"Miss Chandos, this is a lucky chance!" he resumed. "I wanted to see you alone." "Yes?" and she coloured faintly. "I have found out about the robbery and how it was effected. I've not been away all the time, though my house has been closed. I came back to see what the mice were doing!" "Yes, I--understand." She smiled as she added, "What an artful cat!" "One morning I went up early to the dufta and examined the walls more minutely. I detected the marks of bare feet; it was evident that the thief--a very thin man--climbed on the shoulders of a tall confederate, and squeezed himself through the window, which, as you know, is high, then cut a board out of the press and looted the jewels; the traces of the foot-prints are faint, but I have made out that one foot lacks a toe. Now, it happens that Abdul Buk's eldest son is as lean as a herring, and has lost one toe in an--adventure. It was he who offered your ring for sale; his family believe him to be in Fyzabad, but he is really in Delhi jail. At first he swore that your mother had given him the ring as a bribe. Now, solitary confinement, low diet, the loss of his smoke and a wholesome fear of the law, have changed his tune!" "And what have you discovered?" "We have discovered much. For instance, that Abdul Buk--the benevolent, the collector of cantonment house rents, the dispenser of promises, the ladies' praised and petted Abdul--'dear old Abdul'--is nothing more or less than a receiver of stolen goods!" "Nonsense--that respectable old man!" "Yes, and he does business on a large scale, though he takes good care never to put his own paw into the fire. I believe I have got him at last! Little does he suspect that he is sitting on a mine, and that the match is in my hands----" "And when will you apply it?" "Immediately. I have some slight reason to suspect that he is one of the agents of the notorious Saloo. If I can only bag the _two_ with one charge, won't it be splendid?" "Splendid indeed; you will have gained your heart's desire, and I shall congratulate you most sincerely." "I should be glad if I could catch Saloo, but the feat is not exactly"--a pause--"my heart's desire! Saloo's identity is a dead secret; he is an old fox. I've heard that he is a marwarri down Poonah way, but this is not confirmed. Saloo has hitherto baffled every effort to trace him." "If you were to consult my grandmother, she would advise you to look in the ink pool!" "No doubt!" rejoined Salwey, with a short laugh. "Have you ever seen her appeal to it?" "No; but she believes in it implicitly. It is magic, is it not?" "And black magic at that. I am myself orthodox, but I must admit that I have witnessed some extraordinary and utterly unaccountable things out here in the far East----" "Tell me, please, about the ink pool!"