Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/179

 well-bred grace or her ingenuous, girlish candor that most delighted him? He remembered her dainty hands, perhaps the most exquisite he had ever seen. Now they were hidden in her sable muff. Her little rosy face shone like a flower under her picturesque veiled hat; her figure, slim and charmingly curved, was only partly modified by the smart lines of her black cloth suit.

She looked at him with big eyes and said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Astro. I hope you haven't forgotten me."

"Scarcely," was his reply. His tone was flattering.

She smiled with innocent roguery, her eyes exploring the curious decorations of the great studio. She sniffed daintily at the pleasant smell of myrrh that filled the air as she took the seat he offered her.

"I have come for help," she said. "I'm awfully puzzled about something, and you told me such wonderful things last time I came, that I thought I'd ask you." She showed a line of snow-white little teeth.

The Master rested his head negligently on one slender hand, and nodded gravely.

"It's about a locket," she continued.

"Ah! You have lost one?"

"No, not at all. I have found one!"

Astro raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, you're partly right, too; for it was lost a long time ago, and I have just got it back in a rather remarkable way. You see, it used to belong to my mother. She died last year. I returned only in time to see her for two hours before the end."

"When did you see this locket last?"

"Long before mother died. It disappeared myste-