The other laughed. "Do you not trust that?" said he. "No? By what, then, shall I promise?" A sudden flash of recollection passed through Oliver's mind, a sudden inspiration came to him. "Promise by this," he cried, in a ringing voice-- [Symb 61] and he drew the figure which he had seen depicted upon the red line around the door-way at the bottom of the stone steps--the line that had kept back Gaspard and his master like a wall of adamant. The other's face grew as black as thunder. There was a sharp click--he had crushed the glass in his hand to fragments. A drop of blood fell from his palm upon the table-cloth, but he did not seem to notice it. "Promise by that?" said he, a little hoarsely. "Yes," said Oliver; "by that sign." The other swallowed as though a hard lump were in his throat. "Very well," said he; "I promise." Oliver saw that the promise would be kept. He closed the window near to which he stood. When he turned around, the other's face was smooth and smiling again. "And now sit down," said he, "and let us finish our little supper, then I will tell you the story of those rooms yonder, and of the dead lady whom you found there." THE STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS CHAMBERS. A MONOLOGUE BY THE MASTER. I. The master drew his chair a little more around towards the fire, and drawing a gold toothpick from his waistcoat pocket, settled himself comfortably. "Did you ever hear," said he, "of a certain Spaniard, a very learned man, a great philosopher, and a renowned alchemist, named Raymond Lulli?" "No," said Oliver; "I never heard tell of him." "Or of Arnold de Villeneuve, the great French doctor, also a renowned alchemist?" "No," said Oliver, "nor of him either." "Well, that is not surprising; your attention has not been called to such matters, and they died more than four hundred years ago. Nevertheless, the history of the room you saw down yonder relates to them, and I am about to tell you the story of it as well as I know it. "It was luck or chance or fate, or whatever you call it, that first turned Raymond Lulli's attention to alchemy. At the time he was studying Arabic in the mountains of Aranda, at the shrine of St. James de Castello. "When his mistress, the beautiful Ambrosia de Compastello died, Raymond Lulli took it into his head to follow a droll fashion sometimes practised in those musty old days. He made a vow--perhaps rather hastily--to devote the rest of his life to religion; to spend it in converting Mussulmans to what was called the true faith. So, to prepare himself, he began studying Arabic in the mountains of Aranda.