"Fierce warriors in green turbans took them--warriors of Arabia. The jewels travel south, still with the warriors. There are many fights. The jewels pass from one hand to another, still in the ivory box. Now a savage has them--a savage, in a wild forest. They are buried in the earth at the place where victims are sacrificed to the gods. Long years pass: centuries glide by. The box of jewels is found: it is in the hands of another savage, who wears European clothes. He gives the jewels to a white man for services rendered." Mrs. Vand interrupted with a strangled cry of terror. "Jabez--is he Jabez?" "He is not Jabez Huxham, but a man called Maxwell Faith. But see"--the dull voice of the gipsy suddenly became emotional and loud--"they pass into the hands of Jabez Huxham, and the hands that bear away the jewels are stained with blood. The jewels pass with him across the sea to this land. In London first; then in this house. They are placed in a carved chest; it is in the attic. Now they are in the safe in the study, and now----" Vand interrupted. "How did they pass out of Huxham's possession?" Granny Tunks did not reply for a few minutes, during which Mrs. Vand clutched her husband's hand still tighter, and passed her tongue over her dry lips. "They pass from Jabez Huxham, as they came to him--by murder," went on the clairvoyant. "I see the study. Huxham is at the desk, and the ivory box of jewels is before him. There is a knife on the floor by the door, and the knife is bloody." "But Huxham is not dead," said Vand, quickly and softly. "There is blood on the knife," said Mrs. Tunks, without taking any notice of the question. "Huxham is so engaged in looking at the jewels that he does not see the door softly open. A man enters. He sees the knife and picks it up. He glided behind Huxham, who suddenly turns. Now--now the blow has fallen, and the jewels, the jewels----" She paused. "What more?" gasped Mrs. Vand. "What more, in God's name?" "There is no God here, but only evil," came the reply. "I can see no more. I see, however, that the man who struck the blow is a cripple, and----" There came a cry, apparently from behind the wall. Vand and his wife turned astonished and terror-struck. On the left of the fire-place a sliding panel was pushed back, and they beheld Bella, pale but triumphant. "So you murdered Captain Huxham!" she cried, "you and your wife. O God----" "There is no God here," breathed Mrs. Tunks again, "only evil." CHAPTER XIX AN AWKWARD POSITION The appearance and accusation of Bella were so unexpected that Mrs. Vand and her husband became perfectly white, and obvious fear robbed them of all powers of movement. Granny Tunks sat up, rubbed her eyes, and stared at Bella with the open panel behind her in great surprise. "Where have you come from, deary?" she asked, rising unsteadily.