But I am sure of it!" The Detective
looked at her for some seconds in silence, and then threw a quick
glance at me.

Presently he had a little more conversation with Mr. Corbeck as to his
own movements, the details of the hotel and the room, and the means of
identifying the goods. Then he went away to commence his inquiries,
Mr. Corbeck impressing on him the necessity for secrecy lest the thief
should get wind of his danger and destroy the lamps. Mr. Corbeck
promised, when going away to attend to various matters of his own
business, to return early in the evening, and to stay in the house.

All that day Miss Trelawny was in better spirits and looked in better
strength than she had yet been, despite the new shock and annoyance of
the theft which must ultimately bring so much disappointment to her
father.

We spent most of the day looking over the curio treasures of Mr.
Trelawny. From what I had heard from Mr. Corbeck I began to have some
idea of the vastness of his enterprise in the world of Egyptian
research; and with this light everything around me began to have a new
interest. As I went on, the interest grew; any lingering doubts which
I might have had changed to wonder and admiration. The house seemed to
be a veritable storehouse of marvels of antique art. In addition to
the curios, big and little, in Mr. Trelawny's own room--from the great
sarcophagi down to the scarabs of all kinds in the cabinets--the great
hall, the staircase landings, the study, and even the boudoir were full
of antique pieces which would have made a collector's mouth water.

Miss Trelawny from the first came with me, and looked with growing
interest at everything. After having examined some cabinets of
exquisite amulets she said to me in quite a naive way:

"You will hardly believe that I have of late seldom even looked at any
of these things. It is only since Father has been ill that I seem to
have even any curiosity about them. But now, they grow and grow on me
to quite an absorbing degree. I wonder if it is that the collector's
blood which I have in my veins is beginning to manifest itself. If so,
the strange thing is that I have not felt the call of it before. Of
course I know most of the big things, and have examined them more or
less; but really, in a sort of way I have always taken them for
granted, as though they had always been there. I have noticed the same
thing now and again with family pictures, and the way they ar