was a quarter to nine. He
rose stiffly to his feet and sank into his chair. After a moment he
lighted a cigar. The handkerchief lay at his feet; he could just see the
ring over the edge of his knees. For a long time he sat staring.

The striking of a church clock nearby roused him. He shook himself
together and blinked at the empty room. In his hand he held an unlighted
cigar; mechanically he raised it to his lips. The sound of the church
bells died away; the silence of the room and the loneliness of it made
him shiver. He looked at his watch again. Ten o'clock! Still another
hour to wait and watch, and then he could take the ring back to the
Museum. He glanced down at the ring; it was still lying by the edge of
the handkerchief.

Again the Banker fell into a stupor as he stared at the glistening gold
band lying on the floor at his feet. How lonely he felt! Yet he was not
alone, he told himself. His three friends were still there, hardly two
feet from the toe of his shoe. He wondered how they were making out.
Would they come back any moment? Would they ever come back?

And then the Banker found himself worrying because the ring was not in
the center of the handkerchief.

He felt frightened, and he wondered why. Again he looked at his watch.
They had been gone more than two hours now. Swiftly he stooped, and
lifting the ring, gazed at it searchingly, holding it very close to his
eyes. Then he carefully put it down in the center of the handkerchief,
and lay back in his chair with a long sigh of relief. It was all right
now; just a little while to wait, and then he could take it back to the
Museum. In a moment his eyes blinked, closed, and soon he was fast
asleep, lying sprawled out in the big leather chair and breathing
heavily.

CHAPTER XIII

PERILOUS WAYS

The Very Young Man sat on the floor, between his two friends at the edge
of the handkerchief, and put the first pellets of the drug to his
tongue. His heart was beating furiously; his forehead was damp with the
sweat of excitement and of fear. The pellets tasted sweet, and yet a
little acrid. He crushed them in his mouth and swallowed them hastily.

In the silence of the room, the ticking of his watch suddenly sounded
very loud. He raised his arm and looked at its face; it was just ten
minutes past eight. He continued to stare at its dial, wondering why
nothing was happening to him. Then all at once the figures on the watch
became very sharp and vivi