Continuing the investigation of the odds and ends in her private drawer, I found an Arab head ornament and several bracelets. The pattern of the crescent-shaped sequins I recognised as the same as those worn by the mysterious Halima. These discoveries, combined with the contents of the letters which I hastily scanned, left no doubt that Halima and Valerie were the same person; and, further, that Hassan, the wealthy Sheikh of the Ahamellen, who had a house at Douera, was really her father; and that Monsieur de Noirville had brought her up, and educated her to the ways of civilised society. When I had left for Algeria, it had been her caprice to follow me, and rejoin her people. She had saved my life, yet I had killed her. But though so fair, she was false--_false_! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bah! How infernally bitter this cognac is! One more gulp, and my body and soul will have parted. I shall be at rest. Ah, well! Here's health to the cursed scoundrel who has wrecked my life. The glass is drained. The sediment was like gall. How it burns! I--I go. I trouble no one longer. _Au revoir. Adieu_! End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stolen Souls, by William Le Queux