course, in her native
tongue.) 'His hand! His hand! Look! His hand!'

"To me her words were meaningless, naturally, but following the
direction of her positively agonized glance I saw that she was watching
what seemed to me to be the shadow of someone moving behind the
flame-like curtain which produced an effect not unlike that of a huge,
outstretched hand, the fingers crooked, claw-fashion.

"'Knox, Knox!' whispered Adderley, grasping me by the shoulder.

"He pointed with a quivering finger toward this indistinct shadow upon
the curtain, and:

"'Do you see it--do you see it?' he said huskily. 'It is his hand--it is
his hand!'

"Of the pair, I think, the man was the more frightened. But the girl,
uttering a frightful shriek, ran out of the room as though pursued by
a demon. As she did so whoever had been moving behind the curtain
evidently went away. The shadow disappeared, and Adderley, still staring
as if hypnotized at the spot where it had been, continued to hold my
shoulder as in a vise. Then, sinking down upon a heap of cushions beside
me, he loudly and shakily ordered more champagne.

"Utterly mystified by the incident, I finally left him in a state of
stupor, and returned to my quarters, wondering whether I had dreamed
half of the episode or the whole of it, whether he did really possess
that wonderful palace, or whether he had borrowed it to impress me."

I ceased speaking, and my story was received in absolute silence, until:

"And that is all you know?" said Burton.

"Absolutely all. I had to leave about that time, you remember, and
afterward went to France."

"Yes, I remember. It was while you were away that the scandal arose
respecting the mandarin. Extraordinary story, Knox. I should like to
know what it all meant, and what the end of it was."

Dr. Matheson broke his long silence.

"Although I am afraid I cannot enlighten you respecting the end of the
story," he said quietly, "perhaps I can carry it a step further."

"Really, Doctor? What do you know about the matter?"

"I accidentally became implicated as follows," replied the American: "I
was, as you know, doing voluntary surgical work near Singapore at the
time, and one evening, presumably about the same period of which Knox is
speaking, I was returning from the hospital at Katong, at which I acted
sometimes as anaesthetist, to my quarters in Singapore; just drifting
along, leisurely by the edge of the gardens admiring the beauty of the