way,
and she performed the journey to England in the character of an
invalid under my professional care. Equally, residence at any public
establishment was out of the question, and although I found myself
compelled for a time to court discovery by lodging Nahemah in a
private suite in an obscure hotel, I hastened to seek a house in some
quiet suburb which should reproduce as nearly as possible the
advantages of my abode in Cairo.

Such a house I discovered after about a week of feverish questing (for
apart from the ordinary dangers of discovery to which my protegee was
subject, her proclivity for adventures at the most unseasonable times
greatly enhanced the danger which I apprehended). Judge, then, of my
satisfaction when I succeeded in obtaining the lease of a small
villa--indeed I might almost term it a bungalow--in one of those odd
survivals of less crowded days which are yet counted suburbs or parts
of greater London.

This house stood alone in some two acres of ground, and because of its
lack of modern conveniences and the comparative inaccessibility of its
position, my application was eagerly entertained by the agent
interested in the leasing of the property. One week later I entered
into possession, Cassim, Nahemah and myself comprising the entire
household. Much of my valuable--indeed I may say unique--collection, I
had been compelled to store; for my new quarters lacked the necessary
space for the purpose. But although I was unaware of the fact at the
time, I was not destined to be long deprived of a suitable home for
the records of my life's work.

Nahemah's demand for some understanding between herself and her family
grew daily more insistent; but I might have continued to oppose her
wishes had it not been for the fact that by this time my slender
resources were almost exhausted.

It suddenly became evident to me that I held in my hand an instrument
whereby I might force Sir Burnham Coverly to finance the new
experiments upon which I had entered at this time with all the
enthusiasm that a love for science inspires in the student! You may
judge me unscrupulous, but the wheel of progress is at least as
unrelenting. It was not, however, without much searching self-anal