Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE GOLDEN FACE _A GREAT "CROOK" ROMANCE_ BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX AUTHOR OF "MADEMOISELLE OF MONTE CARLO," "THE STRETTON STREET AFFAIR" NEW YORK THE MACAULAY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY THE MACAULAY COMPANY _Printed in the United States of America_ [Illustration: I slipped the pendant into Lady Lydbrook's soft hand as she stood in _deshabille_ at the half-opened door of her bedroom.] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I PRIVATE AND PERSONAL 1 II ROOM NUMBER 88 16 III THE MAN WITH THE HUMP 30 IV THE FOUR FALSE FINGERS 43 V CONCERNS MR. BLUMENFELD 59 VI AT THREE-EIGHTEEN A.M. 73 VII LITTLE LADY LYDBROOK 87 VIII THE CAT'S TOOTH 99 IX LOLA IS AGAIN SUSPICIOUS 113 X THE PAINTED ENVELOPE 127 XI THE GENTLEMAN FROM ROME 140 XII THE SILVER SPIDER 151 XIII ABDUL HAMID'S JEWELS 170 XIV THE VENGEANCE OF TAI-K'AN 186 XV OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY 201 XVI THE MAN WHO WAS SHY 215 XVII THE SIGN OF NINETY-NINE 232 THE GOLDEN FACE CHAPTER I PRIVATE AND PERSONAL In order to ease my conscience and, further, to disclose certain facts which for the past year or two have, I know, greatly puzzled readers of our daily newspapers, I have decided to here reveal some very curious and, perhaps, sensational circumstances. In fact, after much perplexity and long consideration, I have resolved, without seeking grace or favor, to make a clean breast of all that happened to me, and to leave the reader to judge of my actions, and either to condemn or to condone my offenses. I will begin at the beginning. It has been said that service in the Army has upset the average man's chances of prosperity in civil life. That, I regret, is quite true. When I, George Hargreave, came out of the Army after the Armistice, I found myself, like many hundreds of other ex-officers, completely at a loose end, without a shilling in the world over and above the gratuity of between two and three hundred pounds to which my period of commissioned service entitled me.