"Oh, a fantastic thing--copper, made like a scaly snake coiled three
times, with its tail in its mouth and yellow jewels for eyes. I gather
he picked it up somewhere in Hungary." "He has traveled a great deal in Hungary?" Gordon looked surprized at this questioning, but answered: "Why,
apparently the man's traveled everywhere. I put him down as the
pampered son of a millionaire. He never did any work, so far as I
know." "He's a great student," I put in. "I've been up to his apartment
several times, and I never saw such a collection of books----"

Gordon leaped to his feet with an oath. "Are we all crazy?" he cried. "I came up here hoping to get some help--and you fellows fall to
talking of Joseph Roelocke. I'll go to Doctor Donnelly----"

"Wait!" Kirowan stretched out a detaining hand. "If you don't mind,
we'll go over to your house. I'd like to talk to your wife." Gordon dumbly acquiesced. Harried and haunted by grisly forebodings, he
knew not which way to turn, and welcomed anything that promised aid. *       *       *       *       *

We drove over in his car, and scarcely a word was spoken on the way. Gordon was sunk in moody ruminations, and Kirowan had withdrawn himself
into some strange aloof domain of thought beyond my ken. He sat like a
statue, his dark vital eyes staring into space, not blankly, but as one
who looks with understanding into some far realm. Though I counted the man as my best friend, I knew but little of
his past. He had come into my life as abruptly and unannounced as
Joseph Roelocke had come into the life of Evelyn Ash. I had met him
at the Wanderer's Club, which is composed of the drift of the world,
travelers, eccentrics, and all manner of men whose paths lie outside
the beaten tracks of life. I had been attracted to him, and intrigued
by his strange powers and deep knowledge. I vaguely knew that he was
the black sheep younger son of a titled Irish family, and that he
had walked many strange ways. Gordon's mention of Hungary struck a
chord in my memory; one phase of his life Kirowan had once let drop,
fragmentarily. I only knew that he had once suffered a bitter grief
and a savage wrong, and that it had been in Hungary. But the nature of
the episode I did not know. At Gordon's house Evelyn met us calmly, showing inner agitation only by
the over-restraint of her manner. I saw the beseeching look she stole
at her husband. She was a slender, soft-spoken girl, whose dark eyes
were always vibrant and alight with emotion. That child try to murder
her adored husband? The idea was monstrous. Again I was convinced that
James Gordon himself was deranged. Following Kirowan's lead, we made a pretense of small talk, as if we
had casually dropped in, but I felt that Evelyn was not deceived. Our
conversation rang false and hollow, and presently Kirowan said: "Mrs.
Gordon, that is a remarkable ring you are wearing. Do you mind if I
look at it?" "I'll have to give you my hand," she laughed. "I've been trying to get
it off today, and it won't come off." She held out her slim white hand for Kirowan's inspection, and his face
was immobile as he looked at the metal snake that coiled about her slim
finger. He did not touch it. I myself was aware of an unaccountable
repulsion. There was something almost obscene about that dull copperish
reptile wound about the girl's white finger. "It's evil-looking, isn't it?" She involuntarily shivered. "At first I
liked it, but now I can hardly bear to look at it. If I can get it off
I intend to return it to Joseph--Mr. Roelocke." Kirowan was about to make some reply, when the door-bell rang. Gordon
jumped as if shot, and Evelyn rose quickly. "I'll answer it, Jim--I know who it is." She returned an instant later with two more mutual friends, those
inseparable cronies, Doctor Donnelly, whose burly body, jovial manner
and booming voice were combined with as keen a brain as any in the
profession, and Bill Bain, elderly, lean, wiry, acidly witty. Both were
old friends of the Ash family. Doctor Donnelly had ushered Evelyn into
the world, and Bain was always Uncle Bill to her. "Howdy, Jim! Howdy, Mr. Kirowan!" roared Donnelly. "Hey, O'Donnel,
have you got any firearms with you? Last time you nearly blew my head
off showing me an old flintlock pistol that wasn't supposed to be
loaded----"

"Doctor Donnelly!" We all turned. Evelyn was standing beside a wide table, holding it as
if for support. Her face was white. Our badinage ceased instantly. A
sudden tension was in the air. "Doctor Donnelly," she repeated, holding her voice steady by an effort,
"I sent for you and Uncle Bill--for the same reason for which I know
Jim has brought Mr. Kirowan and Michael. There is a matter Jim and I
can no longer deal with alone. There is something between us--something
black and ghastly and terrible." "What are you talking about, girl?" All the levity was gone from
Donnelly's great voice. "My husband----" She choked, then went blindly on: "My husband has
accused me of trying to murder him." The silence that fell was broken by Bain's sudden and energetic rise. His eyes blazed and his fists quivered. "You young pup!" he shouted at Gordon. "I'll knock the living
daylights----"

"Sit down, Bill!" Donnelly's huge hand crushed his smaller companion
back into his chair. "No use goin' off half cocked. Go ahead, honey." "We need help. We can not carry this thing alone." A shadow crossed her
comely face. "This morning Jim's arm was badly cut. He said I did it. I
don't know. I was handing him the razor. Then I must have fainted. At
least, everything faded away. When I came to myself he was washing his
arm in the lavatory--and--and he accused me of trying to kill him." "Why, the young fool!" barked the belligerent Bain. "Hasn't he sense
enough to know that if you did cut him, it was an accident?" "Shut up, won't you?" snorted Donnelly. "Honey, did you say you
fainted? That isn't like you." "I've been having fainting spells," she answered. "The first time
was when we were in the mountains and Jim fell down a cliff. We
were standing on the edge--then everything went black, and when my
sight cleared, he was rolling down the slope." She shuddered at the
recollection. "Then when I lost control of the car and it crashed into the tree. You
remember--Jim called you over." Doctor Donnelly nodded his head ponderously. "I don't remember you ever having fainting spells before." "But Jim says I pushed him over the cliff!" she cried hysterically. "He
says I tried to run him down in the car! He says I purposely slashed
him with the razor!" Doctor Donnelly turned perplexedly toward the wretched Gordon. "How about it, son?" "God help me," Gordon burst out in agony; "it's true!" "Why, you lying hound!" It was Bain who gave tongue, leaping again to
his feet. "If you want a divorce, why don't you get it in a decent
way, instead of resorting to these despicable tactics----"

"Damn you!" roared Gordon, lunging up, and losing control of himself
completely.