His long yellow fingers reached out for his hornrimmed spectacles
which lay upon a little table beside him. Adjusting them, he
pulled the curtains aside and shuffled silently across the large
room.
Mounting the steps to the raised writing-table, he rested his
elbows upon it, and peered down at that curious blotting-pad
which had so provoked the curiosity of Durham. Could Durham have
seen it now the mystery must have been solved. It was an
ingenious camera obscura apparatus, and dimly depicted upon its
surface appeared a reproduction of part of the storehouse
beneath! The part of it which was visible was that touched by
the light of an electric torch, carried by a man crossing the
floor in the direction of the lacquered coffin upon the gilded
pedestal!
Old Huang Chow chuckled silently, and his yellow fingers clutched
the table edge as he moved to peer more closely into the picture.
"Poor fool!" he whispered in Chinese. "Poor fool!"
It was the man who had come with the introduction from Mr.
Isaacs--a new impostor who sought to rob him, who sought to
obtain information from his daughter, who had examined his
premises last night, and had even penetrated upstairs, so that
he, old Huang Chow, had been compelled to disconnect the
apparatus and to feign sleep under the scrutiny of the intruder.
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