Page:Crainquebille, Putois, Riquet and other profitable tales, 1915.djvu/163

Rh "It is thought," he said, "to be a cabalistic formula, imprecations taken from a Greek poet &hellip;"

"Which poet?"

"I am not very well up in them."

"Theocritus."

"Theocritus perhaps."

Through the glass I could make out distinctly a group of four letters:

K H P H

"That doesn't spell a name," said my friend.

"I pointed out to him that in Greek it is the equivalent of:

K E R E

And I gave him back the stone. He looked at it long in a dazed manner and then put it on to his finger.

"Come," he said briskly. "Come."

"Where are you going?"

"Towards the Madeleine. And you?"

"I? Where am I going? Parbleu! I am going to Gaulot's to see a horse which he refuses to buy until I have looked at it. For, as you know, I am an authority on horses and something of a veterinary surgeon to boot. I may describe myself also as a furniture broker, an upholsterer, an architect, a