Page:The man who knew too much.djvu/86

 easily supplied. But when the turn came of the gentleman in the black gown, he did not turn out his pockets, but merely spread out his hands. "I have no possessions," he said.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to empty your pockets and make sure," observed the colonel, gruffly. "I have no pockets," said the stranger.

Mr. Twyford was looking at the long black gown with a learned eye. "Are you a monk?" he asked, in a puzzled fashion. "I am a magus," replied the stranger. "You have heard of the magi, perhaps? I am a magician." "Oh, I say!" exclaimed Summers Minor, with prominent eyes. "But I was once a monk," went on the other. "I am what you would call an escaped monk. Yes, I have escaped into eternity. But the monks held one truth at least, that the highest life should be without possessions. I have no pocket money and no pockets, and all the stars are my trinkets." "They are out of reach, anyhow," observed Colonel Morris, in a tone which suggested that it was well for them. "I've known a good many magicians myself in India—mango plant and all. But the Indian ones are all frauds, I'll swear.