“There was already talk in the bazaar about me.  I was probably followed, but I did not know it.  Then one of my men disappeared.  For a week I hesitated to trust my Arabs; but there was no other way.  I told them there was a mummy which I desired to carry to some port and smuggle out of the country without consulting the Government.  I knew perfectly well that the Government would never forego its claim to such a relic of Egyptian antiquity.  I offered my men too much, perhaps.  I don’t know.  They hesitated for a week, trying by every artifice to see the treasure, but I never let them out of my sight.

“Then one day two white men came into camp; and with them came a government escort to arrest me for looting an Egyptian tomb.  The white men were Joram Smiles and that Eurasian, Emanuel Gandon, who was partly white, I suppose.  I didn’t comprehend what they were up to at first.  They escorted me forty miles to confront the official at Shen-Bak.  When, after a stormy week, I was permitted to return to Sais, my Arabs and the white men were gone.  And the stone chamber under the water garden wall was empty as the hand I hold out to you!”

He opened his palm and rose, his narrowing eyes clear and dangerous.

“At the bazaar I learned enough to know what had been done.  I traced the white men to the coast.  They sailed on the Scythian Queen, taking with them all that I care for on earth or in heaven!  And you ask me why I measure their distance from me by a bullet’s flight!”

The Tracer also rose, pale and grave.

“Wait!” he said.  “There are other things to be done before you prepare to face a jury for double murder.”

“It is for them to choose,” said Burke.  “They shall have the choice of returning to me my dead, or of going to hell full of lead.”

“Exactly, my dear sir.  That part is not difficult,” said the Tracer quietly.  “There will be no occasion for violence, I assure you.  Kindly leave such details to me.  I know what is to be done.  You are outwardly very calm, Mr. Burke—­even dangerously placid; but though you maintain an admirable command over yourself superficially, you are laboring under terrible excitement.  Therefore it is my duty to say to you at once that there is no cause for your excitement, no cause for your apprehension as to results.  I feel exceedingly confident that you will, in due time, regain possession of all that you care for most—­quietly, quietly, my dear sir!  You are not yet ready to meet these men, nor am I ready to go with you.  I beg you to continue your habit of self-command for a little while.  There is no haste—­that is to say, there is every reason to make haste slowly.  And the quickest method is to seat yourself.  Thank you.  And I shall sit here beside you and spread out this papyrus scroll for your inspection.”

[Illustration:  Hieroglyphics]

Burke stared at the Tracer, then at the scroll.