lways
kept with peculiar solemnity in Egypt, and marked by giving and
receiving presents. He understood the use of tools, and he now hastily
selected such as he needed. On the window-ledge stood a bunch of
flowers which he had ordered for Paula the day before, and which he had
forgotten to fetch this terrible morning. With this in one hand, and the
tools in the breast of his robe he hastened upstairs.

"Onwards, I must keep on!" he muttered, as he entered Paula's room,
bolted the door inside and, kneeling before her chest, tossed the
flowers aside. If he was discovered, he would say that he had gone into
his cousin's chamber to give her the bouquet.

"Onwards; I must go on!" was still his thought, as he unscrewed the
hinge on which the lid of the trunk moved. His hands trembled, his
breath came fast, but he did his task quickly. This was the right way
to work, for the lock was a peculiar one, and could not have been opened
without spoiling it. He raised the lid, and the first thing his hand
came upon in the chest was the necklace with the empty medallion--it
was as though some kind Genius were aiding him. The medallion hung but
slightly to the elegantly-wrought chain; to detach it and conceal it
about his person was the work of a minute.

But now the most resolute. "On, on...." was of no further avail. This
was theft: he had robbed her whom, if she only had chosen it, he was
ready to load with everything wherewith fate had so superabundantly
blessed him. No, this--this....

A singular idea suddenly flashed through his brain; a thought which
brought a smile to his lips even at this moment of frightful tension.
He acted upon it forth with: he drew out from within his under-garment a
gem that hung round his neck by a gold chain. This jewel--a masterpiece
by one of the famous Greek engravers of heathen antiquity--had been
given him in Constantinople in exchange for a team of four horses to
which his greatest friend there had taken a fancy. It was in fact of
greater price than half a dozen fine horses. Half beside himself, and as
if intoxicated, Orion followed the wild impulse to which he had yielded;
indeed, he was glad to have so precious a jewel at hand to hang in the
place of the worthless gold frame-work. It was done with a pinch; but
screwing up the hinge again was a longer task, for his hands trembled
violently--and as the moment drew near in which he meant to let Paula
feel his power, the more quickly his heart b