She shrank involuntarily, her now frightened eyes fixed upon the face of this man, whose patriotism, whose zeal, whose incredibly lofty purpose she did not, could not, doubt, but whose methods she could, not condone--by whose will her own father had suffered. Then, in a quickly imperious yet kindly manner, he placed both his hands upon her shoulders, looking, with earnest, searching eyes, deep into her own. "What would you desire me to do that half a million pounds can compass?" he asked. "Return it to those it belongs to, if you can, and, with any that you cannot return, endow homes by the shore for sick slum children!" He moved his left hand, and she saw dully gleaming upon his finger, a great green stone, bearing a strange device. In some weird fashion it seemed to convey a message to her--intimate, convincing. Within those green depths there dwelt a mystery. She felt that the ring was incalculably old, and that its wearer must wield almost limitless power. It was an uncanny idea, but she lived to know that her instincts had not wholly misled her. "It shall be done!" said Severac Bablon. "And you will be my friend?" "I will try!" whispered Zoe, "if you wish. But, oh, believe me! You are wrong! You are wrong! There is, there _must_ be some better way!" As he removed his hands from her shoulders she turned aside and glanced through the open window, seeing nothing of the panorama of London below, but seeing only a great throne, and upon it a regal figure, his head crowned with the ancient crown of the Jewish kings. When she turned again her father stood behind her. But Severac Bablon was gone! "Thought you had a visitor, Zoe?" said Mr. Oppner. "There's a gentleman here would like to have a look at him!" He turned to a big, burly man, dressed in neat serge, who bowed awkwardly and immediately took a sharp look around the room. Mr. Oppner eyed his daughter with grim suspicion. "Inspector Sheffield would like to ask you something!" "Sorry to trouble you, miss," said the inspector, misinterpreting the sudden, strained look that had come into her eyes, and smiling in kindly fashion. "But I've been following a man all the morning, and I rather think he came into this hotel! Also--please excuse me if I'm wrong--I rather fancy he came up here!" "What is he like--this--man?" she asked mechanically, looking away from the detective. "This morning he was like the handsomest gentleman in Europe, miss! But he may have altered since I saw him last! He's the latest thing in quick-change artists I've met to date!" "What do you want him for?" Sheffield raised his eyebrows. "He's Severac Bablon!" he said simply. "Does your late visitor answer to the description?" "My visitor was a gentleman who wanted funds for building a home for invalid children!" "You're sure it wasn't our man, miss?" ("And you will be my friend" he had asked. "I will try," had been her promise.)