"I don't know what I am saying, and that's the truth," stammered Tidman becoming hotter and redder, "but Forge said if I found the secret he would give me the fan. He then opened the cabinet and found that the fan was gone." "What did he say?" "He turned as white as a sheet, and said that his life was at stake." Rupert rose to pace the room. The mystery of the fan piqued him, "I wonder what he meant by that?" he asked himself. "Something horrid if it has to do with the Chinese," said the Major, "you have no idea what brutes they are. But Forge thought that Mrs. Bressy, the old woman who looks after him, might have sneaked the fan, as she is fond of taking things and pawning them. But she swore she had never set eyes on it." "Wasn't the cabinet locked?" "Yes. That's the strange part, and Forge has the key on his watch-chain. The lock wasn't broken, and no other key would fit it, so how it was opened, is a mystery. But the fan's gone." "Quite so," said Rupert, facing the Major sharply, "and Miss Wharf has the very fan you speak of." Tidman fell back in his chair and gasped till he was purple in the face. "Wh--a--a--t," he drawled out. "Sophia Wharf?" "Yes. Olivia told me, when I explained how I wished to find the fan and make money. It seems that young Burgh----" "A detestable young cad," snapped Tidman. "I agree with you. He dares to admire my--to admire Olivia," said Rupert nearly letting his secret slip out, "and, to gain her good graces, he offered her this fan. She refused, and he then presented it to Miss Wharf, who took it and who has it now." "Oh," groaned the Major, "and it's worth five thousand. What luck some people have." Rupert shrugged his shoulders. "The luck will not come our way," he replied carelessly, "and to tell you the truth I don't much care. I expect Miss Wharf will sell the fan to Tung-yu." "But she doesn't know about his wishing to buy it?" "She may have seen the advertisement, and you know Tung-yu is coming to the ball at the Bristol." Major Tidman rose like a jack-in-the-box. "Who says so?" he asked. "Young Walker. Tung-yu is not the keeper of the Whitechapel Joss-house as I thought. He is a clerk in the firm of Kum-gum-Li." "Chris Walker also works for them," interpolated the Major. "Certainly, and he is bringing Tung-yu to the ball. I don't know why, and I don't much care," added Ainsleigh somewhat crossly. "I am about tired of this fan business. What will you do?" Major Tidman buttoned his coat. "I'm going straight to Forge," he said, "and I shall tell him that young Burgh had the fan. I know how he got it." "Do you, indeed," said Rupert yawning. "Yes. Miss Pewsey stole it from the cabinet." "Nonsense. Why should she do that?" "Because she's always about Forge's house. He told me that he might marry her--ugh," the Major sneered, "fancy marrying that old cat."