opened up a new difficulty—­a fresh road to curiosity.  It came upon him with unusual quickness—­the obstacles to, and the need for, a speedy decision.  He glanced round the tent, then unconsciously he straightened his shoulders.  After all, he had stepped into a tight corner, but there was no need to cry out in squeezing his way back.  Then he realized that the soft, ingratiating tones were sounding once more.

“It’s the passing of my hands over yours, while I look into the crystal, that sets up sympathy”—­a slender hand moved swiftly into the light and picked up the ball—­“and makes my eyes see the pictures in your mind.  Now, will you please take off your rings?”

The very naturalness of the request disarmed him.  It was a risk.  But, as Chilcote had said, risk was the salt of life!

“I’m afraid you think me very troublesome.”  The voice came again, delicately low and conciliatory.

For a brief second Loder wondered uncertainly how long or how well Chilcote knew Lady Astrupp; then he dismissed the question.  Chilcote had never mentioned her until to-night, and then casually as Lady Bramfell’s sister.  What a coward he was becoming in throwing the dice with Fate!  Without further delay he drew off the rings, slipped them into his pocket, and replaced his hands on the smooth table-top.

Then, at the moment that he replaced them, a peculiar thing occurred.

From the farther side of the dark partition came the quick, rustling stir of a skirt, and the slight scrape of a chair pushed either backward or forward.  Then there was silence.

Now, silence can suggest anything, from profound thought to imbecility; but in this case its suggestion was nil.  That something had happened, that some change had taken place, was as patent to Loder as the darkness of the curtain or the band of light that crossed the floor, but what had occasioned it, or what it stood for, he made no attempt to decide.  He sat bitingly conscious of his hands spread open on the table under the scrutiny of eyes that were invisible to him vividly aware of the awkwardness of his position.  He felt with instinctive certainty that a new chord had been struck; but a man seldom acts on instinctive certainties.  If the exposure of his hands had struck this fresh note, then any added action would but heighten the dilemma.  He sat silent and motionless.

Whether his impassivity had any bearing on the moment he had no way of knowing; but no further movement came from behind the partition.  Whatever the emotions that had caused the sharp swish of skirts and the sharp scrape of the chair, they had evidently subsided or been dominated by other feelings.

The next indication of life that came to him was the laying down of the crystal ball.  It was laid back upon the table with a slight jerk that indicated a decision come to; and almost simultaneously the seer’s voice came to him again.  Her tone was lower now than it had been before, and its extreme ease seemed slightly shaken—­whether by excitement, surprise, or curiosity, it was impossible to say.