"'Dead,' I murmured mechanically....
"'Then everything was very uncomfortable. But I saved a good sum of money, and I sent most of the valuable things to Paris to be sold—no living soul coming forward to make any claims. Ombos left everything to me ... bonds, securities, and all. Come this way—I have a little room up the side-street.
"'He left me well provided for. He——'
"'Yes; but why on earth do you stay in this dead city,' I broke in.
"'Sssh!... Don't interrupt unless I ask you questions.
"'I'll tell you all about everything. It's extraordinarily difficult....'
"I waited.
"'You see,' she picked her words carefully, 'Ombos was so—queer about that horrible Albertus Magnus of his. He had made me promise never to part with it and it seemed to me—stupidly perhaps—that I owed him that—to see that his only wish was carried out to the letter. Otherwise I should never dare to have stayed here. You couldn't expect me to move about with a gigantic bronze figure without making ample preparations.'
"'Ah!'...
"'This is where I live,' she said in a low voice.