In a state
of artificial somnambulism, and under the direction of Madame's
will, you became a burglar!"
As Madame de Medici's car drove off from the house of Colonel
Deacon, and Madame seated herself in the cushioned corner, up
from amid the furs upon the floor, where, dog-like, he had lain
concealed, rose the little yellow man from the Temple of Heaven.
He extended eager hands toward her, kneeling there, and spoke:
"Quick! quick!" he breathed. "You have it? The Key of the
Temple."
Madame held in her hand an ivory Buddha. Inverting it she
unscrewed the pedestal, and out from the hollow inside the image
dropped a gleaming Key.
"Ah!" breathed the yellow man, and would have clutched it; but
Madame disdainfully raised her right hand which held the
treasure, and with her left hand thrust down the clutching yellow
fingers.
She dropped the Key between her white skin and the bodice of her
gown, tossing the ivory figure contemptuously amid the fur.
"Ah!" repeated the yellow man in a different tone, and his eyes
gleamed with the flame of fanaticism. He slowly uprose, a
sinister figure, and with distended fingers prepared to seize
Madame by the throat. His eyes were bloodshot, his nostrils were
dilated, and his teeth were exposed like the fangs of a wolf.
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