Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/237

 Lourdes in France is a hard problem for the medical profession to explain away. Christian Science has often played havoc with the diagnosis of physicians. According to legend veiled death stalks throughout the tombs of ancient kings of Egypt Those who believe in the curse can cite proof. Those who do not, scoff at such assertions. Why then should there not be a Chinaman who had conquered the black art of sorcery?

Pau Dah looked around the garden and smiled, though so frightfully ugly was his face it was almost a leer. He too talked only Chinese but in substance, he said, "Before I can perfect a cure I must have a stone of blue, a yellow stone and one that glows with a green fire."

"Do you mean to keep?" asked Hung Long Tom.

"I do," was the blunt reply. "For you are asking me to perform that which few men in all the world may do. You wish me to cause the eyes of this boy to glow with sight again. I shall draw the sparkle from the jewels and