Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/271

 she evidently was to make her reception a success, kept to the letter of her promise, and did not ask him to perform any tricks for the company.

The salon filled. The talk became gayer. Astro had no time now to speak confidentially to Valeska; but from time to time he sent her a look, a motion of head or hand, which directed her attention to one or another of the party. The quick-witted girl watched him everywhere he went, and followed his cues on the instant. Long practise had made it easy for her to communicate with him thus; but this was the first public test of her facility. She played their game with a new zest, her bright eyes and high color alone betraying her excitement.

At last supper was announced, and as the company paired off and began to leave for the great diningroom, Astro succeeded in eluding his worshipers and captured Valeska for a few hasty words. "There's something in the air," he said under his breath. "Can't you feel it? I don't know just what it is, but there is something sinister impending. Don't laugh. This is not mere professional jargon. You know I'm sensitive to this sort of thing. I never felt it more strongly."

"I have felt so too, but I thought it was a mere fancy."

"Cultivate those fancies, my dear; they're the inchoate beginnings of intuitions. Nothing comes by chance. There's a reason for every whim we have, and you must learn to trace it."

"I don't like that green-eyed woman. I wonder if she is really a countess?"