I opened my hand and placed the casket in his.
"From the Baroness d'Altenberg," I replied. "I made the journey from
Europe to give it to you. My task is accomplished."
The casket had reached its destination.
CHAPTER XIV
THE CASKET
"Now there are two favours I wish to ask you, Don Juan," I said, as he stood with the precious casket in his hands, "the first is to put that casket in a place of safety; the second to release this poor wretch from the snake."
He awoke from a fit of deep meditation with a start.
"I will grant your two favours immediately," he answered quickly as he put the casket in his breast pocket and buttoned his frock-coat over it; "see one is already done, now I will accomplish the other."
He went to the end of the apartment, and lifting a curtain hanging over the base of a bookcase, took from a shelf there a silver bowl, filled apparently with bread and milk.
With this he went out on to the terrace, through the French windows, and commenced to make a peculiar sibilant noise between his teeth, half whistle half hiss.