The Jewel of Seven Stars

Watc

lous eyes; great, wide-open, and as black and soft as velvet, with a mysterious depth. To look in them was like gazing at a black mirror such as Doctor Dee used in his wizard rites. I heard an old gentleman at the picnic, a great oriental traveller, describe the effect of her eyes "as looking at night at the great distant lamps of a mosque through the open door." The eyebrows were typical. Finely arched and rich in long curling hair, they seemed like the proper architectural environment of the deep, splendid eyes. Her hair was black also, but was as fine as silk. Generally black hair is a type of animal strength and seems as if some strong expression of the forces of a strong nature;

hair was thick and long, and the golden-brown eyes sparkled from the freckled, sunburnt skin. Her rosy cheeks gave a general idea of rich brown. The red lips and white teeth did not alter the colour scheme, but only emphasized it. She had a s

she took charge of the patient and set to work. Having examined the new-made bed and shaken the pillows, she spoke to

in Jermyn Street, and sent out such clothes, books and papers as I should be

striking six as I drove in at the gate of the Kensington Palace Road

d undertaken of everything in the room and near it. At nine o'clock Miss Trelawny and I went in to relieve the Doctor. She had lain down for a few hours in the afternoon so as to be refreshed for her work at night. She told me that she had determined that for this night at least she would sit up and watch. I did not try to dissuade her, for I knew that her mind was made up. Then and there I made up my mind that I would watch with her-unless, of course, I should see that she really did not wish it. I said nothing

ower and stronger than it was this morning. I cannot find evidence of any known drug, and his unconsciousness does not resemble any of the many cases of hypnotic sleep which I saw in the Charcot Hospital in Paris. And as to these wounds"-he laid his finger gently on the bandaged wrist which lay outside the coverlet as he spoke, "I do not know what to make of them. They might have been made by a carding-machine; but

terness-or jealousy, I could hardly tell which. "Even my poor kitten was only allowed in the house on sufferance; and thou

was heard. Instantly Miss Trelawny's face brightened. Sh

al. A chinchilla grey Persian with long silky hair; a really lordly animal with a haughty bearing despite his gentleness; and with great paws which spread out as he placed them on the ground. Whilst she was fondling him, he suddenly gave a wriggle like an eel and slipped out of her arms. He ran across the room and stood opposite a low table on w

d come away to mother's room!" As she was speaking she held out the cat's paw to me to shake. As I did so I could no

eparate claws, each of them sheathed in a delicate, fine, shell-like case. As I gently stroked the foot the claws emerged and o

laws are li

was bending over looking at the cat's claws

lm and, with a simple "pardon me!" to Miss Trelawny, placed the cat's paw on it and pressed it down with his other hand. The haughty cat seemed to resent somewhat the familiarity, and tried to draw its foot away. This was plain

he went on just the same way. He jumped up on the table, and tried to scratch and bite the mummy. That was what made Fathe

s the separate cuts showed out in fierce red lines. The Doctor folded the blotting-paper across the line of punctures made

with the wounds in the wrist! No

ter if master Silvio ha

a little while. Sudde

as not in her

ove that if necessary?" She

r distinctly laying his little blanket over him, and tucking him in. This morning I took him out of the basket myself. I certainly never noticed him i

head as he said wit

y cat in the world would have cleaned blood-marks-did any exist-

and again the silence wa

e injury had been done; so that it must have been before Silvio could possibly have got in." This reasoning commended itself, especially to me as a barrister, for it was proof to satisfy a jury.

'" Doctor Winchester a

y he is so keen against that mummy. Is he the same toward the other mummies in the

house or the British Museum. But Silvio never concerns himself about any of them except th

person it would never have received so much honour. See! A painted case and obsidian eyes-just like a human mummy. It is an extraordinary thing, that knowledge of kind to kind. Here is a dead cat-that is all; it is perhaps four or five thousand years

se; but I hope it will not be anything to hurt or wor

it is the other one that my sy

o you

e attacking; the other on

te of pain in her voice. Th

The other won't suffer as we understand it;

earth do

Museum Street. I shall get one and place it here instead of that one-you won't think that a temporary exchange will violate your Father's

a pause she went on: "But of course under the circumstances anything that is to be ultimately for

ight which can manifest itself as a power or an entity, and so make for companionship. The room was a large one, and lofty in proportion to its size. In its vastness was place for a multitude of things not often found in a bedchamber. In far corners of the room were shadows of uncanny shape. More than once as I thought, the multitudinous presence of the dead and the past took such hold on me that I caught myself looking round fearfully as though some strange personality or influence was present. Even the manifest presence of Doctor Winchester and Miss Trelawny could not altogether comfort or satisfy me at such moments. It was with a distinct sense of relief that I saw a new personality in the room in the shape of Nurse Kennedy. There was no doubt that that business-like, self-reliant, capable young woman added an element of security to such wild imaginings as my own. She had a quality of common sense that seemed to

sorbing reverie. The Egyptian smell had seemed t

be that the sick man, who lived half his life or more in the atmosphere, had gradually and by slow but sure process taken in

stating my intention, for I feared that I might add to the trouble and uneasiness of Miss Trelawny, I went downstairs and out of the house. I soon found a chemist's shop, and came away with a respirator. When I got back, it was ten o'clock;

here would always be a man and a woman in the room; and each one of us would overlap, so that at no time would a new set of watchers come on duty without some one to tell of wh

ngs around me in a more practical light than I had been able to do earlier in the evening. I bathed my face, and thus refreshed went into the sick-room. I moved very softly. The Nurse was s

rue in spirit. When I told him that his watch was over; that he might go to bed till I should call him at six o'

stols with me. I won't feel so heavy-he

shared my experi

ad so affected me. She said that she had all she required, but that if she should want anything she would at once let me know. I wished to keep her f

ed from the experiences of the previous day and night. Again I found myself thinking of the Egyptian smell; and I remem

nd, which is the corollary of bodily rest, for, though I really cannot remember bei

oll of wheels, the shout of a reveller, the far-away echo of whistles and the rumbling of trains. The light was very, very low; the reflection of it under the green-shaded lamp was a dim relief to the darkness, rather than light. The green silk fringe of the lamp had merely the colour of an emerald seen in the moonlight. The room, for all its darkness, was full of shadows. It seemed in my whirling thoughts as though all

aze of light. There was the sound of pistol shots-one, two; and a haze of white smoke in the room. When