The Golden Scorpion

m. No one was stirring in the house, and he rose and put on a bath robe. He felt perfectly well and could detect no symptoms of nervous disor

ooked about him. He was vaguely disappointed. Save for the untidy litter of papers upon the table, the study

of having been touched. The casement curtains were drawn across the recess formed by the French windows, and sunlight streamed in where, silhouetted against the pallid illumination of the moon,

tuart-"of all the

he Psychical Research Society, in whose work he was interested. Half an hour later, as the movements of a

Medicine and had spent several years in India studying snake poisons. His purchase of this humdrum suburban practice had been dictated by a desire to make a home for a girl who at the eleventh hour had declin

than usually dull and the hours to drag wearily on. He was conscious of a sort of suspense. He was waiting for something, or for som

is custom and casting a light Burberry with a soft hat upon the sofa beside his stick and bag. The lamps were lighted, and the book-l

crupulous neatness, was tending the fire at the moment,

ight, Mrs. M'Gregor," he said. "I

had come to regard him as a son. "An' a wheen o' dry logs is worth a barrel o' pheesic. To which I would add that if ye're hintin' it's tim

der and took up the hat, stick and

r wisdom by refraining from becomin

sdom; it's jus

Stuart, dropping

cleverest physeecian in the deestrict, an' they come to nane other than Dr. Keppel Stuart when they're sair

en, Mrs.

n auld wife's advice and

"You don't mean that you want to desert me? Afte

d eh! but ye were bonny! God forbid, but I'd like to see ye thrivin

s it, is it? So you would like me to find som

ned, Mr. Keppel and it may be I am; but I do assure you I would be sair harassed, if stricken

and as you say your ideas are a wee bit, just a wee bit, behind the times. On this particular point I mean. But I am v

inting to his boots. "Ye're no' t

this evening, there has been no rain for several days. How

e casement curtains across the windows and then prepared to r

alled half an hour

and looked up with lively interest. "M

" replied Mrs. M'Gregor, and, after a moment's hesitat

declared Stuart, replacing his boot

an two or three minutes.

or

ed o'er anxiou

M'Gregor, she comes a

. Keppel," replied the old lady;

own mother would have done. I have observed a certain restraint in your manner whenever you have had occasion to refer to Mlle. Dorian. In what way d

ents wear furs that your airnings for six month

t, to gaily coloured shawls. All the more reason why I sh

nterest, real suspicion, murmured

tuart, regarding her s

he suffers f

urprised t

u mean, Mrs

lesome auld woman. But I know what a man will do for shining een and a win

eal perplexity. "Par

Warning? To what 'w

Mrs. M'Gregor shook her head pensively. "What would it

nd leaned upon a cor

e M'Gregors?"

piper that gives warning when danger threat

d, "A well-meaning but melanc

rst crossed my threshold, nigh thirty years ago, in Inverary. And as plainly as I hea

ber rightly," said Stuart, "Mlle. Dorian first called here just a w

y is guid,

tly, did you he

entered the house; and I

heard it

st the now and I loo

a glimpse of R

I saw Miss Dorian away in her car and twa minute

"No matter; she may return. And are these the only occasions

threatens. It wakened me up in the wee sma' hours last

ou sure your imagination

takin' me seri

u think I am laughing at you, but I'm not. The strange tradition of your family is associated with a tragedy in your life; therefore I respect it. But have no fear with regard to Mlle. Dorian. In the first place she is

p and walked slowly t

, Mr. Keppel," she sai

the door ve