THE IRON COUNT When King, in the kindness of his heart, grasped the old woman to keep her from falling to the floor, he played directly into the hands of very material agencies under her control.

There was nothing ghostly or even spiritual in the incidents that followed close upon the simulated fainting spell of the fortune-teller.

It has been said before that her bony fingers closed upon his arms in a far from feeble manner.

He had no time for surprise at this sudden recovery; there was only time to see a fiendish grin flash into her face.

The next instant something struck him in the face; then with a fierce jerk this same object tightened about his neck.