Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/514

 He had to refuse her request; but seemed willing to talk.

Valeska had prepared for the interview by reading everything of Askerson's that she could find. Among other books, she had discovered a slim book of poems, privately printed during his college days. As a last resort, she used this, hoping to play upon the vanity of the poet in him.

"I heard a girl once recite one of your poems; Sea Magic, I think it was called. Do you know where I could get a copy of it?"

He seemed pleased. "I didn't know any one remembered that verse," he said. "It's one of my favorites. If you'll wait, I'll see if I can remember it. I'll typewrite it for you, if you like." He sat down to his machine, puckered his brows, and began to write. He paused once in a while in search of a phrase, which he usually found by a hard glare at the ceiling, and finally finished it and presented her with the sheet.

"Would you mind signing it?" she asked timidly.

He put his name and a flourish at the bottom of the page.

She could scarcely wait till she was in the car to examine the printing. The small "o's" registered a little below the lines; but the capital "N's" were in true alignment.

Astro shrugged his shoulders when he saw it, and pointed silently with the stem of his narghile to the word "gracile" in the last stanza.

Two days after that, a hasty summons came from Stellery over the telephone, at four in the afternoon.