CHAPTER V.—A GOLDEN-HADIED ORACLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 71

CHAPTER V.— A GOLDEN-HADIED ORACLE.

ECTOB DALLAS recoiled inhorror from, the piquant face that was heading towards him over the small table in the corner of the Testaurant. His visible emotion was mastered in an instan*, but self-control came too late to «cn<:eal hie distress from the scrutiny- of the woman, who had caused it by her. mysterious utterance.

" I consider tbatt 'you have taken an unwarrantable liberty* •with me," said the young man coldly, but in. a ;voice that shook a little. Gloria Carrington, restored the orb of crystal to her pocket with a ripple of girlish laughter. To anyone watching them from 'beyond earshot in the crowded Toom — to Kenrick Herriot, for instance, and to Lord Croysdale — her demeanour, throughout the scene just enacted had carried the outward semblance of coquettish playfulness. And her manner now •was that of a sprightly lady who had played successfully a harmless <practkaljoke upon, a bad-tempered man. Bat her words, intended for and heard by has ears alone, belied in the intensity of their earnestness the laughing lips. "I am. merely the mouthpiece of the crystal, and have but repeated to youl what it told me," eh© said in a meaning imdertone. "Itis no part of my business lo pry into other people's secrets unless they consult me professionally." "Then you had better let this noneense go no further," replied Dallas, endeavouring and utterly failing to quell her with an implied threat. " If you insult my crystal you insult me. •Your use of the word ' nonsense' in such a connection emboldens me to retaliate by asking you ' to' look at yourself in that mirror ait your elbow. The face your willsee there 2s not the face of a man who has been listening to what he believes to be nonsense, "*was the palmist's method ofrepelling the attack. ' ' ' Dallas dad not look in the mirror, but-, fcitmfc his lip tall the blood came, he changed bis tactics. " I wonder what .that larger ball youl spoke of would have to tell me," he said, glancing rather sheepishly across the table* "I daresay it would contradict

the vagaries of that little- one which you carry about." Gloria. Carrington raised her pencilled eyebrows, and' allowed a slow smile to illumine her features. "I shall have to for>give you, for I can see that in your heart you are not quite such a ©c«ptic after* all," she cooed. " You can easily find out what the crystal which I nee professionally has to say by the simple method of asking it." "When can I consult you?? Dallas demanded eagerly. "My hours are from 10 to 5, and my rooms are at 320 New Bond street," Teplied Gloria carelessly, as though the procuring of fresh clients wate of no great importance \.<y her. " Anyone can always obtain an appointment by writing to my secretary," she added in the same vein. The young man's jaw dropped, and he looked his dißappointment. " That would mean waiting several days," he remarked gloomily. " Quite that ; my engagements are very numerous," Gloria responded with a covert smile for his complete surrender. "But," she went on, aiter puckering her brows in a frown of apparent consideration, "if you really feel an interest in my art I don't mind stretching a point in your favour. In a. way I owe, you reparation for making use of you as a test without asking your (permission. 'My rooms .are close by. If you like to step round with me now we will soon discover if the larger crystal iis in agreement with lesser ; but- I warn you* that I am not! at my best in the evening." "I accept with pleasure," replied Dallas with alacrity. " That is," he added, with an access of caution ludicrously too late for utility, "without admitting that youv second divination, just now was correct." " That, of course ; I do not busy myself with my clients' private affairs. If I did, tconsideri&g that I see from. 20 to 30 people tevery day, I should have been in a lunatic asylum long' ago," laughed Gloria. , " Come I you have finished your coffee. Shall we make a move?" She rose, Dallas following her example, and together they threaded their way to the exit down -the now rapidly-thinning-room. As they parsed the table where Kenrick Herriot and his father still lingered, the elder of the twain eyed them sternly, but Kenrick -was looking the other way, seeming to be convulsed^ in silent merriment ait an American magnate who was apologising humbly for treading on a waiter's toe. Outside in the courtyard, Dallas,, "with a glance at hie companion's dainty shoes, " suggested a cab, but, the night being fine, she preferred to walk the 'short distance. In a few minutes they stood at the> private door of -the house wnerein Gloria Oarrington occupied the Vfirst floor over a. famous jeweller's shop. Letting herself in with' a latchkey, ehe led the way up a softly-carpeted staircase to a spacious landing on to which several heavily curtained doors opened. The place was arranged as a sort of lounge or ante-room, with couches aaidl divans scattered about. The air was cloying with the perfume of hothouse flowers v growing in ornamental stands, while in the centre a miniature- fountain plashed into a marble basin. The whole effect, the new client thought, was artificial, not to say meretricious ; but there was no gainsaying the attractiveness of the presiding divinity. "I live here, and some of these are my private apartments, but this is where I receive consultants," she said, drawing aside one of the portieres and opening the door. She appeared to be about W invite Dallas to enter, but she suddenly stopped and closed the door again. " I think," she added', "that before we get to business I will Ting for my maid to take off ray wraps in my ovrai room, if you do not mind waiting here." She disappeared through one of the other doors, and almost immediately a smart maid came out of a side passage and followed her in. Dallas wondered whether iher abrupt change of plan was due to a fleeting vision of widen he had caught a glimpse over her shoulder during the moment that the other dooT was open : — the vision of a tall man, blue-chinned, ; and with a bald, pear-shaped head, who j had been in the act of rising from a j chair at the table. Be this as it might, when Gloria returned,, in less than two minutes, divested of the fleecy cloud; that had covered her •lovely ham, and Ifchjs- time without any hesitation opened tihe door of the consulting room, there was no trace of a former ocenpant. For a moment Dallas was puzzled, for while he had been waiting no one had! come out on to the landing. But a glance round the a~virtment supplied the explanation. There was a second door at the other end of the room. In striking contrast to the luxury without, the actual temple of mystery was furnished with a cold severity that might have impressed the type of mind Likely to. -hanger after dalliance with theNinseen world. But to a man come there more or less incredulous of its professed purpose it conveyed the same idea, of studied effect that had 1 been inspired by the flowers and the fountain in. the antechamber. - In the 'centre of the room there stood a circular table on which was a square, morocco-covered box flanked 1 by a shallow silver bowl. With some show of solemnity Gloria unlocked the box and extracted from it a. crystal globe, about 6in ;in diameter, Which she placed in the bowL J "Kindly sit there," she said, pointing to a straight, hard-backed, wooden chair, at the table,, and seating herself in a similar one opposite,, so that the crystal was between them. " Now, give me yoHr tight hand, and look me ia the eyes," she went on in, the same tone of command. Dallas 'complied with the request, atodas his travel-stained palm closed on the little ! velvet hand; extended acroES the table and as nis eyes gazed into the liquid depths of the shining orbs opposite, he would have- been more, or leeg than

j human if he had not experienced 1 a thrill joi physical pleasure. The sensuous charm that floated from the lovely woman looking into his eyes and pressing his hand had gripped him", calling up, nevertheless, a curious sense of revolt. "Before I begin I want you just to remember this," she said slowly. "If anything that I read in the crystal surprises or annoys you, you must ask me no questions and- make no protest, ot you will break the spell. Personally, I have no knowledge of what the crystal reveals ; I throw myself into a sort of trance, and am but a medium. Now, please." Retaining his hand in the soft pressure of her own, she averted her gaze from his eyes to the crystal ball, amd so sat staring at the polished surface that scintillated like a diamond in the rays of the electric j3|jidant above. For -some minutes she remained motionless, save for tlv» heaving of her bosom and a slight motion of the carmine lips, as though she followed in words the scenes depicted lo her mental vision in the glittering ball. Then, with a fluttering sigh, she withdrew the concentration of her gaze from the 'ball and focussed it again on the young man opposite. He noticed that the bright sparkle had gone from her eyes. They appeared to be dull and fixed, as though ©he were half asleep. The earn© idea was conveyed in the sing-song monotony of the voice in which she now spoke, without iany of the sprightly inflections that had marked her speech at the Hotel Ducal. " % » "The crystal sass that you go in deadly fear," she began. "Whether it is on your own behalf or another's is not quite clear, out," and she paused a little, "I think that you fear a little for yourself and "a great deal for that other. And — yes ! the crystal assures me that this fear is connected with a murder— the murder of Sir Bevys Blyfihe — done at Monkswood Chase last night." She came to a full-stop, and for over a minute seemed" to be groping, not in the. face on which her dull eyes were fixed, but ia the recesses of her own mind, for the solution of something that puzzled her. When at last she went on she prefaced her remarks with the hailf apology: "I told you that - 1 was not at my best in the evening, and I am finding it difficult. But ii I read the crystal aright," she murmured, "the one for whom, you fear as a woman, who though dear to you now will prove unworthy of your -love and trust." ' ' The young man's face worked strangely. (For a moment he seemed on. the point of some outburst, but he controlled himself, and the diviner proceeded without appearing to have noticed his emotion : "I have asked the crystal your name, but without obtaining a satisfactory result. Sometimes your- appellation seems to consist of one name and a prefix, some times of },wo and a prefix, but ' all blurred. The prefix itself also varies, now appearing as Mr, now as Sir. That is all I can do for you to-night," she ended, abruptly, as though exhausted by her effort. j Gradually the clasp of her hand: *elaxed, till, with a fluttering sigh and a faint smile, she pushed her chair back I and stood up, the bewitching siren of tihe j vestaxLvartb once more. The new client [ staggered to his feet x like one" awakening ! from a dreadful dream. [ " Thank you," he muttered hoarsely. "What is your fee?" I " Nothing in your case — the seance is a ! reparation for my forward conduct at the ■hotel," laughed Gloria merrily. "At least," she added, "there is no money to pay, but you can reward me 'by giving me the information that the crystal failed to reveal — the only part that I mycself was- ! interested in — I mean your name." i "My name is Hector Dallas, and I am. staying at the Hotel Ducal ? " was the reply. "I — I want to see you again." " I dine ait the Ducal nearly every night," said Gloria, with meaning. Making no attempt to check his evident desire to depaTt, she summoned the smart maid to show him out, and when the street' door -below had) clicked she crossed the landing to a coisy drawing room, where the tall, blue-chinsned man of whom' her late consultant had caught a glimpse in the other room rose to greet her familiarly. — " You are looking fine, Glory, old girl !" be exclaimed. "And other things are looking fine too. There has been a bit) of a turn-up down in the country, and I think I have got the whip hand. But, of couitse, you have seen the evening papers?" " Yes, I have seen {he evening papers," replied Gloria, throwing herself on, to a couch and- lighting a cigarette. "I have also seen something, or rather someone, else 'besides. Who do you think the client was whom I nearly showed iin on top of you just now?" " Some young juggins with more money than brains, I suppose!" said he of the blue chin, watching her with an expectance that belied the carelessness of hiss word's. "He was all that — and more, my Caspar. What do yous say to my having picked up Mr — or, ,to give him his true description now, Sir Norman Blythe?" " Great Scot, child ! In xin junction with that Whip-hand. I spoke of. this tour de force of yours should be a Pactolus — a veritable, stream of gold," ejaculated- the jpalmist's visitor. "Let me hear all about it quickly, for I must get back! to Monkswood by the last train to-night."