him questioningly, but put no spoken question. Beaumaroy
sat down on the stool opposite to her, and poked the fire.

"I can't get away from it, can I? There was something else you saw in
the Tower, wasn't there, and I dare say that you connect it with a
conversation that we had together a little while ago? Well, I'll tell you
about that. Oh, well, of course I must, mustn't I?"

"I should like to hear." Her bitterness was gone; he had come now to
the riddle.

"He was a King to himself," Beaumaroy resumed thoughtfully, "but in fact
I was king over him. I could do anything I liked with him. I had him. I
possessed him--by right of conquest. The right of conquest seemed a big
thing to me; it was about the only sort of right that I'd seen anything
of for three years and more. Yes, it was--and is--a big thing, a real
thing--the one right in the whole world that there's no doubt about.
Other rights are theories, views, preachments! Right of conquest is a
fact. I had it. I could make him do what I liked, say what I liked, sign
what I liked. Do you begin to see where I found myself? I say found
myself, because really it was a surprise to me. At first I thought he was
in a pretty small way--he only gave me a hundred a year besides my keep.
True, he always talked of his money, but I set that down mainly to his
delusion. But it was true that he had a lot--really a lot. A good bit
besides what you saw in there; he must have speculated cleverly, I think,
he couldn't have made it all in his business. Doctor Mary, how much gold
do you think there is in the grave in there?"

"I haven't the least idea. Thousands? Where did you get it?"

"Oh yes, thousands--and thousands. We got it mostly from the aliens in
the East End; they'd hoarded it, you know; but they were willing to sell
at a premium. The premium rose up to last month; then it dropped a
little--not much, though, because we'd exhausted some of the most obvious
sources. I carried every sovereign of that money in the grave down from
London in my brown bag." He smiled reflectively. "Do you know how much a
thousand sovereigns weigh, Doctor Mary?"

"I haven't the least idea," said Mary again. She was leaning forward
now, listening intently, and watching Beaumaroy's face with
absorbed interest.

"Seventeen and three-quarter pounds avoirdupois--that's the correct
weight. The first time or two we didn't get much--they were still shy of
us. But after that we made some heavy; hauls. T