"'There is no compulsion in the matter,' I said warmly. 'The curio is my own property, and I will do just as I please with it.'
"He thereupon begged my pardon, asked me to attribute his impatience to the collector's eagerness, and after a few last words bade me 'good-night,' and left the house.
"When his cab had rolled away I went back to my study and sat thinking for awhile. Then something prompted me to take the stick out from the safe. I did so, and sat at my table gazing at it, wondering what the mystery might be to which it was the key. That it was not what Dr. Nikola had described it I felt certain.
"At the end of half an hour I put it in my pocket, intending to take it upstairs to show my wife, locked the safe again and went off to my dressing-room. When I had described the interview and shown the stick to my wife I placed it in the drawer of the looking-glass and went to bed.
"Next morning, about three o'clock, I was awakened by the sound of some one knocking violently at my door. I jumped out of bed and inquired who it might be. To my intense surprise the answer was 'Police!' I therefore donned my dressing-gown, and went out to find a sergeant of police on the landing waiting for me.
"'What is the matter?' I cried.
"'A burglar!' was his answer. 'We've got him downstairs; caught him in the act.'
"I followed the officer down to the study. What a scene was there! The safe had been forced, and its contents lay scattered in every direction. One drawer of my writing-table was wide open, and in a corner, handcuffed, and guarded by a stalwart constable, stood a Chinaman.
"Well, to make a long story short, the man was tried, and after denying all knowledge of Nikola—who, by the way, could not be found—was convicted, and sentenced to five years' hard labour. For a month I heard no more about the curio. Then a letter arrived from an English solicitor in Shanghai, demanding from me, on behalf of a Chinaman residing in that place, a little wooden stick covered with Chinese characters, which was said to have been stolen by an Englishman, known in Shanghai as China Pete. This was very clearly another attempt on Nikola's part to obtain possession of it, so I replied to the effect that I could not entertain the request.
"A month or so later—I cannot, however, be particular as to the exact date—I found myself again in communication with Nikola, this time from South America. But there was this difference this time: he used undisguised threats, not only against myself, in the event of my still refusing to give him what he wanted, but also against my wife and daughter. I took no notice, with the result that my residence was again broken into, but still without success. Now I no longer locked the talisman up in the safe, but hid it in a place where I knew no one could possibly find it. My mind, you will see, was perfectly made up; I was not going to be driven into surrendering it.