"Carr wicked?" and Pauline paled and trembled as if struck with a sudden blow. "Yes, it was his hand, his will, that sent you to be lost in the desert. He showed me a false telegram, saying you had run away from me!" "What? oh, I can't believe it!" "Well, don't try now," and Stone smiled at her. "It's all I can do to manage this fiery steed without trying to tell you unbelievable things at the same time. Let me tell you something more easy of credulity." Pauline's smile was permission, and Stone had no difficulty in convincing her of certain self-evident truths. By the time the trio reached Cairo, Ahri was as staunch a follower and as true a slave of Fleming Stone as he had been of Carrington Loria. At Stone's direction he returned to his former master, for the present, and gave no hint of the later development of the kidnapping scheme. "All went off as planned?" said Loria, secure in his servant's fidelity. "Yes, master," answered the devoted trusty, and Loria said no more on the subject. That evening when Fleming Stone went to Carr Loria's rooms, he was accompanied by Pauline and the Englishman, Pitts. Loria started at sight of his cousin, but quickly recovered his poise and jauntily asked her where she had come from. "No place like Cairo, for me," she replied in the same light tone, and they all sat down in Loria's den. "More company than I expected," he said, as he bustled about, seating them. "Ahri, another chair." Ahri obeyed the request, and then softly left the room. "Mr. Loria," said Stone, directly, "there is no use wasting words, we are here to accuse you of the murder of your aunt and the attempted murder of your cousin." Carr Loria's face blanched, but he tried to put on a bold front. "What do you mean by this nonsense? Is it a joke?" "By no means; I have all the proofs of your crimes and I ask you if you will confess here, or to the Police?" "Friend Pitts, I believe, is connected with the Police," and Loria laughed grimly. "Yes, he is. Have you anything to say?" "Only to deny your accusations. Except that it's too absurd even to deny such foolish talk. What do you mean anyway?" "That you poisoned Miss Lucy Carrington, wilfully and purposely, by sending her a dose of powdered aconite, under the pretense of its being a beauty charm that would bring fairness and youth to her plain face." Carr Loria's jaw dropped. He looked at Stone as if at something supernatural. "W--what?" he stammered. "You did it to get her money, _now_, to go on with your work in the bed of the Nile. Then, in order to get your cousin's share of the fortune, you sent her away to die in the desert, having first induced her to will you her money." "Ha, ha," laughed Loria, feebly. "Poor joke, Stone, pretty poor joke, I say! Murdered my own aunt! Not much I didn't!"