"Yes--but listen: I am anxious to hear the conclusion of that remarkable story you began last night." "But," objected Raikes, "I have already told you all I know." "I am aware of that," answered the detective, "but your friend, the Sepoy, will doubtless oblige you with the balance. Arrange with him at breakfast-time for a continuation. I will return either to-night or to-morrow morning to hear it." "But----" began Raikes. "Do not refuse to do as I ask," urged Gratz impressively. "It may be useful; I'm inclined to think it will." "Very well," answered Raikes. "I will do as you suggest." "And," continued Gratz, "I need not assure you that if a living soul learns of my presence here last night, I can do nothing for you." "I understand," said Raikes. "And I," added Robert. With this Gratz departed, and Raikes prepared to make his appearance in the dining-room. Advised of the intention of her brother to breakfast at the table, the spinster had hastened to precede him, and by the time Raikes presented himself she had managed to bestow a couple of furtive biscuits in her pocket, and had devoured another couple, lavishly buttered, accompanied by a fairly liberal cut of beefsteak. Consequently, when Raikes conveyed his customary intimation that she was at liberty to begin, the spinster obediently proceeded to add a moderate breakfast to the one she had already enjoyed. Trembling lest her brother would remark the developing suggestions of well-being which had resulted from her recent regimen, she welcomed with genuine relief the advent of the Sepoy, to whom Raikes transferred his speculative glance. "Well!" exclaimed the Sepoy, "you have had quite a siege, I hear." "I have," replied Raikes shortly; then added with a sort of grim humor: "My physician has recommended a little diversion, and I have just thought of a simple way of following his advice." "What is that?" asked the Sepoy. "I would like to present myself at the usual hour and hear the conclusion of the story, for I judge, from the predicament of Prince Otondo, that the end is not far off." "Ah, you remember?" exclaimed the Sepoy. "Decidedly!" replied Raikes. "Very well, then," returned the other. "Come at ten and I will gather the tangled threads together." During the balance of that day Raikes devoted his powers of concentration to the consummation of the treatment to which he had subjected himself, and this, together with the prospect of the recovery of his property, resulted in a condition which made the visits of the astonished physician no longer necessary.