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40 gaze. He spoke now very deliberately. His languorous tone had given place to a crisp hard enunciation. "Mr. Barrister," he said, "what you say is true. You understand me perfectly. If I had told you the name of the thief and the location of the book, I should have charged you only five hundred dollars. My price for not telling is one thousand. Do you understand me now?"

He took up a crystal sphere and began to regard it fixedly.

Barrister's face had changed from perplexity to anger, and then to a sudden comprehension. He dropped his head and gazed at the carpet, standing for some moments irresolute and dismayed. Finally he walked to the desk, took the blank check that Valeska handed to him, and dipped his pen into the ink. He looked up.

"You never expect to find the culprit, I suppose?" he asked, with a strange expression on his face.

"I never expect to," answered the Seer.

Barrister signed his name and handed over the check. "You are a most extraordinary young man, sir!" he snarled, and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Valeska stared, her brows knitted. "Wait a minute ! I've almost got it! It was Barrister himself who stole the book—his own book—"

"Which his wife had given him when they were married; don't forget that," said Astro.

"Yes; so, of course, he wouldn't want her to know he had been mean enough to dispose of it. She is still in love with him, I could see that, and she's a sentimental