He quickly pocketed his prize and then paused to look around for the last time at the dainty appointments of the luxurious apartment.
"Adieu, beautiful Cyrene, adieu, for ever!" he murmured, a smile of irony on his lips.
Stealthily he had come, stealthily he withdrew.

He did not take the trouble to close the writing-desk, but he was careful to leave the little key sticking in the clock door, where its rightful owner would be sure to see it.
He found the police officer still awake and waiting for him.

A cab was quickly summoned, and the two started on their journey to Transylvania.
When the Marchioness Caldariva entered her boudoir a little later, her eyes fell at once on her open writing-desk, and she perceived that the morocco pocketbook was gone.

She laughed, but it was not a pleasant laugh to hear.
"Very good," said she, half aloud; "you would have it so, and I am not to blame." * * * * * Anna Adorjan hovered on the brink of the grave.

She had heard that Benjamin Vajdar was charged with a penal offence, and she felt only too well convinced that if such a charge had been brought against him he must be guilty.